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You don’t!!!  Unless you have some reason to mark the day.  On Saturday mornings there is a farmer’s market so it isn’t too hard to know what day is Saturday.  And on Sunday, the Tico’s  bring their families to Playa Negra (our beach) and play all day long. Other than that, I am not sure how to tell  what day it is and I am not really too concerned about it. 

There are other things that happen that mark the days.  On Saturday, the gardener came and made our yard beautiful!  I am amazed at what they can do with their machetes.  We have a rather large lot and in three hours it was all cleaned up and raked and shrubs all groomed.  He gave us advice on what we needed to do with some of the plants and then said he would see us in a month.  Of course I could not understand most of what he said (I can’t wait to start Spanish school) but Tom was able to converse quite well with him.  He wanted a picture of Kaya and Wiley to take home so Tom took a photograph and printed it off while he was here.  He smiled from ear to ear when he got that.

On Sunday we drove to Sixaola which is the town on the Panamanian border where most people from Puerto Viejo go when they have to leave the country every ninety days.  The drive there was beautiful.  The towns are much different than PV as they are inland and almost everyone works on the banana plantations that line that part of the country.  The road wasn’t too bad except for a couple of spots and those were horrendous.  We decided that when we head to Panama, we will hire a taxi to take us to the border and then will take the bus to Bocas del Toro – islands off the coast of Panama that everyone says are THE place to go. 

When we got back to PV, we walked to a small bar/restaurant called Jeffrey’s  just a few minutes away for lunch.  The lunch was excellent and Jeffrey was there and was glad to meet us since we will be neighbors.  He was curious about us and our family and told us that he had two grown children, both in college in Bri Bri.  He has been here thirty three of his forty three years and is Jamaican.  It was great fun and we have decided we have found our neighborhood get away. 

Tomorrow is Independence Day in Costa Rica – they are marking the 189th year.  It is supposed to be one of the major holidays in the country and it just so happens to fall on my birthday.  We are looking forward to the festivities 🙂 .

The past four weeks have been amazing.  It was just six weeks ago that we both quit our jobs and began the journey that brought us here.  We spent two weeks in Wyoming and Colorado visiting family and then arrived here on August 13th, 2010.  We keep pinching ourselves because it truly is difficult  to believe that this is now our life. 

We get up in the morning between 5:00 and 6:00 a.m. and quickly check email and on line newspapers. Tom takes the dogs to the beach every morning for their morning walk.  If it looks like it is going to be a sunny day, then I do some wash and hang it on the outdoor clothes line.  We then take our coffee to the outdoor living room and listen to the b irds and, more often than not, I photograph new birds that show up in the trees in our yard.  Sometime between 8:00 and 9:00 Tom fixes something for breakfast and I read or study  Spanish (although I should study more than read, I am not yet there).  Sometimes I ride my bike into town and then further on down the road as far as I feel like going.  In the afternoon we sometimes take the car to do errands but more often take a nap or relax in the hammocks.  Tom – sometimes with me, sometimes not – takes the dogs back to the beach for an early evening walk and then he comes back, turns on music and we sit and have a beer or glass of wine before dinner.  Sometimes we just talk until we go to bed, other times we watch a movie.  We go to bed between 9 and 10 and then start all over the next day.  At some point, we will begin volunteering but right now we are just enjoying our lives.

While we have been here the last four weeks we have seen monkeys, birds, frogs, lizards, spiders (although not nearly as many as I had thought we would), centipedes, amazing flowers, trees and vegetation.  We have said hello and goodbye to the great friends who helped us move and we have made new friends with neighbors and reacquainted with friends from before.  We have walked in the ocean, gone to the farmers market, visited and learned about the native plants at the botanical garden, and have visited a wildlife refuge. We have had furniture made and installed to finish out the new house, have purchased all the items we need (bikes, hoses, microwave, toaster, dishes, pillows) and have now settled in for the long term.  I am living the life I want…………..

When we first arrived in PV we bought bicycles.  The last few days I have taken long bike rides from our place in Play Negra out towards Manzanillo.  I try to go in the fairly early morning so that it isn’t too hot.  However, I am finding that since I am riding so near the ocean, the breezes off the ocean as well as the natural breeze from the ride keep it  very nice.  Today I rode a long way trying to find a bakery that I had heard about in Playa Chiquita.  It was well worth the ride – the breads were outstanding!!!  Along the way, I saw a woman snorkeling with her dog.  It was hysterical!!!  The woman would dive down and so would the dog.  The dog would surface first and paddle around waiting for it’s owner to come up.  Once she did, they would both dive down again.  It was great.  Two days ago, I watched the fishing boats coming in with their load for the day.  These bike rides are really helping me start to know my new corner of the world. 

