The whale

Folks,

Well, it's been another interesting and enlightening week. I have completed a Writer's Bureau assignment, and am waiting for feedback from my tutor. I have also brainstormed a list of potential articles I could do for some different websites.

The pic of the week shows the inside of the casita.

The Whale
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Have you ever been in a situation when you're sitting on your porch, reading away, when a whale goes by? Well, that's exactly what happened to me on Tuesday. I was reading (it's amazing how much reading there is in writing!) and I glanced out at the ocean. I saw what I thought was a white boat. But then I realised it was a lot of splashing. I could see something white or silvery out of the water, and got my binoculars for a closer look. I realised that it was in fact the fin of a whale. He was just splashing around playing as far as I could make out. I watched for five or ten minutes until he arched his body and slid over the surf and back into the ocean. Really amazing, and all from where I'm writing to you now.

Journey to Cóbano
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Charlie told me that he was going into Cóbano, which is the closest 'big' town. It's 12km away. I needed to go to the ATM (there's none in Santa Teresa or Mal País) and to post some letters. So he called for me in his truck, and we set off. About half way there he realised that we had a puncture. So we had to stop to fix it in the baking sun. Once done, we were back on the road and into the town. While we were in the queue in the bank, Charlie looked out and realised that another tyre was now flat. And if you saw the road between here and Cóbano you wouldn't be surprised. So his business partner, Ronald, who was with us, said he'd go down to the garage to have it fixed.

When we finished Charlie brought me down to the post office, and then we went for lunch, because there was still no sign of Ronald. After lunch, Charlie decided that we'd walk out towards the garage and meet him on his way back. I resisted the urge to offer to wait in Cóbano, and joined him on the 2km trek out to the garage, wishing I'd remembered to put on sun cream. When we got there there was no sign of Ronald, and they said that nobody had been in with a white van. They told us that there was another garage on the other side of Cóbano however, and he must have gone there. So we trekked back into the town. Another 2km. Still no sign of Ronald. At this stage, as Charlie started walking out the road to the second garage, I kindly offered to stay at the crossroads to see if he arrived from anywhere else. Anyway, on the way Charlie met Ronald, and all was sorted.

Cóbano is quite small. It's basically a crossroads with a supermarket, a bank, a post office, a few shops and a few sodas (basic restaurants). Not exactly somewhere you'd be heading into for a night out.

Cosy rain
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I know Irish readers aren't having much of a summer, but as it's rainy season there is a fair bit of rain here too. I have to say I really enjoy it. I can still be out on the porch, because it's covered by a broad roof. There is something beautifully relaxing about working outdoors while the rain flows from the roof overhead. The problem with the weather in Ireland is not so much the rain, as the absence of 27 degree weather with a cooling breeze at the same time.

Dengue fever
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I was visited by a guy from the department of health during the week. There was a case of dengue fever nearby, and he was checking for any stagnant water which is a draw for the mosquitoes carrying the disease. He wrote the number 57 on my door with marker for some reason, and told me that everything was fine. I really hope so, because right now dengue would really cramp my idyllic lifestyle.
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That's all for this week. I've just checked my diary, and I've got nothing at all in it for this week!

So until next week!

Chao,

Éamon

Today's Headline in La Nación: Premium petrol to cost over c600 (€0.85) a litre

The new routine

Folks,

I'm really getting used to the new life, and it's so different from life in Heredia. One of the most important things for writing, and I've read this again and again, is to have a routine. SO I've really been working on that. Otherwise three months could fly by very quickly and it could be little more than a holiday.

The pic of the week shows one of the sunsets during the week. It was quite cloudy, so I didn't see the actual sun set. But when it did there was a magnificent change of colour in the sky.

Media withdrawal
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Now that I've moved, without a doubt the most difficult thing for me is not to have access to internet. Without internet or a TV I feel completely cut off from the world. I feel like a 9/11 could happen and I won't find out about it until the following Wednesday or Saturday. Well, that's not strictly true, because I'm in the supermarket most days and I do get to glance at the headlines. But I do miss the internet access so much.

My projects
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First let me tell you what I'm actually doing. I'm not writing a book, as many people think (well, not yet!). I have four projects that I'm mainly working on.

