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| Julia Butterfly My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica |
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| Polydamas Swallowtail Butterfly My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica |
On earth there is no heaven, but there are pieces of it.
~Jules Renard
Atenas Central Gets Street Signs!
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| The center of town! Corner of 0 & 0! |
UNBELIEVABLE! Or at least “un-Tico” to have street signs! My goodness! What will they think of next? House numbers?
I have traveled all over Costa Rica and the only place with street signs so far is downtown San Jose that I have noticed. The Tico way to give directions is by using obvious landmarks with a number of meters from it to the next landmark or the destination. For example if you need to get to my house and are driving from Alajuela:
On Ruta 3 drive past La Coope Gasolinera to the first legal left turn or second street after the traffic light. Drive 500 meters to the end of road at Escuela Central and turn left. Go 100 meters to El Pinguino shop and turn right. Then in 100 meters, turn left and go 600 meters to the Roca Verde sign on the right. Inside the gate go 200 meters to the third black gate on left numbered 105. Only some developments like ours have house numbers.
Now read under the second photo the directions to my house from Central Atenas with street signs and it is not much shorter!
Of course that needs to be in Spanish. And if you don’t know, a city block is approximately 100 meters, but “blocks” are not generally used for directions here.
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| To get to my house from central, take Calle 3 south to Avenida 8, THIS CORNER left 500 meters to the Roca Verde sign and gate on the right, then straight ahead 200 meters to 3rd black gate on left with number 105. Now say that in Spanish! 🙂 |
And I must add that I am glad my bank fees are at least partially going to help the community. The little logo at the bottom of each street sign is for Banco Nacional.
For those who still think I live in the jungle, see what modern progress we are making down here!? And this was a big surprise to everyone! Most did not know the names of the streets, so I figure 4 or 5 years to get used to the street names, then maybe house numbers!
And for anyone who cares, Calles run north-south and Avenidas east-west. East of Calle 0 are odd numbered Calles and west even numbered. North of Avenida 0 are odd numbered and south even numbered. I wonder how many have figured that out yet? 🙂
We’ve actually had these street names for awhile, though the only place I have seen them is on a paper map from a real estate company and on the Google Map. But it is a rare Tico who knows the name of any street in town! And the sign at right, 3rd & 8th is the last street sign before my house. They have signed what is generally called “Central Atenas” or the core of downtown.
The city is hard at work making improvements. In Central Park a children’s playground has been added with swings, slides and climbing things. Can the kids still climb the trees? Also, there are new brighter street lights in park for night events.
Making Pura Vida Lemonade Today!
“Pura vida!” is as much an attitude, philosophy, or spirit as it is a slogan for Costa Rica basically meaning “Pure Life.”
“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade” is a proverbial phrase used to encourage optimism and a positive can-do attitude in the face of adversity or misfortune. Lemons suggest sourness or difficulty in life, while lemonade is a sweet drink. ~Wikipedia
This optimistic, can-do attitude is so typical of Costa Rica, making the Pura Vida slogan appropriate. Well, I’m pleased with my spirit of Pura Vida today when some things didn’t go as planned for me.
LEMONADE FROM LAST NIGHT’S PROBLEM
Blurb had a 40% discount on photo books with a deadline of midnight last night. I tried repeatedly last night to upload my Nicaragua trip photo book and it never would work, possibly because too many other people were doing the same thing. I emailed their help center and said to myself it is not meant to be if it doesn’t work. Don’t fret about it! Went to bed! This morning I had an email response from Blurb with one link that got my book quickly uploaded and with an extension of the discount! By not getting angry at technology again (easy to do) I avoided stress and still got my book ordered. See the separate book post below.
TODAY’S MAIN SCHEDULE LEMONADE
My doctor appointment for a week ago today got postponed until today at 1:00. I decided to go early for lunch in the city and took the 10:30 bus from Atenas. As the bus approached the city my phone rang and it was the doc’s assistant saying she needed to push my appointment up to 3:00 if I could make it. I groaned and said I was on the bus coming into town now. She paused, apologized and said “let’s make it at 2:00 then, but she could be running late and there is another appointment at 2:00.” I thanked her and hung up before sighing. But decided to make the best of it and maybe further explore Sabana Park which is like New York’s Central Park.
