PURA VIDA!
In case you don't know already, pura vida is Costa Rica's official slogan. It literally means "pure life" but down there it also means "hi," "bye," "stay cool," and "hells yeah!" It's sort of at the heart of their laid-back way. I wish it was the slogan for our country. People would be a lot more chill. I like chill. Heck - I love chill.
Our trip was pretty damn great. It was jam-packed with action, adventure, good food, family, hammocks. I wish there was a highlight reel and I could just cue the video. Since there's not, here's a list of highlights and lowlights (points of interest, I suppose) from our 9-day trip to Costa Rica. These are in no particular order...
Let's start with the snake! Um, I pretty much have a snake phobia. I am, quite literally, terrified of them. Even seeing them behind glass at the zoo makes me feel like I might have a panic attack. Now I know that there are all kinds of snakes, including very poisonous ones, in Costa Rica. This was my third trip there, though, and I'd never seen one. I really wasn't worried about it. Billy - Erika's husband - shares my horror of all things snake and WAS worried about it. I kept reassuring him that he was going on over nothing. WEEELLLLLL....we were on a little jungle hike on our land - not hacking our way through the jungle but on a path that my brother, Jonas, keeps maintained. Jonas was leading the way, followed by his six-year-old step-daughter, Billy, me with Belly in a sling, Erika and Dude with the Bug in a sling. There are so many amazing things to see in the jungle - everything grows on everything else and the flowers are S-T-U-N-N-I-N-G and exotic and it feels like happy paradise. Erika wanted Billy to take a picture of her in front of a cool tree so she leaned against it while he backed up to get the shot. All of a sudden, Erika started barking commands in a crisp, tight, incredibly authoritative tone of voice. "Everybody stop. Billy - go by Rachael right now. And Rachael - move further down the path. Lily - stay far away. Dude - don't come any closer. In fact, back up a ways. There is a snake RIGHT THERE." We all looked. There was an effing terciopelo (also called a fer-de-lance) about two feet behind where Billy was standing to take the picture of Erika. Here's the link to Wikipedia, but lemme tell you, it's a pit-viper. It is known to be aggressive. It can shoot its venom up to six feet. One has three hours to get to the anti-venom before all hell breaks loose and your limbs start crumbling off (not really - but close - look at that picture on Wikipedia). This snake is basically the one that I had hoped to avoid. And there it was, all coiled up and looking at us. I would've fainted, but that would've meant that me and my baby were on the ground with the snake. Ultimately, the snake did nothing and we all moved on down the path. Jonas would've killed it with his machete, but we were all focused on just getting AWAY from it - plus it was in the jungle, not near the house. Ugh. Oh, and Erika kept getting closer and closer to it trying to get a good picture. She's nuts. She never did get a clear picture, but this one's close enough.
We flew from Portland to Dallas (where we met up with Erika and Billy) to San Jose, Costa Rica, then spent the night at a cool little B&B before driving the 4 hours or so to the farm the next day. Here's a picture of Dude and Belly at that B&B. It's one of my new favorite pics.
When we turned onto the dirt road (from the gravel road) that leads to the path that leads to our farm (you have to walk in about 15 minutes), there was a sloth hanging from an elevated water line. The animal was abuzz with flies and even had a spider hanging off of it. Check it out, yo.
Here's just a funny photo that Erika took near San Jose. Apparently, Jesus personally helps guide this surgeon's hand. Hmmm. I wonder if he does tummy tucks.
Anyway, back to our adventures. Jonas is almost done building our "communal house." Eventually, we'll have our own "cabina" that has a couple bedrooms, a hang-out area and maybe a deck or something. We'll use the communal house for the kitchen and more hang-out-ability. Here's the outside of the house.
And some views from the house at sunset...
We spent a day down at the ocean. The Pacific has never felt so warm. Jonas and his family schooled me on all the different kinds of waves that come in and how to handle them. There are Swimmers, Floaters, Surprisers, Butt Breakers and Brain Suckers. There might be more, but that's what I remember. Jonas cut open cocos for us and we drank the sweet, watery milk. We frolicked. We gathered shells. We got a little sunburned. It was pretty perfect. Here are a few pics of Playa Ventanas.
