Panama!

originally written for the blog:   http://yearofbeing30.blogspot.com

As I prepare for my trip to Panama tomorrow morning, I'm struck by how things have changed in the past twenty years.  Let's compare the packing lists:

Twenty Years Ago

• books and books and books
• colouring "stuff"
• paper
• more books
• gameboy and games
• discman (I think... it could have been my walkman...)
• cd's  (or tapes...I don't remember when I received my first discman)
• licorice
• juice boxes
• chips
• anything that would make my bag as heavy as possible.

Today's Packing List

• charged Ipod
• charged camera
• charged laptop
• charged Blackberry
• batteries, SD cards, cables
• portable external hard drive
• one book  (Third in the Millenium Trilogy)
• passport
• licorice  (some things never change! Thank you, Auntie Judy!)
• chips
• bottles of juice
• cookies!
• As little as necessary to be safe and travel "light" - it really has gotten lighter now that I'm not in my own vehicle!

It's very different traveling on your own.  For the past ten years, that's how I've done the majority of my traveling - Minneapolis, to Germany, to England, to Costa Rica.  I've been blessed with good friends to travel with in most of these countries, but I am excited about STARTING a journey with a friend.

Remember, it's a grand adventure.  Live it with all your heart!  

postscript:  Pictures will definitely follow.  

Once Again

Once again it's been way too long since I've blogged here.  We've been back in school for about two months, and have our first report cards coming up.  I have a presentation to parents about the changes we've been making to the theatre program the next week, and we're one month from performance and have had a total of one rehearsal.  Yeah.  It's been a "great" start.

The one thing I'm most looking forward to is heading to Bocas del Toros, Panama next weekend.  A friend and I are leaving early Saturday, and returning Tuesday.  It will be a short trip, but I hope worth it.  Jessica has to renew her visa, and I need out of here for awhile.  I consider the trip my birthday present and Canadian Thanksgiving all in one.  I hope to have some cool photos up here soon after!

On another note, I had the opportunity to be the wedding photographer for a friend of a friend's wedding.  I think some of the shots turned out decently.  Here's a link to the preview album.  While you're at the smugmug site, check out the other photos there too! Feel free to comment and share!
http://everythingblue.smugmug.com/Weddings/Zuniga-Ortiz-Wedding-Preview

Hope you enjoy!

Soda Crackers and Gingerale

I have completely confused my kitten.  You see, I've been home now, during the week, for two days.  Why?  Because I've caught the *infamous "stomach virus" that doesn't let anything stay anywhere near my stomach.  It's so much fun.  Not.  I'm on the mend, and just waiting for the pouring rain to stop so I can run (ok, walk slowly) up to the corner store to buy some Canada Dry and soda crackers.  

It's times like this that I really miss my mom.  It's not like there's anything she can do to change the fact that I'm sick, but it's nice to know she'd like to be able to do something. It sounds silly, but when Cassie was sick last week (with quite the opposite problem, thank you), I think I got a taste of the feeling.  I felt dreadful.  I wasn't really able to do anything.  I could take her to the vet, and give her what was suggested, but other than that all I could do was cuddle her and let her sleep.

Thankfully, we're both pretty much better now.  It will take a few more days to be back to "normal."  It's time to go Lysol everything in my apartment.

*Infamous because it's super common.  See, when it doesn't freeze, viruses don't die.  So far, that's the only thing a SK winter has going for it.

I Didn't Vote

I feel bad.  I really do.  I did not vote in today's Federal Election.   It's not because I'm apathetic about who leads our country, or because there is no legitimate choice for Canadians.  It all came down to logistics and impossibilities.

Now, some of the logistic issues are my own.  I choose to live in Costa Rica, a country with a horrible mail system.  I choose to be a teacher, which means that while I am working, everything is open, and when I'm not working, no one else is either.  I took my one day off, a national holiday here, and sought out the Canadian Embassy.  I filled out the application to vote, and the kind lady faxed it to Ottawa right away.  The transmission went through, and Ottawa confirmed they received it.  I had used the embassy's address to send the ballot parcel to, as my street address is bizarre, so there should be no problem receiving the mail.

I was wrong.

