Rewilding

In The Past Three Months...

2011-12-16T02:27:00.000-08:00

Ah, remembering summer! Three full months ago now, and after a long and glorious fall, we are settling in for the harsh winter they keep saying is coming....
September seemed like one continuous work party as we welcomed all of Scott's family members- though not all at the same time. We put everyone to work until they were all tired and dirty and vowing to get a hotel the next time they visit. So much love and sweat and beer. Thanks family!
We had a daunting list of small but important projects that needed to be completed to winterize our homestead. Even though it had been months without a hint of precipitation, somesquirrel-like instinct inspired Jeff and Scott to whip out a storage shed. It took less than a day, and they had the whole yard sale- tools and bikes, chairs and all- neatly stowed away, just minutes before the first sprinkles.

There was chainsaw maintenance, filling in the water line trenches, tree felling and clearing, and then the biggest chore of them all....... moving the tent. After much debating and deliberating, we decided to change our original site plan and move the barn closer to the proposed home site. This meant that we had to move the tent (because it was sitting right where the barn will need to be), and it also meant cutting a couple of the big pine trees. Felling 120 ft. trees was a successful, but nerve racking task. This was a compromise plan needed to avoid some less than ideal land formations... (or should I say deformations?) that we found on the property. But we are grateful that we have spent so much time living here and getting to know and understand our land before beginning to build in the wrong spot!

The pace of our projects slowed down in October, as the air cooled and the trees became glorious. With our electric panel and water lines completed, the next major projects all seem to involve some serious land moving and machinery. We hired a local backhoe driver to carve out the driveway and connect us to the road. This had been a high priority because our only access was across our neighbors' front lawn. However, the project had been held up all summer by a PG&E power box centered in the middle of the driveway, and it took until mid-October for a crew to come out, make a big mess of the road, and move the box to where it should have been in the first place. Then, in only two days, for our friend the backhoe driver to expertly dig out a driveway from the hill, and it looks beautiful.

We were so impressed that we asked for his help with the septic system as well. However, with a rainy weekend in the forecast, he talked us into waiting until spring before digging up the field.... so here we sit... waiting until spring....

November has not been as rainy or snowy or cold or anything as people here keep telling us it should be. Perhaps we've lucked out this year, but none-the-less it has become just chilly enough to make spending much time in the tent uncomfortable and impractical. We had a couple of weeks of quality camper living (as you can witness in the video above), before we started to notice Penny pacing the aisle- running back and forth from bed to bathroom in four or five little baby steps- We contemplated insulation options for the tent, different heaters or a wood burning stove, even a hot tub before I found an apartment for rent just down the street......

It's not fancy or cute or quaint, but it is so stinkin' Convenient! Flushing toilets, a full size bath with an unending supply of hot water, Laundry, a KITCHEN with an actual SINK and an oven! We haven't had that since 2006.
So we are now living in luxury with the basic American amenities, while waiting for this harsh, rugged winter to arrive...and then leave. We are feeling quite stress free with the new space and time that comes with convenience, and as we enter the holiday season, we have been meeting new people, and enjoying the most festive little town in all of California! Happy Holidays!
http://www.nevadacitychamber.com/view.cfm

Our First Summer in the Sierra

2011-09-05T23:35:00.000-07:00

We're still in the thick of summer. It's been in the 90's all week, and we haven't had a drop of rain here since June. But even though the dry, dusty heat will still be around for a while, the fact that today is Labor Day makes me feel like our first summer on the land is coming to a close. I'm starting to think about what the trees will look like in the fall, and of course, what we will do in the winter...

This past week we reached two major milestones. On August 27th, a crew of PG&E electricians pulled the wire to our electrical panel that had been standing, ready and waiting, for a full month. Finally we are energy independent! From the neighbors that is... We are planning to build a passive solar home and have a few solar panels in the future, but at the moment, our connection to the grid is necessary, and a huge accomplishment.

We reached the second milestone this morning, when Scott turned on the water! He completed the truly monumental task of digging a trench for our water line from the street (where we are hooked in to city water) back to the home and barn site. That's roughly 600 feet of trenching that was done in 1 day with a rented chain trencher, and then took another 4 weeks of hand digging and chopping and cutting. Scott has worked harder than I've ever witnessed anyone work in my whole life. I mean, I know that people have done harder work and for longer time, but this is far beyond what any normal American man would do today... some might suggest it was stubborn pride or economic hardship that drove him do this work himself, instead of hiring a backhoe and driver to do it, quick and dirty... but I know it is because there was a sense of wanting to know our land... truly Know it... that kept him digging and learning. It also allowed him to install the water line with minimal damage to the surrounding trees by digging under or around many of the larger roots. I'm convinced that his efforts saved the lives of our beautiful madrone trees along the driveway, and will keep several of our towering pines from falling in a winter storm.

Other new developments to the homestead include the addition of my parent's camper! They left it here indefinitely before heading back to Germany, and we have been spoiled by the bigger bed, kitchen with an actual stove (something we didn't even have in Berkeley!!) and a shower. Don't get me wrong... its not luxurious. We live in single file and the shower's so small you can't bend over to wash your feet. But, hey, it's a lot more than we had before. We still live in the tent for all other purposes, drafting table, office, living room and play room. Also, it makes great guest quarters and has been employed for that use on many occasions this summer.

When we started planning this move, back at the beginning of the year, I think Scott and I both imagined that our first summer would be slow and long, and we would have completed our utilities, installed a septic system, and laid the foundation for the barn. We now have a more accurate understanding of the terrific amount of work that it takes, that each movement forward is built on weeks of labor... And of course, we are attempting to maintain jobs and raise an adorable little girl at the same time. With that in mind, I think we're moving along just fine. Besides, I take the perspective that we are here, doing what we dreamed of doing, and we have our whole lives to do it.

Mikal-Heine-Kautz State Park

2011-07-09T21:02:00.000-07:00

This week our home has felt more like a State Park than a homestead... The campground began to take shape when Mark, Judy & Miles arrived and set up their new family tent for the holiday weekend! It had only been three weeks since I'd seen them, but it felt like Miles had added months worth of new accomplishments and personality developments. Penny was super happy to have her best friend here, and she woke up each morning with an excited "DEE!!" when she heard his little (or not so little) cry from across the yard. She happily shared her tub with him and they made it through the hottest weekend yet with temperatures in the high 90's the whole time. Yikes.

My parents made the epic journey towing thier camper from Chicago to California and arrived on the 4th of July. If two tents and camper weren't enough to make it feel like a KOA, there was the nightly sound of Aerosmith and Springstein echoing up the valley each night as our neighbors celebrated Independence Day. All we were missing was the shower house and pit toilets....and those would have been welcomed luxuries. I know that we have chosen a challenging lifestyle, but I'm really impressed by our families' abilities to put up with all our discomforts. It has been crazy hot... and we have no shower and no airconditioning. The guys have been out working hard to build our electrical service and dig the 4 foot deep trench to the utilities. Mark spent two days digging and pouring concrete with Scott, my dad and Scott have spent the week picking and shoveling a chest deep trench in hard-pan red clay... long hard hours of work. And mind you, baby-care in 90 degree heat is no easy task either. My mom has been entertaining Penny while I'm at work, making trips to McDonald's or the hardware store, just to find some relief in the air conditioning. Daily walks down to our cold local creek have been refreshing and downright crucial.

But this one week full of extra hands and help has brought us to a major milestone. Our first permanent structure... The next step is to have the county inspector check it out. If we pass inspection, then we can fill in the trench and have the electric company come out to pull the wire. It there will still be one more inspection after that, too, so actual power is still a way off, but hey...it looks a lot like progress!

Here we are surveying our accomplishments thus far...notice the two meter sockets on our elelctric panel. There will be copious amounts of available electricity, but the idea is that eventually one of those meters will spin backwards!

