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Swallow

Maybe Blue & White Swallow, Bank Swallow, or even a Martin. Not sure.

Hundreds of swallows fly over every day and all around the apartments, very fast! I’ve never been able to catch one in my camera, though this is one of my best efforts. We also have Keel-billed Toucans fly over occasionally, usually in pairs and very fast! No photos! Same with the Montezuma Oropendola! And parrots and parakeet flocks which are often even higher in sky. None of these birds ever land in the trees around us. 

Church and rest today. No adventures! Back to the bank tomorrow and that will be an adventure!

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Tope de Mercedes (Horse Parade)

The next little town north of Atenas on highway 135 is Mercedes and they had their annual horse parade today, my first to see. Every town in Costa Rica has a “Tope” or horse parade annually. For more photos see my “Tope de Mercedes” Album.  I think I got quite a few “keepers.”

Horse Whisperer – Bonnie from my Spanish Class

Margaret’s “Family” – She, in black, is also in my Spanish Class.

Horses is what it is about, followed closely by beer and cute girls!

For some it is a family affair.

Free Beer! From pretty girls! The Tope Muchachas!

Riding under the Roble Sabana, Pink Trumpet Tree

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A Colorful Day!

Colorful Dress Shop in Alajuela


Yalile came at 8 AM today to clean my apartment, my first time for a maid. I have scheduled her for every two weeks now. I’m pretty clean but she probably does more than me with dusting furniture, cleaning the floor and the bathrooms & kitchen. It makes me feel cleaner now.  🙂 The standard rate here is 2,000  colones per hour or $4. So for $8 I get 2 hours of cleaning! Spic and span clean! It is such a good deal I might even consider going weekly when I’m in town. But I’m not ready to give her a key yet, maybe in the future. Plus she is already helping me with my Spanish and I with her English learning. When you have to communicate is when you really learn a language!

After she left, I went to Alajuela again, which I always love and it is always a colorful place! I don’t think I will ever tire of walking around Alajuela! Especially with a camera! Just phone pix again. I’m tempted to take my camera bag and good cameras, but then you just call attention to yourself and its sometimes harder to do candid shots. I still don’t photograph many people which I’m afraid will be considered rude. But occasionally catch a candid like the umbrella guy below.

Methodist Church at the Alajuela Central Park
Made more colorful by the guy losing his umbrella to the wind!
A Fruit Stand on nearly every block in Alajuela.
Move Over South Beach! We have Art Deco too! In Alajuela Central. 
I finally found and ate at the raved-about Jalapenos Restaurant.
It is good and better prices than Tacontendo from yesterday,
but just Tex Mex food by a transplanted New Yorker serving mostly expats. 

“The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love color the most.” 
― John Ruskin, The Stones of Venice

“I have led a pretty colorful life.”
Corey Feldman

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Today’s Alajuela Adventures

I travel by bus to our province’s capital every week or two, mainly for Aerocasillas & Walmart. Here’s today’s story with phone pix:

Iglesia Bautista 1946, Alajuela
I got the 9 AM bus to Alajuela ($1.43) and it got there in 30 minutes, the fastest time yet! Walking from the Alajuela bus terminal to Aerocasillas, as always, I saw for the first time the Baptist Church of Alajuela. I have walked by it before without noticing the small “Iglesia Bautista 1946” sign. It was started when I was just 6 years old! I know it is the date because we don’t use house numbers here! It is behind and overshadowed by the Alajuela Cathedral pictured in my January 15 post. 

Aerocasillas Alajuela Office

From the bus station to Aerocasillas (the blue sign on gray building) is an 11 block walk or as they say here, “about 1100 meters” or actually “oncecientos metres.” Today I had one letter, a check from the sale of my dining room table and chairs, finally! So worth the trip! Then this afternoon when I got home I received notice via email that a package will be ready for me to pick up tomorrow. Grrr! Maybe I go tomorrow or maybe next week! ! It is the replacement blades for my electric razor that I couldn’t find here. Oh well! Another adventure!

