Tres Semanas 16 PMpSat, 23 Jun 2007 16:02:59 +000002Saturday 2007

 

It has been a long time since I have added anything to this blog, but I have a good excuse for that.  More than one good excuse, actually.  I feel like my life has been on fast-forward over the last three weeks. 

FIRST, we have moved to a new home base – our last move this season.  We are staying about 15-minutes south of Santa Rosa, just off the Pan-American Highway, in the pueblo of Irigaray.  This pueblo consists of a few restaurants and a cluster of houses along the highway, really.  No sign exists that merely mentions the place, and the only way I know we are here is that I noticed the dot on the map the other day.  We are staying at a tranquilo location owned by Eladio, a Costa Rican who embraces the Pura Vida (translation: Pure Life – Costa Rica´s motto) mentality more than any other I’ve ever met.  Great guy.  He has a beautiful cluster of houses, which include a barbeque pit and a pool!  Man, this is what I call field work!  If any of you out there are planning on visiting Costa Rica in the future, I highly recommend staying at Eladio’s place and hiring him for his services, which can include a kayak down a nearby river, a trip to the famous Playa Naranjo, or a full day of fishing in the nearby bay followed by a fish barbeque with plenty of Imperial beer. 

SECOND, we have been doing both morning and night work.  More on that coming soon.  But it means many days of 10 or 11-hrs in the field. 

THIRD, Charles is visiting!  He has been here for nearly 2 weeks already.  And that leads me to my FOURTH and most exciting point.  That would be the simultaneous engagement of Charles and I!  I say simultaneous because we both proposed to each other at the same time.  How could that happen, you ask?  Well, let me tell you:

I decided to propose to Charles, so I had an elaborate surprise planned for him.  My surprise included a hike up to the peak of the nearby volcano, Rincon de la Vieja, where I would propose, and then a relaxing stay at a luxurious lodge nearby to celebrate our togetherness. 

Our hike up to Rincon was beautiful, and we had the entire mountain to ourselves – not another soul out there.  The wind was scouring the mountain, and frequent gusts were making it difficult for us to stand.  At the top I pulled out a ring and popped the question to Charles.  In response, Charles fumbled around in his pockets a bit and said, “Well, let me ask YOU a question”, and he pulled out a ring for me!  I figured that was a solid “yes” to answer my question…