Yes, They Went To The Space Needle

I got to see my brother this weekend, and to meet his wife. My brother now lives in Costa Rica full time and had taken his new bride up to the states to tour around. It was decided that they would come see the show I'm in right now. Because of this, my new sister-in-law's first impression of me would be of me in a sparkly, blue dress. This would all be fine and well if I hadn't met his first wife the same damn way.

Okay, that last part is a lie.

She is an absolute sweetheart and beautiful on top of it. She has a passion in her that just pours out of her eyes and smile. She speaks English very well, but was a little self conscious about her abilities and would occasionally slip into Spanish for my brother to translate.

My brother seemed happy, there wasn't any of the quiet, bored detachment that seems to be a family trademark, something we do when we get uncomfortable or unhappy. There was talk, there were drinks, there were a large number of pictures taken. There was an inner remark of wonder when I realized that Evelyn the sister-in-law had had a rum drink, Jagermeister and tequila (at least) in those few hours; this endeared her to me forever. There was a moment when I thought to myself after losing half a glass of whisky that I probably didn't need anymore - this was before having at least another 2.

The next day, after sleeping off what should have been an UGLY hangover (but which turned out to be only slightly unbecoming), we all took the ferry over to Bremerton to visit my grandmother.

I listened quietly to my brother and Evelyn tell stories about Costa Rica, imagining this hot and humid jungle paradise. Something seems vulgar and near blasphemous about Americans (including my parents) buying up land in this country whose inhabitants can't afford to buy pieces of their own, only to jack up the prices and sell it back to other spoiled Americans at exorbitant prices. But I let that slide for the moment, lulled by stories of all of this fresh tropical fruit and seafood from as of yet unspoiled waters, stories of monkeys and images of jungles awash in a heavy and warm rains.

I've wanted to venture into Costa Rica since my brother found his way down there years ago. There have always been issues that have come up; no money, unemployed, moving to a new city. At some point someone was mentioning their desire to get there sometime as well. Evelyn said something in glorious sounding Spanish and looked at my brother with questioning eyes.

"There's no direct translation," he said, sort of searching his mind for something close. "Life's too short."

Yeah, it really is.