Parrots = Seagulls

Yes, that's right. We have parrots that alight upon the drain pipe of the apartment building next door eveyr morning around 5am. They are very punctual. And they sound like seagulls. Big green, exotic parrots that screech and scream to the limit of their small bird-lungs and sound surprisingly like the seagulls that I dislike so much at the Jersey shore. Only their beautiful. Today for the first time, I half-opened my bleary, sleep-deprived eyes (it's too hot to sleep with the windows shut, but there are too many mosquitos to sleep with them open...) and knelt up on my bed. I tugged back my curtain and looked up, to where Justine had told me the stupid birds had been hanging out, allowing their screeching to be amplified a bazillion times as it ricochets off the two apartment building walls. I expected to see crows, ugly brown birds, or even the yiguirros, the national bird that calls the rain...but instead I see these green balls of feathers perched on the pipe.

Sometime between when I hurl myself into the shower and finish eating my breakfast the parrots leave; you can hear them, still screaming, as they fly off. They only sit outside our windows in these early morning hours. They don't have a nest there, as far as we can tell. I am beginning to think that they just sit by our building to ensure that I am always up before my alarm...a much louder version of the neighbor who leaves his alarm set for 5am even when he's away for the weekend.

The dinner

Ok, the dinner itself deserves its own posting.

So, Chris and I arrive, Chris almost passing out when he realizes how nice the restaurant is, to find Cara Gibson seated with glasses of wine. While I was looking forward to a lovely dinner with three of my favorite people who happened to be on Costa Rican soil, I was also trying to gear myself up for a long evening of translation. Silly me! Totally unncessary.

Conversation ranged from pets (I learned that Chris has a dog and two bunnies as well as the family cat) to politics. My favorite example of cross-cultural communication is when Cara started explaining about Jeter and Monty. She rocked the imaginary Jeter back and forth in her arms, cooing, and saying the words "mi bebe." This perhaps could have been slightly confusing, but thankfully, Gibson jumped in to clarify by putting his head in his hands and sighing. Cara then asked me to translate...

but really, Chris understood it all.

So, it was very sad to see Cara and Gibson go, but I think that their whirlwind Costa Rica tour was a success. And they've promised to come back in the future (After all, Yadira's invited them for dinner, whether I'm in the country or not!)

For now, it's back to work, with no excuses, because next week Kerry comes to visit!

Cara and Gibson make the blog!

Cara and Gibson can now exhale a profound sigh of relief...they have made the blog. Yes, I know, it's taken some time...I've gotten quite behind on keeping you all updated...

So, Cara and Gibson arrived, late, midst a panic session in which Caitlin and Chris debated how we would be walking home from Alajuela late at night if the Auntie and Uncle didn't waltz out of the airport soon. Thankfully, they did saunter out...eventually. We dropped them at Angel's Hotel with María Louisa, transferred allergy meds, girl scout cookies, and tea bags. Then we left the newly arrived to sleep.

Sunday, the intrepid explorers headed off to Manuel Antonio for a whirlwind one day tour. I understand they saw monkeys, drank Imperial, and experienced Coca Cola like never before. Anymore than that, you'll have to ask them. Unfortunately, they were so tired Sunday night that they missed watching an exciting soccer game in a Curridabat bar. I, on the other hand, had chicken fingers with really good honey mustard sauce. Yum!

Monday, all three of us dashed off for another whirlwind tour to Arenal and the Tabacon hot springs. The trip itself was lovely, with the exception of Frank our guide. He told stupid jokes with a plastered-on smile, and we're fairly certain he was making up facts about biodiversity and economic trade in Costa Rica.

Anyway, we stopped in Grecia to see a church, made of metal, given as a gift by the government of Belgium. I pondered why European governments so often gave metal buildings as gifts...the metal high school in San Jose, the church in Grecia, the Statue of Liberty...I wonder how many other French and Belgian metal buildings are out there...