The first is a correspondence course in writing with The Writers Bureau in the UK. I have ten books to study, and ten assignments to do over the course. I email these assignments to my tutor, and she gives me feedback. The emphasis in the first part is in writing non-fiction articles for newspapers and magazines. For writers, this is where the bankable money is. Later it will get into fiction.

The second project is related to this, and this is where I am myself looking at publications, analysing them, and identifying what I could write that they may be willing to buy and publish. Initially, I'm looking at a lot of stuff on the web, because I don't have access to too many English language publications here. I'm mostly looking for places that would be interested in articles on Costa Rica or on teaching English abroad.

The third is a book called The Artist's Way. This is a 12 week course (which exactly coincides with my time in the casita) which aims to reawaken your creative side. I have started this course twice before, but only ever got to week 4 because of pressure of time and letting other things get in the way. Now I have no excuse.

And the fourth is a book called The Right to Write. It's by the same woman as The Artist's Way, but is specifically focused on creativity in writing and unblocking.

So between these four projects, I have quite a full day of tasks and activities.

Daily routine
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Everything I read about writing has emphasised the importance of routine. Of 'showing up at the page'. So I have got a very disciplined daily routine at this stage.


I get up early. People who know how much I'm not a morning person will be surprised at that. But I'd got into the habit of having earlier days towards the end of my time in Heredia. It's mainly because in the rainy season the best part of the day is in morning. And anyway, it's dark after six, so it's better to get up early and have more of the day.

So I get up, get this, between 6.30 and 7. I get up and go out on the porch, into the hammock, and write my morning pages. The morning pages are a type of journal that I keep, and is a requirement of The Artist's Way. I write about anything and everything that is on my mind. Then I have breakfast, a cup of good Irish tea, and have my shower.

I'm back out on the porch for about 7.45, and I start working through my tasks. I prepare the list the night before. I work at the table out on the porch with my computer, but if I have to read things I either sit in the wooden armchair, which has the best view, or the hammock, which is the most comfortable.

I work through until about 1, and then I have lunch, and a little 20 minute 'power' nap. This nap is my secret to being able to keep up with the early starts. Then I'm back into working from about 2 and I finish at 5. After that, I go down to the beach most days with my book, and get ready to watch the sunset.

I do this six days a week, my day off being Sunday. On Sundays, I have a lie-in (until about 9!) and spend most of my day on the beach. On Wednesdays and Saturdays I go down with my laptop to the internet place, and upload and download stuff to read and write offline when I get back to the casita.

Sunsets
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I can't tell you how much I love the sunsets. They are quite fast here. It's a 10 minute walk to the beach, and everything happens between 5.45, when it's still bright, but the sky is beginning to get orangey, and 6.15 when it's dark. Often there is cloud because it's rainy season, so you don't see the actual sun itself setting. But the changes in the light as the last rays of the sun catch the various levels of cloud is truly breathtaking. I used to watch it from the porch, but when you're on the beach you have it around you in every direction. In the sky and also reflected in the water. If the tide is in it's reflected in the full ocean. If the tide is out it's reflected in the wet sand. I keep taking photos of it, but they always look the same. But when you're there, every evening is different. Sometimes I look at the clouds and try to imagine what way the light will go tonight, and I'm constantly surprised.
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Well, that's it for this week. Wednesday is a bank holiday, not that that will mean much to me. It's to celebrate the annexation of Guanacaste and Nicoya. I'm now living on the Nicoya peninsula, and it was part of Nicaragua in the past. The día del anexión celebrates when it became part of Costa Rica.

Until next week,

Chao,

Éamon

Today's Headline in La Nación: Power costs increase to businesses to avoid power cuts

Settling in

Folks,

Well, I'm nearly 2 weeks in the casita now, and I love it more as time goes on. I have absolutely no regrets about deciding to stay. I will always remember my time living here on the coast.

The pic of the week shows the view from the porch. This is fairly much the same view as you get from the windows of the casita too. The ocean looks closer and bigger in real life than it does in the photos. We often have lightning at night, and it's amazing to see the whole ocean lit up. To the left you can see the top of the house with the red roof (very Jack Black).

Day one
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On the first day, I couldn't believe that having been totally stranded at 5pm on a Sunday on the coast of Costa Rica, where I knew no-one, with all my stuff in a car and no place to stay, that by 6pm I could be sorted out with a beautiful place to live for three months. It's funny how things have a way of working out.

