Circo Del Mar

One of the joys of not working is that we have the opportunity (i.e., time) to get involved in Sadie's school. Sometimes very involved.

The month of April was dedicated to producing the world's greatest kids talent show ever. Also known as Circo Del Mar. Ian was the first one to get pulled in ("I hear you have experience in theater. How about you direct this year's talent show"?), followed quickly by me ("hon, you're gonna have to join me"). This year it was decided that the talent show should be in the form of a circus, Cirque du Soleil style, and we had a fabulous group of teachers, administrators, staff and parents dedicated to pulling it all off.

And boy, did we need it. A circus format on the school's basketball court presents a unique set of, um, challenges. Audience on all sides, no backstage, a stage, sound, lights .... But our crew was up to the challenge and determined to pull off a fabulous show where the kids could really display their talents. With a water conservation message, no less.

Audience on all sides? No problem, the kids all rose to the challenge and choreographed their dances, skits, and songs in such a way as to make sure no one was looking at their backs for any length of time. No backstage? Fine, all the kids will be in costume and watch the show and quickly and quietly get up to get ready for their routines. In addition, we had "hosts" - mother nature and a Nosara tourist - to smooth over all transitions. A stage? Hauled the one the school had onto the basketball court, painted it, and draped it with blue cloth. Lights? Bought four floodlights from the hardware store, and witnessed a very impressive (albeit a bit unnerving) afternoon of wiring. Sound? Half the schools and half rented from a local band. Then Ian with two Macs and some editing software created and ran an hour's worth of music and sound effects.

Four floodlights hung on two trees and two basketball hoops

Yes, it's safe. Really

The on/off switch for the lights - 15 feet up

I hope I didn't make that all sound easy, because it wasn't. Challenging and fun, but not easy. One thing we quickly realized that this sort of heat is no problem when you are lounging around in a hammock reading, but quite a different thing when you are actually in it and working for hours on end. How did we ever work all day long? How do people actually work here?? We have a new found appreciation of those who have to make a living in this weather.

Ian and the Stagehands

Me and Melania, the Stage Managers (aka, kid wranglers)

But in the end, of course, it was fabulous. The crowd was great, the technical aspects were smooth, and, most importantly, the kids were absolutely fantastic. We had a real clown who happened to be visiting and agreed to help out, we had popcorn sellers roaming the crowd, we had folks wrangling the kids, we had great sound and lights, and we had an amazing group of performers.

Preshow snack

Sadie showing off her famous hulaneck move


Thank you everyone for a wonderful experience and a fantastic show!

Here are a few videos for your enjoyment.

Del Mar Academy Talent Show 2011 Highlights from projectgfs on Vimeo.

More checks and more visitors

Lately we've been checking things off our Costa Rica list that we hadn't intended to ever PUT on the list. Well, at least Ian has.

The other day our gardener brought up two cashew fruits from a tree on our property. Personally, I had enough interactions with cashew fruit during my time in Brazil years ago and wanted nothing to do with the nasty things. But naturally Ian and Sadie were curious. For those that don't know, the cashew nut is actually the seed of the cashew fruit, and the large fruity-looking thing above is an "accessory fruit" or "false fruit," known as the cashew apple. The cashew apple is a very popular thing to eat and make juice out of in some places, but to me it tastes terrible.

Anyway, Ian and Sadie commenced to exploring the cashew apple while I excused myself to do something else. "Hey Caitlin," hollers Ian from the kitchen, "is the cashew nut poisonous?" "Yes, it is, don't eat it!" I reply. "Uhhh...too late...." Sure enough, they had managed to get the nut (seed) out of the casing and had both tried it. "My lips hurt," says Ian. "My tongue feels funny," says Sadie.

The cashew seed is surrounded by a double shell containing an allergenic resin, anacardic acid, a toxin related to what is found in poison ivy. "Raw" cashews sold in stores are not actually raw - they have been roasted in order to destroy the toxin.

Thankfully, it was Ian who had done all the hard work of busting through the shell to get to the seed, and it was he who suffered the most severe reaction. Sadie's tongue stung for about 24 hours, but was fairly mild. Meanwhile, Ian's lips blistered, he developed a rash on his arm that soon spread to his torso, and the skin on his hand began to peel. Not life threatening (though believe me we did lots of internet research) but very annoying. More than a week later, most of his symptoms are gone with the exception of a rash on his belly which is taking its time to run its course.