Then around the corner from Aerocasillas are two of my favorite landmarks and the cab stand:

Church of the Agony, Alajuela

La Bohemia Rock Bar across the street from Church of the Agony

Cab Stand at Church of the Agony – $3 to Walmart – All official taxis are red!
Maybe I’ll show a photo of the Walmart sometime, but it is just a big box! Today I walked across the street from Walmart to a new modern strip center with several nice restaurants. I chose Mexican, Taconteinto. It was very good and very expensive!
Then another cab back to the bus station where I just barely caught it as leaving and packed full. The first time I have had to stand all the way to Atenas, well, nearly all the way. Between La Garita and Atenas our bus broke down and we all had to stand on the side of the road at a partly covered bus stop for 20+ minutes waiting for a replacement bus to pick us up. We were all patient. “These things happen!” People don’t get bent out of shape when things go wrong here. Everyone just visited or used their cell phones. And 20-30 minutes for a replacement bus is actually pretty quick!
Waiting for a replacement bus on the western edge of La Garita. 

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The Humble and The Proud

Atenas Correos (Post Office)

Atenas Banco Nacional

Both the post office and this particular bank are government owned and operated. (There are some private banks and courier services in Costa Rica.) But the contrast in these two government businesses is great in my opinion.

My service was quicker, simpler, and more friendly in the humble post office, an old building on a side street between small businesses. My PO Box was secured in less than 15 minutes while the friendly clerk helped other customers who came in. He even showed me how the envelopes should be addressed as I demostrated yesterday. And he smiled!

On the same day (Tuesday) I spent two hours at the bank (after an hour of preparation and taking an attorney and a stack of documents with me). There were few smiles and many demands. I was scheduled to be trained today in using my account but that was postponed until Monday because Ricardo, who does the training in English, had to substitute for a cashier out sick. But the proud building is new, modern and beautiful! It is located on the square or central park opposite the old catholic church, easy to find, and at the center of the town’s activity. Money rules here too! I already like the Post Office better!  But I need both!   🙂
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled,  
and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.    
Jesus in Matthew 23:12
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2 Month Anniversary: Bank Account & PO Box

Boyero Monument
A National Monument to the early years work of oxcarts and their drivers
It is on the old highway from San Jose to the beaches where many saw it
as they entered Atenas, home of the Annual April Atenas Oxcart Parade.
Expect oxcart photos in April!  🙂

I arrived in Atenas on December 24, 2014, two months ago today! I celebrated in two ways:

  1. I OPENED A BANK ACCOUNT at Banco Nacional to include a debit card and electronic banking. I get my debit card and electronic account connection tomorrow along with training in how to use both (“bring your laptop”). Neat! Never got training in the states! It took nearly two hours at the bank, my local lawyer with me, stacks of paperwork, plus I still have to provide proof of income which I was not told earlier. 
  2. I GOT A P.O. BOX at the Atenas Post Office which I now prefer you to use instead of the one I gave before arriving. It was the apartment’s PO Box and works, but the apartment management has to deliver mail to me which could be another delay :-)!  Below is the exact way the Post Office asks that you address letters to me. So you understand the strange order and double-Atenas: Atenas is a pueblo (small town) in the Canton of Atenas, in the District of Atenas, in the Province of Alajuela in the country of Costa Rica. And yes, they say put the postal code BEFORE the country name of Costa Rica. Mail did get to me with the other address form, so don’t worry. And I prefer that you not use the Miami address since letters are costing me $1.50 each and I have to travel to Alajuela (the city) to pick them up. And packages via Miami require an invoice to declare the customs value (or you send me a scan of invoice). I’m not sure yet how Customs and the Post Office work together here, but I will find out! Others do get packages via Post Office. The Miami address is perfect for my internet orders which may be the primary use and for some other U.S. businesses. The U.S. Post Office now has one international postage stamp (round) that costs $1.10 for any country in the world for most letter weights. Letters can arrive in one week or four weeks, who knows why?  UPS or FedEx packages will have to go to the Miami address for now until I learn how to get them locally. Here’s my new postal mail address: 
Sr. Charlie Doggett   (The P.O. put that “Senor” in front of my name! 🙂
Apdo. 441-4013
Alajuela, Atenas, Atenas
20501 COSTA RICA
How’s that for an anniversary celebration? I forgot to take my phone this morning, so no photo of bank or post office yet, but I may add those tomorrow, as both buildings are revealing. 
And if you didn’t get MY PHONE NUMBER from an earlier post, it is still 011-506-8410-9916 with the 011 getting you out of the U.S., 506 the country code, and though some instructions say use a cell phone code, don’t – it is just the first four digits of the number. The above # should work. 
Well, not as pretty tonight as all the bird photos, but that is life!

