Well it is hard to believe that it will be two months tomorrow, or today...depending on where you live and what time it is there, since we moved to Costa Rica. It has been an adjustment, but one that we are happy to be making. There have been tons of things to do just to get settled. Everything from finding a place to live, to getting Jake settled into school, to organizing and then turning in all of our papers for residency.....but it has been worth it!
Bob and I take a bike ride everyday to explore our new neighborhood. (Always early in the day before the rains begin!!) We have met some very interesting people in our journeys around town. We have found local shops that sell everything from milk, to bread, to bike tires. We have discovered extreme generosity from many people we have come into contact with.
Neighbors now wave at us as we bike by, even thought there is the occasional stare....but even that turns into a wave of the hand and a cheery "Buenas Dias" when we smile and say hello!
The corner pulperia knows us well, and they even asked me where my bag was when we went for milk the other day, (I had left it at home by mistake....shame on me!) LOL! People go out of their way to make us feel welcome, and we have found that they are very interested in "trying out" their English on us.....just as we are very interested in "trying out" our Spanish on them! And let me tell you about the wonderful tan we are getting!! :-)
Neither Bob nor I are working at the moment but there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to get things done....how do retired people do it??? LOL! Our days are starting early, about 5:15 am, because of Jake's school, but the day still seems to fly right bye.
We are enjoying the strong sense of family that is displayed all around us. We went to the park today....a huge park by our apartment...and enjoyed watching all the people out and about at the park. We saw everything from soccer games, to American football practice, to tae kwon do, to baseball, to rollerblading, to medieval jousting, to runners, to bikers, to walkers, to volleyball, to baseball, to coordinated salsa aerobics with over 300 people, to youth groups out playing games....and on and on and on. There were families having picnics and playing soccer with their kids. There were horse rides for children, people walking around the lakes with their dogs, and kids on swings. This is an every weekend occurance around here and something we are really getting into.
While it has been an adjustment, and we do miss our friends, we are very glad we made the move. Now all we need is some visits from you guys to make our lives complete!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
A Lesson a Day....365 things I've discovered, or wondered about, while living in Costa Rica
I've decided to blog about things I am learning during our first year of living in Costa Rica. I hope you enjoy the list and that it makes you laugh, think, and maybe even cry....:-).....enjoy!
1.) It is humanly possible to squeeze 13 pieces of luggage and two bicycles into a mini van....along with three people and a driver.
2.) The Best Western Paradise Inn and Spa is NOT the best :-(
3.) You really can sleep peacefully with a lizard living in your house.
4.) A free shuttle is not really a free shuttle if it doesn't leave the parking lot!
5.) Private escorts, and no I'm not talking about hookers, are available through San Jose during a torrential rain storm.
6.) It really is okay to pay for a hotel room and an apartment at the same time.
7.) Furnished apartments are great!
8.) Hyper Mas and Walmart may be the same but Hyper Mas rocks! (See Walmart....there is a place where people actually know where things are in their store...it's called Hyper Mas!)
9.) Why is there a huge whale on Hyper Mas' sign?
10.) Pronunciation is key when speaking a foreign language!!
11.) Everything you need really is within biking distance.
12.) No matter where you go around here.....one way is going to be up hill!
13.) The more your Spanish increases, the more your cost of living decreases.
14.) Spaghetti sauce comes in a bag....so does milk, jelly, mayonaise, and ketchup.
15.) Tequilla shots are good on your 20th Anniversary!!
16.) "Yes, Mr. Taxi Driver....there is a shorter route to Hyper Mas than the way you are taking me."
17.) If I get caught in a rain storm....I don't actually melt. Did my parents lie to me all those years about being so sweet I would melt? Hmmmmm..."
18.) Apparently blond hair makes a car stop, but a stop sign doesn't.
19.) Alto (which is written on the stop signs here even though everything I learned in Spanish said that meant tall/high) actually only means slow down before you take the corner and CEDA, which means yield, actually means just look before blowing right through!
20.) Everyone says hello to you here.
21.) People are truly concerned about where we need to be. Everyone is willing to go out of their way to make sure we are on the right bus, or in the right line, or helping us out with a conversation that needs a translator.
22.) There are LOTS of dogs here.
23.) The smaller the dog....the bigger the attitude!
24.) Everyone loves that Bob bikes....don't know why but they do. He is the grand prize winner in the thumbs up department!
25.) The fruit here is awesome!!
26.) You can close an entire street down on a Saturday to sell fruits and vegetables.
27.) There is a fruit covered in spines that is to die for and it is called a Mamon Chino....yum yum!!
28.) Flowers are cheap.....REALLY cheap!
29.) Always read the label carefully to avoid bringing home a can of tuna......with vegetables in it.
30.) It always rains between 1pm and 3pm.....and sometimes at noon, occasionally at 4pm, and oh yeah....maybe at 9am.
31.) Tico's may be small but their rain storms are HUGE!!!
32.) You can buy a palm for your house for $8.35...roughly.
33.) The man who owns the pulperia down the street speaks English, Spanish, and Chinese.
34.) There is an easier way to the store from our house that is not all hills! Yay!!
35.) You need to be patient because you will be standing in lines at the bank or any governement building....so take a book. Now I know why everyone carries a book with them.....
36.) Tico's love their cell phones.
37.) Most Tico's answer their cell phone by saying, "Hello".... not "Hola".
38.) You can pack a lot of people on a bus!
39.) Bus rides are cheap!
40.) It is Casa Amarilla.....Not Casa Maria!
41.) You need a receipt, and a translator, to get a printer fixed around here.
42.) A month of water costs $4.30....and a phone bill is $8.12.
43.) This is their winter season right now.
44.) I actually need a sweater at night it is so cold!
45.) Our children are much happier when they have people their own age to hang out with.
46.) You can buy shrimp out of the back of someone's car, eat it, and live to tell about it.
47.) Apparently...Tico's don't have size 12 feet....Jacob! LOL!
48.) Immigration is not for the faint of heart!
49.) Third time is a charm when looking for the building where you need to get a police report for immigration, and if you have grey hair you move to the front of the line!
50.) It takes 8 days for a post card to get from here to my sister-in-law in Pennsylvania.
51.) There has to be a road to the amusement park somewhere! We can see the park from our house....just can't find the road!
52.) I am still not brave enough to ride my bike across that bridge!
53.) There is already a Dinsmore (actually 2) living in Costa Rica! What are the odds of that? Oh yeah.....and his name is Scott......did you see that George and Jake?? LOL!
54.) Breastfeeding (without a towel over your shoulder and in any public place you may be in) is not only approved of in Costa Rica....it is encouraged. And I mean WHERE EVER you may be! :-)
55.) Rush Hour traffic stinks no matter what country you are in. Our 15 minute ride from San Jose to Lincoln High School took an hour.....seriously! :-(
56.) Always be prepared for the scenic route because sometimes,
"Yes, I know where that place is, get into the taxi and I will take you there...." can be loosely translated to "Get in the taxi and I will drive in the general direction of where you are going and finally stop to ask someone else for directions to where you are going." LOL! But they do it with a smile! :-)
57.) Sometimes the best deals are in stores that look nothing like a store. Case in point.....Bob's $6.00 brand new tire for his bike. You would never find it for that price in Johnstown. Gotta love these prices.....and the fact that we can continue to bike without fear of a blowout! :-)
58.) There is a group here that meets to make people who have just moved here feel welcome. It is called the "Newcomers" group. It is a group for women and their first meeting is coming up the 7th of September....I think I will check it out. They have different clubs, such as cooking clubs, reading clubs.....could there be a writers club ****fingers crossed****???
59.) What do you get when you put 300 people in work out outfits on two basket ball courts, in the middle of a huge park, facing a stage with aerobic instructors on it and music playing? A Sunday morning at our local park and a whole lot of salsa aerobics! It looked like so much fun! I just may have to try it out! Anyone want to join me???
60.) This is a place after our own hearts because apparently....even the dogs recycle here! (See picture on Facebook under album entitled Our Neighborhood) Go Doggies!! :-)
61.) I miss my bike ride when I don't get to take it!
62.) "Your video game will be here manana (sorry can't find the little squiggly thing to go over the 'n')....okay, found it on google translate...
mañana", which means tomorrow, actually loosley translates into "It will be in "sometime" in the next week, but feel free to keep coming back everyday like we tell you to!" LOL!
63.) The peanut butter here is....ummmmm...really not good! I miss my JIFF Peanut butter.....A LOT!!
64.) There is a really beautiful bird here called the Crested Caracara....see photos on Facebook!
65.) It is possible to get a "retirement tan" here just as easy as in the states. You know the tan I'm talking about....right? The one where the tops of your hands are tan but your fingers aren't? You know.....because you are holding the handle bars of your bicycle?? LOL!
