I finally was able to post some pictures. I don't have the capability to adjust the image size, so they are the originals and large file sizes. The connection speed isn't fast enough for me to put comments near the photos, but a lot of the photos are from Craig's place, my cousin and me, Quito, my friend Plancha, bamboo trees, pineapple plants, the beach, and my aunt and uncle. I also forgot to mention earlier that a lot of the photos I have taken were lost on my coworker's computer - the operating system disappeared. I only backed up less than half of them. =( Also, the flash on my camera isn't working. Oh well.

Last night, coincidentally or not, I was fired. For what reasons I have not been told explicitly but I know of a few. I have covered them in the postscript of the entry.

I will be leaving Uvita on Thanksgiving to head for the Osa. I spoke with Craig today and he will be meeting me in Puerto Jimenez for a feast at 4pm. Today, I have been packing my things, and I have made arrangements until Thursday. For one night (tonight) I will be staying at a local cabina, and starting tomorrow I am staying with a local stained glass artist - Noah - a friend of a friend, to apprentice until I leave on Thursday. I have always wanted to learn stained glass. Noah lives just near the waterfall (which we swam in yesterday and it was swell). I am a bit relieved to not have to deal with Steve anymore, and look forward to having a boss that is personable. I will miss it here, but there are great people and projects awaiting me down south.

I have not spoken to my mother about this at all, and I don't think she reads my blog anymore. This I fret (and she thought I was isolated here...). I didn't even get to talk to her on my birthday! I will try to keep in touch with everyone as much as I can, though I don't know how often I will be in Puerto Jimenez (which is where I will have access to the Internet). For now, I'll post some pictures and will do my best to send another update before I leave.

Possible reasons for which I was fired:

1) Steve is insane, and the entire village knows it. Steve does not like the Ticos and the Ticos don't like him. Steve doesn't like people in general.

2)I had not yet mentioned to Steve the job offer proposed to me, though the way he fired me leads me to believe that he found out... either by eavesdropping, reading my blog, or being told by someone else. He did not mention it. He is in no way diplomatic. I am fairly certain that this is the primary reason.

3) He does not like the Ticos I hang out with. I have a friend Plancha that comes in many nights to drink a few beers and hang out with me. Obviously, when there are other patrons and guests at the bar, I talk with them and entertain them and my friend understands that it is my job and it is necessary for me to ignore him when it is busy. Most nights it is dead because it is still the low season, so often he is the only person there. Steve apparently thinks I'm a moron. After I returned from the beach with my aunt, uncle, and cousin, Plancha was sitting at the bar and had ordered food. Steve called me to the office and berated me about this and told me to tell him that he is not welcome at the hotel. I can tolerate many, but there was no reason whatsoever for this. I had never ignored other patrons at the bar because of Plancha's presence (which would have been understandable). So, Plancha talked to Steve and he said he is welcome only an hour before I close the bar.

Last night there were a few guests staying and two or three at the bar for a while. We had great conversation and they were all very happy and everything was swell, and then they all went to sleep or read on the hammocks. They had blatantly told me they were done drinking and were turning in. Plancha came in around 9:15pm and I was just sitting there by myself reading the paper and listening to music. Around 9:40pm Steve started walking around near the rooms and watching us talking and playing pool. 20 minutes later I was fired.

4) Every day I count the money in the drawer to figure out the sales from the day before. Every Thursday, I recount inventory and estimate the sales for the week. These numbers are supposed to match up. For the first few weeks, these numbers were off about 25,000 colones. I mentioned this to him and he said not to worry about it. About three weeks ago he yelled at me about this, and I explained to him that the accounting method is not accurate. The comps were not being accounted for, meaning the discounts that Camil and I receive on beer, as well as the sodas and ice creams that Steve eats every day. The week before my vacation, I started accounting for these comps, and the inventory was off 500 colones (about a buck). So, obviously this was the problem and it was fixed. But, last week (meanwhile I was gone three of the seven days) it was again off by 20,000 colones. This was the reason he stated for firing me. Both of the previous bartendings encountered similar problems with Steve, though neither of them was fired for it. I have never once taken or given anything for free from the bar...Steve also goes into the register and who knows what he does. He was in there when I was on vacation to put in coins from the pool table.

Everyone told me when I got here that Steve is crazy, and now I can finally see that.

