Bridges & More Newsletter # 10 03/05/08
I’ve always been a bit arachnophobic, but there is something about the huge brown tarantulas that transcends spider. Maybe it’s their calm manner of holding a spot, without movement or apparent alarm. At any rate, I’ve had two tarantulas in my house in the past 3 days. I killed the black one immediately (I know this is not politically correct, but hey…). The brown one, much bigger, was living behind my suitcase in the bedroom, and I simply replaced the suitcase and left it there. Then Alvin told me that they like to steal pieces of skin from sleeping people, and leave a terrible oozing wound behind. When I went to find it again it was gone...perhaps it’s still somewhere in the house.
Already the last of my three months in Costa Rica is upon me. January was idyllic, with long swims and much sunning on the rocks of the river. February was hectic and exhausting with weekly trips to San Jose for eye operations (I got lens implants (as with cataracts) in order to see without glasses), lots of car troubles, property title problems, disturbing news from home, and rumors of a very real threat to our river in the form of gravel mining. Today is my first quiet day at home in perhaps a month. Alvin and I were finally able to walk up through the tree plantation. In only three years some of the trees have grown large enough to form a canopy and to develop personalities of sorts. The Mayo Blanco, for example, is a rainforest tree, casts a cool shade, and has a jungle personality. The amarillones give a dappled shade and have a light, happy quality about them. The teak is heavy. The huge brown leaves rotting on the ground below them hide terciapelos, or fer-de-lance, an aggressive and very poisonous viper. Alvin reported killing 7 of them during his last teak maintenance.
Bridges & More’s sister organization Puentes y Mas had its annual board meeting on February 23rd. We had a good attendance, and now all the members except me are Ticos and year-around residents of San Josecito. I was moved by everyone’s interest and desire to participate. We agreed to resume our river vigilance now that summer (the dry season) is here, with its heat and cars full of visitors arriving to fish and swim. We’ve already had one reported incidence of poisoning down near the highway. This is apparently a fairly common practice among certain Costa Ricans aimed at an easy catch of fish and river shrimp. Unfortunately it results in massive destruction of river life. We hope that with a certain amount of vigilance we’ll get a reputation that discourages the people who do this type of thing.
In addition to vigilance, we agreed to participate in a petition drive in the three towns that surround the national park of Bahia Ballena, or “Whale Bay.” Two rivers, the Morete River (also known as the Higuerón River) and the Uvita River converge just above the coast to flow into this beautiful bay. Costa Rica’s only national marine park, Bahia Ballena is home to myriad species of marine life, estuaries and mangroves. Humpback whales return every year from the north to give birth in its warm protected waters. Now that the rampant development that has already destroyed much of the country is arriving in our backward little area, several applications for concessions to mine gravel from the two rivers have been filed. Such activity would further compromise coral reefs, would erode river banks and estuaries, and would raise large amounts of sediment that would be carried to the bay, thus affecting both plant and animal life there. Already the bay, which used to be a sparkling blue throughout, shows brown a good way out because of the run-off from roads and new home construction. Furthermore, the section of the Morete River under consideration for mining runs through Rancho Merced, a national wildlife sanctuary run by the Odio family of San Josecito.
For all the above reasons, we’ve written up a fact sheet and petition and have begun circulating it in Uvita, Bahia Ballena, and Playa Hermosa. It took awhile even to verify the rumors. President Oscar Arias has recently enacted a measure that would do the Bush Administration proud: it forbids access of public environmental records by the public. Now the press cannot delve too deeply without paying a lawyer to file for the information. I paid the lawyer in this case, and we now have the evidence to begin the fight. I’ve also written to the Tico Times (Costa Rica’s very good English language newspaper) and asked them to help us shine a light on this recent development. And Francine Ocampo has agreed to write a letter in Spanish to La Nación. Finally, I’ve written to a Costa Rican environmental organization called Fundación Neotropica to request their help, but haven’t heard back from them.
Alvin’s wife Guiselle just stopped by with their little boy Estiben who has recently started school. Guiselle is now cooking lunch for the school children, and I’ve been happy to supply some of the yucca that Alvin planted in my garden for that purpose. Today Guiselle asked whether Puentes y Mas could give her a small loan to get started with a little chicken farm. I’m delighted, because it has seemed to me that residents have been slow to take advantage of the opportunities we’ve offered. We agreed that she will submit her proposal shortly so we can get the loan in progress.
Javier’s construction crew has returned to the church where loads of cement, sand, bars, etc. have been delivered. The Bridges & More donation of $1500 has enabled the town to pay the crew, while certain other residents have offered donations of materials. More is needed! Donations marked for the church can be sent to:
Bridges & More, Inc.
P.O. Box 1642
North Eastham, MA 02651
I’ll soon be home to write letters acknowledging receipt for tax purposes. Even small donations would be very helpful, both to San Josecito and to Bridges & More, which has to show a wide base of support in order to maintain its non-profit status.
I stopped including pictures in the newsletter because several of you were having a hard time downloading your mail. Now several have told me that they haven’t visited the Bridges & More blog because they’re not technically accomplished enough to know how to do it. So I’m gonna say it here! It’s WICKED EASY. Just click on the following URL address: http://bridgesnmore.blogspot.com/ . Some of you might have to press “control” (Ctrl) to do it, but even then it’s not TOO hard. So, if you want to see pictures of the newly painted school, the tarantula, and recent progress on the church, you know what to do!
I’ve always been a bit arachnophobic, but there is something about the huge brown tarantulas that transcends spider. Maybe it’s their calm manner of holding a spot, without movement or apparent alarm. At any rate, I’ve had two tarantulas in my house in the past 3 days. I killed the black one immediately (I know this is not politically correct, but hey…). The brown one, much bigger, was living behind my suitcase in the bedroom, and I simply replaced the suitcase and left it there. Then Alvin told me that they like to steal pieces of skin from sleeping people, and leave a terrible oozing wound behind. When I went to find it again it was gone...perhaps it’s still somewhere in the house.
