January 20, 2008

Dear Dad,

We came home early from Punta Coral arriving yesterday afternoon.

On Friday we had a meeting in Puntarenas with the Minister of Tourism and a few owners of different tour boats to talk about the property that was taken back from the owners of the ferries and returned to the tourism branch of the government.

You would not believe what a mess the mess the property is in. It has been destroyed and uncared for, for the last 14 years. It, for reasons no-one seems to know, was rented to a Spanish company – owners to the two newest and biggest ferries that cross the Gulf of Nicoya from Puntarenas carrying cars and trucks to the Nicoya Peninsula and the towns in the area.

It was new when they first rented it for a ridiculous price, and was not cared for. Now the minister of Tourism (his mother teaches kindergarten and both Celiece and Bryan attended her school for 2 years each) had taken it back and wants to make a tourist project out of it.

His idea is to get all the boats involved in tourism to put up cash and make a floating dock and move operations there. To get started only the bathrooms need a little attention and a garbage system – hopefully recyclable – going and a clean up of the grounds and also plant some new palm trees and replace the broken street lamps.

If possible to get the different owners of yachts to agree, it would be up and running in a few months.

Puntarenas has been neglected and the garbage problem is astronomical. There are tractors that clean the beach, but because the sand is not sifted, the sand is stilled filled with plastic.

Where does it all come from? Lots of rivers run into the Gulf and garbage floats up on shore in Puntarenas, Tortuga Island and Punta Coral or gets stuck around the islands in the upper gulf. Awful and it gets worse every day.

There is an opportunity here to start a learning program for the residents and teach them the importance of separating the garbage. We are attempting this too; but after it is separated the garbage truck comes along and picks it all up and throws it in the truck and takes it to the dump. We do have a woman who is collecting paper, plastic and glass but it is not enough.

Of course I have been ¨dancing¨ with different departments who keep directing me to different people and so far I am not doing very well. I will keep trying.

After the meeting we went to lunch and had delicious shrimp and of course ceviche and a beer. As soon as we were finished eating David headed for the dock and we looked for Mario and our Captain’s Launch. It is like having our own private limo service to cross the Gulf of Nicoya.

To our surprise, Mario and the panga/dingy were not at the dock? Where were they?

We made calls and discovered that Mario didn’t know we were arriving. How is this possible when we had Manta Raya drop off an ice chest with beer and wine for the weekend?

It takes a while to get everything ready to move the panga. Mario has to clean it, install the radio, gas tank, life vests and fire extinguisher. David drove to the farthest point on the peninsula of Puntarenas and in the distance we were able to see a boat heading our way. Whew!!! All was well and Mario finally arrived.

Crossing the Gulf in the afternoon with the south wind blowing can be a little rough. David expertly headed towards the island of Guaybo, riding with the waves to make the trip more gentle.

Going this route we passed Manta Raya as she maneuvered through the islands of Cedros and Jesusita. We waved and a full boat of contented tourists waved back.  There was one mis hap however. When we were close to our dock the front part of the awning that was tied to the main awning fell and the metal bar hit Mario on the head as he was getting ready to put out the bumpers and throw a line to Misael who was waiting on the dock.

A badly tied knot was the culprit – a sheep bend and it came loose. Thinking that when new lifted the awning off Mario we would find a bleeding head wound, we were glad to discover he has a hard head and suffered only a bump.

Everyone who works around our boats gets knot tying lessons. We have lost buoys before and David makes sure the crew knows how to tie secure knots. Mario knows his knots but it didn’t hold and David suggested he tie a bolin instead as it is more secure.

I was so happy to be at Punta Coral and I went immediately for a little walk to hug the now giant Royal Palm near the Mango grove. I looked for monkeys but the trees were empty.

David has a pruning project going on that I disagree with. He had Misael and Edgar cut the branches off one of the big mango trees so that it will give light to the other tree, re-grow and hopefully give off more fruit. I think it looks like an amputee victim now. David wants to do a tree or so a year. Help!!!!!

We were alone all Saturday and the two of us sat in a hammock and I read the Oprah magazine from December and David had a new book. Just as I finished reading the last page we heard a boat pull up to our dock. It was neighbors, John and Sue, who visit every year and with them they had a new grandchild, Maria.

John is an ex professor and a genius and works as an advisor for NASSA. He is responsible for inventing some important thing to get the next flight to Mars or maybe it is Saturn I forget. Anyway, he is a little goofy and talks non-stop. He also wears a wig. He must have bought a new one because it was white (sort of) to match his real hair and last year the one he wore had turned a pale pink. It is hard not to stare at it. I guess a wig is better than a comb over.

The little Maria will be 2 in May. Her father died in a skiing accident the Christmas before she was born. Sad huh?

They left about sunset and then arrived, another boat. This time, there were 4 people but they waved and went to fish in front of the property but called out that they would return.

They did about 2 hours later.