Learn the hard way to not eat raw cashews.
Check.

This past weekend we were treated to another round of visitors - Libby, Rich and Kalin. Kalin is a good friend of Sadie's from home and she was thrilled to pieces to have her visit. While they were here we did all sorts of the usual fun things, including going to the beach of course.

We were enjoying a nice Sunday morning at Playa Pelada and Ian goes to take a turn with the boogie board. He had barely walked out into the surf when he stepped on something painful and came back out of the water to take a look. His foot seemed to have a small cut and it was bleeding. It must have been a stingray we guessed. Sure enough, within seconds Ian was in absolutely excruciating pain. He looked and sounded like he was in labor, as he rode wave after wave of horrific pain that went from his foot all the way to the backs of his eyeballs.


Well, lucky for us, Rich happens to be an aquatic biologist and diver who is trained to respond to all sorts of underwater emergencies, including from poisonous marine critters. "Hot water" he says. So we gather the (somewhat frightened) girls and all our stuff and make our way back to the house, Ian writhing in pain in the front seat, unable to talk or even hear what is going on around him.

Once at home, we deposit Ian on the deck, put his foot in a cooler and begin to pour in hot water. Almost immediately Ian has some relief from the pain. Rich monitors him closely as we continue to pour in hotter and hotter water (again we take to the internet to make sure there isn't some other type of even more poisonous creature that could have caused the injury - but all agree it was definitely a stingray). Ian suffers waves of progressively subsiding pain for the next 90 minutes. Within two hours he is able to get up and put pressure on the foot and soon after it is as if nothing ever happened. Everyone stayed calm, the girls did a great job making themselves scarce until the scary part was over, and all was fine in the end.

Stingray barbs - Hot water. Immediately. For 90 minutes.
Check.

Despite the drama of the stingray, we had a great visit with Libby, Rich and Kalin. We did lots of bird watching, critter hunting and bug playing. In the mornings we watched birds and at night we watched fireflies and geckos. Keeping their promise to the girls, Libby and Rich managed to catch a baby gecko, which spent only a terrifying half hour in the bug house before being let go.

Sadie gave Kalin a scorpion we had found and had the surf shop guys encase in resin (it was already dead, I promise), Libby gathered cicada skins to adorn our hair and clothes, and Rich took some great photos of the bats that live under our house.


We also ate a lot of course. We celebrated Rich's birthday with calamari, tuna and octopus at our favorite restaurant. (Check out his blog posting on his birthday meal)

We hugged them all goodbye yesterday and as they headed inland on a little plane for more Costa Rican adventures, they managed to find our house and captured us waving to them from the balcony.

Hasta luego!

Spring in Nosara?

I've noticed a lot of talk on Facebook lately about spring back in the States. Folks all over the country are finally seeing some flowers poking out, the chill of a long harsh winter making way to warmer spring weather, switching out boots for sandals....

Here, as you know, it is hot. In fact, it has gotten significantly hotter over the past week or so. We have not suffered a long cold winter. However, as we near the end of the "dry" season and closer to the "wet" season, things are changing in many of the same ways as back home.

Nosara is blanketed with deciduous trees that lose their leaves during the long dry season, significantly changing the landscape from when we first arrived.

View from Deck - September

View from deck - April

But as we now move towards the rainy season, the air is getting more humid and the landscape is changing again in preparation. Trees are regaining leaves and flowers are beginning to show in what seems to me unexpected and random places. It is beautiful in its unexpectedness, charming in its surprise. Intriguing to see signs of "spring," in the change from hot and dry to hot and rainy.





We did have a nice little storm move through here about a week ago. It was short but strong, bringing rain of the type that we haven't seen in months, enough to even wash off some of the layers of dust from the sides of the roads. Shortly after the storm, we were treated to a nasty home invasion of flying ants. Large winged queens, smaller winged males, and wingless workers suddenly appeared at dusk, swarming around any and all light sources in our house. It got so bad on the second night that we couldn't even have the light from the computer on, or we would be swarmed by dozens and dozens of the things (thankfully they don't bite). I read to Sadie by flashlight under the covers and I spent the early morning sweeping away hundreds (really!) of dead winged ants from the floors of the house. On the third night, Ian finally came up with the smart idea of opening up all the doors to the house, turning off all the lights inside, and putting a couple of lamps out on the porch to lure them outside. Thankfully, the worst of it was over after that night and on the fourth night we actually turned on a light or two for a short time inside. By the fifth night it was over and we could again eat dinner, write emails, and read. Springtime for hormigas alas.

