I'm back from the Jungle and the Chirripo Reservation!

In the last week two my childhood dreams have came true! All of my life I have been fascinated by Indigenous people, I admire them and always wanted to be like them. Another dream that every child may have, is to have one true adventure. I had given up this dream a long time ago because in the world I knew so far, living in France and Germany, these kinds of adventures no longer exist. But what I did, hiking to Tsimari on the Chirripo Reservation, that was a real adventure!!! I've lived in a real remote Indian village with the Cabecar tribe! Wow! I will never forget this most memorable week in my lifetime! It was the toughest, most difficult, arduous, dangerous, most exciting and most fascinating thing I've ever done in my 19 years of life.

The Chirripo Indian Reservation, where the Cabecar tribe lives is located high in the mountains (6,000 ft.) beyond Esperanza de Turrialba and is only accessible on foot or by helicopter. It is not a trip that everyone is capable of making, it is very, very extreme. Two volunteers and myself had the good fortune to accompany Jorge, the teacher of the Tsimari indigenous children, he hikes this path to the reservation every week to his very different and awsome job. I have great respect for Jorge, most of the teachers who have had this opportunity give up the job and quit after one week. It took us 10 agonizing hours, through rivers, over fallen logs, around and over vertical rock slopes and cliffs that go down as much as 40 meters, you do not want to slip and fall into the ravine below. We climbed up and down waterfalls, through creeks and streams, where often there was no path. For two hours, we hiked through a swamp flowing in the middle of the rainforest, and for three hours we endured solid, hard, heavy, torrential rain. 7 hours of our trip was uphill (steep and vertical). Our 60 liter backpacks were stuffed full with clothes, toothbrushes and school supplies for the indigenous children. These donations came from an American family who lives in Virginia, the Sanford’s. With the help of her parents and classmates, their daughter Megan collected the supplies after reading a blog www.costaricamountain.blogspot.com about the Cabecar and their needs. While on their vacation, they personally delivered the much needed supplies to us.

Voila, it is now my first night on the reservation! I have survived so far.

We finally arrived at the teacher’s small cabin, about 15 x 15 ft., it is situated on the reservation, the sun had set and it was dark before we got there. We immediately removed our sopping wet, mud covered clothes from our cold bodies. We were soaked to our skin, our rain jackets had failed in the hard driving, rainforest deluge. We searched our backpacks for a few remaining dry items of clothing, then we fell into our beds as if we were dead.

I was so exhausted, but I couldn't really sleep. My feet were burning with pain, I had giant yellow blisters on both big toes. We froze in the hut of the teacher where we were staying. The cold air passed up through his thin rugs, and my muscles ached throughout my body. The bed was not a real bed, but only a low wooden table with a thin 5cm
foam mattress, which was really superfluous. It was a very small room with only two beds on which 4 people would sleep. I shared one of the rock hard boards with the teacher, the others two volunteers slept on the other board. To make matters worse, I began to itch all over my body because as we came thorough the swamp, I had been bitten by every possible vermin, insect, and bug. Everywhere I looked on my body I was red and swelling. Now that we have been back home for a week, they no longer itch, but the bites are still there.

It was about 3am and the rooster was wide awake, announcing his presence. By 5am the sun was up and shining brightly. I peeled my aching body from under the scratchy covers and opened the door. For the first time I saw what surrounded the casita, as it had been dark when we arrived. I looked at a broad green valley, a few marshes, and at the bottom of the river stood a banana plantation. We were surrounded by rainforest mountains that cut us off completely from the outer world, the world of the “others”, as the Cabecar refer to us. Next to the house of the teacher there is a new school under construction, it has no roof yet, nor walls. There is only one other tiny “house” (a very humble dwelling) on this hill where an indigenous man called Abuelo (Grandfather) lives, he is one of the village elders.

The house of the Maestro (teacher) is not more than 15m2, it is incredibly tiny. The school for the children had been destroyed a few months ago by a landslide, so his cabin is also a storage area. All of the chairs and tables that were salvaged are stacked in the small space next to the two board beds with not another inch of space. His hut stands on very muddy ground, Tsimari is in the middle of a rainforest, and the teacher’s hut is built on stilts to keep it dry, although the roof did leak over the bed. Free-range pigs in the village kept us awake with their loud grunts while banging into the floor under the hut to scratch their bodies, Jorge took his machete and shooed and frightened the pigs away. The cracks between the boards of the walls and floor did not discourage the insects, nor keep out the cold.

In the village of Tsimari, each house is spaced about 2 kilometers from each other.
It consists of about 30-50 habitants, most of them children, and the simple housing of the indigenous is scattered over many miles. When I look out at the houses in the distance, they are all spaced about ½ hours walk from each other.

School starts at 7am every morning, but the children do not always show up, it appears to be optional, and without rules. We awoke with the sun at about 5am each day and waited to see which children would arrive.

I needed to find the bathroom and when I did, it consisted of a hole in the ground that is covered with a plastic form that you sit on. Corrugated tin sheets holding themselves up surround the toilet for privacy, there is no roof, and unsecured except for tree branches, the old tin threatens to fall down at any moment.

Jorge collected firewood and assembled our cooking fire. This is their only means of cooking, they have no gas, electric, or other options. We delayed cooking because we did not want to eat in front of the very hungry children and we had very limited minimal supplies. The Cabécar have little food to eat and they are always hungry. My stomach was growling pathetically, because the previous day I had eaten only peanut butter on toast for breakfast and two homemade granola bars. We had taken no time on the road to rest or eat, and we had nothing but granola bars for our hike. I was so focused trying to accomplish and survive the hike in one piece. that I had forgotten food completely. We drank our water from the rivers we crossed, and I felt as if this water was cleaner than any water I had ever had.

Upon our initial arrival at night, we had not eaten because we had no dry wood collected for a fire, and we had no food that did not require cooking. During our entire stay we ate only rice and beans, which we seasoned with some instant dry tomato soup to give it some taste.

Finally the kids start arriving at school, I watched them running up the hill. We got the chairs and tables from our house and Jorge hung a blackboard on the exterior wall of the house next to the front door. The chairs and table legs sunk deep into the earth on the uneven ground. On the first day, almost 10 of the 15 school children from the village came, they were between 7 and 14 years old.

Jorge simultaneously teaches the children of all ages. He teaches them Spanish, math and history, but the biggest challenge is teaching them to write their first name properly. Half of them are not yet capable. Communication is sometimes quite difficult because many speak less Spanish than I do (I am a native German speaker who learned Spanish and Latin in France.) The children were always talking among themselves in their very difficult native Cabecar language. The lessons were accompanied by the noise of construction at the new school. Women, men and other children from the village came and they all helped with construction of the new building. The Costa Rican Government paid for the materials and a supervisor, but the people must build their school by themselves. Some of the materials for walls, roofing, metal and styrofoam panels were delivered in a helicopter paid for with donated money. Basic construction consists of wood from trees that are directly cut down on site. Other materials, such as tanks and pipe for better sanitary facilities are transported on the backs of the Cabecar men, woman and children who carry these supplies up the same forest path that we traveled as there is no other way.

These journeys include the children who already by age 10 have more strength and endurance than we do. The school children participated with the construction during school breaks. They pulled the plastic coating off of the building materials and burned the trash because no one wants to the haul the garbage back through the jungle to the nearest town of Esperanza where I live, and there is no garbage or trash service there either.

On this day, the kids did not learn much, they were too busy being amused by my blond hair and they were marveling at my books and personal items that I had laid out in the sun to dry out.

The children requested that I write our names in each of their note books, and I wrote a little phrase in Spanish for each of them, they found this to be totally exciting. We gave each of them a toothbrush, which we had brought as part of the donations and showed them how to brush their teeth by demonstrating as we brushed ours. This was all new to them.

At 11am, the lesson's were over because another teacher, who teaches the Cabecar indigenous culture and language for 3 hours a day, did not show up on this week.
Had he arrived he would have had to sleep on the floor, which would not have been any less hard than our beds, but it would have been colder. I laid down after school to take a siesta and managed to sleep a little bit, I was still tired from the previous day and now I had a sunburn, which made me feel quite exhausted. That night I had a fever. The next day I still felt very weak, and the rice and beans diet was not energizing me.

By the third day, I was my old self again. I am not one to get sick, but I was thinking that there would be no help if I were to fall ill and I had to be fit by Friday in order to start the journey home.

Where I live in Esperanza, is not in luxury compared to my life in Germany. And yet our lives here are so easy compare to the lives of the indigenous. We have a real toilet at my house (I was really glad about this), running water, we can wash with soap, we have a stove and even an Internet connection, unless it rains too much. I have a soft bed and a small room for me alone! That's all I need.

Every morning on the reservation I stood in front of the teacher’s house waiting for the kids to arrive and waved to them cheerfully when I saw them coming. We spent a beautiful and exciting time with them. Each morning we cleaned our teeth together and had a lot of fun doing it. We gave them the donated clothes and they were happy about each sock and each pencil that we painfully dragged to the reservation, cursing our backpacks that we packed way too full. They were quite beside themselves over what we brought, and every day there were other people asking to see if we still had something left to give. We gave school supplies, sweaters, sweatshirts, pants and socks from the depths of our backpacks. It is not in their culture to say Thank You when they receive a gift. For us this was not important, we were happy just to give, and the next day we would see the children coming to school in their new clothes. Every day more children came to school, news had spread that there were visitors.

We prepared to play games and do some creative art paper projects with the children. They are beautiful, wonderful children, very gentle and straightforward, and they never were unkind to each other or to their teacher. I took many photographs, because I was so fascinated with them. The Cabécar are very nice people, small in stature but twice as strong as we are, with clear faces and beautiful brown skin.

Twice we went after school with Jorge and the children to the ice cold river to bathe. It was the only opportunity for us to wash ourselves a bit and it was also great fun with the kids splashing around in the water. They are very good strong swimmers. Everyday when it was time for them to go home, we were sad, especially on our last day when we realized we would not see them again. I followed them with my eyes, saw them go over the hill and disappear, and I waved one last time.

The rest of the day was not as exciting, and as usual, it was raining torrential sheets of water in the afternoon. Our routine was to put the tables and chairs back into the hut and then we played cards, napped or watched television. Jorge had a small pocket TV and a small solar panel on the roof that provided a little light in the evening with the help of a battery, it would operate the one channel he receives on the TV for 2 hours, although the reception was very bad.

Unfortunately, I was not able to talk much with the adults of the village, I saw only those who came every day to work on the school, and I did not want to disturb them while they worked. It seemed that the majority of them were not very good Spanish speakers, and in general are not very talkative people.

Maybe other opportunities will present themselves, I don’t know if I would or could take the agony of this difficult journey again.

The only road from Tsimari and into town is through Esperanza and the Cabecar pass through our village to go to the city, find work, receive medical care or to pick up food supplies.

On the reservation, you can not survive alone, and the Cabecar are only marginally surviving. No one has shown the indigenous how to grow upland rice, the only food they appear to have to eat are bananas, guavas, yucca, chayote and little sour oranges. The cows and pigs are sold to earn money, sometimes they drink cow's milk and eat the eggs of the free ranging chickens.

On our last day we gave our remaining rice to neighbors who need more food. We were not ready to carry even a kilogram extra back with us, it was too much to bear.

I must report that the way out, is the same as the way in, just in reverse. It was however much easier because after two hours of hiking uphill from our valley, it was all downhill, our backpacks were empty now, and no rain was falling, what an enormous relief. It took only 7 hours to come back and it was a lot more fun going downhill. I could almost really enjoy the journey, but we still must be so careful so as not to fall. Only the last hour was torture to me, because my blisters had not completely healed, and the bandages did not hold as our feet were wet the whole time. We did not wear hiking boots on this trip, we wore tall rubber boots, no other shoe could have made the journey. Everyone on the reservation has only rubber boots, because you just could not walk through the swamp and mud in any other shoes. The boots were not high enough to cross the rivers and keep our feet dry, sometimes the water was up to our hips. We emptied the boots each time, wrung out our socks when we took a short break and continued to hike with wet feet. Only days later after returning home, I can again wear shoes, I still feel pain simply by looking at my boots.

