The last couple of days have been, or at least seemed, a bit more profitable, and I am starting to feel like we may not have turned the corner, but we are approaching it cautiously and have an idea of what is around the bend.

We have one signed contract, and lots more artwork in the works. Athena's ad went over very well with Cap'n Josh and we will be finalizing that soon, and many of Jaco's inhabitants (denizens?) are getting to know Geoff by sight and reputation.

In other words, his hard work is starting to pay off.

I'm hoping that some of our other issues have been cleared up over the course of the last two days. It looks like we are all in agreement with how we need things to work at least.

Last night a couple of friends of Geoff's from Atenas dropped by. They had been in town celebrating Rosh Hoshana and one of their birthdays, and decided to come and take us to their hostel for a continuation of the Jewish New Year and Festiva de compleanos.

The hostel is really cute, with some private rooms, some dorms, high speed internet access, barbecues and a kitchen area for the use of the "guests" and a pool, not too far from the beach. And it runs between $12 and $25 per night, depending on the level of sleeping privacy you need.

We also learned a new word..."amigable". It means friendly.

Today we spent a few hours at the bank. For those of you who have never been here, I won't even bother to try and describe banking in Costa Rica. You would never believe me. Those of you who have been here will now be nodding their heads in agreement and sympathy.

I have met a number of great people here, both gringo and tica, but I am not as happy here in Jaco as I have been in other places in Costa Rica. In Atenas, or Coco you can walk outdoors alone late at night and would never feel threatened. Here I always feel like I have to be hanging tightly to my purse.

I figure eventually we will move our center of operations back to Atenas, and that Geoff will drive in for a couple of days a week to take care of business in Jaco.