Drying Days

Weather this past week has been absolutely wonderful, plenty of sunshine, breezy and highs about 70. We took advantage of the mold killing sunshine by placing furniture, books and some clothing outside yesterday. We’ve been having our ‘King’s Breakfast’ outside and even had a campfire Friday night. The camera flash revealed John’s terribly over-crisped campfire bread.

Even though my boots were previously sun dried and packed away in a plastic tub, the leather still succumbed to the humidity and mold spores. Of the few leather items we possess, the ones that sit stationary are more susceptible to mold growth, whereas the items that are continually handled, one of my belts and Sally’s binder, are mold free. Its similar to the reduced tendency of long hair to grow where your clothing rubs against your skin. More research is needed!

Visitors yesterday included Pepito and two white horses. From Pepito, we purchased eggs($2.50 for fifteen), banana bread($2.50) and empanadas($2.50 for two, large enough with rice and a vegetable to make a meal for four). Fortunately they were not messy eaters and carefully picked the grass without damaging our struggling banana plant. We gave Rigo a call, and sure enough, the horses were his. By the time Rigo arrived in the front pasture, the horses had moved down the driveway behind the house. As usual, John Gustavo had kept his watchful eye on the animals and was able to direct Rigo to their exact position around a corner.

A neighbor confirmed that he measured over (45 inches) of precipitation in September, the highest monthly total he has seen in his thirty years of recording here. This far in October, we have received less than two inches, most of that on Oct 1. Hopefully those downpours can hold off a few more days. We are taking the boys to the Cloud Forest Reserve this morning and to an amusement park and zoo in San Jose sometime this week.

I met an elephant beetle the other day – a very friendly fellow with small mouthparts, no jaws to dig in to my flesh, and effectively pointy claws for clinging onto skin, clothing, tree bark, a mate, etc. The assistant director at school accepted the invitation to have it placed on her pant leg, but enough was enough as it crawled higher and three of us strategically teamed together to pry its legs from the bluejeans and encourage it to advance to a stick. The elephant beetle belongs to the group of largest and most powerful beetles on earth. The beetle is simply HUGE and prefers to eat tree sap, bark and rotting fruits. The pics show the beetle on my hand but the grub pic is from Wikipedia. Beetles belong to the Coleoptera order, insecta class, and arthropoda phylum.

Finally, Science Lab Safety Test time! Look at the picture of the stunt actor that looks like Mike conducting a science experiment. Can you name at least 5 things that should be improved to make his experiment more safe? Signed M.

Local Food

There is much food grown in the Monteverde area and we purchase items regularly from the grocery as well as fresh produce and dairy from many local residents. Attached are some pictures of locally grown and produced items. Advantages of purchasing locally: Time from the field to our table is quick - food is fresh. Many farmers grow organically - less chemicals going into our bodies. Transportation is not a huge factor - fruit can be picked and sold while ripe and it does not need to be engineered to survive long rough trips or handling. Additional costs of transporting food is minimal when it is moved for a few miles rather than thousands of miles. We shares hugs, handshakes and smiles with Benito, Maco, Pepito, Victoria, Rufina, Meg, Glenda, Andy, Flori, Kathya and others who harvest and carry the produce on their back, milk the cows and goats, make the tamales, bake the bread, pluck the chickens, teach us how to make yogurt and more.

And the bigger picture: less fuel for manufacturing fertilizer and for transporting goods means less resource consumption, less pollution of air and water, and less carbon output. Buying locally directly stimulates the financial well-being of our neighbors resulting in less dependency on external factors such as big-money or political influences. We see the bananas growing in a yard, the goats being milked, the yogurt fermenting on our counter, the hens sitting on eggs, the cows grazing and we know where the food comes from while the boys gain an understanding of their dependency on the natural world.

