Red Eye is what the flight is called and red-eye is what I am...a 13 hour all night flight from PDX to ATL-a lovely 4 hour layover after all the restaurants are closed-and a midnight flight to SJO, arriving at 6AM.
6AM is not the crack of dawn in Costa Rica...most people get up prior to sunrise, which is about 5:30 most of the year, being at the equator and all as it is, and my lovely new friend Beverly was there at the aeropuerto to pick me up just like she said she'd be. For which I was very thankful as I didn't sleep well on the plane. Two words. Crying baby. "Nuff said?
Bev wanted to show me the town, her town of Grecia, before we went up the hill to 'The Ridge" where her "casa noretamericana" is located. I wanted to plea sleep deprived, but I figured that would be a poor sport and besides I was starving. A bag of peanuts do not a dinner make.
Santa Elena is a short car tide down the autopista (freeway) from the airport. It's a world away from the capitol city of San Jose however. Everything surrounds a 2 block parque which sits in front of the town Catholic church. The park is called what every main park in every city in Costa Rica is called-Central Park. There may be other parks, but the main one by the church is Parque Central.
About a 4 block radius around the park is the main shopping area, bus depot, primary mercado, library and many other stores. The blocks quickly fade into housing and almost everyone walks.] into town if they live within a few miles. Gas is running about $5.00US here still and though there are lots of small cars, foot power is the main type of transportation.
We went to the cafe where the local ex-pats hang out. I met a few nice people and had a wonderful breakfast, but decided I was more interested in meeting locals and not ex-pats if I had the option. Bev doesn't know many of her non norteamericano neighbors, even after being here for a couple of years. Not sure if I will fare better, but I plan on giving it a try.
We stopped in at the market that sells norteamericano foods for a box of Cheerios, which is a primary breakfast food for me-but I doubt I'll be buying another one. It was $5.00 for a small box. Costs a lot to import, plus everyone knows all we ex-pats are rich and all.
Bevs house is magnificent. It truly does sit on a ridge above a coffee plantation-or rather in a coffee plantation with hillsides covered in coffee plants just starting to turn red. Opportunity for photography is everywhere. Her driveway is almost a mile long, wandering thru the plantation, up and down hills, to the semi-main road. She says I'll be able to catch a bus right at the end of the driveway to San Jose and that it is about an hour drive. Thats just a bit longer than I understood it to be, but just means I'll have to get up earlier. I'm looking forward to the walk through the coffee beans, and it's a great place to walk her dog-a mutt named Dobie-every day.
After unpacking, we took another drive up the hill to the very small community of Santa Rosa de Poas. Poas being the nearby volcano-and I do mean nearby. It's clearly visible in the distance, rising from the next ridge of higher mountains. Mt. Hood it isn't-no snow-but it is lovely in the sunset.
Tomorrow I take the bus to San Jose to meet my dentist. Though Bev has a car and is leaving it here, I won't be driving it into town. She fears theft-I fear the drivers. The bus is fine with me and an hour bus ride is no big deal.
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