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La Muchacha

West End 3rd floor landing balcony, La Muchacha & door to my apartment.

In the dictionary, “muchacha” is just another Spanish word for girl, but in real life Costa Rica it is more; what the young men call a good-looking young lady, like “chick” in the states. My taxi driver in a barrio of San Jose whistled at a couple of teenage girls, looked at me, smiled, and said “Barrio’s Muchachas!” Well, we have one at Hacienda La Jacaranda too – at my front door!
“Muchacha” is what two-year old Matthaeus in the apartments calls the only statue in our building. It is a wood carving of a nude girl (sun worshipping?) that stands on the west end 3rd floor landing right across from my front door and and my neighbor’s door. Hmmmmm . . . you say! Well, it’s just art! Phons, the previous owner, loved nudes! (Has more around his house.) And I didn’t put it there! Wait until you see the paintings he put in my living room! But for now enjoy these photos of Matthaeus’ Muchacha! 🙂 Our wooden chick!
Carved from one piece of wood, dated 2004.

Looks like sun worshipping to me!

You hardly notice it when you walk up the hill.
Today I had lunch with a couple and their lady friend from New Jersey. Tomorrow I’m taking the retired man birding on the Tarcoles River. My first time to get that far away from Atenas for nature photography. I’m looking forward to it. Lots of birds tomorrow!

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Jubilado!

Jubilado is the most common word used here to name or describe a retired person (Jubilada for feminine). Even though there is a Spanish word that sounds more like our English “Retired” (retirarse), no one uses it here – always jubilado(a)! It comes from the root noun jubilo, “jubilation or joy,” and the corresponding adjective jubiloso(a), “jubilant, joyful.” And in the land of Pura Vida, what a great way to describe retirement! And it is becoming pure joy for me!

One view of our apartments while walking back from town.
Far from a retirement home!

Though the government talked in 2010 about creating “Jubilado Communities” like Retirement Communities in the states, it never materialized with most Ticos preferring to retire in place, stay a part of the total community and their extended family, says an article in La Nacion, the primary Spanish language newspaper here.

Of course there are North Americans who bought up property to create many gated communities of retired North Americans here, even in Atenas. I’m trying to avoid that. My apartments are gated for security, but we are not all gringo, not all retired, and not all old. I love the mix of peoples, ages, incomes, nationalities and the 300 meter walk to a real town! It is better than a retirement community! At least for me. We have two young couples who go to work daily, a couple of older working people,  an unwed young mother with a 2-year old, a community of teenagers next door (New Summit Academy), and all ages of snowbirds. Who knows who will move in when the snowbirds go home in April and May for their summer? We are surrounded by Tico houses plus a church and shopping within walking distance! It is a good balance.

Some believe in destiny, and some believe in fate
I believe that happiness is something we create
Line from Sugarland’s song 
“Something More”

Happy to be a Jubilado!
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Day of the Iguana! And Eating Report . . .

Spiny-tailed Iguana in Downtown Atenas

I’ve seen one on the apartment grounds, a female with a nest we think, but very skittish and never close enough to photograph. Today I saw this Spiny-tailed Iguana on the back side of ICE, the electric and cell phone company, on the base of their tower. It’s a cell phone image. There are three kinds of iguanas in Costa Rica, Green, Spiny-tailed, and Helmeted. On earlier trips I always saw mostly the Green Iguana and maybe a few spiny-tailed, but never a helmeted yet.

Eating Report . . .
And unrelated to the iguana, except it was on the same walk, I photographed my lunch plate at La Trocha del Boyero. My first time to eat there and I got a typical Tico lunch plate called a “Casado.” It is another one of the better restaurants that I will return to. They also have the reputation of “the best steak in town.” Maybe someday when I’m really hungry! You can get a casado like this for $4 in the little corner “Sodas” (Mom & Pop cafes) or about $5 at El Mejor Clima Restaurant. This nicer placed charged $8. But I got real china and a linen tablecloth! And a nice patio with many plants on a quiet street with just me and one other party at the time. And I read another chapter in the latest book.
Typical Costa Rican Lunch
Fried sea bass, onions, peppers, beans, rice, fried plantains, plantain fritters, and salad. 
La Trocha del Boyero, Atenas, Costa Rica
Covered Outdoor Patios are the most common style restaurant here.