66.) I REALLY believe that you get back from people what you give out. Case in point.....our neighbor. Complains about how mean people are and how rude. Of course all he does is complain about everything! We have met the same people he has and yet they are as friendly as can be to us. If you want some to smile at you....maybe you should smile at them first. If you want someone to say hello...try saying it first. I'm just saying.....
67.) A phone call to a friend can help when you miss them.
68.) I do believe it rains here as much in the winter as it snows there in the winter. The only difference is at the end of our rain....I can go biking in my shorts! :-)
69.) An argument between two people in another language....sounds really bad!!
70.) Should I join the Salsa Club, the Fencing Club, or the Book Club.....or all three??? LOL!
71. There are embassy's on just about every block here!
72.) Did you know that a lot of Costa Ricans think they are the direct descendants of Jews from Spain? Neither did I, but I learned that today at the Women's Club Meeting I went to with Elle and Ileana. It was very interesting!
73.) It is amazing what a little bit of time off of work can do for your spirits!!
:-)
74.) The freedom Jake has is amazing. He went to school, then to soccer practice then rode home with Ryan for the night. Got off in Escazu and caught a taxi. Yes.....his life is good! :-)
75.) Very hot day....hot at the market....but that red shaved ice drink looked yummy! Oh yeah.....my mamon chinos are back!! :-)
76.) Even with 2 ESPN channels, Fox Sports, CBS, ABC, and NBC....we still canno)t get a Steelers game...grrrrr! :-(
77.) I can feel the creative juices flowing. I do believe I may get to sit down in the next 2 or 3 days and actually write!
78.) We get to celebrate 2 Independance Days this year....Costa Rica's Independence Day is September 15.....Jake is off from school.
79.) Even with an umbrella....you get soaking wet in a rainstorm....especially if you stand at the bus stop for 20 minutes!! Check out the pictures on Facebook!
80.) Chatted with a policeman on horseback.....and discovered that it costs money to pee in the park. Well not in the middle of the road but to actually go into the bathroom....which is locked and can only be opened by the man standing outside with the key to the padlock. And then, only if you pay 200/250/300 colones. Not sure why the wide range in prices? LOL!
81.) Apparently, Lincoln's idea of 'community service'....aka planting tree's.....applies to the local country club/ wealthy section of Santa Ana....not quite what we pictured. Kinda thought we would be in a poor section planting tree's at a playground for underprivileged children......Not so much! Also found out that the theater that Jake auditioned at today, is the oldest continually running theater in all of Latin America.....60 years and counting!
82.) If you wander the streets long enough, or take a long enough bike ride.....you will find someone with a grocery cart with bells and an umbrella attached to it, willing to sell you freeze pops, chips, and coconuts.
83.) There is a 'tourist information' place by Teatro Nacional that gives out free bus schedules. This way we can find our way around the country without using a car!
84.) There is a man by the vatican here that has video cameras set up to watch final de bulevard....not sure why.....but he was nice enough to invite us into his house to show us where, using the cameras to do it, the ex-President lives....Oscar Arias Sanchez. Check out pictures of his house....which we have biked right past a dozen times....on my facebook page.
85.) Costa Rica's climate is perfect for riding your bike, walking, or running.....as long as you do it before noon when the rain comes!
86.) The buses here go directly to the beach....with no switching! You can go to Limon on the Carribean side or Manuel Antonio on the Pacific side. They even have buses that will take you to the volcanos and the rain forests. We are sooooo excited!! Can't wait for Angie, Julie, and Tim to get here in December!! :-)
87.) The Little Theater Group in San Jose is the oldest, continually running theater group in Latin America....60 years and counting!
88.) I can hold my own with a taxi drive....in the USA or in Costa Rica. Just ask taxi #1185...he found out today. I'm just saying! ;-)
89.) If you have a problem with people invading your personal space.....Costa Rica may not be the place for you. Between the sitting on a bus with a total stranger mashed up against you, to the kiss on the cheek in greeting (whether they have known you for 100 years or are just meeting you for the first time....makes no difference), Costa Ricans do not think twice about getting into your "bubble" space. So if you are coming here for a visit....consider yourself warned! As for me personally.....I'm finding out I don't have as big of a "bubble" issue as I thought I did.
90.) Mud slides, and sink holes, and rain...Oh My!!
91.) It is possible to do 5 hours of Math homework in one evening. Possible but......no where near fun! :-(
92.) This is our rainy season and it is possible to have rain for 18 hours straight.....and counting! Thank goodness it isn't snow or we would need the National Guard. :-)
93.) You can buy eggs out of the back of someone's truck as the cruise through your neighborhood shouting on a megaphone that they have eggs for sale...."huevos para la venta!"
94.) The smells coming out of houses at dinner time are amazing!
95.) You never know what you will see when biking in Costa Rica. Case in point.....we saw a man riding around the block on a motorcycle with his grandson, who was about 3, sitting on the shiny gas tank with a huge grin on his face. I didn't get my camera out in time so don't bother looking on my facebook page. Sorry!
96.) I expect to see walkers, joggers, soccer players, football players, horseback riding, karate, basketball, rollerblading, and picnics at the park but I was not prepared to see 2 middle aged women doing Salsa dancing in the middle of the park while swinging hula hoops....HUGE ONES....around their hips in beat to the music. I can't even pat my stomach and rub my head (or is it the other way around?) let alone dance to music and swing a hula hoop! Check out the pictures on Facebook.
97.) After 7pm, it takes the buses FOREVER to reach the bus stop in San Jose, so if you are in San Jose at night....catch a taxi.
98.) What is at the end of the yellow brick road? Or in this case....the cobblestone road that runs right thru the middle of San Jose? Arenas....a skate park that Jake likes to go to.
99.) No matter how many buses you try to take to Barrio Socorro, Santa Domingo de Heredia....none of them will take you to Jacob's School....Lincoln High School. Oh, they will drive you all around it but they won't take you there. However, if you take a taxi to the school, and then wait for the hour (on the hour)....a bus will arrive to take you back to San Jose. So apparently....you can't get a bus from San Jose to Barrio Socorro....but you can a bus from Barrio Socorro to San Jose. Who did the math on that one??
100.) Earthquakes can be a little unnerving. Especially if you are in a playhouse/theater and are in one of the top rows watching the stage sway back and forth with actors on the second floor of the set.
101.) Football (American football....not Futball aka soccer) is reallying starting to make its mark in Costa Rica.
102.) Noni's.....not so good! (It's a fruit....I think....and it REALLY stinks! >smell wise....and taste too!
103.) My neighbors can REALLY party and for some reason, they feel the need to alarm their car in our gated/secured parking area. That is a really annoying sound at 2 in the morning!
104.) I used to love sitting in a mall or a restaurant listening to people talk around me. I always came up with ideas for things to write about. I miss that! Now I sit in a mall or restaurant trying to decipher what they are saying. By the time I do....my brain is too tired to use it for anything.
105.) The Spanish comes easier the longer you live here...amazing!
106.) People never cease to amazw me with their willingness to help.
107.) You can go to the beach and back for only $16.00 (that is a round trip price). And that is using a direct route, greyhound type bus. How cool is that?
108.) We can actually bike from our house to San Jose in about 45 minutes.
109.) A bike and a curb against me and my flesh and bones? I wonder who will win......um....the curb and bike! Bruised all up my right side and possibly a fractured foot. Patti 0 - Bike and Curb 1
110.) Costa Rica is colder than I thought it would be. Of course I was never here during the rainy season so I do have just a smidge of an excuse for not knowing. Thankgoodness I brought my button down sweater or I would be freezing! I guess it is a combination of raining for 12 hours a day with it getting dark around 5:30 pm and the dampness of the rain that makes it so cold.
111.) It takes about 18 hours to make Pinto Gallo (black beans and rice) but fortunately you make enough to feed you for 6 months when you freeze it!
112.) FYI: A pound of black beans....for the Pinto Gallo recipe.....is A LOT OF BEANS!!!
113.) Theater is fun!!
114.) You can meet some truly amazing people in the theater!
115.) For roughly $2.00, someone will stand out side of some place you have parked your car and watch it for anywhere from 5 minutes to 4 hours to make sure no one damages it or steals it. That is really cheap!
116.) Gallo Pinto (Rice and beans) is actually usually served with breakfast....such as eggs....and is even sold at Subway as an egg and rice/bean breakfast combo. Don't remember seeing that on the menu at Jim and Kirsten's stores. Although it can be eaten any time of the day.
117.) The theater group that we are involved with does a school program that involves going to the schools and presenting a short play or having workshops with the students to encourage their participation in the Arts.
118.) You can talk and talk....complain and complain....make suggestions and negotiate all you want....if your son's Math teacher refuses to do her job correctly...there isn't much you can do about it....except move to China to get away from her!