Yard Sale!!

2011-07-02T15:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are alive and well and full time residents of Nevada City, California!! Apologies for leaving everyone in suspense. We completed the move on June 12th, and have been buried in bins and baby toys for the past couple of weeks. I (Annie) started full time work on June 15th, and the job is all I had hoped it would be. Scott and Penny have been setting up house in our little tent and have become super buddies.
Of course, I am writing this on a hot, sunny Saturday. Baby is napping in the shade, dishes are done, tent is swept, diapers washed and hanging on the line. All is finally in order and we have worked out so many of the little systems and routines required for daily living. I shouldn't understate, though how challenging this has been. We had been lovingly referring to our homestead as the "yard sale".... possessions strewn about, hanging on the tent rails, cars and chairs and tools and pots all a jumble in the yard... I am a neat and tidy kind of person, and the stress of the disorganization combined with my anxiety over being away from Penny and the simple newness of EVERYTHING!!!! Well, it's been tough. Now, exactly three weeks after moving day, I am starting to feel like I'm getting the hang of living again.

Scott, on the other hand, has been experiencing pure delight in being in this place with his daughter... and he's much more tolerant of the yard sale. The challenge for him has been to adjust to the slower pace and accept the fact that little, if anything, gets accomplished while doing full time baby care. Daily chores and tent-keeping is really all he is able to do during the day. Building research and projects have been relegated to nights and weekends. I'm sure this will not always be the case, and we have lots of help coming! My brother was here last weekend, Scott's brother & family are here this weekend, and my parents will be here for a week and a half after that!

So, everyone we talk to want so know the logistics. You know the Details. Yes, we sleep in the tent, but how do we cook? Is there running water? Where do we shower or, you know, go to the bathroom? There's an explanation and a really hilarious story to go with each answer, though I don't think I'll have the time to recount them all in this post. Here's the quick version, just to relieve those nagging questions in the back of your mind.... Cooking: We have a propane grill that we use just like a regular gas stove... We cook not only burgers, but pasta, eggs, fajitas, and even Scott's world famous chocolate chip cookies!
Water: We have running water at the street. Scott has been making one trip a day with Penny and the wagon to haul water back in our 5 gallon jug. Five gallons! That's all we need for drinking, cooking dishes, and bathing the baby. Scott usually walks down to Deer Creek (just a few hundred yards down the hill), for a bone chilling scrub in the river. I, however, have opted for the luxury of the local health club. Hey- don't judge.

As for other bathroom necessities... there is a port-o-potty at our neighbor's construction site...

Oh! I almost forgot. Electricity: The electric panel is still not completed, though we finally acquired the last of the necessary materials today. We lived for the first 10 days without any electricity...candles in the evening, and only buying fresh food that would be eaten the same day...until our neighbors generously offered to run an extension cord from their yard. Though I was initially opposed, wanting to be self-reliant and not impose on others, it turns out that a refrigerator is THE basic technology needed for civilized life. Box milk for Penny, mooshy butter, questionable cheese, and warm drinks on a hot day....I'm really, really thankful for that little cord running to my mini-fridge.

On Our Way!

2011-06-10T09:48:00.001-07:00

Today is June 10th, Scott's last day of work. Tomorrow is June 11th, our official Moving Day. It has been a sad week of goodbyes with dinners, parties, and picnics signaling the end of our cozy life in Berkeley. And life has been cozy and comfortable here.... with family one block away, surrounded by thoughtful and engaging friends, a view of the Golden Gate Bridge from our living room, and some of the best food on the west coast just a short walk down the hill.
We are leaving Berkeley with a feeling of appreciation for the support and inspiration it has given us as we've prepared for this next adventure. There is no shortage of people here who have already done what we are about to do... or some similar experiment in living. The responses we've received to our posts have been an encouragement and reminder to us that we are not alone in our desire to live a simpler life that is in closer connection to nature. People are doing it everywhere, in their own unique ways.
Now the update. On Memorial Day Weekend we had our first overnight visitor to the land. My sister helped us move up "The Essentials", and developed a useful technique for coaxing the baby to sleep in the wagon.
The delivery of the spiral staircase went, but not without a hitch. Something about the geometry of a spiral made it quite unwieldy, and nearly impossible to predict which way it will fall or when it will lose balance... in the end we got it out of the truck with only one large dent in the bed, and sheering off only a small portion of the tailgate trim... But it didn't roll anyone over, so we feel successful.
We set up a water collection system which consists of a hose, buckets and the wagon... It seems that Penny's 1st birthday present from her grandparents will be one of our basic survival tools. It transports water AND puts the baby to sleep at the same time? Perfect.
Our current apartment is now completely packed and ready to start hauling tomorrow. Everything is in boxes and divided into piles based on its destination: tent or storage. Once we leave, we won't have electricity or internet, so we will try to be consistent about getting to the library to post updates. Thanks to everyone for all the help and support and prayers and well wishes. We are on our way!

The Essentials

2011-05-18T22:38:00.000-07:00

We returned to our tent once more this month to bring up a bit of furniture and to get a sense of what life will be like living here. We are less than one month away from our official moving date, June 11th. Scott's last day of school is June 10th, and I begin my new job in Nevada County on June 15th.
The logistics are pretty intense and not all perfectly worked out yet, but we have a feeling that each problem or need will be met and solved as it arises. I admit, there have been moments of anxiety and the occasional panic stricken thought of, "Wait. What am I doing?!" But honestly, these fears are mostly tied to my concern about being away from Penny and making the transition back to working full time. I know these feelings are the same for every mother, wherever and whenever she first goes back to work. This will be a much bigger challenge than living in a tent, I'm sure of it!

But back to logistics. On this last trip we moved the futon and the workbench into our temporary home. The futon, for sleeping, the workbench for safe keeping. Scott made this workbench last year and it has since been soaking up moisture in our very damp garage in Berkeley. The bench has suffered a great deal in these conditions, and we're hoping that the drier mountain air will calm some of the expansion and warping that has occurred. Normally a workbench wouldn't be your first priority piece of furniture in a move, but this bench was a labor of love, a work of art, a piece of furniture, a tool, and the cornerstone of Scott's future woodworking shop. It was put ahead of the dining room table.
We have another trip planned for Memorial Day weekend to move a few more of the logistically complicated items. Specifically, a car and a spiral staircase.... a what? Yes. A spiral staircase. Scott and his brother rescued it from a jungle of vines, tied up and hanging down the side of a Berkeley canyon... It has since been undergoing repairs and renovations by Scott's students, and I still haven't actually seen it. But where will it be going? And why do we have it? These are questions I leave up to Scott's inspiration and ingenuity. However, I'm trying to imagine what we will look like from across the fence... living in a tent with a workbench as our table, and outside, an old '97 Ford Escort parked next to a spiral staircase. You know...just the essentials.

The Temporary Shelter

2011-05-03T18:06:00.000-07:00

In 2009, Scott ordered a book titled, Mortgage Free, (you can read his review on Amazon.com). The author, Rob Roy, outlined his philosophy and strategies for living free of a home mortgage (literally, the "death pledge"). This book stands out as more of a guide than most of what Scott reads -- we have returned to it over and over in the past 2 years, as we planned and dreamed about how someday we, too, might build our home and life in a way that did not enslave us to money and the need to have copious amounts of it. The two key principles of the Rob Roy strategy included #1 the grubstake (I hate that word...though, and will substitute "nest egg" instead) and #2 the temporary shelter.
The purest followers of the strategy would first save up a nest egg big enough to pay for land outright... with cash. We chose a more impatient route and took out a small $80,000 mortgage to buy our 1 1/2 acres last fall -- when prices were very low. The monthly payment is very small, and we felt that it would still give us ample flexibility until we can pay it off.