And for Supper . . .

Since I’m on food, let me tell you about my “light” supper. When I buy fresh fruit now, it is usually too much to eat all fresh, so I cut up some and put in sandwich baggies in the freezer. Then; like tonight, I sometimes make a fresh fruit smoothie with some frozen fruits rather than ice cubes. Tonight’s was frozen pineapple, papaya, and strawberries with a not-frozen banana, a small container of yogurt, and some chilled guanabana drink for the liquid (I make this from the pulp of guanabanas and keep in frig as another drink choice along with a similar one from mango pulp). My supper smoothie all blended together to the texture of an icy milkshake and was really yummy! With that I ate a slice of watermelon and a little peanut butter sandwich on whole grain “fruit bread.” That’s like raisin bread with more than raisins and in the whole grain bread! Eating is fun here! And I am not losing weight! But I walk enough to not be gaining weight! 3.5 miles today, 5.5 yesterday! My phone measures mileage, along with being my camera, portable Kindle, calendar, and other neat tools. Life is good! Pura Vida!

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, 
it would be a merrier world.” 
― J.R.R. Tolkien
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Stumbled Upon Yesterday’s Tree

Pink trumpet tree or Roble de sabana
My apartment complex entrance is 100 meters to the left

Walking back from town today I suddenly realized I was walking across the street from the tree I posted yesterday as shot from my balcony. It is located just after I duck my head to walk under this bougainvillea over the sidewalk (photo below). I’ll try to create an album of neighborhood flowers soon. There are many!

Bougainvillea Arch over Atenas Sidewalk
“The earth laughs in flowers.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Pink Trumpet Tree

Roble de sabana or Pink trumpet tree

The Pink Trumpet Tree (in English) or Roble de sabana (in Spanish) and the scientific or Latin name of Tabebuia rosea is a popular flowering three for this elevation of the Central Valley hills of 698 meters or 2300 feet. This is a shot from my balcony of two of these trees in a neighbor’s yard. You can see a lot living on a hill!   🙂   I love the views from my hill and balcony! Remember a couple of weeks ago the orange flowering Poro Tree I shared? Those orange flowers are fading now as different blossoms appear elsewhere. After a whole year I should have a good flowering tree collection – Photos, smiles, and memories!

“You must not know too much or be too precise or scientific about birds and trees and flowers and watercraft; a certain free-margin, and even vagueness – ignorance, credulity – helps your enjoyment of these things.”

― Henry David Thoreau
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Poolside Birthday Party/Cookout!

Two or our La Jacaranda residents had birthdays this week, a 62 year-old lady and a 2 year-old little boy. It included a little pinata for the boy and a potluck cookout for all! 
Gary from Quebec grilled 1 inch thick pork chops and sausages! Delicious!

The rest of us brought side dishes.

Our Tico couple brought the birthday cake. an old family recipe for a
Caramel Cake – One of the best cakes I’ve ever tasted! Yum!

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What’s Different About Costa Rica? And My Buses…

So what is really so different from the U.S. about Costa Rica, note these interesting habits, traditions, & weird facts from an article in The Costa Rica News, one of the online English newspapers here. Just click the link above – It’s worth the time! We are different!

AND ABOUT THE BUSES I RIDE . . .

Here I’m waiting in line to board a bus to Atenas from Alajuela. 23 km, 15 miles.
Buses go everywhere cheaply, just don’t be in a hurry! This one is $1.43 USD,
or 715 Colones, and as a “collectivo” making local stops, takes about 45 minutes.
Nice vehicles, made in China, window for air & curtain to shield the sunshine.
One trip I had a large package and driver put it under the bus at no extra charge.