Luckily, winged ants aren't the only things exploding this time of year. We're seeing more birds around our house, the monkeys seem to have more babies, and...it is MANGO SEASON!

Finally, after seven months of waiting, not only are there mangos all over town, but we have them within arm's reach from our house! Time for mango smoothies, mango margaritas and mango ice cream.

Happy spring, everyone!

Check, Check, Check

I know, I know, I've missed three Blog Mondays! Terrible! What has happened to my sense of responsibility?!? My ability to meet a deadline?!? I blame... I dunno, March was busy.

Anyway, here I am. But before I go any further, I'd like to officially dedicate this Blog Monday to our sweet, fun, sassy girl who is eight years old today. Happy Birthday, Sadie!


You will all be relieved to know that during the busy month of March, we were able to check off several items from our "need to do in Costa Rica" list. First up was a much anticipated trip out of hot and dusty Nosara and into the mountains of Costa Rica. To the cloud forests of Monteverde. My mother was here visiting at the time and since I am so busy I asked her to guest blog about it. Here is the experience in her words (you can tell it's my mom because I've never used the word "redolent" - though now I wish I had):

When I first heard the name, Monteverde cloud forest, it called to me as a magical place full of birds and tall trees.

And then last weekend, my family and I drove off on the hot, dry, dusty, bumpy road out of Nosara, with a short stretch of real paved smooth highway where we all opened our windows and breathed, on up the mountainous, misty, cool and also very bumpy road leading to Monteverde.

Once there, we stayed in a sweet small casita on a finca run by a biologist and his family who were also preserving the property with several trails running through meadows, forests and streams. Each morning we donned our rain gear and walked to breakfast down the road, through a bit of woods and onto the cow path. Said cow path was very muddy and redolent of the 40 dairy cows who walked there at least four times a day. One afternoon, Sadie and I actually watched all 40 cows come home on that same muddy path.


I took a walk by myself on the paths and predictably losing my way, slipped, slogged and slid on the muddy paths and fell into the stream. Muddy, wet but not hurt.


Earlier that day, we had a delightful misty walk in the very beautiful Santa Elena reserve. Fauna, as in birds, were few (said to be taking shelter from the rain) but the flora, large trees, vines, bright red flowers, were magnificent. I had found my magical place.

Muchas gracias to my family for taking me there.

Lovely, no? It was, indeed, a magical place. And cold. Very very cold. Perhaps we have turned into complete wimps after seven months of living here, but even after donning all the layers we had we were still cold. I think we even complained about it. Probably too much. The other part my mom left out was how during one of our cold muddy walks, we came across a skull. Then a femur. Then a jawbone. Then another jawbone. Coyote? Panther? Wild boar? Well maybe it was just a small horse, but either way the girl had to bring it all back to our cabin. We eventually convinced her to leave the femur and a jawbone in the forest, but predictably the skull is now prominently displayed on the ledge outside our kitchen window. Keeping us safe. Or something. Definitely redolent with symbolism.


Our other way cool stop in Monteverde was "The Jewels of the Rainforest Collection" - bugs, bugs and bugs. The world's largest private collection of insects, displayed in unusual and beautiful ways. The pictures don't do the displays justice, but I hope you get the general idea.


Another activity we checked off our list while my mom was here was kayaking up the Rio Nosara. Actually the Rio Nosara and the Rio Montana. The trip was led by biologist extraordinaire, Felipe, and it was fabulous. The rivers were both so peaceful and beautiful, bordered on both sides by thick jungle plants, through the rich and redolent mangrove forests.

We saw 28 different species of birds, a nice present for my mother particularly after very few sightings in Monteverde (it was too cold and rainy there, apparently). We kayaked for over two hours, getting out once to stretch our legs and take a short path to the beautiful and completely empty Playa Nosara (unreachable by road). Felipe promises to send pictures of some of the best bird sightings, but I just couldn't let another Blog Monday go by without posting, so I'll have to add his photos later.





