Thursday July 1st, 2010
Not much goin’ on…
All day at the casa
Today I just laid low. The computer had, yet another, melt down. Kevin spent most of the day trying to fix it without reformatting. I finished the book I was reading, Exit to Eden and had nothing to read. I read every article in the Rolling Stone I brought with me…really leaving nothing to read. I try to save any dvds for night time, before we go to bed. So, I found an old Cosmopolitan of Lori’s and started reading that. Luckily, Kevin got the computer running after devoting hours to fixing it. YAY!
We didn’t go to town today because Kevin has massive blisters from walking to the river. No big deal, tomorrow is another day. My ankle had still been bothering me so I could give it another day, myself.
Now that I have found Nip/Tuck, I continued watching the series…disc 3 season 2 done….Kevin played video games on the computer while I in my new tv show. He had watched most of this season on tv so he wasn’t as into the videos as I was. All good, just the same.
Friday July 2nd, 2010
2 months down
9:30 am downtown Quepos
Off to town we went…its been a week since we went. Charlie stuck around the property for us while we were gone. The cabina is a mosquito magnet and even after sleeping under a bug net, Charlie was still complaining of how the mosquitoes kept him up. With all the rain yesterday, the mosquitoes must be multiplying quick!
My first online purchase arrived and we found it in the post office box today. Yay…so we can get stuff here! This was some Rid-X for the outhouse. Nothing fun but something useful.
We stopped and had some breakfast at Kevins favorite spot. Black beans and rice, scrambled eggs, butterd bread and Tamarindo juice…not bad for about 3 dollars. Then off to the ever loved Pali to get our staples and other groceries. I was surprised that everything fit into the bags we brought.
It was after 10 so we headed to the bookstore. I picked up 2 Nora Roberts books to read, for now. Next time I go I return the books and 2 that I brought with me, for store credit. Gotta love a book exchange program. Next we headed to the American Video store. We wanted to pick up some more dvds…they sell bootleg dvds for 1 or 2 dollars. They also rent, but last time we went in, the girl didn’t speak English, so we just bought instead. Kevin says what the fuck its only a dollar or 2 just to have them…But when we got there they weren’t open yet. They didn’t open till noon. Bummer. Last time we were in there they had a copy of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ with Johnny Depp. The movie that was on in the plane on the flight over. Since Kevin didn’t watch it and I fell asleep we wanted to pick that one up…oh well. There’s still the rest of Nip/Tuck season 2 to watch…lol.
Talking
1pm in the casa kitchen
Kevin was frustrated again this morning. So, after an enjoyable walk to town, talked it out. I mostly listened. Which is a good thing sometimes. We did converse about our 90 day visa stamp and our trip to Panama. I think at the beginning of the week we are going to go to the travel agent in Quepos to set up our trip. I have no idea where to go, how to get there or where to stay. So, some professional help is in order. I called Gypsy and left her a message. We need her schedule so we can plan our trip. Gypsy will be the one staying in the house and watching Pixie so we can plan on anything till we know her availability. The conversation went well. Its always good when Kevin can get stuff off his chest. I just asked him to try and imagine what it is like for me, having to deal with his frustrations. He understood completely and we always try to make an effort to make a change for the better after these conversations. Some days its hard, some days its not….but we are only human after all.
After our talk, I made this cake thing I made for Kevin yesterday. Its base was pancake mix and oatmeal with bananas. It came out really good, especially warm with some syrup. While on our way home we saw Maria, Ricky’s oldest. She ran up and hugged me, as did her friend. Lori would bring the kids sweets and treats sometimes from in town but this is a habit I am trying not to get into. Kevin asked if I could make the kids one of those cakes so I promised Maria I would make one and bring it down and told her they needed to eat it while it was hot. I added some sweet coconut to theirs, along with some syrup on the top…right out of the oven…so it would soak in. It looked yummy and Kevin just headed over to bring it to them. I also sent over a Tupperware of mixed veggies. I made them with yucca and Kevin wasn’t thrilled with the favor of the yucca that way. I guess with the other piece of yucca, from Francisco, I will try the boil then fry method. You fry them like you do the plantains. Hopefully the fried version will taste better.
Since we didn’t get any movies, Im thinking Nip/Tuck video 4 season2 is in order.
Saturday July 3rd, 2010
To town
10:30 am downtown Quepos
Off to town we went as Charlie packed to leave. The trip in town was fun. We stopped and had lunch and beers, then went to the Pali. After, we stopped at the bookstore and I bought 2 Nora Roberts books. Then off to the Americana Video. There we bought bootlegs of ‘Sherlock Holmes’, ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Its Complicated’. Satisfied, we set off for home.
