Curtis and I had a smooth and exciting trip from New Jersey to Monteverde. The plane was good, we switched seats with a Costa Rican woman so she could sit next to her young son. With our new seats we sat across the aisle from each other and that worked out well.
We met Checa(la taxista) and as we filled the van with ourselves and our stuff we found out that a baritone is called a bon-bom in costa rica. We stopped and had lunch about an hour into our trip. The resturant had an amazing view of the green mountains that we were already very much into. Perhaps the undulating foliage was too much for Curtis as he at one point in a our meal exclaimed ´´everything in my sight has turned green… for a split second´´ I theorized that the light receptors of his eyes were overcompensating for the green onslaught of the montanas verdes so much that when he looked away from the mountains to his plate of food, his eyes put a green lens on everything so they could make sense of the extreme change in view.
The ride was smooth for Curtis and me even as we left the paved road and traveled on the mountain road made of médium sized rocks and clay. As we climbed the mountains in our ´´tourism´´ van the taxista´s wife had their daughter breath into a bag to combat her altitude sickness. I was sorry for the little girl, whose smaller body had less tolerance for the extreme pressure change that came with the seventeen-thousand kilometer vertical ascension.
The family of Lidier, Marta, y Josue is tranqilisimo, very warm and welcoming. Lidier especially was ready to get right down to meeting us and joking with us. They know how to make folks feel at home without being too overt about it, to the point of being saccharin.
The welcome extended beyond kind words into the action realm. Soccer and dancing happened in the living room post dinner, which was prepared, in part by the other ´´member´´ of the family who is staying in the house till the end of August. Jehns is his name and he is doing trail work at the Santa Elena reserve. He´s from Canada and a very nice chap for sure.
We are going to make a list of foods that Curtis eats so that Marta´s kitchen can be as effective and effecient as possible. We´re going to scout the supermercado in Santa Elena and the coop of Monteverde. It´s great to be back in Monteverde after four years shops and buildings have changed but the naturaleza and the vibe of the neighborhoods has maintained!
ps. we´ll get some photos up soonishly!
No comments:
Post a Comment