Over the Mountains and the Sea...

Hola!

Here we are into the 2^nd and 3^rd days of my journey of Costa Rica. 

We left the Motel with cottages and traveled 1½ hours heading to the East side 

of Costa Rica. On the way there, Jesus, Tammy's husband received a message 

that the river to the Mountains is too high and swollen for us to cross thru to get to the Mountains. 

We ended up staying at a tiny Motel, with only 5 rooms. I thought it was a 

cute and cozy little place. We stayed there for 2 days waiting for the river to recede. 

The Motel was the closest one to the Mountains, 1½ hrs. away from the mountains.

We arrived to the tiny motel 1½ hrs. from the Mountains.

I was concerned for bug bites so I wore jeans and long sleeve shirts. Boots are a must if you are staying in the Costa Rica countryside. Tammy only wears sandals when traveling on the road to San Jose.

Here is what the tiny Motel looks like. A cute and cozy place.

We passed a couple of rivers that were very swollen and there were places 

were the water breached.This was caused by a very bad storm that came

 just before I arrived. I was told that the storm was one of the worst storms 

they had ever seen. The storm lasted over a week here. I am grateful that the Lord

 provided beautiful weather for us to travel across the country to the East side of Costa Rica.

 On our way to East side of the country, we came upon a long train of Dump trucks

 having a “Dump truck strike”, a stage of Protest of dump trucks blocking traffic flow 

on the side of the road heading west of Costa Rica. There was a very, very long line

 of semi trucks and cars completely stopped and drivers standing outside in the middle 

of the road chatting with the other drivers. They were stuck and cannot get around

 the other cars. We were fortunate that we were able to continue driving East 

during the Dump truck strike. It only affected the side of the road heading West. 

It was a quite unusual Protest for me to watch. I thought it was cruel

 for dump truck drivers to block the traffic flow.

 Here is another river that was swollen and breached across the land from the storm.

Is this real??

 We stopped and visited a poor family on the way. Tammy is holding a baby who is

 5 months old. His name is Donaichel. He has just got home from spending 9 days

 in the hospital for an infection to the head. He is a happy baby! Hey, he does 

not sleep in a crib. No crib here! He actually sleeps in a small hammock with

 clothes for him to lay on in the hammock. The hammock hangs between the

 kitchen and living area. They live in a very small place. They have 2 very 

small bedrooms, with a small kitchen and living area that has 3 chairs and small table.

 Just enough room for touching knees. There are 2 parents and 3 children living there. 

The mother of the family has 9 children ranging from a 5 month old son to a 26 yrs old daughter.

I am holding Donaichel. He is such a happy baby. It is a joy holding him. 

Look out! A stampede in the middle of the housing project!!!

 I was told that the cattle herder was guiding the cattle 

across the project to get to the other pasture. Amazing!!

 

Saturday is a day of Sabbath for Tammy and Jesus and their boys.

 The boys are still at home on the Mountains.. So we decided to go and 

visit the ocean. It is actually the Caribbean Sea. Tammy said the sea was rough,

  but I don't think so. It's a beautiful ocean.

  Here is a nice picture of Tammy and I at the beach.

 Here I am trying to get my feet wet in the water. But the water keeps

 going out to the tide. I'm like, “Hey, you water is getting away from me!!”

  Finally got into the water!! Tammy asked me if I can remember the sounds of the 

ocean waves breaking at the shore. I said yes I do remember. I could just hear the 

 sounds as the ocean waves crash onto the shore. Its amazing how the brain 

can recall sounds from memory stored in the brain. I am grateful I can remember 

sounds and voices of people I know.Oh yeah, the water in the ocean is very warm.

 Unlike the Atlantic Ocean which is cold.

  Check out my feet in the sand!! Check out the color of sand. The sand on the beach is black.

 I have never seen black sand at a beach. Jesus, Tammy's husband said that there is

 iron mixed in the sand which is why the color is black. I wondered if it is caused by 

the volcanoes all along the country of Costa Rica. Interesting, huh??

  We are sitting on a log, enjoying being in the moment with the ocean.

  Tammy and Jesus at the beach. Check out the jungle in the background, smiling here!!

We headed back to the Motel and spent another night there. Hopefully tomorrow the river will recede enough for us to cross thru and be home on the Mountain.

End of the 2^nd and 3^rd days of my journey of Costa Rica. More daily journals to come. Hope you all are enjoying this.

Jen