Pictures From Costa Rica - 2007, Part 1
As the title of this page implies, these are pictures from Costa
Rica, taken in 2007. This was a very busy year for me, especially
photographically speaking, so I'll divide it into two parts. There is also a
separate page for wedding pictures, which I hope to complete soon. Anyhow, hope
you enjoy a slice of my life here in Coast Tasty:
This is Ronald, now my brother-in-law, picking coffee. He's a
good guy. So are basically all of my in-laws, except the women, who are not
guys. But they're good women/girls/muchachas. So if I don't mention that someone
is good, just assume they are.
Here's me, pretending like I know stuff about coffee besides
how to drink copious amounts of it. This is what they call a "photo op" in the
biz. We all know I've never done an honest day's work in my life.
The girl on the left is now my niece Yoselin, and the other
girl is Tatiana, a daughter of one of the coffee pickers that comes to Berlin
each year. I had no idea coffee beans were red when they're picked, but they
are. I think they look awesome and delicious...roll that beautiful bean footage!
This is Ligia, Ronald's wife. She's well-known in these parts
for being the fastest coffee picker (and well-known by me for being the fastest
talker) around. Evidently, she can pick 40 cajuelas in a day, which is
more than twice as much as some people pick.
Here is one of my new-found nieces, Kati, or Katherine. She's
Ronald and Ligia's oldest child.
This is Ronald measuring coffee to pay some of the workers.
The sack is what they put it in for storage, but in terms of payment, the little
black cube is what matters. It's the famous cajuela.
An action photo of Ronald dumping a cajuela of beans into a
rapidly-filling truck.
More beans in action, with Ronald and Arnoldo, my two
brothers-in-law. Fun fact: we'd probably call the red things "coffee beans," but
here they're called cerezas, or "cherries."
Here are the pictures of the little chips used to pay the
workers, each indicating a number of cajuelas. The "H.J.V." stands for "Honorio
Jimenez Vargas," Angela's dad's name.
Cecilia, Angela's mom, testing out the coffee grinder that I
gave them for Christmas. They may produce the coffee here, but I think the true
coffee freaks are in the U.S. No one had seen a small grinder like this before,
and when it comes to drinking coffee, here they generally dilute that pure,
tasty flavor with lots of sugar.
Angela drinking the fruit of the country's labor, in front of
my favorite piece of kitsch in Costa Rica: the dual tiger posters in her
parents' house.
Just some nice leaves.
This is from when my mom came to visit, in January of 2007. We
went to an attraction near Arenal called The Hanging Bridges of Arenal. I
thought it was pretty awesome, but as you can see, Angela's not so into heights.
My mom, Angela, and I in front of a clouded-over and rainy
Arenal Volcano.
My mom and Abuela in front of the World's Largest Oxcart in
Sarchi. The Oxcart's immense-ness is accented by the smallness of Abuela.
One again, my mom with something gigantic and little Abuela. I
believe they call this plant "poor man's umbrella."
Here I am on my Dream Day, when Angela and her dad took me to
a coffee processing plant, which they call a beneficio here. Here I am
trying the different batches of coffee, trying to figure out which was the best.
According to the guy in the apron, I choose the best one! Also, we got to spit
into a big, stainless-steel spitoon, which is always a fun activity anyhow.
Angela with a fruit called cas, which is similar to a
guyaba (which I think is a guava).
Angela getting tanked, posing in front of a closet at some
friends' house. Not only is she a beautiful woman and a wonderful wife; she's
also the quintessential "cheap date," since she can get drunk just by
thinking about the fumes from a bottle of alcohol.
Here's Angela doing what Costa Rican women seem to do best:
forcing people to eat against their will.
Aah, a momentous day! February 5th, 2007. Or maybe 6th. In any
case, it was the day we got legally married. Here I am signing the contract,
while Angela wonders how she ended up with someone who holds a pen like a
monkey.
Here is a serenade I ordered for Angela for Valentine's Day.
The guy on my right is my old regular taxi driver, Mario. The best thing about
this picture is that he's really playing alone, and the other two guys are
actually ringwraiths.
