Our family was honored to be invited to a big
birthday bash for 5 locals.
I say honored because we really have been
taken in by these friendly and generous
people, all expats who have relocated to
Monteverde.

A few weeks ago I took a bus trip to Tilaran
by myself. I wanted to try to practice my
Spanish (very hard in Monteverde) and check
out a local town larger than Santa Elena.
I caught the bus at 6:30. It cost about $2.
I arrived in Tilaran, about 40 kilometers away,
two hours later. Nothing went wrong, it's just
that the roads are terrible and the bus stops
anywhere and everywhere. It not only carries
people but it actually functions as the mail
service. Packages can be sent, dropped off
and picked up anywhere along the route. It's
quite something.
Anyway, once I arrived in Tilaran I wandered around
had a cup of coffee, found a Ropa Americana (the
Costa Rican version of a used clothing store), and
wandered into the store, pictured above.
The name says it all...it contained everything you
can imagine made of plastic.

TOP PHOTO:

The ride home was actually quite eventful.
The bus left Tilaran at 12:30. It arrived at a spot
where a large drainage pipe was being installed under the road.
They had excavated a bit and the road was quite narrow
over the pipe.
A truck had actually rolled off the road in the late morning.
In order to attempt to cross over the bus driver had
everyone get out of the bus and walk across the narrow bit
of road that was left. Then the bus gunned it over the
same spot, we got back on the bus and headed home to
Santa Elena.

I went to San Jose by myself, another attempt
to practice Spanish and see what kind of trouble
I could find.
Aside from seeing a friend in the hospital and
taking her a duffle bag full of clothing and some
contraband, I really enjoyed wandering through
the Central Market. I had been warned to be
very careful but it felt just as dangerous as
Idlywilde Farms.
I loved the sign and food item, above.
That's "Fish Heads". About 50 cents for 2 kilos.




I had to include a photo of the cows being
milked, part II.
The cows are all on small family farms
down here and they are almost all certainly
milked by hand.
This is a typical arrangement.
The back legs are tied together. The tails
are tied up to a string so they don't swat the
farmer.
Brilliant.

In February our friends the Platts, from Groton,
came to visit.
While Julie and I took the boys to the butterfly
(and bug) garden, Halsey and Artie hit the coffee
farm for a tour. They came back pretty well
caffinated and with a large stick of sugar cane
for hte boys to sample.



The Platts went out to Selvatura for an afternoon
of Zip lining, or a Canopy Tour, as they call it
here.
I wish Oren could get a season's pass...he's done it so
many times!



Alex and Gordon clearly were communicating
with the Boa.



Our guide at the Serpentaria let us play with a lizard.
He went outside and picked about 5 flower
blossoms.



The lizard's skin was very soft and his
claws were very gentle.

The Platts were in town for the school's biggest
fund raiser of the year. It's a 5K walk and a 10K
run through the hills of Santa Elena. The boys
helped hold the banner for the start of the race.
We all walked the 5K in record time!
(Just kidding)

My blog would not be complete without
a photo of our very favorite Touristo
driver and friend, Leslie Corrvales.
Leslie has three children at the same
school as Oren and Ethan. His wife,
Gera, is my cooking teacher.
Leslie started driving a Touristo van
a few years ago. He is AWESOME!
We hire him whenever we can to drive
our friends around Costa Rica (mostly to
and from the airport). He knows all the best
spots to stop and eat.

Maggie and Bea Alice came to visit after the
Platts left. We had fun! After a hard day of walking
and shopping we stopped at the Monteverde
Cheese Factory for an ice cream and a milkshake.



Maggie and Bea Alice and I took the
JEEPBOATJEEP over to Arenal for a
night. It wasn't a long trip but it was
really action packed. Just the ride alone
is amazing as the driver takes you up
and over the Continental Divide!
The ride over on the lake was very windy.
We had great weather while we were there.
We same the volcano smoking away during
the day, and rumbling a little. At night we saw the
hot lava coming down the side.



An early morning departure. Sleepy, happy
friends!