Panamama mia that was stressful

We have officially passed the 1/3 mark of our trip. This also marked the time that we had to leave the country to renew our visa. Panama beat out Nicaragua as the destination of choice mostly because we heard good things about the spot we ended up heading to. Our itinerary was to leave at dawn on Saturday, drive the 7-8 hours to Panama cross over, drive to the harbor town, leave the car in a secure lot, ferry over to Bocas del Toro, Isla Colon stay three nights, return to Costa Rica and stay one night close to the border then make the long drive back returning home before it got dark so as not to have to drive at night. Nice plan; we wish it had worked out that well.

First of all, Although we bought the car weeks ago, we didn't receive the title. On Tuesday before the trip we asked the lawyer if it had arrived and after much searching we were told it hadn't but we could come back on Thursday. On Friday we went back and the lawyer was out of town until the evening, Friday was full of fun. This was the day we found out that we actually needed a gov't permt to drive our own car out of the country. Not in the plans. Friday was also the day that Sidne decided to come down with some sort of infection in her throat. Nothing like going to a new country (without a car to use), isolating yourselves on an island with a sick child especially not knowing what was wrong with her. This wasn't going to happen, so Laurie with lots of help from Isue, took Sid down to a private clinic to get her checked out. It cost about $20.00 to see her at 6:00 pm on a Friday night if you can believe that. They were back at home with antibiotics in hand within an hour. Meanwhile I had procured the title and asked what could be done about the permit we didn't have to drive across the border. The lawyer and folks at a hotel close (but not very close) to the border suggested trying to take it across without the permit and if we couldn't we would be able to find a spot where someone could look after it. As you can imagine, at this point I and probably everyone else was thinking: Damn! this trip is looking like a lot of fun.

Well, what's worrying gonna get you (besides a restless night and an upset stomach)? Isn't funny that three adults can toss and turn all night and still over"sleep"? We did. So instead of a 5:00 start we got a 6:45 start. Oh it gets much better. Ten minutes into the trip we are no longer miving becasue for some reason someone thought it would be a good idea to route a road race on the one and only true freeway in Costa Rica. Once we made it past the bottleneck, we had to dodge rummers for the next ten miles (16 km) or so and each runner seemed to have their own attendant vehicle driving beside them. We finally made it to the first cutoff toward the Caribbean coast and missed the exit. All this meant that we were just as unsure of how to get to the next main road as if we had not missed the exit; we were just further down the road. Three stops later asking for directions we were on the correct path. Being this the land of no streets having names makes it tough, but when to road signs point out upcoming turnoffs but not exactly where to turn, really frustrates the already stressed and weary. And believe me some of the turns we passed up really looked like dead ends rather than entrances to major connecting roads, which is why we passed them up (and maybe they really were dead ends; we will never know).

Once we finally got to where we knew exactly where we were, we found ourselves in the midst of another road race, this time it was bicycles that we had to share the road with for another 10-15 miles (16-24 km). Once past them we started our climb through the mountains that separate the two sides of the country. There were many curves, no passing lanes in our direction and to top it off lots and lots of rain. Not a very fun stretch to drive, but on the bright side the temperatures were quite pleasant (cool and cooler but I still haven't found cold here yet even though the natives keep telling me it is out there somewhere.)

Nearing the border, we found ourselves in the midst of banana country. Imagine Midwest corn or wheat fields. It was bananas as far as the eye could see; each tree having its own blue bag protecting the fruit. According to our map, the road was supposed to be undeveloped, but Chiquita or Dole must have put a little money in improving them. A little, not a lot, because there were stretches where the nice beautiful road would disappear into something out of a war zone. Imagine Beirut. Sometimes there would be a warning sign and sometimes not. And then we were at the border.

We found out within seconds that we were not going to be driving across. We were however conveniently introduced to a man who told us he could be our everything in the border crossing process. It turns out that indeed he was. He found us a lot to park our car, took us through the immigration line, (even cutting to expedite the process; time is money when dealing with tourists) walked with us across to Panama to more lines and finally put us in a taxi. I am sure he gets a kick back for each non-governmental contact along the way, nevertheless he was worth the $10 we gave him. His advice and guidance actually saved us at least $64 in the legal border scam that Panama runs. The taxi was expensive compared to finding a bus, but at this point these tired, stressed, frustrated gringos were willing to pay for the taxi rather than spend who knows how long looking and waiting for a crowded bus just to save some money. That might have broken us.

