Costa Rica, Visit Number 11

Hi everyone I just arrived today. it was supposed to be last night, but my connecting flight to Costa Rica from Houston was cancelled just as we were boarding. I felt very frightened and confused, being alone in a country that I perceive as hostile and unsafe (I feel safe in Mexico and in Colombia and Costa Rica but not in the USA. Go figure!) So I had to stand almost half an hour in a huge line before I could talk to the airline staff about options. It turned out that United Airlines does not pay for emergency hotel lodgings for their passengers on cancelled flights though they will provide a discount. However, it was late afternoon and it turned out that the flight we were rebooked on would be leaving at 6:30 am. So I decided to suffer it out and spend the night in the terminal. I also decided to get over the self pity, because others were suffering as well, some worse than me. I camped out in a hugely overpriced airport pizza joint (aren't they all?. )I swallowed an entire Marguerita pizza and really enjoyed the two servers. I also spent a lot of time line with emails and the novel I am writing on this same blog. (look for it), and I did a lot of work on my second drawing of a resplendant quetzal, a gorgeous bird iconic to the Monteverde region of Costa Rica. Look it up. One of the servers was a very elegant and poetic and ironically hilarious black man in his forties the other a white woman maybe around sixty with the most incredibly painted sapphire blue fingernails, .an ex-beauty with a strong working class vibe..., hard-ass eyes and the smile of one who cares deeply from the heart. The male server and I shared a joke about the unusal chairs, since they are all bolted to the floor. i asked if they might be afraid that a customer might carry it off and include it with their carry on. They did turn the football game up extremely loud for quite a while, not pleasant, but also a stark reminder than when you are travelling you are a guest in someone else's home. I walked up and down the huge terminal for exercise, then as I was passing the pizza joint just in the process of clsing, I saw the black server and mentioned to him how much I enjoyed the pizza. He smiled very warmly and said, "keep passing on the blessings baby, they are beautiful." I tried to find space in the boarding lounge to read and rest, but there were a lot of chatty people nearby, my nerves were strained and there was loud dance music playing from one of the stores. Later I learned that the departure gate had been moved a bit so I went there instead, where I sat on a chair in a quite spot and went into deep meditative prayer that also turned into deep sleep. I also noted that there were quite a few stranded travellers camping out here, some familes among them. At 4:30 am I decided that I'd slept enough and went for a walk. I had a nice little chat with a Costa Rican woman and her little boy. I was back in the departures lounge with my art and they wanted to chat a bit. Then a white American man in his thirties sat next to me. He also liked my art and we engaged in quite an interesting conversation. it turns out that he lives now in Costa Rica, had a profound Christian conversion and has been adopted into a local faith community. He was also telling me how he struggles with learning Spanish. The conversation went into all kinds of places and when his questions got a bit too invasive I replied that I might say more in a future meeting. I am many things...and by the way, so are you. Please feel free to pray for him as he is going through some major experiences of recovery and change in his life. His name is Logan. The flight to Costa Rica was timely and uneventful, I slept a lot, and managed to get passengers nearby to smile a bit, and since I was in the very back row in an aisle seat right next to the washroom and watching the potty parade you could say it was like shooting fish in a barrel. i didn't have to wait in a line at customs and immigration. There were hardly any people there. one of the officers called me over to him and there was a bit of a distance, so I smiled and said in Spanish "hazme caminar ("you want me to walk") and he laughed asked me if I speak spanish so we did everything in his language. It was fun. The cab driver did't seem to believe me when i gave him the name and address and location of the hotel where i am staying. he confessed after to having had a brain fart and it also turns out that the beautiful church across the street is the same place where he and his wife got married in 1979. he is from a rural commnity and was talking about how great the fishing was and also food grown on your own land. very enjoyable fellow just one year younger than me. This is already turning out to be quite an adventure. i believe there was a divine purpose for me staying overnight in the airport. Being so vulnerable out in the open with strangers who are also being so vulnerable out in the open is tweaking my boundaries somewhat, and I believe this is going to help me to be more open, less judgmental and more compassionate towrds others. God being my help. I am back in the same hotel room as last year. The first thing i did was pour water into the plastic jug and refrigerate it knowing how much I would apprecite it when I got back from my outing. Very hot today around 27 or 28, or low eighties for you untransformed Farenheit folk. A bit of rain off and on. I did all my unpacking and cleaned up a bit. Then I went out and had a huge meal at a local Mexican restaurant. It's called Jalapeños. I had nice contact with two of the servers and they seemed to appreciate that I speak Spanish. And it also seemed to help when I told one of them that I had just used the last paper towel in their washroom. Then a retired Canadian couple from Jasper and I started chatting. The husband is getting dental work done here. Really nice people and enjoyable conversation. After they left, another Tica (Costa Rican) mom with her boy approached me to talk about my art. We did this in both languages because she speaks good English and I could tell she wanted to practice it with me. Then her younger son wanted to ask me about my art. After that I spent arond an hour and a half or so wandering around the area and doing random shopping in different places. First I wanted to sit in the cathedral which is a very beautiful quiet space usually, but they were doing some repair work and it was noisy, so I left quickly. I walked around inside the public market. It is similar size to our own Granville island Public Market, but not at all tidy and well organized which is part of the place's beauty. Before that I stopped at a sidewalk window where I bought two pieces of yuca cake a local delicacy and so delicious, tasty satisfying and good. The fellow there asked me if I wanted one piece and I replied, dos porque soy glotón (two, because I'm a glutton) he smiled. Then I bought a papaya, some avocados and the most delicious bananas I have ever tasted from a sidewalk vendor then coffee beans freshly ground from a local shop, then I went into the local supermarket where I bought bread, salsa, lizano sauce which is rather like a gentle form of Worcesteshire, mora jam (moras are like Latino blackberries), peanut butter, milk and a big chocolate bar which I dragged back to my hotel room. I had to omit a couple of items because I didn't want to be carryng too much. I also found on the sidewalk a lovely yellow, green and blue wing feather from one of the many local parakeets here. I am going to use it as a bookmark. Since I got back to my hotel room I have been resting, eating listening to CBC ideas, checking correspondence and soon I am going to read more of a Swedish thriller in Spanish translation that I brought from home. Tomrrow i would like to look for some more books in Spanish in the big fat mall here. People here seem to spend a lot more time on each other than they do on their phones. Neat eh? hasta luego a todos.

