Fifth Time In Costa Rica, 12

Nothing much really happened today, which is kind of the basic idea behind this trip. I`m still ignoring the news, still taking long walks, writing this blog, doing art, chatting in Spanish, reading. And, of course, looking at birds. When they want to be seen, that is. That was my reply this morning at breakfast to a lady from Montreal, who is here with her husband. She asked me if it`s quite easy to see birds here in Monteverde. I replied that it depends on if they want to be seen, I would imagine that some of you are rolling your eyes, right now, and saying, what a classic Aaron comment. But it is true. I think that birds, like humans, have both natural curiosity, and a natural instinct to conceal themselves when it`s to their advantage, especially if someone wants to shoot them. Like, the other day, there was a blue-crowned motmot checking me out. He was perhaps just two metres away, on a little branch, looking at me intently through his bright red eyes. They are very beautiful, and do look them up on Google. They have gorgeous bright blue and black markings on their head and face, producing a mask-like affect that really sets off their red eyes. The rest of their plumage is golden-buff, green and blue, and their longish tail ends in two racket shapes. They`re pretty common around here, and very chill. I walked to Santa Elena, stopped for a couple of hours to do some art over a smoothy at Hangover Cafe, my name for Choco Cafe. Not very chill today. A millenial father who seemed to be living in his own private yuppiverse brought in his ill-behaved little brat who ran all over the place, yelling and dominating everything, and got away with it, I think, because he has some kind of relationship to the cafe, perhaps in a relationship with one of the staff, or one of the owners or investors, who knows? This being a small community with families that have lived here for generations, there are all kinds of kinship situations, and complex interactions and relationships. Or you could say it`s like taking the concept of ``I`ll scratch your back if you scratch mine`` as far as you can possibly go with it. Later when I stopped for another couple of hours in Panadería Jiménez, I learned that the mother and daughter who operate the establishment are cousins of the owners of the place where I`m staying. And as I was beginning to write my blog, the manager`s mom introduced me to her sister, and they confirmed that almost everyone in Monteverde is somehow related, or once or twice removed, and it makes for a very tight network and sense of community, and this way, no one is ever unemployed, it seems. Being a latent anthropolgist, as my friend, an anthropologist who reads this blog, has called me, I really get interested in the whole human story behind these places. On the other hand, there might also be things I might wish that I never found out about, but such is life, eh? Big hug.