Residents, Presidents

Yesterday I had the amazing privilege of meeting the president of the Republic of Costa Rica. But, to be honest, that wasn't the highlight of my day. My highlight was being part of the Albernia community and seeing the joy on the resident's faces as they met the president.

Let me give you some context...

San Isidro is a quaint little town. We used to have two one-lane bridges to facilitate crossing the river near the center of town. Late last January the river flooded one of the bridges. A driver who attempted to cross the flooded river had his car stall and he was swept away by the current and drowned. It was a tragic accident that resulted in a project to replace the existing bridge.

Normally, a one-lane bridge that spans maybe 25-30 feet, probably wouldn't take too long to build, but here it has taken 14 months. Rush hour has certainly been more interesting with only one functioning one-lane bridge. In December, a whole lot of work was done, and it seemed like we were days away from the re-opening of the bridge, but then they stopped and we started to hear rumors. The most interesting rumor was that they were going to wait to finish the bridge so that President Arias could come out and cut the red ribbon.

The rumor turned out to be true. So, the town was dressed up and ready for his visit to inaugurate our new bridge yesterday. I didn't go to the inauguration or to the visits to the church or the school. Instead I walked all the way to the Albernia nursing home to await his scheduled visit there.

As I got to the Albernia gate, a guard told me, "You are not allowed to enter. This event is by invitation only." I asked if he would just allow me to step in and ask the director if I could attend. The president's representatives asked my forgiveness when Ana, the director, vouched for me. The next hour I spent in wonderful conversation with my best friends in town. The staff had all new uniforms and had whipped the place into the best shape ever.

Finally, when the president appeared, he greeted a few of the residents and then took a seat of honor under a lawn awning set up for the occasion. There were lovely flowers and an official presidential podium.

The most embarassing moment for me was the first thing on the program - the singing of the Costa Rican national anthem. TV cameras panned the audience as everyone belted out the words... all except me, that is! I still haven't learned all the words! I just hope I wasn't on TV, making foolish, blubbering sounds like Mr. Bean.

After the first two speakers, the president was introduced. Instead of stepping behind the podium, he walked right over to Don Edgar, sitting in front of me in his wheelchair. He asked Edgar's name and told him he looked familiar. He spoke briefly to the residents on each side of Edgar. Then he looked straight at me, and said, "And you?"

"My name is Susan and I live in San Isidro. I visit here each week."

He had a few more words with me, and then stepped back up to the podium. Woohoo!

It was marvellous to see my friends faces glow and to see the president of this country humbly care for his compatriots who are a bit older. Don Oscar Arias is a Nobel Peace Prize winner and a compassionate president. He has chosen to give half of his presidential salary to donate to nursing homes around the country. Yesterday he announced that he uses the other half of his salary at his discretion, and he has chosen to use part of it to help Albernia for three or four months as well. (The Albernia property was originally donated by the president's uncle, I learned.)

Photos of Day Three

Carriage Ride (Note Army camouflage material used to line carriage.)

Devotional Time by the Hotel Pool

Oropendola Nests on our Islet Tour

Dinner for Two

The Streets of Granada

Nicaragua Trip - Day Three

After another refreshing night’s sleep, we enjoyed our personal devotion time by the hotel pool. We basically had the courtyard to ourselves and had our own private “church.” The other noisy tourists were late-risers and seemed to prefer beers on the terrace over seeing the sights of the city.

We walked several blocks through streets brimming with vendors of every sort… the Sunday market. There was a little bit of everything available. Breakfast options were still pretty slim, so we munched on dry cereal and yogurt.

We were eagerly looking forward to a trip out to the islets of Granada on Lake Nicaragua. We loved the carriage ride so much on Saturday that we decided to pay the extra $20 to take another one to the pier. There we hired a small boat to take us on an hour long private tour. There are 265 small islands near the city of Granada, all formed by volcanic explosions about 400 years ago. Most of the islands are privately owned by wealthy business people or politicians. I would hate to have my house on one, because we were only one of many boats putting around the perimeters of their homes, gawking at the evidence of wealth.

We paid about $5 extra so that the carriage driver would take us to a sight I wanted to revisit. The San Juan de Dios Hospital had been abandoned around 10 years ago. By the look of it, you would think it had been abandoned much longer ago! It takes up two whole city blocks. Trees are growing right out of the rooftops of the tall spires! Inventory books and patient records are still strewn in the hallways. One story we heard indicated that the hospital sewage had been accumulating for many years in a tank under the center patio of the hospital. Eventually, the hospital began to settle into the huge sewage pit underneath it. What a good reason for a hospital to die!