So that was Step #1... a slow, slow process of saving, working a lot, navigating banks and real estate offices, and countless trips to Nevada County to drive endless miles of back country road, walking property lines and scraping through manzanita bushes...Scott estimates he walked over 60 properties and this parcel was easily one of the smallest. We used our nest egg to put a large down payment on the land and had a bit left over to start our homesteading project.

Step #2 The Temporary Shelter. Here is where it gets exciting! Planning how we would move to the land and figuring out how to live there... as soon as possible! Our decade of idealizing the "Simple Life" will now be put to the test. What are the basic necessities? Can we continue to hold "normal" jobs without living in a "normal" house? Rob Roy's book describes in detail how people build temporary dwellings on their land, to occupy for free while using your resources to build the actual house. All that money being burnt up on rent and utilities and cable TV and other nonsense gets redirected in building a homestead. We, however, live in a county (state really) with a pretty stringent building code, so most of the temporary shelter's described wouldn't come close to meeting permit requirements. We opted for the temporary tent instead, which still fails to satisfy code requirements, but in the words of the county planner "We have no way to permit it" and..."What's the worst that could happen?"...
The photos above shows our first homesteading encampment. During spring break, we slept in the bed of Scott's truck while building the tent platform. Please note the handmade wooden lumber rack made from an exotic Amazon wood, as mentioned in the previous post. We were hopeful that we would pitch this tent in a few days, and spend the rest of the week working on other developments- namely, electricity. So we set up camp on Saturday...

Sunday, Scott purchased the building materials. Who knew this would be a full day event?

Monday... Breaking ground. It was a strange feeling to be making our first marks on the land. There was the amazement that we were actually beginning our homestead, but also a feeling of responsibility- we were also starting to make our own footprint on the place, and our actions could be either helpful or hurtful.

Tuesday... Much of the same. Leveling the ground became a day and 1/2 long digging project for Scott, and Annie was of no help to him. The baby seemed to be feeling a bit exposed as hawks circled above, and she sprouted her very first tooth- both things resulted in a very clingy baby for our first few days on the land.

Wednesday... Annie's first day of work. Scott had the day to practice being the stay-at-home dad... a role reversal that will be a nice change of pace for everyone, we think.

Thursday... The platform's STILL not done???

Friday... Penny was more and more comfortable playing in the pine needles and watching us work. We finished the floor and started on the ridge poles.

Saturday ... it all came together. The side rails went up, we hoisted the tent onto the ridge, our neighbor helped pull the rain fly over the top, and we finished fastening grommets and tying ropes just in time to have dinner with a friend. Our new home was built in 7 days!

Preparations

2011-04-07T23:40:00.000-07:00

Our long awaited Spring Break Building Blitz is now just one day away. How are the preparations coming? Lagging behind expectations, as expected.
We had a fantastic planning session last weekend listing goals, action steps, tools needed, prioritized to-do lists, divisions of labor, packing lists... but they seem more like wish lists at the moment.

Of course, some progress has been made. Scott is putting the finishing touches on his custom wooden truck rack- complete with wooden pins and mortise and tenon joints (photo to be posted upon completion)... He has basically built a piece of furniture onto his truck, a very Scott solution to the problem of how to transport all the lumber we will need this week.

My major goal was to arrange a time to meet with my future employer, and it turns out that I did better than that. My first official day of work will be on Wednesday! I'll be attending a networking meeting and starting some online training. I continue to get such a great feeling about the company I will be working for. I come away from my conversations with them with the refreshing sense that they are genuinely good and caring people.

Though we've packed the camping/cooking gear already, the major tasks of tools, tent, laundry and baby remain to be completed. But that's not unreasonable....though the goal of completing the electrical panel is looking more and more improbable.

Spring Break

2011-04-04T22:00:00.000-07:00

Friends and Family,

For those of you following our adventure (both of you), we are headed to our parcel for my Spring Break (April 9th -- 17th, 2011). We have grand intentions of swooping down and building our temporary shelter and simultaneously installing our electrical service...and starting the driveway. A more modest opinion of our abilities would suggest setting up a tent, and possibly figuring out where to put our electrical pedestal.

The photo above is from the Colorado Yurt Company brochure, and is the inspiration for our temporary shelter. We purchased this tent and will build the platform as our first order of business. Penny thoroughly inspected the tent construction and has given her stamp of approval on what will soon to be her new home.

So here is an early element of our decision making revealed; we are planning on bringing 400 amps of electrical power to the land. Whoa. That is uber-wattage you might say, enough to power a small town. This is true, and maybe even a little embarassing for a family that values energy conservation and has visions of building a passive solar home -- allow us to explain. We met (Scott) with a PG&E engineer, and when prompted "what would you do if this was your land?" he helped us form this idea -- we would install two separate meters and supply a line (wire) to the property capable of giving us 400 amps. This isn't because we want to have an outdoor baseball field, its because two meters can actually give you lower bills. We can divide up the barn, the shop and the future house on different loads, and avoid paying hog rates. The second rationale is to leave room for the possibility of creating a fully functioning woodworking studio should Scott, you know, become a full time artist and woodworker... someday... somehow... Though that may be looking decades into the future, it is cheap and harmless to put in more power than needed now, and complicated, expensive, and annoying to add more power later.

We'll see what we can get done next week. I imagine that setting up house and getting comfortable will take much of our time. Annie has a new job to field and train for as well. Go girl. We received the good news just this week that our water meter has been installed at the street. This will be our only comfort utility at the moment, and that's 500 feet away. No power, no plumbing, no heat. no nothing. But we have a river flowing, wind in the pine above, and sun. We have the Blue Dragon to the East (mountains), the White Tiger to the West (valley), and most auspiciously, the Red Bird to the South (flowing water). A Chinese feng-shui geomancer would have much praise for our building site, nestled 400 ft south of a quiet county road, tucked behind a small duff covered berm, housed beneath a canopy of ponderosa pine, and washed in a steady strong light. Not too big, not too small.

Back in Action!

2011-03-25T22:31:00.000-07:00

Dearest Friends and Family,

We are back in action and preparing for our next adventure! As most of you know, we are moving to Nevada City, California to begin building, gardening and homesteading. This is our acre of land, one mile outside of town.

Throughout the winter, we have been taking steps forward, slowly but surely, to install water and power, to submit plans and acquire permits for the development of the property. But the next steps are much bigger and scarier, and they require our time, commitment, and presence. We are stepping out in confidence that if we are willing to work hard and be uncomfortable for a little while, we will be able to build the house and the life we have imagined.

I say "scarier" only because we have a healthy respect for the risks we are taking. Scott has decided to give up what is an ideal and coveted teaching position in the Bay Area; we are beginning a building project that could take a cool decade to complete; and we have never lived in a tent with a baby before... Unless you count the several weeks I spent in a Mongolian ger (aka "yurt") with a family of Buriat nomads. Well, we do have role models at the very least.

The other thing we have is an understanding that we are going to need a lot of support and encouragement! I am reminded of our historical tradition of "barn-raising"... when homesteaders drew upon the strength and support of a community and then celebrated their successes together.
So this is an invitation to join us or support us or pray for us or just peek in once and a while to find out what happens.... There will probably be pictures of a really cute baby, too.

Hello!

2009-06-24T22:10:00.000-07:00

What? Is this the beginning of another garage sale to eliminate our worldly possessions, and embark on a journey without any for-thought or planning whatsoever? One where we fly to a randomly chosen country where we don't know the language- where we don't know where we'll go, or how long we'll be gone, or even why?

No-- no such thing is happening. I just have the sudden urge to resume broadcasting my life as if people should be interested in what I'm doing.... They really shouldn't be, but I think there might be a couple people out there who love me, and would be kinda happy to have a little window into my life. That's what the internet is all about right? I opened a facebook account. I know.

