A Post Card from

Tina Stonestreet

[Editor's Note:  The Stamp at right shows the Twin Towers Trade Center, prior to September 11, 2001.   At the bottom of the stamp is written "En memoria de las victimas" (translated, "In memory of the victims"), which we thought to be of interest and a lovely tribute.]

I'm seeing Costa Rica now:  flowers, exotic birds and animals, butterflies, and sunsets that look like fire opals.  Been on a river tour, beaches and Tabacon hot springs garden here.  Tomorrow I go island hopping by boat.  Yesterday I saw Nicaragua; stood on a dormant volcano and looked in and then visited an Hispanic colonial city.  The border checkpoints were a hassle.  Days ago the sky cleared from the rainy season long enough to form a cloud that looked like a person blowing us a kiss to earth during a brilliant sunset.

Vicky Blitz

We boarded the cruise ship, Regent Star in Montigo Bay, Jamaica about 1:30 - 2:00 in the afternoon. The ship was supposed to sail at 8:00 pm but the plane from the mid west had engine trouble with 86 of our passengers aboard and so we waited and waited and waited. It was close to midnight before they arrived and we actually got under way.

After a full day and night at sea we docked at Puerto Limon', Costa Rica, an alternate port because we were late. The original port of call would have enabled my husband, Bob, to participate in a raft trip which was now cancelled. However, he was able to get in on my "country-side" bus trip because the shopping portion of the trip had to be cancelled due to our tardiness and the fact that 80 people had dropped out.

We were supposed to leave for our country tour at 9:00 am but was unable to leave until 11:30 am. We drove for three hours before stopping for lunch in San Jose. The lunch was lovely in a beautiful very large convention center type of dining hall, with a trio of strolling guitarists.

We then went to the Coffee Britt Plantation for a tour and an opportunity to purchase coffee. While there we also watched a live performance of the history of coffee making which ended with a young couple getting married. Before the marriage they said they needed a couple from the audience to stand up for them. The first couple they approached turned them down so Bob and I, also sitting in the front row, were asked next and of course we accepted. They brought us up on stage and the young man asked Bob how long had we been married and he said "too long" which brought a hearty laugh from the audience.

Then the girl asked me if I thought she was getting a good husband and I said "No, none of them are any good". And this brought an even louder laugh from the audience. We were a hit. People came up to us after the play and told us how much they enjoyed us...even after returning to the ship.

The drive back to the ship took us the same route as in the morning so we saw nothing new; just a lot of forest and after the first hour, the sun set and the last two hours were in the dark. Worse yet, when we finally arrived at dinner we were an hour and a half late and the waiter was obviously unhappy as we were the only two people at our assigned table, the others having already eaten. However, after we told him it wasn't our fault that we were late and we were unhappy too, he calmed down.

But we were not the only late ones. Three other busses were even later than ours and one had even broken down. So AGAIN we were late leaving the harbor.  Next destination:  Panama.

          THINK GLOBALLY - ACT LOCALLY - PRAY FOR WORLD PEACE