The lights go off
Dunno what time at the casa
Arrgh! I went to turn on the fan in the bedroom and there was no electricity. At first, I thought the fan was out of commission, but it was the power. I tried calling ICE, but no one speaks English. All I got from the conversations was ‘No, Quepos…No, Quepos.’ ‘Graicias’ was all I could say. After a while, Charlie called with the news that he was coming back for the night and that all of Queops was without electric and water.
So, we decided to cook dinner over a wood fire in our make-shift grill. As we were preparing, the lights came back on but we said ‘Fuck it’, we would build a fire and cook the chicken, anyway. The smoke from the fire keeps the mosquitoes away and we knew Charlie was coming back to have a couple beers. So, this way we could sit on the porch without getting eaten alive.
Ben had a table made from a big wood cable spool with a top on one end. This was the table I made the grill on. When I built the grill I constructed it so there was a catch pan for ashes and a rack to build the fire on. When Ricky
came over last week to cook lunch he re arranged it and built the fire right in the pan. I had a piece of tin over the wooden top thinking this would keep the wood from catching fire. I guess not when the fire is right on the tin and not elevated because Kevin noticed that there was smoke coming from under the tin. Well, the heat burned right through the center hole of the spool. I told Kevin that the fire had to have started when Ricky was cooking. He had that fire raging for a few hours, we only cooked one piece of chicken. I remembered the old configuration of the grill and knew it was Ricky’s re-build that caused the fire. We laughed because it was just pain funny and off we went to watch ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and Charlie went to crash in the cabina for one last night.
Sunday July 4th. 2010
Charlie leaves today
4:30 pm at the casa
After a long morning of ‘discussions’, Charlie left. The discussions started with my frustrations over not getting a call back from Gypsy about our visa run. I Knew I shouldn’t have said a word, but I did. The conversation escalated into Kevin declaring that we would just go home at the end of the month. Neither of us was ready to leave, and the while we discussed I chatted with Dee on MSN. Luckily, she was there to ‘talk’ to and a breakdown was avoided on my part.
After a few hours of discussions, Ricky came by with Francisco and smoked a Tico fatty with Kevin and I continued my chat with Nana.
Finally, he said that we promised each other we wouldn’t talk this bullshit anymore and that we promised each other we would stay a minimum of 6 months here, then re-evaluate then. So, that is what we are going to do. It just gets real hard when I or we feel like we cannot depend on anyone. It stirs the feelings of isolation and these are things we are trying to make a conscious effort to avoid. In the end we laughed and said that Gypsy would probably call tonite or in the morning. She did just that.. At 7:48pm the phone rang and it was her. She checked her schedule and as a professional house/pet sitter, luckily had nothing booked. So this week we are free to make our plans for our visa run. Something to look forward to and another hurdle cleared.
Charlie left this evening saying he would return with Kristin in about a month. For the first time, I actually believe these words. Charlie is going to backpack and camp around Costa with his girlfriend for a few weeks. Charlie made some good fiends here and had good times despite all he lost here. This is what makes me believe we will see him again. I just couldn’t help but think that this might actually be the first time Charlie left here without forgetting something…good for him.
Monday July 5th. 2010
Alone again…just the 2 of us
9:30 pm at the casa
When I saw Charlie bike onto the property, I laughed. I knew he couldn’t not forget something! The night the lights went out, he was waiting to get his bus ticket and had to wait for the electric to come on. Well, good ole Charlie lost his bus ticket. All I could say was that it is a good thing he was going to have Kristin to travel with him because he is always losing or forgetting something. With the ticket not here, now he would have to hope he could purchase another one. OY-VEY! The money its cost him just because he cant keep his head on straight….bus tickets, debit cards…yes, it’s a good thing Kristin is coming to travel with him for a while.
We headed out to the yard to take down the tearing tarps over one of the camping structures. It fills up with water when it rains and was tearing at the edges from the weight. Then, we took down the tore up electrical cord that was
running to the campsite. With the way we lose and gain power here we didn’t want a loose cord hanging. Plus, no one was coming to stay so, Kevin said fuck it. The public water doesn’t come on till after 9 most nights and stops before 5 most mornings. This is a real deal breaker for having a camp ground. How can you possibly tell someone they have to wait till between 9pm and 5am to shower…or that they are only allowed to take a 2 minute shower while we are on the tank?
Anyway, Ricky came by to take Kevin with him to get diesel. Ricky says that you spray it on the ground around the house and cabina. This will kill all the ants and mosquitoes but not harm the plants. Even though this is day 3 of Kevin having swollen glands and a poopie belly, he went along. He told me he just wanted to lay low today, but he felt up to it so off he went.
Tomorrow we will go to town to go to the travel agent and the farmacia. Here, at the pharmacy, they will dispense any drug over the counter, just not narcotics. Its my understanding that you explain to the pharmacist what ails you and they hook you up. Im thinking some antibiotics are in order for Mr. Kevin.