I don't pretend to think that this little life I live in Berkeley, California is anything special, but I'd like to share it with you none the less. But where to start? With what we've been doing for the past two years? That seems overly cumbersome and boring. Maybe I'll just start with today & work backwards.

Today:
Just said good bye to Judy, Mark & Dave---all flying to Chicago tomorrow. But I'll see them in Chicago on Saturday, so it wasn't such a sad goodbye.

Minutes before...said good bye to Scott who is going over to the neighbors for a night cap. I'll be sleeping by the time he returns.
Seconds before that.... said good bye to Gabe & Kayla-- they're moving to New York on Sunday. Driving Gabe's old bio-diesel Mercedes from one coast to the other. They'll be missed.

So, maybe it's not so surprising that I feel the need to broadcast a hello after so many good byes...

Picture Treats!

2007-02-14T16:20:00.000-08:00

Ok, so here are a few pics from Costa Rica...

These are from a little Waterfall hike we went on with Nathan, Amber, and Gordon.

The vast expanses of Chicagoland

2007-01-16T19:42:00.000-08:00

Oh, Home! I can't express how wonderful it is to see everyone, and get notes from long lost friends and far away cousins! I'm really surprised how many people have been keeping track of us. It makes us feel loved. thanks. So...we've been in Chicago-land for the past two weeks...babysitting nieces and getting caught-up on such wonderful americanisms as YouTube and 24. So far the reverse culture shock has been mild...the hardest part is just remembering to throw your toilet paper in the toilet...not the trash can, like we've been doing for the past 4 months. It's weird how quickly you make new habits. Oh, and I still get thrown off when a cashier talks to me in English. Don't know why.
Anyway...we're gonna try and get on that picture thing now...kay? I'm serious.
Here...I'll prove it to you.

This is Scott's birthday at Volcan Irazu in Costa Rica!

Feliz Nuevo Año... eve

2006-12-31T10:43:00.000-08:00

hey kids.
After another hellish bus adventure, Annie and I are back in Quito after three days on the coast of Ecuador at a beach town called Canoa. Another addition to a series of relaxing and pleasant places since our advenutres in Riobamba with volcanoes and ancient trains. If you haven't read the last entry (shame on you!) we are here to catch a flight to Chicago on Jan 3rd to wrap up this section of our travels and see our families... which have grown since we have been gone (in number, not in body size [well maybe in body size since Christmas])
As some of you may remember, today being New Year's Eve, this is our wedding anniversary. 2 years people... and no divorce -- in fact we love eachother (and love being together) more today than we did even 2 years ago. I know, that is amazing. Take that American marriage statistics! Apparently if we make it past three years our statistical chances of staying together for life skyrocket. And if we make it past five years we get an official certificate from the US government declaring us "awesome". So after sleeping off the misery of the domestic Ecuadorian travel system, we'll celebrate today with a gratuitous and embarassing American film at the movie theatre and enjoy a nice dinner out, although the novelty of eating out for a special occasion has lost some of it's luster in that we've eaten out probably more than 200 times in the past four months. Also, Ecuadorians celebrate the Nuevo Año by having a huge parade with paper mache effigies of various people. They are all different sizes and some of these effigies represent bad people (like George Bush Jr.) and some of them are a bit more random (like Spiderman) Anyway, Ecuadorians strap these things to their cars and drive around all day today, then march them in the streets tonight, and then, being filled with sawdust and fireworks, blow them up at midnight in a savage display of violence. What a sweet tradition. The meaning of course being to rid ourselves of the bad and begin fresh for the new year.
I wanted to say here that Annie and I will not be abandoning this blog site but will continue to update with news from your favorite action/adventure partnership. There is a lot more to come actually. This trip has been a very introspective for us, although we have devoted most of those topics to emails with our siblings. But, since you were wondering; we talked about starting our own business(es) ranging from a breakfast restaurant to a woodworking/furniture or a custom kitchen/remodeling busiess, to a small college town residential rentals business. We've also talked much about myself going to graduate school for sculpture or 3d design, and Annie maybe pursuing a new direction too. We have also, with some trepidation, discussed transitioning to California and different living arrangements near or alongside Judy and Mark in Berkeley (thanks to Mark for all his patient emails). Another popular topic is Ella Tienefe, our new sobrina whom we've yet to meet and Amora, our sobrina who has begun to walk and talk since we left Chicago in June. Speaking of those rascals, happy birthday to their beautiful mother Chasity! We look foward to celebrating with you (a few days late) soon. We have by no means allowed this trip to make us intellectually lazy -- we have spent countless hours discussing the meaning of every choice we can make about our present and our future. We have read almost 20 books between us, and have focused more intensely than ever about how to make this life we are living together meaningful and conscious. We look foward to spending time with each and every one of you soon. See you in the US.

Feliz Navidad!

2006-12-26T06:51:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays to all! We miss you so much! We have spent the last four days hiding out in a wonderful little hotel in Vilcabamba. It's a small bed and breakfast called Madre Tierra...it includes gourmet organic breakfasts and dinners, and they made us a beautiful Christmas Eve feast...complete with all the turkey and cranberry sauce. It has been a much needed break for us. Our Christmas presents to each other were massages at the spa. (only $25 for a whole hour!)So, we've been livin' in up...and recuperating.
So...recuperating from what, you might ask? Well, from Riobamba we spent 3 days in the mountains outside of town. We hiked El Altar...an amazing volcano with a bright green lake in the crater, and surrounded by the most magnificent jutting peaks... all around. There's no way to describe it! So, the hike was about 20 miles...we camped just below the crater. The next day we hiked out to the Hacienda where the hike starts, and waited for the bus...for 2 1/2 hours. It never came, and we ended up spending the night at the hacienda...no people...no heat...no food... We woke up early to catch the next bus at 5:30am. It turns out that the bus had been held up by a landslide, and the morning bus was now being held up by a broken down potato truck. We could see it down the valley...honking at the truck, but unable to get around it because of the steep cliffs! The only thing to do was start running. So at 6:00am, after 2 long days of hiking, and having not eaten since the previous morning...we ran with our packs the 3km to town (along with four little boys also trying to catch the bus to get to school) Luckily, the people could see us running along around the mountain, and held the bus up for us (probably for the school kids, actually). So that was adventure #1.
Adventure #2 started the next morning at 5:00am. We stayed in Riobamba that night, and woke up bright and early to catch the Gringo Train to Alausi!! This fabled train once ran from Quito to Guayaquil, but has suffered many floods and catastrophes, and most of the line doesn't run anymore...except this bit known as the Nariz de Diablo, "The Devil's Nose". It's a crazy little engineering manuever to get it down a really steep canyon, including a couple of switchbacks where the train runs backwards...very beautiful views, but not exactly a fully funtioning transportation system. Hence it is now exclusively a Gringo Train. I couldn't believe the masses of tall white people who assembled at the station at the crack of dawn! Everyone in hiking boots and zip-off pants...the hardiest travellers sit on top of the train...feet dangling off the edge as the train dangles off the cliffs. I only lasted for the first hour or so...It was so stinkin' cold in the cloudy mountain morning. Scott returned to the top at the end...when it's most dramatic. So, after the train ride, all the gringos hopped on a bus to Cuenca...and we followed.
Adventure #3...The buses. After a day in Cuenca (where we were delighted to witness several of their spirited Christmas Parades) we hit the road for Vilcabama. We were driven out by the intense pollution that made us both sick almost as soon as we got there. We had a 7 hour bus ride from Cuenca...and felt lucky to be assigned seats 1&2...they had a bit more leg room... But we soon found out that the extra room was intended to be used by the 20 extra people standing on top of us for the duration of the trip...full on bags on our heads and butts in faces. The second leg (2hrs from Loja to Vilcabamba)wasn't much better...but at least this time it wasn't bags and butts...they just put thier babies in my lap.
So. As I was saying. We were feeling a good bit overwhelmed and tired by the time we arrived in Vilcabamba. We knew it was time for a break when our usual patience and cross-cultural understanding were wearing thin. So, after a few days of resting up and healing (we've also been battling multiple stomach issues since Colombia), We bought ourselves one more Christmas gift. We bought tickets to Chicago for January 3rd. We will fly out of Quito, so we'll have to head back north from here, but when we looked into flying from Lima in a month or so as we intended, we found that tickets were nearly double (and there is a 20% tax on top of it.) So, we've got another week to relax and enjoy the mountains and warm weather before we plunge into Chicago Winter! AHHH! But we are really excited about being home and with our families! So to all of you who have been faithfully following this photoless blog -- you get to be the first to know that we are heading home. Our adventures are hopefully not over -- only this current leg in South America... we hope to see you all soon, and tell you all about it. (And maybe even show you a picture or two...)