Perhaps it's because he's uneducated, or maybe he's just an asshole.

Hasta luego!

Well, the last of the family has left, and so much happened in the past few days. After my aunt and uncle headed up to Manuel Antonio, my cousin, Jack, and I went on a "vacation" to the Osa Peninsula. (I say "vacation" because, hell, this is a vacation too...) We departed on the bus at 5am and arrived in Puerto Jimenez around 2pm, whereupon we met with Craig, the friend with whom we were staying. From there, we headed south to the property. I have never in my life seen such beauty.

Let me first describe for a minute how I know Craig and why he is in the Osa. Craig is a 56-year-old retired massage therapist from Gainesville, Florida. I did not know Craig in Gainesville; I only met him here. But, he stays often at our hotel when he travels to and from San Jose and the States. He was my friend Jamie's therapist for a year or so, and over the past two months we've talked a lot and have become friends. He knew throughout his life after a visit here that he wanted to retire here, so some months ago, back when I was first here, he searched for property to purchase. (I also met him when I was here in February.) So, he found a property in the Osa that he wanted to purchase, but it was $1.5 million and he didn't have that. For six months back in the States, he approached investors and eventually purchased this property. It is just under 700 hectares (about 1500 acres), of which 200 hectares is primary rainforest, and other parts include rivers, reforested zones, and the most dense biodiversity in the country (including wild cats). It is adjacent to Lapa Rios, an ecolodge that recently acquired a prestigious U.S. award for corporate eco-consciousness. So, on the property that Craig and others purchased, over the next three years, is a development project of an ecolodge. They have attained preserve status from the government, and only a certain portion of the property can be developed (I think it's 5 acres?). Right now there are two houses on the property, and they overlook from a 900-foot elevation, the southern end of the peninsula and the Pacific Ocean. It is without electric and telephone...there is solar power and under development is a hydroelectric project. There is radio communication to Puerto Jimenez and the cell phone works from the tower on the property (which is the highest point in the southern Osa). Also in the works over the next few months is Internet service.Craig lives in the main house as well as the construction manager Tom and his 12-year-old son Quito (and they are from St. Augustine). In the other house on the property live the current groundskeepers. Other than this, there are no people for many kilometers. So this is where we stayed our vacation. It was a simple yet elegant home, perfection.

I don't have time now to describe all that we did. But, what is on my mind now is an offer that Craig made to me before I left. He wants me to be involved in this project as his assistant. Basically, I would help him with simple errands like shopping in town and picking up guests from the airport, as well as updating the monthly newsletter for the investors and other stakeholders. I would also help him oversee the projects they are working on (such as the Internet, hydroelectric, construction, and gardening projects). Many people visit there often, friends of the shareholders, shareholders themselves, and others (for example on Monday the director of the Nature Conservancy). Other than that, it will be a lot more isolated than here, I wouldn't be able to have a great social life...otherwise this is a grand opportunity. All that is left now is for me to give notice to my current boss and Craig wants me to get down there as soon as possible (ideally within two weeks). So... there is the update on me, minus many many details. I will be posting photos later tonight or tomorrow. Until later...

I quit smoking last Monday. It's painfully difficult. I'm still sick with the gripe (a mild flu), it doesn't get better or worse, it's just annoying. My mom came and left. She felt isolated here, though she adjusted after a few days. We went to the waterfall, horseback riding up the mountain and to the beach, walked around to the beach...just the usual in Uvita. We saw (and heard) howler monkeys, a sloth, some morpho butterflies. My cousin Dani, Aunt Deb, and Uncle John will be here in less than a week, I can't wait. I found what I thought to be a dead scorpion spider in my cabina. I was scared of what would possibly kill it, and then I got in last night, closed the door, and saw a 5-inch scorpion waiting to stab me. That was the first scorpion I've seen. And then today I realized the scorpion spider wasn't dead at all, it's simply larger now. It had molted.

The local waterfall

My mom, homesick the first day

Aw, such pretty flowers

Obligatory hammocking

Boys on the mountain

Cabeza de Canela

Bruno at the Bambu

A smile on my mom's face

Jamie, this one's for you. Steve sucks. Steve is my jefe. He is always miserable, pessimistic, and never kindhearted. His sole pleasure is derived from bitching about everything and everyone.