Christmas In Monteverde

A long time resident of Monteverde once told me that Christmas here is special and there are plenty of holiday activities. For many reasons it has been a very different Christmas season this year – the lack of snow, television commercials and especially gathering with the larger family. We have enjoyed a variety of music, gift giving, santa, plenty of creatures stirring, the manger scene and a beautiful tiny Christmas tree.

Stage events included saturday’s Christmas program at the meeting house, tuesday night’s family violin concert at the Monteverde Institute and last night’s performance by Seattle rock band Massy Ferguson at Bromilias. The boys appreciate the live performances and learning about the instruments and musicians.

Food events included cookie sharing feast after Saturdays program, a pig roast and BBQ Wednesday night, a pot luck at our house Christmas eve, and a community pot luck at the meeting house on Christmas day. Gatherings are attended by all ages, Ticos and gringos, long time residents and new comers, and families and individuals.

At the BBQ, Michael and I roasted hotdogs, steak and marshmallows while sipping on hot chocolate shared by Mary N. Our potluck Christmas eve expanded from a few people to about twenty five people. People brought a variety of dishes, the children played on the tree swings and hide and go seek in the dark while the adults shared conversation by candlelight on our patio. The highlight of the evening occurred when about forty carolers marched up the pasture to our house and sang a few songs. The crowd certainly brought glad tidings and cheer to all. We invited the group inside for food and hellos and smiles filled up the place. The group then continued on their eight hour journey from farm through forest to field. The boys concluded the evening by decorating a tree (branch) that Elizabeth, Johnny and Andy gave us and setting out cookies and a carrot for santa and his crew.

Christmas morning arrived and the boys were as excited as ever to find gifts under the tree. Unwrapping pads of construction paper, colored pencils, glue stick, legos and stuffed animals made their day. We ventured on to the Christmas feast and all ages grab bag gift exchange. The criteria for the gift – must be hand made. Talents abound in Monteverde and crafting with hands is a skill that many have. Gifts passed out by a Ms Santa and her helper, Wolf, included paintings, wood carvings, ceramics, stained glass, knitted vests, pillows, music, stilts, book shelves, treasure boxes, and a wooden wheelbarrow. Our boys passed on tie died shirts and in exchange received knight masks made from cereal boxes and paper.

The weather has been absolutely cooperative – 70s and clear and we are all now enjoying a little quiet time. Signed M.

A little of this….A little of that

Oh how the days pass – I can barely remember what we did this morning, let alone, four days ago! We are in full vacation mode and the boys are asking every hour “when are we leaving for vacation?” They are very hyped about our upcoming travels and spending time with animals and the opportunity to fish and ride horses. From all that I have read on the Internet and ‘word of mouth’, the La Carolina Lodge will not disappoint! We leave Tuesday for the Volcan Tenorio and Rio Celeste area and will return on Thursday.

Mike’s school week concluded with 8 hours of parent-teacher conferences on Thursday and a ½ day of school on Friday in celebration of Dia de Cultura where each class represented a country. Mike’s class represented Chile. Mike found himself welcoming kids into the classroom and speaking about Chile and using Spanish vocabulary he never new he had! Mike arrived home about 1 p.m. and we then walked into Santa Elena while Goudy watched the boys. We walked part of the way with three of his students and chatted them up to find out what their plans were for their vacation. Mike and I accomplished a lot, visited the bookstore, did some banking, bought my ticket to San Jose for Monday ($8.00) one way, purchased some iron pills at the pharmacy and stocked up on food/snacks at the Super Compro for our upcoming trip. Mike bought a ton of plastic containers for his classroom organization as well. We ended the night watching “The Kite Runner” on the laptop. The rain was so loud against our fiberglass roof that we had to resort to using my headphones from my IPod in order to hear any sound as the speaker on the laptop was drowned out by the heavy downpour.

