The Robin Russell treatment (12/3/09)

It all started when I showed up at her hotel in San José before she got there on the evening of the 25th and treated myself to ceviche, a glass of white wine, and strawberries and cream for dessert. And if you can believe it, it only got better from there!

It was my mom’s first time visiting since I’ve been down here, and she came to keep me company for Thanksgiving and to help me make my big move into my new apartment. So we started off our adventure in San José the day before and then made our way to Playa Tamarindo on Thanksgiving morning via tiny 12-person plane, which took about an hour instead of a 6-hour bus ride, Peace Corps style. Tamarindo is one of the more developed touristy areas in Costa Rica, located on the Pacific Coast of the Nicoya Peninsula in the province of Guanacaste. It used to be a total hippy town and still holds remnants of that with lots of tiny surfer hostels and hammocks everywhere, but there are also some fancy resorts and housing developments and LOTS of construction going on. I kind of thought I was going to resent the place after my more “authentic” Costa Rica experiences, but it is really beautiful and the development is not too obnoxious or gaudy and I have no complaints about the variety of food offerings beyond comida típica.

Anyways on Thursday afternoon, three volunteer friends who live in the area, John, Brianna and Brigitte, came and hung out at our lovely hotel pool and then the five of us shared a real turkey dinner, with gravy, cranberry sauce, green beans, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie for dessert. There was not going back for seconds since we were at a restaurant, but we all managed to stuff ourselves and have a great time. The next day we checked out a beautiful nearby beach called Conchal, because the sand is made entirely of white shells, and the water was super clear and blue. That night Brigitte and I got a little taste of Tamarindo nightlife and Monkey Bar, which had a live salsa band AND a dj playing reggae(ton), gringos AND local ticos, AND it was ladies night so we drank for free. Really fun, and I even managed to pull out a few of my salsa moves and not feel embarrassed for the first time because there were plenty of gringos there with even less rhythm.

The next morning we took a mangrove tour up an estuary off the ocean and saw lots of wildlife, including herons, crocodiles, land crabs (who knew?), lizards, flying fish, and monkeys! They were pretty fun. We spent the afternoon shopping in town and eating gelato and then had an adventurous swim out to a nearby island. My mom freaked out halfway through and thought we were going to get swept to sea and tried to hail a boat to come pick us up but to no avail. Fortunately, we all lived to laugh about it.

Feeling very relaxed and removed from rural Costa Rican life, it was finally time to head back to Quebradas for a little taste of something different. We got in Sunday evening and had dinner with the Tico family. It was Nazareth’s birthday so everyone was in good spirits and my mom brought them some fun gifts, including much Michael Jackson paraphernalia and Eclipse, the third book in the Twilight series, for Sylvia, so everyone went to bed happy.

The next morning began the big move. We rolled my suitcases down the hill about 200 meters to my new apartment, directly across from the soccer field with the river running just behind it. My mom was pleasantly surprised after I’d managed to lower her expectations significantly in terms of cleanliness and functionality of appliances. And of course she had brought me an entire suitcase of everything I could possibly need and more, so it was just a matter of cleaning and arranging. The only casualty of the long trip was the toaster oven, which sadly now only cooks but lost its ability to toast…

Anyways we spent two days scrubbing and sweeping and mopping and making multiple trips into town for 409 and electric tape and plastic dishes and managed to fit in English class, a hike up to FUDEBIOL for Junior Achievement class and a brief tour, and a meeting with the local artisan group at their ranch. And fortunately for everyone, Kenny Chesney cancelled his meeting with Sony so instead of rushing out on Tuesday evening my mom was able to stay two extra days. So we were able to really put the place together AND even snuck in another beach trip to Dominical for one last hurrah.

So it was very sad to say goodbye to her this afternoon, but she left me in great shape: a full fridge, lots of cleaning supplies, my perfect hammock perfectly hung, and even a few cooking tips. This is my first time ever living alone, but I think I am ready and felt pretty happy to come home tonight to my own place, just the way I left it. It is definitely going to be a lot of extra time and energy keeping the place clean and preparing food for myself, and unlike in NYC, I don’t have the option to just pick up some take-out next door if I don’t feel like cooking or call a cleaning service if things get really bad, but I was fully aware of that much at least when I joined the Peace Corps and I think I’ll manage just fine. If nothing else, I will return from my experience here an EXCELLENT sweepstress…

12/4
La Voz Quebradeña, segunda edición, was finally ready to distribute today. This time the cover and back cover and two inside pages are in color, so we are making progress poco a poco. Still can't figure out how to post PDF's on this blog but will email it to anyone who is intersted!