Saturday

We were really hoping for some customers today, but no one showed up. Although it’s nice to have quiet time, it’s also really nice to have new faces every day and the thrill of meeting new people and hearing fresh stories. It’s the “low” season here (beginning in July and running through the end of October). During this time, it’s generally much slower largely due to the fact that it’s the rainy season – though a record drought is making us feel almost foolish for calling it “rainy”.

On slow days, I find myself puttering in my little garden, picking weeds from flower beds, baking, reading and if I have a reason to – crafting! We’ve got a housewarming party to attend tomorrow, so I figured I’d bust out the wood, the rocks and the paints and see what I felt inspired to create.

The guest of honor, Ernesto and Verena, are from Switzerland where the predominant language spoken is German. Though not just regular German; they speak Swiss-German. Google informed me that Wilkomme is how a Swiss-German speaker would say “welcome”, so that was my inspiration. Once finished, I realized the rocks made the thing quite top heavy, so I attached a rounded piece of driftwood to the back which allows the piece to sit up properly. That’s just a little Costa Rican ingenuity for you.

Sunday

I really love a day party. Always have! Well, that’s not true. In college my best friend Dawn and I never went anywhere before 10:30 PM. We’d hang out at my place or hers listening to music, laughing our heads off and having a few drinky-poos before hitting the town. 10:30 PM…honestly can’t recall the last time I stayed up that late. Especially in Costa Rica, where the sun sets at 6:15 PM and comes back up at 5 AM. We are almost always asleep by 8:30 PM. And awake between 4:30 and 5 AM. It’s fabulous!

The party was incredibly fun! The house is sensational – solar panels on the roof, a weather station, an infinity pool, gardens, a pond, a patio that runs the whole length of the house, and an incredible ocean view. Plus they are Swiss, and have great taste in decor and furniture – so the place just felt cool and hip. Let’s call it beachy-modern Swiss chalet. OK – on second thought, that sounds odd. I know what you’re thinking…just show us some pics! Yeah, great idea! But you know how you get into a zone when you are having a great time and you completely forget to take a single pic? Yeah. That’s the trouble here.

We met several new people at the party, and of course saw many familiar faces. One of the local men who helped build the house came with his family – his wife and three kids. The oldest, Juan, is in college.  When I apologized for my poor Spanish, he said it was OK, because his English is poor as well. A bunch of us were sitting at a big table and I’m not sure whose idea it was – Mike’s wife Yearling, I think – but it was decided Juan was only allowed to talk to me in English and I was only allowed to talk to him in Spanish. It sounds silly, maybe, but we had a blast! And kept everyone at the table quite entertained as we fumbled through our limited vocabularies.

As it drew time to head out, sarpe (a term used here to refer to the last drink of the night) was suggested. So off we went to Los Corrales for a beer – Wendy, Patty, Hank, Marie, Dave and I. On the drive Wendy told me how amazed she was at how far my Spanish was coming along. I’d known she was surprised by the looks she kept shooting me from across the table – followed by “Dude! Your Spanish is awesome!” She is too kind. Far, far too kind. But it’s good to know the studying is paying off. I also learned that the harder I try to explain something, the louder I get. As if raising my voice will magically improve my Spanish.

Monday

Fix-it day at our house. Well, if you’re Dave anyhow. I had a fun girls day and didn’t fix a thing!

First Dave used the snake we’d borrowed from a friend to fix a slow moving shower drain. Next, Hank showed up and the two of them took off a rear door panel on the old trusty 1991 Isuzu Trooper to try to get the window rolled up. I had no hope of them fixing it, I just wanted it in the up position so I could keep the rain out and be able to properly secure the vehicle if I went into town. I think they surprised even themselves by getting the thing fixed – totally. All windows are in functioning order! Woo hoo!

Wendy and I hadn’t spent a day together, just the two of us, so we when she suggested we hang out for a day, I was all for it! She took me around to all her favorite spots – the beaches she loves to surf (where I learned what a break and a point are), we had lunch at a yummy little place close to the beach, and we popped into a small resort and sat by the pool enjoying the sun and the sea. After the fun, it was time to be productive. We went into San Francisco de Coyote and visited the panaderia (bakery), the ferreteria (the hardware store) and the mercado (the small grocery). It was a great day – full of interesting conversation, seeing new places and learning more about this little slice of paradise and the people who help make it so special.

Back home, I gave Dave what he needed to complete one more fix-it job – new hinges for the bathroom cabinet to replace the ones that corroded and crumbled a few weeks back. Salty air and metal aren’t exactly friends. Yay Dave!

Tuesday

Another party had been planned – a going away party this time, for our dear friends Jean-Luc and CiCi, who were going back to France. Immediately upon waking I got into the kitchen and whipped up the Ramen Cabbage Slaw I’d made a few weeks back (it was so yummy – I decided to make it again). Finished, I sat down at my computer where I learned the party had to be cancelled because they already had dinner plans. I turned to Dave and said, “Hope you were serious when you said you liked that slaw – because we’re going to be eating a lot of it!” Lucky for both of us, he wasn’t kidding!

Instead of a dinner potluck, we were invited for a 3 PM Happy Hour at Laguna Mar – the restaurant and hotel that the pair now co-own with Marc-Andre and Annie – our friends, and my Spanish classmates, from Quebec. Good-byes are never easy (though really good champagne makes it easier), but it was so good to have one last visit and share lots of laughs. I made a little gift, (you knew I would!) and I hoped it showed CiCi and Jean-Luc how much they are loved and how much they’ll be missed.

