What do I Need?

One of the striking images of Costa Rica was the poverty. And Costa Rica is wealthy by many standards, although they suffer a high inflation rate, and have had a struggling economy until recently. But they have a 96% literacy rate, high levels of education across the board, and are lucky recipients of a fairly non-violent history.

They were the first country in the world to constitutionally abolish their military. Can you imagine ever doing that in the United States? I asked my boys.

Nah, too many people hate us, Zachary said.

So true.

Returning to this country, to my own home, I look around and wonder, what do I really need? Not in a guilt ridden, I’m a bad consumer and should live on bread and water forever, but an honest evaluation of what I need.

Need: something required, something necessary.

Do I need coffee in the morning? Yes. Actually I do. Do I need Starbucks coffee in the morning? Well, if I am going to drink coffee, it might as well be good.

Do I need a new car? No. My kids still fit in it, although a tad cramped, I can put stuff on the roof and it is reliable. If it stops being that? I’ll need one.

I have a lot of beautiful art, most of which I inherited from my mother. Do I need it? No but our society needs artists. We need people to write, to paint, to sing, to draw, to act because it keeps us honest, I believe, as a society. That’s a need. Maybe not mine individually, but mine as a member of society.

Do I need 8 thousand kitchen gadgets? No. But really, they are not mine, they are Jeanine’s and she swears she needs every single one. Me? Good knife, wooden spoon, spatula and tongs. I’m good.

I’m not trying to pick on Jeanine, because I know she loves her gadgets but I wonder, if we have three kinds of juicers, how many have been produced, how many are broken and how many end up in landfills?

When I get to the house in Down East (yes, you can all collectively roll your eyes at the notion I have more than one house), I go into conservation mode.

It feels good.

It’s hard to do at home. With three kids, and the accumulation of stuff from gifts, school, holidays, birthdays, not to mention our own impulse driven need to simply get something because it will make things easier, quicker, faster…

After seeing so much disparity, though, I feel overstuffed, and slightly nauseous, like after having too much Thanksgiving dinner, or eating a whole pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.

I also feel a little hopeless about how much I can do to make a difference. It’s funny, but I believe we can get marriage equality for gays and lesbians before we can tackle the environmental mess we’re in from over consumerism.

But I’m not going to go global in this act. I’m going to focus on my own little world, and do the best I can.

Because there is so much around me that I truly do not need, it makes the things I do get lost in the haze.

Besides, if we’re swearing in President Huckabee next January? I’m outta here. Not really worth it to pack three kinds of juicers, either.

One Last Look...

Okay, one more post about Costa Rica, then I'll stop.

You know that traveling with a huge group is both great and difficult at times. At one particularly stressful time, I secluded myself with my journal and wrote down all my complaints.

Bitch Bitch Bitch.

I needed to get it out.

In the middle, though, I stopped. Enough, already. These were all my friends and we were all exposing each other to states of anxiety, nerves, tension, frustration that are normally not seen over lunch or at brief, informal gathering. We were living together, in the jungle.

So I started to write down all the positives. Here is my list:

I learned I love rice and beans.

I remembered how much I love fresh pineapple, mango and papaya.



I love to have yogurt for breakfast.

I love and respect the ocean. It is beautiful and dangerous. I cannot live without it.



I love to read.

I love getting back in touch with my friend Susan, who is one of the kindest souls I've ever met.

I love the "Quartet" and will never forget M. walking around with his fresh cut coconut full of rum.



I love Allan, aka, the sloth man and his beautiful sarongs.



I can eyeroll as well as a 13 year old girl, and even keep a straight face.

I am amazed by Walter's ability to have a long conversation with the groundskeeper- neither one spoke a word of the other's language, but Walter's enthusiasm was infectious.




Spiritual awakenings do not require believing in God. And they are best achieved in a warm climate.




Cows in roads are something to take note of, like a large SUV swerving into your lane. Just a lot more fun.



I love how much fun my kids are (were) having. Their excitement is both new and familiar. Who knew Costa Rica had CANDY??



It's easier, you see, to look at these photos and be reminded of my positives than to sit and digest the fact that Huckabee won in Iowa yesterday.

Yikes.

Costa Rica

Still too much to sit and write in a single day.

But some pictures are ready...

We stayed at the Yellow Coco Lodge.



It was beautiful. Small, the twenty of us took it over and another bungalow next door, too.



The Main house is like a tree fort- the bedrooms are at the bottom but the kitchen and living area are on top, overlooking the trees, and the ocean. The kitchen was fabulous, designed to be able to cook in it, and the space comfortable for us all to gather in.



And gather we did. Often.



We ate in. We ate out. We drank margaritas, mango daiquiris, Imperial Cerveza (the beer of Costa Rica), gin and tonics and some not so good wine. Not so bad, but not so good.



I really wish I liked tequila or rum but I don't. My friend Libby can explain why I don't like tequila anymore- college memory still strong- and rum is just too sweet. But they were enjoyed and it didn't matter much because there was the food...



We had lunch at The Palms, in Puerta Jimenez, one day. The flautas, above, were exceptional. Crispy, great guacamole, and salsa. But the Tortilla Soup was above and beyond one of the best I've ever had.



Served with chunks of avocado on top, the soup had to have been made at least the day before, the spices, heat, and earthy cilantro all gathered together in amazing harmony. It was about 100 degrees that day and we had just stepped off a boat, scorched by the sun. The heat of the soup made me feel cool inside.

I loved the Corona served with a lime in it and rolled in salt around the mouth of the bottle. This is why you sleep after lunch, I believe. You cannot have just one...



The town is small and the roads are all dirt. Trucks, motorcycles and cars barely ever get out of second gear. The fastest mode of transportation is irrelevent. No one goes anywhere fast.

Ever.



But no one wants to, either. The national slogan is Pura Vida- Good Life. It means to be relaxed and enjoy. No hurry. No worry.



With the heat, humidity and the idea of air conditioning a silly joke, you do slow down.

And it feels so good.

Yes, there's more, much more...