At 2pm on Friday, we completed our trip and arrived back in Esperanza where Ginnee our host had a dinner prepared and waiting for us (we had not eaten all day). Immediately after dinner, we scrubbed ourselves thoroughly in the shower with hot water, dressed our wounds and then fell into our soft comfortable beds until the birds woke us up when the sun again arose in the rainforest of Esperanza de Turrialba. My dream had come true; I will never forget this incredible adventure for as long as I live.

Link to photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=Ginnee&target=ALBUM&id=5411094509745856481&authkey=Gv1sRgCOHL8uuk7eOipwE&feat=email

Author: Anna Lucia Brigid Guenther
Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany

Lucia is a volunteer at Finca Quijote de Esperanza, Turrialba, Costa Rica. She likes farm life, dogs, animals, languages, writing, drawing illustrations, photography and life in Costa Rica.

If you would like to help the rural children and the Cabecar indigenous people by making a donation of clothing, blankets, school supplies or money, please contact ginnee@gmail.com. Thank you for your support.

The moon was visable during the day.

The Cabecar Indigenous who are my neighbors have a hard life.

Three indigenous, a man and two women came down today to retreve building supplies in addition to their personal supplies. Marcos tied items together so they could wear them for their 8 hour difficult hike. They will return, or other indigenous will come down, to retreve what they could not take. That big red jug filled with gasoline is heavy.

We also received a report that my 3 volunteers and the teacher arrived in the dark, their trip took them almost 12 hours. Well at least they made it with their heavy packs. They are experienced hikers but this type of hiking can only be decribed as ultra extreme. The indigenous have made this trip since birth, but they are tough, strong, extreme people capable of running to make this trip in as little as 5 hours when an emergency is pending.

Three foot bridges are now functional making this trip easier then it was. Which is not to say that this trip is easy by any means nor under the best conditions as is evident by our experienced hiking team.

Good thing I made those high energy granola bars with honey and fruit, I knew they would need fuel for their bodies to get there.

More news to come later this week,

This is commonly called an "Owl Butterfly" and it's scientific name is Caligo Memnon. It has the owl eye marking as means of protection against predators, thinking it is an owl instead of a sweet morsel butterfly......it feeds on rotting fruit and has a bluish-purple coloration on the top of its wings. Its wingspan can reach up to 150 mm. It slightly resembles the blue morpho when it is resting with wings folded....however, the blue morpho has the most amazing iridescent blue-lavender coloration imaginable when in flight...a truly spectacular sight.

Because of you, opportunities that did not exist a year ago are available to the very poor people who live in my area of rural, remote Costa Rica. Children and adults are learning English because we offer a free school to all who come. Some walk on goat trails for nearly an hour to get here. We have a volunteer American visitor teaching group classes.

My son met a man who worked for the United States government while in the airport in San Jose waiting for his flight. He promised to send my son a Rosetta Stone CD so he could learn Spanish, and he kept his promise. Because of this generous gift, a young woman is sitting at my computer right now, doing her English lessons, using the Rosetta Stone multi-language CD. Maira has never used a computer before, but she is catching on quickly.

You have made an enormous difference in the lives of so many folks. You have given them hope for a prosperous future. Your donation of items on our “Wish List” provides school supplies for the children, and so much more to families who could not otherwise afford something as simple as a pencil or crayons. We have been able to put clothes and shoes on indigenous children as they pass by our farm house.

We now have an internet connection and wifi which enables us to send the children of Esperanza and the outlying areas to 7th through 12th grade for the first time via the internet. Imagine how different their lives will now be because they can speak English, have a high school education and more if they want it. Their dreams can come true. We have already outgrown my daughter’s dining room and laundry area which is where we hold group classes. First come, first serve for the picnic table, benches and chairs, everyone else sits on the floor.

I asking my friends, strangers, everyone, to help us by donating their used computers in working order so that we can make this dream a reality and brake the cycle of poverty. Our monthly cost for the satellite internet connection is $150.00 a month, which causes me to swallow hard, but finally we have a life changing connection. When you live rural and remote, the government controlled monopoly does not serve you. This is the only possible way to send these children to school.

The government law says the children must go to school until the age of 18, but what if you don’t have a school, or transportation, and live high on a mountain? Oh well... The tourist books say education is free, well not exactly, they are nickeled and dime-ed for every piece of paper handed out, including all test papers. When you are that poor, every coin is needed for beans and rice on the table and for some there is not enough food.

Thank you, all of you, for everything you have done to change the lives of these children. You have given them hope, and provided the tools that open the doors of opportunity that break the cycle of poverty for generations to come.

We are all blessed to call you our friends.

Thank you,

Ginnee

Wish List

School supplies
Educational, CD’s, games, …
Pencils
pens
Paint
Brushes
Scissors
Pencil sharpeners
Coloring books
Spanish English dictionaries

Navy blue children’s pants
Navy blue children’s skirts
White shirts and blouses
Shoes, practical and sneakers,

Used laptop computers in working condition

Portable sewing machines, used are fine.

Sweat shirts
Ball caps

Rain gear and umbrellas

Toothpaste
Toothbrushes

Guitar
Keyboard / piano, portable electric, (really small)
Musical instruments
Drum sticks

Sunsets are amazing here in Esperanza, this is our beautiful purple and pink sky that seems to be unreal.

13 of my cows are pregnant. Our bull is the brown one. Oh Boy, this will be a good year.

Life…, going where no man has gone before, and sometimes, sometimes often, my life feels like this. Living off-grid, trying to figure out how to have electricity, a refrigerator, by pass the electric regulator of a gas oven, boost cell phone reception, relay a trans-sat dish connection further up the farm, how to do all of these things affordably and understanding them sufficiently so that you can do it yourself. You must understand how all of these factors work, or they will never stay working for you. Unless you have more money than God has dirt, you can’t afford to pay someone who knows it all, if those people even exist, a few do, most don’t, and I know even fewer.

I get a lot of my info from Dummies books, forums on line, online research, and friends in the know of a particular subject, which is a very small nitch of an already small group of friends. Let’s face it, when you can’t get online, you need a book. If you live off-grid, you may need lots of books because the fact that you are off-grid means that civilization as others know it, is not a block away. Buy the book (books), all of them, your going to need all of the help you can get. The book is a great place to start, make notes, collect internet sites you did not find on your own, and you will reference it / them, time and time again. Hopefully you will buy more than one.

Living in a foreign country and not being a native speaker makes it more difficult, you can not find a book in your language or subject matter. Buy the books, all of them on any subject you may want to know, including gourd carving and basket making and bring them with you. My gourd carving book has been sitting in the US for 6 months now, along with many other items, so many other items for so long that I can not remember what I ordered online. The gourds are growing, I may as well learn how to express my creativity and I hear that basket weaving is good for potential mental illness.

I love Amazon for it’s simplicity when ordering and I often get carried away with my need to know and have. Solving the problem of how to get these items into my country other than by human courier, has not been solved. Forget the mail, you do not have enough money for this option, and then there is the inconsistency of customs and your item getting hung up with the dreaded tax man. That all depends on the country you are in I suppose. I know my devil.

It appears that I was a child who asked “Why?”, and nothing has changed. Perhaps that is why my parents did not like me all that much, they did not know how to handle “Why?”, and I did not accept, “Because I said so”, as an answer. Of course it is not an answer, never was, never will be. I still ask “Why?”, it is only recently that I realized this, my husband pointed it out to me following a recent need to know moment. Apparently, I have more need to know than some other folks. I did not know that. The only exception here is when I am saying, “Tell someone who cares”.

Five of the horses escaped last night leaving their kids behind. At 11 we went outside to see what the noise was about only to find two restless horses complaining loudly. This morning we will round them up; by midnight, they had all broken loose. At least they were now quiet.

We do not have light pollution, so when it is not a full moon and the sky is clear, you can see a million stars. Last night was as crystal clear as it gets and the heavens were a thick blanket of stars and constellations.

Today is the start of planting time by the biodynamic calendar. It will be a busy week of planting pumpkins, basil, parsley, and many flats of other seedlings. With a many hands, the job goes quickly. This week we have been eating fresh string beans and we still have what seems like a lifetime supply of spinach in the garden. I try to hide the spinach in most everything I make, except when I am not hiding it and everyone is exposed to blatant spinach. Every time I pick up a cookbook I am searching for spinach recipes, perhaps the next great use for spinach has escaped me, not likely however. We eat by candle light, so it is hard to tell exactly what you are eating sometimes.

This weekend I made Falafel patties for the first time, they were good, far better than I expected. Creamed spinach would go nicely with this dish. We are none-vegetarians who eat a lot of vegetables, in fact, we eat more veggies than many vegetarians do. Depending on what is in season, we are often overrun with a particular crop. Because we eat fresh, not frozen or canned, a crop can be overwhelming for the cook. In just 15 minutes, I can pick enough spinach to feed 6 people a spinach entree for 2 days. The time taken to clean spinach takes far longer, sometimes it seems like hours.

Maira's thank you note to me, accompanied a fish from her pond.


Safiya is a volunteer at the farm who has applied for a doctorate program in the US. She does a bit of everything here and starting today she is teaching English in the afternoons. While developing her lesson plans, she has been working with Carolina, one of our employees. Carolina is quick to learn, has desire, and is a joy in general. Her sister Maira also works for us. Maira and I are together every morning and I take that opportunity to teach her English phrases and now cooking terms.

Last week we made two fresh orange cakes with oranges from the orchid. It was the first cake she had ever made, or seen made, and we made it by hand with no electrical appliances. They came out perfect and I gave her one to take home. We cushioned the hot pan and cake in newspaper so that it would not burn through the rice sack that she carefully carried it home in. Maira lives down my mountain, across the river and up a mountain. It takes her the better part of an hour to walk to work and she is never late.

She is a joy to have and at age 21 this is her first job. Maira has not had the opportunities presented to you and me. As with all of our local rural children, her education lasted only 6 years and by US standards it was maybe a 3rd grade education. The children are being cheated and everyone loses. We need these kids to have a prosperous, successful future, and they need the skills to make a living while protecting the rainforest. But it is even bigger than that, so much damage has been done as a result of deforestation for crops like cattle, coffee, and sugar. We need to teach the rural people, that they can make as much money or more than they were making with their deforested land, by reforesting with a variety of carbon sequestration tree crops.

Finca Quijote is a demonstration farm, we are leading by example while extending a helping hand, sharing knowledge and teaching what we know. Blessed with an education and opportunity, the best foreign aid we can give, is the gift of knowledge. We can see change coming, slowly, but it is coming. Maira, Carolina and the others in their pueblo, are listening and watching. Their brother wrote us a letter in Spanish, and then he looked up every word in English which does not translate perfectly, but it was an extraordinary effort to be understood. Once upon a time, they had prosperous lives, and then their employment opportunities went away. I know this to be true. Since then (20 years), they have been in survival mode and there are no jobs available for the rural people at this time. Only the rural people can protect the rainforest, we must show them how to make a living and educate their children at the same time.

You can help by donating educational supplies. We always need:

pencils
crayons
Spanish English dictionaries
used laptop computers in working order
portable sewing machines
sweat shirts
childrens shoes
good durable clothing such as blue jeans

We finally have an internet connection and wifi where we volunteer teach the children. Because we are off grid, and with no landline phones in the pueblo, this was a very expensive effort. Our monthly cost for a simple connection is $150.00 USD With laptop computers (easier to get into the country) we can give the kids the opportunity to go past 6th grade via the internet. Please tell everyone you know and ask them to donate their old computers so that we can teach children who have no other options. We need to teach them how to be prosperous again. Prosperous is a word they used when writing us, for them it means putting enough food on the table, shoes on their children, enough money to give their children an education and to afford a doctor when one is needed. Their concept of prosperous differs from yours.

Thank you for helping my neighbors.

Self peeling, seeded bananas grow upward rather than hanging down. The birds and animals love them. I think they are simply beautiful.

Butterflies are everywhere on the farm, you can see through the wings of this species.

Our beautiful rooster

The girls, Safia, Maira and Carolina have been busy painting the guest house and new bathrooms

Phil with my daily ration of yucca.

Today the men are harvesting Yucca and Malanga. How many interesting ways do you know how to prepare Yucca? Please send me your recipes, I need them. This week I look forward to making stuffed yucca, I will let you know how that goes.

