OMG!  The ice cream here is SOOOO GOOD!!!

 

I ordered a carton of ice cream a week ago and just now got around to dishing myself about  3/4 cup of it.

 

It is to die for.

 

In fact, it is soooo to die for that 3/4 of a cup is 100% satisfying!  How insane is that?!

 

Brand y Sabor (flavor): Dos Pinos Alaska Napolitano

 

Made in this country.  (They just “borrowed” the Alaska part, you see!)

 

In Other News  – About Telenovelas

 

After I posted about learning to understand spoken Spanish from a Christian radio station earlier today, Laurie Barron suggested my next step in learning Spanish could be Mexican telenovelas. At almost exactly the same moment (are those two in cahoots???) Jon Graham Mitchell sent me a screamingly funny English-language explanation of telenovelas, followed by a Spanish-language example.  I’m posting the links below.

 

Telenovelas are super short very funny Soap operas (or perhaps melodramas) on steroids

Links: https://youtu.be/kSJDgREaeVs?si=TVMHC6TV11U041fu

https://youtu.be/FajaQxcad-w?si=6We3A10a8LRfG_JO

 

First of all, on my phone the speaker is so subpar that I can’t really hear the Spanish language one well enough to hear the words, but since so many of them are swear words, I doubt I’ll be using many of them in polite conversation, LOL!  I will listen to it later at the link above to see if I can hear it any better from my laptop. (I can attach speakers to it if I can’t.)

 

Anyway, the Spanish language one that Jon sent me cracked me up just to watch the histronic gyrations of the characters.

 

About the Insects of Costa Rica…

 

I can’t say I’m disappointed, but I will say I’m surprised by the apparent absence of bugs/insects in Costa Rica, at least at the two elevations where I’ve lived so far.

 

Since I don’t venture out after sunset, I’m sure I’m not where Costa Rica insects are when they’re most active . But, so far — during daylight hours when I’m up, out, and active — I have seen exactly one half-thumb sized cockroach, exactly one very small, very gorgeous tiger beetle, exactly one dime-sized spider (image not shown), and streams of industrious leaf-cutter ants (at both elevations).

 

Oh! And butterflies.

 

Butterflies in abundance.

 

Gorgeous butterflies in various colors.  It’s hard to capture them in images because they flit from bush to bush almost constantly. But I keep trying and as I catch them, I will share the images with you. There’s a yellow species that flits around here regularly that is breathtakingly bright and beautiful, but I haven’t had any luck catching it sitting still long enough to capture it for you.

 

A dozen bottles of insect repellent were overkill

 

I brought at least twelve bottles of insect repellent with me from the States because I had read that it and sunscreen are mandatory (and more expensive) here in Costa Rica.

 

Yes and no.

 

Yes on the sunscreen, absolutely. This close to the equator — just ten degrees north of it — the sunlight is intense and the UV levels are usually high. Fair-skinned folks like me run the risk of serious burns and skin cancer without it.  I have been religious about putting it on, so I haven’t experienced any reddening of my skin at all in the time I’ve been here.

 

And yes on the insect repellent, especially  if you plan to be out after dark or if you plan to visit lower elevations, including the many famous beaches up and down both coastlines.

 

I’ve read that the Alajuela Province, where I am, has higher rates of dengue fever than most other provinces. It is a potentially deadly disease, so I am good about keeping myself well lubed with insect spray.

 

Melaney tells me the mosquitoes that carry it aren’t all night dwellers, either, so that clued me in to wearing it during the day when I’m out and about. She experienced a bout of dengue fever and says it was no fun at all.  It tooks three weeks to run its course and she thoguht it was only a few days because she was delirious most of the time. Laurie told her afterward how long she had been down with it.  I’m NOT eager to cross paths with it, for that reason alone. (Many people have less onerous reactions to dengue fever — flu-like symptoms for a few days and a headache behind the eyes are among the symptoms. See the link above for more information about symptoms, etc.)

 

But really, I’m not seeing the swarms of insects that I thought I’d be seeing here. I have to go out and actively search for insects to capture on film. That’s good news that I wasn’t expecting to be able to report. I was imagining the olden days in the U.S. when driving in a car very far  would result in scores of dead corpses smashed against the windshield. That doesn’t happen here at the two altitudes where I’ve lived. I’m at an elevation of 1,060 meters (3,478 feet) here in the Bolivar district of Grecia, CR.  Grecia proper sits as 999 meters (3,277 feet) high, two hundred feet lower than I am here.

 

The difference in temperature and feet between lower-lying areas and here makes a significant difference in the kind of plants and animals you find in both places. Geckos, basilisk lizards and iguanas can live in Grecia and at Villas Escondidas in Puente de Piedra, but not up here where it’s noticeably cooler.

 

Puente de Piedra, where Villas Escondidas is, sits at 875 m (2811 feet) according to Google, but that doesn’t make sense to me because VE sits above downtown Grecia.  At least, it appeared that way to me when I Uber’ed in from there on numerous occasions!

 

Is Google always — or even usually — right?  I’ll defer to the longtime residents I’ve met to set me straight on this. I’m a newbie here!  Jon tells me it’s too cold up here for lizards and I haven’t seen any. I’ve seen images of lizards at VE, so I know they live there.  Not sure about lower Grecia… I don’t know the exact zone beyond which lizards can’t live…

 

I’m learning as I go along.  Hey, and learning new things keeps life feeling fascinating!!!