119.) It is easier to get into some buildings than it is to get out of them, in Costa Rica. Case in point...went to the Japanese Embassy to check out what is involved with getting a Visa to Japan (looking at teaching jobs there) and after the rigid entry exam...aka metal detector, wand detector, the handing over of your license/passport, the isssuing of a badge, the explanation of why you are there (in spanglish, of course), and the escort to the elevate which takes you to the necessary floor and to a very pleasant and helpful woman...we found ourselves exiting the elevator on the wrong floor which dumped us into the basement parking lot. Now this wouldn't seem to be too big a deal but....the doors don't reopen and you can't get out of the basement parking lot without the correct badge. did I mention we can't get back into the building? Finally...someone let us back in, sent us to the right floor on the elevate, and we left...providing the big laugh of the day. Those crazy Americans! :-)
120.) Every day you learn something new and every street leads you to a shortcut you didn't know existed! Shortcuts are good when you are biking!
121.) One of my favorite things about Costa Rica?? The colors!! I love how the houses come in all kinds of colors!
122.) When it rains...it pours. I am amazed at how much it can rain in one day. It rains so much here that there are mudslides that wipe out entire roads.
123.) The chocloate milk is not very good but POPS ice cream is delicious!!
124.) People are so helpful! Wrecked my bike coming home from San Jose....you heard me right...San Jose....and caused the security guard to come running to my aid. He waves at us every time we bike by....guess I scared him today! Sidebar...I either sprained my ankle or fractured my foot!
125.) No helmet laws....saw a man with what I think was his about 3 year old grandson riding with him around the park, by the Papal Embassy, on his Harley. The kid was grinning from ear to ear as he sat on the chrome gas tank....it was actually quite adorable. Unfortunately, I didn't get my camera out fast enough!
126.) Met a man who helped us by pointing out the house where the ex-President of Costa Rica lives. Of course he did it from his living room with a video camera focused on it. The house was 3 blocks down the road. Hmmmm....
127.) Supposedly, adult movies...such as PG-13 and R rated movies are in English and the children's movies are in Spanish. Not true at Plaza Mayor; the theater right by our house. All of their movies are in Spanish so we have to go to Multi Plaza to see a movie in English.
128.) We have the washing machine from....well, you get the idea. I can stand in the washroom and watch it the entire time and nothing. Sit down and watch some news, forgetting the load in the machine and what do I find when it is done? A room full of water because the washing machine went psycho! I guess it is like the tea kettle thing..."A watched pot never boils."
129.) There are a lot of water line breaks. Only been here a little over 4 months and already 3 repairs on the main lines by our apartment.
130.) I am amazed at how many Expats move to Costa Rica and refuse to learn Spanish and the correct pronunciation of towns/ businesses/ etc. Can't believe how many people have corrected the way I say the name of my town when it was a Costa Rican person, actually more than one, who has told me the correct pronunciation of my town. Same with some of the businesses. I'm not making up the names people! Try listening to how the people who live here actually say it!
131.) One of the most important lines in Spanish that I have learned since moving to Costa Rica is, "Lo siento. Yo hablo pequito Espanol." (I am sorry. I only speak a little Spanish) Which comes in handy when someone calls us on our Costa Rica lines and wants to talk to us in Spanish. It has stopped the rude hangups and allows for a more polite response before the hang up.
132.) Went to the park with Jacob today and listened to him carry on a conversation in spanish with one of the guards at the park.
133.) Has decided that directors can have huge attitudes. I am not 3 years old so watch how you talk to me!
134.) Bob told me how Jake carried on a conversation with James, the manager at the theater, for about 10 minutes....laughing and carrying on. Our son totally amazes us!!
135.) I may enjoy the theater but I am still too American to take off my clothes, down to bra and panties, in front of mixed company in the changing room before the play.
136.) Discovered that apparently, even some Costa Ricans do not speak very good Spanish. I know...my thought exactly! We had a very nice young man do a reading before our play where he read the Raven, but in Spanish. Two of my costars were Costa Rican and were talking about how he spoke horrible Spanish and didn't pronounce the words correctly. He was putting the emphasis in the incorrect spots when he was pronouncing some of the words. Who knew that a Spanish person could pronounce Spanish words incorrectly? Not me!
137.) I know that Costa Ricans don't like confrontation but there some that go so far as to not even want to solve problems that arise. Case in point, my son's math teacher who is not doing her job.
138.) Costa Ricans don't believe in sugar coating anything on the news. Just had a terrible rain and it caused mud slides which resulted in the deaths of 20 + people in Escazu....a town about 10 miles from us. While reporting on these deaths we were actually exposed to them removing the dead bodies from the mud without any form of censoring of the pictures. Now that is something you won't see in the United States!
139.) Discovered that our neighbor was not just a loud talker but was actually being mean to his girlfriend.
140.) It is hard to find a good piece of chocolate cake in Costa Rica. They tend to be really dry.
141.) However....there are lots of good pastries, although Bob thinks those are too dry also!
142.) Found out that only one person in the Chinese Embassy speaks English....of course she is probably wishing right about now that she didn't!
143.) Finalized everything for our move to China and you would be surprised how many Chinese people live in Costa Rica.
144.) Found out you can be deathly sick...even in a warm place like Costa Rica.
145.) People here look at things differently. Went to see Harry Potter tonight with Jacob and on our way out to the bus stop on the autopista to catch a taxi, came upon a taxi cab driver and 4 security guards from the mall and realized that they were looking at a man, face down in the parking garage with his bicycle on top of him. We ran back to the gate and went to see if they needed help. Let one of them use my phone to call 911 then realized about 5 minutes later that they actually had phones. No one thought to call the police, even though the man was unconscious and would remain so even after the ambulance arrived 20 minutes later. He never opened his eyes or responded to us and only moved his legs when the paramedics rolled him onto his back. I hope he is okay!
146.) Our neighbors are so friendly! Christy brought us scones today.
147.) More rain and more mudslides. The weather has been really weird. Big accident today that killed 18 and left 20 more injured!
148.) Even though Jacob is starting a lovely 4 day weekend....Costa Rica does not celebrate Thanksgiving. Not that we expected them to since it is a United States tradition! But since there are so many Americans living in Costa Rica we thought it would be a little easier to have a traditional dinner....not the case. Oh...you can by all the traditional foods but I am having a hard time parting with $52.00 for the turkey. You heard me right....$52.00 dollars! I guess I should provide the disclaimer that the turkey comes stuffed but.....does that really make it any better? :-)
149.) "Jajajajajajajaja" in Spanish is the same as "Hahahahahaha" in English.
150.)But just "Ja" means "Stop that!"
151.) You can buy several things from people traveling around the neighborhood in cars, on bikes, pushing shopping carts, and on foot. You don't even need to go to the store for some of your essentials, such as....... coconuts, eggs, onions, fruit, and even shrimp! Who knew???
152.) What used to seem like a REALLY LONG WALK from Plaza Mayor to our apartment.....is now just the blink of an eye.
153.) It doesn't seem to make any difference how little money you make here....everyone has a maid.
154.) Because of the time difference here, there are some shows on at 8pm that should really be on later at night.
155.) It is official....Bob is a Costa Rican. He had two people stop and ask him for directions.
156.) You can negotiate everything here. Our "pharmacist", which is the Chinese man at the corner market, tallied up our bill for our medicines (those things that in the states require a prescription) and just whacked a big discount off it. We don't even have to ask for the discount any more.
157.) I love how Costa Ricans think. Case in point, we were out and about the other day and noticed all of these people on the side of the roads selling Costa Rican flags. Now they already had their Independence Day so we are unsure why they are selling their flags. We end up discussing it over dinner one night and we all are curious about why. So Jake texts his good friend afrom school, asking why all the flags are being sold. Augustine replies with a text that says, "Dude, don't you watch the news? We are at war with Nicaragua!" Now the back story on this is that Nicaragua his been dredging part of Costa Rica's water way and they have now claimed part of Costa Rica's land as their own because...and I quote...."That is our land...Google said so!" Of course we can't help but chuckle at the idea that Costa Rica is "At War" with Nicaragua because..... Costa Rica doesn't have any army! :-)
158.)They have REALLY short phone booths here. Check out the picture on my Facebook page.
159.)San Jose is very Costa Rican as far as the culture goes. I have met a lot of Americans who prefer the beach areas because they are "More American". We wanted the Costa Rican experience so that is why we moved to this part!
160.) Dogs here are used mostly for protection of your property but they are just like all the other dogs out there in the world...they just want you to pet them! It takes a while for them to warm up to you enough to let you pet them, but there are a couple of dogs on my jogging route that will run right up to me when they see me and ask for me to pet them!