Yucca fries are good, if you haven’t had them find your way to Pollo Tropical in the US and place an order. We made pumpkin fries this week using part of the giant pumpkin, they were very tasty. Erika mixed spices with corn starch and shook everything together in a baggie, then into the hot oil they went. Oh so good…I could eat these as a meal with a dab of ketchup. You can also make zucchini and eggplant into interesting fries.

The remainder of my pumpkin has been cooked, bagged and frozen for use in pumpkin bread. I don’t have a refrigerator, so I store my frozen foods at Erika’s house. Not convenient, I should can stuff like this, I need canning jars, have not found them yet. It is always something.

I love the music of Ricardo Arjona, and today I found this article about him. I photographed it for you to read. You can hear his music video from a concert on the website of La Nacion, www.nacion.com You can also google his name to learn more about him. He is very famous. Who knew?

There are so many great performers and recording artists that I had never heard of before coming to Costa Rica, and I originally thought to myself, this person is good, he or she is going to make it. Then I google their name, and find out they have been famous for a very long tome, I just never heard of them on US radio. Too bad for us/you, because there are some really fantastic songwriter/singer artists in this world, and we are not hearing them. You do not need to speak Spanish to enjoy their music. In fact, there are songs that are recorded in both English and Spanish or Italian, that are so much better in their native language. Andreas Bocelli and Laura Pausini have a duet and the English version just does not have the same sensitivity and drama, the foreign version is magnificent. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StYR-DYUBkw

Ricky Martin (yeah, he is still famous, more so than ever, and making music) and Eros Ramazotti have a duet that I love. This duet is how I discovered Eros Ramazotti (his real name). I thought, this is good, really good, as I watched it 50 times in a row, he must be somebody or Ricky would not be making a duet with him. Then I googled him, he has been a giant star for many years, the Russians and Europeans love him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_8cE8WbxF0 He has done duets with many US known artists such as Tina Turner, Anastacia (I love this video, their voices are as if they were one) and Joe Cocker. You can find his videos in concert on you-tube. Anastacia is American, but you don’t hear her on your radio. You may remember her name, she had a hit, then cancer, we forgot her, Europe did not. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTdm-ip8wa8

It is my observation, that Ricky Martin is loved and respected by the latin world for who he is, and what he does as a human being. It is not just for his music, Ricky did not forget where he came from, and that is where he gives his time and money, to the children of Puerto Rico. Good for him!

I could write pages about artists that you never heard of, Canny Garcia, is another of those artists that you should google and learn more about.

The beautiful volcano as seen from our farm.

Yes, that is smoke coming out of the volcano. Blue sky, a backdrop of the beautiful volcano, horses, and a pretty chica. This is perfect!

What do beautiful horses need? Great riders, an excellent trainer and a beautiful, skilled Chica horsewoman of course. Our young woman is the trainers daughter, Laura. The male rider is our friend and neighbor, Johnny.

Today was horseshoeing and training day. The trainer and his daughter came this morning and started training our young pinto, Tina Turner. Tina is highly opinionated and spirited, but she came a long way today. Next was Phil’s little girl, Amorsita, and she was wonderful. A little training, and then came the pad, saddle, a male rider and then the trainers daughter. Amorsita took it in stride, no problems.

We gave the horses a bath, while they were fitted for shoes. I was combing out one of the horses tails, and Felipe told Erika to close a gate which then spooked the horse. I ended up sitting in a pile of fresh, warm, oozing horse poop which cradled my fall on my well cushioned backside. Time for a shower and clothing change, yuck. Actually, I like the earthy smell of farm animals, it does not bother me at all. I probably should not be sitting in fresh piles and being knocked down is not good for my bones. Tomorrow morning I will feel as stiff as the tin man. Nonetheless, it was a good day in paradise.

Marcos is wearing the white pointed hat.

Our lead man Marcos, most likely has gallstones, he was previously tested and diagnosed, they gave him some tums or milk of magnesia and sent him home. Neither of those “medications” are appropriate for gallstones. Today Phil took Marcos to the caja because his pain is so severe. The caja is the government clinic that accepts his insurance. They sent him to several other places, including the hospital to have more testing done. Costa Ricans are big on paper work, testing and rubber stamps. Marcos had already been tested, which is how we know he has gallstones. The hospital set Marcos up with an appointment to be tested all over again, on May 20th, 2010. Can you believe it, May of 2010. Marcos said, “I’ll be dead by then.” Phil told him that was their plan, they could save money by only seeing those who survive.

Lucky for Marcos, he has me, or unlucky for Marcos depending on who is drinking my concoction. Today we start my all natural gallstone elimination treatment, I read it in a book. It will end by tomorrow morning and he will either be cured, or not. I don’t offer guarantees, you don’t need to wait until May of 2010, and I don’t charge. Often, I even have success. I don’t however diagnose, you need to know what ails you, and I have my limitations as I have no credentials whatsoever, other than I can read, and I have books. Does that count? No, I didn’t think so. But, when you live on the end of the road to nowhere, and the hospital gives you an appointment a year from now, I am, what you get.

Update 6-21-09:

It took until 11:30pm for Marcos to finish drinking the gallstone elimination concoction. He feels much better this morning.

I have given orders; no more fried food, margarine, fat, coffee, sugar. Chamomile or other herbal tea such as fresh ginger or mint will replace the coffee He can eat unlimited fresh fruit, lots of bananas and papaya, poached fish, and I sent over some hard boiled eggs for today’s protein but he could eat rice and beans if they leave out the oil or grease. Costa Ricans are big on oil, grease and margarine. They believe margarine is good for you. 75% of his diet should now be raw vegetables and salads with lemon juice and olive oil for dressing. This is going to be a difficult adjustment for both him and his wife. Zennia will need to learn another way to prepare their meals in a more healthy way that will benefit the entire family.

A spoonful of olive oil and a spoonful of lemon juice first thing in the morning, as a preventative measure should keep Marcos gallstone free. In 6 weeks, he will repeat last night’s treatment to make sure all of the stone have been eliminated.


Update, 6-25-09:

Marcos is taking one big spoonful of both olive oil and fresh lemon juice every morning on an empty stomach. He misses his coffee. I believe he is still eating fried foods, as he brought over a plate of fried fish because he was feeling so much better. It is hard to change cooking and eating habits. He still has occasional discomfort, probably still has some stones, but he is not in pain. We will do the second treatment as planned and I will continue to try and teach them healthier eating choices. This is difficult because they are resistant to change for many reasons.

Thank you for helping this beautiful 13 year old Cabecar child. Your gifts put shoes on her feet and gave her warmth and love.

Our farm is in a rainforest and a cloud forest, it is always green and lush.

Feeding cows is hard work, our man Carlos is an expert.

First thing in the morning the men cut grass and bring breakfast to the cows. This morning I drove the Rhino pulling the trailer and photographed the event.

I love clouds and their magic. So I will share the clouds in my life today.

Yesterday my friend Dan and I found shoes to fit these Cabecar indigenous children from the reservation.

Dana visited and brought clothing, shoes, and backpacks. Thanks Dana.

I also want to thank all of you who have donated, and I have no idea who you are. Thank you so much.

My daughter Erika riding at the farm.

Yesterday I spotted this big beefy lizard with a sail, sunning himself by the coffee mill. He was every bit of 18 inches long.

Bat in the House

Two nights ago we found a bat of about 5 inches from wing tip to wing tip, flying in the house. Come morning we were unable to locate him. How did he get in? He probably just flew in when we were loading packages from the car to the house in the evening after a day of shopping.

Last night just after dinner (we eat and live by candlelight), our bat was flying fast in the twilighted room with the grace of a butterfly. He zoomed through the rooms and doorways buzzing us as he went by. After several failed attempts to seal off our living area (too many openings) we opened the kitchen door and the French doors. Our bat circled a few more times and gracefully exited through the French doors.

The wildlife here is amazing, I really enjoy learning about the many different varieties of bats that we have including fruit bats and vampire bats. They hang together, but their actions are very different. The vampire bats can walk on their elbows in the pasture where they wait for an animal such as our cows. They prefer wild animals, but a cow will do. When the animal walks by they spring up and scratch it leaving an anticoagulant so the animal continues to dribble blood. The blood gets on the bat and when they go back to their bat cave, they lick each other. Fruit bats do not lick, only the vampires lick and lick blood. If you put a vampicide cream on your cows, the vampire bats will return to the cave with the vampicide on them. Then the licking begins amongst the vampires, while the fruit bats hang and safely go to sleep.

You can catch the vampire bats in nets, I am not sure what you do with them then, but the nets have not been available to us so far.

Bats are very interesting and necessary for many reasons. If you have interest, you should google bats and find out more.

Wednesday April 15th, 09

I wrote the above piece this morning. This evening we sat down to an Italian feast from the garden, and lit the customary candles for dinner light. We were immediately buzzed by Bat Boy. I don’t think it was the same one, this one seemed smaller. I opened the French doors and have not seen him again this evening. Hmmm, where are they getting in? They can enter through a space no larger than the width of your little finger. When we find bats on the floor, we pick them up and launch them. These are always the fruit bats as the vampires do not need our help, they can jump up and launch themselves. In our previous house, we found them often. This is the first time we have had them in the new house. Wow, what a life we have here…

The volcano is smoking and it is another wonderful day.

Weiner and Bule going to dinner.

Some 30 years ago, a previous owner of our farm had the idea of making money by planting a monoculture pine plantation where a natural forest once stood. Monocultures are never the right way to go, and pine is not indigenous to our area.

We made the decision to remove the pine and use the proceeds to rehab the land back to the diversified forest it originally and potentially would have been. A forest of mixed species is what is right for the regional wildlife and for the forest. Monocultures are easily infested or plagued and pine is simply not supposed to be here. These pines had a borer and it was their time to go before they deteriorated.

Our farm has a 14 acre pine forest with about 500 trees, that have reached maturity. We explored harvesting the pines ourselves but this was a job for professionals due to the steep terrain, mud, weather, permits required, equipment, tractor, transport and the difficulty of removing such large trees without someone dying.

We spoke with a number of loggers, received quotes, and decided that the lumber mill we frequent, was the most honest and qualified for this job. We are happy with their work, their diligence and timeliness (they show up, lets not forget that this is the land of manana and quince dias).

This morning when they had loaded the tractor trailer, they came down on the very rugged goat trail of a road, crossed our big river (no bridge) with the tractor trailer loaded, and when they arrived at our house, I took these photos. The road going up is so difficult, their 4 wheel drive tractor helps to pull them up and over the very rough spots. The experienced driver is able to make the hairpin turns like the pro he is.

The cow babies were hanging out after lunch today and Bulle Boy, their dad was resting nearby with his girls. What a life. The herd is fed like royalty, their food is cut, chopped and brought to them. They do have to swallow, all by themselves. Their poop is later collected, put into the biodigester and methane gas is produced. The byproduct is perfect fertilizer for the crops. No, we do not eat the cows, but you can feed them and pet them. The cows are not that friendly, but the bull is docile. Vida Esperanza!!!

I am so thankful that I live high in the mountains, have cool temperatures and pure water, because down below, it is hot, hot, hot!!! I drove to La Suiza to run errands and the heat was stifling, I could not wait to head back up. Even on one of our hot, sunny days, the air is cool, and when you go in the shade the air can be cold. I wear flannel or a sweatshirt everyday for at least part of the day and I sleep in sweats with a quilt. It is in the 60’s at night except for when it is in the upper 50’s. I love these temperatures on the farm.

For non electric entertainment, Phil reads novels or stories to us. This week he is reading a novel by Jane Hamilton the author of The Book of Ruth. The Short History of a Prince, is very funny, Jane Hamilton really has a way with words.

We get comfy in our big bed after dinner is finished and put away, my daughter Erika joins us, all bundled up in sweats with a pillow and blanket, and Phil reads in the dark wearing a headlamp. He is an interesting reader and I look forward to this time of night. Fortunately he came up with our latest read, we are out of books worth reading and always look forward to Vanity Fair magazine articles which we can now by at the Maxi Bodega. When there is no new reading material I suffer through riveting scientific farm articles like the miracle of bokashi compost, or sustainable black water systems. Please bring good books when you visit, old, used and paperback are just fine.

