For the first time in our lives, the Gentleman Friend and I masqueraded as genuine property buyers. It felt like the sort of things adults do. Neither of us have ever owned a house or employed servants or navigated difficult inlaws, we don’t have children, neither of us have ever owned a car, and we […]
blog
Attacked by a caterpillar
I was attacked by a caterpillar today. The Gentleman Friend was attacked before me, and more badly. We were supposed to meet on Playa Negra and to stroll up north towards the houses and scope out the area. I waited for about 15 minutes, watching some boys play football in the wet sand where the […]
Change of plan
Yesterday was sunny, today it rained and rained. We had planned to go to Manzanillo but given the conditions (we were soaked through almost instantly), decided to go for coffee instead and had an excellent pancake with it. Just at the edge of town is a swimming beach so off we went. The Gentleman Friend […]
Perfect day
A perfect weekend day today, quite delightful. We left earlier in the morning than usual, since it is Saturday and market day, and as usual kept an eye out for the sloth that lives in a cluster of trees halfway between our shack and the main road. The GF spotted it at once, it was […]
Changes
A message was received today, and it looks like the Gentleman Friend’s childhood home may be sold. It is sad for him, as it is not only the place he grew up, it’s in fact the literal place where he was born, in the smaller room on the first floor. It is a lovely house, […]
Juice king
This afternoon my class was earlier than usual, at 1230, so we walked into town for an early lunch/ late breakfast, only to be stymied as all the places we wanted to eat at did not open till later, earliest around noon and the Caribbean speed of service made it unlikely I would be able […]
Wet sloth
It rained and rained this morning, and when we made our way into town, we passed a pair of Germans staring intently at a tree. ‘A sloth!’ they said and indeed there was a sloth, a metre from our noses. A very wet sloth, climbing up a tree, moving very very slowly but constantly with […]
The mouse that roared
I work with many mice that roar. There is a particular type of person, loud and fighty and very macho (regardless of gender) and with intense favourites and hatreds, who seem to be particularly common in this line of work. I’m quite good at handling them usually, and most of them really like and even, […]
New class
Today I had two sets of classes: one with my first Spanish teacher and a second with a different one I am trying out this week. It’s not been the most successful run thus far, but I think the second teacher will do for my time in Puerto Viejo. I was extraordinarily lucky, I think, […]
Poke in the eye
Today I had my first ever surfing lesson. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it was not entirely successful. I was actually reasonably good at getting to my feet and staying balanced; the difficulty was paddling out to catch the waves. This was extremely tiring and my sore arm soon objected so I took a break […]