Category: Costa Rica

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Too Many Christmas Activities! :-)

Last night I went to the Christmas Dinner with live music at El Balcon del Cafe for a great meal

featuring a Christmas Ham! And a huge assortment of Christmas Cookies! But the best part was joining a lady from my second Spanish class and her 84 year old friend Jean who will become my new next door neighbor tomorrow! She is moving in the house that my sculpture friend Anthony left for his adventures in Spain and Morocco. It is a contemporary with lots of glass to the right of my house as the casita (little house) of another property owner, different landlord.

After the party my taxista had trouble getting through the traffic and bands for the big parade as part of that evening’s Festival de la Luz or Festival of Lights which begins the Christmas celebrations here. I’m now sorry I did not stay downtown for it because I learned later that it is the biggest celebration of the year in Atenas with a stage featuring constant musical entertainment, many booths with crafts and other vendors, the parade, and fireworks. But I was tired and had projects I was working on and decided to go on home. I heard most of it and saw part of the fireworks from my terrace. Next year I will not miss this!

Today our Su Espacio Spanish Class had our Christmas Party Lunch at Fred & Susan’s house two hills over from mine with their swimming pool being the big attraction for most, but also a great lunch! 

I was the only one not in a swim suit – just not my thing!


Thursday after the last Spanish Class at Iglesia Biblica we all go to La Finca Pizza for our end of year celebration and Christmas Party. A new friend and I are having lunch next week and then on Christmas Day I am joining other friends at a nearby hotel restaurant for a big Christmas Dinner again! At Hotel Colinas del Sol. I’m having trouble finding my needed solitude!  🙂

AN EXTRA TIDBIT:

8 Great Holiday Songs in Spanish in case you think “Feliz Navidad” is the only one!  🙂







Peace on earth will come to stay, When we live Christmas every day. – Helen Steiner Rice


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Today’s Birds

Just 7 of about 300 photos today.
Above is Green-breasted Mango Hummingbird.

Chestnut-sided Warbler
(My favorite shot of the day)

Crested Oropendola  Note head is different from Montezuma Oropendola
My first time to photograph this one!
Red-throated Ant-tanager
with a moth it just caught.

Mottled Owl
Olive-backed Euphonia

Crowned Wood-nymph Hummingbird

Crowned Woodnymph Hummingbird
My guide here says it looks so different from the other one
above because of the different light. Other one in deep forest.

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A Little Costa Rica Culture Enroute

Our Lady of Angels Basilica in Cartago (I drove by on way to Turrialba)
The Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles (Our Lady of the Angels Basilica) is a Roman Catholic basilica in Costa Rica, located in the city of Cartago and dedicated to the Virgen de los Pardos, officially known as Virgen de los Ángeles (the Lady of the Angels). The basilica was built in 1639 and was partially destroyed by an earthquake. The basilica has since been restored and constitutes a unique mix of colonial architecture as well as 19th century Byzantine style, the current building dates back to 1939.[From Wikipedia] Once a year there is a pilgrimage of thousands from all over Central America to this Cathedral, all walking!

I stopped by around 11 Sunday morning & it was packed,
standing room only with a crowd standing and listening outside the door.

It is my personal observation that Ticos are not only mostly religious but what I would call “Christian in their behavior” or relationships toward each other and outsiders and a very moral people.

This horse with his rider and cart came to lodge to pick up trash today.
Talk about a juxtaposition of cultures!
In rural areas it is still common to see people riding horses for transportation.

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Birds Galore!

This is just a sample of the birds I photographed at the lodge this morning before going out to a park! It will take a while to share all the birds I’m photographing here!

Montezuma Oropendola from the breakfast terrace

Lineated Woodpecker in front of lodge
White-necked Jacobin Hummingbird male at breakfast terrace

Gray-headed Chachalaca joining us for breakfast

Keel-billed Toucan seen from breakfast terrace

All of this and much, much more at Rancho Naturalista near Turrialba, Costa Rica.

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Daylight & Nightlight Birds

The same two species of hummingbirds in night with flash & in daylight – interesting differences:

Daylight – White-necked Jacobin

Night with flash – Crowned Woodnymph
Daylight  –  Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

Night with flash  –  Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

A four hour drive with lunch break got me up the final dirt road into a semi-mountainous rainforest and the Rancho Naturalista lodge and private forest which I started exploring this afternoon and evening. Tomorrow morning is 5:30 birding on deck and a trip to a park after breakfast with our birding guide Harry who is from the U.K. and lived here 6 years. He is good! The other two clients are men from Canada. This is going to be good!  🙂

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Angel Tree Party!

All we’ve been working towards was over in about 2 hours with a lot of happy kids!

