Its been, so far, a delightfully uneventful day. Last night reminded me a little too much of my neighbourhood in downtown Vancouver. The hotel next door decided to have a private party and guess who got to listen to the music. One of the owners phoned them to ask them to turn it down, which they did, though I still kept my earplugs fully intact,just in case. Before the music was turned down the earplugs, or, my orange little friends, were not enough to block the noise. I even walked up the dirt road in the dark in search of the place in order to ask them to turn the music down, but the doors were locked and no one was around. I suspect the party was being held in a building nearby. It probably was a bit dangerous of me to do that, as, you never know what kind of response you are going to get, but I really didnt want to bug the owners of the bed and breakfast except as a last resort. They were very good about it and, from their response, I suspect that theyre not overly fond of their neighbours. I did keep my sense of humour and Luz Mery and I both laughed about the irony of my escaping from downtown Vancouver only to run into it here in the wilds of Costa Rica. It also gives me a sense of how the natural beauty and power of this place seems wasted on some people. One would imagine that the silent power of nature is really very scary to people, especially very shallow people who will resort to noise, alcohol and drugs in order to keep at bay their inner void and any insight into how small, weak and vulnerable they really are in the universe.
There is, here in Monteverde, a very interesting and not always compatible mix of people. There are the locals who have lived here for generations and there are those who move here from other parts of Costa Rica in search of employment in the tourist industry. Try to imagine a tropical Whistler for well heeled ecotourists and youll get the gist of what Im saying. Then there are the American Quakers, some of whom have lived here since the fifties, though I think that a lot of them have died off by now. They have had a very positive influence on this place, especially in terms of encouraging the local people to protect the natural habitat. The Quakers have also attracted old school hippies from North America and the United Kingdom as well as their offspring hipsters, so that in some areas it often seems as if they are always trying to revive the Summer of Love, or, if you can remember it, then you werent there. On the other hand, they can also be thanked for the Instituto Monteverde which is a local think tank, cultural and educational centre for the promotion of sustainable development and the wellbeing of Monteverde, the natural habitat and the people who live here. There are also the ravaging capitalists of the tourist industry, such as the hotel that was making a racket last night and they are the ugliest feature of the demographic of Monteverde, all night clubbing, partying, drinking, spending lavishly and snorting expensive cocaine. As I mentioned, this beautiful place is wasted on such people and I really think they belong down in San Jose.
And there are of course the tourists, there will always be tourists, especially well off, well monied and well heeled tourists, come of whom are conscientious and thoughtful , while others are, well, well off, well monied and well heeled tourists. Because of the tourism industry a lot of the signage is in English and anyone who works here has to have a good command of English since not everyone who comes here is going to speak Spanish. I didnt on my first trip here some twenty three years ago.
Sometimes all I want to do here is sit staring out into the gardens or the tropical forest for hours, watching the light change. The walking is good and I seem to be already losing weight. I have gone down one belt notch since last week. What doesnt kill me will make me stronger.
I have almost finished a drawing I started last night of a blue and gold macaw and I like how its turning out.
On my way back to la Mariposa which is the name of the bed and breakfast where Im staying, I saw a four wheel drive stopped in the middle of the road, the white male tourist standing outside with the drivers door open, practically blocking other vehicles, looking through a camera. At first I wondered if he was having car trouble but it turned out he was photographing a blue crowned motmot, already pictured in a previous post.
Some people!
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