where are we?

Here is a photo that my neighbor Jordan Holtam took from the air over Orosi.
I marked a few things on it in Photoshop, and the X is the football field, which is the center of any town, even if it isn't exactly geographically. Most of the green hills surrounding the town are planted in coffee, which are shaded by fruit trees.
The coffee grown here is incredible. I wasn't much of a coffee drinker before, but now, its every morning.

Orosi from the finca

I went up the hill, where the coffee finca lies, and picked some limes (like two big bags full) and took this picture overlooking Orosi from there. Later, the day of independance, from the house, at dusk, there was this terrific rainbow. Even though it rains like crazy here, we don't see them too often.

more from the parade

Here a young girl models a traditional dress for me, and during the parade, the boys with the big drums did this thing where sometimes they would lift the drums together in the air, while continuing to play them! The banner says "Respect Life, Respect National Symbols, Love for the Peace, and Protection of the Ecology"...
I LOVE this country!

the littlest rock star

Here is Alison, the 4 year daughter of my friend Magaly, mugging it up with her cool shades. This girl is destined to be something to contend with!

Independence Day, Tico style

This is a big deal here. Costa Ricans are fiercely patriotic, and also always enjoy a good party. The commemoration celebrated the different provinces individually, and many nationalistic (but not political) themes. Preparations start at least a month in advance. The schools all have drum and lyra troupes and flag bearers that are practicing (outdoors) every day. The night before, many people walk together in the streets carrying faroles, which are (often) homemade lanterns which recall the historical traditions. The next morning, a large parade is held throughout each town, where the children dress up in traditional costumes, representing the different provinces, and the older students march with flags and play the music. In Orosi, it was fun, because I got to see people I knew, both in the streets and in the parade.

my new guitar!

I have been singing around the house a lot, and was recently starting to think about getting another guitar to accompany myself. I looked in the local large city, Cartago, and they had some cheap Chinese ones, but I wasn't inpressed. One day, while visiting my friend Bill's finca (last weekend in Cachi, I noticed his guitar casually lying across his bed, and it was like a high powered magnet, I couldn't stop myself. I haven't played for about 25 years, so it was challenging to remember anything. But this made me realize that I really did want to get a guitar, and soon. Three days later, I went into San Jose for an appointment with a dermatologist at the Clinica Biblica (a large modern hospital facility). As I was walking back up to the main street, about 5 blocks away, I walked past this guy in his taller (studio) making guitars. I went in, and chatted with him, turns out Senor Rodrigo Garro Garro has been making and repairing guitars for over 40 years. (He's about 55) I enjoyed talking to him, but I was a little nervous because, while he had several types of guitars in the studio, none of them were strung. I really wanted to know how they would sound, but then I hit on the idea of singing (toning) into the body of the guitar to hear the resonation. Bingo - they ALL sounded great! So, I selected the top, and the sides and the back, and had a choice of several different types of wood, some exotic and expensive. He told me it would be ready the following week, it was and he phoned me when he said he would. I went in the next day, and here we are! (Cost: $96 for the guitar, $14 for the case) Now I am forming callouses, learning to play again (soon, I will start take classes at a music school in Paraiso) and have downloaded a bunch of lyrics for songs I like to sing, have formatted them into a songbook, and am starting to find the chords for them...

butterflys in love

The butterflys are coming back. There are hundreds of varieties throughout Costa Rica, and now that the season is upon us, I regularly have visitors in the house. (We practice catch and release here) I see the huge blue morphos (they are kindof hard to miss!) and some really bright red ones daily around the finca. Here was something found on the outside of the house. Sigifredo delicately told me that there were two of them, and they were making love...

The Trip to the Cachi Finca

Sunday was a major party day. I went in the morning with Sigifredo and Beth and Jordan to the finca of Herman, Dona Luz, and Francesco, our neighbors. Their finca (farm) was lovely, and is set up to be a little mini vacation spot for the family, complete with the rancho (pavillion), pool, electricity and bathroom. We had music, food cooked over a wood fire, and in general, a nice relaxing time in a beautiful place to hang out. Here are some of the kids in the pool, mugging it up for the camera, and a photo of the pavillion. The one in the front is Viviana, the youngest daughter of Luz and Fran, chronologically in her 20s, she has the mental age of about 4, and is one of the most completely loving people I have ever met.

another housemate

Here is this little fellow that lives somewhere between my house and the garden, I see him almost every morning.

having fun with paint

This is really unusual for me, I am really amazed to be painting representationally, and I am just having so much fun putting these beautiful orchids on canvasses.