161.) You know you fit in when you pass a group of Americans and they greet you in Spanish with "Hola" and "Buenas Dias" because they are not sure if you are Costa Ricans or not. That was soooooo funny!
162. You know that you apparently stand out enough to make an impression when you are out for a walk with your family and you are about 6 blocks from home when your mailman stops you and hands you your mail! I guess the light hair, light eyes, and above average height does make you stand out! LOL!
1.) It is humanly possible to squeeze 13 pieces of luggage and two bicycles into a mini van....along with three people and a driver.
2.) The Best Western Paradise Inn and Spa is NOT the best :-(
3.) You really can sleep peacefully with a lizard living in your house.
4.) A free shuttle is not really a free shuttle if it doesn't leave the parking lot!
5.) Private escorts, and no I'm not talking about hookers, are available through San Jose during a torrential rain storm.
6.) It really is okay to pay for a hotel room and an apartment at the same time.
7.) Furnished apartments are great!
8.) Hyper Mas and Walmart may be the same but Hyper Mas rocks! (See Walmart....there is a place where people actually know where things are in their store...it's called Hyper Mas!)
9.) Why is there a huge whale on Hyper Mas' sign?
10.) Pronunciation is key when speaking a foreign language!!
11.) Everything you need really is within biking distance.
12.) No matter where you go around here.....one way is going to be up hill!
13.) The more your Spanish increases, the more your cost of living decreases.
14.) Spaghetti sauce comes in a bag....so does milk, jelly, mayonaise, and ketchup.
15.) Tequilla shots are good on your 20th Anniversary!!
16.) "Yes, Mr. Taxi Driver....there is a shorter route to Hyper Mas than the way you are taking me."
17.) If I get caught in a rain storm....I don't actually melt. Did my parents lie to me all those years about being so sweet I would melt? Hmmmmm..."
18.) Apparently blond hair makes a car stop, but a stop sign doesn't.
19.) Alto (which is written on the stop signs here even though everything I learned in Spanish said that meant tall/high) actually only means slow down before you take the corner and CEDA, which means yield, actually means just look before blowing right through!
20.) Everyone says hello to you here.
21.) People are truly concerned about where we need to be. Everyone is willing to go out of their way to make sure we are on the right bus, or in the right line, or helping us out with a conversation that needs a translator.
22.) There are LOTS of dogs here.
23.) The smaller the dog....the bigger the attitude!
24.) Everyone loves that Bob bikes....don't know why but they do. He is the grand prize winner in the thumbs up department!
25.) The fruit here is awesome!!
26.) You can close an entire street down on a Saturday to sell fruits and vegetables.
27.) There is a fruit covered in spines that is to die for and it is called a Mamon Chino....yum yum!!
28.) Flowers are cheap.....REALLY cheap!
29.) Always read the label carefully to avoid bringing home a can of tuna......with vegetables in it.
30.) It always rains between 1pm and 3pm.....and sometimes at noon, occasionally at 4pm, and oh yeah....maybe at 9am.
31.) Tico's may be small but their rain storms are HUGE!!!
32.) You can buy a palm for your house for $8.35...roughly.
33.) The man who owns the pulperia down the street speaks English, Spanish, and Chinese.
34.) There is an easier way to the store from our house that is not all hills! Yay!!
35.) You need to be patient because you will be standing in lines at the bank or any governement building....so take a book. Now I know why everyone carries a book with them.....
36.) Tico's love their cell phones.
37.) Most Tico's answer their cell phone by saying, "Hello".... not "Hola".
38.) You can pack a lot of people on a bus!
39.) Bus rides are cheap!
40.) It is Casa Amarilla.....Not Casa Maria!
41.) You need a receipt, and a translator, to get a printer fixed around here.
42.) A month of water costs $4.30....and a phone bill is $8.12.
43.) This is their winter season right now.
44.) I actually need a sweater at night it is so cold!
45.) Our children are much happier when they have people their own age to hang out with.
46.) You can buy shrimp out of the back of someone's car, eat it, and live to tell about it.
47.) Apparently...Tico's don't have size 12 feet....Jacob! LOL!
48.) Immigration is not for the faint of heart!
49.) Third time is a charm when looking for the building where you need to get a police report for immigration, and if you have grey hair you move to the front of the line!
50.) It takes 8 days for a post card to get from here to my sister-in-law in Pennsylvania.
51.) There has to be a road to the amusement park somewhere! We can see the park from our house....just can't find the road!
52.) I am still not brave enough to ride my bike across that bridge!
53.) There is already a Dinsmore (actually 2) living in Costa Rica! What are the odds of that? Oh yeah.....and his name is Scott......did you see that George and Jake?? LOL!
54.) Breastfeeding (without a towel over your shoulder and in any public place you may be in) is not only approved of in Costa Rica....it is encouraged. And I mean WHERE EVER you may be! :-)
55.) Rush Hour traffic stinks no matter what country you are in. Our 15 minute ride from San Jose to Lincoln High School took an hour.....seriously! :-(
56.) Always be prepared for the scenic route because sometimes,
"Yes, I know where that place is, get into the taxi and I will take you there...." can be loosely translated to "Get in the taxi and I will drive in the general direction of where you are going and finally stop to ask someone else for directions to where you are going." LOL! But they do it with a smile! :-)
57.) Sometimes the best deals are in stores that look nothing like a store. Case in point.....Bob's $6.00 brand new tire for his bike. You would never find it for that price in Johnstown. Gotta love these prices.....and the fact that we can continue to bike without fear of a blowout! :-)
58.) There is a group here that meets to make people who have just moved here feel welcome. It is called the "Newcomers" group. It is a group for women and their first meeting is coming up the 7th of September....I think I will check it out. They have different clubs, such as cooking clubs, reading clubs.....could there be a writers club ****fingers crossed****???
59.) What do you get when you put 300 people in work out outfits on two basket ball courts, in the middle of a huge park, facing a stage with aerobic instructors on it and music playing? A Sunday morning at our local park and a whole lot of salsa aerobics! It looked like so much fun! I just may have to try it out! Anyone want to join me???
60.) This is a place after our own hearts because apparently....even the dogs recycle here! (See picture on Facebook under album entitled Our Neighborhood) Go Doggies!! :-)
61.) I miss my bike ride when I don't get to take it!
62.) "Your video game will be here manana (sorry can't find the little squiggly thing to go over the 'n')....okay, found it on google translate...
mañana", which means tomorrow, actually loosley translates into "It will be in "sometime" in the next week, but feel free to keep coming back everyday like we tell you to!" LOL!
63.) The peanut butter here is....ummmmm...really not good! I miss my JIFF Peanut butter.....A LOT!!
64.) There is a really beautiful bird here called the Crested Caracara....see photos on Facebook!
65.) It is possible to get a "retirement tan" here just as easy as in the states. You know the tan I'm talking about....right? The one where the tops of your hands are tan but your fingers aren't? You know.....because you are holding the handle bars of your bicycle?? LOL!
66.) I REALLY believe that you get back from people what you give out. Case in point.....our neighbor. Complains about how mean people are and how rude. Of course all he does is complain about everything! We have met the same people he has and yet they are as friendly as can be to us. If you want some to smile at you....maybe you should smile at them first. If you want someone to say hello...try saying it first. I'm just saying.....
67.) A phone call to a friend can help when you miss them.
68.) I do believe it rains here as much in the winter as it snows there in the winter. The only difference is at the end of our rain....I can go biking in my shorts! :-)
69.) An argument between two people in another language....sounds really bad!!
70.) Should I join the Salsa Club, the Fencing Club, or the Book Club.....or all three??? LOL!
71. There are embassy's on just about every block here!
72.) Did you know that a lot of Costa Ricans think they are the direct descendants of Jews from Spain? Neither did I, but I learned that today at the Women's Club Meeting I went to with Elle and Ileana. It was very interesting!
73.) It is amazing what a little bit of time off of work can do for your spirits!!
:-)
74.) The freedom Jake has is amazing. He went to school, then to soccer practice then rode home with Ryan for the night. Got off in Escazu and caught a taxi. Yes.....his life is good! :-)
75.) Very hot day....hot at the market....but that red shaved ice drink looked yummy! Oh yeah.....my mamon chinos are back!! :-)
76.) Even with 2 ESPN channels, Fox Sports, CBS, ABC, and NBC....we still canno)t get a Steelers game...grrrrr! :-(
77.) I can feel the creative juices flowing. I do believe I may get to sit down in the next 2 or 3 days and actually write!
78.) We get to celebrate 2 Independance Days this year....Costa Rica's Independence Day is September 15.....Jake is off from school.
79.) Even with an umbrella....you get soaking wet in a rainstorm....especially if you stand at the bus stop for 20 minutes!! Check out the pictures on Facebook!