Yesterday morning a Cabecar Indigenous man, his wife and baby came down through our farm. It was a cool morning, rain was threatening, and they had walked down mountain for 8 hours already. They emptied their rubber boots of water, full from having crossed rivers. A vehicle was going down the mountain from our place and they were about to catch a ride. I grabbed a very small sweatshirt that had been donated and gave it to the indigenous mother for the baby, she said thank you. The Cabecar indigenous speak the Cabecar language and some Spanish, they are the most primitive of all of Costa Rica’s tribes. We later left the farm and saw this same family at the bus stop where the dirt meets the dirt. The buses run every three hours or so, or, whenever it gets there. We stopped to ask them if they were going our way, but they were not. When we returned some 3 hours later, they were still waiting for their bus and the cold rain was now more than a nasty drizzle. The mother had dressed her baby in the sweatshirt (they had no rain gear) and it covered the little body right down to the child’s toes. A gift of warmth for a child, thanks to our friends and their donations. Without you, we can not help them. We are all thankful for your kindness.

I am sorry that I can not take photos of every photo op, I try. I always ask permission first, sometimes they say no or other factors are involved. Documenting what we do is important for all of us, I must also respect the indigenous and their fears. Each opportunity is different from the next based on their experiences or their lack of them.

Our Turrialba volcano as seen from the farm.

Tonight I made a coconut curry veggie dinner using what we had. I used malanga instead of potatoes, carrot and butternut squash, leeks including the white and dark green, an onion and extra garlic, fresh ginger chopped fine, madras curry, Chinese cabbage, a green and red sweet pepper, unsweetened coconut cream, craysins, a little salt and chick peas served over brown rice. I had a little left over chicken which I cut into bite size pieces and added for the last 12 minutes but meat is not needed because chick peas and brown rice are a complete protein. This recipe is good for you and inexpensive as most of the ingredients are in my garden, besides, I love madras curry and coconut. These are not necessarily the veggies the recipe calls for, you can use what you grow, or whatever is on sale, it’s all good. The craysins I used are an import, we do not grow cranberries in Costa Rica. Thanks Mr. Food for this inspired recipe. Fast to prepare and cook in about 30 minutes, one pot plus the rice, and delish!!! The photo is the original recipe from my old Mr. Food magazine.

I have not written about cooking lately, but I am always trying to create recipes using indigenous veggies. Sometimes I must ask my workers, what is it and what do I do with it. Sometimes the situation is reversed and they are asking me how do we prepare the leaves of that tree? Yup, we eat tree leaves and they are good. Chayamansa is one medicinal plant whose leaves we really like.

2-18-09

I am very sad to tell you that one of my dearest long time friends has passed away of a heart attack at age 60. John Schandelmayer and I have been friends for some 37 years or so, and I learned of his death today. We do not have many dear friends in this world, and John was my best friend, I shall miss him very much.

I met John through an ad in the newspaper, Motorcycle for Sale. I bought my first used Honda from him and we were fast friends from that moment forward. He and his wife at the time, Linda, taught me to race motocross. We camped, shot pistols, and had the best times camping, racing motorcycles, and catamarans. He was a natural athlete, a race car driver, kung foo fighter, kayaker, world class wind surfer, heavy weather sailor, motorcycle racer, mountain biker and I am sure I have left something out of his amazing life. John would sit in his truck and read his bible before he raced, he was a devout Bahai. He was the brother I wanted and needed in my life.

John and Linda later divorced and eventually John married Vicki. To John’s credit, he and Vicki added Linda to their lives and they all raised Jeremy, John’s son with Linda. They would visit Linda in Georgia and stay with her; she would visit with them in Florida. Linda worked for John and I would joke that he had two wives; he never got rid of the first one.

Today I was going to skype his cell phone and say hello. We usually greeted each other with John’s customary, “How the hell are you?” He was as warm and comfortable as an old familiar shoe. As Vicki said to me, John oozed kindness, that is a good description of his warmth.

I had been anxiously awaiting his visit to our farm, he would have loved it I am sure. Phil and I had hoped that John would spend his retirement years breathing in this glorious place in which we live. We wanted to share it with him and now that opportunity will be lost forever. We will miss him more than he could ever know, but our lives are richer for having called him friend. So long my friend, you will always be in our hearts. But mine is breaking at this moment.

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It’s a boy!!! At about 8AM on Sunday February 1st, our cow, number 71, gave birth to a baby toro. Our first baby boy calf has arrived and he is very sweet. Today when the herd came for breakfast, Mom left her day old baby standing alone. She is a first time Mom so she has a few things to learn. Our farm manager Marcos went and picked up the very heavy little guy (Marcos is very strong) and he carried him over to the truck, handed him off to Felipe (my husband) and then Marcos sat in the truck and Felipe handed the calf back to him. The baby immediately peed on Marcos. Well, it is a baby and it was scared, Marcos did not smell like Mom, and it was his first truck ride.

Immediately following the birth we started taking photos, the umbilical cord was still hanging. Mom allow other cows to sniff and then lick her calf. The neighbors from town all walked up to the pasture to get a look. Esperanza is a small town (44 people according to a government agency) and exciting news travels fast. Babies of all kinds are exciting news in our neck of the rainforest. Of course ours is the most beautiful baby, que lindo.

There are so many children in need of a helping hand, each of our received school clothes, pencils, crayons and other school supplies. We are so thankful that our friends help us gather these much needed donations.

On Saturday morning at the local one room schoolhouse in Esperanza, my daughter Erika and I disbursed gifts of school supplies, school uniforms, and shoes that were donated to us by good people doing great work. The Badgett family from New Jersey brought school uniforms that were given to them by a co worker of Randi’s. Thank you so much for all you have done. Please pass our thanks on to your generous co-worker.

Our friend Mike, my shipping agent, who lives in Cartago and his assistant Suzanne, gathered school supplies, pencils, crayons, sharpeners, notebooks and lots more. Each child received a bag to start them off that also included a toothbrush to go with the school supplies.

Suzanne gathered clothing and shoes from her relatives. Every pair found feet to fit them. Another anonymous woman delivered bags of clothing to the Pura Vida Hotel in Alejuala www. puravidahotel.com and we dispersed those items one by one to people we knew they would fit and who needed them.

Angie is in love with her black sneakers and “new” clothes. She desperately needed your help. You did all of the work, and I received the hugs, kisses and lots of warm wishes.

We have not seen shoes on Steven for some time now. His feet fit a pair of blue flip-flops and he is proud to have them.

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

It has been cold on our mountain and because of your generosity I have been able to give sweaters and sweatshirts to cold shivering children. Last night I gave four gifts of warmth to little children who were very cold. We want to thank each one of you for enabling our project so that we can help the rural poor and indigenous.

We took photos of the children so that you could see your efforts at work. We ran out of navy blue pants and skirts. The airlines embargo on luggage has hurt the availability of donations. There appear to be more children who will attend the Esperanza school this year and there are always more that will arrive in the first week and throughout the year.

We have reserved supplies to go to the reservation with the indigenous teacher. He will pack them up on his back, an 8 hour, very difficult trip. School starts about the second week of February and ends in December. I will send my camera up with him and hope to receive some great photos.

We all thank you so very much.

This little sticky toed frog and his friend like my bathroom.

Erika and Humberto at the Christmas pig party.

On December 24th our employees had their annual Christmas pig roast at our farm. We hired entertainment for the event and everyone ate and drank too much.

Here is a photo of my new play stove made by Sunbeam. I never thought I would own one of these, but it is interesting. Unlike American stoves, my full size roasting pan or cookie sheet will fit by inserting the pan in length wise rather than sideways. This means that I can cook the same amount of stuff in the play stove. Who knew?

My first cooking event in the oven was potato and squash enchiladas with a lite mole sauce. This recipe from cookbook author Didi Emmons is a keeper. Make extra because there will be no leftovers. The mole sauce is fantastic. I used ripe bananas and walnuts, I never would have guessed this combination would or could be so wonderful. Wow!

The Rio Oro and Phil. Winter is coming to an end this month and we start our Summer,

I bought my stove with an oven and broiler. Only in the 3rd world do ovens come without broilers. Who knew? I still can not believe that a stove maker thought of this. It gets even more crazy. They also can come without an interior light, and with no glass in the door. Not a problem, I never could keep that glass clean enough to see through it anyway. My stoves were never for decoration, I am a sercious cook. The light I will miss, but it was not on the model I bought (with broiler). I was examining every detail of the stove for a half an hour at least, and, I had already been to every store in two towns when I realized that it did not say broil on every stove and every stove went to a different degree of hot on the dial. One model did not even give the temperature just low and high. How does that work for a cook using the oven? My model has 4 burners, oven and broiler, solomente, nada mas. I could not get it with auto ignition, that model did not have a broiler. Some models did not even have the storage draw in the bottom, just a fixed metal front plate. I never liked those stupid storage drawers. Ovens should be on the bottom portion and the little drawer should be above it and it should be a second oven, in my opinion. This configuration does exist already, I know, for a big price, not in Turrialba, and not in the little stove.

The broiler: Is located in the very bottom where that little storage drawer was located. The drawer does not pull out now, the door folds down, and the broiler pan slides in and out. Not one employee in any store knew this and they are still scratching their heads. I am not sure they know what a broiler is. They have no idea what they are selling, except a stove, whatever that means. It has an electric oven they said, no it doesn’t, it is gas, they were all gas. “NO, it is electric!” Really? Then why is there an ignition hole with the picture of a match here, I ask? They got the book out and are hurriedly looking through it. An electric oven would not serve my needs, I know that stoves can come like this but they are not available in Turrialba.

Like most stoves with one oven, you can not use the broiler and the oven at the same time. Okay. Then the geniuses at the store decided that you need the electric to regulate the gas. I don’t think so, that makes no sense to me at all, the knob does that... We will see.

I will light the stove with my butane BBQ lighter and use a flashlight to look in the oven. The cost for this gem was about $180.00 USD (96,040.00 colones) and it was on sale. If my electricity does not get better, the light bulb would not work anyway.

Phil wanted a different model that did not have a broiler, it had bells and whistles, a clock, light bulb in the oven, no broiler and the stupid drawer. “You don’t need a broiler”, yes I do! If I am getting a stove, I want the broiler!!! I don’t need the clock, I use the wind up timer for an alarm and I have a watch to tell what time it is.

Sometimes I wonder why everything is so hard to make happen. Will I use the broiler, I don’t know, it is literally on the floor…. But I use to broil, more than I baked until I started making our bread. We like broiled chicken, broiled steak, …… We no longer eat steak, because I don’t find cuts I can eat. I think they go to good restaurants, I give up.

So the stove is in the kitchen, still in its cardboard box. We need a part that fits in the back of the stove and connects it to the gas hose that goes to the cylinder. They don’t come with the stove and the appliance store does not sell them. They are at the hardware store my clerk, Raul, tells me. Oh, sure they are!!!!!!! Not!!! This is the 3rd #*&! world and it is little things like this that make it stay the 3rd world. No one can use the stoves without this part, so why don’t they sell them? Charge for them, overcharge even, and give one with each stove. No-no, that would make it too simple and we would not want to think of providing service to the customer, nor make life easier for anyone. So there it sits. Did I mention some assembly required? Yeah, we must put it together, like a gas grill from the Home Depot.

Phil at the Rio Oro checking out the damage caused by the wild river. We use to be able to drive across the river to the other side of our farm.

The heavy rains of November have been destructive to the rivers, roads, and crops. The potato crops on Volcan Irazu were mostly lost and the banana crop along the Atlantic coast is under water. In our area sugar cane was blown over and flattened in a random pattern. Every crop has been affected in some way by the winds and rain.

Cacao from our new rural tourismo project in Esperanza.

Cacao is a forest crop and we are going to plant it in our forest. Phil and Humberto harvested cacao (pods with seeds that become chocolate) from our trees and Humberto showed us how to eat the fruit of the cacao. It is sort of clear white and deliciously sweet. It does not taste like chocolate in any way, you spit out the dime sized seeds which are then fermented and roasted, later becoming chocolate. How cool is that? We will grow Cacao as a cash crop at the farm. CATIE is working on a new cultivar of Cacao and we will try that variety as well as what is here. I love chocolate, good chocolate, semi-sweet dark is my favorite.

Most of the world’s cacao comes from Africa, and most of that comes from Ghana and Costa de Marfil.

A new cultivar of cacao, bred for our area, will soon be available, it is suppose to have good disease resistance.

The cacao I photographed here comes from our new property that is part of our rural tourist resort in Esperanza. Cacao is a product of Central America but Costa Rica has only a small portion of the markets share.