We ate an elegant supper in a new hotel, enjoying the restaurant all to ourselves, since other tourists don’t eat until late. We hit the sack early. Day three… another lovely day!

Granada Nicaragua Trip - Day Two

One of our hopes for our trip together was to spend some time alone with God, plus have time for me to mentor Kari. God was very gracious to us in both senses! Our first morning we found two rockers next to the small, quiet pool in the courtyard, and enjoyed God’s presence.

After our quiet time, we ventured out on the streets to look for a good bread store for our breakfast. If there exist good bread stores in Nicaragua, we never found one! We stepped into one, looked at each other, and stepped right out again! Instead we found some pre-packaged dry toast, dulce de leche, and yogurt and enjoyed our breakfast on the main city plaza, right outside our hotel door.

Since it was Saturday we decided to find a bus to a nearby city of Masaya, where they boast of a great artisan’s market. The express bus driver knew two speeds: FAST and STOP!! We had an interesting cultural experience en route. Suddenly, while barreling down the highway, the bus driver’s assistant in the back shouted, “PECADO!” In Spanish, that means SIN! The driver looked over his shoulder once, and kept going. The boy now became more insistent, “PECADO! PECADO! PECADO!” Now, the bus driver was truly concerned, glaring over his shoulder and considering slowing down.

One more shout of “PECADO!” and the driver slammed on the brakes. As the dust settled, the passenger behind us was thrown off the bus! His dripping packages gave away his sin. He had two sacks of frozen fish which were creating pools of fishy water on the floor. We realized that the Nicaraguans drop their “s” sounds, so the boy had been actually shouting “PESCADO!” the Spanish word for fish!

The artisan’s market was a fun stop for us. We mostly window-shopped. Our biggest purchase was four identical clay bead bracelets – one for Kari and me, and the other two for Norma and Krista. Later I read an inscription on one of the beads. It said “Cuba!” So much for Nicaraguan souvenirs! I’ll attach a photo of one of the lovely murals in the artisan’s market.

We opted for a local bus back to Granada. The eight block walk to the bus stop was an eye-opener. We have heard that 75% of Nicaraguans live below the poverty level. I think that percentage perhaps is slightly underestimated. We saw starving dogs and starving horses, but also starving people. From then on, we always bought extra food to share with the needy all around us.

The local buses also have two speeds. SLOW and STOP. Once again, my cane came to the rescue. Otherwise the two of us would have been standing, packed like sardines with the rest of the hot, sweaty bunch.

The sun was lowering in the sky by the time we made our way back to the main square. On a whim, we decided to hire a horse and buggy to take us for a sunset tour of Granada. Our favorite stop was at an arsenal built by the Spaniards soon after establishing the city. It was most recently used during the civil war in the 80’s to house prisoners. We climbed up into the guard tower and caught our first glimpse of Lake Nicaragua and the volcano that overlooks the city. What a view!

We ate a real meal that evening at a restaurant recommended by the carriage driver. I ate guapote – the most typical fish from Lake Nicaragua.

Day two… a lovely day!

Nicaragua Trip - Day One

Kari and I had a marvelous time together in Granada, Nicaragua! Kari has to leave the country for 72 hours every three months in order to stay in Costa Rica, since she does not have a residency visa. Three months ago she traveled with some of the other Sojourn teachers to Panama City. This time I offered to go with her on a trip - just the two of us. To save money, we planned it ourselves, making our hotel reservation based on the recommendation of a friend from Nicaragua. We could have gone through a travel agency for around $400 apiece, but we ended up spending $166 each!! Aren’t we good missionaries?!?

We traveled by bus. The trip to Nicaragua was uneventful. (I'll write an entry soon describing the return trip adventures!) We left around noon and arrived around 10PM. The border crossing was definitely third world, but we managed better than most, thanks to my cane! Since I’d had foot surgery only 4 weeks previous, I decided to take my cane along, not only to help me walk, but to give me a “passport to grace.” Don’t think I was playing my sympathy card! Honestly, the cane was my salvation! People were very gracious and accommodating.

One interesting note about the bus ride… the roads in Nicaragua at night are narrow, dark, rough and unmarked (no center lines, no any lines!) Get a seat in the back if you want to avoid a heart attack. What you can’t see can’t hurt you!

Before the trip we had investigated how much a taxi should cost from the bus station to our hotel. The first taxi to happen by, seeing our foreign faces, wanted double that price. We should have forked over the extra two dollars, since we ended up waiting and hunting for another taxi for at least another 20 minutes.

