Summer is over here, wah!

It started to get cold here again. Bummer. Summer was fun and not to hot, which was nice.

I`ve been swimming pretty hard training for the Xterra. I'm up to about 1500-1700 meters three times a week, which is pretty good.

The cats still have poopy butts so we took them for a couple of overnights at the vet so they can figure out what's wrong with their tummies. Tough shit is better than soft shit in this case.

Went to see La Clique last night. I think I am officially over my circus infatuation. It was good, but nothing new....Except for bendy man who dislocated his arms in disturbing ways. Right now I'm inspired to pop my knuckles, but that's it.

Cat Scratch Fever!!

OK, I don't want to turn into those crazy people who blog about their cats, but check out what Haka did to my hand! BRUTAL!!

CATZ!!!! OMG

We did it. This weekend we acquired two cute kittens from the pound.

This is Tica:


Initially we thought that it might be interesting to get a pure bred cat of some exotic breed. We went to a couple cat breeders and were thoroughly disgusted by the treatment of the cats. I just don't think that you can humanely raise a large number of cats. And as soon as they are bred for money it looks like they stop being treated as pets.

Our first trip to the SPCA(pound) was a shocker. We got there at 2:00 on a Saturday and they were completely out of kittens and there were only a couple other older cats there which were by no means ugly or mean. We talked to an attendant and she said that there is stiff competition for the kittens and that we would have to get there at 10:00AM to get a good kitten.

We went back at 10:00AM the following weekend and there were already about 15 people pointing and talking about which ones they wanted. We pushed our way into one of the cat rooms and surveyed the cuteness. There were two kittens that were constantly playing and that liked to be held. They also had interesting markings like some of the pure bred cats we were looking at. Roberta and I quickly agreed and I raced off to make sure no one else got them.

This is Haka:


They have been nothing but cuteness since, well aside from this morning when one of them unleashed a flood of pee onto our comforter. They just jump around and run and play all the time. We got them these little catnip mice that they just love. We have take them aways at bed time or else they will be bouncing off the walls all night.

Here are some pics:

Pictures

Vida has found a temporary home!

I just want to thank everybody for offering to take in Vida. A few people offered their homes even though it wasn't the best conditions ie; allergies, other pets, even a room in a hotel was offered! She is quite a special kitty and it means a lot to Adam and I that so many people offered a place. We found a special cat lover who doesn't currently have a kitty. So thanks goes out to Michelle and Allen. Adam and I are a little concerned that Michelle and Allen will like Vida too much and not give her back.

Right now Adam and I are going through a little bit of Vida withdrawal. Vida is spending the night at the vet because we had a small lump removed from her ear area. They are sending the lump to a lab so we will find out what it is. All of this cost $50 dollars.

Everything here is so cheap. It only cost $20 to get our teeth cleaned including a full set of x-rays. Adam has a cavity that he's avoiding. I'm trying to get him to take care of it here because it will be cheaper here than the deductible in the states. And our dentist studied in the states and speaks english. Unbeknownst to us he's an old friend of the Castro family, our friends we always hang out with. He's also a fourth generation Costa Rican dentist. His secretary calls me mi amor.

My cat is not stupid.

My mom offended me the other day while she was here.  We were upstairs on the roof-deck hanging out in the sun and my cat Vida poked her head out the door.  She is not supposed to get on the roof because she will hop onto the roof which connects our apartments to our neighbors’.  If their upstairs doors are open then she will wander into their apartments.  She has been banned from the roof for a while now.

So she poked her head out the door and was just kind of staring into space like cats who are about to do something bad do.  My mom said “Your cat isn’t too smart is she?  She is just staring into space.”  I puffed up and defended my cat.  I just told her to watch and learn.   After a bit Vida slinked back into the upstairs door out of site.  Then about 30 seconds later she comes running out the door.  She runs full speed at the spot where she jumps onto to get on the roof.  I run after her and right before she makes a clean getaway onto the roof I grab her by the fur on her back and carry her like a suitcase back into the house.  The funny part was that once I grabbed her she didn’t fight it.  Busted.

That proved to my mom that my cat is a diabolical little bastard.  I also think that Vida only does stuff like that because she knows that I don’t want her to.

On a side note, Roberta and my mom will be getting back from Nicaragua either today or tomorrow.  Sounds like they have had a wonderful time.  They saw a real bull fight and went to Omatepe.  Also Roberta said that she got me a present that money couldn’t buy.  Hopefully that present is them getting back without being abducted.  I can’t wait.

It's me Roberta in Costa Rica

So I'm hacking into Adam's blog to let you know what's up with me. Well first off, American's are the most anal-retentive people. While trying to get to Costa Rica, both airlines that I was travelling with were adament that I needed some additional documentation for the cat to enter. After some heated arguements they let me go through with the USDA approval form, the only form I needed. They were threatening Vida with six months in quarantine. Having taken a dog through quarantine in Hawaii, there is no way a land connected country like CR would be more restrictive than las islas de Hawaii, plus I'd done my research and knew otherwise. When I actually got to Costa Rica the officials didn't even take Vida out of the box, they just stamped the forms and said welcome to Costa Rica.

So I took me and by now stinky Vida to the aparthotel El Sesteo (www.sesteo.com). Here is the vision: me with two bags that each weigh about 100 pounds stacked with my oversized carryons with Vida's stinky box perched on top held in place by the one hand I wasn't using to push the heavy cart. I arrived at 8:00am in the morning and they were very kind and cleaned out a room within thirty minutes. Yes that was an overnight trip, and for the last four days I was frantically packing, cleaning and taking care of business while Adam is living it up with room service in Houston and New Orleans.

Anyway I slept for a day (literally about 16 hours) and than spent a lovely day with Evette and Clair, a mother daughter pair with a big mansion like estate up in the country. I guess they are coffee plantation owners, but I didn't see any coffee trees. They are goat friends of Adam's. We had lunch at their pad which was really high in the mountains about 30 minutes from downtown San Jose. There was also another guest Maurice who was on political assylum from Columbia. I guess the war 'goings-on' where very intense and all his friends and family are dead. He used to be a communications professor but now he helps Clair with their restaurant 'Exressivo'. A cool little restaurant with tons of local art which could have a happy home on Alberta St. as well.

I'm completely out of my home territory, hanging out with somebody with a terrible experience but am able to find commonalities, I'm going to learn a lot here. They were very interested in me and what I do (planning, mapping, etc) hopefully I have something to offer.

We checked out a bunch of apartments on our way back to my aparthotel. I don't think we will have any trouble finding a nice place to stay.

Well that's it, I'm going to spend the next day exploring a couple of new neighborhoods and than hook up with some other local friends that Adam's family know in San Jose. My spanish is improving by the minute, I'm starting to think in Spanish. It's helpful having people who are patient and will speak amazingly slow when asked, very nice people.