Our small rural resort will create jobs and job opportunities for the people of Esperanza de Turrialba. We have beautiful waterfalls, mountains, trails, forests, rivers, beaches, pure water, organic food and birds of all kinds on our private 1,270 acre rainforest farm. Come, get away from it all and visit the real Costa Rica. Come meet the rural people and get a taste of the sweetest place on earth, Esperanza.

Here is a good close up of the indigenous child with the ear infection. I had cleaned his ear prior to this photo, and you can see the sores on his face. Because the child had no documentation, his parents did not make an attempt to seek help.

Food and foam mattresses were gifted by the Alcalde (Mayor). He is the tall man with glasses

Marcos is gifting a pair of used shoes to this small child who walked for 8 hours barefoot to get to our home from the reservation. Your gifts change their lives. Thank you.

Here are some of the faces that received sweatshirts that were donated by generous Americans. Thank you for your help.

This baby has a severe ear infection.

Cabecar Indigenous from the Chirripo Reservation were notified last week that they would receive emergency supplies. Today they arrived at our home and the Alcalde of Jiminez arrived with a truck load of foam mattresses, assorted food, tuna, beans, rice, soap, toothpaste and blankets. Before he came, I gave sweatshirts to the women and children. Our hefe’s wife brought used clothing and used children’s shoes. One little boy walked for 8 hours barefoot. He was delighted with his slightly used sneakers.

I held tiny babies today, none had diapers on, they have none. Cloth diapers would be a blessing.

A small child that I guess to be less than 2 years old had a terrible ear infection. I noticed the oozing crust that had built up on the now purple ear. I brought the hydrogen peroxide and asked permission to clean the ear and take a closer look, I quickly realized this child needed a real doctor. This young child was born on the reservation and his parents never documented his birth, so he has no cedula, no documentation. He is entitled to medical care but without official intervention he would most likely not receive it. The father wanted to go to Maqina Veija, someone there is practicing “natural medicine”. Whatever that means. I am all for alternative medicine and I use alternative medicine for us and for our animals, I went to nursing school, I also know my limitations. This same person treated the baby of Alexander and Sonja, with what I don’t know, but when babies and children have fevers you need to find out why. Their child had intestinal parasites so the magic potion was not going to take care of Mentos because no one asked why is my child having this reoccurring serious fever. When I picked up Mentos and his parents for the second time, again with the fever, I told Phil I think I can break this fever, but why is this child have reoccurring fevers. We need to find out why this is happening, there were no obvious signs of distress. Today I new the problem right away, but this baby has multiple problems and they were not just starting, the ear infection was critical, and sores on his skin could be signs of other problems.

Yes there are alternative treatments for parasites, but babies who have deteriorated health conditions need professional medical treatment fast. I hope that the child today received the care he needed from a medical professional.

Friends and friends I have never met donate sweatshirts, durable clothing, skirts, and educational supplies for the indigenous and rural poor. Today, because of the generosity of others I was able to hand out gifts of warmth donated by visitors to Costa Rica and Americans who live here. When you come to visit you can help the Cabecar by bringing an old suitcase filled with used clothing for children and women in small and medium sizes. The good folks at The Pura Vida Hotel, just 15 minutes from the San Jose airport, www.puravidahotel.com will keep your gift for us until we can get in the pick it up. If you are not going in that direction please just print out the hotel address directions from their web site and pay a cab driver to take it to Bernie and Nhi. Please put a note inside and outside with my name and information on it, Bernie will call me to say it has arrived. If you need a place to stay near the airport, they are wonderful hosts, Bernie is a Costa Rican historian and Nhi is an awesome cook. If you stay there once, you will defiantly return for another visit.


KW Cabecar Indigenous, donations, educational supplies

Today was a great day of discovery and interaction. There is so much need and so little help available for the Cabecar. I wish I could help the children and their Mothers just a little more, for they have the hardest life within the tribe. Education is always the key to a better life and it is no different for the Cabecar. We must help them get to a point of sustainability so they are not hungry and we must also help them to understand and meet their hygiene and dental needs. They received toothbrushes and toothpaste today, but I know that they don’t know what it is or what to do with it.

Phil was talking about a particular “old lady” yesterday and I said, I don’t think she is that old. He says she must be 65! Hello!!! I am 60, even if she was 65, it is just not that “old”. Yikes! Sometimes it may seem as if they must be way old based on the age of their oldest children (and he had that factored in), but,…no-no. They had the first child at 13, and that child had their children while they were still children, and those children were having babies at 13…... So you end up with this giant family of multi-generations, and the “old lady” is not an “old lady”. If you do the math based on my age 13 number, it is ugly, but not uncommon. Sometimes I question, “who does this baby actually belong to?”, because the great grandmother is not yet in menopause. This unfortunate circumstance means that undereducated breeders stuck in the poverty cycle are contributing to the population in a rapid repeat fashion. A person who’s really crappy education to begin with, ended at age 13, is not a educated consumer, nor an educated voter. This is how the communist party sneaks in and looks attractive to the poor, uneducated, over-babied peasant who is sitting on the sofa (no job) with the coil springs popped through the ripped red hide of a nauga, watching a beat up, old, tiny black and white TV with a snowy screen. This is not a made-up scenario in case you are wondering. Don Tonto just moved these folks. I originally called him Don Mark (the target) when I learned he was moving them, but he said he offered, which means I should call him Don Tonto (stupid), but a nice guy. I am not insulting him, these are tags of humor that we apply to ourselves, out loud and to each other when we find ourselves in awkward or embarrassing positions caused by our own stupidity, misunderstanding or inability to say no. This move made Jed Clampet and the Beverly Hillbillies look good, it should have been a bulk trash fire just for the purpose of sanitation. I am not trying to be unkind in my portrayal of this move, in fact, I have tempered the reality. I should have taken a photo (I was frozen in disbelief mumbling, “Oh my God”, and, it was raining). Our 20’ flat bed truck had a bicycle laid flat on top of the 7’ heap of mostly unrecognizable rubble (this was the second trip) and their skinny chained dog was quivering on top of the bike, in the now pouring rain. The beat up TV was wrapped in rotten nasty foam, and then covered in nasty soiled fabric, tied like a precious party gift with dirty string, and set on the front seat with Don Tonto. The women carrying babies were to find a place on the back of the truck with the rubble. Everyone has their priorities and pecking order, we know what is important here.

These three indigenous children’s father left them and their Mother and never returned. They have been in Esperanza for a sometime now. Recently, I found where they are living and tomorrow, manana por la manana, they will be leaving for parts unknown to me. The children are wearing sweatshirts donated by the Hyde family from Miami, Florida. Thank you very much for your gifts of warmth. Your generosity has changed the lives of a number of children. It has been very cold and the indigenous children have only the shirts on their back, nothing more.

I picked up the oldest child, Isabella, and the youngest child in this photo about a week ago while I was driving through my farm. It was about 60 degrees, pouring rain and they were soaked in flimsy, thin, cotton clothing. The tiny boy had a runny nose oozing down his face and giant smile. His sister was trying to carry him across the stream and she fell half dropping him in the water, not that he could have gotten any wetter. It was hard to hold the slippery child and her rubber boots at the same time. I stopped the car, and they jumped in the front seat immediately. Surprised and alarmed, I thought what if it had been someone else instead of me, and they jumped into the wrong car. Even though they do not know me, everyone knows who we are and I suppose the children aren’t any different. They are not afraid of us, but are curious about the gringos. I drove them through the farm and to the center of town to the spot where I now took these photos. They stared and smiled all of the way, never once taking their eyes off of me. I may be the only white, blonde haired woman they have ever seen.

I have seen this little girl carrying firewood on her back that may have weighed as much as 80 pounds or more. They are the equivalent of pack mules, this is their life, I am sad say.

It is 7:40 in the morning and here are a family of 7 indigenous going through my farm and back to the reservation. Two adults, 5 children and 3 dogs. The youngest child is set atop of the pack on her Mother’s back and tied there. The father said good bye as they passed, in Spanish of course.

They have one umbrella between them and they will walk for 8 more hours to reach their home high in the mountains. It has rained for the month of November, it was in the 50’s last night. Today they have a sunny blue sky day to make their journey to 6,000 ft. I hope the weather holds for them.

Please remember these folks and the other 10,000 plus who have nothing, struggle to survive, and need your gifts of practical warmth. Please either bring used sweatshirts to Costa Rica and donate them to my indigenous, or please send a donation and I will buy used sweatshirts at the Ropa Americana for the children. We also need crayons, pencils, and educational materials for the children. Many of the children need shoes, rubber boots, sneakers and school shoes, some children have no shoes. If you are visiting our country, pack your donations in an old suitcase, put my name on the outside and inside, print out driving instructions from www.puravidahotel.com and you can then give the directions to a cab driver and send your donations in that cab to the Pura Vida Hotel just 15 minutes from the airport. It is a small cab fee for you and the children appreciate your gift.

If you need a place to stay while coming or going, please stay at the Pura Vida Hotel, you can thank me later for this recommendation. The food is fantastic, Bernie is a historical guru, and Nhi is the best chef in Costa Rica. After one stay, you will return to them repeatedly, everyone does. They are gracious hosts and the best, most generous people. Without your help and their help, we would not be able to help the indigenous as we do. It is a combined effort of friends helping friends. Thank you for joining our team effort. Together we can make great strides forward in bringing the Cabecar Indigenous to sustainability.

If you wish to send a check, please mail it to:

Finca Quijote de Esperanza
Ginnee Hancock
Apdo 178-7150
Turrialba, Costa Rica

I will send you photos of the purchases and post photos of the children.

Thank you for your support and help. THANK YOU!!!

If you wish to know more about the indigenous there are many articles posted here on my blog. Please contact me at ginnee@gmail.com for more info regarding donations. If I do not contact you quickly it is because we do not have internet access, we live off the grid at our farm that borders the Cabecar reservation.

Rural tourism gives the visitor a look at the real Costa Rica and it’s natural resources. We are working on our rural tourist project here in Esperanza. Finca Quijote is working with the community to create opportunities for the small town and it’s residents of 44 people, while giving you the opportunity to experience their lifestyle at it’s best.

On our 1,270 acre sustainable organic farm with waterfalls and protected primary forest, our guests will be able to experience the best of Costa Rica. Mountains, streams, natural swimming pools in the river and at the waterfalls, cows, horses, chickens, morpho butterflies and beautiful birds are all part of our daily life.

Our farm is the entrance to the Cabecar Indigenous Reservation and these gentle people traverse with their families through our farm. When you come to visit please help us to help them by bringing gifts of used sweatshirts and raingear, or toothpaste, toothbrushes, crayons, pencils and educational materials such as simple Spanish English dictionaries.

Just this morning a family with two small children were walking back up the mountain with their 3 skinny dogs. The little boy had his favorite little dog in his arms to protect it from our dogs. He obviously loved this dog very much as it was tightly held to his face and chest. It was raining, 64 degrees here at our elevation, and they had only thin short sleeve shirts, no raingear, no warmth. They will travel to about 6,000 feet today, an 8 hour walk through rivers and in the rain, it will become progressively colder as they climb the mountain. They carried no backpacks as they usually do, no food, no clothing. Often they only own what they are wearing.

Visiting rural Costa Rica gives you an affordable vacation opportunity to see the lives of these folks as they live them. If you are fit enough we can arrange for an overnight (2 night) visit to the reservation (hiking is the only way in) and you can participate in a community service project. Few Costa Ricans have ever seen an indigenous person which will make your visit even more special and meaningful.

We have 3 casitas that we are preparing for rental guest housing at this time. We also offer homestays with local Costa Rican families in Esperanza. This enterprise helps add to their income and give the women of the house a chance to participate. Your visit and stay will help raise the educational level of their children as well.

It is important to bring your knowledge and resources, which provide jobs to the rural people. We need rural people to stay in their rural areas, protect the forest and it’s animal inhabitants, while helping them to make a living. They have much rural knowledge and history of the land to share with us.

We hope that you will join Finca Quijote and the people of Esperanza for the most memorable visit of your life.

Visitors have said:
“This place is like going to another country.”
“This visit was the best part of our whole vacation.”

