Seems like July was a month of many ‘unexpected out-of-the-ordinary’ things happening … for instance:
One day I was in my house typing the monthly newsletter to the ‘boys in Holland’. I was seated at the table facing the front gate. I had looked in that direction and noticed a couple of horses wandering around in the road. That is not too unusual but, it was unusual when those two horses came trotting (not meandering) into the yard!!! I ran out of the Ski Suite telling Otto, who was reading in bed, and over to the far side of the deck by the beach, to where the horses had gone. Ranger (our ever vigilant dog) was at the restaurant and came tearing down his line barking and lunging for the horses who hopped out of his way just at the last second! They headed to the right, right between the deck and the sea, so Ranger backtracked and went to the other side of the platform where he lunged at them again. They passed the hammock near the Rancho (one of the cabinas near the beach) and were going to head through the yard towards the Chicharra (another cabina) only I got between them and their destination, clapping my hands and hollering, so they ran back out the gate! What fun! Never a dull moment. The horses had escaped from the caballero who was trying to take them up the ‘yoga farm’ road. My urgency in getting them out of the yard was due to the fact that they were ‘trotting’ & we had 16 guests here at that time; half of them were between the ages of 1½ and 18 and they were all on the premises … I didn’t want them getting tangled up and/or trodden by Ranger or the horses who were trying to get away from Ranger – I was successful – and then I shut the gate. I have been keeping the gate shut ever since then, too.
Another ‘un-expected’ was the dryer broke! The dryer (which was 2 years old & not expected to last more than another year) was running one night (I had been finishing up some Rancho sheets) when the power went out & when the power came back on the heating element in the dryer started running but the tumbler didn’t, aaaaaaaand, the unit didn’t turn off. Xinia (the cook) discovered it the next day. I had never been told of the dryer’s need to be turned off and restarted whenever the electricity goes off. Xinia thought I had been told. Oh well. Now, I know! We had the unit checked by a specialist in San Isidro (delivered free of charge by Ricardo – the new veggie guy) and after discussing our situation and our options we decided to go for a new dryer. We went without a dryer for a couple of weeks because … well, we live at the end of a ‘bad’ road and, you know, it’s Costa Rica? And, we love it! And, guess what? Punta Banco got the most rain this month during the time when our dryer was broken! Imagine that! I spent a lot of time putting laundry out on the line and bringing it back in and putting it back out … for our guests, too. I also strung up some line in the Ski Suite so I could dry stuff there with the use of a fan. OH, and Xinia’s vacation also happened to be in that timeframe as well which meant that along with all the extra laundry handling Otto & I cooked 2 meals per day (about 9 hours a day) for our guests!!! It was all a wonderful experience full of opportunities for personal growth (snicker … snicker).
The biggest ‘un-expected’ occurred during one of Xinia’s vacation day’s, after having retrieved Ranger from his escape, and after Otto left with Xinia & Feliz (local guy we hired as a taxi) for Golfito to pick up a new dryer, aaaand after I made breakfast for 8 people, I asked Alix(our Israeli guest) if he was going to wash the pan that he had left soaking overnight. Let me explain. Alix, & his girlfriend Pita, asked if we’d like them to make dinner one night to give us a break (we were cooking while Xinia was away). We said yes. They did and it was absolutely fantastic! The guests also loved it & we all vocally expressed our gratitude! We four worked on the dishes together afterwards and Alix left one pan that truly needed to soak until morning. So, in the morning (which is the day I had begun to describe), I quite innocently asked him if he was going to wash it. It wasn’t a demand. It was truly a question based on my believing he had always intended on doing it because they were so keen on ‘helping us out of the goodness of their hearts’ (I thought there was a possibility of his becoming unhappy if I washed it before he had a chance to get to it -they never ate breakfast with us & sometimes took a long walk in the morning so I didn’t want to miss them). My GOD! He wheeled around on me and with daggers shooting from his eyes and said, “Are you serious?” I was so shocked by his appearance and energy … he seemed like a total raging stranger. All the other guests were still eating breakfast (Alix & I were in the kitchen and visible to the other guests) so I kept my cool and quite sincerely replied, “Yes.” And then told him why I was asking. He was still livid! I told him, ‘no worries’ that I’d be happy to do it and that I thought that maybe he had wanted to do it. He thought Otto and I had been, and were still being, totally ungrateful for their generosity and graciousness. I thought we both had expressed our gratitude numerous times. I was really confused by his behavior! He stalked off and left me in the kitchen. I sat back down at the tables but could eat no more … my appetite had been wasted. I tried to assume that he had had a bad night or maybe that he had fought with Pita … or something. The change in his personality was so extreme! I did the dishes quickly as the guests finished. Then I went to the Ski Suite (my house). Shortly, thereafter, Alix came to the house and asked if he could speak to me since he had something on his heart … or maybe it was that he needed to ‘clear’ something from his heart. I said okay even though I was dreading it. I had no idea what I was in for! It was more of the same from the kitchen conversation only this time his anger was even more expressive as he hurled judgments and accusations and rough language at me … quickly reducing me to tears … he later said that he thought he was just being ‘direct’. I told him, though he interrupted me numerous times, that he and Pita had totally misunderstood some of Otto’s & my actions, hadn’t heard our expressions of appreciation and that a lot of our dilemma was likely due to cultural differences. I tried to explain. Eventually he calmed down & seemed to understand some of what I was saying. We parted after he gave me a quick hug – I think it made him feel better … like everything was okay. He, at least, had gotten to express his rage.
There is quite a bit more to this but let me sum up: I didn’t tell Otto about this after he got back from Golfito with the dryer because I had gotten a call – also that same day - from Ot’s parents saying that his cat, Tiger (whom he has had for at least 10 years), had passed away. I knew Otto would be quite grieved (and he was – he cried). The next morning I did tell him (including the part that we settled the misunderstanding) and HE, then, was quite angry with Alix and wanted to kick them both (Alix & Pita) out right away. But, he waited until the next day just to make sure he wasn’t over-reacting. Otto considered his choices and decided that he did not like that Alix treated me so poorly and especially that he did it while he, Otto, was absent. He told Alix & Pita together and then told them to leave & that there would be no discussion. Basically, he said, “No one talks to my woman like that … ever … for any reason what-so-ever!” That’s my paraphrase of what Otto said by the way. Anyway, we could no longer trust Alix not to react like that again (towards me, Xinia, or another female guest). After I thought about it I could clearly see that if any of the Dutch owners would have passed by and saw how Alix was treating me and that I was crying that they would have immediately pushed him out the gate with no explanation. Alix’s rude behavior was uncalled for and completely unjustified … in my opinion. They left the next day after they paid their bill and stayed at a neighboring cabina for another month or so. Whew!
Another story that I’ll keep short is that I went out into the surf with Otto on our ‘stand-up’ board! The 2 of us lay on the same board with me in front. The sea got more ambitious as we paddled … I paddled for less than 5 minutes & Otto did all the rest … out. It is quite alarming to be in front on a board and go over a largish sized wave let me tell you. You go up, up, up as you crest the wave and then crash down on the back side of it. What a jolt! Once would have been more than enough but it wasn’t unfortunately. I managed, shockingly enough, to swallow some sea water. Combine that with the strain of the new experience of lying on a board with only your shoulders and head raised and the motion of going over the waves I ended up being quite motion sick by the time we got out to calmer water. We sat up on the board for no more than 10 minutes and I said I had to go back. I was too sick to enjoy myself. We caught about 3 waves going back in which would have been fun if I had been more than semi-conscious … and then, I laid on the beach for an hour recuperating. With Otto’s skill and my ability to balance and stay on the board we never tipped over or lost the board. I shudder to think what might have happened to me if we had. Gasp! I was in no conscious frame of mind to rescue myself. But, that didn’t happen, so … no worries! I’ll go out again … later …
Come and visit!!!