We walked into our hotel lobby and were “wowed.” The lobby was gorgeous! Our room was small, but clean, with a decent, clean bathroom. Initially we were disappointed when we saw that our window did not look out on the street. But, after a good night’s rest, we opened our curtain and looked out on the lovely courtyard, and decided our view wasn’t half bad!! The attached photo shows you that view. Tomorrow I will write about our second day there.

Surpise Celestial Sleepover

Yesterday morning I was working on the computer at home when I received a panicky phone call from Lori’s neighbor. Wilma couldn’t get through on the office phone to Lori, so she asked me if Lori had house guests. As I was contacting Lori by Skype, Wilma called back to say, “It’s robbers! They are leaving with her TV!” I had her call the police, and Eric drove with Lori to her house. A small group of men evidently had forced the lock on her carport gate and broken down her front door in broad daylight. Fortunately, her losses total less than $1000. She will have to replace her passport and driver’s license. The police never came, though about 4 hours later a “judicial investigation team” showed up to look for fingerprints and write a report. Then Lori and her landlord had to go to the police station to file a report while workmen stayed behind to screw the door back together again.

In the afternoon I did a lot of phone calls for Lori. One of those calls was to the emergency number for the US Consulate. Inside each passport it says to call to report if your passport is lost or stolen. I first tried several phone numbers for the US consulate in Costa Rica, but either got answering machines or no answer. So, I decided to call their emergency number. A man answered the phone in English. He didn’t say, “Good afternoon! US Consulate.” He didn’t even say, “Hello.”

He answered the phone like this: “Yeah?”

I was a bit surprised and figured I must have the wrong number! But, I asked in English, “Is this the US Consulate?”

“Yeah.”

It was an American accent. At this point I wasn’t sure if his vocabulary extended beyond this one word. “Yeah.”

Anyway, I explained the robbery and he said simply, “You don’t need to report it. She just has to replace it.”

Lori really wanted me to come over after Eric left in the early afternoon, but I was in the midst of an urgent ILF project - printing and sending 47 personal, signed, official ILF invitations for the IT Filipino leaders. I was on the phone for about an hour trying to decide between DHL and FedEx. (That is a story in and of itself!) The DHL messenger finally showed up at 6:30PM, freeing me to go join Lori at her house. Celeste was a welcome addition to the slumber party. The damaged front door may not have looked terribly secure, but the 115 pound dog was a nice deterrent to any further break-ins!

What a Way to Start 2007!

We had a wonderful New Year's Eve service at our church, Iglesia Principe de Paz. As people filed in, we handed out multi-colored slips that read, "List 10 reasons you are thankful." Luis Diego, now the new director of I.T. Costa Rica, led us in music of thanksgiving as the seats began to fill.

Rather than having traditional "church," we now pulled out an "IPP BINGO" sheet. "Tico Bingo" is a big thing at this time of year. It is a lottery that benefits the Red Cross. So, the artwork on our Bingo sheets mimicked the Tico Bingo slogan. In IPP BINGO, however, all are winners. Everyone had to fill their nine squares with a thanksgiving, a goal for 2007, and a signature of different individuals in the church. The group was very animated as they got to know one another better, focusing on gratefulness to God.

After more wonderful singing, the pastor spoke on all the things we forget to be thankful for. He concluded his message by quoting Revelation 7:12. "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"

We then shared in a very precious time of the Lord's Supper.

As we drew near to the conclusion of a beautiful morning, the people filed to the front to deposit their multi-colored slips of gratitude, along with their offering, in a large, clear glass bowl. As they deposited their offerings of praise, each had the option of drawing a Scripture slip. We had made up about 25 slips of paraphrased Scriptures that focus on gratitude. Each person that drew a slip and read their portion aloud into the microphone. People were so eager to participate that I quickly ran out of slips. Some people spontaneously shared their thanks by quoting memorized verses.

We all joined hands in a large circle and read in unison the passage from Revelation that was on a PowerPoint slide. You should have heard the enthusiasm as we thought about preparing for the day we would all stand before the Lamb: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"
Still in a circle, the pastor led us in a prayer of commitment for the coming year. He then told us no one could leave without personally greeting and blessing each person in the crowd... about 80 of us! There was such a warm spirit that people stayed for about another half hour, hugging and blessing one another.

What a way to start 2007!

Put Your Feet Up!

