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.