The parcel was never sent.  You see, I don't know the land location of my parents' farm.  A rural route number or a box number do not suffice.  It didn't matter that I knew my riding by name and put that on the application.  I received an email from Elections Canada on Easter Saturday stating that I had two days to provide, IN WRITING, proof of my address in Canada.  I hadn't anticipated this, so didn't have any of my bills from home, nor anything with the land location on it, and my parents were away...and the biggest thing?  Even if I jumped through the hoops, Elections Canada had waited so long to contact me that there was no way under Heaven for a parcel, even an envelope to reach me in time for me to send it back in time for it to be counted today.  It was logistically impossible.

Could I have registered early?  I tried online, but the website told me there was no Federal Election called.  The next time, it refused to recognize anything I entered.  It cost me a good $20 to get to the Embassy and back.  I tried, I really did.

The only thing to do now is to register completely when I come home.  Who knows?  We may have to do this again within a year.  Sigh.

Semana Santa in Sámara

We have been back at school for a week now, following our Semana Santa, or Easter Holy Week.  I'm used to having the week AFTER Easter off for holidays, so it's been hard to remember that people at home are on break right now.  There are only about 6 weeks left of school and not all of those are full teaching days.  This is exciting and nervewracking.  I've never met a teacher who wasn't worried about not finishing everything at this time of year.

Semana Santa.  Traditionally, Costa Ricans flood the beaches over the Easter break, especially on the Good Friday weekend.  It was with that in mind that Silvia, Alberto, Sophia and I headed to Playa Sámara in Guanacaste for the first part of the week. 

Playa Carillo at night.  Fuzzy, as I forgot my tripod.

It was an adventure.  Silvia and I work together, and Sophia is my student in the youngest class I have.  Sophia and Alberto hadn't been to Sámara for over five years, and were very excited to see their friends Don José and Doña María.  We were to stay in a home they own and rent out.   After a late start out of San José and stopping for lunch outside of Puntarenas, we arrived in Sámara after dark and met our first obstacle.

Alberto and Don Jose

Don José and his wife María are very poor, by our standards.  The house where we were to stay was tiny, and kind of slapped together.  The only toilet on the property was in this house, which wouldn't have been a problem.  However, Don José had rented the house to someone else, and the door to the toilet was locked.  As it was, we learned later that the water had been turned off in the municipality at 6 pm.  Imagine living somewhere where the water just vanishes, and being used to it!  We are blessed. 

The solution to the house dilemna was this:  we unpacked the airmattresses we brought, blew them up and  put them in one room of Don José's house.  It was a tight, rather dirty squeeze, but it was an adventure.  We were just ready to be out of the car and settled.  Then it was time for bed.  We tried the door to the bathroom again, with no success.  It was the bushes for us, and that settled things for Silvia and I.  We couldn't stay here, regardless of the kindness of these people. (They even killed a chicken for us.)  The story was that I really wanted to go camping, as I'd never done that, at least not on a beach.  We still spent most of the day with them (Don José choosing to catch some shrimp and scare me with them STILL ALIVE) before we finally went to the beach.

Camp Aloha is right on the beach in Sámara, and it's a beautiful location for a campsite.  There was electricity for our fan, and a lightbulb above our cooking area which shocked whomever twisted it to turn it on.  The bathrooms were gross, but present, and you didn't want to take your shoes off anywhere near the showers, but again, they were at least present.  Sunday night was beautiful at the beach, and Monday was super early after admiring the nearly full moon the night before.  When you're sleeping in a tent, the sun wakes you up even more than at home.  I took some beautiful pictures of a sunrise, partly to prove I was really awake at that time!

Monday was uneventful until about 2:30 pm.  We had been to Cangrejal, so named because of all the crabs that live there, in the morning, and were just relaxing in the heat of the day when we heard "Look at the water!"  (Granted, this was in Spanish, so I just followed the direction of everyone else.)  The aforementioned full moon was to blame.  Full moons mean high tides, and with the campsite on the beach, and beside a river feeding into the ocean, we were in for it.  I had never seen waves like this before.  They traveled up the river, and then INTO the campsite from behind.  The lucky people were the ones who had stayed near their tents and such for the afternoon.  The bar was flooded, campsites were drenched...our tent ended up on top of our car by design after everything else went IN the car or on the table.  Strangely, the fact that we were closer to the beach actually saved us from getting wet.  This time.

You can see the water coming up the path from the bar.

