Missing the peace of isolation

In my last note, I said I was out of isolation. I now see there are a number of ramifications with come with moving back into the world of people, for me, I see the challenge in remembering moderation. I have never been a fan of moderation, yet I now see that I would greatly benefit from it.

I have been to 2 fiestas, with people from France, Canada, US and Costa Rica. I have been eating too much, drinking too much, playing too much, and talking too much. For Ricardo’s birthday, 22 of us went to a wonderful resort north of here in Tambor, three buffets a day, pool, pool bar, beach, miniature golf, and of course, pool volleyball where I destroyed my hands and wrists! Yesterday, we went back to Playa Hermosa, where even though we were a group of people and two people and two dogs were at the campsite, someone on a motorcycle came and stole my friend Jill’s backpack. She lost a cell phone she just bought this past week, a dress, a camera and nice sunglasses. When we left the beach, in town, we met a French family who just had everything stolen. That side of the peninsula has a bad reputation for stolen property, Mal Pais, and Santa Teresa. It is where the sun sets over the ocean, and the moon rises on the other side, yesterday, a full moon. Yet, we had a fabulous day! We went to eat at a restaurant that had a real happy hour (margaritas for only $3.00) let us use the pool, towels, and we lounged in beautiful wooden zen like shelters. My body is feeling the stress and I am exhausted.

I met some lovely women last week from Michigan and Northern California. After speaking to them for a few hours, I realized my language skills have seriously diminished after just 3 months, and my throat actually hurt from talking for so long. I noticed this phenomenon on coaching days, Tuesdays, and now I see it in just hanging out with people in person. I guess I used to have fully developed throat muscles!

I leave to go home in less than a week, so I will take time this week to reflect on my experiences, what is next for me, and how I want to be back in the US again. I am glad for the time to be in Jerome before returning home.

I am enjoying the self-sufficiency I have created for myself, and the connection with nature. I look out my window and watch turkey vultures, horses, dogs, birds and the ocean in the distance. At night, the stars come out, one at a time and after a while, they start coming alive to my eyes in larger groups. I lay about reading, in the cool breeze of the hammock. It is a good life and one for which I am so grateful.

So in this, my final blog in Costa Rica, I reflect upon the beauty, the genuiness of the people, the safety I feel in walking, and hitching rides with strangers. The beauty of the landscape, the iguanas, horses, cows, roosters, chickens, ants, birds, flowering trees, scorpions, howler monkeys, raccoons, coati, and things I see but have no names for. 

Days of lazing about. Nights of watching the lights in Jaco across the peninsula. Reading, writing, creating. Questioning myself, my intentions, a dialog within. Being around others and quietly observing. Cleaning and floating in the pool. The beaches – playa Manzanita, Hermosa, Tambor, Mal Pais, Santa Teresa and Manzanillo. The roads, through Delicious, up through Cabuya, beyond Cobano, roads that in the US we would assume were abandoned in the 1800s. Bridges where there is no water, driving through rivers where there should be bridges. This is all part of the experience of Costa Rica. I hope and pray it will stay in the cells of my body, and in my soul, and in my heart, and will give me many beautiful memories of a winter well spent, for all my days, until I am a very old woman.

mi amigas playa hermosa

lori at playa hermosa