I took the first day fairly easily, because I was wrecked. I unpacked some essentials in the morning. In the afternoon I took a nap in the hammock. There is a bush in front of it with flowers, and it was visited all afternoon by hummingbirds. I woke to hear sound of heavily rustling leaves and breaking branches. I know that sound now, and it means monkeys. And sure enough there was a family of howler monkeys in the trees just beside me. I didn't even take a picture, because I expected if it happened day one, it was likely to be a regular occurrence. However, I haven't seen them again. I hear them alright. Anyone who has been here will be very familiar with the very distinctive howl of the howlers.

The casita
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I have unpacked now and made the casita into a home. As I described before, it's a large hexagonal room. I have a couch, a king size double bed and a kitchen area. I've taken the table and chairs outside, and I use the table as my desk. I also eat outside. The bathroom is off the main room, and has a sink, shelves, storage cabinets and a large walk-in shower. Which in this temperature I'm using at least twice a day.

The windows are quite complex. They have wooden frames. There are wooden slats, which you close at night almost like venetian blinds. You can open the area with the slats, and let more light in with just the glass. Or you can open the larger frame, when you open the glass part and the slats part together, and you just have the mosquito screen and can let air in. The only problem is that when you open them all the frames are hinged into the house. You have to clear everything from the counter and sink to make room. And they swing about in the breeze. So I usually just open one over the couch for airing the room during the day.

I'm outside almost all the time anyway on the porch. Except later at night when the amount of insects is incredible, and they're clattering into you a lot. I have air conditioning inside, which I also use only at night. There is no TV, which I don't miss. And no internet, for which I'm still suffering withdrawal symptoms.

Outside the porch follows the hexagonal shape. There is plenty of room. There are two wooden armchairs, where I relax with a beer in the evening. I have moved the kitchen table and chairs out. They comprise my office. I have an electricity extension lead, so I have the laptop out here and speakers for my music.

Then there is the hammock, which I love. The only problem is that the hummingbird bush partly obscures the ocean view. But as a place to go to read my book, and also sometimes with the laptop to write, it's wonderful.

Behind the hammock is a large wooden storage box for my surfboards. Charlie is very anxious for me to try surfing. But after a disastrous attempt one time in Mayo I know I'll never be a surfer dude. Man.

The location
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I'm halfway up a hill overlooking the sea. Charlie's house is further up. Half way between me and the road, and before the real climb, is Charlie's Mexican restaurant, Rancho Sancho, which is my postal address. It's a lovely Mexican restaurant. I've eaten in it twice. However, typically for Costa Rica, there are never any customers.

Further down from the Rancho you come to the main road. It's unpaved. When we've had a few dry days (like now) it's baked so hard that it could almost be very uneven concrete. But when it rains it's like a mudbath. I frequently have mud all up the back of my legs. Walking sometimes is like being on a bike without mudguards.

Walking south you come to the main part of Santa Teresa town, passing two supermarkets, in about 15 minutes. To the right there is my nearest supermarket, Super Costa. Near that there is a really lovely Thai restaurant. Thai is my favourite food, so I'm delighted with it. I had a delicious red curry there last Saturday, and the bill including beer and dessert was around €10. I'm going back there tonight.

About 10 minutes walk north is the place I'm using now for internet. I connect my laptop and download emails and Google Reader so I can catch up on most things. However, the connection is really slow and I can't really download podcasts and even uploading my photos is very slow, so I'm going to check out some other places.

Just down from the Thai restaurant is the beach. It's really beautiful, and it's huge. It's a series of beaches really. Stretching for miles. Some are rocky, and some sandy. It's a big place for surfers. I can often see them from the porch, and when I walked up the beach the other day there are loads.

The sun sets to the north of my view. But I'm hoping this will change over the three months. In Ireland, I always thought that the sun set in one place, but in Costa Rica there is a huge variation between the summer and winder solstices. I remember in Manuel Antonio at Christmas setting myself up to watch the sun set behind the mountain where it had in April, only to watch it set behind an island in a completely different place. As it's July, the sun is heading south, so I'm hopeful I'll get the full sunset before I leave at the end of September. Right now though, I often go down to the beach in the evening to watch it set just on 6pm.
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Well, that's it for this week. I'm sitting on the porch (my office!) as I write. It's just after midday, and it's 31 degrees. And there's this comical huge insect flying around. He's like a big yellow and black beetle. He lifts his shell up, wings come out, and he flies with a noise like he's got a motor. Then he crash lands. Gets up. And tries the whole thing over.

