Costa Rica 6, Tenth Day In Monteverde

This morniing at breakfast, when another guest noticed me cleaning up after myself, I mentioned that if it looks like I almost live here, it's because I'm here for a month, so I do almost live here. It is also my fourth time staying in the Mariposa, and my third time in a row, so I have arranged with my friends here that I will take care of most of my own cleaning and maintenance (completely my own idea), which means that I have now in my bathroom a toilet brush, a couple of cleaning rags and some spray cleaner, so I go over my room and bathroom every day, just like I do at home. I also change my sheets, make up my bed and change my towels every week. And I clear my breakfast table and, if no one's around, or they´re busy, I even wash my own dishes. This Friday, I will be starting to do my own laundry. This is win-win, I think. It's high season here, so this way I can reduce their work load. And it helps me feel useful and independent, which means I can still get lots of rest while keeping up my basic lifeskills. The only thing I can't do here is cook, which I do miss, though it is kind of nice to be eating in restaurants, though I have to admit that, once I'm back in Vancouver, I probably won't even want to see another restaurant for a long tine, which is also just as well, given that I can't really afford to eat out when I'm home. This place is so beautiful, and Monteverde must surely be one of the most wonderful and beautiful places on earth. While I was walking home, there was once again a perpetual rainbow that seemed to be leading me home. There has been constant drizzle again today, and my shirt is rather wet from being out in it, but the sun has also been shining constantly, so, constant rainbows. Lots of spontaneous chats with friendly strangers today: a young French couple from Marseilles, an older Scottish couple from Edinburgh, a tattoo artist from Mexico and his German girlfriend, both artists, other random strangers who seem to like my artwork, then I bumped into a waiter from the oldest Italian restaurant here who remembered me from last ylear and we stopped to chat and I got to pet his dog, and following a walk into Santa Elena, a pleasant chat with two of the staff in the cafe where I just ate a veggie burger. One of them has a brother who lives in Chilliwack, just forty miles or so outside of Vancouver, who is a teacher there. He sends his brother glowing reports about Canada and Canadians, so you might say I have quite an act to live up to while I'm here in Costa Rica. And always good and interesting conversations with my friend, Esteban, who with his parents helps operate the Mariposa where I am staying. Cripes, l'm getting so much Spanish that I sometimes don't even notice what language I'm speaking. I also chatted in the cafe with a nice older couple visiting from Ohio, who also seemed to like my art, then with a young boyfriend and girlfriend act in the cafe, and they looked so nice together, I had to tell them that. Fortunately they cheerfully accepted the compliment. They really seem to love each other, and not just in the romantic sense. They look good together. Feel free to read my blogpost from yesterday, but be warned, it's mostly about a partiularly vivid dream I had that night. If you do read it, and have any insight to offer about the content of the dream, then please let me know. As some of you are aware, I am already a vivid dreamer, and here in Monteverde, it's like going from one reality into another, then back again. All for now folks.