Movie Adventure & Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Atenas, Costa Rica

Photographed this little guy before breakfast this morning when I walked out and saw two hummingbirds flying in and out of my garden. I try shooting them in flight but very difficult! And as good fortune continues to smile on me, this Rufous-tailed Hummingbird landed on a flower. I guess they do have to rest occasionally! This is my 5th species of hummers to photograph in my garden, almost as many as the butterflies. I have a total of 13 species photographed in my Costa Rica Hummingbirds Gallery.  This milestone was before breakfast and my movie adventure today.

MOVIE ADVENTURE
One of my neighbors, Anthony, is a single artist my age renting a house in the next compound. He and I got a taxi a little before 10 AM to go to the bus station without the sweat of walking there ($1 each). We took the 10:30 freeway bus that makes a stop by the Mall in Escazu ($2 each). We first bought our tickets from the computer kiosk with touch screen that didn’t always work, but finally got it to. Then we ate lunch at the American chain restaurant Chili’s next door to the theater. Same menu as in the states. 
We could have seen Jurassic Park for $8 but chose to go all the way with the 1:25 PM 3-D and DBOX, which is a special row of large, wide-aisle seats that moved and vibrated with some scenes in the movie. That was about $14.50 each. DBOX is not worth the extra cost, at least for this movie. Not as effective as the ones in Disney World. The movie is very well done but didn’t make good use of 3-D either, so really the $8 regular movie would have been just as good. And I hope this is the last in the Jurassic series, though they set up something at the end to help continue it. They are covering tired subjects and the story line is weak. But it was a good “first movie in Costa Rica” for me since the fictitious park is supposedly here (though filmed in Hawaii and Louisiana). 
I also learned today that there is an IMAX theater in San Jose and this would have been a good movie to see in it, though even more expensive. I will not go to theater movies as much here as I did in Nashville, but good to know how to do it and that the theater is as good or better than any I’ve seen in the states. All seats are nice, large, comfortable, and with drink holders. Good sound, screen, etc. 
Uneventful 25-minute taxi ride to “Coca Cola Bus Station” on the other side of San Jose in rush hour traffic for the only place to catch a return bus to Atenas (pricey $10 each!) and then our $2 each bus ride back to Atenas where we walked home before dark. An interesting day! And I meant to photograph the theater but forgot in all the busyness of doing it the first time in mostly Spanish. But movie was in English with Spanish subtitles. Whew! Big Day! We were home around 5:15. Tired.

And if you can’t add it up in your head, that is $15.50 each for all but lunch which was about $7.50 or $22 USD for the whole day. Not bad for being in Costa Rica! And it would have been less than $20 if we had been wise enough to choose the regular movie instead of 3-D DBOX.  🙂

5 Suitcases Are Ready!

The 5 Suitcases Are Lined Up Ready To Be Packed

They have been lined up in my living room for quite a while and soon I have to do a dry run packing to see what will actually fit in them. I got the three hardbacks in a large size to go with my two life-time warranty soft bags. In the meantime I’m still trying to sell furniture and this weekend started packing my art collection. Books and art are what I really want to take. Furniture is so available there and with really nice woods. Though I may decide to stay with furnished apartments and not worry about furniture at all. Simplify! 

On the landing strip in Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica by Charlie
Well, I’ve been including photos of Costa Rica, so I had to find one to go with these suitcases! How about when I don’t want to ride a bus to a national park across the country, I fly in one of these little regional airline planes? This is what I flew to Puerto Jimenez for my trip into Corcovado National Park. One of the newer regional airlines is called “Nature Air” which I like just for the name! 🙂 Most trips like this cost about $40. Not bad if in a hurry! But $5 for the bus is better!

The adventures are soon to begin! And I’m ready!

Sticker Shock Twice Today! And Carretas!

Sarchi is just 21 km (25 minutes) north of Atenas and where these famous
painted oxcarts (carretas) are made, plus it’s the furniture making capital of Costa Rica
where I will buy furniture if I ever move to an unfurnished apartment.
I made this photo in Sarchi in 2010. Soon I’ll photograph the Atenas Oxcart Parade.

Today was another big step in my process of moving to Costa Rica. I sent the required documents for my Pensionado Residency application to my Costa Rica attorney. He will soon begin the application process so maybe I’ll have my residency by next summer. Today it brought some sticker shock at DHL. First, to send the stack of papers I’ve talked about earlier (Birth Certificate, Police Background Check, Social Security Letter, and U.S. Embassy Registration) by Registered DHL Express Courier, it cost $71. What?! Well, it is a very important package, that must get there safely, not get lost, and I spent almost that on getting the contents. Soooo, I just rationalized my acceptance of it!  🙂

My second sticker shock came when I asked the DHL man how much it would cost to send a 50 lb suitcase to San Jose, Costa Rica (thinking it would be cheaper than excess baggage on the plane). We estimated suitcase measurements and punched it all in his computer at 50 lbs. to find it would cost around $1,400! Wow! And I thought American Airlines excess baggage was expensive! I will check at least one other shipper, but it looks like I will move to Costa Rica with whatever I can get in 5 suitcases. I wanted to simplify my life and this will actually help me do that as I prioritize what is important and what I can live without. This fun adventure continues! And thanks to Robbie for this cool quote:

One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure.”— William Feather, American publisher