80.) Chatted with a policeman on horseback.....and discovered that it costs money to pee in the park. Well not in the middle of the road but to actually go into the bathroom....which is locked and can only be opened by the man standing outside with the key to the padlock. And then, only if you pay 200/250/300 colones. Not sure why the wide range in prices? LOL!
81.) Apparently, Lincoln's idea of 'community service'....aka planting tree's.....applies to the local country club/ wealthy section of Santa Ana....not quite what we pictured. Kinda thought we would be in a poor section planting tree's at a playground for underprivileged children......Not so much! Also found out that the theater that Jake auditioned at today, is the oldest continually running theater in all of Latin America.....60 years and counting!
82.) If you wander the streets long enough, or take a long enough bike ride.....you will find someone with a grocery cart with bells and an umbrella attached to it, willing to sell you freeze pops, chips, and coconuts.
83.) There is a 'tourist information' place by Teatro Nacional that gives out free bus schedules. This way we can find our way around the country without using a car!
84.) There is a man by the vatican here that has video cameras set up to watch final de bulevard....not sure why.....but he was nice enough to invite us into his house to show us where, using the cameras to do it, the ex-President lives....Oscar Arias Sanchez. Check out pictures of his house....which we have biked right past a dozen times....on my facebook page.
85.) Costa Rica's climate is perfect for riding your bike, walking, or running.....as long as you do it before noon when the rain comes!
86.) The buses here go directly to the beach....with no switching! You can go to Limon on the Carribean side or Manuel Antonio on the Pacific side. They even have buses that will take you to the volcanos and the rain forests. We are sooooo excited!! Can't wait for Angie, Julie, and Tim to get here in December!! :-)
87.) The Little Theater Group in San Jose is the oldest, continually running theater group in Latin America....60 years and counting!
88.) I can hold my own with a taxi drive....in the USA or in Costa Rica. Just ask taxi #1185...he found out today. I'm just saying! ;-)
89.) If you have a problem with people invading your personal space.....Costa Rica may not be the place for you. Between the sitting on a bus with a total stranger mashed up against you, to the kiss on the cheek in greeting (whether they have known you for 100 years or are just meeting you for the first time....makes no difference), Costa Ricans do not think twice about getting into your "bubble" space. So if you are coming here for a visit....consider yourself warned! As for me personally.....I'm finding out I don't have as big of a "bubble" issue as I thought I did.
90.) Mud slides, and sink holes, and rain...Oh My!!
91.) It is possible to do 5 hours of Math homework in one evening. Possible but......no where near fun! :-(
92.) This is our rainy season and it is possible to have rain for 18 hours straight.....and counting! Thank goodness it isn't snow or we would need the National Guard. :-)
93.) You can buy eggs out of the back of someone's truck as the cruise through your neighborhood shouting on a megaphone that they have eggs for sale...."huevos para la venta!"
94.) The smells coming out of houses at dinner time are amazing!
95.) You never know what you will see when biking in Costa Rica. Case in point.....we saw a man riding around the block on a motorcycle with his grandson, who was about 3, sitting on the shiny gas tank with a huge grin on his face. I didn't get my camera out in time so don't bother looking on my facebook page. Sorry!
96.) I expect to see walkers, joggers, soccer players, football players, horseback riding, karate, basketball, rollerblading, and picnics at the park but I was not prepared to see 2 middle aged women doing Salsa dancing in the middle of the park while swinging hula hoops....HUGE ONES....around their hips in beat to the music. I can't even pat my stomach and rub my head (or is it the other way around?) let alone dance to music and swing a hula hoop! Check out the pictures on Facebook.
97.) After 7pm, it takes the buses FOREVER to reach the bus stop in San Jose, so if you are in San Jose at night....catch a taxi.
98.) What is at the end of the yellow brick road? Or in this case....the cobblestone road that runs right thru the middle of San Jose? Arenas....a skate park that Jake likes to go to.
99.) No matter how many buses you try to take to Barrio Socorro, Santa Domingo de Heredia....none of them will take you to Jacob's School....Lincoln High School. Oh, they will drive you all around it but they won't take you there. However, if you take a taxi to the school, and then wait for the hour (on the hour)....a bus will arrive to take you back to San Jose. So apparently....you can't get a bus from San Jose to Barrio Socorro....but you can a bus from Barrio Socorro to San Jose. Who did the math on that one??
100.) Earthquakes can be a little unnerving. Especially if you are in a playhouse/theater and are in one of the top rows watching the stage sway back and forth with actors on the second floor of the set.
101.) Football (American football....not Futball aka soccer) is reallying starting to make its mark in Costa Rica.
102.) Noni's.....not so good! (It's a fruit....I think....and it REALLY stinks! >smell wise....and taste too!
103.) My neighbors can REALLY party and for some reason, they feel the need to alarm their car in our gated/secured parking area. That is a really annoying sound at 2 in the morning!
104.) I used to love sitting in a mall or a restaurant listening to people talk around me. I always came up with ideas for things to write about. I miss that! Now I sit in a mall or restaurant trying to decipher what they are saying. By the time I do....my brain is too tired to use it for anything.
105.) The Spanish comes easier the longer you live here...amazing!
106.) People never cease to amazw me with their willingness to help.
107.) You can go to the beach and back for only $16.00 (that is a round trip price). And that is using a direct route, greyhound type bus. How cool is that?
108.) We can actually bike from our house to San Jose in about 45 minutes.
109.) A bike and a curb against me and my flesh and bones? I wonder who will win......um....the curb and bike! Bruised all up my right side and possibly a fractured foot. Patti 0 - Bike and Curb 1
110.) Costa Rica is colder than I thought it would be. Of course I was never here during the rainy season so I do have just a smidge of an excuse for not knowing. Thankgoodness I brought my button down sweater or I would be freezing! I guess it is a combination of raining for 12 hours a day with it getting dark around 5:30 pm and the dampness of the rain that makes it so cold.
111.) It takes about 18 hours to make Pinto Gallo (black beans and rice) but fortunately you make enough to feed you for 6 months when you freeze it!
112.) FYI: A pound of black beans....for the Pinto Gallo recipe.....is A LOT OF BEANS!!!
113.) Theater is fun!!
114.) You can meet some truly amazing people in the theater!
115.) For roughly $2.00, someone will stand out side of some place you have parked your car and watch it for anywhere from 5 minutes to 4 hours to make sure no one damages it or steals it. That is really cheap!
116.) Gallo Pinto (Rice and beans) is actually usually served with breakfast....such as eggs....and is even sold at Subway as an egg and rice/bean breakfast combo. Don't remember seeing that on the menu at Jim and Kirsten's stores. Although it can be eaten any time of the day.
117.) The theater group that we are involved with does a school program that involves going to the schools and presenting a short play or having workshops with the students to encourage their participation in the Arts.
118.) You can talk and talk....complain and complain....make suggestions and negotiate all you want....if your son's Math teacher refuses to do her job correctly...there isn't much you can do about it....except move to China to get away from her!
119.) It is easier to get into some buildings than it is to get out of them, in Costa Rica. Case in point...went to the Japanese Embassy to check out what is involved with getting a Visa to Japan (looking at teaching jobs there) and after the rigid entry exam...aka metal detector, wand detector, the handing over of your license/passport, the isssuing of a badge, the explanation of why you are there (in spanglish, of course), and the escort to the elevate which takes you to the necessary floor and to a very pleasant and helpful woman...we found ourselves exiting the elevator on the wrong floor which dumped us into the basement parking lot. Now this wouldn't seem to be too big a deal but....the doors don't reopen and you can't get out of the basement parking lot without the correct badge. did I mention we can't get back into the building? Finally...someone let us back in, sent us to the right floor on the elevate, and we left...providing the big laugh of the day. Those crazy Americans! :-)
120.) Every day you learn something new and every street leads you to a shortcut you didn't know existed! Shortcuts are good when you are biking!
121.) One of my favorite things about Costa Rica?? The colors!! I love how the houses come in all kinds of colors!
122.) When it rains...it pours. I am amazed at how much it can rain in one day. It rains so much here that there are mudslides that wipe out entire roads.
123.) The chocloate milk is not very good but POPS ice cream is delicious!!
124.) People are so helpful! Wrecked my bike coming home from San Jose....you heard me right...San Jose....and caused the security guard to come running to my aid. He waves at us every time we bike by....guess I scared him today! Sidebar...I either sprained my ankle or fractured my foot!
125.) No helmet laws....saw a man with what I think was his about 3 year old grandson riding with him around the park, by the Papal Embassy, on his Harley. The kid was grinning from ear to ear as he sat on the chrome gas tank....it was actually quite adorable. Unfortunately, I didn't get my camera out fast enough!