Tomorrow we will talk to a person at a Spanish school that both Tom and I are going to attend beginning the first of October.  He really doesn’t need it so much – he can converse with almost anyone – but I am such a novice!  I am struggling with the language and he is so far ahead of me that it is frustrating for him to try to talk at my level.  He went to high school in Brazil so was fluent in Portuguese which has helpe   d somewhat.  However, he is just more focused than I am.  I just want to hang out in the garden and watch the birds and the butterflies and listen to the ocean 🙂

This morning we rode our bikes into town and did some shopping.  First to the farmer’s market where we got some tomatoes, avocados, and cilantro.   Then on to a store in town to pick up a garbage can and then to another in Cocles to check out spices and bread.  It was a good long ride and a beautiful morning.  On the way back we saw a huge blue heron standing in a river very near our house.  It was gorgeous!!!  The first heron I have seen in our new town.

September is the month that we are required to get our yearly vehicle inspection so Tom took the Toyota to Limon yesterday to get that done.  They are very strict about the condition of the car you drive here.  Interesting since the roads themselves are so terrible :-)  At any rate, we passed with flying colors but Tom said that there were several in line who did not and they were given long lists of things that they had to get done within two months. 

We started out this morning sitting on the port listening to the chorus of birds that starts up around 5:00 a.m. everyday.  This is how we always start our day and I honestly can’t get enough of it.  It seems that each day we see another bird that we have not seen before – and we don’t even have to get up out of our chairs – they just come to us!!  

In our yard!!  Today Tom came in and told me that we had fruit on the papaya tree in our yard.  I didn’t even know we had a papaya tree :-)   Anyway, I went out and got a picture of the young fruit and will write about it when we actually pick it and eat it.  I thought it would be much longer before we could actually have fruit from our garden.  We are planning to plan a coconut tree or two later this week – they are growing all over the land around us so we are just going to transplant a couple. 

The toucan in the picture above was just hanging out in a tree right next to the house yesterday and Tom got a great shot of it.  It is weird how sometimes they are just all over and other times they are no where to be found. 

Today I got my hair cut so I guess we really are settling in.  Two days ago the vet and now a haircut.  Feels just like home :-)  The person who cut my hair is from Savanna, Georgia.  She has been here ten years with her husband who is from Italy.  They met when she was teaching at a university in Italy.  He was working in African doing aid work at the time so they didn’t get to see each other much for two years.  When he got back he asked her if she would move to Costa Rica and off they went.  At the time she didn’t even know where it was.  They have a six year old daughter and another due in November.  He was trained as a veterinarian in Italy but here he is in construction – builds houses and buildings.  She didn’t like it much the first couple of years but now she says she cannot imagine living anywhere else.  That is the mantra that I keep hearing from most people who have been here for a while.  Pura vida!!!!   

Today Kaya and Wiley got their first visit to the Veterinarian in Puerto Viejo.  We took them to her house in Playa Cocles and she gave them an examination and said they are in great shape!!!  We of course knew that but it was good to hear again.  She then gave them medication to ward off ticks, fleas, intestinal parasites and heartworm – talk about one stop shopping!!  Her price was incredibly fair – probably too much so.  We are just so glad to know that she is here and that we have someone to go to in case of an emergency.  She is from Spain and has been in PV for 15 years.  She said she sometimes thinks of going back to Barcelona but then, when she does go back for a visit, cannot wait to come back to Puerto Viejo.  I suspect that will be our experience as well.

Once we left her house, we headed back through town and I was amazed at all of the people and activity going on.  We realized that the sailors from the USS Iwo Jima were in town.  They have been in Limon for the last two weeks on a humanitarian mission to give medical and veterinary care to the people on the Caribbean coast and, since they are heading back out to sea tomorrow, have spent the last couple of days here letting loose.  There were literally hundreds of them in town – GREAT for the economy here.  It was fun to see them.  

Also today I got some great picture of butterflies and a hummingbird who was just sitting still on a flower waiting for the bugs to come to her so she could eat them.  I bet she sat there for twenty minutes – perfectly still.  I have never seen that before. 

And to top it all off, it was an absolutely gorgeous day here today.  It started out with a bit of rain in the morning but by about 10:30 the rain was gone and it was incredible.  Not too hot but sunny and beautiful.  Just another day in paradise 🙂

I have been taking picture of birds and animals around the house and it has been great fun!!  We are starting to see a real variety of birds particularly.  The ones below are a few photographs that I took yesterday and today.  If you put the mouse pointer over the photograph, it will tell you what the name of the bird is.

Today we awoke to the sound of howler monkeys and the toucans.  This was the first time since we have been back that we have heard them and it was quite a racket!!!  The day was very hot this morning but then the rain came this afternoon and cooled everything off.  This morning we went to the post office and got a post office box so we can get mail!  This is a big deal.  Prior to this June, we had to hope that mail would be delivered to the bus station and we could pick it up but now we (and everyone else in Puerto Viejo) have options 🙂 .