Ninety minutes and a water taxi later found us on Isla Colon in Bocas del Toros. We spent the next three nights in a strange third class tourist destination. Other than the surfer type with rich parents, I am not really sure who this place caters to. The town itself is a bit run down with not much to offer other than scuba/snorkeling tours.

The first full day was spent swimming off of the hotel dock. Leif was too scared to snorkel as he seemed to have trouble breathing out of his mouth and the mask covered his nose. There were a good number and variety of fish under the dock and my mon and I swam out a ways and got to see a little more (nothing much to write home about and barely enough to mention in a blog). The next day we hired a boat to take us snorkeling and dolphin watching. We saw a few dolphins which was fun but nothing like the mental image I had prior to getting on the boat. We snorkeled for an hour or so and Leif eventually got brave enough to ride piggyback on either me or my mom. Laurie dropped her watch in the water but I was able to dive in and wrestle it away from some vicious

We did eat some good food and rediscovered hard liquor althought even that took some working at. We had an interesting experience (actually more than one or two) with the restaurant in our hotel. The wait staff was very green to be polite. They were nice enough, they just had no idea how to work in a restaurant. The food was okay, not always what we ordered but who is perfect. We ate our complimentary breakfasts there (the kids shaaring most of theirs with those fish under the dock which explains why there were so many of them) and the first dinner but had to find other place for all our other meals. The end of the first full day we came back from checking out the town, passing up many happy hours because our hotel offered a two for one special. The only problem was that the lady working the bar didn't know how to make any drinks. More beer. We finally did get some tequila in us but I am not quite sure what they used for margarita mix.

It's not to say we didn't have fun, especially the kids, but in the backdrop of all the stress, real and imagined, the trip as a whole wasn't whaat we had hoped it would be.

The trip back across the border should have been easier but it wasn't. We were lacking some info which we had to retrieve and print out via internet at the local pharmacy down the street. Incredibly we were allowed to drop our bags off at the car, which was still there, without them ever being checked by anyone (probably because there isn't any drug smuggling going on in this part of the world.) Fortunately obtaining the needed info was not very difficult at all except having to pay three dollars for the two pages we printed out. Luckily all the info was in a group and not individually otherwise it would have been $15. The unfortunate part was that upon our return to immigration, there was a line. It was only six people deep and five of them were a family from Paraguay who needed the same paperwork done, but it took nearly an hour and they had to replace the lady who didn't know what she was doing before we made it through.

All in all it was not the nightmare others have lived to tell about but it was bad enough that Laurie does not want to walk across another border. For our next visa renewal, we bought tickets to fly into exotic Boston in February. Our friends the Martins thought that by sending us a boatload of chocolate for Halloween they would have done enough but now they have to host us as well. Talk about tough. Believe it or not the tickets to Boston were the cheapest we could find going anywhere. I can't understand why flying into Boston in February would be so inexpensive. The laws of supply and demand must not apply in this instance.

I would be amiss if I didn't mention the drive home from Panama. No races, we didn't get lost (at least not until we got back across the mountains and had to change roads), traffic was light, the weather was perfect and there were plenty of passing lanes through the mountains. Except for the twenty minutes of sheer terror (driving the curviest, hilliest [up/down] and car strewn road, through very thick wet fog, not knowing whether to slow down and get hit from behind, move over and hit someone else or to plow on through chancing missing a curve and falling off the mountainside, the entire time thinking we were going to die) it was a nice drive. Needless to say we made it home safely. We even had enough daylight to spare so that we could stop and enjoy a Price Smart (Costco) dog and ice cream. As a sidenote it should be mentioned that this particular route was suggested by our friend Karoy and when I recalled the drive to him, he let me know that it was the most dangerous stretch of road in the country with people dying on it all the time. I am not really sure to make of his suggesting we drive that way.

It didn't take us long to fall back into our Costa Rica groove. The kids were back in school the next day (Thursday) Leif for half of it anyway and neither of them had school on Friday. The Duck game was on t.v. and we had a pork rib dinner. The weather is in the high eighties and we have been regulars at the local pool. Yep life is good and it is good to be back "home".

As a side note this is the third time I have typed this out as the blog page kept saying it was saving it but it really wasn't, hence the reason for the delay.

Nothing important except one very important thing

A few quick updates, then some observations that make me smile.

We dropped Carolyn off at her hotel the other day as she has headed back to Portland. On the way into town we stopped off at a nice souvenir shop which has an iguana theme. In back of the store there is a nice (for us maybe not so much for the iguanas) enclosure containing some beautiful iguanas. They tell us that when they have babies they release them nearby to add to the ambience.