Well, put your foot up, might be a better title! Here are details of my recent foot surgery for those who are interested...

Some of you know that the last time I had an endoscopy, I started my own IV. Well, I decided to do it again! So, Woody was my assistant once again, and we got it started on the first poke! Yeah! I decided to give it a try again since my veins virtually disappear when I am cold or nervous.

Woody drove me to the hospital by 6AM so that we could sign papers and have me ready for surgery by 7. The doctors were pretty impressed with the IV. The doctors – surgeon, family MD, and anesthesiologist – all seemed very good, and we were pleased. I was in surgery for about an hour. They dissected the two nerves in the area, which looked normal. So, they decided to investigate a bit deeper and found a small mass close to the nerve and bone (4mm diameter). They weren’t sure if it was a “foreign body” or nerve tissue or some other type of small mass. They removed it and sent it to pathology. (No report as of yet.) They feel quite certain the surgery will correct my foot pain.

I’ve already been able to put a bit of weight on my heel or the side of my foot. For two days I will mostly be lying down with my foot up.

When we returned home after a long day at the hospital and a slow drive home through Christmas traffic jams, Brian and Stephanie had fixed us a lovely trout dinner. Our team riends had left a beautiful fresh flower bouquet, graced by a really nice card.

Woody has been my ANGEL during all of this! What would I do without him!?!?

Thanks for your prayers. Continue to pray for me during this recovery… that the surgery might truly correct the problem; for grace for Woody and me as I am so dependent on him; for relative freedom from pain; for the ability to rest.

Book Club

Today I got up bright and early in order to make bread dough before taking off with Woody for a two hour pre-marital counseling appointment with Pablo and Jenny. By the time we got back, I had just enough time to rush along my home-made rolls as a contribution to our final book club of the year.

I have really enjoyed reading this year. Book Club has helped motivate me, and we’ve come up with some winners! I’ve read over 20 books this year. Among my favorites have been Suite Francais; Cry, the Beloved Country; A Journey to Victorious Praying; The Kite Runner; One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich; The Hiding Place; and Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World.

We had a great book to conclude the year. We read Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Though I have read it before, it is one of those books that you can read again and again and still enjoy.

Some of our book club meetings this have been a bit dull. But today’s club was the most fun of all of them so far. Karen hosted the party, and she is a fantastic hostess! When we arrived, she had a Christmas craft ready for all of us. We made plates, decoupaged with Christmas fabrics she had brought from the USA. It was really fun!

Lunch was sumptuous! My rolls turned out great, for one. J Karen had fixed grilled chicken salad. You can’t beat a fresh Costa Rican fruit salad, including oranges, pineapple, mango, papaya, bananas, passion fruit, grapes and pecans! As we ate, we each had a chance to share a special Christmas memory.

We had a couple of special guests who also read the book in order to join our group today. Helen, a new intern from England, and Carol, a friend of Stephanie, were a great addition to the book discussion! Karen had each of us come prepared with a discussion question, so the dialog was animated.

Karen’s incredible home-made desserts were the icing on the cake. Birds nest cookies, fudge, and pecan snowballs were the perfect touch for a book club finale. As we washed up the dishes, I asked, “Are we going to have book club again next year?”

The group responded in unison, “OF COURSE!!!”

Thanksgiving 2006

Seven people didn't show to our team Thanksgiving Dinner. So, we had only 41 people on Friday! I'll try to attach a photo later. The two huge turkeys were more than enough, and we are still enjoying leftovers. I also had almost two whole leftover pumpkin pies! Thanks to Reynold's Turkey Roasting Bags, the job was a breeze. We had wonderful conversations with many of our Tico friends. The day was a huge success! Several stayed after just to talk about how precious the day was for them and how grateful they were to celebrate the day with us. :)

Emotional Limitations

In yesterday's blog I spoke of being weary. In that weariness, I have chosen to pour out my heart to Him.

Today, my reading from A Journey to Praying Victoriously dove-tailed with yesterday's thoughts on weariness. Bill Thrasher comments, "In Jesus' humanity, He had emotional limitations."

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed." Mark 1:35

Evidently, the term used here for "prayed" does not refer primarily to intercession, but to the outpouring of His own soul to the Father for renewal and refreshment. It's refreshing to know that Jesus Himself had to pour out His thoughts and emotions to the Father!

Weary!

Lately I have felt weary. Between the intensity of investing our lives in the Formation missionaries, having surgery, other health issues, insomnia, and Woody’s travels, I have simply felt needy and weary.

