Turning 60

Me with birthday cake frosting on my face



How could this be happening? Turning 60 means I'm old, right? Wrong!

My 60th birthday celebrations have been the best in my life. Starting on April 8, I had dinner at my favorite restaurant in Costa Rica, Lubnan, which serves middle eastern food. Some of my Cariari friends and I got together to celebrate three April birthdays: mine, Sima's and Carolyn's. Ada and Joy celebrated with us. The food was very good and there was a belly dancer there that evening.


Carolyn, Joy, me, Sima and Ada at Lubnan's



The biggest party was held on Sunday, April 11. Susan, my Canadian friend, organized a big birthday bash at our favorite Sunday restaurant and bar, El Coco. She put up decorations and made food (with the owners' permission). There were about 35-45 of us - all ticos except for Susan and me. I felt very honored to be accepted by these wonderful friends. Hugo played music, and we danced, ate, drank and partied. What a blast!


The Birthday Queen wearing her crown






On Monday, I had lunch at Brad's Grille with Patty, Maria, Sharon, Fermina and Suzanne. This is the fourth birthday get-together that this group has celebrated.


Patty, Suzanne, Sharon, me, Fermina






April 13, my actual birthday, was spent teaching students I love. Then at night Indio and I went to Los Cebollines for dinner.


Indio and me






On Wednesday, my scrapbooking group - Lisa, Marilyn and Corinne - plus Bethea and I went back to the Cariari Country Club for a pool day birthday celebration. They gave me a huge gift basket full of gourmet foods.


Marilyn, Bethea, me, Lisa, Corinne






And finally, on Friday, my Thursday lunch group, which has been reduced to my scrapbooking group, Bethea and Pilar got together at Bethea's condo complex and enjoyed another pool day. Thank you, Pilar, for the bottle of tequila and shot glasses for my birthday!


Me, Bethea, Pilar, Lisa, Marilyn, Corinne




I am about partied out now. But my final celebration will be the 60th birthday present that I am giving myself: a 20-day to Spain. I leave May 5 and return May 20. I wanted to celebrate this milestone birthday in a spectacular way.

Election Day

The first female president of Costa Rica was elected on Sunday!

One thing that I love about elections here - this was the second that I have witnessed - is the positive, happy attitude that ticos have about electing their representatives. Sunday was a party day. Cars honking their horns with political parties' flag waving drove up and down the streets. Party was in the air, and there was no animosity between the parties or the candidates.

In fact, I watched a little of the TV debate with the top four contenders, and several times the candidates walked over to another candidate and hugged them. That would NEVER happen in the U.S. Here, it's possible to have different positions and to still treat each other with respect and love.

Alongside the election for adults Sunday was an election for the children. It was done electronically, same as for the adults, to teach the children that voting is important and easy. Some 70% of the population of Costa Rica voted on Sunday, and Laura got 46.78% of the vote. She needed to get at least 40% to avoid a runoff between the top two contenders.

La Presidenta Laura Chinchilla will take office in May and run the country for four years. Neither the president nor the members of congress are allowed to run for consecutive reelection.

Tope, or Any Excuse to Party

Pizarro, on his horse, and me

Ticos love to party. Any reason will do. For example, this Wednesday night is a party to commemorate the third anniversary since my friend Lupe was crowned La Reina (Queen) of Santa Ana. Mind you, every year a new queen is crowned, which is in itself cause for celebration, but Lupe is such a wonderful, friendly, generous, outgoing person, that her past coronation is celebrated every year. Unfortunately, I have other plans for Wednesday night (a formal party at a financial institution) and can't attend Lupe's party.

The cause for celebration this past Sunday was a tope, or horse parade. The streets were roped off at 8:00 that morning, so unless you knew the back roads, you had to walk. Hundreds of men (and some women) spiff up their horses, or rent horses, and parade downtown with beer can in hand, to the applause of the onlookers. I don't quite understand the thrill of a tope - for the riders, for the onlookers, or especially for the horses who foam and sweat and have to walk slowly and stop on pavement - but it is party time nevertheless, with lots of booze.

People lined the streets in the morning, jockeying for good viewing spots. This not being my first tope (pronounced toe-pay), I didn't arrive until 2:00pm, which was when the officials began parading past the viewing site where my friends were set up.

There is a vivero, or plant nursery, on the main street where I have bought vegetable plants. It is owned by Carolina's family. Carolina and Hildreth show up at the same parties I do, and they were at the tope. In fact, Carolina's family had prepared food for sale inside the vivero, but I ate before I left the house. Susan, Yalile, some other acquaintances and I stood in front of the vivero, watching the parade of horses and riders.

What was different for me about this tope was that I knew about 12-15 of the riders. Thanks to Susan, and her friend (and now mine) Yalile, I have met many ticos in this city. I tried to take pictures of everyone I knew, but the horses didn't always cooperate.

After two and a half hours of standing and watching the horses and admiring the hot-looking guys, Susan and I walked down to one of our favorite haunts, El Coco, for a little refreshment. Then we drove up to Dos Oy, a big stable where the Cruz Roja (Red Cross) hosted a big party with food and music.



Oscar on his horse








Boys on Horseback








Susan, me, Yalile and Victor








Frank on his horse