We leave tomorrow for Panama; our first trip outside the country to renew our visas. The trip is not the best of planned outings but we should get along fine. I hope. We haven't figured out exactly the route once we cross the border be it should be easy to figure out. I hope. We don't know where exactly we can store our car before we cross over to Isla Colon but we should be able to find a secure spot. I hope. We need to be out of country for 72 hours so when we cross back over into Costa Rica it will be too late in the afternoon to drive all the way back home so we will need to find a place to stay for the night. We haven't booked a place yet as we want to check out three possibilities. There should be room in one of them. I hope.

Tomorrow is Laurie's birthday. It will mark the third time she has been out of the country and missed spending her special day with friends and family. She is a bit bummed especially since hearing Jennie is throwing a little party and she won't be there. So if you want to make her feel better about being away from friends and family you could refuse to attend Jennie's party or I guess you could also send her an e-mail. We are going to be taking our computer with us so she can Skype; if you see us online drop her a little b-day greeting.

We have a new mascota. It showed up today. Who knows where it came from or how long it will be around but we love our little puff-ball.

We went to a singing contest/festival at the kids' school the other night and enjoyed some wonderful food and some not so wonderful singing. Actually there were a few acts that were very good and even those that didn't bring their buckets were still either charming or entertaining. Overall it was a very nice night.

We went to a farm of an ex-American living Puerto Rican. I met him at the local farmer's market and he invited us to his farm. When we showed up unannounced he was in the shower but the much younger lady who is always with him at the market invited us in. As we were waiting Laurie tried to break the ice by trying to convey that we were invited to show up any time we wanted and we would be welcomed. So she asked the lady "Is the man your father?" Of course he wasn't he; she informed us he was her husband. Luckily Laurie didn't ask as she was about to "Is the old man your father?" In her defense he is about twenty or more years older than her. Anyways, he showed us around. We got to see four very new calves including one that was born the night before. He also took us/me around to show how his pineapples grow. Very educational. Along our walk he opened up quite a bit about his family and how disapointed he is in his son who moved to the US to go to school, couldn't find work so went to law school but after passing the bar decided he like that line of work so isn't really doing much now. He couldn't believe why his son wouldn't want to come back to run the farm. He was probably even more upset seeing how he kept complaining about how his "peons" (his word not mine) are not working as he thinks they should and his place (72 acres) is going to pot. He invited us back when things were drier and he would show us his horses and maybe even let us ride them.

I have included another picture of the papaya tree in our backyard. This was taken 8 days after the previous photo. The mango trees in the driveway are still healthy and really need to be dug up. Where to put a tree that you won't be around to enjoy? and won't cause someone else future problems? The watermelon is doing well; I will pass on your regards.

We watch quite a bit of television. Sadly, other than sports, we watch a lot of reruns of friends, three and a half men, the big bang theory, new adventures of old christine, and some other oldies but goodies. We get a chance to chuckle a bit. However the thing that might be most entertaining is the commercials and our ad-lib interpretations that go along with them. For example, there are tons of Colgate toothpaste commercials. The funny thing is that in reality a person's only choice here is between which of the 15 varieties of Colgate they will buy or go without brushing. There is also a commercial for tampons that is set with a woman watching all the wonderful tampon information though a view-finder. Needless to say we have all sorts of fun with something like that. Finally, these Costa Ricans have a real infatuation with women's armpits. There are a number of different commercials from different brands touting how wonderful clean dry pits can be. There is one in which a man takes an up close sniff at one such armpit.

Pride and Papaya

I have wanted to take a photo similar to this one for some time now, but didn't want to face the shame of having to explain it. Upon further reflection as to what the heck else I am going to do today I decided to face the music. Here follows the long version ,sorry there is no short version but it comes down to how much free time I really do have.

When we first got here I went to a nursery and bought three huge tropical houseplants (here they are called "plants" and grow everywhere.) I also ended up buying a six-foot lime tree and a small, one-foot papaya tree. I got all of these for less than $20.00.

I eventually got the lime tree into the ground; after breaking our shovel, getting it replaced and almost breaking it again. There are a lot of big rocks in our front yard. I didn't get the papaya in quick enough and by the time it was planted it was doomed and died a week or so later.