Yesterday I had a very full day after very little sleep. I started out my day just after 4AM, enjoying a long time with my Lord. Even though I felt my heart would burst with emotions and thoughts, I decided to not give in to the temptation to look for a friend to pour out my heart, but to depend totally on Him. Throughout the day I cried out to Him. As I did market shopping for next week’s Formation meals, my eyelids were heavy, but I cried out to Him. As I struggled through reimbursement requests and budget calculations with a splitting headache, I cried out to Him. As I made phone calls and juggled menus for next week’s Thanksgiving Bash, I cried out to Him.

It was wonderful to spend my day leaning SO hard on Him. It made me think of our Great Dane, Celeste. She is such a people-dog! She will stand next to me and affectionately lean into me – with all 115 pounds of bone and muscle! That’s how I want to lean into God.

Yesterday evening, after a “leaning day,” my friend and team mate, Michelle, showed up at my door to talk to me. Oh, what a blessing as we had a heart-to-heart share time! I felt like God honored my choice to depend only on Him, rewarding me with a flesh-and-blood friend to encourage me.

The morning dawned bright and clear after a night of tropical rainstorms. My Celestial prayer walk this morning definitely had a Spirit-led theme. Let me share with you two passages– one from my prayer book and one from my Scripture memorization review.

Phrases from Is. 40:28-31 “He does not become weary;” He gives strength to the weary; though youths grow weary; they will walk and not become weary.”

Isaiah 50:4 “The Sovereign Lord [gives the word] that sustains the weary.”

Photos of Woody in Spain

Woody at La Alhambra

Flyweight Wrestling

This morning I had a round of tag-team flyweight wrestling. I actually looked up the old wrestling terms to see what weight category Celeste fits into! The frog and I combined probably outweighed Celeste, but the frog really didn’t throw his weight into the match. Let me explain. This morning on my Celestial walk, Celeste spotted a frog on the road and lunged for it. I sensed we were in for big trouble, and I didn’t want to let her loose to get in trouble alone. Within a second, I realized it was a frog she was after. The frogs we have on campus are deadly for dogs. (We think that’s how Chester died.) So, I literally wrestled Celeste to the ground with a move I learned from “The Crusher.” I held her in a choke grip around the neck. It took us a few minutes – all three of us on the ground before the match was called.

The frog and I won!

Actually, Celeste won, whether she realizes it or not. The frog may be featherweight, but his poison would have knocked out a Super-Heavyweight!

Blah, Blah, Blah...

Some of you may recall an amazing story of one of my elderly friends from the Albernia Home for the Elderly. Dona Clemencia has some sort of dementia and spends much of her day mumbling sounds that make no sense. When I visited her with a group of women from Barrington, Illinois, I had a very lucid conversation with her and a time of prayer.

Today I spoke again with Clemencia. She had been blabbering, "Blah, blah, blah," and the nursing home staff had been trying to get her to repeat some kind of meaningful sound instead. I walked over to her, looked lovingly in her eyes and asked if she remembered me.

"Si," she replied.

Once again, I had a lucid conversation with her and told her about Jesus' love. She assured me that she understood me and kept looking lovingly into my eyes. Her words were few, but deliberate.

As I walked away, she resumed her earlier talk, "Blah, blah, blah."

Next, I pulled out a magic marker and huge pad of paper to try to communicate with Don Carlos, my friend who is deaf and almost blind. With great effort he was able to read my words. I held a Reader's Digest version of a Bible study on Luke 22 with him. He was thrilled! Day after day he lives isolated in his own dark, soundless world. But God's light shone on him today!

(The photo is of Don Carlos as I visited him today.)

All Over Town

Last week I put together a number of our extra t-shirts and gave them to “Colli Loco.” Colli is a young man who has some handicaps. The town people call him “loco” because he is a bit off in the head and slow on the uptake. Over the years we’ve made friends with Colli and have even had opportunities to share the gospel with him. He earns a little bit of money by guarding cars near our old apartment in downtown San Isidro.

Yesterday I had to laugh when I went into town to do errands!!

First, as I parked our car, I ran into Colli. He was wearing a t-shirt from the Bolivian Youth Leaders Convention we spoke at two years ago. He grinned as he showed off his new clothes to me.

Then, I went into the vegetable stand. The young man who waited on me was wearing a t-shirt that came from someone we’d met from a short-term team from California.

As I drove away, I saw another needy man from town. He was wearing another one of Woody’s t-shirts!

