As of this week I have now been in Costa Rica for FOUR YEARS. Even I can hardly believe it.
If you were to ask me what is the most dramatic month of the year in Costa Rica I would have to say September. This past week has been a perfect example of that fact and the life I have now lived for four fantastic years.
Before I went to Peru at the end of July, I moved into a house I actually own on the other side of the village. The distance from where I used to live for the past 4 years to the center of all activity here in Esterillos - being one of the two bars on the beach.....is about the same distance I now live only in the opposite direction. Even tho I have now been in this house for over a month it is still a shock to actually wake up here in the mornings - but that is not today's topic.
September is typically one of the two most rainy months of the year. October is usually the whopper. Just because it is the rainy season does not mean it rains all day every day - in fact, it usually rains almost every night and then the days are pretty nice - temperatures are cooler, often there is sunshine for a good part of the day. But the nights and the storms can be over the top dramatic. Lightening and thunder so loud it seriously shakes the center of your being. I so love it when that happens.
Just this past week so many different things have happened.... but not really. Every day is different and still an adventure but for some reason or another this week has been a bit over the top.
Where I live now is in a gated community. There is construction going all round me on all sides. In stead of walking like I used to do I now ride my bike. Well not exactly my bike - right now it is Kate's bike. My bike had to go to the shop. The gear shifters are rusted and no longer move, the back brake cable broke a few weeks ago, the basket is so rusted I had to tie a plastic bag onto the bars so I could still carry items without them falling out the bottom. Kate's bike actually has the same basket problem but my nifty duct tape took care of that. Because there is so much construction - with about 30 guys around me all day long on all sides - I ride my bike so that I can make a quick escape, throw out a few Buenos dias in the mornings and I am off - seldom returning until after 5 when they all go home.
By 6 it is dark here. The roads to my house are all dirt until I get into my development. With all the rain, the roads currently look like swiss cheese with all the pot holes. Last Tuesday it was pouring rain early. Several of us where watching baseball at Soda Mary's - Brett's place where most of us hang, visiting surfers rent cabinas, the local gathering place other than the bars. I was trying my best to wait out the rain but by 9pm - after my bedtime - I needed to just go. It was still pouring. Brett offered to give me a ride home but that would mean no bike in the morning so I decided I was just going to go for it. I did however borrow an umbrella. Unfortunately this is a typical Soda Mary umbrella - at least 2 spokes broken with one of the sides hanging down like a floppy ear. With my backpack on and umbrella in hand I started out in the downpour. My house is less than a mile - maybe only 3/4 of a mile. By the time I hit the corner and turned onto the long dirt road I realized the potential for disaster. Besides the wind lifting the umbrella up, one spoke was hanging down in my face. Driving with only one hand and trying to dodge all the potholes was a challenge. Out over the ocean I could now see the lightening and considered the fact I was now carrying a lightening rod. I knew if I fell from hitting a deep hole I might just end up with a spoke thru my eye. I was seriously concentrating with every turn of the wheels. Got down the longest street.....just one more turn coming up.......the darkest area since the trees cover the road and the lights are set far apart. As I turn, the rain is coming down so hard I can no longer see the mud holes and being right next to the estuary I am thinking crocodiles......that one little word that still comes up quite often here and strikes terror in my heart. I have seen a crocodile in a road before and considering my location this is certainly a possibility. I just keep on going and within seconds I can now see again. I made it home - everything was soaked including me...... but I made it.
Most nights since have been in the rain altho not as crazy.
Last week one of my most favorite "Texas Boys" - Andrew, aka Pelon......arrived and surprised all of us. Only Adam who picked him up at the airport knew he was coming. With him here we wanted to take him to a favorite "secret" spot that used to take 45 minutes to walk to after an hour's drive - but now - no hike, we rent a boat from a local fisherman and wha - la.....there we are. So Friday morning - 4:30 am we hit the road: Me, Brett, Adam, Kealy, Pelon and Rick. When we arrived at the point break we were the only ones there and she was firing! Within a matter of minutes we were all in the water charging towards huge waves. There have been times when I have been out in Esterillos and thought I was in big waves only to be told they were waist high. So.... what is huge to me may not be huge to most of these guys, but the waves that day were over head and that was Big for all of us.
So there I was with the big boys - all of these guys surfing most of their lives - me off and on for about 3 years and I am still not good - not to mention the fact I am way older than all but one. Rick is from Florida - is 58 and has been surfing forever...........
For awhile I just sat way on the outside - trying to stay out of the way. Seriously, I cannot remember if I caught a wave before or what I did until the big one hit but as I was just sitting there I could see I was now in the zone where I either had to go or I was really going to get slammed. I turned around and for a second saw most of the guys way in front of me. My biggest fear is hitting someone but in that second I knew they were so far away that was not a problem. I started to paddle and immediately the wave was there and in a split second I was looking way.....way down.....a thick wall of smooth water. In another split second I was up, I was on it, I was flying down the face of this mountain. The next thing I remember is hearing Adam yell "wrong way darlin". This wave is a left point break. I am a regular foot meaning I wear my leash on my right foot and my left is out in front on my board. Going right is natural for me - left is impossible. Even after all this time I have a hard time going left - once in awhile I pull it off but a wave like this - so big - extremely fast - no way. As a result the wave caught up with me and bucked me off like a crazed bronco. I was pushed down - way down....... but in seconds I had my head above water gasping. I knew I had just ridden the biggest wave of my life and oh.....my..........God.......... what a thrill !!!!!!!!!!
