It is 80° and raining. We are sitting on the veranda of our cabin, drinking a rum called Flor de Caña, the flower of sugar cane. The garden is an explosion of flowers and green. The houseplants that Toni nurtures so carefully at home are trees here, growing two or three inches whenever you turn your back.
We have moved from the La Garita/Alajuela area, which was about 3,000 feet above sea level, to La Fortuna, which is about 900 feet in altitude. We can now say ‘it is a jungle out there’ and really mean it. Tomorrow we may go in search of howler monkeys and quetzals, whose long iridescent tail feathers once graced the headdresses of Mayan kings, although from the birds’ view graced is probably the wrong word. This is the vacation part of our stay; the other part is dedicated to finding places where we could see ourselves living.
La Fortuna is near the Arenal Volcano, which had its last major eruption in 1964. However, it is the type of volcano that has minor eruptions constantly. One of the major attractions is to drive to the volcano to watch the “tumbling, crashing” lava flows at dusk. I don’t know if we will do that or simply watch the lava flow with a drink in hand from one of the thermal pools of a local spa. A man-made lake is at the bottom of the volcano, providing most of Costa Rica’s electricity; it is also is the center of freshwater sports: windsurfing, water skiing, fishing, etc.
The rain has really picked up, pelting plants, animals and people. Fortunately, the cabin is made of wood and could probably be used as an ark. If so, we will refuse admittance to all mosquitoes, bedbugs, the black, biting flies of the northern plains, and all Republicans, who aren’t family. I know, I know, there are some Republicans even in the best of families. Of course, they say the same about us.
We are quite close to the famous Monteverde Cloud Forest. It is about 20 kilometers from our veranda, which is a mere four and a half hour trek over dirt roads with a four wheel drive car that you don’t mind ruining. We will have to save Monteverde for another day. We did, however, pass through a cloud forest on our way here. You could see no more than 400 feet in front of you. Everything was wet and brilliantly green. It seems as if you could stop the car for 10 minutes, the car would sprout roots and leaves would spring from the roof. While there were a number of ‘for sale’ signs for houses lost in the cloud forest, the constant grey would surely lead to manic depression. Indeed, the winter grey of Vienna was probably the reason that Freud invented psychoanalysis.
In my last letter, I mentioned that the poverty in Costa Rica was not as desperate as in Mexico or Guatemala. I don’t mean to say that there is not poverty in Costa Rica, only that I have not seen the desperation here that is common in Mexico. In Mexico City, you see whole Indian families begging on the street and searching the garbage for food. Toni used to wrap our eatable garbage in plastic wrap so these families would have cleaner, more wholesome meals.
There certainly are poor people in Costa Rica. Two days ago, we were coming back from Coronado, a nice town in the cool mountains, and got caught in the traffic of San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. The road went by a mixture of Mercedes Benz and Toyota dealerships and poor barrios (neighborhoods) where houses seemed to be made of old tin cans. There was one home built of discarded tin, plastics and perhaps wood perched on the side of a very steep ravine. Why it stuck in my mind was the fact that two chickens were in the steep yard/ravine, lending an air of normality.
The other indication that Costa Rica is comparatively rich is that over 200,000 Nicaraguans have illegally immigrated to Costa Rica. There is some of the same polemics against the Nicaraguans that is too prevalent about Mexicans in the States. That type of rhetoric has not stopped anyone yet, as people have this strange desire to eat.
Well, the rain has slowed to a torrent, and I will end this letter now.