Thursday, the boys had a ‘play-date’ with Jackson, one of their classmates. Nicolette and her husband live about 10 minutes away on the Rockwell farm. They have a charming house with a ‘to die for’ view of the Gulf of Nicoya. She and her husband own the Santa Elena Pension, are opening a bar, have just expanded the pension with a brand new building and have another venture in the works. She also owns a jewelry store “Luna Azul” right on the edge of Cerro Plano. They are transplants from Texas, but are here to stay for the long run. She has really personalized her house, has painted it, fresh flowers in a vase, hardwood floors, ceramic tile – ‘a real home’. I felt a little envious as I started to compare it to our house (concrete floors, smashed guayba fruit smeared all over the windows (compliments of the boys) and the only thing growing in a glass on top of our counter is a week old stalk of rosemary. Nicolette quickly reminded me of her first Tico house (they have been here 5 years) and the fact that each of the three houses she has lived in has had its own uniqueness and advantages. The boys had a great time playing, while Nicolette and I sat on the porch, enjoying the view while she recounted her story of how she and her husband got to where they are today. The boys devoured an entire watermelon and frolicked in Jackson’s fort.

I’ve been taking advantage of the library at the school in attempt to keep the boys excited about reading. They love to read anytime and any new book puts a twinkle in their eye. The library is filled with a musty, mildewish smell which clings to the pages of the books, so once home and opened, the familiar smell of the library is ever so present. Some of the books are so tattered and torn you wonder how on earth they can endure another pre-schooler’s handling – but they do! Quite frequently, I open a book and read the stamp imprinted on the front cover “For the Students of Monteverde Costa Rica, A gift from the citizens of your sister city, Estes Park, Colorado”. I usually get a mixture of books, some in English, some in Spanish.

Food and Insects – not for the squeamish. Thursday, I along with Goudy and the boys attempted to make grapefruit juice. In a secret mission, Goudy and I lifted the boys over the barbed wire fence marking our neighbors property to the east (there is a nice big house that sits on the property, but we have never actually SEEN anyone there). The boys were eager to collect the fallen grapefruit and escape back to our yard without being detected…mission accomplished!. After the boys cleaned the grapefruits, the boys cut them open and put our little juicer to work. “Is that a piece of pulp”, I asked, “nope it is insect larva”, NICE - we decided we could weed those little critters out using the strainer, so we pushed onward. A little sugar and water and ‘Que rico’! Speaking of insects and larva in food, it has been our week for quite these discoveries. For those of you that know Mike, he does not like to throw away any food, even if it is on the brink of going bad – so eggplant it was for dinner last night...or so we thought. Our friendly little insect larva appeared once again and wiggled and squirmed away on the cutting board – luckily Mike came to the realization that this eggplant was better suited for the compost. A good choice! Finally, while boiling some water for pasta, little did I know that there were dried insects (looked like the land shrimp we find on our floor every night) in the package of noodles. It wasn’t until after I munched on a few hard noodles while waiting for the water to boil that I spied the bugs as they floated up to the top once I dumped the noodles into the water. Did we buy the noodles this way? Or had the insects found their way into the bag while sitting on our cabinet shelf – no importa? Just life!

Today, Saturday, after my run, we walked up to school with the bins we had purchased yesterday in hand so Mike could start to organize his classroom and ready for some project work with the kids once back from vacation. The weekly game of ultimate Frisbee was taking shape. You can see them practicing in the pic above. As the afternoon wore on, more folks showed up, and the game got competitive. My boys enjoyed playing in the sandbox and the play-yard. We then headed to Pax and Raquel’s house to play with Sierra. She is a very mature 10 year-old who is chomping at the bit to baby-sit Michael and John. Stewart their neighbor, and Sequoia, her brother were also there, so good play for all. I enjoyed talking Spanish with Raquel and Pax and were thrilled when they commented on the improvement in my Spanish – YAY! Sierra’s room is filled with her crafts and jewelry making beads – the boys were captivated. She will watch the boys tomorrow at school when Mike and I attend the morning Meeting.