Until next week,

Chao,

Éamon

Today's Headline in La Nación: Referendum will decide TLC if more than 1,061,000 vote

The move, part II

So, I'm on the side of the road, it's after 5pm, I have everything I own in the car, no place to stay, and monkey turd on the roof.

Rancho Sancho
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I started to drive down the road to look for somewhere with cabinas where I could stay for a couple of nights. I saw a sign for a Mexican restaurant and a hotel called Hotel Buenissima, which had 'casitas' or little houses. I turned and drove up the very uneven road. The bottom of the car scraped off the road a couple of times. I went into the restaurant, and the guy said that they had casitas for $75 a night. I said that was too much, and he directed me to a cheaper place across the road. It was very basic, and there was no answer at the door. So I came back and asked him to show me the casita. He phoned the owner, and told me to wait.

Charlie, the owner, is an older American guy. He came down on a quad bike, and told me he had me covered. He had beautiful casitas and he'd give me one for $55 a night. I explained my situation, and he said that he'd help me unload my stuff. He told me to follow him up the hill. Now, the car I rented was a 4x4, because you need that to travel the roads to Santa Teresa in the rainy season. But it was entry level 4x4 and it wasn't very powerful. Halfway up the hill it got stuck. It wouldn't budge. I kept revving to try to get it to continue, but although the engine roared, nothing was happening with the wheels. Then thick black smoke started coming out the engine. After a little while Charlie arrived to know why I wasn't following. He saw the smoke, and from the smell told me immediately that it was the clutch on its last legs. So I wasn't going to be able to get up to the casita. I had to reverse back down to the restaurant.

I thought that was it. Then Charlie followed and told me that he had a pickup truck. And that if I wanted we could load my stuff into it, and bring it up to the casita that way. So that's what we did. I was mortified to have so much stuff, but he was really helpful.

Casita Amarilla
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When we got up the very steep hill, I saw the three casitas. They are three beautiful wooden, octagonal, cabinas. Each has a different colour roof. Blue, yellow and red. Mine was the yellow. Casita Amarilla means the little yellow house. As opposed to the big Yellow House in Rathfarnham where I've spent many a long night.

When we walked down the steps I saw that it had an ocean view. It was just coming to sunset, and the sky was a mixture of red and orange cloud. It was so beautiful. The porch had two wooden armchairs and a hammock. Inside, it was one big room, with a couch, a double bed, and along the opposite wall, a kitchen area. Off was a bathroom with a large walk in tiled shower. I immediately saw how perfect it was. It's like how I imagined living on the coast would be.

I asked him how much it would be to rent. He said that he couldn't get anything close to Laura's price. But then I had to admit that the place wasn't anything close to Laura's place. He said he could give me a good price, because it was off season. However, it was still out of my price range. He told me to stay the night and see how I felt in the morning.

Decision time
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I really agonised about whether to stay or not. And in the end it just came down to gut feeling versus money. My strong feeling was that this was the place for me. And although it's more expensive I am getting more money for Rathmines too, and it's only three months. So I decided to go for it.

Plus, I'd have had to drive around in the dodgy car looking for another place. Then I'd have had to load all my stuff back into Charlie's pickup, driven down to the car, loaded into that, then drive to the new place, and unload it all again!

Back to San José
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I had hired the car until Tuesday, so I could have a little time to explore the area before dropping it back. But given the clutch situation I didn't use it on Monday at all, and then took the journey back to San José very easily. I had come here before by bus, and I didn't realise how bad the road was. From the previous town, Cóbano, the road is unpaved. So there are many areas where it's just crumbled away, and many parts where it's just a complete mudbath. But the car made the journey back to San José. I left at 6.30 in the morning, and got back at midnight. From the centre of Santa Teresa to the road at the bottom of the hill is 15 minutes walk. Then it's currently taking me, in my unfit state, about 10 minutes to walk up the hill. It's not a very long distance, but it's really steep. And I'm wrecked by the time I get up here. But I'll be fit after three months.
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Well, that's it for this week. I'm writing this on Monday morning out on the porch. The mornings are beautiful. I can see the ocean from my bed, from the kitchen, and from the porch. The pic of the week shows the casita as I first saw it coming down the steps with my bags of stuff.

