Leaving Potrero Bay.

Last week we were leaving... sometime, maybe Saturday or Sunday… or Monday.. or Wednesday… Today is Friday… we are still here. This time we have moved back to the boat, all our belongings are back into place. It happens after a month of comfort provided by a house and the people we love and love us. It is getting harder and harder to keep going, but I know that once we are moving, everything will be all right and the light will shine through the windows. I spent several hours stowing away our belongings, it appeared that we have more than before; more shells, more toys, more books, more food, more stories, more pictures…, but unfortunately, no more money.

To make our departure less abrupt we went sailing for the day with Melissa and Richard to Playa Conchal. It was a test sail and also I wanted to give Melissa a taste of our lifestyle. After a delicious lunch of “Tuna Tartar”, made by Melissa with fresh tuna (cought by Richard), wasabi, lemon and spices, we sailed back to Potrero and left early the next morning.

Paddle boarding

WOW!! I found it! A combination of workout, sightseeing and adventure! The stand up paddle boards are awesome!. Melissa and Richard have the boards and were kind enough to share the experience with me!. We took the boards to the beach early morning. They gave me a few tips to get started gracefully and off I went through the break. I stood up on the board and PLOOP! SPLASH! Under I was. Tried again and this time went a little better. Shaky legs, smile on my face and with the confidence building up. Melissa and I paddle for about and hour. Then Richard came to the water to meet us and to let me know that my paddle was backwards… Oh well! It made no big difference to my level of excitement!

Riding in Potrero

Potrero Bay is a beautiful place in the province of Guanacaste. Its roads have not been touched by progress, in other words, they continue to be dirt, “holey” dirt! It’s too bad for the drivers, but wonderful, just wonderful for who wants to ride a bike, a horse, a motorcycle or piggy back like my kids. The days I felt I needed to get out and take advantage of such a wonderful setting Costa Rica provides for me and my photo taking mania; I hopped on Melissa’s bike and went. First, I pedaled up the hills; successfully for the first half mile and 25 degree inclination. Then, I rolled down the hill; terrified because the bike didn’t have hand operated breaks, those were on the pedals. Oops! I saw for a minute the end of the bike and a huge dental bill as the bike surpassed the expected speed and the breaks were useless. Luckily, my super heroin training paid off; I was able to stop the bike just by dragging my feet. I rode later to the beach. It was a perfect ride right along the break. I had to stop and take pictures of the sunset, the sunset plus the bike, plus myself, plus the clouds, plus the logs, plus the steps on the sand plus, plus, plus.. at that point I felt so inspired by everything that I run short on camera battery. That is what this wonderful place does to you, it gets you high with its colors, its elements and the combination of the two.

Interacting with the culture

"Abriendo Mentes" is the name of a non-profit organization working in Playa Potrero whos mission is to Educate, Enhance and Empower the community. Thre times a week they offer  english classes to the local children with art and critical thinking combined. They invited Samantha and Trinidad to participate for the time we were here and they enjoyed it very much. We can never waste an opportunity to interact with the culture and to give a little bit of us, if it is possible. Yesterday, we had a fun evening making paper flowers, singing songs and breaking a Pinata that we have been carrying since Cabo San Lucas, waiting for the perfect opportunity to break it.

www.abriendomentes.org

One more day in paradise? So what?

How is it possible to have feelings of discontentment of boredom when living life, as many would say, to the fullest? I have been looking for answers for a couple of days. It was through a chat that I came to a very reasonable conclusion and from that point on… I look forward to another chat! Ha! Well, I will open my points for debate. It’s a matter of expectations and perception. Expectations; such an amazing opportunity to explore, to interact with the culture, to make use of talents, to be outdoors and adventure, but the days have passed and I found myself not being the travel host in Discovery Channel that I though I could have been. Perception; my life these days seemed to be out of rhythm, more than that I could hear no music. So, I proceeded with the exercise of analyzing the day step by step (Now it will sound as if I am bragging).

I woke up with the howling of the monkeys in the backyard and the loud, repetitive and joyful singing of the birds. I poured myself a cup of Costa Rican coffee and put bread slices in the toaster. That is when I got electrocuted, not too bad, but enough to get my curls done. I ate some freshly cut, sweet and juicy pineapple and served myself some blackberry yogurt. The toasts are done, real butter on them and some raspberry jam… delicious! That was breakfast.



I checked my email, not much there these days. I signed on to Facebook and found a few notices; Mary bell commented on Lucy Loo status, Jonny Bee likes my status and bla, bla, bla. Its all good! Then I figure out more ways to embellish my blog and hopefully make a few nickels. The girls woke up, they walked to me, hugged me, kissed me and turned the cartoons on. I served them breakfast.

When Matt came home, he announced: “the waves are friendly, lets go swimming!” A 2 minutes walk and there we were, a magazine style beach; “Playa Penca”. Samantha and I, swam to just barely pass the break, it was quite a rush! After our swim, we headed to one of the ends of the beach were the rocks and tide pools awaited to be explored. I don’t think I could ever forget Samantha going around the little puddles by the side of the hill sticking her finger in them and then in her mouth, looking for fresh water. (Matt just taught her a few survival techniques) I will never forget, either, how Trinidad makes me believe that we are on a SPA and she is giving me the exfoliating treatment and then she tells me to put the rocks back in place, otherwise the fish and crab that live in there, will dye.

After lunch, We worked on Samantha’s math and Trinidad’s ABCs, practice the technique of making paper flowers so we could teach some local children we will see the next day. We play classical music and Samantha performed for me. Then it was time to prepare dinner; spaghetti and meat sauce. Opened a bottle of Chilean wine and proceeded with culinary moment! Chopped the onions, garlic, tomatoes, sautéed them in hot oil..mmm the house smelled good!! Boiled the pasta and continued the steps until we sal and ate. For desert, why not bake some Ghirardelli chocolate brownies?.

fter all, was this an ordinary day?.. I wish it was!

I am Happy, what’s your problem?

So I am under a new spiritual high, I am faithful, grateful, hopeful.. but wait a minute did someone just called me old? Unmaintained? Wrinkled face?.

I was preparing the classes for the kids this morning when Melissa’s maid saw a picture of my birthday and my mood was abruptly changed.

“how old are you now?” –she asked

“39” -I said.

“I thought you were older” – she said.

“I say you are stupid” – I thought,

“REALLY” –I cried.

“You look older than Matt’s sister” “well she takes care of herself” – she rubbed on my face. (She does look great!)

I quickly changed the subject, I was afraid she would crash my self esteem to the point of no repair. Of course, I felt the urgency of finding a mirror. All the hours in the sun and the sea salt must be taking a toll on me. I needed to check.

I concluded that she has a problem of expression, what she really meant to say was “WOW YOU LOOK AMAZING!!”

Nature