Sat., Nov. 20, 2010 at 2:57 p.m.
Since I am leaving here Monday I am psychologically preparing for the huge change of environment I am going to encounter in Mexico City. Though in some ways I could remain here in Monteverde for longer, much longer, it really feels as if my time here is done. Concerning what I came for here, I´ve got all my ducks are in a row now (I love that expression.) Following a night full of wind and rain I went walking today out into the sunshine and drizzle, doing the coffee shop hop. I began in a bakery cafe I´ve never sat in before. The young man serving didn´t have a clue of what I meant when I ordered, in impeccable Spanish, decaffinated coffee, and then tried to speak to me in English. I replied ¨Ya has escuchado que mi español es bastante bueno y que puedo hablar mucho ingles en mi pais.¨(You have already heard that my Spanish is pretty good and that I can speak as much English as I want in my own country.) It turns out that he had never heard of decaffinated coffee before, so I got a hot chocolate instead. Then, near Santa Elena I stopped in a luxury hotel, the Monteverde Lodge where they have an elegant cafe paneled in tropical hardwood with windows overlooking a lovely tropical garden. They respected my desire to communicate in Spanish, and served a lovely cup of decaf espresso. I was the only customer present. When it came time to pay it turned out that they didn´t have any Costa Rican currency (only American, go figure!) so they gave me my coffee on the house. This is a bit interesting to me because the last time I sat in there, 2008, the waiter (a different one) for some reason also gave me my coffee free! Once again, on my way back I stopped at the Cafe Cabure, for the sixth day in a row for a cup of coffee and their Brownie Dinamita. I met and chatted a bit with a nice family group from Alaska and no one even thought of mentioning Sarah Palin, which is even nicer! This cafe seems to have all the features that I love about a cafe: it´s elegant, but the owner and staff are completely unpretentious, it commands a beautiful view of the surrounding nature that can be enjoyed from their terrace, it´s quiet, the prices are reasonable, and the deserts and chocolate and coffee are out of this world. The only drawback is that from time to time a customer on the terrace might light up a cigarette. Fortunately I haven´t been assaulted by second hand smoke.
I have mentioned previously that one of my reasons for this trip is spiritual retreat, and I would like to expound on this a bit, if I may, with all due respect to those of my readers who are atheists (just grit your teeth and bear it, this won´t be long). I have come to realise through this trip just how much and how profoundly my Christian faith has come to influence my life and my activities. For example, the interest I have in the people as well as the natural beauty of this place seems to spring out of my love for Christ, and the influence of his love influencing me to love others. This is also why I seem to do well in my profession as a mental health peer support worker, it is this presence of love that seems to be increasingly suffusing my life and the things that I do. This isn´t to say that I don´t respect other faiths, I do, actually to the point where I feel rather like an honourary Sufi (Sufiism is a kind of mystical Islam. Whereas orthodox Islam states that there is only one God, the Sufis say that there is ONLY God.) It is my belief that anyone who loves or lives in a state of love has also been somehow touched by Jesus Christ, making them like honorary Christians, I suppose. Just like when I am meditating it could make me an honorary Buddhist, or if I am praying five times during the day, an honorary Muslim, or if I am struggling and arguing with God (as I often do), an honourary Jew, when I am perceiving God in Nature, I´m an honourary pantheist, when I am focussing on humanistic values perhaps I´m even an honourary atheist. I am not a synchretist (someone who believes in the unity of all religions.) To me each religious faith is something distinct and unique. However I also believe strongly that we all have things that we could learn from other religions. I also believe that every religion, especially my own Christianity, is a poor and in many ways inaccurate and misleading reflection of its founder.
Okay my atheists, that´s all the religion you will hear from me for a while, anyway, and now you can relax and breathe easy.
By the way, my offer of a free small bird painting in exchange for dinner out together is still valid for all who qualify!
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