Wednesday

Woke up to rain. This is the kind of day where you just feel like baking! So I did. And in the end, I’d whipped up THE BEST oatmeal raisin cookies I’ve ever made! So yummy! And for those of you who are keeping tabs on the five, gallon-sized bags of coconut flour in my freezer, you’ll be happy to know a full 1/2 cup was used to make the yummy little nuggets of goodness. {I have also begun making a hot breakfast porridge out of the stuff – 2 c. coconut flour (or meal maybe is a better descriptor), 1/2 cup oatmeal, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar and milk to taste and desired consistency. Dave agrees…super delish!}

Spanish class today! Third week and I must say, it’s getting harder. Reminds me of tennis. My brother and I got into tennis a few years back and we’d go out several times a week and have a blast. We weren’t great, but we were OK and though he was always better than me, we were fairly balanced. Then we got lessons. And suddenly I couldn’t even serve. It turns out, when you are learning something new, often you get worse before you get better.

Just a few days ago I was feeling quite proud of how far along my Spanish had come. Today, we dove into conjugation and suddenly I’m lobbing balls into the net. I remind myself it’s all a part of learning and one day this frustration will be a distant memory. But today? Today I am muy frustrado!

Thursday

While my brain was nice and sharp, and the caffeine from my morning coffee was coursing through my veins, I decided to tackle conjugation head-on! I found a book on the shelf here, 501 Spanish Verbs (which includes all the various ways said verb can be conjugated). Two things: #1 – Thank goodness that Spanish, unlike English, largely follows pretty straight-forward rules of grammar. #2 – Rules of grammar are hard to memorize! Scratch what I said last week about the age of your brain not mattering. It most certainly does! And I’m going to need a lot more coffee to make up for it!

Anyone curious about the chickens? I know you are because I’ve heard from some of you – demanding an update. Shocking, really, that I’ve not mentioned them lately, because they are pretty much our pride and joy, and little red hen has turned out to be the most incredible little mother. Everyone who sees them together says so – a fact I find interesting. Not sure how they know. Or how I know, for that matter. But she is!

The two chicks that survived are stronger than ever! They are cute – well as cute as chickens of this breed (Turken, or “naked-neck”) can get, I suppose. They have long bald necks and wind up looking a little like a turkey. Not super cute, gonna be honest. But we love them just the same!

They enjoy chirping, pooing, eating, standing on their mother, pooing, practicing flapping their wings, chirping and pooing! Very busy little things, with healthy constitutions. {Hey, you wanted to know!}

Friday

Some days are just reading days. Today was one of those. I started You Before Me, by Jojo Moyes, yesterday and now I am stuck in it. Can’t stop. It’s well-written with characters that are odd and endearing. I can already tell there will be tears, but I read on anyhow. Next time you find yourself in the mood for a good book and don’t mind a little heartbreak, I suggest you give it a read. Good stuff! {Update: Reading this book is like cutting an onion – total tear-fest for over an hour. Worth it though.}

Can you believe I am 38 years old (yeah, me neither!), no, wait…I wasn’t finished…38 years old and I’ve never cooked ribs? Yeah, crazy! The fact remains the same, because Dave did the actual meat cooking, but I did make my first ever attempt at BBQ sauce and I swear to you, it was PERFECTION! Normally, this is where I would share the recipe with you, but not today my dear friends. This sauce was SO outstanding that Dave (who has eaten A LOT of BBQ in his life) promises me it’s contest-worthy! So for those who have asked what’s next after our year in Costa Rica, I think the obvious answer is “winning every BBQ contest across the globe”. Stay tuned for that! And yes Serena, I will make it for you and Will when you come visit in February! {And anyone else who comes to see us!}

Another first in the kitchen today – red bean hummus. Quite tasty! Mine featured garlic, olive oil, salt and a little lime. Fresh out of pita chips (lol, that’s funny stuff!) I paired it with a lovely corn tortilla chip and it was yummy. Pita chips…oh how I miss you!

My how the weeks just fly on by! Somehow I had this idea that time would slow down living here in paradise – the land of rising with the sun, of no schedules and nowhere to be. This place where I can indulge in my kitchen curiosities and read a book, cover to cover, any old day I please. The time still marches on. But for me, it’s the absence of the deadlines and “should-do’s” that brings peace and allows me to slow down inside.  I can stand for an hour and watch little red hen and her babies as they eat a treat of lettuce for the first time, and it’s OK. I don’t feel bad or guilty that I’ve wasted my time. Time itself hasn’t slowed, but I have. I spend my time doing that which feeds me – my body and my soul. And I am full!

———XO

In case you missed Week 1, Week 2, Week 3,  Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7 , Week 8 or Week 9 of the big Costa Rica Adventure – you might want to go back and get caught up. If you’re curious how this adventure began, we created a FAQ to cover most of your burning questions. If we missed one, leave it in the comments below and I’ll do my best to get you an answer.

Thanks for your support and for reading the blog. We hope you are enjoying the journey as much as we are. Feel free to share with your peeps – we love new readers and new friends!

If you think you might like to buy the Bed and Breakfast we are care taking this year, here is the link with all the info. And then make plans to come see this paradise for yourself!