Thanks to the many people who took one of the 300 angels or otherwise contributed to the project!
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Finger Prints for Residency

I am one step closer to my residency in Costa Rica. Immigration informed my attorney that it was time to be fingerprinted at the San Jose Police Station. I made no photos, so here is a verbal report of Thursday, 3 December 2015:

4:30 AM – Up for shower, breakfast and walk to the bus station
6:15 AM – Bus to San Jose
7:45 AM – I exit bus at northeast corner of Parque Sabana, 4 blocks from lawyer
                  Appointment is at 8:30 AM, so second breakfast at Soda Tapia (famous!)
8:30 AM – Meet attorney Jose Pablo Carter at his office 150 meters east of Soda Tapia
9:00 AM – We arrive in his car at Police Station with maybe 15 people ahead of us
                  We complete paper work and then I do the musical chair thing like at bank
                  This was just one long row of chairs. As a person is served we all move up
                       the chair line until I was next to be served. About a 25 minute wait.
                  Maybe 15 minutes of a guy two-finger typing all my info in a computer
                  He glues the three photos made back in February to 3 different forms
                  Then gives me all my paperwork and sends me to the fingerprint girl
                  I learned later she was new. She did 3 fingers then new form, start over
                        because she did one of my fingers twice  🙂
                  Then she gave me two of the photo/thumb print cards to take to my attorney
                  He gave one back to her and explained to her where it went (Wow!) Learner!
10:30 AM – We drive away from police station and he says no one knows how much longer
                     I will have to wait, maybe 2 months. But we have made some progress!
10:45 AM – He is taking me to a taxi stand to go to bus station because he has a meeting.
                    Then he sees a taxi, flags him down and I move to the taxi headed for the
                    Parada de Autobus de TUASA – there are about a dozen bus stations depending
                           on where you are going. I go to Coca Cola Station for Atenas bus but I need
                           to go to Alajuela to pick up a package at Aerocasillas. So I go to the
                           Parada de TUASA for the next bus to Alajuela. 5 minute wait!

By noon I’m in Alajuela with my package ordered from Amazon of  a Hypoallergenic & Bedbug proof mattress cover and pillow covers which I have not found here. Then a quick quesadilla and I have only a 5 minute wait for bus to Atenas (Lucky? God’s will?). Near the bus station in Atenas is my primary hardware store where I find they have only 1 soaker hose left, so I get it and try Coope Hardware and they have none (I need 2). I call a taxi and tell him what I want and he takes me to a third hardware store (ferreteria) and they have one left. Great! I just bought all (both) the soaker hoses available in Atenas!  🙂

I go home and install them in two gardens and water the gardens. My front yard and trees had a sprinkler system installed yesterday by my gardeners at a really good price, about what I paid for the two soaker hoses! Now my yard, trees and gardens are ready for the dry season without me spending two hours every two days holding a hose to them. Bear in mind that it may not rain again here until May!

When finished, it was 5:30 and I suddenly remembered I had a 5:00 Spanish class! Oh well! I am exhausted and will catch up next week. 🙂

Today is Friday and I got more cash for Angel Tree expenses (trying 3 ATMs before one worked!), paid one Angel Tree bill, got groceries, and I’m staying at home the rest of today! Susan picks me up at 6:50 tomorrow morning for Angel Tree party preparation. She and I are in charge of moving 300 wrapped gifts from Su Espacio to the church salon. Other volunteers will help. Then a fast-moving party and I’m on bus back to Alajuela for a rent car. I like to get a car the day before needed to get used to the car and make sure everything works! 🙂 I’m excited about experiencing another new birding place starting Sunday!  Rancho Naturalista. My happy feet are busy feet!  🙂  And when the bone spur in my heel hurts, I take an anti-inflammatory Rx the doctor prescribed and do great! The heel cushion in a real shoe helps also!  🙂  Wear my sandals only around the house now.

        

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Festival de Arte y Danza

Last night was Su Espacio’s Festival of Art & Dance which was really a dance classes recital. I left at the intermission because I had to get up at 4 this morning to go to San Jose. But from the first half:

This is the Pre-school English Class which sang 3 songs in English – no dance.
A friend in my Spanish class from Atlanta volunteers to teach this class. 

Tomorrow I will tell about my experience being fingerprinted for my residency application.

Dancer’s humor! 
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Yellow Bells Begin Blooming

Dry season begins and these trees in my yard begin to bloom
and if like last year will continue through March or April.

 

 

I zoom in for the flowers because . . .
They are on the opposite side of trees from my terrace where the afternoon sun
shines, but maybe later they will bloom on this side too! Summer has begun!

 

“Where flowers bloom so does hope.”–  Lady Bird Johnson, Public Roads: Where Flowers Bloom

Busy days ahead!

Tonight I go to Su Espacio’s “Arts Festival” which is more of a dance recital. I’m the photographer.

Tomorrow, Thursday, I go to San Jose early to be fingerprinted for my residency application, which is no guarantee that I will get it soon, but at least it is in the process!

Friday I may have to help shop for any angel tree kids we have not received gifts for.

Saturday is the Angel Tree party in the morning and I get a rent car in the afternoon for my Sunday to Wednesday birding near Volcan Turrialba.

Then just a couple of more Spanish lessons for this year before I get a break from conjugations and verbs! I’m considering a trip to Nicaragua over Christmas but if I don’t do that, I will make the border visa run on December 30.

 

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Rock Band at Youth Festival

Just another Rock Band to me but I guess the youth liked it.
Youth Festival Sunday Afternoon and this was the main attraction.
Central Park Atenas

I went by Sunday after sitting at Su Espacio to receive Angel Tree gifts. This Saturday morning is the Angel Tree Party and that afternoon I get a rent car. The next morning I am escaping to a new birding haven, Rancho Naturalistic, in the shadow of Turrialba Volcano. Three nights with all meals and a birding guide for just $80 a night as a ” Costa Rica resident’s” price! Been wanting to go and tried to get a time later, closer to Christmas but after next week they are booked solid. So I’m off! Nearly!

A book I’m reading on solitude quotes some neurologist saying that time immersed in nature restores the brain. Sounds good to me!  🙂   Of course I’m listening to birds right now outside my window, but getting away makes it even better!