National Theatre 2011 Season

The National Theatre MedioDía has gotten off to a great start!  A few things have changed since last year - entrance is now c1000 ($2) instead of c500, and there are many Tuesdays of dance and theatre as well as music. 

Today was the first musical performance, and for me it's all about the music!  We hosted the Juilliard Jazz Artist Diploma Ensemble, with 3 members from the USA, one from Australia, and the charming Spanish-speaking Italian.  They are on a tour of Costa Rica, and definitely worth going to see!

Some other activities and events:

• Master class and concert at Universidad Nacional - Heredia
• Master class at UCR
• Transcultural session at the San Pedro Centro Cultural Costarricense Norteamericano
• Master class at Teatro Eugene O'Neill
• Concert at Palmares - Colegio San Agustín
• Concert for students of MEP - Teatro Eugene O'Neill
• Concert at Hotel Club de Mar - Jacó
• Concert at Teatro Copaza - Quepos

Exploring South

Jim came to visit last week!  He has a finca (farm or acreage) in Ojochal that he needed to check on, and invited us along for the ride - what an interesting whirlwind that was!

We met him at the airport, went and got his rental car together, and headed out of town - Friday afternoon traffic struck, as did the rain, but we still got to Ojochal in 4 hours.  Ojochal is on the Pacific coast, a little over an hour South of Quepos.  It's up the hill, about 700 feet, and the sea breeze keeps everything very comfortable (of course, the air conditioned car didn't hurt :-D ).

After all the recent heavy rains, we were lucky that the roads were all open.  Several places had restrictions while the road was being worked on, and we could see the remnants of quite a few mudslides.  We got to Ojochal a little after dark, had dinner, and went on to our hotel.  Diquis del Sur is run by a charming Québécois couple, Renée and Pierre.

The next morning, we relaxed over breakfast and enjoyed the view while Jim met with his property manager.  After a while, we packed up and headed out to the finca.  We drove up a dirt road, pulled to the side, and got out.  Alongside the road was a river, about 25 feet wide and 2 feet deep - and yes, the finca was on the other side!  Fortunately, I had on shorts and water shoes, and the water was simply refreshing :-).  Unfortunately, the water washed off all my bug repellent!  I ended up with about a dozen bites - the fire finally banked after about 5 days.  Aside from that, tramping around the finca was fun - we saw some of the new fruit trees and pineapple plants that had been planted - even brought home a big bunch of bananas (ripening as we speak on my back terraza).

We originally were going to spend the rest of the day at the beach, and another night in Ojochal, but decided to explore a bit farther - we had never been in the area, so *everything* was new!  So, the plan was to go on to San Vito, near the Panama border, stay the night, then drive back to San José through the mountains and San Isidro de El General.  Well, we were all set to drive off, when someone mentioned that the buses to San Vito were coming along the coast road - that could only mean one thing - the inland road between San Isidro and San Vito was closed or very restricted.  Hmmm.  Time for plan B (or is that C now?). 

We decided to spend a little time in San Isidro.  A couple of hours and several road restrictions later, we were hunting for a hotel.  We drove past a few, looked in at one, and ended up at the Hotel Diamante Real (2770-6230 / 2770-6232), a decent, somewhat generic hotel, pretty close to the center of town.  We walked around, had dinner, and found out that San Isidro has a lively music scene!  Our restaurant ("gato" something, near the hotel) turned into a jazz club after 8:00 :-).

The next morning, we walked around a bit more, then took off for San José.  I had heard about this road - horror stories!  It passes over Cerro de los Muertos at about 11,000 feet, and very near Cerro Chirripó, the highest point in Costa Rica at 12,228 feet.  I know now what it looks like above the timber line in Costa Rica - glimpses of shrubs between banks of fog... :-D  BTW, the horror stories are all about the fog, slick roads, and steep drop-offs - don't take the name (los muertos = the dead) to mean that ghosts stalk the unwary traveler :-).

A bit over 3 hours later, we were relaxing at home in San José, eating a late Sunday lunch.  We have a number of places to return to, and a lot of things to do when we do return!

