Bread and Chocolate Paradise.

     If savory homemade bread and fragrant, delicious chocolate is your idea of heaven, then the beautiful cafe Bread and Chocolate is the place for you.
     The warm scent of chocolate is the first thing that greets you when you step inside the open air restaurant.  The next thing might be a smiling Tom Franklin, the owner of this engaging establishment.
     Tom, who has owned Bread and Chocolate for the past 5 years, began working as a cook for the previous owners.  When the previous owners decided to pull up stakes, Tom decided to try his luck.  When you sit inside this beautiful little place, it's quite obvious that for Tom, it was a wise move.
     Franklin says he likes the way cultures blend together here.
     "This is a very unique place with an incredible amount of diversity," he says.  "Within a month, you know everyone's faith, and I think that makes this a very special place."  Indeed, tiny Puerto Viejo is studded with iglesias (places of worship.)
     Bread and Chocolate does a brisk business, and in the 3 years that I've been coming here, the murmuring of tourists and clattering of plates is a common sound.
     On warm days, which are nearly continuous in Puerto Viejo, I often sought refuge here from the heat.  Bringing along my trusty tablet for painting or sketching, amiable Tom was always interested in what I was doing and unfailingly offered words of encouragement.
      I would sit and eat a homemade chocolate muffin and drink a delicious cup of coffee, and it was well within my too-tight-to-breathe budget.  I walked home content, knowing that for a short while, I had found nirvana.
     If you sample Bread and Chocolate, I think you'll find this to be true too, and if you come in hungry, you won't be disappointed.
     For those in a chocolate state of mind, there's brownies, truffles, torts and an array of pies.  Pies come from a bakery in Playa Chiquita, a scant 8 minute drive from Puerto Viejo, or a bakery in Límon.
     The dark chocolate used in the luscious truffles comes from Caribbeans, a local Puerto Viejo establishment located near the Police Department.
     Coffee, definitely a staple in Costa Rica, is absolutely delicious.  There is no such thing as a bad cup of coffee in this tiny country.
     Bread and Chocolate also serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, for those in search of more substantial fare.  Everything from good old scrambled eggs,and bagels, to such lunchtime favorites as bacon, lettuce, and tomato.  Made with tasty homemade bread, topped with avocado and served with a fruit salad composed of mangoes, papayas and other tropical fruits.  Mmmmmhhhh!  Definitely my favorite.
     Sally Page and Richard Clemo, both from New Zealand, also had no complaints. "Amazing," Sally says while munching a blt and having a sip of lemonade.  Richard was busily enjoying the jerk chicken.  They will definitely tell the folks back home about this little place, they say.
     "I like to find a balance," Tom says. "We try to present quality products and buy quality foods."  In this bright and cheerful place, it shows.


   

Crime in Costa Rica--Part 2: Crime and Lack of Punishment.

      Over the years, Gordo Malo loomed large in the minds of many people in the southern Caribbean.  He was a harbinger of torment, blood, and death.  Malo was the kind of man who most likely would slice off his own mother's face if he were to get paid to do so.  Rumored to be a former Contra, and an agent for the Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ), Malo, a hit man for hire, was one of the more cold-blooded killers I've heard about. And the fact that he lived here, right here in Puerto Viejo, I found well, um, discomfiting.
     Malo, whose real name was Magnum Enrique Benavides Zuniga liked to raid the refrigerators of his victims.  Clients paid him $100-$20,000 for a hit.  Perhaps after the pricier ones, he ordered a pizza.  He was that kind of guy.
     Oh, sure, he was arrested from time to time, and he was even incarcerated every now and then, but it wasn't long before he'd be back out on the streets again, looking for his next job.
     According to our friend Juan, Malo survived several attempts on his life, including being beaten, shot and stabbed. He was the Ever-ready bunny of murderers, and like Rasputin, he survived each time.  Until the last time.
     In late October of 2009, Malo was stabbed 22 times.  The final stab, to the chest, is what did him in.
     As I walked to the mercado, the atmosphere in this sparkling jewel of a town seemed charged; people all up and down the main street talking about the end of Gordo Malo.  No one seemed to miss him.  The town breathed a collective sigh of relief.
     One real bogeyman gone forever.
     One bogeyman disappears, two more remain.
     Enter William Dathan Holbert, and his girlfriend Michelle Reece.  Holbert, aka "Wild Bill" and Reece were fleeing the U.S. after committing a variety of crimes, including selling a $200,000 house they didn't own.
      He and Reece made their way to Puerto Viejo and renewed their crime spree.  The couple moved into a house owned by Joseph and Sue Freconna, in nearby Playa Negra.  According to Don Winner, of Panama Guide, Holbert and Reece rented a room to Jeffrey Arlan Kline, in late March 2007.  Kline, a Chicago lawyer was also fleeing problems of his own.
     After a painful and costly divorce, Kline was hoping for a new life.  Travelling to Puerto Viejo, he carried $100,000 with him. Kline feared that if he deposited the money in the bank, investigators might seize it to pay the $70,000 he would owe for future child support. For Klein, this was a fatal mistake.
     His family reported him missing in early April of 2006, and Holbert and Reece were on the run once again.            
     The Freconnas had a beautiful backyard filled with shrubs and trees.  Returning to their house in February, 2007, they were greeted with a horrible shock.
     Their beautiful yard had been covered with a concrete patio.
     After recovering from the initial shock, the Freconnas decided, in November 2007 to put in a sun room, and to do that, they needed to dig up the concrete.  When they did so, workmen made a gruesome discovery--a body wrapped in plastic.
     In Costa Rica, the wheels of justice creak slowly, very slowly.  The OIJ purportedly took fingerprints from the body in 2007 and held them for months and months, until September of 2010 when an official with the Consular section of the U.S. Embassy notified Kline's former wife that the fingerprints were those of Jeffrey Arlan Kline.
     Holbert and Reece made their way to Panama and continued their killing spree, murdering at least five more people, stealing their homes, properties, and businesses.  The couple would befriend people, and then shoot them in the head.  Among the items confiscated from the location where the couple was living in Panama:  several passports and a glass jar filled with gold filings from the teeth of their victims.  What a lovely couple!
     When authorities began question them, Holbert and Reece took off again, trying to cross into Nicaragua illegally via the Rio San Juan.
   It is difficult to say how long Holbert and Reece will remain in jail.  I have heard that the Panamanian Judiciary system is stricter than Costa Rica's Judiciary, which is known to be lenient.
     As in the case of Malo, Rolando Brown, a serial rapist was released several times, only to keep raping women in Playa Chiquita and Playa Negra, both of which are within a stone's throw of Puerto Viejo.  One rape, that of a 16-year-old girl, occurred in broad daylight.
     One of the rapes that nearly garnered an arrest for Brown merely ended up with him receiving a slap on the wrist.  Brown was only forced to sign in with the prosecutor every 15 days, according to a local tourist newspaper, the Puerto Viejo Satellite.
     In January of 1997, after a string of rapes, Brown was sentenced to 13 years in prison, but was let out after only serving six years.  After an attempted rape, he served an additional eight months in a preventative prison in 2003.

