We're back home in Monteverde after a three week trip to the States... where it was great to see everyone, but also very hot. It's warm on that East Coast. Downright toasty. It was also expensive- as loads of money seemed to disappear as if by magic from our wallets. Poof! How does that happen? All those exciting places to eat and drink, I suppose.
It was so great to see all the many people from our lives. Here's a non-exhaustive list of all the people we saw: My mom and dad, my aunt Irene, Sandra, Abby, Jill, John, Sheila, Becca, Alison, Park, Dan, Jane, Michael Z., Anne, Chris T., (also family members of these folks), Andrew L., Jason, Nick, Annelies, Ben, Jayce, Laurie, Paul, Liz, Alicia, Hannah, Sunetha, Larry, Tom, Fred Goodman and Deborah Leibel, the Nelson family, Carolyn S., Rachel, Bobby H., Dave, Lois, Emily, Elizabeth, etc, etc, etc...Whew, it was tiring. A lot of people! Thanks to everyone who housed us, entertained us, fed us, and put up with us! Sorry if I forgot to mention you in the above list! Everyone is welcome and encouraged to come visit!
It's great to be back where the insects are singing at night and the air is perfectly cool and lovely. But damp, of course. Monteverde wouldn't be Monteverde without a good dose of damp. Our journey back was somewhat eventful in that one of Michael's suitcases was lost and sent to Tampa accidently...but arrived here soon after.
Our journey TO the airport when leaving in June was kind of a comical nightmare. Our driver did not show up at 2:00 a.m. as scheduled, so my friend Gina had to drive us all the way to the airport (a four hour trip) in the middle of the night. We (of course) got a flat tire along the way that Michael had to change while holding Gina held a flashlight above him. Meanwhile inside the car, Gina's dog, Crystal, decided that this was a good time to step all over me in the car to the point of almost crushing me. She's a big dog. Massive. Imagine a massive dog trampling all over your legs and hands and face and also barking repeatedly and loudly while you cling to her collar BEGGING her to calm down in a whimpering little voice. After this dramatic tire changing, we hit the road and managed to make it to the airport just twenty minutes shy of boarding. As we approach the counter, breathless, we are amused to see that the airline check-in people are completly tranquilo (calm) and seemed not fazed in the slightest that we chose to arrive at such a late time. Apparently in Costa Rica, it's normal to arrive at the airport at almost the very last minute. Not my prefered way of traveling, but it worked out okay.
Another amusing Costa Rica moment...on our next to last day in the U.S, I receieved and e-mail informing me that my police record check had "expired" and I would need another one to re-apply for a work visa. Who knew that a record check could "expire"? I lived in Costa Rica the whole year...wouldn't THEY know if I commited a crime? Why does the U.S have any new information on me? So, anyway, we had to spend some time in Delaware getting fingerprinted so that I could prove, once again, that I am not a criminal.
I'm not, by the way.
On a different note...we were greated by a troop of capuchin monkeys right beside our new house the day after we arrived home! They were eating the oranges from our orange tree.
Our house feels very cosy now that we've added the millions upon millions of books we purchased in the U.S and also hung some nice Indian tapestrys.
And we've even made the bread recipe Anne showed us at her house! A home isn't a home until someone bakes bread! (That doesn't sound like me. What has this place DONE to me? Baking bread??? Ridiculous). Currently I've been trying to learn how to cook every kind of vegetable available in our grocery store using my Fannie Farmer cookbook, purchased in the Italian Market in Philly. Thus far I've made baked potatos, roasted tomatoes, steamed cauliflower, made cabbage salad, AND did a neat thing with carrots and cinniman (how do you spell that? Is that right?)
I've included a picture here of Michael contemplated the big field in front of our new house.