This is a cat that was kind of stuck in Abuela's roof for
about a week. We all thought we were going crazy, because it sounded like
something was walking around on the ceiling. Turns out, something was. This cute
little cat. He was kind of stupid, and unable to get down on his own, but once I
tempted his dumb, hungry ass with some gristly rice, he fell right down.
"If we make machetes illegal, only criminals will have
machetes."
Wait a minute, what the hell is that supposed to mean? Anyhow,
here's me with the REAL official symbol of Costa Rica. Screw the oxcart.
Here I am blowing the candles out on my exaggeratedly
delicious birthday cake, wearing my exaggeratedly comfortable shirt. Both were
gifts from Angela.
Here's Angela doing her hair up. She's pretty.
This is an ice cream sundae that we ate, prepared in the
hollowed-out shell of a pineapple. Not as exotic as chilled monkey brains served
in a monkey's head, but still kind of impressive for a farm boy from Colorado.
Here is the church in Zaragoza, a district in Palmares, where
Angela and I were wed. By the way, in the previous picture, I lied. I didn't
grow up on a farm. It was a ranch.
A dog nose, preparing to eat a beetle. The dog was Luna, who
lived at a house I was housesitting while the owners went to Canada. Also, I
didn't grow up on a ranch.
Here is a set of drawers in the same house that I was
watching. It's black and white, which is classy, so I had to put my pinkie out
while I was taking the picture.
Candle lamp.
A weird bird thing, probably from Ixtapa, circa 1996...if my
detective training has taught me anything, that is.
A big bag of giant avocados that Honorio and I picked when I
went with Angela and her family to visit some of her aunts near Heredia.
This picture was taken on the day of my wedding, actually, so
I probably should have been you know, preparing for my wedding. But instead I
was showing some guests around town. Here we are in front of the Las Musas
waterfall. We have Shani, Brad (the wedding photographer), Andy ("Chorizo"),
Abuela, Davie, and Bobby.
Some of these pictures are from our honeymoon to Manuel
Antonio, a national park in the west coast of Costa Rica. Here is a nice rock in
the water.
Angela on the rocks.
Angela making a nice ponytail.
Me.
The family, who was around for this part of the honeymoon, so
Angela could get to know my family more. After that, we went off on our own.
My mom showing off a tattoo on one of her guns...OK, let's be
honest: they're actually cannons.
My now-niece Yoselin and my now-nephew Maicol, with my
always-cousin Kiersten.
Yoselin and Maicol.
Angela with one of her first batches of successfully-prepared
rice. Even with a rice cooker, it's not always that easy, apparently. In any
case, rice is the major staple here, and I am beginning to get sick of it.
Before I came to Costa Rica, I didn't even think they ate rice outside of Asia.
Angela's sister Teresa, her mother Cecilia, and Angela. I like
how it looks like they were all cut and pasted in from different pictures that
have nothing to do with each other.
Angela's dad Honorio, in front of Angela. Looking like an
album cover, sort of.
Me cutting the leavings of our wedding cake with my Emergency
Machete.
An angel holding a fish, in a fountain in front of the church
in Zarcero.
The inside of the church in Zarcero.
Angela with her angel wings in the same town.
Arenal Volcano, on a rare completely clear day in July. We
were headed there for part of our honeymoon.
Here is the hotel we stayed at for part of our honeymoon. It
was called Hotel Los Heroes, and it was like a mini-Switzerland in the middle of
Costa Rica. The place was immense and had everything...
Here is a church that was part of the hotel's grounds...
Detail of the church's ceiling...
Another detail inside the church...
Yet another painting, this time with boobies...
A setting sun over the hotel, which looks out on Lake Arenal...
Angela in the hotel's restaurant, which had awesome Swiss and
German-style food...
OK, get this, the hotel also had a freaking train! It ran for
three kilometers up into the hills, where it takes hotel guests to a special
REVOLVING RESTAURANT with views like this:
Arenal from the restaurant.
Me in the train.
Angela in her first train ride, even if it was a bit cheesy.
The restaurant even had a little cultural museum, where you
could try on typical Costa Rican native costumes. Keep in mind that all of this
was included with the hotel.
Angela enjoying the sweeping views.
Angela, looking skeptical about a variety of Alpenhorn.
Some Swiss stuff.
More detail of the sculpted plant park in Zarcero.