126.) Met a man who helped us by pointing out the house where the ex-President of Costa Rica lives. Of course he did it from his living room with a video camera focused on it. The house was 3 blocks down the road. Hmmmm....
127.) Supposedly, adult movies...such as PG-13 and R rated movies are in English and the children's movies are in Spanish. Not true at Plaza Mayor; the theater right by our house. All of their movies are in Spanish so we have to go to Multi Plaza to see a movie in English.
128.) We have the washing machine from....well, you get the idea. I can stand in the washroom and watch it the entire time and nothing. Sit down and watch some news, forgetting the load in the machine and what do I find when it is done? A room full of water because the washing machine went psycho! I guess it is like the tea kettle thing..."A watched pot never boils."
129.) There are a lot of water line breaks. Only been here a little over 4 months and already 3 repairs on the main lines by our apartment.
130.) I am amazed at how many Expats move to Costa Rica and refuse to learn Spanish and the correct pronunciation of towns/ businesses/ etc. Can't believe how many people have corrected the way I say the name of my town when it was a Costa Rican person, actually more than one, who has told me the correct pronunciation of my town. Same with some of the businesses. I'm not making up the names people! Try listening to how the people who live here actually say it!
131.) One of the most important lines in Spanish that I have learned since moving to Costa Rica is, "Lo siento. Yo hablo pequito Espanol." (I am sorry. I only speak a little Spanish) Which comes in handy when someone calls us on our Costa Rica lines and wants to talk to us in Spanish. It has stopped the rude hangups and allows for a more polite response before the hang up.
132.) Went to the park with Jacob today and listened to him carry on a conversation in spanish with one of the guards at the park.
133.) Has decided that directors can have huge attitudes. I am not 3 years old so watch how you talk to me!
134.) Bob told me how Jake carried on a conversation with James, the manager at the theater, for about 10 minutes....laughing and carrying on. Our son totally amazes us!!
135.) I may enjoy the theater but I am still too American to take off my clothes, down to bra and panties, in front of mixed company in the changing room before the play.
136.) Discovered that apparently, even some Costa Ricans do not speak very good Spanish. I know...my thought exactly! We had a very nice young man do a reading before our play where he read the Raven, but in Spanish. Two of my costars were Costa Rican and were talking about how he spoke horrible Spanish and didn't pronounce the words correctly. He was putting the emphasis in the incorrect spots when he was pronouncing some of the words. Who knew that a Spanish person could pronounce Spanish words incorrectly? Not me!
137.) I know that Costa Ricans don't like confrontation but there some that go so far as to not even want to solve problems that arise. Case in point, my son's math teacher who is not doing her job.
138.) Costa Ricans don't believe in sugar coating anything on the news. Just had a terrible rain and it caused mud slides which resulted in the deaths of 20 + people in Escazu....a town about 10 miles from us. While reporting on these deaths we were actually exposed to them removing the dead bodies from the mud without any form of censoring of the pictures. Now that is something you won't see in the United States!
139.) Discovered that our neighbor was not just a loud talker but was actually being mean to his girlfriend.
140.) It is hard to find a good piece of chocolate cake in Costa Rica. They tend to be really dry.
141.) However....there are lots of good pastries, although Bob thinks those are too dry also!
142.) Found out that only one person in the Chinese Embassy speaks English....of course she is probably wishing right about now that she didn't!
143.) Finalized everything for our move to China and you would be surprised how many Chinese people live in Costa Rica.
144.) Found out you can be deathly sick...even in a warm place like Costa Rica.
145.) People here look at things differently. Went to see Harry Potter tonight with Jacob and on our way out to the bus stop on the autopista to catch a taxi, came upon a taxi cab driver and 4 security guards from the mall and realized that they were looking at a man, face down in the parking garage with his bicycle on top of him. We ran back to the gate and went to see if they needed help. Let one of them use my phone to call 911 then realized about 5 minutes later that they actually had phones. No one thought to call the police, even though the man was unconscious and would remain so even after the ambulance arrived 20 minutes later. He never opened his eyes or responded to us and only moved his legs when the paramedics rolled him onto his back. I hope he is okay!
146.) Our neighbors are so friendly! Christy brought us scones today.
147.) More rain and more mudslides. The weather has been really weird. Big accident today that killed 18 and left 20 more injured!
148.) Even though Jacob is starting a lovely 4 day weekend....Costa Rica does not celebrate Thanksgiving. Not that we expected them to since it is a United States tradition! But since there are so many Americans living in Costa Rica we thought it would be a little easier to have a traditional dinner....not the case. Oh...you can by all the traditional foods but I am having a hard time parting with $52.00 for the turkey. You heard me right....$52.00 dollars! I guess I should provide the disclaimer that the turkey comes stuffed but.....does that really make it any better? :-)
149.) "Jajajajajajajaja" in Spanish is the same as "Hahahahahaha" in English.
150.)But just "Ja" means "Stop that!"
151.) You can buy several things from people traveling around the neighborhood in cars, on bikes, pushing shopping carts, and on foot. You don't even need to go to the store for some of your essentials, such as....... coconuts, eggs, onions, fruit, and even shrimp! Who knew???
152.) What used to seem like a REALLY LONG WALK from Plaza Mayor to our apartment.....is now just the blink of an eye.
153.) It doesn't seem to make any difference how little money you make here....everyone has a maid.
154.) Because of the time difference here, there are some shows on at 8pm that should really be on later at night.
155.) It is official....Bob is a Costa Rican. He had two people stop and ask him for directions.
156.) You can negotiate everything here. Our "pharmacist", which is the Chinese man at the corner market, tallied up our bill for our medicines (those things that in the states require a prescription) and just whacked a big discount off it. We don't even have to ask for the discount any more.
157.) I love how Costa Ricans think. Case in point, we were out and about the other day and noticed all of these people on the side of the roads selling Costa Rican flags. Now they already had their Independence Day so we are unsure why they are selling their flags. We end up discussing it over dinner one night and we all are curious about why. So Jake texts his good friend afrom school, asking why all the flags are being sold. Augustine replies with a text that says, "Dude, don't you watch the news? We are at war with Nicaragua!" Now the back story on this is that Nicaragua his been dredging part of Costa Rica's water way and they have now claimed part of Costa Rica's land as their own because...and I quote...."That is our land...Google said so!" Of course we can't help but chuckle at the idea that Costa Rica is "At War" with Nicaragua because..... Costa Rica doesn't have any army! :-)
158.)They have REALLY short phone booths here. Check out the picture on my Facebook page.
159.)San Jose is very Costa Rican as far as the culture goes. I have met a lot of Americans who prefer the beach areas because they are "More American". We wanted the Costa Rican experience so that is why we moved to this part!
160.) Dogs here are used mostly for protection of your property but they are just like all the other dogs out there in the world...they just want you to pet them! It takes a while for them to warm up to you enough to let you pet them, but there are a couple of dogs on my jogging route that will run right up to me when they see me and ask for me to pet them!
161.) You know you fit in when you pass a group of Americans and they greet you in Spanish with "Hola" and "Buenas Dias" because they are not sure if you are Costa Ricans or not. That was soooooo funny!
162. You know that you apparently stand out enough to make an impression when you are out for a walk with your family and you are about 6 blocks from home when your mailman stops you and hands you your mail! I guess the light hair, light eyes, and above average height does make you stand out! LOL!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Long Time...No see!
It is hard to believe that it has been over a week since the last time I blogged. Every night when I layed down in bed to go to sleep I would think, "Damn! I forgot to blog again!" and then I would promise myself that I would blog tomorrow. And then tomorrow would come and go and I would once again be in bed going...."Sheesh! Not again!" Well no more! I am going to blog today if it kills me!
****Well not if it kills me because then I won't be able to blog.....because I'm dead....anyway....****
So much has happened since the last time I blogged so this may be a long one. Hang on.....I need a milky way if I'm going to do this..............................
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Sorry that took so long....I needed a cold glass of milk to go with the refrigerated milky way bar! Now where was I???? Oh yeah, my week!
Well, after going to Jake's school, Friday, for orientation we, of course, went to the street market, on Saturday, and got a lovely palm to put in our house. Bob and I had looked at one outside the local pulperia but we decided not to buy it when the man told us it would be 35, 000 colones....about $65.00.....we thought that was a little much and started to walk off when he called us back. Thinking he was about to make us a really good deal we walked back to his truck. Much to our surprise he counter offered us with the lovely price of......$100.00. I'm guessing he is not very good at this thing we call "negotiating". LOL! To say the least, we didn't buy it for $100.00.....or $65.00 for that matter. That was a good thing because when we went to the market on Saturday we got a palm, with a container/pot to put it in, plus the man put it together and packed it with dirt, for 5000.00 colones....about $8.35. We liked that price much better. Of course, once we got back to our apartment it took us a couple days to figure out where to put our 7 foot tall tree! LOL!