Finally, while Grandma was here we checked off another Nosara "first" that we hadn't even put on our list! One evening Ian and I got a little bit cleaned up and went out to dinner by ourselves. Yes, that's the first time in 7 months - the only other time we've been out at night without the girl was for a school fundraiser. We had Italian food (including a wine redolent of an actual drinkable beverage) while Grandma and Sadie cooked together in the casita, took a night swim and had a sleepover. In the morning, Sadie came knocking on the front door of the main house, toothbrush in her hand and "Beary Bear" tucked under her arm, ready to make our morning coffee as usual.

Thanks for the visit, Mom!

Half Empty or Half Full?

Sorry for the blog delay. I don't really have a good excuse, except that life seems to have gotten sort of busy lately. Yes, yes, I know it's all relative.

We're officially past the halfway point now. Six months into our 11 month sabbatical. We're on the other side of the hill. Or wave. Or something.

Six months in and things have definitely picked up around here. Take the "family business" for example. My !Que Rico! duties used to be confined to marketing. Meaning I created a facebook fan page and occasionally posted items of interest on it. But now business has picked up substantially and I spend evenings cutting out tiny little circular labels and painstakingly taping them onto tiny plastic lids. I'm also in charge of ice making and with the increase in delivery demands I have to make ice ALL the time. It's exhausting. To top it all off, I have recently had to participate in the actual making of ice cream! And I don't mean just as the official taste tester. No....now you might find me slaving over a hot stove stirring stirring and stirring and stirring chocolate. Whose idea was this whole ice cream making thing, anyway??

On the plus side, we have officially entered into the exciting world of BARTER. I've never had a barterable skill before (who wants to trade a massage for a wetland restoration policy?) and I have definitely been missing out. We trade ice cream for all sorts of awesome things now. Ice cream for organic kale, homemade fruit leather, cheese, boxing classes, a beautiful sign. At up to four batches a day the possibilities are endless....


In addition to selling (and trading) ice cream, I have decided to cast aside all fear of abject failure and humiliation and teach Zumba. That's right, you read it correctly. Zumba. While Ian and Sadie got their visas renewed in Nicaragua, I flew to Portland for a lovely weekend with good friends and one very long day at the "Diva Den" to get licensed to teach Zumba. No, I'm not going to explain what it is if you've never heard of it. And for those of you who have heard of it, don't even think about laughing! Class begins next Saturday - I expect to see all of you there. In the meantime, here's a preview:

Oh, and we've become property managers. The couple who was managing the property we are renting picked up and moved to Italy, leaving us to manage our own property, as well as the former property managers' property. Throw in another house on the hill that we are responsible for opening and showing to potential buyers and, voila, we have a drawer full of keys.

In addition to ice cream and Zumba and property management we are involved in many ways with Sadie's school. I'm on the environmental committee and Ian is on the community committee and also heading up this year's talent show/circus. The school is absolutely totally fabulous and I only mention our involvement as an excuse to bring up the school so that I can share this cute video:

Del Mar Academy Nosara Costa Rica from projectgfs on Vimeo.

Extra curricular activities also keep us busy. All three of us take boxing class now, at different times during the week - women's class, men's class, girl's class.


Ian still takes spanish lessons and sometimes yoga and I am occasionally found taking a "body sculpting" class when I'm not boxing. Sadie still loves her once a week surf club and swimming club begins next week (she gets yoga class at school - the fabulous school). Recently we also found a great afternoon drop-in kids art class. At a bar. Fun for everyone. Yesterday Sadie even got to go horseback riding. Here is the trailer for the upcoming movie of the adventure:




We're so busy but we have so much yet to do here!!

Yes, we've taken myriad classes, met great people, traveled to two other countries, become part of a very large Nicaraguan family, started a business, experienced a change of season, learned how to get a downed phone line repaired and where to get natural peanut butter. We've watched lots and lots of monkeys, we've seen hundreds of turtles lay eggs and watched thousands of babies hatch, we've read lots and lots of books, we've seen countless beautiful sunsets, we've captured (and released) dozens of bugs, we've seen several scorpions and one tarantula. We've even (finally) found a decent beer - Costa Rica's first craft brewery is now available and our fridge is stocked with two cases.

But...we haven't driven down the coast road to Montezuma, we haven't seen the volcano or the cloud forest, we haven't even kayaked up the Nosara River. Two of us haven't zip lined and none of us have tried stand up paddling or been fishing. Heck, we haven't even been on a boat! I haven't learned spanish and I still can't open a coconut with a machete. And we definitely don't spend nearly enough time these days walking on the beach or lying in a hammock.