Already the last of my three months in Costa Rica is upon me. January was idyllic, with long swims and much sunning on the rocks of the river. February was hectic and exhausting with weekly trips to San Jose for eye operations (I got lens implants (as with cataracts) in order to see without glasses), lots of car troubles, property title problems, disturbing news from home, and rumors of a very real threat to our river in the form of gravel mining. Today is my first quiet day at home in perhaps a month. Alvin and I were finally able to walk up through the tree plantation. In only three years some of the trees have grown large enough to form a canopy and to develop personalities of sorts. The Mayo Blanco, for example, is a rainforest tree, casts a cool shade, and has a jungle personality. The amarillones give a dappled shade and have a light, happy quality about them. The teak is heavy. The huge brown leaves rotting on the ground below them hide terciapelos, or fer-de-lance, an aggressive and very poisonous viper. Alvin reported killing 7 of them during his last teak maintenance.
Bridges & More’s sister organization Puentes y Mas had its annual board meeting on February 23rd. We had a good attendance, and now all the members except me are Ticos and year-around residents of San Josecito. I was moved by everyone’s interest and desire to participate. We agreed to resume our river vigilance now that summer (the dry season) is here, with its heat and cars full of visitors arriving to fish and swim. We’ve already had one reported incidence of poisoning down near the highway. This is apparently a fairly common practice among certain Costa Ricans aimed at an easy catch of fish and river shrimp. Unfortunately it results in massive destruction of river life. We hope that with a certain amount of vigilance we’ll get a reputation that discourages the people who do this type of thing.
In addition to vigilance, we agreed to participate in a petition drive in the three towns that surround the national park of Bahia Ballena, or “Whale Bay.” Two rivers, the Morete River (also known as the Higuerón River) and the Uvita River converge just above the coast to flow into this beautiful bay. Costa Rica’s only national marine park, Bahia Ballena is home to myriad species of marine life, estuaries and mangroves. Humpback whales return every year from the north to give birth in its warm protected waters. Now that the rampant development that has already destroyed much of the country is arriving in our backward little area, several applications for concessions to mine gravel from the two rivers have been filed. Such activity would further compromise coral reefs, would erode river banks and estuaries, and would raise large amounts of sediment that would be carried to the bay, thus affecting both plant and animal life there. Already the bay, which used to be a sparkling blue throughout, shows brown a good way out because of the run-off from roads and new home construction. Furthermore, the section of the Morete River under consideration for mining runs through Rancho Merced, a national wildlife sanctuary run by the Odio family of San Josecito.
For all the above reasons, we’ve written up a fact sheet and petition and have begun circulating it in Uvita, Bahia Ballena, and Playa Hermosa. It took awhile even to verify the rumors. President Oscar Arias has recently enacted a measure that would do the Bush Administration proud: it forbids access of public environmental records by the public. Now the press cannot delve too deeply without paying a lawyer to file for the information. I paid the lawyer in this case, and we now have the evidence to begin the fight. I’ve also written to the Tico Times (Costa Rica’s very good English language newspaper) and asked them to help us shine a light on this recent development. And Francine Ocampo has agreed to write a letter in Spanish to La Nación. Finally, I’ve written to a Costa Rican environmental organization called Fundación Neotropica to request their help, but haven’t heard back from them.
Alvin’s wife Guiselle just stopped by with their little boy Estiben who has recently started school. Guiselle is now cooking lunch for the school children, and I’ve been happy to supply some of the yucca that Alvin planted in my garden for that purpose. Today Guiselle asked whether Puentes y Mas could give her a small loan to get started with a little chicken farm. I’m delighted, because it has seemed to me that residents have been slow to take advantage of the opportunities we’ve offered. We agreed that she will submit her proposal shortly so we can get the loan in progress.
Javier’s construction crew has returned to the church where loads of cement, sand, bars, etc. have been delivered. The Bridges & More donation of $1500 has enabled the town to pay the crew, while certain other residents have offered donations of materials. More is needed! Donations marked for the church can be sent to:
Bridges & More, Inc.
P.O. Box 1642
North Eastham, MA 02651
I’ll soon be home to write letters acknowledging receipt for tax purposes. Even small donations would be very helpful, both to San Josecito and to Bridges & More, which has to show a wide base of support in order to maintain its non-profit status.
I stopped including pictures in the newsletter because several of you were having a hard time downloading your mail. Now several have told me that they haven’t visited the Bridges & More blog because they’re not technically accomplished enough to know how to do it. So I’m gonna say it here! It’s WICKED EASY. Just click on the following URL address: http://bridgesnmore.blogspot.com/ . Some of you might have to press “control” (Ctrl) to do it, but even then it’s not TOO hard. So, if you want to see pictures of the newly painted school, the tarantula, and recent progress on the church, you know what to do!
Here are two pictures of the brown tarantula and one of the smaller black tarantula. The suitcase is one of the huge ones!
Some of my other housemates over time have included a frog that changes color--sleeps white on the wall all day, then turns brown and comes to life at night, and a gecko that has been around for over a year!
See the previous entry for church photos.
1 comment:
My house is full of spiders too, I hate spiders, but somehow I have come to grips with it. Actually, when i see many spider webs, i'm grateful that they are eating up my mosquitos and other gnarly creatures.
Hi, I'm new to the blogosphere, and just saying hello to fellow Costa Rica bloggers.
hope to see you on my blog and develop a blogger friendship:)
Marina
Muchacostarica.com
Post a Comment