The day started out very warm and we felt it as we went around and did a bunch of errands and did grocery shoipping.  Once the rain came we hung out in the hammocks – Tom slept, I read – and then came inside and watched a movie.  We are now talking to our carpenter about getting some additional work done.  What can I say – I am loving life 🙂

Well – it is Saturday, August 21st and we have been here just over one week.  I am beginning to get used to waking up to the amazing variety of bird songs as well as the hundreds of butterflies that play in our garden in the early morning. The photo above is one of the flowers that the butterflies like to land on.  I also have had a visitor for the last couple of days – a beautiful poison dart frog – that I have tried to just let roam around while keeping the dogs away.   I think that Kaya licked it though because she is now just watching it hop around rather than trying to eat it.  Wiley is just ignoring it entirely but I think he may have been bit by a scorpion a couple of nights ago so he is keeping his distance from all tiny critters.

We had a wonderful week with our friends, Susan and Rex, who helped us move down here.  We went out to breakfast one day, lunch another, and dinner another.  Otherwise, we stayed in and ate fabulous meals that the three of them cooked up with the fresh seafood we were able to get every day.  I provided cleanup :-)  We did get to go to the wildlife rescue and Cahuita National Park as well so they were able to get a sense of this part of the country.  The wildlife rescue had some baby toucans that were not quite old enough to be released which was something I had not seen there before.

Rex helped Tom string some fencing around the entire property so the dogs can no longer get out.  That was WAY over and beyond the call of duty as it was hot and muggy – not the kind of weather to be doing that kind of work.  Tom took them back to San Jose on Thursday morning so that they could catch their flight back to the states on Friday morning.  I will really miss them – they were the perfect guests. 

Tom stayed in San Jose on Thursday night since he had to meet with our lawyer to finalize our purchase of the lot adjoining our property.  We plan to put in a casita for family and guests in the next few months which should be quite an adventure!!  I stayed behind and finished putting everything away and so spent my first night alone in the rain forest – pretty cool!!!  It was peaceful and not at all frightening – I enjoyed it. 

Today we will go to the farmer’s market in town and then to Bri Bri (the county seat) which is about 20 kilometers away to buy Tom a bike.  Susan and I went and got me one on Tuesday but didn’t have room to get one for Tom.  Bikes are the standard mode of transportation here and we plan to do most of our traveling in town and around on them so we won’t be using the car nearly as much from here on out.  There is also an arts festival that started yesterday and will run through August 31st so we plan on visiting that today (  http://www.puertoviejosatellite.com/news/2010/08/06/arteviva-poster-and-calendar-released/   ) .  And tomorrow there is a rodeo on Cocles beach – I cannot wait to see that! 

So many people asked me what I was going to do with all my free time – at this point I am thinking there won’t be a problem figuring that out 🙂

We are now officially living in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Costa Rica!  We had some difficulty getting my computer up and running due to compatibility issues with Windows 7 (nothing to do with CR just Windows……….) but I am now able to get online.              

We arrived at the Denver airport at around 8:30 p.m. on August 12th to check ourselves and the dogs in.  All went smoothly except that Wiley and Kaya had not been in their crates for two weeks and they did not like having to be in them – especially in such an unfamiliar place.  The Frontier employees told us we could take them to a dog walking spot and stay with them until around 10:00 p.m. so we did that and I think it made a bit of a difference in calming them down somewhat.  At 10:00 we headed back up and met an employee who took us to the special TSA place so that they could check out the crates and then off they went to baggage.  We met our friends at the gate and then flew out about 12:30 a.m. on August 13th.  The flight was just under five hours and not too bad at all.  We asked an airline employee where we could pick up the dogs and he told us and then went to pick up a big cart to put them on.  We gathered our luggage and the dogs, got through immigration, and headed out to the curb to meet our van.  Turned out that we had to take a taxi to where the van was and it was not big enough for the dogs so Tom stayed behind with them and joined us a few minutes later.  I about died when I saw the van we were to take – it was clearly not large enough for dogs in two big crates, four adults, eight carryons and nine duffle bags.  After much head scratching, we decided to take the dogs out of the crates and then take the crates apart.  That worked although it was a pretty uncomfortable four hour drive – especially for poor Wiley.

We arrived at approximately 10:00 a.m. on August 13th and it was everything I hoped it would be.  We were exhausted after being up for thirty hours or so but the house was all cleaned out and ready for us.  We brought in all the bags and the dogs and started unpacking.  Susan and Rex went way over and beyond what they needed to by helping us put everything away and pitching in just like it was their own house 🙂  We have seen lots of lizard in and around the house (good for insects), a big toad, and a spider.  Now we are just hoping to see some toucan.                   

In the couple of days we have gone to the farmer’s market, shopped around town for necessities (beer, trashcans, food, beer……….), played cards in the evening, gone to Cahuita National Park and walked the beach and saw monkeys (howlers and capuchin), and have generally just relaxed.  The days have been absolutely gorgeous although today it is raining (it is a rain forest after all) so everyone has taken at least one nap and probably will be taking at least one more.  I am in heaven.  PURA VIDA!!!