If I go to Alajuela to pick up mail at Aerocasillas or shop at Walmart, that is one day’s activity, usually just one or two things accomplished per day. That trip is usually a half day or more if I eat lunch in Alajuela. San Jose trips can take longer and I have combined the two cities for most of a day. Below is photo of bus schedule in Atenas for Alajuela & San Jose. I have this printed and on my refrigerator to check for when the next bus leaves:

Bus Schedule from Atenas to San Jose & Alajuela.
First column is Mon-Fri, Second Saturdays & Holidays, Third Sundays
Most buses are packed full to standing room only.
The most popular way to travel.

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The Bother of Security

Apartment Front Gate

The gate is not bad looking, but the compound wall is ugly and I hope with all the improvements they are making, they will paint the walls soon. We all now have a clicker for the drive-through gate which means we can have a taxi take us up the hill to the apartments at night.You can barely see them through the trees in upper left, about 300 meters uphill! In addition to the clicker for the big gate we each got a key to the pedestrian gate in the green tower in the photo below. I use it more as a walker. They were locking the big gate only at night, but say they will start locking it all day, we’ll see.

Walk-through Gate in tower. First building is complex office, Hours: 7-4.

BANK SECURITY TOO!

I decided it was time to get a local bank account now that I’ve been here 7+ weeks. But for a non-resident, it requires a lawyer and a bit of effort and time. Trying to avoid the big city as much as possible, I’m not going to use Jose Pablo in San Jose for that, but just secured a local lawyer here in Atenas. She is the attorney for the apartments also and I’m impressed with her. 
So, a half hour in her office today and two hours at the bank next Thursday morning at a hundred dollars an hour! (Many tell me “You can’t do it on your own.” While a few have said you can with patience and multiple trips to bank with the long waits.) It is worth the cost to me to get it done in one week, plus I don’t speak Spanish yet, making her my translator. She will also translate my letter of recommendation from my Nashville bank (Remember, everything is in Spanish here!), she provides required local letters of recommendation, and processes the other papers like three months of bank statements from Nashville and my rental contract here. We meet at the bank at 8:15 AM Thursday and expect the bank to take about two hours including wait time. (The attorney sends an assistant at 7:30 to save us a place at front of line.) In banks there is always a line for any service and it is a type of “Musical Chairs” with one or two rows of chairs. When one person is received, everyone moves up one chair. Cute, isn’t it? I can hardly wait! 🙂
But when finished, I will have a checking account with a checkbook, a debit card, a “Quick Pass” card for the Autopista Toll Gates, and access to a lock box, savings account, CDs, loans, and other services. I will start feeling like I really live here!   🙂    Pura Vida!
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Crimson-fronted Parakeet

Crimson-fronted Parakeet

Okay, this one was not photographed from my balcony, but on the powerline along the road in front of our apartments. It is actually as big as a parrot (there are many kinds) but it is officially a Crimson-fronted Parakeet, the very largest of all parakeets! For those who know parrots, there is a Red-lored Parrot, I know, with red on his forehead like this, but, the eye is different, he has a more narrow strip of red on forehead with blue above that. Details keep identification fun and challenging! My earlier post of parakeets flying over was a smaller and different Sulphur-winged Parakeet. Parrots and parakeets generally stay together in flocks, but this fellow seems to be a loner or at least this afternoon for awhile. I heard him sing as I walked under him, stopped and snapped on my way home from lunch.

And I did not do a post last night because internet connection was too weak when I tried. But I’m trying to stick with one photo and one subject a day and this not great quality, zoomed-in phone photo is my choice today because it is a new bird for me.

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Cardiologist’s Office?

Cell Phone Capture of Alajuela House that is now a Cardiologist Office.

At first glance I thought it was some kind of government building! Why? Because all government buildings are two-tone blue and white. But most have a lot more white than this one. The sign is for a cardiologist, Dr. Luis Fernando Valerio Soto. Yet he could work for the government as part of the universal health plan and it may be a government building after all.

Then all over Alajuela are these modern, curving park benches – giving the city a cosmopolitan look maybe? Or at least some city councilman thought!  🙂  Downtown Alajuela where I go a lot is mostly, old and dirty looking, so this building kind of stands out! Later I may do a post on colorful buildings in Atenas and in Alajuela. The Walmart in Alajuela where I went today is not colorful.