Finally, I think the rainy season is here – it is a good thing as we are so dry. We have had rain the last week, each day, which will hopefully continue. There is concern that come Spring, water may be rationed and only permitted for use before 7 a.m. and after 11 p.m. – Let the rain dances begin!

P.S. - Last weekend at the Farmers Market, the kids enjoyed an activity "making masks" compliments of an art-teacher from San Jose. It was great, I sat down with them on the make-shift table (an old door) while Mike purchased all the fruits and veggies. Michael was in craft heaven, John just enjoyed getting all his fingers in the glue!
Signed: S

Cost Of Living In Costa Rica

Is the lower wage of the average worker offset by lower cost of goods and services in Costa Rica? I am not an economist, but I will attempt to give some details of costs and wages to provide a perspective on the cost of living here. Wages are certainly lower here than in the US and some things are much less expensive here, but some things here cost as much or more than in the US.

As a baseline for thoughts on income, yearly compensation for teachers, which includes a housing bonus and health insurance averages about $10,000. Many people here work ‘odd’ jobs, doing what they can to earn 1 to 3 dollars/hour. These jobs include cooking, cleaning, repairing, cutting grass, babysitting. Drivers and guides appear to earn decent wages from tourists, but even that work can be sporadic especially during this weak year for tourism. The men on the horses are off to a day of work in the forest to measure and cut wood, likely from fallen trees. This traveling sawmill is equipped with cans of gasoline, chains for maneuvering logs, chainsaws and a hearty lunch.

Now, an extensive list of items that are much less expensive here! Ready? Mangos, bananas, papaya, and pineapple. Yes, they are delicious and we buy them by the kilo but man cannot survive on juicy tropical fruit alone. Most other groceries such as dairy, grains, beans, meat, spices, condiments, toilet paper, soap, wine and beer are similarly priced as in the US. Automobiles and any foreign made appliances, electronics, etc are expensive here, as Costa Rica places high tariffs on imported goods. Gasoline costs the same here and electricity rates are similar at $0.10 kwh. Monteverde is not cheap. The American dollars brought in by tourists and the cost of transporting goods to this mountain town push prices up.

Saturday, walking to Santa Elena, we received a free ride from a neighbor to the ATM for a cash withdrawal. We purchased a hammock at a general store for $20, spent $20 at the ferria (market) for fresh produce, and $60 for groceries at Super Compro. I passed the Planters peanut butter ($3 for 15 oz) but splurged on a bag of chips ($2) a liter box of vino ($4) and cinco cervezas grandes ($8). We treated the boys to scoops of ice cream ($3) and the taxi ride back home set us back $3. During the week, we will purchase bread from the local baker couple, cheese and yogurt from the local farmer and milk from the dairy down the block for a total of $20.

If you do the math, you can see that as we consume food, food costs alone consume most of a teacher’s ‘competitive’ income. A MUCH higher percentage of income is spent on food here than in the US. How do people here keep their costs down? In general, very little meat is purchased, starches and fruit are found at every meal, and any leftovers are eaten the next day, not to spoil in the refrigerator. Since disposable income, or money left over for other things, including savings, is minimal, people just do not purchase unnecessary items. They walk almost everywhere or those with cars offer rides to others without. Private school is a luxury which few can afford, admission to museums and preserves are out of the question for most families, and attics loaded with extra stuff are non-existent.

We were informed about the local economy prior to moving here, so none of this is a surprise. Life is quite basic here and people are happy with what they have and this is part of the appeal of living here. There is still worry about income and how will one support a sick parent or put food on the table when the breadwinner loses a job. This is just a way of life here, just as there is a way of life anywhere else.

FYI
Costs of other items: 100 sheets blank paper $3
Music CD $12
Set of 12 colored pencils el cheapo $2- Rose Art $5
Glue stick $2
2G Flashdrive $30
Crockpot $40
Table Lamp $40
Restaurant dinner for family of four $35
4 ½ hour bus ride to San Jose $5
Private van to San Jose $140