     Brown was sentenced to 56 years in prison and will spend the rest of his life in prison, according to the article in the newspaper.  Officials reported that Brown was not eligible for an early release.
     It should be clear from my blog that sometimes, in Costa Rica, the wheels of justice roll slowly.
     A warning for women:
     Ladies, this should be clear to you by now, but if it's not, then I'm gonna yell it out:  Do not walk around alone anywhere in Costa Rica after dark, except on streets that are well-lit and populated.  I hate to be blunt, but walking alone anywhere in an isolated area is stupid.  Plain and simple.
     When you go to the beach, make certain there are several people around, and don't go off anywhere by yourself.  You can enjoy yourself safely in Costa Rica, but don't throw caution to the wind.  If you do, you may find yourself coming home with memories you'd rather not have.

Crime in Costa Rica--Part 1: What tourists need to know.

      If you're planning to visit Costa Rica, you'll likely find people here warm and friendly -- including the criminals. However, please bear in mind that most places in Costa Rica are safer than many places in the U.S.  This doesn't mean that you shouldn't be realistic..
     Here are the latest crime statistics, compiled for 2010 by the Organismo De Investigacion Judicial (OIJ) and reported by the Tico Times, a popular English-language newspaper in Costa Rica. The OIJ reports that the number of registered crimes dropped from 68,708 to 65,482.
     Homicides decreased from 11.95 to 11.62 per 100,000 residents.  The Times  reports that there were 486 homicides last year, down from 12.95 homicides per 100,000 in 2008.
     Reported assaults decreased by 5 percent, and home invasions were down by 4 percent. Other forms of violent crime such as sexual assault were also down, according to the OIJ.
     In these days of economic bipolar disorder, one disturbing trend, while not common, has been occurring.
     During the past two years, 8 foreign nationals have been reported missing, according to the government website of the United Kingdom. The latest case involves a French couple who disappeared in Quepos on Costa Rica's central Pacific coast in mid-April, 2011.
     The website also warns tourists about gang-related activity and strong-armed robberies that sometimes occur in broad daylight.
     While all of this sounds scary, this tiny country is a relatively safe place to travel.  If you'd like to see how low the crime rates really are, check out WeLoveCostaRica.com for crime statistics that were originally published in the Spanish-language newspaper, La Nacion.  These statistics will show you how low crime rates really are in this beautiful little country.
     Nevertheless, common sense needs to rule the day if you're travelling to Costa Rica.
     Wearing expensive, trendy clothes and flashy jewelry fairly screams  "Affluent tourist--criminals take note.''
     If traveling on a bus, keep your passport on you, not in your luggage.  If I had uno mil colones for every tourist who had their passport swiped from their luggage that was carried in the cargo hold on the bus, I'd be living in the most expensive house in Costa Rica.
     Keep laptops, digital cameras, ipads, ipods and any other expensive gadgets out of sight.  Period.  Make sure all of them have good guarantees in case of theft.  Some of us have to learn the hard way.  I know I did.  I kept my $350 digital camera in a room at the lodge where my husband and I did a brief stint as managers.  Surely no one will snatch my camera out of this room while I'm in the bathroom for a minute.  Boy was I wrong!
     While you might want to take your digital camera along, I recommend leaving any other expensive gadgets home, unless you absolutely need them.
     If you know where you're going to stay in Costa Rica, do a little research.  While you are making reservations find out which hotels, lodges, or cabinas have secure storage areas where you can lock up your belongings. Many of them do.While theft from these places is fairly rare, there is no guarantee that it won't happen.  In Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, where we ran the lodge, the employees at one establishment were fencing stolen items.
     San Jose, Costa Rica's capital city is impressive and many areas are beautiful.  However, I would be remiss if I didn't tell you that some of the barrios in San Jose are quite dangerous whether it's day or night.  Avoid the Coca-Cola district.  It's scary-looking and it is definitely dangerous.
     Also be aware that pickpockets operate in some crowded areas of San Jose.  It's probably best to keep wallets and passports in a front shirt pocket.