Driving directions from San José (the airport) to Ojochal, Playa Tortuga, South Pacific, Costa Rica:

1. Head North from the San Jose airport (towards Alajuela-Puntarenas)
2. Continue driving for 11 kilometers
3. You should see a sign pointing right (La Garita, Atenas)
4. Exit the highway to the right and make a left turn (direction Atenas-Quepos)
5. Continue driving on the main road for 2.5 kilometers
6. Turn left towards Turrucanes
7. Continue driving for 3.5 kilometers, passing under the highway, and turn left in downtown Turrucanes.  Maneuver the two rotundas to get onto the highway (autopista) Caldera in the Caldera direction.
8. Continue driving on the highway until you see the exit for Jaco
9. Continue driving on the main road, signs are pointing to Quepos 103 kilometers and Jaco 37 kilometers
10. Continue driving straight; go past Jaco, towards Quepos
11. Continue driving through Parrita
12. Before Quepos you should see a sign pointing left (Playa Dominical 43 kilometers)
13. Continue driving on the main road
14. Drive straight from the police checkpoint, drive past Dominical on the right
15. Continue driving on the main road for 34 kilometers
16. You will see the entrance to Ojochal on your left. The road is not paved.

Live Music in Grecia!

Last night we went to Diego's Red Door in Grecia, and had a great visit with friends, along with an excellent dinner and fabulous live music! You can read a spot-on review of the restaurant and the band "Two Can Jam" in this month's Mountain Howler (note: this is not a permanent link).

After dinner, we extended our visit over coffee and dessert, then crashed at a friend's house nearby.

We returned home this afternoon - the trip had the added benefit of learning about some new bus routes :-D.

We left our apartment in San Pedro in the afternoon - 3 buses and 2 hours later, we were in Grecia. We took the San Pedro bus and Sabana Cementerio bus to the Grecia terminal downtown. When we got on the Sabana Cementerio bus, I asked the bus driver if he knew the Grecia terminal, and could he tell us when we got there. This has become a good habit, but I also never count on the driver to remember. So, we roughly knew where the terminal was, and so as we neared Coca-Cola, we peered around anxiously. At one stop, we started to rise, and the driver put his hand out to us - indicating that we should wait (nope, not there quite yet). Then he stopped a few blocks farther (I don't even know if it is a regular stop), and motioned to us. We thanked him profusely, and got off the bus. Then what? Well, we asked someone, and she pointed back the way we had come and said it was a couple blocks back. Having just come that way, we were inclined to ask someone else... We waited until she was out of sight, then asked at a nearby cafe. The gentleman behind the counter *came out* of his cafe, walked us down part of the way, and pointed around the corner - doh! We had gotten off the bus within 10 feet of the entrance to the *huge* terminal, *full* of buses, all with *great* *big* signs on the front, saying "GRECIA." Ok, it *was* out of sight around the corner...

A short wait later, we hopped on the bus - we were a bit surprised by the c815 fare - we were thinking of the c425 fare for the Alajuela bus. But, as we thought about the alternative bus route (SJ->Alajuela->Grecia), we figured the total amount would be the same. It comes to only about $1.45, but it stripped us of all our small bills and change.

About an hour later, we pulled into the terminus in Grecia - it is the same place that the bus from Alajuela uses - just West of the central park.

We killed some time sitting in the park (aahhh) and drinking iced coffee (AAAAHHHHH) with a friend, then headed over to the Red Door.

Our return trip was nearly the reverse - buses leave for San José from Grecia every 25 minutes. We decided to get off on the Paséo Colón, and after about a 10 minute wait, caught the Periféricia all the way home. I timed some of the distances on the way back:

• Grecia terminus 2:10
• Enter Autopista 2:25
• Airport 2:45
• Paséo Colón 3:00
• Home 4:00
  

Soy Tico - YouTube

How fabulous is *this!* The ARCR forum has a thread on Costa Rican music, and Paul (thanks!) provided a YouTube link to my absolute *favorite* song - since our first visit!

Soy Tico, by Carlos Guzman

You can see my previous post on this song, and an attempt to translate it, here.

January 21, 2008 – Feelin´ Human (I mean groovy)

I guess I have to admit it – parents can give good advice, even when you are a full-fledged adult (sigh). A few weeks ago, we used our kitchen to poison ourselves (not recommended) – we were over the worst in a couple of days, but it seemed like we would *never* get back to a real life. Well, when we got our phones (yay! – still excited about *that*!), we phoned home. There is nothing like talking to family, especially when you are feeling under the weather. That is when the parental advice kicked in – ¨you gotta replace those good bacteria – eat some yogurt!¨ So we did! And it worked!

We had spent a couple of weeks dragging around, barely getting through the necessary chores of getting groceries and so on. We were planning to go to the Palmares tope last Thursday, but that fell through – I am admitting now (and frankly admitted it half way through that day), I am relieved. I can´t imagine lasting in the heat, with the crowds, given how weak we were feeling just walking to the corner!

