Walking
One of the aspects of living in the village of Monteverde that I find is unusual is that many of the residents, and certainly most of the students, walk to and from their place of work or school. Some folks who live further afield do take the old yellow school bus that grinds its way up and then down the hill in the morning and afternoon and a few ride dirt bikes, or some variation of a small motorcycle, but it is not unusual to meet one's neighbour walking somewhere on the road.
It seems families who live here have one car that is pretty beat up (after all Monteverde is at the end of a 20 klm dirt road ) which they use to drive to Santa Elena occasionally. Gas is expensive and most people don't have disposable income so walking is one of the economies of life. However what makes this unusual (after all many people seriously walk in NYC) is that Monteverde near the top of the mountains so walking means going up or down hill all the time. And, it is over a mile high.. huff, puff!
So, because I am not living across the road from the Friends School(as I was last year) my life consists of walking. I walk down to the village and I schlep my groceries and my wine up the hill to home every few days. Once a week I try and hitch a ride to Santa Elena to stock up and get dropped off close to where I am living but I still have to walk to get to my house. To try and minimize trips to town I recently joined a local CSA to get fresh veggies once a week which I now schelp down the hill to my house. And, every morning I leave home with my backpack full with my computer, books and lunch and head up hill to the school. I keep hoping that not only will I be super fit by the time I leave here toward the end of March but I will have lost some weight....that would be nice.
My other news is that I moved into the casita today. It is just below the big house where I was staying. It is a darling little cement house, with loads of southwest facing windows and after I used a liter of bleach on the mold and 2 liters of vinegar on the floors and windows it is fit to live in. Rodents had moved in after the previous tenant and I am fussy about not wanting to live with them so I spent most of last weekend cleaning up after their parties. So far no signs of returning uninvited guests but believe me I am vigilant in checking corners! As for invited guests, Glenn arrives tomorrow but more on that in another post.
Sunset last night over the edge of the mountain.
It seems families who live here have one car that is pretty beat up (after all Monteverde is at the end of a 20 klm dirt road ) which they use to drive to Santa Elena occasionally. Gas is expensive and most people don't have disposable income so walking is one of the economies of life. However what makes this unusual (after all many people seriously walk in NYC) is that Monteverde near the top of the mountains so walking means going up or down hill all the time. And, it is over a mile high.. huff, puff!
So, because I am not living across the road from the Friends School(as I was last year) my life consists of walking. I walk down to the village and I schlep my groceries and my wine up the hill to home every few days. Once a week I try and hitch a ride to Santa Elena to stock up and get dropped off close to where I am living but I still have to walk to get to my house. To try and minimize trips to town I recently joined a local CSA to get fresh veggies once a week which I now schelp down the hill to my house. And, every morning I leave home with my backpack full with my computer, books and lunch and head up hill to the school. I keep hoping that not only will I be super fit by the time I leave here toward the end of March but I will have lost some weight....that would be nice.
My other news is that I moved into the casita today. It is just below the big house where I was staying. It is a darling little cement house, with loads of southwest facing windows and after I used a liter of bleach on the mold and 2 liters of vinegar on the floors and windows it is fit to live in. Rodents had moved in after the previous tenant and I am fussy about not wanting to live with them so I spent most of last weekend cleaning up after their parties. So far no signs of returning uninvited guests but believe me I am vigilant in checking corners! As for invited guests, Glenn arrives tomorrow but more on that in another post.
Sunset last night over the edge of the mountain.
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