Harvesting Plantains

Remember when I posted about the banana’s growing in our backyard? Well we were wrong. They were plantains. They grew quite steadily too. One morning I noticed that one of the trees had fallen over, so Jim went out and hacked it with our machete, dumping it behind our house to return to the earth and the river. While he was at it he hacked off the massive plantains.

The girls were so fascinated with what Jim was doing, they watched attentively. Aren’t they the cutest?!

Then they got some morning love from me before I headed to yoga. Jim wanted to know if I wanted the plantains to cook with but I suggested that we throw them behind our house so that the monkeys would come back. We ate plenty plantains anyway. My idea actually worked and our friends Brad, Chandler, and Baby O got to see them while they were visiting.

But back to bananas. While BCO (Brad, Chandler, and Baby O) stayed with us Chandler got some of those tiny bananas for Owen. He loved them and I just think they are the cutest things ever. They are a little sweeter than regular banana in my opinion, but otherwise just smaller. I see them in the grocery stores here in the US too. Do any of you prefer them or use them in particular dishes or dessert?

Our Hammock and Tales of The Naughty Puppy

At the beginning of November Jim and I were up in Monteverde with his mom Susy. Jim had been wanting a hammock for our place bad. In a small shop he found the one (I helped choose the color). It took a while for us to see our landlords and get their permission to drill holes (which they swiftly gave us the green light on as they had been meaning to do the same for ages) and then borrow a drill from a neighbor. Jim spent the first part of an afternoon getting it all set up and then the latter part reading and relaxing in it.

Now for a tale of the naughty puppy. The naughty puppy is our youngest, Lita (a.k.a. Litalu, Lita Lubeck, LuLu, Baby Hippo, Racing Pig, Blackie, Pero Negro y Cafe, and Monkey). So since we’ve been in Costa Rica both she and her sister, Sasha, have loved their freedom to roam the neighborhood and run on the beach when we take walks in the afternoon. At the beginning there were a couple times when Lita would go on one of her morning adventures and not come back when we would call her. But we had to leave for appointments in Jaco, so we left her, always finding her patiently waiting on the porch when we got back. She also would sometimes go swimming in the river behind our house, returning a yucky mess. Other times she’d eat all the cat food left out for the neighborhood cats at the guard shack or get fed human food (which is a big no-no in our house) by people and then vomit it up later (thank you tile floors). She also had been spotted by the tienda closer to the main road, in a neighboring community, and down the road toward the beach playing kissy-face with her boyfriend. We let all these things pass, forgiving her but then a couple bigger events occurred.

First, one morning I heard what I thought was two men yelling at each other. I found it strange, but let it go as it stopped after about five minutes. Shortly after that our neighbor (and H.O.A. president) Arlene walked up to the house with Lita trip-tropping behind her. I went out onto the porch to greet her and she told me that is would probably be best if I kept Lita inside for the day. I asked why and she explained. There was a guy (whom she had never met) working on one of the houses in our community. He had put his food for his lunch on the ground and Lita (being her curious, always hungry self) ate it. He had caught her in the act and had thrown a fit, yelling (it was only him I had heard, not two men) at her and threatening to hack her to pieces with his machete. Luckily Arlene intercepted.

Two weeks later she was escorted by one of our guards, Luis, back to our house explaining in Spanish (thank goodness for Jim’s sister Meg’s Spanish capabilities) that she was out by the guard shack and had run into the road when a man and his girlfriend were riding by on their motorcycle. The driver had swerved (in order not to hit her) and they fell, getting only a couple scratches but the bike got trashed a bit. Luis had gone out and explained that the dog belonged around here and to please not harm her. We asked him if he could ask the man with the motorcycle (who lives in the area) if there is anything we can do to mend their motorcycle and to please let them know we were so very sorry. The next day we found out the man requested that we pay for the repairs, which were going to cost $100. We gladly gave Luis the money, he gave it to the man who was grateful, and the bike was fixed in couple days later.

We may have mended that situation, but that was the last straw concerning Lita’s naughtiness. We had been keeping a close watch on her, not allowing her to wander anymore, but that wasn’t making her or us happy. When in town one day, Jim picked up some items from the hardware store and then created a pulley-system that allows her to lay on our front porch, drink from our outdoor water bowl, be in the grass, under the carport, and even walk to the end of our driveway to see people walking by. It’s a bit like a dog-run and I must say it’s working, even if she does wrap herself around the carport poll sometimes. She also still gets to run free at the beach with Sasha when we take our afternoon walks. Happy Lita and happy us. Look how cheerful she looks?

The Evolution Of Surfer Dude Jim

Jim took two surf lessons back in May when we where visiting Costa Rica with “Surfer Mike.”  Since living here he’s taken three more (two of them with his dad). In the beginning, Jim borrowed a board from our friend Mark. Just after we had decided he was going to buy himself a board his dad gifted him some Christmas money to get himself one. He got a board, leash, wax (called sex wax), and two pairs of board shorts (the old swimsuit was getting to be too big for him anyway). A couple weeks earlier he had got himself a rash guard. Jim has been very diligent about practicing and has surfed Bejuco, Esterillos Oeste, Jaco, and even Hermosa. All the paddling and pushing up to get on his board is transforming his body (as well as the walks he takes with me, the push ups we’ve started doing daily, and changing his eating habits). Since we arrived here in September he’s lost over 15 pounds and is gaining a lot of muscle. Here’s some of what I’ve been able to capture. Clearly, I need to take more photos of him actually surfing as he’s improved so much!

And the evolution continues. Stay tuned!