Finca Quijote serves healthy organic vegetables and flowers freshly picked from their gardens. Turmeric, ginger, romain, bok choy, tomatoes, chayamansa, frijoles, string beans, yuca and other root vegetables, pumpkins, plantains, and bananas are garden staples. A wide assortment of fresh exotic fruits are also grown.

Come taste the rural culture that is Esperanza de Turrialba and Finca Quijote.

We bought several little houses that we will renovate into a rural tourism project for our little town of Esperanza.

This sweet chicken, who lays white eggs, has made a home in a paint tray left behind by the old owner. When you get too close she says, “Ohhh no”.

Poverty with dignity, this home has no electricity nor running water, it is immaculately cared for by the woman who lives here. I was parked across the street and was moved to photograph her home. Amazingly, there are sidewalks. I love how she fashioned an elevated portico at the front door.

Who wants to be a part of an intentional, sustainable, organic community? Hit the comment button at the bottom of tis post and tell me what you want to see for your community.

We want to continue towards the goal of an intentional community. A small community of people who bring many skills to the table while protecting the forest and elevating educational opportunities for the local children.

The ability to have, grow, and make most everything you need, is here. Technology can be had via a transceiver satellite. I visited a transceiver that is installed in our area this past weekend and I am impressed sufficiently to purchase my own installation. This will solve many of my communications problems (and that of the intentional community) and give us SKYPE for a phone line.

Felipe was reading Bill Mollison again last night, from his book Permaculture A Designers’ Manual. If you have not read the book, you should, there is wisdom and knowledge within the covers of this book that everyone should indulge in.

An intentional community is or should be a community designed to be sustainable. Unlike the planned communities of our past. I grew up when planned communities were the buzz words. I remember the “all electric house of the future”. None of these communities were sustainable but I suppose they were part of the evolution. Now, some of us know better, and we want a better quality of life for today, the future and for others as well as ourselves.

Quality of life means different things for different people. Where is your head? What does quality of life mean to you?

Do you look at things a bit differently today because of the economic collapse, mortgage failures, and the slumping stock market? Has the economy affected your life, or your job?

What is real wealth? The Extremest, Hal O’Boyle www.haloboyle.com/, has some interesting thoughts on real wealth. What do you think real wealth is? Or, what is it to you? What Hal thinks or what I think, really does not matter much in your world, although your personal world impacts our world and planet. Perhaps not always in a positive way, but maybe you did not realize that in the past. Our life has certainly evolved to where we are today.

Last night I commented to Felipe that our house was energy efficient. We were eating dinner by candlelight while wearing heavy sweat suits and Felipe was wearing his knit wooly skull cap, it was about 60 degrees or less and wet. He laughed and said our house was energy deficient, the truth is that it is energy frugal.

We have I think about 21 giant window openings with no glass, just screen. We like fresh air, every now and then it is briskly fresh. We make some electricity and plan to make more with a new pelton and generator. Just because you have power does not mean that you need to light yourself up like a Christmas tree. We use less than we make. I have electric candles that I bought many years ago at a 70% off after Christmas sale. My obsessive compulsive self had purchased at least of case of these on several occasions as they were a great bargain. I never used them so they were still boxed up waiting for this time in my life. Good thing I have them now, because they use almost no electricity and I have them placed about the house. Now the wind can not blow out my flame and I only use the wax candle at our romantic dinners every night. I always liked living with night lights and now we do, because we can.


Basically, we live in the non-electric house. I use the hand potato masher, pressure cooker instead of crock pot, methane, and propane for fuel. We need to work on the hot water however. I am cooking water right now so that I can wash my hair. There is no solar hot water system that would give us hot water this week. We are in the back wash of a cold front, or so they say. I can use the methane to heat abundant hot water when I need it. We just need to redirect a few things so it is easy to do. Having a plan is really important but first you must realize the need and sometimes that takes time. I need hot water now, I realize that more than ever at this moment. See how that works?

The clouds are so beautiful as they fall over the mountains.

The new baby horse and his Mom.

Waterfalls on the farm

One of our wild boa's.

The farm view on a really clear morning, the Turrialba volcano is in the distance.

The farm and our home.

My daughter Erika is engaged to a really nice Costa Rican man. Here is the happy couple, Humberto and Erika. We look forward to a fun wedding this coming year. We also look forward to Humberto being a part of our family.

Everywhere I look I see need, and you can help me to help them.

The Cabecar, Costa Rica’s most primitive Indigenous group live on the Chirripo Reservation, part of which borders my farm. They have nothing, and they ask for nothing. It breaks my heart to see their children pass my house and come into my life because I can not look away.

This family came to us on their way down, an 8 hour walk from their home, and today they are returning to the reservation. They picked coffee this week to earn a little money. They just left my house, it is noon and they will walk up to 6,000 foot elevation, to their village, in the rain. It will take 8 hours which puts them there about 8 this evening, in the pitch black, cold dark. So dark, with no light pollution, that I can not see my own hand.

Please look at this typical Cabecar family. The Mother is a beautiful young girl herself, with big dimples and the most beautiful skin. She has the blue colored basket. Do you see the young child, just a baby himself, carrying the other baby tied to his body and head. They are eating a frozen iced fruit treat that Dona Carmen, a local woman makes.

I asked permission to take these photos and the father said yes. I took his photo first and when I showed him his picture he could not believe it was him. He had never seen himself before. He burst out laughing with his hand across his mouth. Really, was this really him? Yes it was.

The Cabecar are tiny people. A medium shirt fits the largest man. My hands (I have large hands for a woman) could fit around this woman’s waist, and she has had at least 5 children that survived child birth. Today I gave them my last 3 sweatshirts.

Please collect sweatshirts for them, it is cold at 6,000 ft. There are between 10,000 and 14,000 people living on the reservation. I only see the young ones as the others are not capable of making the journey. The girls and woman need skirts, they love skirts. They all need rain gear, sweatshirts, back packs, and tote bags.

I need small clothes for the children. Look at these little faces, these are Costa Rica’s first people. They were here before Columbus, before the Spanish, and their life has been downhill ever since as they fled to the high country to avoid extinction. The Cabecar are direct descendants of the Guayabo people. You can visit the Guayabo National Park in Turrialba to learn more about their historic life.

They are human beings, sweet, passive people, who will drucken rather than confront you. I reach out to them every chance I get. I want to know where they came from, why they are here, and I want them to know that I am their friend, to whom they can come for help. The difficulty of their life breaks my heart.

As American’s we are so concerned about our children’s childhoods. We want the best for our children. I have a bow tie sitting on my desk that I made for my son to wear when he was a very little boy. And now I see these little elfin children and I don’t even have enough shirts to keep them warm. As many a 25 people will sleep laying on the reeds of a huts floor, huddled together for warmth. They have the clothing on their backs and maybe one other outfit. Look at them, this is their life, and I am the one who is having difficulty with it.

Okay, I know I must let them be Indigenous, but we must also allow them to be proud of their heritage. Why should they be cold, sick, live with internal parasites, have dysentery, fever and become delusional? They should not, and this is where we can help. When the parents are picking coffee the oldest child is babysitting the other children on the side of the road. (It takes me 40 minutes to drive this distance, they walk) Why can’t the children be at the local school receiving early or primary education? Imagine what all of the children could learn from this relationship, tolerance, understanding, and Cabecar history. We can do this, Steven’s Mom cares for her young child, it would be wonderful if we could find a little money to pay her and start a preschool program. What would this cost? No more than $50.00 a week including lunch and breakfast, all of the children in the village could go. I am sure that Angie would help after school and we could find a few dollars for this intelligent young woman in our little budget. How many children are we talking about? It would vary from about 8 to as many as 20 or more depending on how many Indigenous were here that week. Wow, we could change a lot of lives for less than $7.00 a day. Imagine, these children could enter school knowing how to read. That is a big deal as many of their parents can only make their thumb print. Can you help me to make this come true? Will you commit to help finance this program?

Please facilitate me, they need crayons, pencils, skirts, and sweatshirts, size medium and smaller. They need children’s clothes, practical wash and wear clothing. Last week there was a young girl half naked in her rags, and my husband was deeply disturbed. We should all be deeply disturbed, as human being we have an obligation to care for these poor and beautiful people, Costa Rica’s first people. If you are coming to Costa Rica or know someone who is, please send an old suitcase of clothing and supplies for the Cabecar. You can put the suitcase in a cab and for a small amount of money a cab driver will deliver the gift to the Pura Vida Hotel just 15 minutes from the airport. Please go to their website and print out the directions and phone number for the cab driver. Please put my name on the suitcase and Bernie will call me for a pickup. I will then ask the Mission to pickup the gift when they are in San Jose and bring it to us . Thank you.

People often ask me is we can meet them at the airport. It is simply not possible. We live 3 hours from San Jose and I go near there maybe once a year, by bus, if I have to. Logistically it does not work for us not to mention the $40.00 in gas added to a day’s journey, if your plane arrives on time. I hope you understand. We are farmers, and our 1,270 acres requires every minute of every day.

Yesterday and today we are building gabbions, boxes of rocks in steel cages, to keep the flooded streams from washing away the road that is currently in peril. The men will spend the rest of the day starting to plant 4,000 trees, or at least relocating them to the nursery. I rarely get a day off and if I do, we only get as far as Turrialba to do our banking and shopping. Felipe treats me to a dinner date while we are in town. The big city (San Jose) is not for me. Sorry, I just can not cross the mountain range and drive there. This is where we need to be. As you can see from my posts, we have important work to do.

I need your help!!! The indigenous children need clothing. Small sizes and sweatshirt. I gave my last 3 sweatshirts to this family with 5 children. They left my farm and walked in the rain to 6,000 feet elevation for 8 hours. They are cold, and this is all they own.

Bubba is a laid back water dog who seizes every opportunity to lay in a steam, puddle, mud, or roll in something disgusting. His mother is Perla, the predictable rottweiler, (I predict she will bite you), her father is Ralph, a neighboring retriever who had a thing for Perla. He was probably a nice guy, we never really liked him. We did not dislike him, we just did not like him. Fortunately for all concerned, Bubba does not have her mother’s fierceness and is a very sweet, funny guy. He is also smart and knows how to open doors, and tear into the dog food bag at will. Last night he ate the crotch out of a perfectly good pair of my underwear. What a guy!

The volcano is peaking out above the clouds. This photo is looking down from the horse pasture. Our various buildings are in this photo. Lots of roofing is showing, we wish it were not so visible but you must have dry space in the rainforest or you will begin to mold. Perhaps when all of the roofing is painted the same color green the buildings will drucken.

It’s a boy!!!

Early this morning in the predawn hours our filly gave birth to her second baby. An absolutely beautiful stallion who’s father is a Spanish Pasafino. The baby has the most beautiful graded coloring with a white blaze on his face. We brought a special breakfast to Lluvia and a bucket of fresh picked guavas. The other horses were fed at the trough, but Lluvia did not want to join them. She is calm, but protective of her baby. I was surprised to see she let her daughter, the yearling, sniff the newborn colt.

The Cabecar Indigenous woman, Sonya, wife of Alexander, has gone back to the interior of the reservation. I am sad that she went back but I understand that she was lonely away from her family. Her husband Alexander is still with us. He said to my husband that "his wife does not like living on the outside, but I do."

Alexander is a good hard worker, always happy and quick to smile. We like him and look forward to building a relationship with him.

We compost our waste, all of it including the humanure. We are keeping the planet green by taking care of the brown.

We still have a septic tank for the purpose of controlling our soapy water or gray water. Today when Phil went to do the final hookup he found a family of Sapho toads in the septic tank. They are native to Central America and about the same as Bufos Marinus that lives in Florida. Not good for dogs to chew on, but they eat their weight in insects. The toad secretes a hallucinogen alkaloid from their skin when attacked. This secretion is capable of killing your dog. He rescued the toads and they happily hopped away.

26 organic eggs from my chickens

Yesterday I went to the Importadora Monge in La Suiza and bought a stove, a Telstar, 3 burner gas stove top for $40.00. Okay, it is not my dream stove, but now that the commercial kitchen is installed the dream stove will not fit. Phil is going to build me a rolling cart that will house the stove top. If I want to cook on the deck, we can just roll it out the double doors, no problem, I don’t have to stay in the kitchen. I can also use methane or propane for my gas, we have both, the methane is free. You gotta love free gas, seeing as propane has double in the last 2 years.

