Thursday, February 28, 2013

Rum Runners

Tomorrow is March 1st, which means we have been living in our Jungle Mansion for one month, which also means we have now been in Costa Rica for as long as we were on the road. During this time, we have meet a lot of interesting characters and had a handful of different experiences. One of the best is the notorious Panama Run.

Groceries, among other items are very expensive here, with this being the proverbial end of the road. As such, beer, wine and liquor is also quite expensive. When we asked where one could find cheaper products, thinking maybe we would have to go to Limon, the nearest big city, or all the way to San Jose, to find better deals or bulk items, we were told that for alcohol, we would need to go to Panama. As we are only about 30 minutes to the border crossing at Sixaola, this didn't seem like that crazy of an adventure. We decided to ask our neighbors, Jeff and Nancy, if they could tell us directions for the Panama Run. We had been introduced to our neighbors on the road back from our houses the day we decided to rent this house. We had seen them out a few more times, but had yet to hold a real conversation with them. When we saw them at Trivia Night on Thursday at Tasty Waves, an event that has become our marker for the passage of time, I decided to strike up a conversation and get to know the two of them. They have been living in Costa Rica for about a year and half but have been traveling down in this country for a number of years. They rent two properties on the same "farm" where we live, and essentially, we are the only people living back here. From South Carolina, in their 60's, their personalities shine. They are friendly, funny, at times brutally honest and vulgar, and lots of fun to spend the evening with.

At Trivia Night, I asked Jeff if he could explain the roads to Panama, or maybe even draw us a map. Roads down here are not labeled, and with nothing but jungle all around, it can be a little confusing finding your way places. He said he could explain the way, or even draw a map, but what would be better, would be if he came with us for our first run, so we would know how to do it in the future. Agreeing that this sounded like a good plan, we made a date for the following Saturday. We headed over to their house around noon on Saturday and our day began. After stopping at Tasty Waves and The Point to grab beers, since if we were going to have a day out, why not make it a good day, we continued on our journey.

Heading out of town, we turned off on the road toward Sixaola, but we didn't stay on that road. We took another turn and yet another until we wound up on a dirt road, with a sea of banana plantations to either side. Green leaves went on forever in every direction. At the end of our dirt road, we reached a river bank. There was a small cart selling pipas (coconuts) and some food. A few cars were parked on the bank and a team of men ran a set of two boats. In order to cross into Panama without the bureaucracy of the border officials, this boat system has been set up to take people back and forth across the river, to where on the Panamanian side, you find duty free shops with booze, electronics, and clothing. The river is not particularly wide or deep, although it was deep enough for one young kid to be enjoying a swim in the hot afternoon sun, but the boats are necessary so that when you cross back, your goods don't get wet. We got into the boat with two other women and made our way across the river to a sand bank, where you get out of your first boat, and transfer to your second boat. On the shore of Panama, you climb the steps to the duty free liquor store, and as Jeff said, you're like a kid in a candy shop.

Not only do they have a larger selection than you will find anywhere on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, but everything is cheap! Fifths of Jameson for $10, 24-packs of Milwaukee's Best for $9 (yeah, I know it's Milwaukee's Best, but hey, it's $9) Patron for $20, decent bottles of wine for anywhere from $3 to $12, Baileys, Kahlua, Flor de Cana Rum, Johhnie Walker Black and Red, Vodka, Gin, anything you could think of! (Note: this store would not be so amazing in the states, but down here where your only options are 6-packs of Imperial or Pilsen for $10, this place is a wonderland.) We gave ourselves a $100 limit for the three of us to stalk up so we wouldn't need to spend so much money on having a beer once in a while. Jeff got a few things for himself and after about 20 minutes, we had made our purchases and headed back to the boats.

Once back across the river, we tipped our boatmen, who share in the money they make, seemingly without issues. We loaded up the car with the help of the boatmen, and started our drive back. "Now, is where the real rush begins," Jeff informed us. The dirt road leading back to the main road is where the cops will stop you. Some days they wait, concealed in the banana plantations, to pull you over and take what you have just purchased. Nothing more than that takes place, no ticket, no reporting you to Immigracion, they simply help themselves to your bounty, which should be expected every once in a while when one is partaking in illegal rum running across international borders. We were lucky, no search and seizure this day.