Then Jake started school on Monday. He seemed a little excited to finally be getting out of the house and meeting kids his own age. He didn't get his schedule until the first day of school so we were pretty surprised when we saw what classes he had for the first semester. He has Physics, Math, Chemistry, Computers, American Literature (English), SSL (Spanish as a Second Language), and US History. That's a pretty tough semester. Next semester will be better when he switches classes and drops Physics, Computers, and Chemistry and they are replaced with Biology, Digital Photograhy, Phys Ed, and something called Pers. Proy. (yeah...we don't know what that is either).
You would think that now that Jake is in school we would have all of this extra time on our hands but that has not been the case! Aside from the fact that I am up at 5:15or 5:30 every morning to make Jake breakfast and see that he gets up and makes the bus, once he was gone we spent the day getting our paperwork together for Immigration. We got the papers back from Ivania on Monday, after she translated them into Spanish for us, and then we had to take them to Casa Amarilla to pay the last little bit we owed to get them to stamp them. That is a job and a half! You have to take a number and wait for the only person working to call you....out of the crowd of at least 40 or 50 people. Of course it takes twice as long when you realize that the papers you thought needed to be authenticated don't but the English set (Which you LUCKILY brought with you) does. So then it is over to the bank to pay and then back to Casa Amarilla to take another number. We were smart though....we saw that huge line....and took a number BEFORE we went to the bank. When we got back....a good 45 minutes later....we were up in 3 numbers! Yay! Of course it never got to our number because the English speaking lady saw us and came right out to us and took our papers back for us and got them stamped. Have I told you how incredibly friendly they are here? Even if you do have to stand in some really long lines!
So now we have all of our papers, translations, authentications, and stamps. All we need to do is get photocopies of them for our records. After realizing that our copier has gone Kaput, the next big decision is should we fix it, buy a new one, or go to a copy place, where they will probably not speak the best English (if any at all) and try to get them to copy 60+ pages hoping they don't take the staples out to do it....because if the staples come out, the papers are no longer any good. You guessed it....we decided to try to fix the printer first. After walking up to the American Embassy....well actually to the little store next to it where we needed to go to get 8 passport size photo's (each) for all of the paper work we were turning in.....and after my flip flop completely came apart in that store, and after we walked across the main road....me with only one shoe....and bought a new pair of flip flops at the grocery store (FYI: they have little feet so these didn't quite fit...too small), we decided to catch a bus to the top of town....because it was now raining! We are looking for a computer store through a bus crammed full of people, both sitting and standing, through fog covered windows for a store whose name we don't know. The bus stops, lets someone off and that is when I see a computer store right there. We go to get off, since the doors are open because the other person just got off, and as we do, the bus starts to pull off with me half on and half off and Bob standing on the curb in a terrible rainstorm! People yell for the driver to stop and I am able to exit the bus with no injuries!
Now we are trying to cross a 6 lane road in a terrible storm with my printer tucked into a bag under my arm and under the umbrella. We make it to the other side to only find a lake floating down the road that we need to cross to make it to the safety of the sidewalk. So through the lake we wade, my jeans now soaked half way up to my knees, and make it to the safety of the computer store, only to find out that they speak no English and unless I have the receipt (which I don't) there is nothing they can do. Grrrr!
Back out to the street we go where we flag down a cab and head to Hyper Mas to buy a new printer. That part of the trip was easy, the printer/scanner/copier was really cheap so the day made a quick turn around. We went home and I spent the rest of the day making copies. When Jake got home, we took him up to the passport place and got his 8 passport size pictures. Now we are ready to go to Immigration....and the police department to get finger printed for Interpol.
After Jake gets his pictures, we start to head home and come across a mattress place that has a little foam sofa (see the pictures on my Facebook page) that will fit perfectly in his room. Not only can he use it for his friends to sit on when they are over and playing games, but it folds out into a full size mattress that we can use when people come to visit. I decide to negotiate the price....remember my luck with the tree guy?..... and ask the man on the phone, (the woman in the shop spoke no English) if he would discount the price since it was a floor model. After quite a while, and after him asking me if I wanted to pick out a new pattern, and after he said, "So you'll take it?" I finally took matters into my own hands and suggested a price that was 8000.00 colones less than what he was asking. Then, after he goes off about what type of material and will we take it home with us our conversation is finally on the same page about it being a floor model. I told him we would even take it with us so he didn't have to deliver it if he would lower the price. He finally agreed and offered to lower it 15,000.00 colones. Didn't I suggest 8000.00 colones? Apparently I did better negotiating with him thatn with the tree guy!
So after a much larger discount than I had suggested, I paid for the sofa and we took it outsdie to take it home. Did I mention we were on our bicycles? :-)
Now the tricky decision on how to get it home. We tried to put it on the bicycle and push it home but that didn't work. Jake finally tells me to push my bike and his bike and he will carry the sofa home....which he did.....about two miles!
That night I am getting the papers ready to take to Immigration after we go to the police station and get our finger prints. Of course, I can't find an address for the Immigration department until 11:30pm when I also see that we have to have a cover letter....in Spanish....to go with all of our paper work. I am soooooo not staying up and typing a letter in Spanish! Immigration will have to wait until Monday. So we get up Friday and catch a taxi to the police station, and wait fro them to open at 7am. They finally let us in and we discover that they don't speak English in the police station. ***Sigh*** So we Spanglish our way through the whole ordeal, get our receipt, and head back outside. We flag down a taxi who doesn't know where Jake's school is. We tell him to wait and ask the next taxi if he knows where it is. He does! So we put Jake in the taxi, tell him we love him and to have a good day and send him on his way. Then we go back to the first taxi and luckily he knows where Rohrmoser and Final de bulevard are so we crawl into his taxi and he takes us home. We then get our bikes and bike over to Hyper Mas and are still back at the house by 10am. I spend the next 2 plus hours typing our cover letter in Spanish. I am finally done, make my copy of it and put all of the papers into an envelope and place them in the closet. We are now ready for the Immigration Department tomorrow. Please God, let me have all of the necessary papers!! All I want is that receipt from Immigration saying they have started our application and we will not be required to leave the country every 90 days!!
So then Saturday rolls around and we start out for our weekly trip to the street market. Not even a block away from our house we find a cellphone in the road. We come back to the house, look through the contacts, find a sisters house # and call it. We actually get the woman who lost the phone and give her directions to our house so she can come pick it up today....still haven't seem her. Then we head back out and go to the market. Now while we are there I notice a young man, late 20's early 30's, who is watching us the whole time. Everytime we approach him he is staring right at us and says hello...every time! I point this out to Bob and he starts to notice it too. I'm not talking once or twice...I'm talking 8 or 9 times. And he watches us through the crowd as we make our way up and down the row of vendors. Just when we are about to get creeped out, he says hello again and then asks if we are American. Asks us if we are visiting and when we say that we have moved here he asks where we live. (Of course we only give a vague...in the neighborhood answer) and he says he lives a couple blocks away and then asks if I speak Spanish. I tell him some and he asks how we can shop here when no one speaks English. I explain that I know amounts and how to communicate enough to shop here. Then he chats for a few more minutes. Finally we are ready to make our escape and he says nice meeting you. If we see him there again next week....he may qualify as a stalker! LOL!
Today we spent the day doing the usual....laundry, cleaning, de-veing shrimp. Oh yeah, I almost forgot! On the way back from the market Saturday, there was a couple outside our neighbors house with their trunk open. As we start up our road they flag us down and want to sell us shrimp and fish and something that looks like beef from the trunk of their car. I am trying to make a gentle escape when our neighbor comes out to get her purchase and starts raving about how good his shrimp is. She tells us she bought some last week and sauteed it in butter with some spices and it was wonderful. Mmmmm....that is sounding good! I ask what kind of fish it is and she asks him in Spanish then tells us Koby. Not sure what that is so I will look it up on line. We decide to get a kilo of shrimp....yes I bought seafood out of the back of someones car....but only because the neighbor said it was good! As he is bagging up our shrimp, he grabs the pacage of what I think is beef and asks again if I want some. At this point the husband is outside because the wife has gone inside to get her money. I ask what the red stuff is....the husband can't tell me in english so he goes to get his wife. She comes out and says...."Oh it is so good, it is called...ummmm... " then she makes a gesture with her hand like she is going to squeeze a litle kid on the head and says...."ummmmm....oh yeah.....octopus!" Um...I don't think so!!!! I kindly decline....:-).....and the neighbor says he comes around every week and that they have bought from him for years. Guess we won't have to make that trip to the ocean to get our seafood after all!!
I came home and we had shrimp for dinner and it was absolutely wonderful!! Froze the rest of it in two batches....so I guess there is more shrimp in our future!
