December 2, 2008

Thanksgiving Dinner, Marty and David visiting, Christmas decorations and more

Dear Dad,

It is cold and rainy today.  We woke up early to grey skies and rain.  This is not the usual weather we have in December.  It should be summer weather and it is still raining and cold here in San Jose.

Monday last week, Marty and David arrived for a visit.  They went to Panama so David could see the canal and were gone for a few days.  They returned and we got ready for Thanksgiving. Marty redid the Christmas wreaths I made and I must admit they are a lot prettier.

We had a great Thanksgiving Dinner.  I cooked the best turkey, everyone said so.  I got the recipe one day when watching Oprah. And if it is on the Oprah show, you know the recipe has to be better than great and it was.

I rented tables and chairs, table cloths and napkins, three sets of glasses and plate liners and runners for the table.  We brought the bamboo stand we have used for Expotur ( the trade show that happens every spring) and used it to make a wall at the end of the carport and changed it into a formal dining room.
The table was beautifully decorated and we had a wonderful dinner.

The turkey weighed more than 20 pounds and I was glad that Bryan was off work so he could take it out of the oven.

On the Friday after Thanksgiving we got up early, still full from Thanksgiving Dinner, and drove to Puntarenas.  Marty and I made a few decorations for Casa Calypso and Punta Coral and I wanted to hang them before we got on the Manta Raya and headed for Tortuga Island.

We were supposed to meet friends of Marty and David’s that were to arrive on a cruise ship in time to go with us to the beach.  Probably the main reason we got up early on Friday; but the ship was late and our tour arrived before their cruise ship docked.

We did make a stop at the doctor because Marty’s David developed bronchitis and was feeling poorly.  It is the same doctor who treated my sore finger and I was able to call ahead when we were driving down the hill and get an appointment. The doctor gave David a big, I mean a really big shot of penicillin and a prescription for pills and cough syrup and we were off to the beach.

Marty and I hung a few decorations that looked much bigger when she finished making them but Casa Calypso is so big they seemed to get lost.

I was able to introduce Ocho the cat to Marty and David and show them his tattoo on his ear.  Now, when you call his name he comes running.

The ride across the Gulf was windy and cloudy, but we didn’t let David’s bronchitis or the weather damper our spirits and the ride.  David has not been to Costa Rica before and he was thoroughly enjoying himself in spite of a really sore butt where he was given the shot. 

Once at the beach, Arturo, the bartender, surprised us with a delicious treat of  ¨ostion baca ¨ a shell fish that tastes like a scallop and is served in the shell chopped up with onion and lemon juice.  It was delicious.

I was kept busy watching the crew set up for lunch.  They did a great job and the food was delicious.  I am happy to say that I had only a few comments to make to them.

During the lunch we were visited by Perugina the resident wild pig who thinks she is a dog.  She is always a big hit with the tourists and soon had a crowd taking her photo.

After lunch we were visited by a family of wild pigs, big and small along with the vultures and a few birds all looking for food.

The pigs seem to be getting braver and coming closer tom our area.  They are dangerous, especially if one gets too close to a baby pig.  They really should not be allowed on the island as it is not their natural habitat.  These pigs are not as big as a boar, but they still have tusks and are not always in good humor.
In the afternoon the four of us were dropped off at Punta Coral. Marty has not been there for more than 5 years and David this was David’s first time. Since our last visit the carpenter has been making repairs on the roof and has redone the kitchen by making it a little narrower and varnishing the wood and putting on new brass knobs.

Our room is finished except for the magnetic door closers.  The new Cristobel wooden floor is beautiful.  The stairs had been sanded and stained to match the upstairs floor and the wall on the stair case has been built too.

 David and I really enjoyed showing off our wonderful piece of paradise.  Punta Coral is always a big hit with our guests. We arrived too late to play croquet.  It was dark shortly after we gave a tour and put groceries away. 

We only saw a little color in the sky at sunset because there were a lot darker clouds, very unusual for this time of the year.

