11 highways severly affected by rain...Quepos Hospital is incommunicado...CCSS will send personal to the zone affected...Rain has damaged Hydroelectric Plant Pirris...
There are funds available to take care of emergencies, assures IMAS...Government will seek resources for the emergency using an emergency budget...OIJ emphasizes the importance of improvising a morgue... Landslide takes three persons in San Marcos de Tarrazu.
Vanessa Rosales, de la CNE, explicó que la mayoría de los evacuados están en la zona del Pacífico, además de la emergencia que se presentó en Escazú, en San José.
“Estamos preparados y en alerta porque sabemos que no va llover y habrá que ver como transcurren las próximas horas”, dijo Rosales en conferencia de prensa.
En la Comisión se encontraba la presidenta de la República, Laura Chinchilla, quien firmó la declaratoria de emergencia nacional.
Para la tarde la CNE informaría de más acciones para atender a damnificados y para evaluar zonas en alerta.
Vanessa Rosales, of the CNE, explained that the majority of the evacuees live in the Pacific Zone, moreover the emergency also exists in Escazu, in San Jose.
¨We are prepared and on the alert because we know know how long it is going to go on raining and we are going to have to wait and see what happens in the following hours¨, said Rosales in a press conference.
Laura Chinchilla, the president of the Republic, was also present in the commission, where she signed the declaration of national emergency.
For the afternoon, CNE will inform of more actions that will be needed in order to aid victims and to evaluate zones on high alert.
This is a rough translation of the toll the weather is taking on Costa Rica right now. We have had almost nonstop heavy rain for the last two days and it is expected to continue for the next day or so. I went out anyway, to see if I could further penetrate into the mystery of Sendero Tranquilo, that private reserve that no one seems to know anything about. I spent about an hour there taking one trail that seems to go on almost forever, hugging the mountainside with an amazing view at one point from a wooden platform. The vegetation is dense and tangled, and the trail is reasonably easy to navigate but very muddy from all the rain, and probably not entirely safe right now. I´m going to try again when the weather improves.
The weather seems to be improving. It has been windy, all night and all morning. The winds here are fierce and savage and even though I slept alright I could not escape the feeling that something, some preternatural force was trying to make its way into my room. Strange feeling. And the dreams. I generally dream vividly but since coming here it´s been almost like 3-D. I am starting to write down some of them because many of them suggest change and transition, which doesn´t at all surprise me given that one of my purposes for being here in Monteverde for five weeks is spiritual retreat. Yesterday was a bit odd. I got really soaked in the rain while walking back from Santa Elena, actually more from persperation, and my rented apartment was cold in the afternoon as the rain persisted, so it was almost impossible to get properly dry. Everything stays damp in this climate. So, I put on my discman and while listening to a CD of baroque choral works (mostly Vivaldi, Bach and Handel and ending with the Hallelujah Chorus) I slipped into a lovely nap on the couch after doing some work on a painting. When I woke up I painted a bit more then went to the main house to pick up my laundry and check e-mail on the computer. Someone was already on it and was going to need it for a while so I went back to my cabina to discover that my clothes from the laundry were still damp and that one of the straps of my canvas backpack which had been washed had come loose as well as still being wet (I have to launder my backpack and knapsack regularly here because the smell of accumulated sweat makes them quite unbearable). I was unable to rehook the strap because of the duct-tape that I had wrapped around the hooks to keep their sharp points from ruining my clothes (put a hole in one sweater and destroyed a favourite shirt of mine). The knives in my kitchen weren´t sharp enough so I had to go to Esteban for assistance, who managed to cut through it with utility scissors. Later I borrowed some of their electrical tape to re-wrap the hook. I had seriously considered bringing my own duct tape from home but I was worried that if they searched my baggage and found it they might think I was going to use it to make a bomb or something, so I didn´t bring any. He also took my clothes back for a second round in the dryer. Apparently they are training a new chamber maid here who has not yet figured out that you don´t fold and return laundry that is already wet. In the meantime I still didn´t get on the computer because nearly a half-dozen prepubescent boys, friends of the youngest son here, were playing games on it. So I went back to my cabina, made dinner, ate (delicious, by the way), cleaned up, then returned to the main house, this time just ahead of another guest who was also after the computer, and who wanted to know how long I would be on it. I replied that I had already been waiting for it for two hours, so give me maybe twenty minutes. He seems nice by the way, he is here with his wife from Colorado and they both speak Spanish. And I got my finally dry clothes back okay.