It took all day but Kevin downloaded ‘Eclipse’ for us to watch tonight. Cool. He fell asleep half way through…I watched the whole thing and loved it…
Tuesday July 6th. 2010
Despair
8:30 am at the casa
I woke at 6:45am, made coffee, did laundry and washed dishes. I started to make Kevin an egg sandwich and realized we were out of water. It was about 8:30...this isn’t good. The stress of it and Kevin’s reaction made a knot in my throat and tightness in my chest. I just don’t know how long I can take this. The stress of the stupid shit that goes on here will kill me, I swear. I didn’t sell all of my belongings to go home now, but I also didn’t sell it all to deal with bullshit every other day. I really want nothing ore than to go home. I cannot see living like this for 4 more months because nothing has gotten any better here.
Breathe…
10am at the casa
Ok, so I guess Kevin talked me down. I can breathe again. I think we are going to head to town to ‘get away’ for a few hours. Maybe we will even plan our rip to Panama.
Ricardo, from across the street, just came over and is talking to Kevin. I wonder what’s up…they are in the front yard walking around.
Kevin is talking with someone from St Augustine who is interested in coming to stay with us and commune. Heidi eluded that she and Doug are interested in an adventure like ours. So, I let her know that we are looking for someone to come stay with us on the property. Who knows, maybe it will be them….or the surfer from St Augustine. Either way, I know, that nothing will happen before it suppose to and the right person/people will come in time.
I guess Ricardo is broke and in need of money. He gave Kevin 2 pieces of art form a local and asked if he needed any help with anything. Kevin gave him a Mil and told him he can help tomorrow while he and Ricky trim some trees in the yard. Yet again, I need to focus on what I have and not what I don’t…
Later that day…
We walked to town. I needed to get out of this house. Kevin told me that the neighbors want us to cut down all the almond trees that line the property because limbs are falling on their house and impeding their farming. They knew the trees where there when they set up their little compound. Fuck, more to worry about trying to ‘keep the peace’
around here. As of we didn’t have enough to worry about. Breathe…
We had lunch at a little soda downtown. Then, went to the travel agent. She hooked us up with a deal on going to San Andres Island. All inclusive, airfare too, for 220/pp plus tax. San Andres is in the Caribbean off Columbia by Costa Rica. Its post card beautiful. We told her to get a confirmation without even asking to see anything about the hotel we were to stay in or anything…Later, around 6 she called with the reservation and asked us to come in with Kevins passport.
At around 7pm I heard what I thought was something hitting the side of the house. I wnet out a looked, and the complaining neighbor was piling bamboo and wood along the property line near a new frame of a structure. Great, more people moving in next door…and the construction…and loss of water that goes with it. I knew when I saw the frame- like structure go up the other day that there were more people moving in. We just tried not to believe it.
So, we ended the day better than it had started. Kevin fell asleep by 9 and I was up till 11. The public water didn’t start on till 10:30. I knew there was going to be a problem in the morning. I tossed and turned all night. I heard Kevin wake a few times and check the water. All I wanted to do was sleep.
Wednesday July 7th. 2010
No water day 2...
6am at the casa
I woke and went to the out house. Came back and laid back down. I just wanted to sleep. I could feel the anxiety stirring inside me. Kevin came in and laid down with me. He told me he wrote a letter to ICE complaining about the fact that non-residents cant get cell phones. Then he told me, what I already knew, about the water.
We both wanted nothing more than to just go home. But with no where to stay when we get there and just enough money to get us going…it was going to be real hard. If we knew we had a place to stay when we got home, no doubt the white flag would have been raised.
Today Kevin and Ricky planned on trimming…even before the neighbor complained. So, as our ‘go to guy’ we asked Ricky about the water problem. He talked to Domingo, across the street and Doming was having the same problem…a lot of people were. He explained it was because of the terrain and how the water line goes up and down. There just want enough pressure to push up and down. Ok, in my mind the towel has been thrown in.
But, there was a pump and well on the property. The water in it was no good so, the guys were gonna dig up the pump and dig another well closer to the house and tie it into the plumbing. Then, Domingo told them that the existing well was deep enough. All that needed to be done was to run the pump for about 8 hours to clean out the well water. So that’s what they did and proceeded to start trimming the trees. Crisis averted, I guess. Now I have to think of the power line and how it runs through all the trees they are trimming.
For me. 2 colonapins later, I sat down to write and started a pot of black beans. I don’t know how much longer I can take this daily roller coaster ride. I love roller coasters, but, not the one labeled ‘Costa Rican life’. Maybe the key is the daily intake of prescription drugs. Doctor visits are cheap. I will have to think about this one…
So, I called the travel agent about the total cost with taxes, hoping it would be not more than 5-600.…no its 784.00. I knew it would be high, international travel has high taxing…I have to talk to Kevin about this one. If we do this, we cant afford to do it again in 6 and again in 9 months…we’ll see what he says. I think I need an icy cold cerveza right about now…
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