This is a blog about…
The Adventure…
Of writing a book (actually a trilogy of books) about…
The Adventure…
Of making a discovery…
--specifically, of cracking the code in my father’s secret
life.
And just in case you didn’t follow that, here’s the story told
in another way.
I am writing a trilogy of books about the 7 ½ year journey
of going back into the land and story of my father’s secret life and its impact
on me as a child and on many of his other victims. I am using the story device of cracking a
code as the hook to keep the plot moving forward. Thanks to Kickstarter, I successfully raised
the amount needed to write the final draft of the first book in the trilogy.
You can learn more about it here.
I have temporarily relocated to beautiful Costa Rica—or The
Rich Coast as the name is in English--where I can keep my expenses as low as
possible, yet be in the best possible climate and natural surroundings for
doing my best work (and rejuvenating from the dark subject matter daily!)
And that’s where you—reading this blog—come in!
Because it occurred to me about two weeks into my time here
that
a)
it’s too exciting not to share all this with all
of you! Every day brings something
new—both in the adventure of the writing process itself and in this hidden
jewel of a country and
b)
I realized I could use a bit of a writing—and
photography--break daily from the emotional intensity of the subject matter of
the books.
Format:
·
something hopefully new and light and fun about
my time here with pictures,
·
followed by a more reflective short segment
about what I’m learning from it.
Here’s a quick overview on my life here:
1)
My Casita:
Casita is what the building I rent, and it means “Little Room.”
That’s technically what it is, a 200 square foot open room with a 7’ x 4’ bathroom walled off from the rest, with beautiful natural wood and handcarved furniture.
It’s what in the U.S. we would call a studio apartment, except that this is not in an apartment complex. It is a free-standing building with views of the private rain forest on the property, the Swiss Alp style slopes and beautiful Lake Arenal on a working farm in Aguacate, Costa Rica.
Casita is what the building I rent, and it means “Little Room.”
It’s what in the U.S. we would call a studio apartment, except that this is not in an apartment complex. It is a free-standing building with views of the private rain forest on the property, the Swiss Alp style slopes and beautiful Lake Arenal on a working farm in Aguacate, Costa Rica.
2)
The Ranch
This particular property, a bit of a cross between a U.S.
farm, a ranch and an orchard/plantation, includes beef cattle, dairy cows,
(both of which are herded up and down the mountains to graze), pigs and acres
of banana trees: some plantain and some the more common kind of bananas we see
in the U.S. The cattle are a beautiful variety new to me; someone said they originally came from the continent of Africa and do well grazing up and down the slopes of the lowlands here.
The driveway to the ranch and my little Casita is right off Highway 142 that is the only way around Lake Arenal in upper central Costa Rica. From the top of the drive you can see Lake Arenal, per this shot.
Since highway 142 is the only paved road (just two lanes wide) that runs around Lake Arenal, it's shared by everything from construction trucks and semis to tour buses and public and school buses and horses, mopeds, cyclists, walkers, private vehicles--and the occasional dog!
3)
The Lake
Lake Arenal is the largest inland lake in Costa Rica.
The views are breathtaking; I haven’t taken or seen photos yet that capture it adequately! This one I took from another property my landlord family owns: one of the highest points in the country.
The views are breathtaking; I haven’t taken or seen photos yet that capture it adequately! This one I took from another property my landlord family owns: one of the highest points in the country.
4)
The Town
I live in a town called Avocado. That’s what it’s Spanish name Aguacate means
in English. Yes, it is very green. In fact, we’re in the Costa Rican supposed
dry season right now which lasts six months out of the year, which means most
of the country is looking pretty brown right now. As you’ll see from the pictures, though, it’s
still very green here. It also rains a
lot! My landlord keeps telling me that
“We have six more weeks before the rainy season” and considering it’s rained 2
out of 3 days here for several hours at a time each time—and with a few
torrential downpours—it has me wondering what exactly the rainy season is going
to be like! But…it does keep things nice
and green here.
That's my beautiful view while I wait for the bus into town, under the overhang of the green building you can see in this shot.
Aguacate is all set right on Highway 142. You can see some of the roadside beauty in one of these shots, and see the highway winding out of town (with the red clay of the area showing) in another.
That's my beautiful view while I wait for the bus into town, under the overhang of the green building you can see in this shot.
Aguacate is all set right on Highway 142. You can see some of the roadside beauty in one of these shots, and see the highway winding out of town (with the red clay of the area showing) in another.
5)
Market
The closest small city and tourist stop is Nuevo Arenal,
population 3000. This is where I do most
of my weekly produce and food shopping. I
can get over the winding mountains past beautiful Lake Arenal by bus in about
20 minutes (though I’m told it’s only 4 actual miles from where I live.)
It is charming and very small-town in flavor, but with a tourist flair given the German Bakery and accompanying Tican souvenir store is a stopping point for the major tourist lines that circle the lake.
It is charming and very small-town in flavor, but with a tourist flair given the German Bakery and accompanying Tican souvenir store is a stopping point for the major tourist lines that circle the lake.
6)
The City
The closest thing to a city that I can get to easily is Tilaran--I think population maybe around 20k. It’s the place you go to get things you can’t
in little Nuevo Arenal—including having some wonderful resale boutiques of U.S.
name brand clothing at thrift store prices.
It’s a beautiful 30 minute $2 bus ride for me, in the opposite direction
from Nuevo Arenal around Lake Arenal.
7)
The Hot Springs & Volcano
La Fortuna is the other city I can get to fairly easily by
bus (an hour and a half ride along the East side of Lake Arenal) from here.
But it’s less of a practical choice and more of a tourist stop and play city that I’ll probably just head to once in a while instead of regularly. It has a completely different feel from Tilaran being on the other side of Lake Arenal (the green versus brown side during dry season) and with more of a Caribbean flair from that coast.
It’s the city at the foot of the Arenal Volcano--one of the major attractions of Costa Rica--and the surrounding hot springs are supposed to be wonderful. It's a spa city full of upscale resorts and spas that don't exactly fit my writing budget! But I made a recent discovery of a place where the Ticans (vs. the tourists) go that is luxurious but very economical. $10 a day for access to 3 hot spring pools. Later on when the book is further underway, I may try this out sometime! Hot springs are supposed to be ideal for recovering from Lyme disease (which I’m battling, compliments of a tick bite in summer of 2012.)
But it’s less of a practical choice and more of a tourist stop and play city that I’ll probably just head to once in a while instead of regularly. It has a completely different feel from Tilaran being on the other side of Lake Arenal (the green versus brown side during dry season) and with more of a Caribbean flair from that coast.
It’s the city at the foot of the Arenal Volcano--one of the major attractions of Costa Rica--and the surrounding hot springs are supposed to be wonderful. It's a spa city full of upscale resorts and spas that don't exactly fit my writing budget! But I made a recent discovery of a place where the Ticans (vs. the tourists) go that is luxurious but very economical. $10 a day for access to 3 hot spring pools. Later on when the book is further underway, I may try this out sometime! Hot springs are supposed to be ideal for recovering from Lyme disease (which I’m battling, compliments of a tick bite in summer of 2012.)
So there you have it!
That’s a bit of the high points of my world here in Costa Rica. I hope you’ll join me and follow along on my
adventure.
Of writing these books…
About another adventure…
Of making a discovery--that involved a long, hard 7 ½ year
journey more deeply into my father’s secret life…
In hopes of making a difference for the whole—and helping do
more to stop this kind of child abuse globally.
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