News From the Bottom Half of the World

2006-12-15T12:08:00.000-08:00

Alright...So, Ecuador.
Well we found out from Lindsay that there were a few roadblocks about a week early, and they were over in less than a day. No big deal. Mostly rumor. So we crossed the border with no problems, and then took a bus directly to Otavalo. It´s a little mountain town famous for it´s huge Saturday market where the indigenous people from the surrounding mountians bring thier colorful wares. The market is over 1000 years old. They carry everything in huge sacks literally tied onto their backs- usually with loads three times their size. They start setting up at 4am. It´s amazing to see a completely empty square the night before, and then by morning it has transformed into an overflow of color and people. It was also the biggest concentration of white people we´ve seen since landing in San Jose. We stayed at a wonderful little bed and breakfast 4km outside of town. Muy Tranquilo. But very cold!
Ecuador is interesting because the weather is so different everywhere you go. I think it´s the altidude, the huge volcanoes and mountain ranges, along with the close proximity of the sun, that make it confusing. I got really sunburned at the market, even though it was a really cold, cloudy day.
So, our trip to the Equator... As some of you know, the equator is about an hour bus ride north of Quito. There is an enormous neo-classical monument indicating the center of the earth. It´s surrounded by a pretend colonial town that is really just gift shops. It really was like a theme park. You had to pay two dollars to get in the park, and then another 3 dollars to go into the monument (which we did not do based on principle), and the museum and planetaruim all had entrance fees. So we were feeling a bit deflated...and bored really.
So we left the park and wandered over to the Museo Intiñan...directly next door. Turns out that they got the equator wrong, and it´s really about 200 meters north of the monument in the Museo Intiñan! It´s a quirky little place, but we got a tour, and they do a bunch of experiments with you...like water going opposite directions down a drain, balancing and egg on the head of a nail, and weird strength anomolies. Did you know that you´re super weak on the equator? seriously...something about the "forces"... Anyway, the quirky little local place was so much more interesting and fun than the huge imperialistic monument. We thought it was ironic.
Now we´re just hanging out in Riobamba. We´ll keep you updated! Love you all.

Quick! Quick!

2006-12-13T16:15:00.000-08:00

Ok...there´s a bit of a line waiting for this free internet...so I´ll be brief. We are currently in Quito, Ecuador. We made it here just in time to see my dear friend Lindsay (who I traveled in Mongolia with, and who is now in the Peace Corps in Ecuador)before she flew home to New Jersey for Christmas! We had the most wonderful time with her...site seeing the Old City, taking a cable car up to the mountians above Quito, and drinking boiled wine on the roof of a building downtown. It´s so nice to spend time with friends...It makes us miss everyone all the more.
So, today, in celebration of Dad Heine´s birthday...we visited the official Equator! (more on that later) We´ve been in Ecuador for about five days now, and we're planning to travel south tomorrow to Riobamba. Hopefully, I´ll be able to write more later! We love you all & Happy Birthday, Dad!

clever blog entry title here

2006-12-06T14:34:00.000-08:00

Hey team.
So Annie and I are in Popayan, Colombia; a relatively short bus ride away from Ecuador. We have in mind to cross that border in the next week here before some supposed road-blocks go up due to some kind of strikes that are rumored to occur. We have heard that the border town of Ipales is like most border towns, dusty and ugly, so we don´t want to be stuck there for a few weeks waiting for buses to run again. In all likelihood, it´s just a crazy rumor. We just wanted to let you know how we are... which is good. We stayed three days in San Agustin, some 7 hours by insane dirt road from here and some 12 hours from Bogota (where we spent nearly a week) This little ville was set at the edge of an absolutely heart-stopping huge gorge with multiple waterfalls. It was like a long and electrically green Yosemite. The area was dotted with plenty of pre-colombian indigenous archaeological sites with carved statues of crazy looking demons and various other fantastic creatures meant to scare people away from tombs. We took a day long jeep tour with some quiet Colombians to archaeological sites and waterfalls and did some of our own walking in farmland to more sites and overlooks the next day.
Great pictures!; of which I must tell all of you, may be prohibitively difficult to post. It takes forever to upload photos at the internet cafes available, and we need to somehow reduce their size to post anyway and we have no software for it. We´ll see... Anyway, we miss all of you and we´ve been thinking and talking about each of you consistently. We think we may be in Peru for Christmas so, you know, if anyone wants to hike Macchu Pichu for Navidid, email us-- we´ll meet up with you. Love you all--
Wish we could have seen the Slip with you Katie! good band.

Things to Be Thankful for...

2006-11-30T13:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to All!! (a week late).
We celebrated Thanksgiving by moving on from our beloved Cartagena to Santa Marta, another Coastal Caribbean city. We spend the majority of the day (after the 2hr bus ride) searching for a fitting Thanksgiving dinner. The best we could do was a pretty sub-par Chinese restaurant. It was a bit sad.
So, we decided not to linger any longer on the coast, and took a 20hr. bus trip to Bogota- the capitol of Colombia. We've been here in Bogota for 6 days now. We've really been surprised with Colombian cities. It's another beautiful colonial town, mixed with highrise office buildings, and huge cathedrals. Everything is cobblestone and brick with a very close-in European feel. It's very stlyish with great cozy coffee shops on every street. That's probably the real reason we've been hanging out here so long. We're just so thankful to have good coffee at such easy access!
We've spent three days in Museums... today at the Museo de Oro (Gold Museum), and two days at the free art museum. The art museum is mostly dedicated to Colombia's most famous painter, Botero, but it also had a few paintings by Picasso, Monet and Renoir...along with a lot of modern and colonial art.
Oh, and one other thing about the city...Bogota is built right up against the Eastern Cordillera of the Andes that runs through Colombia. It's on a really high plateau...higher than Denver...and I mean right up against the mountains. It makes Lookout Mountain in Golden look silly. So, yesterday we took a cable car up to a cathedral that is on top of one of the first mountains overlooking the city. It was probably 1500ft almost straight up out of the city. You can see the city directly below, and then spreading out in all directions across the plateau...to the Central Cordillera mountains in the background. We stayed there for sunset, and came down the cable car to the lights of the city at night.
So, that was nice.
And really, now that we've been in this country for almost two weeks, I feel obligated to defend it's reputation. There is a very well established tourist track here in Colombia. It's very safe, and we've met so many other people here who are doing the same thing we are. Most travellers here are on long term trips, a year or more...staying mostly in Backpacker hostels. It is such a beautiful country, the people are very open and friendly, and the cities are fascinating. I can tell that it is quickly becoming a big tourist destination...as it should be. The strange thing is that Colombia has been so shunned by Americans that locals never guess that we're American...usually English, German, or Swiss (for me, Annie). Whereas in Costa Rica or Panama, it was just assumed we were from the U.S.
Anyways, today we ran into another couple that was on the boat with us from Panama. We also met them previously in Panama City. Their names are Marco and Anna... Italians who live in Germany. They are taking a night bus tonight to San Augustin, and we're going to try to get on the bus with them.
So, that's the latest update! We love you all and hope you had a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Ella Tienefe...She Has Faith