There was some worry about the evening tides, but after being assured they would be lower, we went to bed, and slept well.  Sun and ocean will do that to you.  Tuesday started out beautifully again, though not quite as early.  We packed up just what we needed for a day at the beach, and drove over to Playa Carillo.  Normally, this beach is even more gentle than Sámara, but the full moon was at it again.  Double waves were crashing in; a surfer's fun, but a swimmer's nightmare.  I tried some boogie boarding, but without a life jacket I didn't feel safe enough in the nasty waves.  The sun became blisteringly hot again, so we headed back to our campground for lunch and some shade.  While we were gone, the campground manager had hired (illegally) some heavy equipment to build up some dikes around the camp site, so we were able to watch the tides come in very far again, but this time in fascination rather than distress.  So awesome, in the true sense of the word.  How anything can stand up to that level of power is amazing.  I never want to experience a tsunami. 

We thought we were safe.  The tides were falling, the moon wasn't full any more, what else could happen?  Now remember, this is Costa Rica.  It always rains.  Rain it did, Tuesday night.  I heard, "Sophia, Sophia, en la tienda!  Now!" and then a squirming four-year-old is joining me where I was reading.  Dusk was just falling, soon giving way to complete darkness.  Sylvia and Alberto ran around the tent and site, covering this with plastic and moving that into the car.   Sylvia joined Sophia and I, and once again we thought we were safe.

Drip.  Drip.  Drip, drip, drip.  Our tent was leaking.  Yes, we had the rain cover on.  Yes, it was tight and secure.  Apparently, it was not tested to stand up to Costa Rican rain.  My sister has since laughed at me for thinking any tent would be waterproof, but I believed in the sticker.  As it was, we ended up with about two inches of rain in the tent, having dripped down, or soaked in through the sides that were touching the ground.  It sounds bad, but there was a good four inches of water around the tent.  We loaded up Sophia (who had fallen asleep and stayed asleep until the next morning) and some clothes into the car and drove out of the sodden campground into Sámara proper.  The first hotel we came to that was open was a bit of a dive.  The best I could say for it was that it wasn't raining inside, and the toilet was clean.  Sylvia and I were done.  In our minds, it was back to San José as planned the next morning.

We went back to Camp Aloha, and started packing up.  I had all my stuff ready, just waiting for the car, so I took Sophia to the beach.  We played in the waves, and dug a hole for a "swimming pool" in the shallows of the river.  As it was shallow, the water was warm, and the little rocks that rolled down were perfect for decorations.  In this, camping with a child is perfect, as it gave me tacit permission to play like I hadn't played in years.  We coated each other with sand, and played pretend.  Of course, this is also the morning I burnt the top of my legs, as the water was deep enough to keep me wet and cool, but not deep enough to protect my legs after the sunscreen washed away.

Packing up came to a halt when Don Carlos, another friend of Sylvia's and Alberto's, dropped by the campsite.  Apparently, travel on the roads we planned to take was not recommended for travel due to the rain.  I admit to being a little depressed at this.  I was ready to be clean, and sleep in my own bed.  Those of you who know me, know I'm not a very social person.  I needed alone time, badly.  It was not to be, so Sophia and I went back to the beach, with Sylvia joining us.  Alberto kept packing up, as we were to spend the night at Don Carlos' house.

Don Carlos is an older man, probably mid to late 60's, and very much a bachelour.  His house was much improved over the hotel, and I met my first (and second) scorpion.  No sting, but I was very nervous getting into my sleeping bag that night.  Don Carlos himself is quite a character.  He suggested that I could be his Sámara girlfriend, or rather that he could be my Sámara boyfriend.  "A boyfriend for every beach!"  Smiling politely, told him I didn't have time for a boyfriend.  "Mas trabajo"  Too much work.  I escaped, though Sylvia got a kick out of it.  Supper was a variety of seafood, so much so I couldn't finish everything.  Being hot and tired is a pretty good weightloss plan, I guess. Best part was the hummingbird feeder outside the bedroom window.

Thursday morning, Sylvia and I were up and ready to go at 6 am.  Alberto?  We finally left at 8 am.  we stopped in Puntarenas for lunch, and had a lovely, windy walk along the beach there.  We admired the Cruise ship that was docked, and bought souvenirs along the sidewalk.  Packed back into the car, we headed back to San José just in time for it to rain as I was dropped off.  Cassie was dropped off just after I was, so we were both home to deal with the fact I had left the fridge powered off.  Coming home to a drying flood was the icing on the cake.

Next Semana Santa? As much as I like adventure, I'm saving up for an all inclusive resort.

Here's Cassie!