On Saturday there was a private tour.  After a wonderful breakfast of left over stuffing, mashed potatoes – both white and sweet – a slice of turkey with a perfectly cooked egg on top, Marty and I packed two bottles of champagne a jar of caviar and some brie and headed for the casita (little house) to spend the day and let the group have their space.

The day was cool and most of the time we sat and watched the boat traffic and the Brown Pelicans fishing.

 The number of pelicans has been increasing steadily since their return after all of the pelicans in the Gulf of Nicoya – thousands of them - mysteriously died two years ago.  It is nice to see them back and once again fishing in front of Punta Coral.

The weather was perfect with a nice cool breeze.  Since Marty and David were staying at the casita or little house, it was like we went to visit neighbors for the day.

As soon as the group left, we packed up the empty glasses and empty champagne bottle and walked back to the casona/big house and took showers and got ready for another wonderful sun set.

We never got to see the sun set because the sky darkened and it started to rain.  It rained all night and all the next day.  It was cold.

 I keep a set of warm clothes in a drawer for just such a rainy day and happily put them on Sunday.  Marty and her husband David stayed in the little house all day, David was still feeling poorly with his bronchitis and my David and I spent the day reading in bed. 

listening to the rain and wishing we had the cats with us to keep us warm.

In spite of the rain, Manta Raya took a group to Tortuga Island.  The crew went beyond the call of duty and even though the rain didn’t stop all day (well it did for about an hour or so) the lunch preparation and service went as usual.  A group leader took the microphone on the way back and praised the Calypso crew for their excellence. Hopefully they got a big tip too.

Monday we returned to San Jose and went right to the office to sign papers.  It is the end of the fiscal year and tax time.  Since we have a lot of companies our accountant has been very busy making the reports.  He is not in a good mood. He is tired. I am happy to have him to do all the reports, filing etc.  Michael is very organized and has been with us for 5 years. I don’t know what we would do without his help.

It is also the time of the year when we have to give all employees a month salary.It is called ¨alginaldo¨ and  is required by law. Now I am not in a good mood.  It is a lot of money.

Since we had a Christmas Party at a resort hotel, and it was expensive, I think I am not going to give out presents. It is just too expensive and I am not in the mood.

We are also in the process of obtaining a certificate for sustainable tourism.  This is something we practice and have been doing since our business started and now it is required by the government.  We hired a woman to help and she has been working on it for the past 6 months. 

The ICT (Tourist board) requires a lot of reports, photos and all sorts of information and proof of all the things we say we do.  We had the first interview today and I think we did well.  We are the first maritime applicant.  All together there are five leafs to win – like a five star hotel – and there has only been one company who earned all five stars. 

Everyone in the tourist business, hotels and travel agents and tour operators are required to make the necessary changes to comply with government regulations.  When completed we will have a special seal that we can use on our advertising.  Remember we have to include the office, Casa Calypso, Punta Coral, Manta Raya and Tortuga Island in our evaluation.  It is a lot of extra work and requirements (meetings, lists etc).

After listening to David and me during the interview (first of many I imagine) I was impressed that the two guys were impressed with our company politics and accomplishments and philosophies. They will go on a tour on the 16th of this month and also inspect Casa Calypso.

I am still without a car.  I have no idea why it is taking so long except that the mechanic must be waiting for parts from Germany, the US or maybe another planet.  It is taking so long.  I even called the previous owner to see if he could find out the problem as he is the person who recommended the mechanic to us when we bought the car.

Happy the cat is growing up fast.  He is staying outside longer and even stayed out all night a few times.  When we pull into the driveway, all three cats come running from different directions and all want to be pet and fed.  David and Marty are enjoying them too and sometimes the cats sleep with them.
I think that Happy will end up the biggest cat.  You should see the size of his feet.

Wednesday

It is still raining and cold.  This is really weird weather for us at this time of the year.  We should be having spring like weather.

Just returned from a late lunch with friends and it was delicious.  It is almost time to go home and I just got here.  Uh-oh.  I worked a really long day yesterday 8:00am to 6:00pm so I am entitled to some free time.  Hey, I am the boss.