Meanwhile, we noticed that there was another one foot or less papaya tree (pictured above, now standing a proud six feet or so) growing wild in our back yard. The thing grows at least six inches a week. My plan was to take a photo standing next to our trees to show how quickly they grow, but alas, one is dead and the other doesn't seem to be growing as quickly as the guy at the nursery said it would. Nonetheless I will swallow my pride and continue to take regular pictures of the wild, un-nurtured papaya tree that I can't really claim as my own (I will be claiming the fruit from this tree as my own however.)

I have also been trying to grow fruits and vegetables in big pots but without much success. I am however much better at growing things when I dig a hole in the yard and bury compost. Right now there are a few large-ish watermelon plants that have started to flower (and between the time I started this post the other day and now, a small fruit has developed - see photo below). There are also four mango trees in the middle of our driveway strip (obviously they will have to be moved before the end of the week or we won't be able to park our car near the house), a number (a very large number) of yet to be identified plants throughout the yard in the various compost holes and at least a hundred papaya starts making their own little lawn in one corner of the yard.

Halloweenies

We spent Halloween evening trying to bring a little US tradition to this heathenless country. We carved a pumpkin, a pumpkin-esque squash, and even a little watermelon (top photo center jack-o -lantern). Don't laugh at the sorry attempt at carving the pumpkin (far right) that damn thing was like carving stone. At one point, I seriously considered breaking out the hammer and flat-head screwdriver, except we don't own a hammer. It took nearly an hour not including the numerous breaks I had to take to rest (and watch the Ducks smash USC which by the grace of god we got to watch live on cable. Not that I don't appreciate watching them through the Skype feed. Thanks again Ricardo.)

The kids, ours and Isue and Karoy's then made balloon Jack-Os and then went trick or treating. Since no one here celebrates it in the proper gluttonish fashion we had to improvise. The kids started at our front door and then moved through the house from room to room including the bathroom. They made this circuit until the two bags of candy were exhausted. Not exactly the same but they seemed to enjoy themselves nonetheless. It helped Sid and Leif that the other children really got a kick out of the experience. I think I was probably the most devastated, (due to the absence of the whole neighborhood involvement thing) but only because I am really jonesing for chocolate and usually get a good month's worth from the kids hauling in a pillowcase full of candy from which I can pilfer. This year all the chocolate was eaten by the next day. The photo of Sidne above gives a good depiction of how I felt and continue to feel whenever I think about how much we gave up to come to Costa Rica. I have yet to see a Reese's peanutbutter cup since we arrived. Enough said!

October 2009, by Laura Birt

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Housebound no more

One of my major worries in writing a blog in lieu of a journal was not updating it very often especially in light of how bad I am in keeping a journal in the first place. So my apologies to myself and everyone else.

It has been a busy ten days or so. We went through the experience of buying a car in a foreign land. There is a lot more to it than one would think. If you don't like the thought of car shopping in the states you would not have enjoyed the process we had to go through to get ours.

As soon as our friend Karoy heard that we were seriously wanting to get a car (we thought we could survive without one but we couldn't and it has already paid dividends) he was very much on the job. That same day he took us by an acquaintance's house to look at his car, an Isuzu Rodeo. The car was not at home. So he drove by another house who he knew was selling a car. It turns out it belonged to an ex-priest who gave up his calling to get married and then the two of them gave up their jobs to sell the equivalent of Nutra-system type products. Things were not working out for them career move wise, financially or socially so they want to move away and start anew. It was a nice car but I had was not ready to jump at the first car we saw especially since it was a Suzuki. Then he drove us around a nearby neighborhood looking for his boss' brother's house because he had a car for sale. Three times around the same "block" called the street of witches in the dead of night we still did not find it. As we decided to give up the car drove right past us. It was an older Ford Explorer so we continued on our way without looking back (sorry Amanda & Ricardo but I wouldn't want a Ford back home why would I want one here). Strike three.

The next day he brought his wife, Isue, over for an English lesson with Laurie. We looked through internet classified ads for used cars. It seemed that after hours of research the Suzuki might not be a bad little car after all. Just as they were about to leave we spotted an ad for a car in Heredia about two hours away. Karoy quickly called and it was still available. He asked if we wanted to go look at it that afternoon. We wanted to but we were in the middle of laundry, no one else was home and the others didn't have keys not to mention Karoy said we would have to take the bus back if we didn't buy the car. Karoy was in a hurry but he had his mind made up to help find us a car and he thought this might be a good one. We packed for what we knew would be a long day (every adventure with Karoy turns into a long day), wrote a note, asked the neighbors to hold our house keys and were out the door.