This is Cassie.  She is wonderful, terrible, and everything in between.  She shares my apartment, or rather, tolerates me when I'm home.  The veterinarian places her at about 5 months, based on the way she was teething when I brought her in to be spayed.  She plays, she attacks (especially my feet) and she cuddles when she chooses.  Waking up to find her staring at me has become a regular thing.  We have a morning cuddle, and then food is necessary.  She's far more effective than an alarm clock, especially if she hasn't let me clip her nails in a while.

Cassie comes from the province of Alajuela, near Volcan Poas.  I would have named her Ash, or Shadow, but she came with the name Cassandra.  Since that's a little long for such a little kitten, she only hears Cassandra when she's in trouble. Marcela and I had gone to see the volcano on a day trip, which turned into a cloudy, misty day at that altitude.  They tell me there's a crater...Anyhow.  We went for lunch at La Casita de Dona Julia in Alajuela.  As we got out of the vehicle, there was a tiny gray kitten curling itself around our feet, meowing and purring to be picked up and petted.  I, of course, couldn't resist and indulged both myself and the kitten.  Not speaking enough Spanish to ask about where the kitten came from, I relied on Marcela to translate for me and the owner of the casita.  Cassie did have people feeding her, but, from what I understood, not a permanent home.  The owner had a new baby in the home, and the little human was demanding more attention than the little kitten.  The offer:  If I could and would provide a home for the kitten, I could take her.  Just like that.

Ok, a few things to consider.  One, my landlady doesn't like the idea of animals in her apartments. (She now asks about Cassie every time she stops by.)  Two, I'm pretty allergic to cats.  (We're doing fine so far!  Maybe warm climate cats shed less?  Just a theory.) Three, how would we get the kitten home?

Marcela was a darling.  She's a dog person, yet she trusted me to keep Cassie with me in the car.  Cassie spent most of the time sitting on my shoulder, purring and watching the world go by, though not before exploring the vehicle and crying on my lap.  She has continued the shoulder habit; when she gets her shots, she ends up tucked into my neck after she's released from the vet's grip.  Marcela and I dropped Cassie off at my apartment, shut into the tiny bathroom, and then we went and bought everything a tiny kitten could possibly need.   Coming home, Cassie set about exploring her new home, and eating everything I set in new, blue dish.

Cassie and I are getting along just fine.  There are certain things I would have liked to have trained her not to do (knocking my toothbrush off the windowsill, chewing on my shoes/socks/feet, and licking my nose in the morning) but time will tell if it's too late.  I think she's pretty smart, but then, I'm biased.  She entertains me, tolerates me, and occasionally shows me how much she loves me by drooling with pleasure while she's purring on my lap.  I keep her fed, supplied with toys and things to hide in, and I try not to laugh to loudly when she's goofy. (It hurts her pride. Really.)

I'm sure Cassie will be a common theme from now on, or at least mentioned throughout.  She's had her rabies shot, so she's "legal" to enter Canada with me when I come home to stay.  If only it was that easy for the rest of us to travel!

Costa Rica, Meet the Graas'

My mom and dad have been back in Canada for a week now, and according to them, they're questioning why they ever left Costa Rica in the first place.  They returned to -24 degrees C and snow, snow and more snow.  I"ll try to recap the trip, complete with pictures, just to entice them, and everyone else, to come for a visit.

The adventure began at the airport Thursday night.  I arrived late, after two buses and a 10 block hike through downtown.  Luckily, Mom and Dad's plane touched down a little late, and then it took them awhile to get through customs so neither of us had to wait very long.  As I stood outside watching, a man approached, asking, "You need taxi?"  I said, "Yes, but later."  "Ok.  I wait."  And he did.  When Mom and Dad came through the door, he shooed away the other drivers and escorted us up to the departure parking lot where he called a buddy.  Yes, it was a real taxi, a red one with an official number and all, but those aren't supposed to be operating at the airport.  His buddy ran a taxi from Alajuela, gave a us a good deal, and we got home safely.  Mom loved the Birds of Paradise flowers I gave them when I picked them up, and they lasted the whole week.

Friday morning found us taking a taxi to the Don Carlos to meet the Interbus -- Easy-going, Everywhere.  The van was early, yes, early!  We piled in, picked up a few others, and headed to LaFortuna and Volcan Arenal.