I commented to our gardener about seeing our clothes all over town. He laughed as he told me about a trip he’d taken to a poor community on the Sarapiqui River. He’d taken a couple of bags of clothes we’d donated for the poor. He said, “I’ve seen people wearing your clothes in at least three other towns!”

Let’s pray that the light of Christ might spread across this country – just like our old t-shirts!

Little Known Facts About Costa Rica

-Mother’s Day is August 15th and is a national holiday.

-On August 2nd up to 2,000,000 people will be making a pilgrimage by foot to honor the Virgen of Los Angeles. That’s almost half the population of the country!)

-McDonalds here “McPinto” for breakfast… beans and rice.

-Also, McDonalds have “McInternet” which gives you a free half hour on line with the purchase of a combo meal.

-There is no self-serve gas in the country.

-If you want to install a phone line in your house, the wait for a line can be up to two years.

-All bars and liquor stores in the country are closed on Election Day and Good Friday.

-Just a few miles from here, the average annual rainfall is 312 inches.

-On the hottest day of the year we have temps around 88 degrees. Our coldest night of the year - about 59 degrees.

-For obvious reasons, homes do not have furnaces or air conditioners.

-We have very few mosquitoes. We don’t even have screens on our windows!

-On Wednesdays the movie theaters in the country all offer 2 for 1 tickets.

-Some movie theaters have VIP seating – leather recliners with waiters who serve almost anything you want, including sushi!

-Costa Rica has the third highest per capita accident rate in the world.

When we pulled the moving van up to our house in September of 2005 there was a four month old Harlequin Great Dane sitting on the doorstep awaiting us. She hung around with us all day. It was obvious she had an owner, but she was wearing no tags and seemed delighted to just be with us. She was just about the sweetest, gentlest puppy I'd ever met.

As we took a coffee break and sat with her at our feet, Woody casually asked me, "What do you think her name is?"

I took a look into her sky blue eyes and answered, "Celeste."

He thought that was pretty funny. A huge dog like that with such a gentle name! The puppy must have found its own way home that evening and didn't reappear for another week or so. This time she had tags on. Guess what? Her name was CELESTE!!

Celeste kept appearing on and off. Because we had to call them so often, we eventually got to know her owners. We enjoyed the dog so much that we told Daniel and Andrea, "If you ever need to find her another home, we'll take her!"

In late April, we got a phone call. "We are moving to Canada and can't take Celeste with us. Could you take her?"

So, we now are the proud owners of an eleven month old "PUPPY!" She must weigh about 100 pounds. She looks very intimidating. But, don't tell potential thieves that she has a tender heart. The biggest risk she poses is leaning into you too hard for affection.

(By the way, since that first day I discovered that Celeste has only one sky blue eye. The other is green!)

Thirty-One-Derful Years!

As I sat, trying to come up with a creative card idea for our 31st wedding anniversary, I suddenly remembered that Baskin Robbins boasts “31 flavors.” My card to Woody said, “Life with you has had more variety than 31 flavors of ice cream; sweeter than Cadbury chocolate milk (see photo); and more satisfying than a pound of Oreos.” Thanks, Woody, for being the joy of my life!

A Fellow Hiker

On Good Friday we took two new team mates, Brian and Sara Weyandt, for a hike in the Braulio Carillo National Forest - just a five minute drive from our house. Walking along the trail we encountered a "fellow-hiker." I've learned a lot about tarantulas since we got to observe this one close-up. There are over 800 species of tarantula, so it shouldn't surprise you that we aren't sure of the name of this one! We think it might be a "Costa Rican Red-legged Tarantula." It's legspan was about 6 inches. The body was very black and velvety and the "knees" were bright red.

Here are some of the interesting facts I learned about tarantulas. The male usually lives from 2 months to 3 1/2 years. The female can live over 20! They feed on insects and baby rodents. They have very small brains and are fragile - can be killed by a fall. They are venomous, but there are no recorded deaths of humans caused by a tarantula. They have itch-causing hairs, particularly on their abdomens, and some can kick these hairs into the air to defend themselves. They grow by molting. During the molting process they lay upside down. Rarely does the female kill the male, but just in case, once the mating is done, the male makes a quick dash to avoid possibile demise at the "hands" of his lover. During mating, he grasps her fangs to keep her from attacking him. They have poor eyesight, but their hairs are sensors for temperature changes, smell, and detecting vibrations in the air. The largest tarantula recorded had a 13 inch legspan!

That's probably more than you wanted to know about tarantulas. So far, we have never seen one near our house, so don't let the photo of this one keep you from visiting!