So until next week,

Chao,

Éamon

Today's Headline in La Nación: Just one password protects fund transfers

The move, part I

Folks,

Well, as expected it's been a very eventful week.

The pic of the week shows myself and my pal Julia, from Birmingham,UK, on our pub crawl night out to mark the end of the semester. Julia is also a teacher at Intercultura.

Finishing in Intercultura
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Well, after two years and two months I finished in Intercultura last week. The final Wednesday weekly meeting fell on my birthday, so there was a bit of a celebration for that. It was surprising when saying goodbye to the students that some seemed genuinely upset. And often students I didn't expect.

Celebrations
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I could really have done with a week between finishing the end of the semester and moving out of the apartment. But that's not the way the calendar fell. So I ended up going out on Wednesday for my birthday, and then the pub crawl for the end of the semester was Thursday. On Wednesday night my class and Leah's went together to a karaoke bar. We must have been drunk, because myself and Leah sang 'California Dreamin'. Myself and three Colombian students continued to a late bar. I thought I'd learnt that lesson already: Never keep up the pace with Colombians.

Thursday was the pub crawl. We hired a bus, and went into the university area of San José. we ended the night in El Pueblo, the 'bar compound' which some of you may remember from before.

Packing the apartment
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With Wednesday and Thursday nights I didn't get a lot done on Thursday or Friday for the move. It meant I had a very busy Saturday. I couldn't believe how much stuff I had. I threw out bags of stuff. I donated a load of clothes to the Red Cross for the flood relief. I posted stuff back to Ireland that cost €60 in postage. I sold stuff to other teachers. I gave stuff away. And still when it came to loading the car I thought there wasn't enough room for what was left. It would have been different if I wasn't moving to another apartment, but I guess I held onto anything I thought might be useful in Mal País.

Journey
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I had rented a car online from Budget. Budget have a place in Mal País, so it would have saved me having to drive back to San José. However, when I called them on Saturday morning they had no record of my booking, despite the fact that I had a confirmation number and an email from them. But they had no cars for the weekend. So I had to go for another hire company, which meant driving back on Tuesday to drop the car back.

The journey was fine, I arrived just in time for a ferry crossing, and I enjoyed the drive.

Mal País
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I arrived in Mal País shortly after 3pm, and drove straight out to the cabina. As soon as I got in I was nearly attacked by Laura's very vocal dog. She had told me before he was harmless, but I'm not much good when he comes running at me barking and growling. So I was paralysed with fear for about 5 minutes. I started talking to him then, and was able to move around a bit. Laura wasn't there, but another girl, cleaning a cabina, told me she was due back shortly. That's tico for I have absolutely no idea when she'll be back.

I decided to start moving my stuff into the house. When I got up there I was completely taken aback. It was a disaster. Nothing had been done. The living room as bare apart from a high table which looked like something homemade you would use to mix paint when you're redecorating. But there was definitely no sign of redecoration. In the bedroom there was a bed with a dodgy mattress on it, and an even dodgier one leaning against it. There was no more furniture. Her mail said a futon, several tables. But there was nothing. I tried turning on the light, there was no electricity. At least when the artist guy had all his stuff there I could excuse the place as looking terrible because of his clutter. But this time there was no excues. It was terrible.

I went back to the car to continue to wait for Laura. I stood on a nest of stinging ants who were soon swarming over my foot. It just wasn't my day.

I decided to go off to find an internet place to get the number of my plan B, the guy whose family had a cabina. After I got the number, I bought a phone card and found a phone. But there was no reply. I waited about half an hour, and phoned again. Then I drove back to Laura's. There was nobody there.

I was beginning to panic. Here I was with all my possessions in a car. It was getting dark. I had no place to stay. I realised that I'd have to get a cabina for a couple of nights while I found someplace else. I needed someplace I could unload all my stuff into the car. When I arrived back to the car there was a big turd sliding down the drivers door window. I looked up, and there was a monkey up in the tree looking directly at me. He had a look as if to say, yes, I know what kind of day you're having, and I'm not going to make it any better.

To be continued...


Chao,

Éamon

Today's Headline in La Nación: MEP auditor criticises 'illogical' payments to seniors