Jungle Cat

Besides blogging about our life here in Costa Rica, I also paint - specializing in portraits of cattle and horses. Now and again I will do a dog or a cat.

You can see my work here. My latest painting is of Cleo, the Abyssinian cat, owned by our Canadian friends, Diane and John. Cleo came with them when they moved to Costa Rica. This painting is a gift to them to say thanks for all the help they have given us since we moved here.

In creating the painting, I wanted Cleo as the main focus of course, with special emphasis on her fabulous eyes. For the background, my inspiration came from the style of Henri Rousseau. I also wanted lots of colour, representing the many beautiful colours that exist in nature here.

The plant shapes in my painting came from my own imagination.

Cleo, Jungle Cat

 

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The Firefighters of Costa Rica

The Benemérito Cuerpo de Bomberos de Costa Rica are responsible for all fire protection and emergency services throughout Costa Rica. They fight forest fires, house and business fires, and deal with landslides, floods and rescues. Sixty three fire stations were active across the country as of 2012 and they are staffed 24 hours a day by several hundred professional firefighters and over 1,000 volunteers.

On February 15, 1864, the municipality of San José agreed to start negotiations with the U.S.A. to bring a fire engine to Costa Rica, which arrived on June 20, 1865. The First Official Rules of the Fire Department were approved on July 27, 1865.

Here in Atenas, our fire department opened in 1960.

The next time you are waiting for a bus at the Coca Cola bus terminal in San José, take a few minutes to walk around the corner and admire the display of old fire engines. They are beautifully maintained.

1939

 

1928

1910

 

1910

 

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More Eyes on Costa Rica - Curiouser and Curiouser

In this blog on March 29, 2013, an outline was provided of countries from where people were viewing the blog. Some countries were rather unexpected - and one of the visits was a very rapid series of page views from someone or “something” in Washington D.C. (tongue-in-cheek but, in retrospect, could this have been PRISM at work?).

NORTH AMERICA: Bahamas, Canada (visits from 8 of 10 Provinces), Cayman Islands, Costa Rica (visits from all 7 Provinces), Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, United States (visits from 45 of 50 States plus District of Columbia)

SOUTH AMERICA: Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, Venezuela

EUROPE: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom

AFRICA: Cameroon

ASIA: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Russian Federation, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Viet Nam

OCEANIA: Australia, New Zealand

The total number of countries is now over 60. In addition, there has been one visit from “ - - - ” meaning no identified place, no identified region and no identified country. What might this be - a ship in the Atlantic, a plane over the Pacific, an alien from an habitable planet such as Kepler-62-e or Kepler-62-f, or more PRISM activity?

For Kepler, see:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/multimedia/images/kepler-morningstar.html

For PRISM, see:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/09/technology-giants-nsa-prism-surveillance

(Today's post is by guest writer Lance Turlock)

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Beginning our Third Year in Costa Rica

"It was a dark and stormy night" - actually, it wasn't stormy but it was dark and raining. Two years ago, on May 31, 2011, at 8:30 pm, our plane landed at Juan Santamaria International Airport in Alajuela, Costa Rica. We set foot on Costa Rican soil for the first time ever and thus began our adventure of living in a new country with a new language and new culture.

We knew no one but had a San José hotel booked, our immigration lawyer selected, our cat boarding with an excellent vet in Santa Ana, we knew the town we wanted to live in to start with (Atenas), six suitcases and were eager to start this exciting new chapter in our lives. We had left Vancouver, B.C., but had arranged it so we could easily return there if we decided Costa Rica was not for us.

Looking back on the past two years, we are very happy we made this decision to relocate here. Costa Rica suits us well. It is incredibly beautiful, of course, and the Ticos (as the Costa Ricans call themselves) are truly wonderful people - welcoming, generous, content, hardworking, innovative. I think they have the capacity to enjoy life more than many others. The tropical weather is another attraction, as are the incredible numbers of plant, bird and animal life here. The abundance of year 'round fresh fruits and vegetables is another plus. We have lots of seafood from the two coasts - the Pacific and the Caribbean.

We still have so much to see of this country but have been delaying any trips of more than a few hours because of our elderly cat, Genny. With failing kidneys, she needs to be monitored to ensure she is eating and drinking lots of water. We don't mind - this is all part of the responsibility of pet ownership. Costa Rica will always be here.

Chile and Equador are two other countries that we hope to visit one day and of course now we are perfectly positioned to do that.

I often think that, if we had not done this two years ago, we would still be sitting in Canada saying to each other, "We really should try this". Time passes by and, in the blink of an eye, it is too late to try anything except the next insipid meal at the rest home.

In the past two years, we have made many friends, both expats and Ticos. Yesterday, we received an invitation to a Tico wedding in November and are really looking forward to this new experience. The network of expats in Atenas and neighbouring towns is exemplary. We share information about where to find different foods, butchers, doctors, dentists, gardeners, vets, the lady who does clothing alterations, new restaurants, when a road is closed or when it has reopened, etc.