We had to pick up a mechanic Karoy knew, a Cuban, on the way about 20 minutes from the car dealership. We looked at the car, took a quick test drive, got the okay from the mechanic and struck a deal. So far so good. We had to then drop Karoy at his old workplace, take the mechanic back and stop at the bank to withdraw enough money to complete the transaction. We weren't even going to have to take the bus back. After a quick bite to eat (at Mc Donald’s of all places but Laurie was very hungry and it was too dangerous to cross the busy street to get to Taco Bell) we went to the bank. After waiting in line (sitting down then getting up and moving a seat then sitting back down every time we moved up) for 45 minutes, the teller told us that he couldn’t help us and we had to go to another line. It wasn’t our fault, the concierge sat us there after asking us what we needed and he said. “perfect” when we answered that we did indeed speak English. After a 20 minute wait, we found out that there is a limit to how much of our monwy we had access to. It turns out that it wasn’t enough.

All this time Karoy is late for work. When we picked up Karoy, sans money to buy the car, he informs us that the dealer’s lawyer was not available today anyways but if we put down a small deposit they would not only hold the car but would bring it to us the next day. We did indeed end up on the bus, and didn’t arrive home until after ten (there was a fatal accident two miles from our stop that blocked the road for to extend our day just that much longer). Karoy did not get fired so it was not all bad.

We heard that the dealer’s attorney would not be available for a few days so we struck out on our own. Actually Karoy asked around and got us a recommendation. This attorney also happened to be in San Juan for the day so we wandered to the office of a lawyer who had introduced himself to Laurie one day. He made a few calls including to Karoy and after some discussion hooked us up with another lawyer who lives three blocks away and set the meeting with the car dealer. The next day we met with the lawyer, signed the papers and were on our way with our “new” car (a 1998 Yoyota RAV4) it actually said Yoyota in the paperwork. You cannot purchase a car without using a lawyer; who acts as not only the go between the buyer and seller but as a government liaison to collect taxes and fees (including their own). We didn’t take a picture of the car so if you are curious google white 98 RAV4 and I am sure you will get a good idea of what we purchased.

This was actually going to be about our trip to Baldi Hot Springs but I got carried away I apologize once again. And thanks Karoy for all the help. It just may be worth it to you seeing as how now you won’t have to think you need to cart us around from place to place. Thanks for that too, we appreciate it.

One more quick aside. We were throwing the idea of moving to a new location with a more gringo-friendly climate and Karoy within an hour had made a few calls got a line on a place and three more numbers to call with places to rent. We have made no moves on that front as of yet (we would hate to lose our address as it is so catchy and easy to remember)

Do we derserve this?

Here are a few of the dozens of pictures we took while staying at the Baldi Hotel (spa and resort). How we ended up here I am not exactly sure but we somehow rationalized that since dinner and breakfast were included not to mention free access to the array of natural hot springs/pools it was indeed the most economical way to go (if economical is Latin for luxurious). The rest of the photos will be posted to the online account shortly (I don't remember which service it is but they will be there). There are some good flower/plant photos so i would check it out if those kinds of things interest you.

We got off to a late start Wed. morning for a few reasons, mostly because we are Gregory/Birts but also because Leif was sick and running a fever and we were deciding whether or not to cancel the trip altogether. In the long run I figured he could just as easily be sick in the lap of luxury as in our quaint hot little house driving each other crazy for three days of no school. Reason won out and thank goodness it did, as we got to enjoy three lovely days in paradise.

The pictures do a decent job of describing what we experienced. There were many pools with natural thermal spring water of various temperatures including a few that would around bars. They kids and Jana enjoyed ordering drinks while swimming even if Sid is going to have to take out a second mortgage to cover the tab. Thanks Sid and Carolyn. Besides swimming there was delicious food including a chocolate fondue fountain, incredible gardens throughout the estate, a great view of the nearby volcano (for the five minutes it wasn't covered in clouds) and an extremely comfortable KING-sized bed. One of the toughest things about living in Costa Rica is the double bed. For one it is a double and not a king and two it is not very comfortable (unless you are planning on visiting)

We spent our days living like tourists; which if you could afford it is not such a bad life every so often. The last day we hiked around the volcano for a few hours. We got to see some sort of new (1992) lava beds, some beautiful jungle, and were visited by the above coati who fleeced us of all our bananas. He actually scared us into giving them to him so as to leave us in some peace while we ate a quick bite before heading back home.