Putting in our first SQUARE FOOT GARDEN

Building the frames.

I have to move them to the Community Garden, so I
used hinges at the corners instead of nailing them.

Sandy and me at the moment we finished installing the frames.
Filled with peat, vermiculite and compost.
Nylon rope for the grid.

This is day one.  Stop in often and watch our garden grow.

Costa Rica Day 9: Lost in the Rainforest!!

Checked out of my hotel about 7:30.
My room is at the top.  This is one
Of five separate buildings.

My last day in Costa Rica I finally got to go to see the National Park.  You can't come to Costa Rica and pass that up.  Not allowed.  Most of the group wanted to find a beach.  I got lost looking for something else.  Here is a pictorial of my adventure.

Took the bus from Manuel Antonio  to the National
Park.  Big group.  Whole bottle of water. What could be safer?

These flowers are everywhere.  Anyone know what they are?
Hot and sweaty. Water running low.

Most people wanted to take the path that led to the beach. I
took a different one because I wanted to explore the rainforest.
The camera was being held by a friendly log.  I call this, "Where the
Hell am I?"

Water all gone, soaking wet with sweat.  I met a group of 4
Tico teenagers in swimwear.  They knew the way and
invited me to follow them.  My spanish was good enough to manage
THAT at least.   Snapped this shot of the cove where Ponce de Leon tried
to land.  The Quepoa Indians convinced him otherwise.

My return to civilization.  A restaurant at the beginning of the
trail.  Over-priced food, but I didn't care.  Their water was
ice cold and the breeze off the ocean revived me nicely

Costa Rica Day 8: Monkeys!!

I was feeling poorly today, so I didn't get to go to the Park.  Maybe tomorrow morning before I leave. The monkeys seemed to feel sorry for me, so they came over to my hotel and let me photograph them from my hotel balcony.

Costa Rica Day 7: Quepos, on the Pacific Shore

Spent the day exploring Quepos, a town a little
north of Manuel Antonio and right ON the coast.

Sleeping I HOPE!!!

I just thought this was cute.

Quepos Part I

Another BEAUTIFUL wagon.  They use it for garbage cans!!!!

Picture of Quepos, Part 2

The Pacific.  Tides coming in.

Costa Rica Day 6: The Pacific Coast

We visited a school this morning in Manuel Antonio.

What an amazing thing THAT was.   Curriculum, discipline, even the way the grounds are kept.  All surprised and amazed us.  I made friends with these kids.

Coincidentally, after we finished I changed into something more summery (It's hot and humid here.) and walked back to Manuel Antonio (Only about 1 km). to get some things and find a lunch.  As I passed the school the three boys above were leaving school and saw me.  "Oye.  Como se llama?" one of them yelled.  "Tu sabe's" I replied.  "KARL!"  he said with some delight.  "Buen Hecho!" I replied.

I found a kind of groceri'a and bought a couple of things.  Then I looked for lunch.  In both places it became obvious to me that although I don't have Marti's command of Spanish, I have WAYYYYY more than most Americans who come to Costa Rica.  I was very comfortable asking for things, directions and my meal in Spanish.  Several Americans in the restaurant clearly had no Spainish at all and seemed to expect the waitress to be fluent in English (she wasn't).  They got very impatient.  No wonder people in other countries hate us.

During the day I was photographing plants and animals.  These things are common by the roadside and in yards.  See below.

Don't know what these are.  Do You?

These beautiful flowers cost a LOT in the US but grow wild by the  roadside here.

Bats on a wall.  It's an inside wall, but most places in Costa Rica have
access to the outside.  They can.  No snow or arctic winds

Iguana.  They are as common and obvious as squirrels are back home,

Costa Rica Day 5: Some Costa Rican Culture

Today we pitched the idea of expanding the student teaching program in Costa Rica to another school principal.  Then we all had lunch with the COSI people, including our friends Montse, Marvin (mar VEEN) and Rolando.   The restaurant has this weird little device for making coffee at the table.  It looks like a little guillotine, with a sock hanging down.  In the sock is Costa Rica coffee beans,

You pour hot water over the beans and it drips through them and into the cup.  Marti says it's excellent and he only drinks coffee in Costa Rica.

He normally doesn't like coffee at all.
Then we took the interbus, basically an 8 person van, on a 3 hour drive to Manuel Antonio, the beach on the west coast of Costa Rica.

Along the way we stopped at a tourist trap for a "comfort break."  While there we saw this amazing cart, filled with trash.  Apparently this beautifully painted wagon is used AS A WAGON.

My hotel in Manuel Antonio is the La Colina.  Very swank, but my room as not as classy and comfy as the one in Escazu.

On the other hand there are no diesel trucks or motorcycles going past.  The only sound is the sound of the Pacific Ocean lapping the beach.  AHHHHHHHH!