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"That sounds interesting" "It is interesting. I think her premise is sound, if poorly explored, but her modus operandi seems really hare-brained." "Continue." "Stella' take is that we get rid of all the johns, and there will be no more prostitution. Sex work will have completely dried up." "Who then is going to bell the cat." "You know your Aesop. Good man." "and even if that were to happen, what would all those suddenly unemployed sex workers do. They do need to make a living and this is understandably and for good reason called the World's oldest Profession. "That is problematic. Even though the militantly politically correct in our neighbourhood really gag on the idea, one of our goals is, after giving each woman adequate support and harm reduction, to also help channel them into legitimate longterm employment. And that is not going to be a cakewalk. So far, no one has made that transition yet. Because they simply are not ready and it is really a monumental labour persuading anyone to take a chance on hiring a former sex worker. But it's been done in other places. The problem is, some of the militantly politically correct, also happen to be on our board of directors, and they want the women to remain in sex work and have it treated like a legitimate career choice, and we simply are not prepared to let that happen. Fortunately, Chuck and Nicole are on board with me, but we are outnumbered

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"Sorry if I interrupted the process." "No problem at all. We are all going to need a night or two to sleep on it before we can come to any decision." "How did she find you?" "That is completely shrouded in mystery. She appeared at our doorstep announcing that she is Stella, a British national based in Amsterdam where she did sex work for a good number of years and that she has come here to advise us, so, in order to get rid of her as promptly as possible, I told her to come meet with us this morning at the coffee shop." "Did she tell you anything else about herself." "Nothing. As soon as she sat down with us at the table today, without so much as introducing herself or sayng, hello, what miserable weather we are having, she launched into an hour long lecture about how to support sex workers by effexctively dealing with their clients...

1428 The Peacock

As we are turning onto Cornwall Avenue I ask Cynthia, "So you don't want anyone to know where you work." "It's essential for the safety of the women. Some have pimps seeking them out, and not all the women I work with are sex workers. They are battered women fleeing from violent spouses and partners. Safety comes with invisibilty." "I can't imagine what that would be like..." "Men never seem to get it. Patriarchy. There is still male privilege and male power and that protects everyone born with a penis." She has said that very drily and matter-of-factly, as though telling me what she just bought in the grocery store. "What do you know about the woman who was meeting with you today. I think she's trans?" "I don't know what to make of her. She appeared at the shelter just yesterday and said she wanted to arrange something with us. I asked her how she found the place, because we so far have not admitted trans, not because I am against transpersons but because some of the women we help feel unsafe around them, but because they still react to them as though they are men. It's because a lot of them have deep manly voices and that can really mess with a woman's head when she's escaping from a violent male. Anyway, this Stella wants to help, but I think i am going to have to turn her down. I first want to get feedback from Nicole and Chuck...

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"I've never seen that side of her", says Cynthia. We are now driving over the Burrard Bridge. The sun is finally peeking through the clouds, and glints off the waters of English Bay, an incandescent wonder. "She had the look of a killer blowing the smoke off of the barrel of her gun." "Did you know her parents." "Briefly. Her mother was a real piece of work. When they found out tht we were helping our women access bortions they found out where we were nd started to picket us. We had to have a peace bond made against them, and we lso hd to move, twice, in order to completely get away from them..."

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I did return to the police with the extra information that I had sat in on some of their planning sessons for the knife attack on the doctor. Nothing really came of it. The doctor's lawyer agreed to an out of court settlement, which meant that mom and dad were to leave Vancouver and maintain a distance of at least one hundred kilometres from the city. That was when they disbanded the community and moved to the interior. I have not seen them since though mom still acknowledges my birthday on Facebook." "That must have been all very hard on you, Nicole", says Cynthia.. "On the contrary. Standing up to my idiot family is one of the best things I have ever done for myself. Ever since, I am able to get on with my life. yYou don't know what a libertion this is..."

The Peacock 1425

They were both apprehended and held in custody by police. Both denied everything and they had to let them go for lack of concrete evidence. Then, one day, I was viaiting them for Thanksgiving dinner. Mom, while dishing out the stuffing, asked who would ever think of turning them in like that. My moment had arrived. We were surrounded by relatives, extended family, friends, and various local unfortunates we had presumed to help and support. I forced one big fat shit-eating smile and I said in a clear, loud voice, "i did it." This is no time for your little acts of mischief, Nicole, said my mother. "But I am the one. I saw Albert's face in the police drawing and knowing what a complete and total jerk you are, Albert, I thought it was time to put you in your place. And boy, was I surprised to see dad's face in the other drawing. Then I faced both, Albert and Dan, my father, and said, "listen, you can't tell me that you hadn't been planning this for years. I sat in on some of your little planning sessions and I happen to be also an expert eavesdropper. In fact, I am still tempted to return to the cops to tell them what went on in your little thug workshops together." Then shoving my plate aside, I said, "I seem to have lost my appetite." owen took my cue and followed me to the door. Just before we left, I said to my horrified extended family, "Oh, and one other thing. Four years ago, I had an abortion. And you want to know something, everyone? I am so glad I did..."