Tilawa

So this is where we have been staying the past week.  It is so bueatiful,  I will have to take better pictures of the property for another post.  They have a website here. Everyone is so chill and laid back.

The terrain here is gorgeous and the view is incredible.  This is Lake Arenal.

 

The farm raises pigs.

They use the waste from the pigs to fuel all the cooking in the kitchen by piping the methane gas in.

They also have a dairy farm that produces fresh milk, cream and cheese.  I helped with the milking once!

 

 

We see all kinds of cool and crazy bugs.

Yuck, glad it was outside and not in!

 

 

Cute tree frog.  Max loves all the animals we see all over.

It helps a little to make up for the fact that there aren´t any kids here for him to play with.

Carnival

Okay, well unfortunately I do not have the time, nor access to photos to catch up on the posts in chrinological order like I would like to. So I will have to skip ahead to the present and catch up on that stuff later.  But first, one quick post from a week or so past.  We happen to be passing through Liberia one night and were told that it was a holiday and there was a carnival.  So we went and it was pretty cool!

We took Max on some rides.

He took his pilot duties seriously ;)

Where else will they let a 2-year-old ride the bumper cars??

I tried to kiss the cow, but I have to admit...

I was a little surprised when...

The cow tried to kiss me back!!

good news/bad news

Well the good news is that I LOOOOOVE it here.  I am especially in love with Marilena the cook.  She feeds me so well :D  Even when it is just rice, beans and cheese, it is the best rice beans and cheese I have ever had!  All the milk, cheese, cream and eggs are produced right here on the farm as well as a good portion of the fruits and veggies. (Also pork chops witch I of course don't eat) Mari is kind of a munchkin, she is short and round, she reaches about to my shoulder and she is adorable, always so happy and sweet even though she works her butt off all day.  She and Max are pretty good friends, she bribes him with snacks in exchange for hugs and kisses. The people here are so cool.  So laid back but totally passionate and into what they do. The only downside (in my opinion) is that everyone smokes and swears a lot, but maybe I'm just too used to Utah. Plus they are all young and single and after all it is also a brewery. Today we milked cows and planted some turnips. Ivan helped with the aquaponics project they are building.

Now the bad news.  My second computer is also caput, Max knocked it onto the floor and now it is all bonkers.  Fortunately I backed up most of my photos the night before (and the ones I didn't I will probably still be able to retrieve).  But that means no blogging for a while. :(  Sorry.

Part of me is glad to be cut off from the internet (except once in a while when I ask to borrow someone's laptop) because it keeps me more focused and grounded to where I am.  It does stress me out not to know what's going on at home though.

Anyway, hopefully I'll get the computer fixed and be back with more photos and stories.  In the meantime, we love and miss you all!

Way Overdue Update

Okay okay, I have a computer now, and lots of photos, just not enough time! But here is a mini update, we said goodbye to Montezuma.  It was really hard to leave our friends and neighbors.  We had a blast while we were there and made some good friends who we are already missing. After we drove away Max cried over his friends.  It was heartbreaking, he really loves them.

But, it's time to move on and I am so excited to start our new adventure in Tilaran.  Of all the places I have been too this is the one I could most likely see myself living in.  The Central Valley of Costa Rica is amazing.  It is covered in green pastures (which I adore), and farms, rolling hills and lush volcanoes, lots of rivers and waterfalls, and beautiful plant and animal life.  Right now I'm pretty obsessed with it.

The first time we were in Tilaran 5 years ago we spent very little time there, but left quite charmed by it.  We have now spent only a little more time and have discovered that the locals are some of the friendliest we've met.  There is much less of a touristy feeling here and the locals don't seem to be burnt out by tourists like they are in some places. It feels like love at first sight, but we will soon see :)

Here are some of our Montezuma memories;

These are some really great kids.

Michael.  One of the nicest people I've ever met, and Max adores him.

Rick, our awesome landlord.

Weird random cemetery just off the beach in Montezuma.

Friends <3

Nap time

This was how we got around. We sure got plenty of exercise!

Iggy.

I caught a crab!

Delicias town center.  The whole thing.

For some reason, the bumpier the ride, the more likely Max was to fall asleep.

I found Max like this.

Miguel.