I still need an oven, I have seen a bread oven in Africa using the “Rocket Elbow” technology, I want it. It will be built outdoors next to the deck. Well that is the plan today, but as I have come to learn, plans can and do change quickly here. At least I no longer have to stand in the pouring rain holding an umbrella to cook on my one side burner gas grill. Just kidding…….…, I did not use an umbrella.

I had priced this same stove in Turrialba at the same branch store for $18.00 more than in La Suiza. I have noticed this practice before while pricing an item at 4 different Gollo stores in Turrialba, each had a different price for the same item. Go figure. The only thing I can think of is that when the price changes, they don’t change the paper price sheet so some prices are out dated. Or, maybe the rent is cheaper in La Suiza.

So here is a photo of my stove on my counter top (temporarily), and a photo of Phil making coffee with the sock while cooking water in the pot. I must find the tea kettle in the container. Yes I know you can use a French press, I have a small two cup press that we use for traveling. It is packed away in the container and would not meet our coffee needs on a daily basis at home. We start the day by making 6 cups, 3 for each mug. A half hour later we repeat the process with another 6 cups of strong Costa Rican coffee, mountain and shade grown locally by our neighbors. The sock works just fine, once you make the mental adjustment. This is how they do it in Costa Rica and once you accept this apparatus as your drip coffee maker, coffee time becomes even more tranquilo.

Update: The Telstar stove top is very efficient and the flame is easily controlled and adjusted. Perfect. I now have chops, potatoes, butternut squash, and gravy with onions and garlic all cooking together in the pressure cooker. Good eats tonight.

Coffee:
We tried the Peaberry Special Reserve from Hacienda Real. It was excellent, we enjoyed every cup. We drive to the mill at the bottom of our mountain, then down the road a piece and buy our coffee freshly ground and roasted that day. You can order the coffee we drink online from the Golden Bean, www.goldenbean.net Enjoy!

Esperanza’s little school has an English teacher twice a week. A very nice Costa Rican woman, with a good grasp of the English language. Her students could learn much from her on many levels, if they apply themselves. Rural students are or tend to be self-conscious, they don’t want to speak out loud or shout out the answer when asked. So today, I shouted out the answers and they started to join in.

They have been given a homework assignment and I look forward to seeing who completes it. Most never do their homework. There are many challenges for the teachers of rural children. The attitude of the children, handed down to them by their parents in some cases, cripples possible success.

One child aspires to have a husband, pray for her. I told her she could be the President if she wanted to. She is a smart girl who desperately needs direction other than that of her Mother, Aunts and Grandmother. Her life of poverty, poor role models, no money, insufficient food and revolving doors of men in her Mother’s life has left her with challenges we can barely imagine. She lives in a town with no electricity where the shanty’s have no running water, no two boards or pieces of tin that they live in are alike, all unfit for human habitation. Should she marry, this Costa Rican child will be a slave to her husband.

She continues to come to school under the most adverse conditions. Her teacher picks her up on the side of the road and brings her to the school and the town where she lived in the past, Esperanza. Is there hope for her and the other children in this one room school house? I hope so, I continue to whisper words of encouragement into their ears, their dreams can come true, their futures are as big and bright as the fire that burns in their hearts.

At the end of today, she decided she wants to be a tour guide and make her own living. With your help we can give them opportunity and educational tools, only they can provide the desire.

What do the children need? Simple Spanish English dictionaries, they have none, the teacher does not have one. They need school supplies, every pencil and crayon we started the year with, is gone. Only one child comes prepared with supplies and she is not allowed to lend them out. A good rule her Mother has taught her or her tools would soon disappear. They need navy blue skirts and pants of all sizes and white shirts. They also need sweat shirts to keep them warm on cold mountain mornings. We often need shoes, children out grow their shoes quickly in the elementary years, and shoes are expensive here. $20. for a poorly made pair and most are about $30. Nearly a weeks wages for one pair of shoes and they can not afford to buy shoes for the children, and feed them.

It is important to educate these children; many rural families see the forest as a tree to cut down for money. We are not talking forest management here for they have no understanding of the advantages the forest provides. We can not change the parents easily, but we can educate the children who will then teach their parents and neighbors. It is easier to give birth, than to breathe life back into the dead. Will you help me to give them opportunities so that they can realize their dreams?

Will you sponsor a child? Please contact me at ginnee@gmail.com Do you have an old working laptop that you can donate? The teacher has PC educational CD’s, she has no PC. If we had laptops we could teach keyboarding, use our software, and inspire the children to continue their studies. They must have these skills to compete, to go to high school and college. First we must give them skills, then we will find scholarships, they deserve a chance to break the cycle of poverty that they were born into.

I thank you for your help. Ginnee

An indigenous couple, Alexander, Sonja and their one year old child Minto, came down from the reservation and through our farm. I am not sure why they are here. My first thought was that Alexander asked our Tico caretaker for work, I think Marcos said no. Discrimination, Ticos vs Indigenous, complete with all of the stereotyping that goes with discrimination.

I will make a job for Alexander and other indigenous who want work. I can not give them employment, but I can give them a few days work, let them earn some money and food. A man should be allowed to be a man, feed his family and retain his dignity. We would want no less for ourselves.

They passed by several days ago and I gave them each a sweatshirt. Minto’s sweatshirt, the smallest I had, covers him down to his toes.

Alexander came back and asked for coffee on Saturday, he had no money but he could work. Phil gave him a bag of coffee that has the map of our farm on it. The Indigenous family is squatting on the land of Kiko. They had been at the collapsed hotel, but it was too wet. The indigenous seeking shelter have squatted at the hotel for many years, it longer offers shelter as the roof has caved in. They have few options.

Today I stated that from now on, I want the people of Esperanza and the Indigenous hired before any others. The people of Esperanza are looking to us for jobs. We don’t have them. A woman asked for a job last week. Perhaps she could work in the nursery with some training. Desperate for money, she went to pick coffee.

Two young boys, both should still be in school but are not, asked for jobs today. One had a new cast on his wrist. The other boy had broken it. Too young, no skills, no education, just lots of liability. How can I help them?

It appears that the pelton is producing enough energy to supply my laptop at this moment. We get to listen to music, a wonderful bonus as we are working inside today. Phil is doing carpentry projects, and I am on kitchen duty as usual. The kitchen sink is now hooked up and the commercial unit is in place as it should be. Life is good and getting better. The island is where it should be and I can see light at the end of the tunnel, I think.

I am listening to Carbon Leaf’s “Life Less Ordinary”, Oh Boy, that does describe the life we are living for sure, a life less ordinary, and a life extraordinary. Another mystical, magical day with a breeze that is divine, no doubt made just for us.

If you are planning on visiting us would you please bring the gift of your copied CD’s? Thank you in advance.

We are a bit communications challenged at the moment. Tomorrow we will see about an interior cell phone antenna. I must stand in the kitchen’s Northeast corner to catch the signal. The steel and concrete cause the problem. No internet, no TV, we have chosen a different path that will improve with time. I miss my Sun Sentinel on-line addition, I miss the news, but in reality it is probably a good thing. We would not want me to get too confrontational and radical regarding US politics.

Blog, Santiago is a Cabecar Indigenous man who stays with our caretaker family. I asked him if he spoke Cabecar and he said just the basic language. You are required to speak Spanish to attend school, so his parents insisted they speak Spanish only.

We first met Santiago when he would hike up through our farm to teach the Cabecar children. You must be Cabecar to teach the Cabecar by law. Which brings us to the question of how many educated Cabecar teachers are there? Good question, I have never met one. Santiago has a hard time getting paid for teaching. It is often 3 and 4 months with no pay and it is of course low pay. Santiago teaches with few or no supplies, his salary does not support him, when and if he gets it. He uses a machete to chop pasture when work is available. Santiago always stays busy here. Today he was working in the green house garden pulling weeks and staking tomatoes.

Santiago has taken on the job of making the dog food and feeding the 8 or 9 dogs that claim us. Thankfully we have not had any new volunteer dogs in a while. We bake and then boil soup bones with veggies and rice to make dog soup or Sopa de Perro. Our dogs have a good life, they are safe, fed, free range the farm, swim in the streams and rivers, go to work with our men and play, romp and rest while the men work. Perla is head dog, Thank God all of the others submit to her. We were worried about blood shed, but she did her thing and they all smartly rolled over. Jack, being a guy, has no problems with Perla. Chika has amnesty for some reason. Bubba is Perla’s dog child and she puts up with him no matter what. He is so sweet, with high energy he will run right over the top of her and not get bit. It’s a miracle.

Perla has taken a shine to Santiago, perhaps because he is the keeper of the bones. She was extremely abused and has bad reflective moments. We are kind to her, talk soft and lovingly, and only touch her head when she presents it. Never yell at Perla, no no, not good, she has very big white teeth and she is not smiling at that moment. Perla does smile when she is happy.

Our dogs have the best life. They free range the farm, swim and play in the stream at will during the day. The chickens are protected by an electric chicken fence, the dogs learned that lesson quickly.

The dogs at the farm having fun.

Phil with an orchid in the yard.

I went on my twice a week errand to Erika’s house in Tuis last night and came home this morning. My refrigerator live there and we make ice in the freezer using quart plastic milk jugs. While visiting with my daughter and catching up on her busy life, I also do our laundry. Life at the farm is at this moment rather like a camping trip.

The trench for the underground electric lines has been dug, and we bought the conduit for it yesterday. I expect that next week we will have the utility installed with new larger gauge wire which should give us more electricity.

If I had a regulator and a few batteries, I am sure that I could run a refrigerator off the pelton and my washing machine.

Phil is in San Jose today on business. Our primary forest qualified for Carbon Credits so we applied to put it into protection about 5 months ago. Everything has been approved and he is signing the paperwork today. It is a good thing. It will help us to protect the land and it will offset the cost of owning a protected forest.

Homestays in rural Costa Rica:

I am trying to think of ways to create jobs for the people of Esperanza. One of my thoughts is to offer homestays with several families in the pueblo of Esperanza. You can come, visit the farm, and stay in the home of a local rural family. They will have to meet certain criteria, and we will need to be flexible. It will give you a glimpse into their lives and you will improve your Spanish as the same time. Would you be interested in a true Costa Rica vacation? It would be genuine rural experience. Your visit would change their lives. It would give a family a chance to earn some money and improve their living conditions. You also bring knowledge, goodwill, and you would stimulate the possibilities their lives could have. We could help them get started by offering a micro loan to install hot water in the shower, and they must have a mattress and bedding. We stayed with a family who slept on boards, after 3 nights we opted for luxury and went to a resort. We learned a lot about the culture, their lives, and it was an overall fantastic experience. I highly recommend you make a homestay part of your adventure. You become part of their family, no longer are you on the outside looking in. You are living their life, how incredible is that?

The men and I hauled sand they collected from the river’s sand deposits today. The river gives and the river takes away. It has claimed acres of our land and gives us clean sand and river beaches. I drove the Rhino with full 5 gallon buckets of river sand that the men collected, shoveled and hauled up the steep banks on their shoulder. Off we go, one man and me, over a seep in 4 wheel drive, then up a hill and over to the shop’s construction concrete floor pour project. They have two days in it and it is not finished. This is hard manual labor, and everything is mixed by hand and shovel. They also had to cut out some old concrete to achieve their goal. We have a concrete saw, so that was still hard but it got done.

Phil worked on our house today, he is working in the bathroom this evening using his headlamp for lighting. We now have running cold water in the bathroom sink. Yahoo. Maybe the drain will be hooked up any minute.

I took a mid-day shower with nice hot water from our solar hose collector. It felt so good and I had plenty. I am always conservative with the water and turn it off while I lather, then back on to rinse. This is how sailors shower and it is my habit. Water was expensive in the middle of the ocean and fresh water was hard to come by. Now we have abundant water, but limited hot water at this time.

I washed some laundry by hand again today and hung it out. Phil gave me a stiff bush and it really works well on his very dirty jeans. Our life revolves around dirt. I don’t have a clothes line yet so I hang them on the chain link fence. It helps to keep up with the dirty clothing everyday, it is not so over whelming this way.

I made BBQ beef ribs using my pressure cooker this afternoon. I use it most everyday. Just 35 minutes to melt in your mouth meat complete with sauce. String beans in a very garlicky parmesan butter sauce and garlic bread made a meal. Gourmet camping is what Phil calls it. I have never been good at making a meal for 2, there are always leftovers. I am really trying not to have leftovers because we do not have refrigeration. I will make another ice run tomorrow.