There is a Facebook page entitled "Atenas Costa Rica Info" where information is shared. It is open to the public and is interesting reading for those thinking of relocating to our small town.

I heard a phrase the other day that sums up what we and other adventuresome types have done. It is "Life Reimagined".

Boyero with Oxcart Team, Atenas, 2013

 

 

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Living in Costa Rica Without a Car

I think that every newly arrived expat to Costa Rica should be required to be without a vehicle for two years. This will force them to use the taxis and buses and therefore interact with the Costa Ricans and pick up a lot of Spanish, not to mention Tico friends.

Well, that's what we have been doing for the almost two years we have been living here and I would not have missed this for anything. We have amassed an amazing network of taxi drivers who know us and look after us. In Atenas, our first call is to Mario/Jorge - one or the other might be driving their taxi at any time. If they are busy, they call somebody for us (probably Diego), or we call Diego ourselves. If Diego cannot make it, he calls his friend and so on. Somebody always shows up at our gate to pick us up, even if I haven't quite understood what they are saying.

I try to organize as many appointments as possible on one day when using a taxi. Recently, our schedule was as follows: depart Atenas, take our cat to her vet in Santa Ana (Ticos call it "Santana") for blood work and leave her there overnight; stop at ARCR (Association of Residents of Costa Rica) in San José to get our mail; go to my doctor's appointment at CIMA (North American style hospital) in Escazu; have a nice lunch in the same area; go to PriceSmart (similar to Costco and next to CIMA) and stock up on meat, etc., so I can make slow cooker meals that then go into the freezer for meals later in the month. We don't shop that often at PriceSmart as I prefer to shop locally and support our town but, if we are close to one, then I will take advantage and buy a few things in bulk.

So, to begin with, I phoned Diego and asked him to pick us up (in my Spanglish) to take our cat (gata = female cat) to the vet in Santa Ana. Since he has done this run for us numerous times in the past, this was fairly easy. I just had to indicate the day and time of pickup. And that worked out as Diego showed up at our gate at the appointed time. His taxi is immaculate with the air conditioning on and he provides Spanish newspapers for us to try and read. I can read the grocery ads.

Then Lance did a stellar job directing Diego to the ARCR office in San José. I wish I could always remember the Spanish words for "left" and "right" ... I think "straight ahead" is "directo". Picked up our mail, then onwards to CIMA for my doctor's appointment, where Diego dropped us off.

When we go to Escazu, we have another taxi driver in San José who knows us and will drive us back to Atenas.

If we had our own vehicle, it would probably sit unused a good deal of the time. We're no longer commuting back and forth to jobs in the big city. We can always rent a car if we want to take some trips around the country. With taxis, we can go out for dinner, have a bottle of wine or a couple of drinks and not worry about having to drive home in the dark, and possibly in the rain, on poorly marked roads.

Then there is the cost factor in owning a vehicle. We estimate our vehicle and operating expenses in Vancouver, B.C., were about $700 CAD per month. Our taxi usage expense here in Costa Rica is about half that amount.

Will we ever purchase a vehicle here? Perhaps, perhaps not.

 

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Scruffy the Costa Rican Dog

I have written about Scruffy in previous posts. He showed up on our road one day, seemingly lost and disoriented. He bunked in with our neighbours across the way for a while. He would also show up at our place and our neighbors behind us. We all fed him. Over time, he acquired the name "Scruffy" and it suits him. He is some sort of terrier mix, with wiry hair and very odd leg bone structure. He will never win Best of Show at the Westminster Dog Show in New York but he would get first prize for personality. Scruffy is the brightest little dog, very well mannered, and has appointed himself protector of the properties around us.

But he really attached himself to our neighbours that live up above us on the hill. Rose Mary is Scruffy's main gal. Husband Tony says he has nothing to do with it, but we know he likes Scruffy a lot. Scruffy visits us every day and cat Genny gets along with her new buddy very well.

One day Scruffy appeared at our house sporting a spiffy red bandana. Then next time he was wearing a blue one. Then came a collar. Eventually that collar broke, and Scruffy appeared at our house the other day wearing a blue bandana, a new blue collar and a blue ID tag with his name, his address and contact information for him.

This is irrefutable proof that Scruffy is not our dog - he now has a forever home with Rose Mary and Tony.

"If the collar proclaims, you cannot disclaim".

Scruffy and His New Gear

The Proof Positive

 

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At Juan Santamaría Airport

Today we went to SJO (Juan Santamaría Airport) in Alajuela to pick up our neighbours who had been visiting relatives in Texas.

Here are a few photos taken in and outside of SJO.

TACA airplane at SJO

Oxcart Display at SJO

Oxcart Display at SJO, showing coffee beans

 

 

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