We drove home, with one more stop at The Point to celebrate our success. It was just getting dark when we got back to the "farm" so we sat with Jeff and Nancy and enjoyed our spoils. We heard more of their stories from their early days together and learned more history of the place where we are living. In the end, not only had we succeeded in becoming Rum Runners, but we also bonded with our amazing neighbors. Friendship and booze, what's better than that?

 * I had brought my camera in hopes to document the day, but considering what we were doing was illegal, I decided it best not to have evidence of said illegal activity.
**Names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent.


Friday, February 15, 2013

Playing Catch Home While Staying Home Sick




Working at the hostel in Manzanillo.
I had to remind myself today to slow down and enjoy living in the jungle. I woke up feeling awful again today, battling more intestinal trouble, this has been happening for about one week now. A lot of people have been sick in Puerto Viejo lately, and I was not spared. On top of becoming sick last Friday, I had also just gotten hired at The Point Sports Bar and Grill at Playa Negra on the north side of Puerto Viejo. So, I attended my first day of work sick, and had one day to lie in bed, before working three days in a row, all a little under the weather. A little under the weather is an understatement. The first night I was sick, I lost 5 pounds! You can imagine the things a body is going throw if it can lose 5 lbs in one night. But I made it through and was even starting to feel better. So when I woke up this morning feeling horrible again, and having been up in the bathroom most of last night, I was disappointed. Yesterday, Jahsiah and I went to Manzanillo to finally start our first day of real work on
Jahsiah's mosaic floor.
the hostel, Paraiso Natural, that we helping our friend Ferguson with. Jahsiah was working on tiling one of the bathrooms, I had been painting. Our plan was to return today, but I found myself unable to get out of bed, and sadly stayed home.

It was my first day home in the jungle mansion all alone and I was struggling to feel comfortable. There are so many noises coming from this jungle constantly, and when one is alone and not feeling well, it is easy to start thinking about how alone you are out here, and how if you needed something, you would have a hard time communicating to someone, especially considering my cell phone doesn't work at the house! Around the height of my afternoon jungle paranoia, a text came through that my boss at The Point wanted me to work tonight. I had said I would love to pick up shifts since as of right now, I'm only working three days a week and that just won't cut it money wise, but the reality was, I was not feeling well enough to work tonight. So, no Manzanillo to help on the hostel, and no Point for some tips and money. I was feeling rather lame and frustrated. And then I realized, I didn't come down here to keep stressing every little thing. I didn't come down here to go back to working 7 days a week, like I did in Oakland. I came down to Costa Rica to slow down a bit, to enjoy my life, to appreciate having the day to myself in the jungle. But it's so hard for me to not fall into the same manic cycle of exhausting myself as is usually my M.O. In fact, I was feeling so guilty all day that I didn't just suck it up and do something today, that I finally had to sit down, get out my camera, and make myself write a blog so that I felt like I had accomplished something.

So here it is, some pictures that had been lost in the shuffle since my computer broke, which by the way, it is very broken and looks like it is done. Hoping to get another computer in a month or two so that I'm not having to highjack Jahsiah's computer. In the meantime, enjoy some photos that go back to previous posts.
Breakfast at Hotel Leon del Sol in Leon, Nicaragua

Our host Mario, was a Nicaraguan who now lives in Napa. He had just opened his hotel, which was very nice. He helped us get the vet come to the hotel to look at LaDainian's foot after attacking the bull. If you are ever in Leon, go to Mario's hotel and you will be treated like royalty.
The famous Tuk-Tuk. I had been meaning to post a photo of one. If you've been to South East Asia or Central America, you know a Tuk-Tuk. If you haven't ridden in one yet, make it a goal to do so!

A beach on the Pacific side of Nicaragua, just north of San Juan del Sur.

Volcano Ometepe on Lake Nicaragua.

First glimpse of the Caribbean!


First Imperials, we made it!

An orb spider, better than screens.

Home sweet home.

The view from our balcony.


Our balcony.

Our kitchen in our new home.



The lesson of today, there is no point in working hard to get what you want, if you don't let yourself enjoy it once you get it. Time for me to slow down and enjoy the life I set out to create for myself.