     While just about all ticos are warm, kind, and friendly, it's a good idea not to trust people who seem too friendly.  If they give you the feeling that they are probably too good to be true, you're probably right, and if you're not cautious, you may be setting yourself up for a robbery.
     In areas frequented by tourists, there are often people who like to hang around and ask for money.  I like to give out money every now and then.  However, here you need to be careful, because even though these people aren't likely to rob you, they will instead hang on you like lost puppies and drive you absolutely nuts. I've encountered this many a time, usually in areas frequented by tourists.
     If you decide to rent a car and drive around San Jose, keep the doors locked.  As I've said before, hide the bling-bling.  To be on the really safe side, take a taxi, or a bus.
     If you've never traveled in a foreign country before, do some research.  Look up websites and blogs, call the embassy and be sure to ask as many questions as you need. Don't worry about whether or not a question seems stupid.  The question isn't stupid if it keeps you from getting in trouble.  It's only stupid if you don't ask it and then you get in trouble.
     Please feel free to send me questions.  I'll definitely do my best to answer them. In the meantime, remember Honey, This Is Costa Rica.


    

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I dreamed of Toucans.

     The rain falls sweet-scented and heavy,  the smell of warm, damp earth tickling my nose.  I'm lounging on my patio drinking a cup of coffee, painting a watercolor of sea shells that I'd found on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica and Panama.  I'm realizing that seriously over-used cliche' is true:  It really can't get any better than this.

     The rain patters the steel roof above my head, and humidity covers everything like a wool blanket.

     This, I believe, is as close to nirvana as I can get; but even nirvana has a few cracks in the foundation.

     My husband and I tripped over a few of these in bringing our three cats to Costa Rica.  We were the bold, the brave, and probably, the stupid.

     In bringing Creamcicle, Emily, and Rosie here, I fretted, fussed, and spent sleepless nights worrying about how everything would come together.  Would my babies receive adequate care during the long flight?  Would they be comfortable?  In my feverish worrying, I crossed every T and dotted every I, leaping through every regulatory loophole.  All three cats came through the process in flying colors.

     My biggest concern, after cutting through all the regulatory hoop-de-doo was whether I'd be able to find decent cat food.  As it turns out, most mercados in Costa Rica carry several of the brands that markets in the U.S. carry, as well as many other brands I'd never heard of. 

     There was one item, however, that I hadn't thought to research:

     "Cat litter?  What's that?" my friend Mitchaelle asked, looking at me as if I'd sprouted a pair of antlers.  She runs a small mercado that we frequented.  

     Victor and I and our three fuzzy children had moved to tiny Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, a jewel of the Caribbean with a name that is larger than it is.  

     Finding such an item in Costa Rica is definitely a process.  Few markets, or mercados offer it, and when they do, it's so expensive, you might have to take a loan out to buy it.  Just kidding.  A little.
     There's definitely no shortage of sand in Puerto Viejo.  We tried the sandbox routine for a while.  There are two words that I can think of to describe this:  Icky and stinky.  The sandbox was a hit with the cats, but not with the humans.
     After a couple of years we moved to the outskirts of quiet and tiny Guacimo.  It is muy humedo y muy tranquilo here.  It's also relatively sand-free.  So now the cats use the garden, and that works out just fine.
     However, not everything works without a hitch.
     The system of mail delivery here works well.  Sometimes.  Other times someone sends you a letter, or, like me, you wait for months and months for that ATM card you ordered to show up, and it winds up in a postal twilight zone.
     Or, you try to do something that is simpler, like, say, find a measuring cup.  Good luck.
     If you're travelling or moving to a foreign country, then this blog is for you. I'm here to answer your questions and I'll do my goldarned best to do that.
     I also plan to write on some of the experiences Victor and I have had in living here.
     My blog will also cover nutrition, wildlife, pets, and places of interest.
     If all goes well, you'll be able to sit on your patio and watch the parrots, aracaris, and toucans in your garden.