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| Museo de Arte Costarricense |
After getting there and walking across the park and eating an early lunch, I still had two hours to kill and suddenly saw in the park Museo de Arte Costarricense or the Museum of Costa Rican Art. I spent more than an hour there and could have spent much more time in a beautiful museum in the park full of art by Ticos. That was so much better than getting angry or hurt because of the inconvenience of a delayed appointment! I had a 4 km walk to the doctor office (and walking helps the spirit too!). All is well with my heart and my foot/leg. When my foot swells again I will simply take 10 minutes to prop it up higher than my heart to relieve the weak veins in that leg, plus I will regularly massage the leg with a lotion which will strengthen them. She also wants me to stay on Baby Aspirin and Concor, a beta blocker, to help control my arrhythmia (plus the med helps me sleep better!). So that is it. A good report!
RETURN TRIP LEMONADE
Friday afternoon is the absolutely worst traffic of the week in San Jose and going west toward the beach (Atenas is west) is the worst, meaning the 45 minute bus ride becomes an 1:45 bus ride on Friday afternoon going back to Atenas. Again I could grumble, curse, be angry and make myself sick. But I chose to read from the Kindle App on my phone until a sun glare stopped that and then I had a needed nap while listening to the bus driver’s Spanish Music radio station (which is suppose to help me learn Spanish). So now I’m ending my busy day without stress or anger and in a happy mood! A very good day! And while I was typing this I listen to Spanish music from some fiesta downtown with beautiful marimba music now. You do know that all of my windows stay open all the time?
Nicaragua: The Book
Of course with all those photos, I had to make a book! It is mostly birds but includes culture photos of Granada, people, Semana Santa, and interesting roadside shots across the country. You can click on the image above and electronically thumb through the book for free. No purchase required! 🙂
Vireo-Grassquit-Tanager-Grosbeak-Nicaragua
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| Yellow-throated Vireo, Montibelli Nature Reserve, Nicaragua |
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| Yellow-faced Grassquit, El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua |
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| “Maybe” a migrant Yellow-bellied Flycatcher , El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua
I first called it a “Bush Tanager” but an expert corrected me on it. |
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| Rose-breasted Grosbeak, El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua A really bad photo, but it does show I saw one! 🙂 |
Will I ever finish the Nicaragua birds? You may be asking that and I am getting closer to the end, but it is I believe the most different birds I have photographed on any trip, about 85 to 90 species. No exact count yet, but it beats my 2009 Costa Rica birding trip with about 50 species.
Last of the Birds from Montibelli Nicaragua
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| Smooth-billed Ani Montibelli Nature Reserve, Nicaragua |
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| White-winged Dove Montibelli Nature Reserve, Nicaragua |
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| White-tipped Dove Montibelli Nature Reserve, Nicaragua The difference from White-winged is the tail is tipped white |
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| Inca Dove Montibelli Nature Reserve, Nicaragua |
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| Bronzed Cowbird Montibelli Nature Reserve, Nicaragua |
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| Clay-colored Thrush Montibelli Nature Reserve, Nicaragua |
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| Rufous-naped Wren Montibelli Nature Reserve, Nicaragua |
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| Melodius Blackbird Montibelli Nature Reserve, Nicaragua |
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| Streak-headed Woodcreeper Montibelli Nature Reserve, Nicaragua |
Whew! It was a lot of birds! A wonderful trip!
Last of Birds from El Jaguar, Nicaragua
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| Black-headed Saltator El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua |
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| Bushy-crested Jay El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua |
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| Baltimore Oriole El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua |
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| Clay-colored Thrush El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua |
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| Great-tailed Grackle El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua |
El Jaguar Nature Reserve was a great place for birding, maybe the best yet!
Long-tailed Manakin, Nicaragua
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| Long-tailed Manakin Montibelli Nature Reserve, Nicaragua This shot shows his face best while the next his colors |
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About Long-tailed Manakin on
Flycatchers in Nicaragua
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| Great Kiskadee, Lake Nicaragua |
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| Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Lake Nicaragua |
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| Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Lake Nicaragua |
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| Common Tody Flycatcher, Montibelli Nature Reserve, Nicaragua |
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| Social Flycatcher El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua |
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| Dusky-capped Flycatcher, El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua |
See my gallery of Nicaragua Birds
About Flycatchers on Cornell’s “All About Birds” that redirects you to each species page
Warblers from Nicaragua Trip
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| Magnolia Warbler Lake Apanas, Jinotega, Nicaragua |
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| Yellow Warbler Montibelli Nature Reserve, Nicaragua |
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| Yellow Warbler El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua |
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| Wilson’s Warbler El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua |
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| Wilson’s Warbler El Jaguar Nature Reserve, Nicaragua |
Notice that I included two photos of the Yellow Warbler and two of the Wilson’s Warbler. You will with this see how different the same species can look at first glance. Age, gender and other factors can influence a “different look” for birds of the same species.
About Warblers on Easy Science for Kids