2006-11-19T15:13:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to our new neice, Ella Tienefe Mikal! Great name. We are celebrating your arrival today in the beautiful city of Cartagena, Colombia! We've decided to bring you and your big sister here when you're old enough. So, Congratulations Danny and Chas! We're so happy for you and so proud of our growing family!
As a side note: we need the Mikal Jr's phone number (email it to us, don't post it as a comment)

Ok... so we sailed to Colombia. Hazaa! Three weeks in Panama and now we are in Cartegena -- a colorful colonial city on the Caribbean coast. But let's back up and fill in the missing three weeks with a quick update...
From David, Panama we travelled via a long and uncomfortable bus ride to Panama City -- which everyone in Panama simply calls "Panama" as opposed to Ciudad de Panama, very confusing. There are a few different kinds of indigenous indians in both Costa Rica and Panama. They are allowed to travel freely between the countries but they appear (to us) to be on the receiving end of some discrimination (for all the boasting we hear of how progressive Central America is). I (Scott) traded seats with an indian woman on the bus who was removed from her comfy seat and forced to sit on a stool, although she was on the bus much earlier than many others.
We spent four lovely days in Panama City in a nice hotel with Uber-air-conditioning, watching episodes of Law and Order, eating Lebanese food, and with considerable shame, Dominos Pizza. We also got a dose of the US elections insanity on CNN. It was a nice treat for the crazy hot temperatures on the Pacific coast... much warmer than the mountains of Costa Rica. I liked all the graphics and reporting on CNN for the elections, it reminded me of John Madden explaining with a completely straight face about the supposed detailed intentions and strategies of a bunch of helemeted pituitary freaks jumping into a giant body pile on a the 30 yard line somewhere. X's and O's being guided around on a sreen with an invisible pen. Statistics and historical material and maps of blantanly, racially driven, redrawn districts in Texas. And yet all the same old white guys with clean Blue Blood last names.
I can hear the speeches now. "We will change nothing, and stick with this President and his honest and virtuous war" ... or ... "We will call this administration into accountability and grind this government to a halt for the next two years". Yeah for America.
I'm sure it will continue to be embarrassing...
So in Panama City (nice place, big and cosmopolitan) Annie and I began to research diffrent travel options to South America. For those of you who don't know -- there is no road between Colombia and Panama, not even the semblance of one. We knew this beforehand and had written Colombia off as a place that we had no intentions of travelling. Full of kidnappings and drug smugglers just like our the State Dept. says on it's website. (The State Dept's basic advice to American travellers is: everywhere and everyone is evil and corrupt, if you travel outside of this paradise you will probably die, why don´t you just take a weeks vacation at Universal Studios?) Anyway, we discovered flights to be expensive to Quito, Ecaudor and elswhere in South America except for Bogota, Colombia. We then researched other options, went to the Panama City Yacht Club (someone said they could take us by sail in December when the winds were better) and to the Cargo Docks for a cargo boat (which looked simply too sketchy) and then found out about a German sailboat that was leaving from somewhere on the northern coast of Panama east of Colon, in about a week... it would take 15 passengers for around the same price to fly -- $250 per person -- not terrible. We set out from the city to Portobelo, Panama on the Caribbean coast with a contact number to call to find out where and when exactly, because this boat was still at sea and out of communication. So we hung out in Portobello for two days, a rowdy Caribbean town with good spicy seafood, met some great Koreans and a Japanese guy trying the same thing as us. Finally we heard from our contacts that the German boat would be some 80 miles down the coast -- 40 miles of which we bused, stayed a night in a coastal ville called Miramar, and then took a wooden launch piloted by three Kuna indians from the San Blas Islands. 40 miles through open and somewhat rough seas to Porvenir, one man at the motor, one fishing, and the other perpetually bailing water from the leaking boat. Porvenir island is the capital of the northeasten most province of Panama -- I think called Kuna Yala. Maybe 15 people lived on the island. It had a single hotel, an airstrip about a hundred yards away and an immigration office. We stayed there for three days, one on a neighboring Kuna island (due to some shady hustling by a local [failed hustling]), one night at the Porvenir Motel, and one night on this beautiful tropical island sleeping in hammocks under a cabana... The next morning out of the misty rain on the sea materialized the Stahlratte; "the Steel Rat". 120 feet long, 103 years old, rusty, sails reefed and down, in the fog, it looked every bit a ghost ship. We were met by the captain Feite (Peter) at immigrations and motored out to the ship.
The next five days were fantastic. There was a total of 19 people aboard -- 16 travellers and 3 crew, and two motorcycles. There were four Americans, us and two girls from Oregon, three Kiwi, one Australian, one Austrian, four germans, two brits, two italians, one dutch woman, a frenchman, and a partridge in a pear tree. We had four awesome days of sailing, swimming, drinking, barbecuing, jumping off the huge boat, swinging like pirates, getting mildly seasick and more than mildly sunburned. We played crazy guitar, watched movies, cooked huge meals together, battled with the single hand-pump toilet, learned how to sail a tiny bit, read a book each (not as impressive as the Australian Penny's five and a half books). Best of all was the snorkeling. I snorkeled three days, one day for three hours on the reefs surrounding the 300 plus San Blas Islands. So fun. A couple people got stung by jellyfish, and one of our friends saw some hammerhead sharks. Goodtimes. Our last day was spent steaming (no wind) to Cartagena for nearly 40 hours straight. We had more fun than should be allowed.
So we are in this historic Spanish colonial city, a favorite target for pirates since the 1500's. Last night we got together with everyone from the boat, now scattered across the city, for pizza and drinks. Colombia by the way is very safe and friendly, with well travelled places needing only the basic precautions we would use travelling anywhere. (like Chicago, or Denver...) Cartagena is the most beautiful city we have seen yet and we are still slowly considering which direction to take next. Hugs all around...We miss you!

Exclusive Teen

2006-11-03T13:39:00.000-08:00

We made it into Panama! we're in David, Panama right now...the border crossing was fairly painless. Except that today is Panama's Independance Day. Turns out that we're doing a Tour of Central American Independance Days! Which is fine...but the banks are all closed. So we've been thwarted again in our mission to exchange dollars for local tender. The one thing we do have going for us is that the Panamanian currancy...the balboa...is really just dollars. seriously. everyone here just has pockets full of American dollars. I mean i get some balboa in change (and it looks identical to pennies, quarters, etc.) and the exchange rate is actually pretty comprable. We are both confused.
Anyway, so far the consensus is that Panama is a bit more sophisticated than Costa Rica. They actually have a highway - like an interstate. We even saw strip malls and subdivisions outside of David. It looked a bit like Florida. That is until we got to our hotel. It's about to fall down. I mean, it looks big and has a restaurant in it and all, but I'm afraid I'm going to fall through the floor (which is on an extreme slope). And I can't explain why, but the shower felt like I was closing myself in to a refrigerator. (anyway, it only cost us $8.00).
So fear not! Panama is a success!

We think you should name the new baby...

