Around The Neighborhood

After getting settled, we started to check out the neighborhood. The first thing we found was a pulperia...corner store....that was run by a very nice man who speaks Spanish, Chinese, and English. Of course we didn't realize this the first time we went in and I used Spanish to communicate. We found out the 2nd time we went in when he asked if we wanted him to speak in Spanish or English....we, of course, opted for English. Then he asked if we were European and when I said no he asked if we were from the States. I told him yes but then explained that we had just moved here from the States and told him where we lived. He welcomed us to the neighborhood. Then he asked me what the word in English was for the bag I had brought in for our groceries...I told him....bag. He repeated it and said, "So you open your mouth wide to say "a" part of bag....hmmmmm I guess we do. He said it was same word for Europeans too.

The next day, we went over to the main street...one more block over from our house.... looking for a bicycle shop...ciclo....pronounced see klo.... and spent quite a few minutes approaching people and saying, "Donde es ciclo?". We finally found it. The man who owned it was very helpful and had almost everything we needed. It was great for me because he spoke no English and our whole conversation was in Spanish. Great way for me to practice! We thanked him and left then thought....maybe he had bikes for sale so we went back to look for one for Jacob. He did have them so Jake picked out the one he liked and we paid the man 60,000 colones, which comes out to about $110.00. We found out once we went into town to find the one missing part he didn't have just how cheap that was. The cheapest bike we could find in town was 130,000 colones and the cheapest helmut was 39,500 colones...Jake paid 8,950 colones for his helmet at that mans place.

SIDEBAR: We have a bus stop right at the end of our street which takes us all the way into San Jose or just up to the mall....Plaza Mayor....where we can get groceries, shop, or watch a movie. Won't be seeing any movies there anytime soon because they are showing two movies and both of them are in Spanish. For those of you that are quick at making the jump to where this is heading.....we have not seen Eclipse yet! Of course it didn't come out here until July 8th, but we REALLY need to find an English theater!!

Bob, Jake, and I then left the bike shop by our house and walked a really long distance...in the rain...to find the missing piece. The next place didn't have it but he called the last place for us and found out they did. We were not interested in walking any farther so we flagged a taxi down....it's still raining....and Jake's bike wouldn't fit in so he road all the way back to the apartment while we went to the other bike shop. I was a little nervous until we got back to the house and made sure Jake made it home okay. I wasn't sure he would find his way back because this was a new route we had taken but he did fine!

The next day, Bob and I went for a ride around the neighborhood...Jake didn't want to go because he hadn't taken a shower and didn't look good....lol....so we went alone. We found a private airstrip by our house and a really nice park. There were a bunch of people and kids there playing soccer. We made it home just in time before the rain started! Had a great time biking and realize that we will be doing a lot of that here.

We have met both of the neighbors on our side of the apartment building. The man next door to us, upstairs, is Don who is originally from Canada but came here from Florida. He has been trying to become a resident for 6 years and has given up and thinks he will be returning to the States soon. We met the man below our apartment one day when we all left the apartment building at the same time. His name is Pablo and he is a web designer who works with sports teams in Costa Rica and who is also a painter. We were talking about places to go to buy stuff for the house...kinda like a Walmart type store...and he is the one who told us about Hyper Mas....pronounced eeper moss.... and he walked us to the bus stop, flagged a taxi, told the driver where we wanted to go (I have learned how to do that too....":Quiero ir Hyper Mas en Ezcasu, por favor!"), shook all of our hands, held my door until I was in the cab, wished us well and said he would have us over for coffee before shutting my door.

We went to Hyper Mas and it is a lot like a Walmart except for one big difference....unlike Walmart where you can NEVER find someone to help you, and if by some fluke you do they have no idea where things are.....you will find at least one employee in EVERY AISLE....I kid you not...and in some aisles you will find 2 or 3 or more all waiting to help you find things. They do this in the grocery stores too...it is both weird and refreshing!

Today, Bob went bike riding while I went to the store on the bus. Again, no shower for Jake yet so he couldn't go and I didn't want to wait for him to get his shower. Bob went back to the park and watched a soccer game and made it home just as the skies opened up....it rained for over 6 hours today (It is the rainy season here right now). I came back with three bags of groceries and NO trash bags....I am having the hardest time finding those darn things.

Tomorrow, we are going to bike over to the main street and look at PALI, which is another grocery store, to see if they have trash bags. Of course we will have to do that early because...1.) It rains every day between 12 and 1pm and
2.) The World Cup is tomorrow at noon...The Netherlands vs. Spain and the octopus has picked Spain to win. He hasn't been wrong yet....he has picked every winner of the World Cup, this year, to date!

I hope that gives you a feel for our neighborhood. I've posted pictures on Facebook of our apartment and our neighborhood....Check them out!