A weekend in paradise...

Sunday, June 11, 2006

Well, weekends in Monteverde, once one is settled, are not so different from those at home. Lot’s of chores to do! Yesterday, I successfully navigated my second major purchase in Costa Rica, this time without a guide or interpreter. I bought a new washer and dryer for our house, and then purchased all the plumbing and electrical supplies to hook them up. Happily, I can say all went very well. My Spanish is definitely improving with regular use. I still get the “doe in the headlights” look on a regular basis when I get to a point where I completely loose track of a conversation, but usually, if the person I’m speaking with speaks carefully, I follow pretty well. The salesman, Carlos got a kick out of some of my Spanglish, but in general, I had no problems with this purchase. The guys at the hardware store (ferreteria) seem mildly amused too, or at least fairly tolerant of a gringo like me buying ones-ies and twos-ies of things that I suspect are usually bought in bulk (try buying one meter of 12mm (1/2”) PVC pipe at home sometime and see if that doesn’t raise eyebrows) . It’s also not too different from the first time buying stuff at Buyea’s in Caz, when all the clerks there are trying to place who you are (as in what house did you buy) based on what stuff are buying to fix things! In general, gringos just don’t buy hardware around here. Gringos are pretty much exclusively tourists, and those few gringos that do live here (with the exception of the original Quakers) are not typically the “do-it-yourself” types.

For the washer, I elected for the traditional north American single drum (as opposed to the more common local two drum models—one for washing, the second for spinning), top-loading style (an LG), and the dryer is a big front loading Whirlpool just like at home. With as muddy and damp as things get around here in the rainy season (Monteverde averages 2.5 METERS of rain each year), we decided being able to wash, and particularly to dry, at home is a necessary luxury. The alternative, to use a local lavanderia (there are no self-serve Laundromats), means everything is a drop-off service, and they charge by the piece—muy caro! Over a year’s time, we estimate the washer and dryer will both pay for themselves easily.

To install each unit, I got to put in new electrical outlets where Marvin had not quite finished things. Our washing room is semi-outdoors in sort of a breezeway at the back of the house, located under the up-stairs bath. For the washer, I only needed to wire in a new receptacle, as Marvin had already pulled the wires to a well placed junction box. For the dryer, it looked as though he had considered doing the same, but not quite finished the thought… so I needed to pull wires through some conduit in the wall, and then connect to the 220volt circuit feeding the hot water heater. Fortunately, Marvin oversized this circuit, so both water heater and dryer will even run simultaneously without tripping the circuit breaker. Esta bien!

The final task in setting everything up to wash was to add another hose-bib (faucet) to the sink in the washroom. This required cutting a new “tee” into the existing pipe and extending a new PVC line about 18” to a new faucet to attach the washing machine’s water supply. Fortunately, I’ve done plenty of plumbing at home, so this was pretty easy. As it turns out, I brought all the right basic tools. The only thing I’ve purchased here has been a hammer, and I would have brought that, but I didn’t have room for the dead weight! After a couple hours getting everything wired up, I ran my first test load of laundry and … voila! It worked! Unfortunately, as it seems is clockwork lately, just as I finished my chores, it started to rain. The pattern lately is to have an early mist at dawn, which burns off to beautiful sunny blue skies by 7:00 or so. This holds pretty well ‘til about 11:00, when the clouds begin to roll in; by noon, the rain begins, varying in intensity throughout the afternoon. As I noted, great weather for getting wet & muddy!

Today, with fresh clothes, etc., Marvin met me after breakfast so that I could get a good start on re-dirtying some clothes. Well, that wasn’t the main point, but we got plenty dirty! The object of the morning was to plant our garden. Just above the house, is an old sugar cane field of about 2-3 acres. Marvin has pulled the sugar cane (caña de azúcar) from about a 1/3 of the field and we now have a fantastic garden started. Today we weeded & fertilized what he already had planted (corn, squash, beans, potatoes, & some herbs), and then we added more beans, cilantro, and lettuce. I’m told much will be ready to begin harvesting in a month! Stuff grows here like crazy.

The soil is a wonderful, rich, dark sandy loam. No rock, no clay… it’s heaven compared to the soil in our garden at home in Caz. Later this afternoon I’m stopping in to town to see if I can find a few more things to plant, like basil, tomatoes, and peppers. Marvin also showed me many of the other plants and trees in the garden area, many of which are edible. Lots if different citrus, figs, and a tree called a “cas” that has a very nice edible fruit that is both sweet and tart. Marvin has also planted many native forest trees which he is slowing planting in the pastures of his family’s farm

After finishing in the garden, I went for a long 4-5 km walk up our hill toward the continental divide. I saw lots of birds, & heard a couple of howler monkeys not too far off. I had a good look at beautiful toucan (with the fluorescent yellow bill, just like on the fruit-loops box), as he came within a few meters of me, but unfortunately he took off before I could get a photo. Today I timed my outdoor activities perfectly, and arrived home with about 5 minutes to spare before the afternoon rain began. Which leads here... Time to put this puppy on line! (please note, this is why the dates don't match. I finally posted everything today, but I'll try to keep up weekly from now on!)