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Last 4 Tarcoles Birds

You can see all the birds in my Tarcoles Gallery or wait until the last week of March when I’ll be at Tarcoles again with Kevin this time. Enjoy these then I’ll go back to blogging about life in Atenas.

White Ibis
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Brown Pelican
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Green Heron
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
Northern Jacana
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
“The bird of paradise alights only upon the hand that does not grasp.”
John Berry
My Trip Advisor Review of this trip with photos!

I’ve been photographing birds in Costa Rica since January 2009 and have a special gallery of Costa Rica Birds, with more than 100 species presented alphabetically by English name. 

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Tarcoles Trees

Palms and a Tour Boat like the one we were on

In case you are tired of birds, here’s some trees! But I do have more bird photos to share if nothing exciting happens around home the next few days.  🙂  Here are 5 trees photographed from our boat and I’m sorry I haven’t researched the proper names of any except the one already photographed in Atenas. I just like looking at trees regardless what they are called!  🙂  Always, you can click a photo to see it larger.

 

The shapes, the designs, the colors, the strength, all awe me!

 

Pink Trumpet Tree or Roble de Sabana
See earlier posts: one from balcony and one up close.
It seems to be this month’s blooming tree, like Poro last month.

 

Lone Wolf!

 

“Umbrella Tree” said our guide.
Look close for cow under it on left, avoiding the sun.

My Trip Advisor Review of this trip with photos!

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More Tarcoles Pix

Billed as a “Crocodile Tour” but we saw more than 20 species of birds too!
Yeah, that’s me! See, Costa Rica hasn’t changed me much!

I have a photo gallery with at least one photo of each of the 20+ birds and animals photographed in my PBase Gallery. Here are four more of those for the blog readers.

My new friend Barry in the photo op sign at Jose’s Crocodile Tour.
He did one of me in this too! The tour guys get closer than this to crocs.
Belted Kingfisher
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
Little Blue Heron
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Maybe some more from Tarcoles tomorrow, or to see now hit this link to my PBase Gallery.

Explanation of trashy, muddy banks of river: it was at low tide. We were near mouth of river where it empties into the Pacific Ocean. This is the same river that my neighbor from Spain is building a dam on, further inland of course. We nature lovers don’t like the dams, but it is one of very few in Costa Rica.

My Trip Advisor Review of this trip with photos!

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Tarcoles River

Great Blue Heron Catches Catfish for Lunch
Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

I was asked to take a friend of a friend birding today (Friday). I gave several choices and he chose Tarcoles River because of the closeness for a day trip (in his rent car). I have dozens of photos to show and will continue tomorrow. Above is a special one you don’t have the opportunity for very often, watching a bird catch a fish!

I’ll show two more tonight with more tomorrow:
Common Black Hawk in Flight, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica
Baby Iguana, Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

This is what I moved here for – just been too busy to do much yet. Expect much more in the future! Above is just 3 of 500 images made today.  🙂   Pura Vida!

My Trip Advisor Review of this trip with photos!