Incumbents and Crew.

The owners of the entire complex (and our landlords) have arrived and are staying in their penthouse, directly above us. They are multi-millionaires from Canada according to the property manager. They have been here almost a week and have yet to introduce themselves - or perhaps we should as we are the newbies? 

Lionel or Chepe?

Since their arrival, the Lionel Richie-lookalike handyman, called Chepe, is continuously busy, or at least he tries to look busy now. To be honest, I am not really sure why he is needed 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, but there you go; he acts as security too I guess, moreover the pool is being cleaned everyday, instead of once a week. The greenery and shrubs are neat and tidy. The strimmer, that I think took a month to fix, is no longer being tinkered with at 6.30am, just below our windows. In fact there is a distinct lack of noise coming from Chepe these past few days: for the first few weeks of living here, we were constantly woken at 5.50am, when he arrived on his motorbike, revving its engine. Now of course, we are up and almost ready for school at this time, but his bike still acted as an alarm clock at the weekends - but not this weekend, when it was noticeably quiet. Perhaps - he pushed it up the driveway so as not to wake the owners!

Then of course we have the nightwatchmen, who up until now, spend most of their evenings perched not far from our door, looking out to sea (hoping to catch pirates/see a mermaid perhaps?). Not these past few days; they do their regular patrols and then retreat to the little office near the entrance, looking even more bored than usual. The weekend security, and Chepe too, all like a chin-wag with DH and boy can they talk! The say that it is women who chat most, but no, these guys can talk for England, or should that be CR? 

You are maybe wondering why we have guards? So do I! Security seems to be a popular form of employment in CR; from private houses to banks, shops and even empty buildings having guards day and/or night. Not that we have encountered any crime here so far ... although Chepe told DH of a young thief being caught red-handed a few weeks ago in a nearby private pool!

So to the other residents of Corona. Until last week, apart from the property manager, Andy and his wife and baby, it has only been us and one other solitary neighbour, Randy: early 60's from Texas and a keen sports-fisherman, looks a bit like Father Christmas. 

There was another denizen when we first arrived, a younger Randy; mid-50's, tattooed, dark glasses, backwards baseball-cap, big chunky chain around his neck, baggy shorts, massive Dodge pick-up truck - you get the picture? The boys thought he was cool, but I thought he looked more like the oldest swinger in town. Nevertheless, quite a 'colourful' character: an ex-professional motorcyclist from Los Angeles who likes a party and as rumour has it, installed a 'pole' in his lounge, for when he entertains his lady friends. Allegedly, he got mixed up with the crowd and skedaddled back to the States under the cover of darkness. 

So there you have it, my immediate body politic thus far.