There haven´t been a lot of other guests so far, since it is still the off-season. We had another young Spanish couple, and I think I´ve previously mentioned them. They seemed very nice but there was no opportunity to chat with them a bit. And yesterday there was a young Swiss couple at the next breakfast table but they didn´t seem interested really in talking to anyone, not even much with each other, which I understand is very typical of a lot of Swiss people. The nicest guests I´ve met here so far were here at the beginning, that young couple from Nanaimo, so, so far my best encounter here with other guests has been with Canadians (we´re still number one!!)
This morning I got out of here early to do a shopping trip in Santa Elena. Katie, who is involved with the Quaker group here, stopped and gave me a ride when she saw me trudging along the road, then stopped to pick up a family. The young husband, I believe, is American, and his wife is Costa Rican and they have two young children. He teaches here, and has been to Vancouver. On the way back from Santa Elena Katie stopped and gave me another lift partway to the Mariposa. She´s lived here for most of the last thirty years. She is from Michigan, in her fifties, and like a number of older Americans who live here now she gives the impression of someone who really enjoyed the sixties, if you know what I mean... She seems very nice, and is married to a research biologist here. She calls herself a community organizer.
I think I´m finally cured of my fantasies of living here one day, though that could change when I reach retirement age. Still this is a wonderful place to visit and I think perfect for a retreat.
I went again to the Quaker meeting today. A lot of American visitors, some tourists, others active in environmental work here in Costa Rica. I skipped potluck and went back to my bed and breakfast because I wasn´t feeling sociable (I am on retreat, after all), and had lunch by myself. Later, I returned to Sendero Tranquilo to further penetrate the mysterious trails there. On the trail once again I was surprised by a swarm of butterflies. They look rather like Monarchs, but they´re dark brown instead of orange, and they flew out at me like a swarm of bats. Kind of disconcerting. I must have spent almost two hours there. The weather has changed, it isn´t raining but the wind is still quite strong.
Later I stopped at Stella´s for a batido (a kind of milkshake) and to write in my journal. The young woman on duty was a complete write-off. I came in and sat down, as there is no clear protocol as to whether you order up front or wait at your table. Seeing me, she decided to give preference to a young American couple who came in a few minutes after. When it seemed clear she was determined to keep ignoring me I let her have it, but in Latino style. From my table I called ¨¡Hola! ¿Me ignoras? Me gustaria ordenar algo.¨In English, ¨Hello! Do you think I´m invisible? I want to order something.¨ She reluctantly approached my table and in a very stern and pissed-off voice I said, ¨Lleveme mora en leche.¨ or Bring me black mulberry in milk. I glared at her and she looked like she had just been slapped. Very promptly she returned with my order and I had already meticulously counted out the change for her. (¿Cuesta mil colones, si? ¿Esto es suficiente? or it costs one thousand colons, right? Is this enough? She timidly and nervously counted out the change, said it was enough then walked away. Neither of us said thank you, and of course she didn´t apologize, but I´m sure she got the message. I might have mentioned before that Ticos are notorious for being passive-aggressive.
On the way back to Mariposa I bumped into a lady from the Quaker meeting. She and her husband are both from the US but have lived here for the last twenty years raising their kids. She mentioned that she still speaks very little Spanish and I suggested to her that someone here might want to try language exchange as we do in Vancouver. I asked her about the Sendero Tranquilo and she replied that it´s owned by a wealthy American who just uses it for his guests, which probably is why I never see anyone there. Still, I don´t exactly feel like I´m trespassing so I will continue to explore this amazing place.
Monday
I tried to return to Sendero Tranquilo only to be encountered by two workers and their dog and I was informed that it is private property and no one´s allowed there, so I will not be returning there it looks like. I did check out another reserva and paid ten bucks to get in but it was worth it. Long winding trails, many hugging the mountainside with huge views of the mountains, the canyon and the Gulf of Nicoya. I have noted that it is impossible to get into any of the reserves or parks without paying an admission, which kind of sucks but in a way it´s understandable. Costa Rica is a relatively poor country and they likely would never be able to collect enough in tax revenue to pay for these things so this is what they rely on tourists from rich countries to do for them. They don´t seem tol realize that not all the visitors who come here are rich, but as they say, money doesn´t just talk, it screams.
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