Today I bought the poinsettias for the windowsills at the house.  We went shopping for the tour at Price Smart and they had poinsettias for half the price or less than everywhere else. I already placed them in front of the windows and with the Christmas lights along the edge of the front of house and inside the car port the red poinsettias look really beautiful and very Christmassy.  I have two red and one white at each of the three windows.

Yesterday or last night when we got home I asked David to drive around the block to see the lights of the other houses.  No lights anywhere, just our house.  We do look festive.

One of the goldfish in the office has lost an eye and now has a big hole in his head where his eye was.  The boys found the eye at the bottom of the tank when they cleaned it. I don’t know how long he will last now.  His eyes were bugged out for a long time but who would have thought one could fall off?
Never in a million years would I have thought that goldfish could be so much work.  They seem to poop a lot more than they eat and we have to clean the tank (ok I don’t clean it but it does get cleaned) once a week.  The temperature of the water needs to be watched and also special pills are added to the water to take out the chlorine so they will all be happy and healthy.  I do really enjoy watching them in the tank. 

Thursday

This morning we woke up to the sounds of a dog crying.  It started at 5:30am and finally I went to investigate.  It is a new dog that lives next door. He was stuck in the fence, with half his body on the outside of the fence and the other half of his body on the inside for the fence. 

The poor dog was panting and bleeding where the chicken wire had cut into his hind quarters.  I called the guard and he lifted the dog up and pushed him back in side the yard to freedom and hopefully a waiting bowl of water.

The sadder part of this story is that the house where the dog lives is worse than a slum.  I had never been inside the house or even walked through the carport to the fence before and I was appalled, shocked and sickened with the piles of garbage, knee deep, that is everywhere.  The young man who lives there obviously has some issues because there is no other reason for him to let the house go into ruin and pile garbage and unused items on the outside of his house.

We live in a beautiful area where the rest of the houses are well kept and the gardener keeps the lawns trimmed.  This neighbor has a collection of old cars, pans of grease and oil and anything else you can imagine piled everywhere.  There is even one room where his dogs go to poop.  Really, the pop is about 10 inches deep and very disgusting.

Unfortunately there are no laws or government agency to call and report this very disturbing site.  I have never seen anything like this.

After the dog was freed, I decided to take the cats to the vet.  Taking three cats to the vet is very difficult.  First you have to catch them all, put them into cages and then into the car and drive to the vet.

Since I still don’t have my car, I was able to sweet talk David, and Marty and David into helping me.

We put Boomer into the biggest cage and then waited until Junior appeared and placed her into another.  When we finally caught Happy I felt I could call the vet and let him know we were on our way.

Boomer didn’t like being locked up with Happy even though they are friends.  I used to take Harry and Junior in the same cage, but now realize I have to have three separate cages.

To overcome another dilemma, I remembered that I bought a cat harness and took Happy out of the cage and away from the hissing Boomer and with David’s help, put him into the harness. Whew!!!

Fifteen pounds of flying cat hair later we were on our way to the vet only this time all the cats were howling. I think they knew they were on the way to the doctor.

Poor little Happy really has not been to the vet enough times to know what a car ride for them really means, but listening to the other two cats howling he started to howl too.

Once we got to the vet I took turns taking each cat in to be weighed and the older cats were given a shot for parasites.  Little Happy had to have his first rabies shot and a shot for parasites.  His little heart started racing and he started panting immediately afterwards and the doctor had to give him another shot to calm his heart.  I was scared and hugged him all the way home.

We took Marty and David to Machu Pichu for lunch.  We met Celiece and Marlon too.

Lunch was wonderful and we had a variety of delicious treats.

After lunch Celiece and Marlon gave Marty and David a tour of the National Museum and the Jade Museum.  They just arrived and it is now time to go home. I want to see if my babies (cats) are ok, especially Happy.

The weather is still cold and rainy.

This is the news for the week.  I had something else to tell you about this busy week, but I can’t remember now but I am sure it will be in my letter next week.

I love and miss you.

Besos,  Cecs