The other menu item we eat most everyday is BLT’s, Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato on a giant loaf of French like bread. I pile the lettuce and fresh tomatoes on the crisp bacon and it is really good.

Today was a beautiful day, breezy, fresh, clean air, and not too hot. Phil went to La Suiza where he said it was stifling, repressive hot. He is glad that I said I did not want to be hot for the rest of my life. He did not know a few years ago that he did not want to be hot forever. I was sure that sweat was not meant for me. It is crazy to live where you either suffer, or have a giant energy bill every month.

Okay, I don’t have a lot of electric, but I don’t need much. I do need more than I have at the moment. I need the washing machine hooked up. Not a big power user, but the refrigerator uses a lot on start up. We can charge batteries, no problem. The battery drills, lap top, cameras, cell phone, flashlights, it’s a beautiful thing. Energy efficient light bulbs, the ugly ones, are beautiful, we have lights even with little power. We have not hooked the power up to the house yet, I guess we are not ready.

Phil did buy the lumber for my towel closet today. Oh Boy! This will be beautiful. It will probably be a few weeks, we must always dry the wood, they don’t seem to know how here. We are doing all of this building in the house. Behind the sofa…. lumber is stored, my sewing room…..more lumber, the sitting room….. workshop table with tools, the guest room…boxes of stuff waiting for a place to live. It’s all good, I don’t mind living at the construction site.

This process, although challenging, is also allowing our creativity to flow. I don’t know how people build without owning tools, fasteners, generators, man stuff, and rely on a builder in CR. Good thing we figured this out in advance. Forget bringing furniture, fill your container with tools.

Chickens at home on the range.

Finca Quijote chickens are living a pampered life. Safe within their solar powered electric chicken fence, they are free to roam looking for bugs. Don't touch that fence, or you will get a jolt. The dogs made that mistake, once. Ouch!

Murder on Indian reserve might not prompt an investigation

By Elise Sonray
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff


A bad man wrapped a rope around the child's neck and strangled him. That's how Blanca Rose described the murder of the 5-year old who couldn't walk, according to a mission director.

Blanca Rose isn't the only mother who sought refuge because of her child's condition. Filemón, who has cerebral palsy, and Victorino, who fell from a tree when he was a young, both live in the Chirripó mission, said a director there. They are there because some people in their Cabécar villages thought they would be better off dead.

The claims of murders and other violence represent a challenge for local police agencies. Although Indians in Costa Rica are presumed to live under the sames laws as the rest of the citizens, distance, tradition and fear of outsiders frequently keeps police from knowing what takes place.

In some of the Cabécar villages there are people who think those who are mentally or physically disabled should be killed, said Daniel Montoya Salas, co-director of Voz Que Calma mission in Chirripó. “Not everyone is the same,” said Montoya. Many Cebécar people come to visit the mission, and they say it brings happiness to their hearts to see Victorino and Filemón doing well, said Montoya.

Some of Victornio's family members tried to beat him to death with sticks after he fell from the tree and was left paraplegic, said Montoya. “The scars on his head are incredible,” said Montoya. And women advised Filemón's mother, Cela, to stop giving him food so he would die faster, added the director.

Blanca Rose, her daughter Priscilla, and her mother Roxana are still awaiting the baby's journey to Hospital Nacional de Niños, said Montoya. At this point the mission and others helping want to make sure Roxana, who has a mental illness, understands that the only family she has will not abandon her and that they will come back after their trip to San José, said Montoya.

Last week the two women and the baby traveled to the mission for a visit and to share lunch, said Montoya. He said this was a sign that the mother and grandmother were gaining their trust. “The grandmother knows my name now,” he said.

The three family members arrived at the mission last month asking for help. They left in fear after the murder of the 5-year-old boy who couldn't walk. 2-year-old Priscilla is weak on the left side and still doesn't walk. Priscilla, her mother and grandmother are not from Sinoli, the community the mission works with, said Montoya. They are from Sitio Hilda, a community which is a four days walk away, said Montoya. The mission director said these kinds of superstitious cases are more common in the farthest away villages, not in places like Sinoli.

In the case of the boy who was murdered in Sitio Hilda, the perpetrator is unidentified and no one has pressed charges to his knowledge, said Montoya. No charges were pressed in the cases of Filemón and Victorino either, said Montoya. In fact Victorino forgave the parents who had beaten him, and now they have a good relationship, said Montoya.

Many times members of the community don't want to talk to officials about crimes, said Montoya. Investigators from the regional Judicial Investigation Organization offices in Turrialba, Limón, and Bribri said they'd never encountered any case in which an Indian was murdered due to a physical or mental disability.

Although Limón and Bribri offices work mainly with the Bribri people, they have encountered similar problems as agents in the Turrialba region who work with the Cabécar people, said investigators.

Guillermo Bermúdez, judicial director in Limón, said many of the Bribri people do not feel that they can trust outsiders and don't file complaints. In cases of homicides, it is hard to conduct forensic exams because the victim usually is buried immediately, and the communities are located far away, said Bermúdez.

Bermúdez, who worked as the judicial chief in Talamanca

Two men who escaped death: Victorino with ball and Filemón.

for 17 years, said he received reports of malnutrition and medical emergencies from the Bribri communities. He also worked on many domestic violence cases and some cases of violent fights breaking out due to affects of chicha de maiz, a fermented corn alcohol. Bermúdez said the same laws applied to Indian reserves as in the rest of the country.

Hugo Lascarez Montero, an investigator in Turrialba said he had worked on numerous sexual abuse cases and domestic violence cases with the Cabécar people. “Women don't have much voice,” he said. He added that cultural differences made investigations more complicated, but that the law always applies.

Abel Mora an investigator in Bribri agreed that cultural differences played a role in Bribri investigations. He said he was mainly familiar with medical problems being reported.

All of the investigators agreed that cases were difficult to investigate due to the distant locations of the communities, the lack of trust between outsiders and the indigenous people, and the fact that most people in the communities don't file complaints to judicial officials.

The Cabécar live in the mountains along the Caribbean coast south of Limón. Elsewhere in other reserves on the Pacific there have been crimes linked to supposed witchcraft.

As for baby Priscilla and her family, things are going well, said Montoya. Priscilla and Montoya played a game passing a flower back and forth, he said. “It was a little sad because she only used her right hand,” said Montoya.

Right now the mission directors and other volunteers are using donations, many of which are from readers of A.M. Costa Rica, to buy milk for Priscilla and food for the family, said Montoya. A doctor in Turrialba saw Priscilla and told Montoya the visit would be free. “You help these people. I want to help you,” said the doctor, Roy Arias Leiua, Montoya said.

No one can be sure how long Priscilla will stay in the hospital but she will need to see specialist, said Montoya. If she needs physical therapy she may have to stay for months, said Montoya, it all depends on the diagnosis.

Last month two visitors traveled to the mission to get an idea of how things were run. Although neither were doctors, visitor Ray Reynolds is a nurse and said Priscilla has an obvious weakness on the left side. “She follows movement with her eyes and seemed fascinated by my friend´s watch,” said Reynolds, who is interested in starting a foundation to assist people here who have special needs.

Representatives at Hospital Nacional de Niños have said that Blanca Rose would have permission to stay at the hospital, said Montoya. If the mother decided to stay somewhere else or receive outside help that would be her decision, he added.

Worldwide there are still people in certain cultures who believe it is best for those who are disabled to be killed. The Telegraph in Britain reported last year about Amazon tribes in Brazil that buried babies alive if they were born with any sort of deformity. An anthropology professor supported the practice as a cultural value, according to the Telegraph.

“The tradition is based on beliefs that babies with any sort of physical defect have no souls and that others, such as twins or triplets, are also 'cursed'. . .Infanticide has claimed the lives of dozens of babies each year, say campaigners fighting to end the practice,” stated the article.

Our farm was a town many years ago. Well, not so many actually about 30 years ago. All that is left are the concrete pads, footprints of buildings that use to be.

This footprint was incorporated into our new home. It is what we call the intersantium, our private space within the house.

Looking at the volcano from the farm.

My daughter said that people may think our back to basics lifestyle is too rural, too basic and therefore friends may not want to come visit us. We think that Erika is wrong, we believe that people will want to see successful off-grid living. Perhaps they will enjoy the high quality of our organic lives without utility bills.

If our extreme self-sufficient lifestyle keeps our friends away, perhaps they were not really our friends. What do you think? Please comment, we would like your thoughts.

The floor tile is being installed in the new house tomorrow, Ojala! Finally.

I am ready for the move. We have been practicing eating dinner with candle light this week. Very romantic.

This is a very stressful time for Phil. He has become the contractor, and he has done a fine job although building is not his forte. But I am pleased overall, he has good instincts.

Please have patience with my upcoming posts, remember that I am totally off the grid, no phone, no electricity, so my contections are uncertain. I will be using my cell phone and my laptop powered by my truck to connect. We will see how smoothly this goes.

The new neighbors are moving into this dead tree, parrots.

I am now looking out at the backyard, if you look close you can see corn stalks down in the valley garden. If is in the afternoon, and the rainforest clouds are falling over the fila. I think watching the clouds fall down, is one of my favorite things to do.

This was taken from the front as I approach the house. You can see where Phil has been laying the brick walkway using old handmade brick that was found on the property where the trampeche (sugar mill) use to be. The walkway leads up to the door that leads into my kitchen / dining room area. It is not the front door, but will probably be the door most used, for a while anyway.

There is no front door. I think the front door will actually be on the deck side of the house, it will be the French style doors. This will be the most used part of the house; people may as well just go there and leave the farm dirt outside.

The big black dutch door that you see, goes into my sewing room. It has little or no purpose that I can think of. Phil will cover it in Guadua Bamboo and it will disappear behind landscape.

The rocks are large although it is hard to tell that in this photo. They are from the farm via the volcano and were place in their positions by the tractor. Phil loves landscape rocks, and his rocks will rock once he has them planted up. He is excellent at landscaping and says I am his biggest fan. Not true, he is really good.

There is a driveway just before the motorcycle; it leads down to the river, the gardens, fish pond and horses. There will be a carport to my left and adjacent to the steps someday soon.

The new house is progressing nicely with colored stucco on the outside. This view is taken from the lower back yard looking up at the house. All of the windows will have screens on them which is not customary for Costa Rica. They usually have windows without screens. We will have screens without windows. The big door opening will have French type double doors, but without the little panes of glass. We are told the doors were ordered, but I don’t believe it is true. That remains to be seen. If I am correct, I have option B already planned and I like it just fine.

We look forward to the cool temperatures and no need for AC. Good thing we don’t need AC, as we are off the grid.

Angela Kirkpatrick and her daughter Madeline came from Utah to visit us. They brought beautiful high quality handmade skirts for the Indigenous woman and girls. Angela’s Mormon Church group put a lot of effort into this project of love. The Voz Que Clama Mission brought them to the reservation on this last trip and distributed them. Hector Soto, Director of the Mission is gifting a skirt. The Indigenous women greatly appreciate the gift of skirts that were made by my new friend Angela and her wonderful friends. Thank you so much. You are blessed for your work, what a wonderful gift.

It is very difficult to get good photos of the Indigenous. They freeze like statues when the camera comes out. At the Mission there is one great photo of laughing children. How did this happen? Hector, Daniel, all of us have a difficult time to find that smile. They started asking the children what do you call a fart in Cabecar? Well that brought about a roar of laughter and a great photo. Farts are funny in any language.

I am sure that if Hector had modeled a skirt, we would have seen lots of laughter from everyone. Next time.

The Cabecar are in trouble, they need our help and support to overcome their health issues. 48% of their children die at birth. They have parasites, their children are starving, they are struggeling to survive, they have no education and their best skill may be survival, marginal survival.

They would give you their best hut and the shirt off their backs. They have nothing.

If you would like to help Costa Rica's first people, the Cabecar Indigenous, please contact me at ginnee@gmail.com

Madeline, Angela's daughter, is a gifted horsewoman. We hope that she will return and work with the children of Esperanza. They need her in their lives, she has valuable lessons to teach them.

Thank you Angela, your a beautiful person and I am greatful for your friendship.

Ginnee