Being a Buckeye (to the lay person, this means I grew up in Ohio)… I was no stranger to the four (4) seasons of the year. Winter always gave us a white blankety landscape where we could ride on lunch trays (our version of sleds) down a hill; barrel down bigger hills on skis; ice skate on ponds, build snow forts and snowmen, have outrageous snowball fights, and my favorite – drink hot cocoa with lots of marshmallows! In Spring, the days would become warmer and longer and flowers would brighten the landscape; we would hunt for Easter eggs, play tag in the rain, throw a ball around with some friends, roll down a grassy hill and then just lay there looking at the clouds trying to figure out what they look like. All this fun was Spring’s way of announcing the promise of summer which would drive excitement into every school child. Then you would hear the ring of the Ice Cream truck, and you knew Summer was here! This meant you would have ALL DAY to do nothing, if you wanted… OR, all day to do EVERYTHING: swimming, baseball, tennis, kick the can, picnics in the park, camping, fishing, bike rides… <takes a breath>…
Even the cable and utility companies in the States don’t give that wide of a time frame. Suddenly being told they will arrive at your home between 8am and 5pm on Tuesday doesn’t sound so bad any more, does it?
In my October 2nd post – You’re Moving Where? Costa Rica? – I wrote the following about living in Costa Rica. “…along the coasts and in the rainforests – which is where our new home is – life moves slower; manaña is said to be the national answer to everything. This is one of the most profound things that has attracted us to this country and quite honestly, it’s a part of Costa Rica’s charm… the ability to live life at the perfect pace. It is truly Pura Vida.”
Well… this awesome vibe carries over into ALL aspects of living here, including when you need repairs or maintenance on your home… in which case, I guess, it’s not so awesome. At any rate, allow me to explain what happens in Costa Rica when Murphy’s Law meets up with the manaña pace of life here.
So today, the pool guys were here to maintain our pool. They come once a week and I always go out of my way to say hola (hello) and como estas (how are you) and maybe even esto es un bonita dia (this is a beautiful day). They only speak Spanish and me… well, I’m still learning so I want to try and communicate with them in their language.
They began to work on the pool. As I sat in my office, I heard one of them loudly say “hola.” So I walked onto the 3rd floor terrace and said what anyone would say, “hola.” And so, our conversation began. What I heard next was beautifully spoken Spanish with amazing accents and inflection. Immediately I thought, “Wow, they sound awesome. I can’t wait to speak Spanish like that.” By the time I had this thought; they were waiting for a response from me. Uh Oh!
“OH thE wAys And dAys wE will stAnd in A linE, WE will stAnd in A linE TimE AftEr TimE.” Sounds like a Dr. Seuss book, doesn’t it? Take just a moment and think about ALL THE TIMES you have stood in a line… Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! …which IS actually a REAL Dr. Seuss book and one of my favorites because it contains one of Dr. Seuss’s solid-gold morals, the joy of letting one’s imagination rip.
OK… the cat’s out of the bag (no pun intended), NOW you all know where I get my inspiration… from Dr. Seuss and lots of caffeine. Which reminds me… if you want to have some fun at a party, pull out a Dr. Seuss book and read it aloud as fast as you can. Trust me… belly laughing will ensue.
Let’s get back to standing in lines. Seriously now, just take a moment and think about ALL THE TIMES you have stood in a line… just waiting. Here are a few that came to MY mind.
As Dr. Emmett Brown said in Back to the Future, “Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” Well… we really do have roads here in Nosara, they’re just not paved. It’s actually quite fun looking at our location using Google Maps; the “paved” roads cease to exist once you leave Nicoya and start driving towards Nosara.
And I was not kidding about seeing 4 people on one motorcycle – Dad driving, Mom and one child on the back and the youngest child riding what I would call shotgun, directly in front of Dad. It’s quite a sight to behold! While driving around Nosara, you should also keep your eyes open for iguanas, muy grande potholes, snakes (we saw a boa once), horses, cattle, cowboys, dogs, people on bikes, people walking, quads (ATVs), rivers (yes, I mean flowing water), dogs and oh yeah… other cars. Don’t get me wrong now, we don’t have traffic here… not really… just a lot of very interesting “scenerie.”
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