The glass is definitely half full, but I have a feeling the next five months will fly by at an alarming rate. So much to do, so little time....

Dream for Monkeys

One of the things we love most about this house is the monkeys. We have a tribe of Howler monkeys whose territory includes the trees on all sides of our house and we spend lots of quality time watching them from the balcony.

After we had settled in to life in Nosara, we went looking for ways to spend our time, including volunteer opportunities. I perused the list of the various Nosara nonprofits, of which there are quite a few. Not finding anything coastal management related, I went for the next best thing. Monkeys.


The increase in tourism and accompanying development have had a severe negative impact on Costa Rican monkey populations. Between 1995 and 2007, Howler monkey decline in the country was estimated at 65%. In Nosara and surrounding areas, Howler monkeys are particularly vulnerable to electrocution from uninsulated power lines that are draped through the thick canopy of trees to houses, resorts, and businesses, mimicking the vines that the monkeys use to travel between feeding grounds (I'll spare you the graphic electrocution photos).

Refugio Animales de Nosara and the SIBU Sanctuary, together known as Nosara Wildlife Rescue, work tirelessly to save the Howler monkeys in Nosara and surrounding areas. Refugio focuses on rescuing injured adult Howler monkeys and orphaned infants. Medical care is provided, humane life term care is given for those animals whose injuries are too severe to be rehabilitated (99% of adults die of their injuries within a week), and around the clock care and feeding is provided for the orphaned infants. When the infants are ready, they are transferred to the step-down release facility at SIBU Sanctuary.


The entirety of Nosara Wildlife Rescue essentially consists of three dedicated individuals who work on a volunteer basis full time (or more) rescuing and caring for Howler monkeys and any other animal that is injured or abandoned and brought to them. By pure determination and passion for their cause, they have managed to subsist for over ten years in Nosara based on sporadic private donations, caring for hundreds of monkeys and other critters every year.

They are committed. And exhausted. And always in need of more help and more money.

My volunteer efforts with Nosara Wildlife Rescue has been mostly focused on working directly with Steve and Vicky of SIBU Sanctuary.

Vicky with the newest transfers to SIBU

Steve with a rescued orphan porcupine baby

Specifically, we have been working to design and implement an idea for a consistent source of funding that capitalizes on the strong environmental ethic of both business owners and visitors to Nosara, and the rise of "travel philanthropy" throughout the world.

“Dream for Monkeys” is a program where local hotels and vacation rentals make a donation to Nosara Wildlife Rescue equal to a percentage of the cost of lodging. Businesses that participate in the “Dream for Monkeys” program directly help mitigate the damage to the monkey populations caused by tourism and increased development. Guests who choose accommodations that help save the Howler monkeys enjoy their vacations with the knowledge that they are acting responsibly.

The program is a way for those in the accommodation sector to help alleviate negative impacts to local wildlife associated with tourism and increasing development, while also increasing profitability by providing socially and environmentally conscious guests the choice to help save the wildlife that is such an important part of their Costa Rican experience.

Sounds great, doesn't it? It is a great idea in theory (in all its variations), but honestly is proving difficult to actually implement. Nosara is a small town full of wonderful people committed to great causes - and all of them need monetary support. Everyone has fundraisers in January and February (during the busy season) and frankly folks get tired of being asked over and over to donate. In addition, though tourism here is big business, it is of course subject to the ups and downs of the global economy. Hotel owners are uncomfortable committing to a year round donation program. Finally, the idea seems overly complicated to them - full of extra paperwork and more time with their calculators.

Still, we continue to pursue the idea because the idea is good and a dependable funding source is critical. Nosara Wildlife Rescue is making a difference in the long-term recovery of the Howler monkey population, but the day-to-day fight for survival continues and increased support is essential.

Partially completed "Open Canopy" habitat at SIBU

One of the new transfers to SIBU

Bella and baby SIBU (the first baby born at SIBU)
Bella and her baby were recently released and are slowly acclimating to life in the wild

Ideas, comments, suggestions, etc. regarding the "Dream for Monkeys" program are welcome. In the meantime, I am focusing my efforts in the short term on the upcoming Nosara Wildlife Rescue fundraiser and auction, to be held February 25th. Even !Que Rico! is pitching in for the cause, with a donation of ice cream delivery once a week for a month. If you live in Nosara, I hope to see you there!