Reading deprivation

Folks,

So that's the end of my first of three months in the casita. I've really enjoyed it. It's very quiet, and it's been a challenge for me to live with very little happening on the social side. But I've really got used to it. I don't know if I could live so quietly for longer than three months, but I think three will be fine.

The pic of the week is the main road through Santa Teresa after rain.

Reading Deprivation
--------------------
The Artist's Way, which is a book-based course in creativity, is divided into twelve weeks. The challenge this week is reading deprivation. I can't read a thing. I thought it was particularly harsh at a time when I have no access to radio, TV or Internet (for audio or visual). And at a time when I'm doing more reading than ever. I was afraid I'd have a full week of solitaire on the PC.

But I've started to use my resources to fill the time. I have enjoyed going to the beach without a book and just enjoying watching what is going on. The people, the surfers, the crabs, the sky. And I went to the soda (local restaurant) the other day with paper and a pen. And instead of reading I wrote. I described the place in detail. I wrote about what the woman was doing in the kitchen, and about her son watching TV in the corner. About the four American guys who came in and took ages looking at the menu deciding whether to stay or not. I enjoyed it.

And last night I started to teach myself to juggle! It's something I've always wanted to do, since a juggler once told me that it's not a special talent that only some people have. Everyone can juggle with practice. So I'm trying to perfect juggling, still with one ball (rolled up tinfoil), but I can feel the improvement.

The roads
---------
The roads here are in a terrible condition, as you can see from the pic of the week. After rain, whole sections become mudbaths. They can fill the full width of the road, usually leaving a slightly less muddy section at the sides where you can walk.

A 'cutter' came along on Friday and Saturday to fix the road up a bit. This is like something you'd see to clear away snow in a colder climate. It's like a bulldozer with a diagonal blade at the front and slices through the uneven mud and leaves a clean cut. It works well on the dry sections, but just scoops lots of extra mud into the wet ones.

On Saturday I was walking from the internet café to the beach and hit a particularly bad section. Even the sides were completely wet. I chose a route through it which proved to be a wrong choice. It was like walking through wet cement. There were stones throughout the wet wet mud right up to my ankles. And once you're in it, there's no going back, you just have to keep going. The suction was so strong I almost lost my flip-flops several times. And it's hard to balance when your flip-flops are gripped tight. It would be very easy to topple, and that would be an appalling vista. People could see the trouble I was in, and were calling to me, telling me where I should have gone. I knew at this stage where I should have gone, and felt like telling them where they should go. As I'd lift a foot, the mud and stones would fill the vacuum created between my foot and the flip-flop. I was getting taller with every step.

I eventually emerged with two muddy clumps at then end of my legs. A guy from a shop wentn inside and brought me out a basin of water to clean my feet and my flip-flops. In future, I'm going to try to do most of my walking on the beach.

Rancho Sancho closed
--------------------
The restaurant, which is owned by Charlie and just down the hill, is closed now until the season picks up again in November. It's still my postal address, and post will still be delivered. (I hope! Nothing has arrived yet, and I know several things have been sent.) The staff have for the moment been given other work around the property. Right now they're building 'gaviones' just across from where I'm writing. I don't know the name in English, but it's like a big thick wall of rocks contained in wire cages that stack against the bank of earth that supports the road that leads to the casitas, and further on to Charlie's house. With the rain a little section gave way, and Charlie reckons the gaviones are needed to keep the road in place - 'I can't lose my road. I lose my road I lose my business'.

Día de la Virgen de los Ángeles
-------------------------------
Thursday was the feast of the Virgin of the Angels, a day when thousands of people walk from wherever they live on a pilgrimage to the basilica at Cartago, in the Central Valley. This is the home of the statue of La Negrita, the black virgin. When they arrive in Cartago, they walk down the aisle of the basilica on their knees. It's probably the major religious festival here after Christmas and Easter.
-----
Well, that's it for this week. Again, I've got a clear diary, so nothing scheduled for the week.

Chao,

Éamon

Thursday's Headline in La Nación: YES 51.5% and NO 42.1%, among decided voters