Continuing my daily picture articles, I present you with today's picture:

Taken at the beach, this cute little Costa Rican monkey is one of the reasons of why it's so awesome to be here.

While I'm not too sure of the species, Mr. Monkey seemed to be 4 or 5 months old, very smart, and loves to eat bread, papaya, bananas... He's also a natural star and loved posing for all the cameras around him.

From what I've read, Costa Rica has 4 different native species of monkeys, more than most other latin american countries, except those with Amazonian rainforest, they are also one of the smartest animals of the animal kingdom and are one of the few ones that can see in color.

Want to know more about Costa Rican Monkeys? Click Here!

Going to the bank in Costa Rica could be an often frustrating experience.
First of all, we have the big lines (see below)... followed by the sometimes hell-hot bank (many times, the AC doesn't work), and the fact that there are 15 bank teller windows and maybe just 3 tellers working.

Lines

I wish that Costa Rican banks would have kept the traditional stand-up lines that people have been doing for millenia, but instead they decided to implement a new system that instead of innovating fails miserably.

I understand the fact of the bank wanting clients to feel comfortable, but having them sit down and then moving them every minute or so, like a game of musical chairs, it's ridiculous! Just when I'm starting to feel comfortable, BANG!, move to the next chair... Why? I ask - I have no idea... but here's a little advice to the bank: If the innovation is worst than the problem, then it's not innovation and therefore, it should not be implemented.

Security?

Coming to think of it, and with all the chairs in the way, what would happen if there were a natural disaster, wouldn't the chairs prove a threat and obstacle for those wanting to exit the building or look for the safe zones...?

Maybe not... I guess that I'm just overwhelmed and frustrated about the bank experience, thier stupidity, inefficiency and lack of planning.

From now on, I'll be doing Internet Banking, thankyouverymuch!

As mentioned yesterday, I am decided to post an incredible/interesting picture every day and make that picture, the picture of the day...

And following my commitment I present you, Today's picture:

Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica's most active volcano, lies in La Fortuna in San Carlos in front of the artificially created lake Arenal. Small eruptions are constant and could be daily, with displays of lava and ash, a true spectacle.

Home is where the heart is, and right now, my heart is in Costa Rica.


My beautiful mountain house has great views of the central valley, an awesome climate and besides that, it is conveniently located 30 minutes from the airport and less then 15 minutes from one of the biggest shopping malls in Costa Rica. Close to this mall we can also find Costa Rica's first IMax Theater, a world class hospital named CIMA and many designer stores such as Hugo Boss, Carolina Herrera, Max Mara, Zara and more.


Best thing yet? The beach is less then an hour away! 


Are you jealous? Well, come down and visit. My house is your house.


Pictures of my house below:

Here's something that I plan on doing on a daily or almost daily basis. The "Picture of the Day".


Here, I will select the best or most interesting pictures I see, and post them, for all to see, with a little description of what's going on and why I like it.

Perhaps, at the end of each month, I will have a little poll where my friends and visitors can vote for picture of the month.


So, behold, today's Picture of the Day:

This picture is one of the many examples of why Costa Rica is paradise. 
Taken last year at Pochote Beach, which is close to Tambor and Montezuma , this warm afternoon sunset summarizes why I live here and don't want to go back.

As I lay here on my hammock enjoying my view and the warm breeze over my skin, I think of my friends back home struggling through yet another snowstorm in Boston. 


I know what you went through, I too was one of you. I shoveled my car out of snow, scraped the ice off the windshield and tried not to cry as the sleet was whipped into my skin like tiny glass darts.


I blamed my parents. When they decided to come to the US, we could have settled in Hawaii, California, Arizona or anywhere else that is warm year round. 


“Hello we are from a tropical place we are not Eskimos but we decided to settle where we have blizzards and a hurricane season.” I never understood my parents for that. Why would anyone live in an area that has a hurricane or tornado season for that matter? Ah... The mysteries of life!


Here I am, now in Costa Rica where it is warm, the people are friendly and the living is easy. I think the Garden of Eden must have looked a lot like this. 


Paradise!!!


For Alan and all those who don’t understand why I moved to Costa Rica I just checked the weather. It's 33 degrees in Boston and 85 in San Jose, Costa Rica.


So do the math.


Now you know why I am in here!

That could have been the headline of my final blog.

Costa Rica has packs of wild dogs that roam the streets looking for food. They all have a mean and hungry look about them.

