Ugh! It is OVER!
Ξ November 19th, 2007 | → 8 Comments | ∇ Christmas, Christmas in Costa Rica, Costa Rica, Family, Food, Life in Costa Rica, Living in Costa Rica |
After all the planning and enough food to feed 50 people, the thing is over! I’m speaking of our annual Fiesta del Arbol.
I have no idea how many people were here. A shitpot full seems about right, and a LOT of them were kids which made the whole thing just great. Kids are soooo cool at Christmas!
We had purchased an artificial tree complete with 1,000 lights. It stands just under eight feet tall, just perfect for our living room,but the thought of assembling that sucker had me not sleeping at night, and I left it in the box in the garage until the last minute… yesterday. I had visions of adding the lights, all the branches… ugh!
I have now officially changed my opinion of fake Christmas trees.
My son Will ws coming (of course with granddaughter Lucia and his wife). He was the designated helper.
We loaded the thing into the house and opened it.
As Gomer would say, “Surprise! Surprise!” . The darned thing came in three parts with all those stupid little lights already installed! The entire “set-up” time from opening the box to turning on the lights was NINE MINUTES! And… the package contained not only a remote control for turning the lights on and off (an idea whose time has arrived!), but also a motorized thingy that rotates the tree! I passed on the rotating tree dealy thinking of how the cats might find a rotating tree with dangly things just too much of an attraction.
Immediately, the kids began to decorate, and the whole tree was done in thirty minutes… no tears! It looks very nice, though I think we will later add a few more ornaments and other goodies to make it a more personal.
Also, as those 1,000 lights came pre-installed, it did not look like other trees from past years.
This was the best of the tree parties by far. ML is already planning next year’s party.
I cannot imagine anything more boring than watching someone else’s home movies or pictures, but if you really have the urge, find the party photos here.
on November 19th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
I agree, those trees with the lights are da bomb. Sounds like a wonderful party. You go, dude.
on November 19th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
Hola mi Amigo,
Nice pic’s…the artificial tree was a success, it looked great…Also it looked like all were having a great time…Did you eat your pizza cold or hot this morning? hasta luego…
on November 21st, 2007 at 1:03 pm
Man we had a TON of food, but no pizza! We DID have lasagna though which also should be served cold the next morning… and it WAS 🙂
on November 30th, 2007 at 8:56 am
just thought that a resident of costa rica might want to take note that plastic trees are not environmentally friendly because they are made of PVC, which is extremely bad for the environment.
on November 30th, 2007 at 9:14 am
Hmmm… so you are saying that because I live in Costa Rica, I am (or should be) more conscious of the environment than say someone in another country? A little silly I think…
Or… are you saying that cutting down millions of live trees world-wide is much better for the environment… Especially given the wholesale harvesting of trees for commercial purposes?
or… are you saying that the disposal of all those millions of live trees, any covered in tinsel and other non eco-friendly goodies is preferable?Or… are you saying that all artificial trees are made of PVC? Is mine? How do you KNOW?
Why is it that in this PC world (read that as mostly the USA), everyone seems to think they have the right to tell others how they should feel or act?
Thank God this PC crap has not yet arrived here, though it seems to be coming with each new batch of brainwashed Gringos.
I thank you though for your none-too-well-thought-out opinion. At my age, I am truly capable of thinking and acting without supervision. In fact if I NEED supervision, I have a wife!
I will keep this tree for perhaps 20 years and enjoy it every year! And… I will think of you!
on December 2nd, 2007 at 7:02 am
Hi Tim,
I met you at a ARCR seminar and know you are up on tech stuff, I wonder if you ever heard of this happening;
The last really hard rain and lightning storm we had, lightning struck next door ( it was 3:00 in the morning) I heard my neighbor scream and in a couple of seconds I was shocked in my bed, up through the floor (I think)I was still asleep or at least with my eyes shut and saw a huge cobolt blue bolt felt the shock throughout my body and what ever little animal was just outside or in the walls..maybe a gecko, it screamed very loud as well. It was really scarey!
My question is; could it be due to the fact that there is an outlet behind the bed? I had plugged into the outlet a large batterybackup that was sitting on the floor and not sure if that “drew” the currant to me? I have spent a fortune putting all new electric throughout my place, so everything is new. Maybe because the ground was completely saturated from all the heavy rains it traveled from next door to me from the water in the ground? What do you think?
on January 11th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Hola Tim,
Great story. I am so proud to be from CR.
What about the tamales? Do you like them?? they are way so good. And merengue and salsa do u know how to dance yet?
About the tree, forget it, the smart thing is to have the fake one. I have being using mine for 6 years and still looks amazing. I made it all in gold. The most beuatiful ever, American style. 🙂
Enjoy the weather. It is the best in the world.
Salud, y pura vida…..
on January 16th, 2008 at 8:28 am
To Cindy
I do not have an answer for you. I do know that the vast majority of homes in CR have no earth grounding. You might want to make THAT a priority!
and To Ann
I like SOME tamales. It seems every person makes them using different ingredients. Some are WAY good… others? Yawn.
Regarding dancing: I am a Gringo and white. That should answer your question 🙂