INTRODUCING!

So I thought it would be good to introduce some of the main characters of this little adventure of mine.

My hostess with the mostess is the lovely Sabina. A polish woman of 60, who lived in Canada for near on 30 years before endeavoring on a Costa Rican retirement 6.5 years ago. This being a retirement that never stops working, which is good because Sabina never stops moving! She has a heart of gold, wisdom and stories to boot, and all be it that she has a son that is older than I, she always talks to me like a long lost friend. She has a simple house about 50 steep steps above the cabin that I am living in. this means that visiting Sabina = butt work out! But she has the internet (when its not raining, if the cell phone likes us, and we tilt our head to the left) so shes sure to see me every morning. There will be much more about Sabina as my time here unfolds, that I am sure of.

Her dear friend and next door neighbor Jean Guy (pronounced ‘Gungi’ kinda like jungle) is a 70 year old French Canadian man who “retired” to Costa Rica in 79. He exclaims whole heartedly that he never worked hard until he came to Costa Rica. His driveway up to his water pump (which is 20 steps below his house. I mean hut. I mean house) is mearly a bit of jungle that doesn’t have trees so you can actually walk in a straight line. This was until today, when Sabina and I helped him shovel river stones mixed with dirt, to try and level it out a little. DAMED HARD WORK! Especially when the afternoon rain came to help out.

The conversations between the three of us was a real sight. Jean Guy would speak to either of us sometimes in French, sometimes in Spanish, sometimes in English with an French Canadian accent so strong that it might as well be Japanese. But to see them work, I tell ya. For 60 and 70 years of age, a 20 something would find it hard to keep up. I would shovel my butt off, and Jean Guy would ask “cest mon torn” (its my turn to shovel) and I would let him only when I couldn’t shovel another stone. He played the marcho man. But I could tell that he was grateful for the help. Afterwards we trekked up to his house, cursing at the squirrels for dropping the cacao beans (chocolate beans before they are chocolate) on the ground, making him have to bend down to get them. You see Jean Guy makes chocolate, and wine out of anything that will ferment. He has two rules in life, don’t work after 2pm, and don’t drink before 6.45am. Quite the character. But I guess you would have to be to live in a place like this.