Greetings From Costa Rica!

Haven’t posted much lately, but I’ve been in Costa Rica visiting my parents since Feb. 20th, and their ‘net connection isn’t the fastest or best here…

Anyway, I’ve been fairly busy, actually.

I’ve visited (links go to my description from last year):

  • Casa del Soñador/The Dreamer’s Cottage: Bought a rather nice statue (or rather, Dad bought it for me) of a woman sitting on a log with a basket of coffee beans… Also visited Orosi Lodge and chatted to Mom & Dad’s friend for a bit there. Then visited a very nice Italian restaurant on the road leading into the valley that he had recommended to us; I’ve never had better Fettucine Alfredo (which happens to be a favourite of mine).
  • Esterillos Este: A small beach on the Pacific coast, about 25 km. south of the tourist-type town of Jaco (which was where we stayed Christmas 2002 for a few days). We stayed in a hotel called Auberge du Pelican (Pelican Hotel – which is actually currently owned by a Canadian woman) from last Sunday to Tuesday (Feb. 26-28). Very nice hotel, with an excellent restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Once Mom & I arrived (Dad had no interest in coming to the beach), we didn’t leave the hotel area. It was a surfing beach, so we didn’t really get any swimming in the Pacific, though we did go in, but all these hotels have pools, and I got quite a lot of swimming done there.
  • Volcán Poás: This time, although it was somewhat foggy around the crater, we got to see much farther into it. We couldn’t see the lake, but other than that, it was a much better view than last year.
  • La Paz Waterfall Gardens: This is a park containing a butterfly observatory, a hummingbird garden, and a set of trails with some spectacular waterfalls. I’d visited this when I was down for Christmas 2002, and… well, not had a bad visit, I guess, but we were rushing through it a bit, and I ended up with a hypoglycemic attack partway down the waterfall trail. This time, Dad and I went in (because I wanted to go along the trail and Mom can’t manage that). We saw the hummingbird gardens, and managed to see three of the waterfalls before I started getting warning signs that I wasn’t going to last, so we turned off the main trail there and went back up to rejoin Mom. [Note: La Paz is very expensive; Poás, which is a national park, was $1 U.S. for Mom and Dad (since they’re residents) and $7 U.S. for me, whereas La Paz was $37 U.S. for Dad and I.]

Aside from those tourist-type visits, we also visited some of Mom’s friends, and I saw a British comedy put on by the Little Theatre Group (of which a number of Mom’s friends are a part) on Friday night. Other than that, we had a party at the house on Sat. Feb. 25, for the “christening” of the casita (the guesthouse), which is finally finished. We had about 12 people here; it was a fairly good-sized group.

I brought down my digital camera to take pictures… and boy, have I ever taken pictures! (The first “Costa Rica” picture – of Mom standing on the pathway leading to the casita from the balcony of the house – is #39. I’m currently up to #405!) I have, however, managed to get a nice mix of pets, landscapes, and people this time (I got scolded by the aunts last year when I arrived back with pictures of pets and landscapes, but none of people). In fact, about 50 or so of them are of the “Casita Christening Party”. And I’ve got a whole bunch of the casita and the house grounds. The best shots (and I’ve managed to get some very good ones!) will be posted here.

Anyway, I’m here until Wednesday. Today, the parents are taking me out to Hotel Bougainvillea for lunch, then Dad is going to bridge and Mom & I are going to relax around the house and chat about a few things. Tomorrow, Mom & I are going to lunch with Pilar (the friend I adored last year; she’s still just as wonderful), and possibly her daughter Rocio, who is around my age. (We’re also going to get my exit stamp, so I don’t have to line up for it at the airport in addition to the check-in and security.) Then Tuesday, Mom has a Newcomers’ meeting (for people interested in orchids, I believe) that she has to go to, so I’m going with her to that, and then we’re going to lunch with part of the group. Then Wednesday, I leave to return to T.O. (But I don’t go back to work until Sunday night, so I’ve got a few days to readjust to Canada!)

As for writing… well, I didn’t expect to get all that much done while I was down here (I got practically nothing done last year). While I haven’t got a huge amount done, I have managed some – and I’ve even started an original short story! It’s going in for the Writer’s Workshop at TT20.

When I get back, I will definitely be posting Chapter 3 of RuroSen and Chapter 3.4 of RuroBatt/Edge of the Blade.

Later, all!
😉 tag0

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