Yes, then foursome was a nice group and included a judge from Puntarenas and a man whose grandfather used to own Punta Coral. They stayed to BBQ dinner and Misael built a nice fire. We talked and laughed and sat under the stars. I finally went to bed and David stayed up until everyone fell asleep in a lounge chair or hammock

I didn’t know they stayed and heard coughing in the middle of a dark night. I was going to call out thinking it might be Misael, but it was one of the group heading for the public bathrooms.

David and I go to Punta Coral to re-charge our batteries. Sometimes, no most times we have guests, but every once in a while we like to be alone. This was not the weekend. Remember that all property from the water line at high and another 50 meters is considered public. We cannot keep people out if they want to come on shore. In fact, there is a lot of tearing down of houses and structures that are with in the 50 meters.

Everyone is waiting to see what the government will do with us and Punta Coral.

We have aerial photos that show the buildings have been there for years. We also have

A ¨plan regladora¨ that has written we have permission for a rancho (the thatched roof area) and also a dock. Anyway, after our last overnight guests left, David and I sat wondering if we had just been ¨inspected¨. Maybe we were.

The judge and the other women who work in the court in Puntarenas as least got to hear first hand what we are trying to do and are doing at Punta Coral and that is; keep it like it

is now – protect it from development for future generations.

Friday, January 25, 2008

When I drove into the driveway at work yesterday and went to the trunk to get out my lap top computer, I noticed that I – not really me personally – but my car had driven over a pile of dog poop. Yuck. I had to tell the guard who told the maid to clean it up.

Now this might not seem like a big deal but besides being stinky the icky poop was in my tire treads and at home we have a tiled garage. I didn’t want to get it on the tiled floor.

Sara, the maid at the office did a great job pf cleaning up the mess by putting dirt on the driveway and then washing off my tire. What a way to start the day.

Also I have been suffering with a stiff neck from doing sit ups. Exercise will kill you or make you so sore you are miserable. I am miserable. Bryan said I am doing them wrong.

I did them must like I learned in high school when then president Kennedy was on an exercise and fitness program for the schools around the US.

I tried to get to the woman who gives me a massage, but had to wait until last night. The pain was terrible and I could not sleep. She also told me I was doing the sit ups wrong and after my session with her she showed me how to do them correctly the way a fitness trainer had shown her. As soon as the neck pain is gone I will give it a try.

I cannot understand what the benefit of exercise is. If your heart has only so many beats in a lifetime, if you do exercise and increase your heart beat aren’t you actually cutting short your life?

Today on my way to the office, my car began to vibrate. It was scary and made me a little angry especially since it was in the shop last week or so. I called the mechanic

and told him of my problem and he advised me to take it to his shop immediately and not to worry I would get there.

Well, I had not a lot of power, traffic on Fridays is slow but I made it. I still didn’t know what the problem was and when I got out of the car I noticed smoke and a burning smell.

Everyone was at lunch and I called and called until two mechanics came to my rescue.

The smell was from some insulation touching the muffler but the mechanical problem, he discovered after putting a fan on the motor to cool it down, was a faulty spark plug thingy that they had changed a month ago. It was changed with no cost to me.

It makes me mad that everyone knew the parts are faulty but installed them anyway. I was lucky that the problem developed during the day, here in San Jose and not too far from the mechanic shop and that they had room in the shop and were able to replace it quickly.

I explained that I used to drive a 1970 VW for years and knew what to expect if a spark plug was bad, but the new cars are so electronic and mine is a turbo (what ever that means) and everything is computerized and delicate and like they say : shit happens.

The mechanics even told me that the new VW and Audi are better for colder weather.

Why would that be?

Anyway I am glad that the weekend is here and I can stay home.

David and I are really excited with the news about Jaimee and Natal having twins – a boy and a girl. Just think, when we get to California in May, there will be three new babies, a niece and two nephews. The population explosion is happening in the Arnone family!!!

I am busy now with uniforms for the crew. I ordered them in November and they have finally arrived. I like to have a stock of them because the place where they are made is very busy and even though they say the uniforms will only take a month it takes longer.

The shirts have to be sent to be embroidered with our logo on pockets and this too takes long.

Our crew are so dapper looking in their ¨marine whites¨ and because they wear them every day, I keep extra around. After all there are 11 crew and about that many guides.

I also keep them in U.S. Navy regulation epaulets and white web belts with special brass buckles that have been dipped in gold to keep them from tarnishing and making rust marks on the uniforms.

Everyone is laughing as we are having a fashion show with a few of the guys trying on the shorts. Mauricio refuses and turned red because he can no longer fit into a 36 waist and Mario tried on a 32 and it was too tight. I needed to order a 38 or bigger but didn’t know that by the time the shorts arrived everyone had changed sizes.

It is time to go home. It has been cold and windy and I am wearing two shirts and socks to keep warm. I am not complaining as I like the cold and know we will be sweating with the summer weather soon.

I love and miss you.

Besitos, Cecs