Anyway, I am strolling around my new neighborhood enjoying the peace and the beauty of my new home. I am lost in my thoughts when I notice one skinny mangy dog following me. You can see his ribs. I ignore him. I continue to walk. I look back now and SURPRISE! Now I've got two dogs and right out of the bushes comes a third dog...  I suddenly see two more dogs heading in the direction of the pack. I stop dead in my tracks clutching my Louis Vuitton bag to my chest. I think that if I run, all these dogs will run after me, knock me down and eat me. I start to walk slowly. The dogs follow slowly. As I am walking I look for a place where I can throw my Louis bag to safety. If I am to die so be it but Louis must be saved. I know Alan would have the bag sent to my mother... and that's something she could remember me by.


I continue walking pass a stone wall I know I can’t climb it but I can toss Louis to safety. Louis is safe over the wall! By now, the fear has left me and I am just filled with anger. If these dogs are going to eat me I will take some of them with me. I stop I turn around “okay you mangy hounds here I am!” I yell as I charge towards them screaming obscenities at the top my lungs. The dogs pause. The leader of this pack of hounds from hell looks at me as if to challenge but thinks about it twice when he sees the rage in my eyes, turns his tail and runs away with the other dogs following suit.



I retrieve my Louis Vuitton bag and walk home. Just another day in paradise.

The ride back from the ocean up and down the mountain on the dark two-lane road was an adventure mixed with laughter, cursing at the other drivers that got too close, sheer terror and lots of prayers. If you have ever rode on the super man rollercoaster at six flags or any good scary roller coaster then prepare for this as it IS scarier.




The drivers in Costa Rica are crazy. Ticos are great people, don't get me wrong, with warm hearts, kind and always willing to give you their last colon (which is worth nothing nontheless.. so it might not be so grand of a gesture) but they are crazy kamikaze drivers... just merge them into traffic and they will give you no quarter and drive you into a ditch. 

I don't care you if have to been Rome, Los Angles during rush hour or the running of bulls in Spain, Costa Rica beats all of the above.


And don't get me started about the traffic lights, street names and house numbers!!!

LOL, There is nothing to tell.
 
They don't have traffic lights, the streets don't have names and the houses don't have numbers.

Try to tell a cab driver your address when you don’t know the area you live in or how to go to your house; well you can't.

GPS? Nope. Doesn’t always work.

To get to my house, you must tell the cab driver to take a left at the rock that looks like a bear and a right at the bear that looks like a rock.

Think I'm kidding? You wish!

I woke up early this morning, the sun shining into my bedroom.

I went to the window and part the curtains, looking out at the tree-covered mountains and, in the distance, the ocean. Ahhhh! Another beautiful day. I hear the sounds of stray dogs along the road; they are up early too, as always, looking for food.


I go downstairs and make a strong cup of coffee. I have things to do today. My best friend Alan is in town and I have promised to show him around my new home. Alan is nicest guy in the world, along with handsome and witty. He is also a natural comedian, and a very good listener. He is the kinda of guy you want to travel with...


Alan and I drive down to Jaco for a day of fun in the sun. Jaco is like most beach towns here, a single strip offering a combination of surf shops, head shops, and bars – the typical array catering to beach bums, stoners, and rich tourists searching for refugee in the beating sun. Alan wants to just sit and look at the Pacific Ocean, and that is fine with me. I love the Pacific. It is different from the Atlantic, more powerful somehow, more vast, an ocean that seems to dwarf its east coast counterpart in size and strength.


I leave him to his reverie and return to the strip, wandering through the shops and amusing myself with people-watching: the fast-talking hustlers looking for a mark, the wary locals folding their arms on
the spectacle: the pasty-faced, paunchy male tourists hoping to get lucky with a local girl.


Alan and I meet up later and sample a few of the local bars for drinks and  dinner. The food is good, but not great. When we receive the bill, it seems high; we examine it closely and discover that we have been charged for two meals we did not order or get. We call the manager over and explain the situation, but instead of being helpful and apologetic he is surly and rude.

After some back and forth, we get our money back amidst the manager’s grumblings. Goodbye and good riddance, we think, as we make our exit.


Not to worry – this mood doesn’t last – a bad mood never seems to last long in this place, and sure enough, we are having too good of a time to let this slow us down in any way.

We go to a local casino and gamble the night away. Casinos in Costa Rica are nothing like the casinos in the U.S. Here you will gamble all night using only 1000 colones (about $1.50 US) to pay your way – and on this visit I have a particularly good night, winning over $350 US; even Alan, not a gambler by any means, manages to win about $40. (At the start of the evening, Alan got 1,000 colones from the casino’s ATM, a transaction whose service charge probably cost him more than the worth of those colones! When I point this out to him he grumbles something about “stupid third world country,” and says he can’t wait to get back to “civilization.”). Naturally, the winning Americans require the casino staff to summon the owner, who has to get money out of a locked box to pay off just under $400 in winnings!


All in all, an enjoyable and very successful day in paradise!


Look for my next note from Costa Rica on the ride back to San Jose