After that I paddled right back out to the zone. About 10 minutes later here came another set. Once again I was the one farthest out and I went for it. This did not go so well. In fact, now I really can't remember as that wave and at least the next 6 or 7 over the next hour or so got lost in all the dramatic spills I performed. I got slammed, jammed, tossed in every direction possible. One time I was up and then kept on going - walked right off the nose - the board flipped over me and I was held down again. To be honest, it's now all a blur. Total time in the water was about 3 hours. Time flies when your having fun.
On the way home we all stopped at a typical tico restaurant and had typical tico food - good food, constant talk about the great waves we had just had.
As soon as we got back to Esterillos Rich dropped Brett and I off at the Soda. It took me a few minutes to get my things together and as I walked into the Soda - there was a local tico Tigre. Tigre is about 30 years old. I think he has lived most of his life in Esterillos. He is currently known as a big time drug user and thief and there he was - standing there talking with Brett. I could go on about the facts that lead to this next statement but in short - he was there trying to break into the kitchen and rob Brett. We had caught him red handed but without any goods on him - just the damage that was made in his busted attempt. He is standing there holding his hands out, speaking in Spanish, "I didn't do anything". I'm standing there just looking at him. I have know Tigre for a long time. I know his history very well as he used to live with my girlfriend Elizabeth that I used to work at the vet clinic with. After a couple years living with him she kicked him out and after he vandalized her car, constant harassment, she filled a complaint against him and he went to prison for 2 months. There have been a number of robberies before and since where his name has come up.......I have absolutely no doubt he was there trying to rob Brett. Brett immediately went to the police to file a complaint but they were not there - nor were they there the next day. I have no idea now what he has done as bigger issues hit on Sunday.
I cannot remember what I did on Saturday. I do know I was worn out - in fact I felt like I had been beaten.......wonder why. But by the next day........I was back in the saddle again - literally! The guy I had ridden with in the Mardi Gras back in Feb. brought my same horse to Esterillos so I could ride him. I had seen Himee earlier that week and he had asked me when I wanted to ride again. I told him Sunday if possible and he came thru. About 3 in the after noon I was waiting at El Vago - one of the 2 beaches on the bar - hoping, hoping, hoping he would show up. In the meantime I was talking with a friend who had a young couple from Florida with him. If possible she wanted to go riding with me. When Himee showed up he was on my horse along with 3 other horses each carrying 2 young persons each. Himee might be 25.......I'm not sure. When I asked if my new young girlfriend could go - no problem - down the beach we headed. I was on Toro and Jessica was riding the same horse I had ridden with Himee in last year's Mardi Gras. Both horses amazing with lots of get up and go. Off we went cantering down the beach on the edge of the waves - a beautiful Sunday afternoon - people on the beach but not crowded. We ended up going to the estuary and the river that separates Esterillos Oeste from Esterillos Centro. There are crocodiles in this area and I didn't want to cross the river which was pretty high. As we got closer to Esterillos where the local fisherman launch I could see a lot of people on the beach. As we got much closer I could see an ambulance with flashing lights and people looking out to the sea. I immediately knew........someone had drowned. Sure enough - a 17 year old Tico boy.
Unfortunately drownings are a common occurrence. In the 4 years I have been here I seen another young teenage boy's body washed up on the beach the day after he drowned, then last year - about this same time - knew the older father and his 47 year old son who both drowned. The year before, watched a group of family and friends sit at the beach bus stop - on my bench - looking out to the ocean for a solid week hoping their son would be returned by the sea. He never was.....Before I went to Peru it was a young girl in Centro. I don't know how many times I have sat on my bench and watched the planes fly by and the boats go up and down the coast.
And then today. Today was a rare dreary rainy day. In the afternoon I was up visiting my friend Eleanor when the biggest storm of the month hit. Lightening, thunder, pouring rain - like we get at night only in the middle of the afternoon. While I was there one of her Tico workers came up to get some money for another project. While he was there he told us about her gardner Max and how he had stabbed another tico on Saturday at the soccer game. I ride past the soccer field everyday as it is right next to where I live. Apparently the other guy - also named Tigre - but a different one - was making racial remarks about Max as he is from Nicaragua. Max is awesome and all who know him - love him. He is a hard worker, respectful, nice guy. Well.......whatever the other guy said really pissed him off because Max stabbed him in the back on the field. Fortunately it went mostly in his side but made a deep gash. The tico was rushed to the clinic in Parrita and Max was arrested. He was let go after about 2 hours. Talk is Max needs to go - like leave the country as he is here illegally and no way does anyone want to be in a Costa Rican prison. He lives with Tica we all love.........a very bad situation.
Life in Costa Rica and especially this little village named Esterillos Oeste is life at its' best. Four years is a long time - it seems like forever and yet every single day there is something new. Always amazing! One of the days this week I was riding my bike along the beach trail as there are new water lines being put down along the dirt road and most of the time I am squeezing past a still working - moving backhoe. That's another thing I have been dealing with all week besides the fact the water is shut off at 7am sharp and remains off until 5 pm. Anyway - riding along the beach trail. This is also near the huge tree the scarlet macaws hang. It was just starting to rain again and I needed to go home for something so I was in a hurry. As I got past the few houses that are close to the tree - no one else around - I was flying down the trail. All of a sudden the tree exploded - seriously exploded with about 20 macaws taking flight. I slammed on the breaks and stood in amazement. This sight is something I never get tired of. They all flew a huge circle - squawking as only 20 macaws can do, then returned to the tree. Breathtaking......and off I went.
Tonight is Tuesday - this all began last Tuesday - one week - the week of my 4th anniversary. One more amazing week I have been fortunate to have lived and experience beautiful Costa Rica.
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