Then the day took a turn for the worse when some cops came to the beach and said that Erika and Billy's rental truck had been broken into. The "stealers" (as my nephew called them) dropped a huge rock through the back passenger window and took the bag with my sister's knitting (a blanket for Belly!) and her almost-finished-really-good book. So lame.
Things looked up again, though, when we left the beach and drove up the road to a hidden waterfall to rinse off the salt water. It was COLD but lovely after a hot day at the beach with its bathwater waves.
I cut down a rack of bananas on the farm! With a machete! I felt kind of like a warrior. Seeing the pictures, though, I look like a gringa taking a few whacks for a photo op. Maybe someday I'll fit in a little better down there.
There's so much more to tell, but this post is getting ridiculously ginormous. It was super great to hang out with Jonas and the family - his kids, Zia and Mikah; his fiance, Judy; and her daughter, Lily. I miss them so much when they're down there and I'm grateful that my kids got to spend a lot of time with their cousins. Here are some pictures of that gorgeous family...
My nephew, Mikah:
My niece, Zia:
Zia & Mikah together:
My "new" niece, Lily:
My bro, Jonas:
My sister-in-law, Judy (whom I think looks like a young Isabella Rossellini):
Plus here are Erika & Billy:
Me with my vacation babies - The Bug & Belly (I can't find a good one of just the two of them):
And last but not least, me with my Dude and girls (on the jungle hike about 10 minutes before we saw the snake - girls were SOUND asleep):
Pura Vida, peeps! Pura Vida.
**And thanks, Erika, for taking so many great pictures!
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6 comments:
Thanks for sharing!! It looks like a fabulous time! Everyone looks B-E-A-utiful:). but i have to say... the snake pic doesn't cut mustard next to the one that Jonas took. the one where it ATE the cat... now THAT was awesome!!!:) LOVE YA!!
Yeah, a boa constrictor eating the family cat is pretty hardcore. Here's the difference, though - that boa wouldn't consider eating me next but the terciopelo might!
Ok. Loving the perfect paradise... not so keyed about snakes laying RIGHT THERE ready to eat you and your kids. Total ick factor. But the other pics totally make up for it! Does Jonas live there full time? (Just wondering why he has to build the house.) And omg - can I just say Judy is absolutely gorgeous in a very exotic movie star kind of way and you can totally tell she's just herself in that pic. I have to take at least 76 pictures to find one decent one. Eika's daughter miss out on the trip? (Was she busy cruising with her new license???)
Jonas lives down there 5-6 months a year and the rest of the time up here in Oregon. He's a contractor, so it's awesome that he can build our house. A lot of the wood came from our land. I think next year he's going to build a second house that will be for him and his family and then maybe the year after that build the cabinas for us and Erika's family. Eri's daughter, D, couldn't come because it was the last week of school (and because of our whole house-buying thang, we couldn't push the trip back a week). I'd like to state for the record - I am almost as afraid of D driving as I was of that snake. I wish she'd just wait until she's 25 to get her license!
This driving thing is fucking killing me. She wants to drive everywhere now! Each 10 minute trip to the store leaves me exhausted - being so alert and terrified is very tiring. Heeellllppp mmeeeeeeee
Thanks for the CR low-down. That snake story is such a great example of one of my most beloved Erika traits - logic. And put that with her calm demeanor and you've got yourself Erika: Costa Rica's finest snake whisperer. Haha! Really, ain't she good like that?
Sounds like you all had fun. I loved reading about it in your "voice". Lovely and hilarious! I read that you're reading The Glass Castle. I've been wanting to read that for a while. I know it must be a wonderful book but as you said - horrifying. I gravitate toward horrifying so I'm not reading it right now. Trying to keep myself on a Jim Carey-ish note. Had to pry myself away from 6 Feet Under at Blockbuster. But still couldn't bring myself to rent Yes Man when I haven't yet seen The Reader.
Pura vida!
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