In honor of the great news and in the spirit of celebrating good health, the hubby and I are going to go off to Cancun, Mexico, for four days of rest, relaxation, and of course some badly missed spicy Mexican food.
My sister and my dad arrive the night before we leave so we will have only a brief visit before we abandon them for a few days. My sister has offered to come and stay with our elderly family members, including our thirteen year old Chihuahua. Wow, what a great win-win situation since she gets to spend quality time with our dad and we get to have some "alone time" as a couple.
My brother, my favorite "mule" for bringing me products from the USA that we cannot buy here, flew into Acapulco yesterday to spend a few days with my dad. When I asked my brother how his trip went last night he told me all went well except for the Mexican customs agent scrutinizing some of the goods he was bringing in (so my dad can "mule" them back to Costa Rica next week) for me such as Velveeta, chili powder, and taco mix. The customs officer first questioned him about the Velveeta. "What is Velveeta?" My brother replied, "well, it is supposed to be cheese, but I think it is chemicals in a processed food form made to look and taste like cheese." The officer replied, "okay, since the product is coming from the US and noth South America, we will approve it." Next, the chili powder, which came in a clear plastic bag was pierced on suspicion of containing cocaine (who knew cocaine was a product being smuggled INTO Mexico from the USA...I always thought it was a major export from Mexico to the USA!). After one or two officers sniffed it and started uncontrollably sneezing, they allowed it to pass as well. Finally, the customs officer asked what kind of tourist going to Mexico brings in taco mix, fake cheese, and chili powder? The nerve of this brother of mine. My brother explained that he was simply a mule for his crazy sister, who lives in Costa Rica, and orders these oddball products to deliver to her on his trips. Of all the things my brother delivered for me, who knew Velveeta, chili powder, and taco mix, would stir up contoversy at the airport?
The other fun event of the last couple of weeks is that we had a great visit with my cousin from Canada and his wife. They had never been to Costa Rica so it was a treat to host them. I have always enjoyed my cousin's wry sense of humor and quick wit. I had not seen him in years so it was great fun to catch up with each other's lives and reminisce about old times.
Bugs....I always forget how people who are not accustomed to "communal living" with the variety of bugs here in Costa Rica can easily be freaked out and fascinated at the same time by some of the odd critters we see around the house. My poor cousin's wife was traumatized by a large tarantula one evening that returned to haunt her, despite being thrown over the hill three times in a single hour!
Since I had a couple of doctor appointments while they were here, they accompanied us to see how the medical system works here. I believe they were both as equally impressed as we have been.
It has been so nice to be able to resume outings to visit friends such as our friends that live in the Esterillos Este beach area. We always enjoy catching up with them and stopping at my favorite bakery in Jaco.
Yesterday afternoon I accompanied our friends to purchase some irrigation supplies for our new sprinkler system. As is customary with Julio, our handyman, we took an unplanned, but great detour on the way home. He pulled into a very pretty property and within minutes we were taking a fascinating tour with the proprietor, Juan Carlos. He and his family have a wide array of fruit trees, so many rarely seen around here, including mamey, breadfruit, anona, starfruit, guavas, cas, mango, zapote Colombiano, mangosteen, noni, and so many others that I cannot recall. The abundance of fruit trees attract a myriad of birds, including the aracari toucan. We had the pleasure of seeing one of the toucans eating a ripe anona. Large parakeets abound as well, and the icing on the proverbial cake was seeing all of national flowers, the guaria orchids in full bloom, both white and brilliantly hued purple ones.
Today, Julio surprised us again with a bounty of one of his detours. He brought us some freshly picked vanilla beans and a large piece of the orchid plant that produces the intoxicatingly scented beans. I was so happy to be gifted the beans and the plant. We carefully planted the piece of orchid in what we hope is a prime location and then I researched how to optimally store my bounty of vanilla beans.
Yes, life is definitely good and I am the most blessed person on earth!