We stayed at the Arenal Observatory Lodge, which is VERY close to the volcano.  It was beautiful, misty, and isolated.  The Interbus ride was uneventful until we got to the turn off to the hotel.  8 km of bumpy, pot-holed gravel road had us questioning our choice (We decided Blair would have bailed after the 2nd km), but the hotel made up for it.  Hummingbirds, Montezuma birds and many others were everywhere, and they had a waterfall on the property.  Saturday was a raft ride down the river, and the Baldi Hot Springs, and Sunday was rain.  I was glad the rain started, though it made everything fairly soggy and we couldn't take the morning hike.  I wanted to Mom and Dad to see what the rain was like here; they saw and survived!

Sunday afternoon we headed back to San Jose, and they checked into the Don Carlos in the historic Barrio Amon of San Jose.  The staff there is fantastic, and spoke excellent English.  We booked a tour for the next day, the 3-in-1 Rainforest Adventure, and prepared to get up early again.

7:20 (?) we were on the road again.  First stop was the Sarapique River, which we took a tour boat down.  We were very thankful for the canopy on the boat, as the sun was nice and strong that day!  Next was the Selva Verde Lodge for a "hike" and lunch.  The food was excellent, and the hike was alright.  We saw a few frogs and such, but they were hard to photograph -- tiny and quick!  Last was the Aerial Tram tour, which took us into the upper canopy of the trees, supposedly to see different things.  It was beautiful and calm.  The tour also included some snake and frog exhibits, which I thought were pretty cool.  Dad disagreed.  We collected him from the entrance to see the butterfly garden after he chose not to explore the snakes.  They had a frog exhibit that show the frogs in various stages of development, from tadpole to frog.  We actually saw tadpoles that were still swimming, but had legs.  Giftshop, sloth spying, and back on the bus to San Jose.

Tuesday I had to return to work for the rest of the week, but that didn't slow Mom and Dad down.  They came to school that morning, and then rested that afternoon.  Wednesday and Thursday their tours took them to Volcan Poas and Irazu, Cafe Duka (?) coffee plantation, La Paz waterfall gardens, Orosi and surrounding valley, and Cartago with it's Basilica and ruins.  They've seen more of Costa Rica than I have now!  Friday I taught for the first two blocks, and then met Mom and Dad at the hotel.  Their walking tour of San Jose had gone well, by all accounts, and Mom and I took the bus to Moravia.  We shopped, had lunch in the same casita that Jen and I had eaten at in November, and then walked for what seemed like forever before we found the right bus back to San Jose.  We made it, had supper and crashed for the night.  I won't mention the time.  All I'll say is that it was dark.

Saturday was an adventure!  We went to the feria (farmers' market) in Guadelupe by bus, and then walked to my apartment.  Apparently Dad and I don't agree on what "close" means anymore; I thought my apartment was close, and when we got there on foot, Dad informed me it wasn't.  I think that's a first for us!  I'm usually the one who doesn't want to walk, or work harder than I have to.  Maybe I'm changing?

After that we took a taxi back to the hotel, and then another to the Mercado Central.  A warren of little shops and tiny restaurants, it's pretty overwhelming.  Dad had been looking forward to it all week, but I don't know if it was what he expected.  He was successful in purchasing a couple of t-shirts and towels, and Mom was in awe of the wall of cut flowers.  It is pretty massive.  Leaving there, we walked down to Universal, which I wanted to show them, and we lost Dad for nearly an hour.  He wasn't lost, we lost him.  That's his story and he's sticking to it.  Mom and I now have even higher blood pressure, and an appreciation for the police who looked for the "mas alto gringo" (very tall white man), and we all made it back to the hotel in one piece.  End of story.

Saturday night we went to the Little Theatre Group's production of "Steel Magnolias" which was excellent.  The set was well-thought out; where the movie takes place all over the place, the play happens all in the beauty parlour.  A semi-thrust stage was used really well in the blocking choices, and the actors were well chosen for the most part.  The best part was sharing the experience with Mom and Dad.

Saturday night was also the night for good-bye.  Mom and Dad flew out early Sunday, and they thought they could handle the airport themselves, so I arranged for the tour van to pick them up and take them.  That was everything, and then we hugged and cried just a little, and I went home to cuddle Cassie.  Seeing as how they've made contact since then, I know they made it home safe and sound, even managing a movie during their layover in Phoenix.

Now for some pictures, and logging off before Cassie destroys something other than the newspaper.  Why she gets to sleep all day when she wakes me up is beyond me.