Well, the very next day, we started the yogurt cure – had some for every meal for a couple of days, and felt better immediately.

Saturday, we ran into some friends, and felt well enough to go to a dinner party that night – we took the guitar and played and sang a bit. We met some new people – always a fun thing, especially when they are on an adventure themselves. :)

Then Sunday! We really took this day as it came. We went with a friend to Escazú, to the Café de Artistas – there we had brunch while listening to a jazz combo (our new friend Joe Anello was playing drums). (RC folks – guess what I got to have – Eggs Benedict! And it wasn´t even Friday!). After brunch, we went to visit more friends – Jim and Ann-Marie just had their baby! So we got to see her, and get caught up on what everyone was doing and planning. Then, since we were nearby anyway, we stopped at EPA (it´s a lot like Home Depot) and found a water filter – whew! No more lugging bottled water** home! And *then* (I know, I know – don´t overdo it, you´re still recovering) we stopped at the Automercado (this is a high-end supermarket, where you can likely find foods you can´t find anywhere else). Rick was on a mission to find black olives – mission accomplished! (this mission really was accomplished – ok, that is my only tiny contribution to the political discussion)

And now we are – Feelin´ Human… (sung to Feeling Groovy)
Speed up, you´ve been too slow
You get to last the whole day now…
Feelin´ Huuuuuman...

** I know, you are supposed to be able to drink the water in Costa Rica. And most people can! Just not us…

December 19, 2007 – Music!

Last weekend we met some musicians from the group WireTree! We were at lunch and heard people speaking English; well, pretty soon we were all talking about music – I don’t think you can talk to someone for half an hour before finding out whether he is a musician. Since it was their last full day in Costa Rica, we decided to all get together for a jam session :).

It was short but sweet! Rachel, Kevin, and Carlos dropped by (with a bottle of wine :)), and there was music! Rick and Kevin traded off playing original songs; the rest of us sat back and enjoyed. I was the lucky one – I was between them, so when Rick played, I also got Kevin’s chords – true stereo :D.

Check out some of the songs here (http:\\www.WhatTheFolk.com) and here (http:\\www.wiretreemusic.com). See YouTube too!

UPDATE: fixed the links (thanks for the heads up, Paul!)

November 19, 2007 - Music!

Last night, we went to Vida Tropical for a jam session! Bill and Karen always travel with their instruments (guitar and autoharp), and Rick had his banjo. We all contributed booze and voices - Que Bonita!
We moved back to VT today, so we'll probably play and sing some more tonight (espero)

UPDATE: Gotta remember to look up Walter Ferguson in Cahuita (The King of Calypso). Basic instruments for Calypso in Costa Rica are: banjo, bongos, and a square cousin of the washtub bass.

June 24, 2007

The electricity went out again today :( - from 7am till 1:30pm. We passed the ICE guys working on it on our walk to lunch, and about half way through our pizza, we got to see the TV come on - USA vs Mexico in the Gold Cup!
Fortunately, our hotel has a gas stove, so we still got a nice breakfast; just no shower (yuck) until the afternoon.
Most cities with a park and bandstand have live music on Sundays at 10:00, right after church. Certainly Heredia and Alajuela do. So, we head to Grecia´s park - no music. Oh well, we still enjoyed the park.

May 17, 2007 - More Music!

We had more music last night! :D

There was a pot luck at Montaña Linda Hostel, in part to say ¨good-bye¨ to Jen - she left for the airport today. We´ll miss her smiling face and enthusiasm for life.

We had a very nice, large-ish crowd (about 20) gathered around a bunch of pushed-together tables; talking, laughing, eating... Then Rick broke out his travel guitar and sang a bunch of his songs and a few borrowed blues and ballads. Then Adrian took over, and we heard some lovely Spanish songs.

A giant beetle flying around the light over my head drove me from my seat (and a couple of my neighbors as well), but it disappeared soon after (I guess its job was done - what a laugh it must have had, seeing all of us scamper away).

May 08, 2007 - Jam session (music)

Last night we dropped by the Montaña Linda Hostel - word had been passed in the student community that there would be a party - no time given, just ¨tonight.¨

Rick brought his travel guitar (a Washburn Rover), another couple brought their travel guitar and ukelele, and Tuan (the owner of Montaña Linda) brought out two full-size guitars. Not too much later, someone else brought another guitar. Qué cacophany! We started out with one person playing a tune, and others picking up the chords, then someone broke out the songbook - massive hunt for songs everyone knew; flowing wine and beer...