Later, we passed through Sarchí, home of the ox-cart painting for which Costa Rica is so famous. We shopped at the artisans' cooperative - scooping up fun leather and wooden goods and, of course, getting Cara another coke.

We ate a typical lunch - Cara and Gibson professed their love for arroz con pollo (and coke!) - and we chatted with the family of a girl also here doing research for the year.

When we finally arrived at Tabacon, I think we were all ready to wash off the dust from the road - and the slimy-ness of Frank. The hot springs were, well, HOT. Gibson, it turns out, is most comfortable in water that surpasses 40 degrees Celsius. Cara and I do better with the lukewarm water at the swim up bar. Yes, SWIM UP BAR, margaritas, and a water slide.

After dinner (who would have thought that it really would be a great buffet??), we took a swing around the other side of the mountain to see what we could see. Despite all the clouds, we saw some red hazy light and some falling red stones...Then, when we squinted really hard and willed the clouds to move, we did even get to see the red top of the volcano. Wahoo! We saw an eruption. Sweet. I know Costa Ricans who have been to Arenal multiple times and have never seen an eruption! And lucky us, we pop in for one day and see it all.

Tuesday, we checked out the gold museum, pondering which pre-colombian pieces would look nicest on us - all of them really. Then, we did some damage in my favorite artisans' market, headed to the apartment, met Nora and Yadira and did a general Curridabat tour. Then, off to Plaza del Sol to buy coffee and chiky cookies (which never got to their final destination, my mom!), and to have a little cafecito. Then nap time and meeting for dinner at Café Mundo.

Megan and Beth and the cheeky monkeys

Alrighty, so I thought I’d take a little break from Structural Adjustment Programs and Emigration in Nicaragua to update the blog.

First, the Megan and Beth trip. Unfortunately this is going to be fast...Not because their trip wasn’t important, but because there is so much to update and because the trip was so long ago that I can barely believe it actually happened.

So, the short story is...

They came. We ate cookies and drank tea. We went to Cahuita and befriended some locals, danced salsa and merengue, and played truth or dare. We had our own happy hour with chips, salsa, avocado, and cheese doodles (And rum & coke in a can, of course). Then I got a stomach bug/parasite/who knows what. Meg and Beth went snorkeling while I slept. They saw a shark! I drank herbal tea. We made it home to Curridabat. They went on a canopy tour (Why thank you, Marbella tours!). We all went out to Tavarua.

Did I miss anything? Oh yes, Beth got jumped by a monkey in the National Park. We were watching the little creeps circle us (picture a cute, furry version of the velociraptors moving in for the kill in Jurrassic Park), when one of them ambled over, grabbed the plastic bag of water bottles Beth was holding, and sunk his teeth into it. Then, he looked up at Beth with a so-whatcha-gonna-do-about-it expression. Beth looked back. I swung my towel at him, making traditional Costa Rican monkey deterrent noises (ie clicking and hissing...very silimar to the way men try to pick up women here), and started walking. I guess he let go...probably not because of anything we did, but just because he didn’t really want any bottled water.

I was sad to see Meg and Beth go, but happy to have more lotion, girl scout cookies, claritin, and tea (thanks for the care packages, Mom). I hope they had fun...I know we certainly did. I hope that this small jaunt has been a helpful practice leg for Beth’s around the world adventure, especially since now she knows how to defend herself from cheeky monkeys.

Chris mentioned repeatedly how I never seem to stop laughing when I’m with them, despite the stomach problems. It’s true – not even intense stomach cramping could ruin our fun. I mean, I love Meg. Always have. And we always have fun together, love talking, and don’t consider time spent reading as insulting to the other. And, of course, I’ve liked Beth since I met her. But, as Beth and I concluded at one point, it’s a beautiful thing when you realice that your friends’ (from home, high school,etc) friends from college, are exactly the friends you would have made if you had been with them at college.

Got that?
Basically, it means I love Beth too.