2006-11-02T15:47:00.000-08:00

OH, Lo siento. it´s been a while, and I´m feelin´ my mom´s anxiety all the way in Southern Costa Rica. Seriously, though...we´re fine...we stayed at El Jardin until last weekend. Scott finished the kitchen counter project just in time for the arrival of a Medical team from the US. Our dear friends now have their hands full with organizing a bunch of Americans, so we´ve moved on to the beach! We spent a day in transit in San Isidro de General, and then three days at the Playa Dominical. it was absolutely beautiful! I´m really sorry we still can´t put pictures on here cause ya´ll would be jealous! Dominical is a really small surfer town. Just one little dirt road strip along the beach. But the waves are enormous, the water´s really warm and tropically, and the beach is velvety sand (very unlike the crabby, gooey beaches we saw in Washington...sorry Jeff, the tropics are prettier- and they don´t smell as bad)
Last night we stayed in a less touristy beach town- Uvita- very small, very pleasant. Then there was some confusion with the Lonely Planet explanations of where there are banks and such...what it boiled down to was that we had to get on a bus this morning with only about $5 worth of colones, and search for a bank. Then we missed our bus stop...Then we ended up 17km away from Panama (we´re in the town of Neily)...Then by the time we ate and found a place to stay tonight, the banks were all closed. So, we´ve decided that instead of trying to exchange all our money into colones...Why not just go to Panama?
Sounds like we´re flying by the seat of our pants? um...maybe a little. So... we´d appreciate your best wishes, prayers, energy channeling...as we attempt our first border crossing tomorrow. Should be fun.
But seriously...we´re finding it much easier (dispite all of our "mistakes")to get around now that we can use some basic spanish. It´s amazing how easy it is now to understand "The bank´s closed"!! We´re having a good time, and keeping in good spirits. I think we´ve got a little travel bug, now that we´re up and moving again. For now the plan is to keep moving, until we decide to stop. sound good?
Oh, and for all you who tend to worry, and are threatening to call the US embassy...Scott says that if we get kidnapped, you´ll know. Because they´ll call you looking for a ransom. (i.e. we´re afraid to make promises in case we can´t find a place with the internet -- please stop worrying, we are fine)
Well, we certainly did miss out on Halloween. we celebrated by taking a sunset stroll on the beach. Oh, and eating the best Thai food I´ve ever had. Seriously, I can´t explain how good it was. We looked into flights from San Jose to Thailand.

Kay, Love you all! and Happy November!

P.S. We think you should name the new baby Muey...but not anything to do with Guns n´Roses... (it was a dream I had...I can explain later)

And I forgot my camera!!

2006-10-14T15:55:00.001-07:00

So, I'm a jerk for not getting this whole thing on video for y'all, but Scottie's dream came true. He actually participated in a Football Salon game this week! It was Team Gringo vs. A Bunch of Old Ticos. (Scott was on team gringo, obviously). There were three Americans, Two Dutchmen, and a German (all in their mid-twenties to early thirties). Oh, and of course, Adrian...he's Tico, but a practicing Gringo. He arranged the whole match, and he assured scott that the other team was all over 50, so not too worry about being too humiliated. Turns out, it was a pretty close game, 16 to 14. The Ticos won. Obviously.
It was a very spirited game, yet managed to remained respectable. (As opposed to another game we saw where the goalee was strangled and thrown off the field by his own teammate. He deserved it.) Scott played goalie in the end, blowing the game and right before the buzzer took a shot directly to the face. What a loser.
I didn't write that. Scott did.

So we've got the weekend housesitting for the Babcocks (Amber and Nathan). We're enjoying the use of a real kitchen and a DVD player! It has made Scott nostalgic for Colorado. And I think we just got roped into another awkward social situation tonight. A double date with a Tico couple...they speak no english, and our spanish has quickly deteriorated since we stopped taking classes last week. It should be interesting.

El Jardin de Eden

2006-10-09T14:41:00.000-07:00

Hey team, we´re sorry we haven´t posted in a couple of weeks. Let´s see, where we left off before was with some folks from the US that had joined us at language school. That was three (plus) weeks ago. Turns out now we are living with those Americans so to speak.
A quick synapsis. During the last two weeks of school, Annie learned Spanish and I got progessively dumber. She now does most of my communication for me. I´m exaggerating only a bit.
The Americans we met were missionaries. Two couples. Nathan and Amber and Rick and Judith. Amber and Nathan are the same ages as Annie and I respectively. Rick and Judith are in their fifties. Rick is a non-denominational pastor, Judith is a clinical psychologist, Amber is a nurse, and Nathan is an administator... They arrived in Orosi after we had been here a week. Nathan and Amber are the directors of a place called El Jardin Segrado (The Sacred Garden), which is a retreat center for Tico (Costa Rican) churches from all over the country as well as a base for medical missions to indigenous natives that live in remote mountain reservations in Costa Rica. Both couples are establishing permanent residence here and are basically reviving this slightly dilapitated place which thier mission agency just recently bought. Annie and I now live in the Garden which is aptly named. I think I have eaten more fruit off trees here in one week than I have in the past six months. To give you an idea of what is there: bananas, manzana agua (water apples, they look like red pears), three kinds of oranges, two kinds of lemons, one sweet, grapefruit, guayaba (gauva), chiyote (I couldn´t begin to describe this), cass and frutas (I´m pretty sure most of you have never seen these two diffent crazy kinds of fruits), coffee plants (of course), two kinds of platanos (plantains), etc. It also has a pool all in about four acres. Hmm, you are asking what are we doing here... I must back up.
I mentioned Marjorie, my language teacher. Margoth was Annie´s teacher. They have become some of our closest friends in town along with this other Tico, currently a coffee picker, named Adrian, who´s 24. During our three weeks of classes, we learned about a huge landslide in Orosi that killed 7 people 4 years ago. A week after this slide, the river flooded (Rio Rentevazon, it´s pretty huge) and destroyed an important bridge. The replacement bridge is a cable suspension walking bridge about two persons wide and I´d say nearly five hundred feet long. In the bouncing center of the bridge, you are probably sixty feet above the roaring river over rapids which turn insane muddy brown when it rains (which is nearly every day-- down the road is a National Park which is tied with the rainiest place on earth). Anyway, Orosi is on one side of the bridge, and the Jardin is on the other, so we cross it often. If we can ever get pictures to upload, we will post some photos.
Later I learned this landslide (you can still see it), destroyed Marjorie´s family´s house and killed her mother, her sister, and her brother. Yeah. Marjorie lives in an apartment in town, with two kids and her spouse. They are trying to build a little house.
I offered to help her family (free) if I could, which cannot afford contractors, only materials. (of which they are waiting on a loan from the government). She later told her other students whom were the new missionaries in town - they thought it was nice that we offered to help, so they offered the Garden as a place to stay. Turns out the Garden needs a contractor bad, so this last week Annie and I together have built a simple outdoor kitchen and demolished part of an interior kitchen that needs to serve over a hundred people. I have already built a couple of tables with found materials, there are counters to be contructed, tile, a new sink, etc. In return for our work Annie I live in this huge nice white house on the Garden. Across the way lives Robert, a 19 yr old Panamanian guy in his own yellow cabin. He is the groundskeeper, and the secretary I think. We´ve been meeting neighbors, fixing various things, reading books, having dinners with people, exploring and having a great time. We even watched the new X men movie on Nathan´s laptop, we rented it from a video store in Orosi. It appeared to be a bootleg of someone taping the movie in a theater with french subtitles. You could see people walking in the theater.
Last week our friend Adrian took me to a video bar. This is a bar where they show music videos simultaneously on a bunch of TVs and a projector. The best part is that Ticos LOVE 80's music. While there I saw a local Salon Football player...
Futbal Salon? Side Note: Salon Football is this a Latin American type of indoor soccer. In Orosi there is a free arena where there are games every afternoon and night...always. This game is awesome to behold. The court, of artificial grass, is maybe 5% larger than a basketball court. It is completey covered in nets. The game is a like a cross of soccer and basketball. To slow the speed of the game down, the ball is much smaller than a typical soccer ball and maybe four times as heavy. This game is crazy. fast-paced, high scoring, the players (five on five plus two goalies in little nets) as in basketball -can foul out. It also reminds me of hockey, lot´s of brutal plays and injuries, fights... I am totally addicted. They have a special type of leg pumping they employ when a player get a the ball in the chest at high peed. In fact this internet cafe is inside the Orosi Futbal Salon arena. We´ve been catching games occasionally, especially some final matches. It makes sense that this indoor game is so popular in a place that rains so often.
So anyway I saw one of the players and I told him good game on Domingo (Sunday). He was so excited a gringo had recognized him he invited me to his brother´s wedding the next week. The wedding was nice, it was at the Catholic church in Orosi which is 400 years old. The reception was the night before. Very fun. Adrian let me borrow nice clothes and his mother found Annie a pair of heels. We also went to Tico birthday party. Yes, they have piñatas in Costa Rica.
Yesterday Margoth hiked with us up into the mountains to a little Cafe Finca, (coffee farm) owned by a great guy called Nano. We went to a catarata (waterfall), swung like Tarzan on a vine, cooked food in his kitchen, and fed his dogs bananas. Good times. We have been in Orosi for over a month now, reluctant to leave... we know many people in town and we feel like part of the community. We are in some ways no longer tourists.
Okay, we´ll nip it here... we love you all.

