Fifth time In Costa Rica,14

It is interesting how different countries seem to summon forth each their own particular images and catchwords for us. Even in Latin America, even though they mostly share in common the Spanish language and many cultural and historical features, as well as Roman Catholicism, each tends to evoke its own unique set of images and words. Mexico? Mariachi, cerveza, and hot chillie peppers and Aztec heritage. Guatemala? Mayan ruins and gang violence. Honduras? Gang violence and poverty. El Salvador? Gang violence and an export of refugees. Nicaragua? Revolution. Costa Rica? Tourism, nature, coffee and bananas. And on it goes. Each of those stereotypes, like stereotypes in general, has its ring of truth, but it´s still more truthiness. I think the best way to get to know a country is by going there yourself, spending some time, and learning to see it through the eyes of the people who live there. Since befriending, and being befriended by the family that operates the bed and breakfast where I´m staying, this has been happening for me every single day since I arrived in Monteverde. And as well as this wonderful family, I am stopping to have chats with various friendly people I meet in cafes and restaurants as they each tell me a bit about their own experience of their country, Costa Rica. Today I went with the manager´s father down to San Luis, the agricultural village in the valley nearbye where I visited yesterday. He at first was going to take me on a long hike on some difficult trails, but my body is still rebelling following the stress I put it through yesterday with excessive hiking and climbing, so we compromised and he took me on a gentler, but still challenging walking route. First, a word about kinship and social connectedness here: almost everyone is somehow or other related, it seems, so you have a huge sense of extended family here. As we stopped in various places in San Luis to visit and say hi I was introduced to cousins, in-laws, aunts and uncles and siblings. He took me on a tour of his uncle´s farm, where he grows coffee, bananas and sugar cane, all for the market. It isn´t a huge property, probably a couple of hectares. His uncle appears to be around eighty, a small, spry and gentle and very friendly man wielding a very scary looking machete which, fortunately, he had no intention of using on us. He was just clearing brush with it. I am especially impressed by the friendliness and affection that is expressed between people here. They see each other perhaps every day, or almost every day, but they never seem to lose appreciation for one another. Living where I do in Vancouver, a city that is quite cold, unfriendly and socially hostile this is a very strange and welcome treat to behold. This country is also intensely agricultural, and small wonder. The rich red soil is nourished by volcanic ash and it simply has to produce life. This country is incredibly fecund, whether for it´s natural splendour of forests and trees or for the intense agriculture that never seems to exhaust the soil. Among the towering trees frestooned with epiphytes, ferns, moss and vines and flowers, one will see cows contentedly grazing everywhere. The colour green is everywhere, in all its full spectrum of shades and intensity. We visited a small private reserve with hiking trails where we stopped to rest, have some water, and chat with the people who run the place, a family. I don´t know if they´re all related but there is clearly a lot of friendship here. The woman who runs the reserve is herself a talented artist and the canteen area where we were sitting displays many of her paintings depicting the natural life of her country. We must have done around three hours of hiking on the dirt roads going up and down steep and scarcely forgiving hills. Needless to say, I was even more tired after we were finished and my bones hurt even more, but it´s all good. Plus, the opportunity to communicate in total Spanish with someone who doesn´t speak any English is very helpful to my fluency. We also saw a very interesting looking snake in one of the trees. Nonvenemous, it was coloured green and very long and very thin. I think around five or six feet in length. I did remark to my friend that there appears to be no graffiti anywhere in Monteverde or in Santa Elena and we both agree that that is a sign of a healthy and socially cohesive community. I spent the rest of the day laying low. I just walked a mile or so down the highway to Café Caburé, a rather elegant and overpriced establishment run by a woman from Argentina who has lived in Costa Rica for twenty years and very popular with tourists. There on the balcony overlooking the tropical forest, I relaxed with a chocolate brownie with chocolate and blackberry (mora) sauce and very good ice cream and a coffee, all a bit expensive, but worth the respite. I must have spent three hours there, developing a new drawing and intermittently chatting in Spanish with the waitress, who warmly remembered me from last year when I was most recently in this beautiful country. I also noticed quite a few international students today, many of whom speak respectable Spanish. I´m assuming that they´re mostly from the US. They don´t seem particularly friendly, but that´s okay, because I´m not really here to talk to any of them. A big hug.