AARRGH! It´s National Talk Like a Pirate Day!!

2006-09-19T15:25:00.000-07:00

So...photos....Yeah, I know it´s been promised, but i´m currently experiencing some difficulties in formatting? Is that a viable excuse?
In the mean time, the quick update is that we´re still in Orosi, and we´ve committed to another 2 weeks of Spanish classes. Our teachers are awesome, and i´m not just saying that because Marjorie (Scott´s teacher) is sitting next to me. We really like this little town in the mountains.
This week we´ve been joined by a bunch of Americans. Which, obviously, everyone in this hemisphere is American, so we find ourselves at a bit of an identity crisis when trying to describing our nationality. So, to clarify what i was saying, this week we´ve joined by a bunch of United Statesians. There are three guys, all traveling independently, and a couple who just moved to Orosi (they´ve been missionaries in Holland and Belgium for the past 20 years, but are from California).
so, we really haven´t gotten out much. We study often. And I think we´ve already learned a lot in our first week here. Scott does a Frankenstien style of communication, and that gets him pretty far. I´m a bit more timid (not surprising) but at least starting to understand what´s going on around me.
Oh, and there´s a restaurant in town that has the Best Burgers in America (and I mean ALL of America) for only $1.00!! So, that´s where we´re going right now! mmm. so good...

Orosi & the curious incident of how I shouted; "wrong-eyed Jesus!"

2006-09-12T13:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, I robbed Jim White of that title. (folk artist)
So team, we're in a central valley pueblo known as Orosi. This place is a much needed change from San Jose... which was beginning to wear on us (Scott). It's probably 4000 people in this little mountain valley. We are enrolled in language school, and we just completed our second day. We found a great deal, in a great place. It's nice and quiet here and off the traveller's circuit. It is also monsoon(rainy) season here, which helps.
So Annie and I are staying at a hostel called Montania Linda, which we love. The place is empty save for two Dutch girls (who speak perfect English, German, French, Polish, and of course Dutch... and soon Spanish). There's also a Frenchman here named Lorenzo, who is a perfect French version of Lewis Smirl. Seriously, it's creepy. He is ridiculously intense in every mannerism. We love him. He has been travelling in Latin America for over a year.
Our classes are three hours a day, one on one with our own teachers (Margoth y Marjorie). Much of our time in the next three weeks will be studying and practicing Spanish. The school and the hostel are owned by the same family.
On my birthday we paid a driver, along with our friends from Holland, to take us to the top of Volcano Irazu which is the tallest active volcano in Costa Rica. We were suprised to find a crazy green caldera (lake) at the top. It was practically fluorescent. Hopefully we can post some photos soon.
Happy Birthday to Mark and Judy of course...
Thank you all for your comments, keep them coming. Mamas we miss you - Amy you are hilarious, we are so jealous of your time with Amora... punk.
It's time for a run with Lewis substitue, Loro (Lorenzo)... Adios.

Titulo; perspectivo!

2006-09-07T19:32:00.000-07:00

Hey team.
Turrialba was a nice mini version of San Jose. Kind of a hub mountain town. This country is a hurricane of activity - or at least it seems that way on foot. Even if it´s a pouring monsoon rain, Ticos (Costa Ricans) are everywhere doing everything on foot themselves. They would probably think a place like I-80 in los Estados Unidos was a similar frenzy.
We took a bus up further in the mountains one day and checked out a pre-Columbian ruin. It had aqueducts feeding some pools and irrigation canals that were built around 1400AD and were still working. Remember ya´ll - they didn´t have the wheel.
Annie and I are trying to find a spanish program\school. We have some great leads. We´ve been here a week now and have learned much (espagnol- see!) on our own. We truly know that is our primary goal here. We don´t have much of a desire to ´adventure seek´ just yet. We haven´t even been to the coast yet- we just want to communicate so badly. Why do anything if you can´t do that? This place is not simply mountains, jungle, coast etc. -- it´s a people. We want to know them foremost.
Hey we miss you all. Glad we can communicate like this.

P.S. Anybody want to get a new perspective on how great and humanitarian America is? read Understanding Power: the Indespensible Chomsky. For those of you who don´t like politics, don´t worry- it´s more history.

San Jose and Socrates

2006-09-04T08:25:00.000-07:00

So, after a super-chill weekend here at the Tranquilo Backpacker Hostel...with its reggae music blaring into the wee hours of the night and its Oreo Cookie theives...We're heading out.
We're going to catch a bus to a small town about 2 hours east of San Jose...Tarriabla.

Our Spanish is still non-existent, so sorry, Beth...I have no idea what you said! pretty bad, huh? Scott's actually researching spanish schools as we speak. I'm trying to learn what I can from a small phrase book we have.

In the mean time, we've been getting a visual tour of the city, and discussing the basic elements of moral philosophy- As Socrates said "We are discussing no small matter, but how we ought to live." We don't have any obligations at this point in our lives, no real responsibilities or even needs. So how do we know what we ought to do? What is right? What is best?

Well, I hope all your labor day picnics and weekend getaways are going well! And Happy Birthday tomorrow, Mom!!

The Basics

2006-09-01T17:47:00.000-07:00

Hey!
We made it...safe flights all around. We got a taxi from the airport to our new little abode- the Hostel Elvis! that´s right...pictures of Elvis everywhere. I don´t really get it. But we actually slept most of the day after our overnight flights, so tomorrow we´re planning on getting out a bit more to do some exploring.

My goal today- learn how to count. I thought I knew how to count, but my failed attempts at conducting routine purchases has shown me otherwise.

19 miles up the Hoh River = Mt. Olympus, WA

2006-08-31T11:17:00.000-07:00

Blog Time- Procrastination Flava

2006-08-31T09:51:00.000-07:00

Well, Friends and Family....the mythical blog has begun.

We leave for Costa Rica today at 7:30pm, and arrive in San Jose around 10:00am tomorrow. That's about as far out as we have planned. From here we'll be taking it one day at a time, I guess. The goal is really just to learn and grow...as individuals and as a partnership. I think Scott and I are both in a place in our lives where we feel the need to explore and experience more of the world before we consider a particular path. We feel like we'll be better citizens of the world, more conscious in our decisions, once we have learned another language and stepped out of our comfortable Coloradan existance.

I hope that this little website will give us a way to communicate with all of you, and also give you a way to check up on us periodically. We'll be working on posting some pictures of our recent adventures- the John Muir Trail and the Heine Sibling Reunion in Seattle!

Thanks to all those who let us crash on their couches and floors this summer. We've already had the opportunity to spend time with and learn from so many amazing people. We love you all.
S&A