Well. I think I have bored you enough so I will stop for now. Need to rest before our big trip to Immigration tomorrow. Wish us luck!
****Well not if it kills me because then I won't be able to blog.....because I'm dead....anyway....****
So much has happened since the last time I blogged so this may be a long one. Hang on.....I need a milky way if I'm going to do this..............................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Sorry that took so long....I needed a cold glass of milk to go with the refrigerated milky way bar! Now where was I???? Oh yeah, my week!
Well, after going to Jake's school, Friday, for orientation we, of course, went to the street market, on Saturday, and got a lovely palm to put in our house. Bob and I had looked at one outside the local pulperia but we decided not to buy it when the man told us it would be 35, 000 colones....about $65.00.....we thought that was a little much and started to walk off when he called us back. Thinking he was about to make us a really good deal we walked back to his truck. Much to our surprise he counter offered us with the lovely price of......$100.00. I'm guessing he is not very good at this thing we call "negotiating". LOL! To say the least, we didn't buy it for $100.00.....or $65.00 for that matter. That was a good thing because when we went to the market on Saturday we got a palm, with a container/pot to put it in, plus the man put it together and packed it with dirt, for 5000.00 colones....about $8.35. We liked that price much better. Of course, once we got back to our apartment it took us a couple days to figure out where to put our 7 foot tall tree! LOL!
Then Jake started school on Monday. He seemed a little excited to finally be getting out of the house and meeting kids his own age. He didn't get his schedule until the first day of school so we were pretty surprised when we saw what classes he had for the first semester. He has Physics, Math, Chemistry, Computers, American Literature (English), SSL (Spanish as a Second Language), and US History. That's a pretty tough semester. Next semester will be better when he switches classes and drops Physics, Computers, and Chemistry and they are replaced with Biology, Digital Photograhy, Phys Ed, and something called Pers. Proy. (yeah...we don't know what that is either).
You would think that now that Jake is in school we would have all of this extra time on our hands but that has not been the case! Aside from the fact that I am up at 5:15or 5:30 every morning to make Jake breakfast and see that he gets up and makes the bus, once he was gone we spent the day getting our paperwork together for Immigration. We got the papers back from Ivania on Monday, after she translated them into Spanish for us, and then we had to take them to Casa Amarilla to pay the last little bit we owed to get them to stamp them. That is a job and a half! You have to take a number and wait for the only person working to call you....out of the crowd of at least 40 or 50 people. Of course it takes twice as long when you realize that the papers you thought needed to be authenticated don't but the English set (Which you LUCKILY brought with you) does. So then it is over to the bank to pay and then back to Casa Amarilla to take another number. We were smart though....we saw that huge line....and took a number BEFORE we went to the bank. When we got back....a good 45 minutes later....we were up in 3 numbers! Yay! Of course it never got to our number because the English speaking lady saw us and came right out to us and took our papers back for us and got them stamped. Have I told you how incredibly friendly they are here? Even if you do have to stand in some really long lines!
So now we have all of our papers, translations, authentications, and stamps. All we need to do is get photocopies of them for our records. After realizing that our copier has gone Kaput, the next big decision is should we fix it, buy a new one, or go to a copy place, where they will probably not speak the best English (if any at all) and try to get them to copy 60+ pages hoping they don't take the staples out to do it....because if the staples come out, the papers are no longer any good. You guessed it....we decided to try to fix the printer first. After walking up to the American Embassy....well actually to the little store next to it where we needed to go to get 8 passport size photo's (each) for all of the paper work we were turning in.....and after my flip flop completely came apart in that store, and after we walked across the main road....me with only one shoe....and bought a new pair of flip flops at the grocery store (FYI: they have little feet so these didn't quite fit...too small), we decided to catch a bus to the top of town....because it was now raining! We are looking for a computer store through a bus crammed full of people, both sitting and standing, through fog covered windows for a store whose name we don't know. The bus stops, lets someone off and that is when I see a computer store right there. We go to get off, since the doors are open because the other person just got off, and as we do, the bus starts to pull off with me half on and half off and Bob standing on the curb in a terrible rainstorm! People yell for the driver to stop and I am able to exit the bus with no injuries!
Now we are trying to cross a 6 lane road in a terrible storm with my printer tucked into a bag under my arm and under the umbrella. We make it to the other side to only find a lake floating down the road that we need to cross to make it to the safety of the sidewalk. So through the lake we wade, my jeans now soaked half way up to my knees, and make it to the safety of the computer store, only to find out that they speak no English and unless I have the receipt (which I don't) there is nothing they can do. Grrrr!
Back out to the street we go where we flag down a cab and head to Hyper Mas to buy a new printer. That part of the trip was easy, the printer/scanner/copier was really cheap so the day made a quick turn around. We went home and I spent the rest of the day making copies. When Jake got home, we took him up to the passport place and got his 8 passport size pictures. Now we are ready to go to Immigration....and the police department to get finger printed for Interpol.
After Jake gets his pictures, we start to head home and come across a mattress place that has a little foam sofa (see the pictures on my Facebook page) that will fit perfectly in his room. Not only can he use it for his friends to sit on when they are over and playing games, but it folds out into a full size mattress that we can use when people come to visit. I decide to negotiate the price....remember my luck with the tree guy?..... and ask the man on the phone, (the woman in the shop spoke no English) if he would discount the price since it was a floor model. After quite a while, and after him asking me if I wanted to pick out a new pattern, and after he said, "So you'll take it?" I finally took matters into my own hands and suggested a price that was 8000.00 colones less than what he was asking. Then, after he goes off about what type of material and will we take it home with us our conversation is finally on the same page about it being a floor model. I told him we would even take it with us so he didn't have to deliver it if he would lower the price. He finally agreed and offered to lower it 15,000.00 colones. Didn't I suggest 8000.00 colones? Apparently I did better negotiating with him thatn with the tree guy!
So after a much larger discount than I had suggested, I paid for the sofa and we took it outsdie to take it home. Did I mention we were on our bicycles? :-)
Now the tricky decision on how to get it home. We tried to put it on the bicycle and push it home but that didn't work. Jake finally tells me to push my bike and his bike and he will carry the sofa home....which he did.....about two miles!
That night I am getting the papers ready to take to Immigration after we go to the police station and get our finger prints. Of course, I can't find an address for the Immigration department until 11:30pm when I also see that we have to have a cover letter....in Spanish....to go with all of our paper work. I am soooooo not staying up and typing a letter in Spanish! Immigration will have to wait until Monday. So we get up Friday and catch a taxi to the police station, and wait fro them to open at 7am. They finally let us in and we discover that they don't speak English in the police station. ***Sigh*** So we Spanglish our way through the whole ordeal, get our receipt, and head back outside. We flag down a taxi who doesn't know where Jake's school is. We tell him to wait and ask the next taxi if he knows where it is. He does! So we put Jake in the taxi, tell him we love him and to have a good day and send him on his way. Then we go back to the first taxi and luckily he knows where Rohrmoser and Final de bulevard are so we crawl into his taxi and he takes us home. We then get our bikes and bike over to Hyper Mas and are still back at the house by 10am. I spend the next 2 plus hours typing our cover letter in Spanish. I am finally done, make my copy of it and put all of the papers into an envelope and place them in the closet. We are now ready for the Immigration Department tomorrow. Please God, let me have all of the necessary papers!! All I want is that receipt from Immigration saying they have started our application and we will not be required to leave the country every 90 days!!
So then Saturday rolls around and we start out for our weekly trip to the street market. Not even a block away from our house we find a cellphone in the road. We come back to the house, look through the contacts, find a sisters house # and call it. We actually get the woman who lost the phone and give her directions to our house so she can come pick it up today....still haven't seem her. Then we head back out and go to the market. Now while we are there I notice a young man, late 20's early 30's, who is watching us the whole time. Everytime we approach him he is staring right at us and says hello...every time! I point this out to Bob and he starts to notice it too. I'm not talking once or twice...I'm talking 8 or 9 times. And he watches us through the crowd as we make our way up and down the row of vendors. Just when we are about to get creeped out, he says hello again and then asks if we are American. Asks us if we are visiting and when we say that we have moved here he asks where we live. (Of course we only give a vague...in the neighborhood answer) and he says he lives a couple blocks away and then asks if I speak Spanish. I tell him some and he asks how we can shop here when no one speaks English. I explain that I know amounts and how to communicate enough to shop here. Then he chats for a few more minutes. Finally we are ready to make our escape and he says nice meeting you. If we see him there again next week....he may qualify as a stalker! LOL!
Today we spent the day doing the usual....laundry, cleaning, de-veing shrimp. Oh yeah, I almost forgot! On the way back from the market Saturday, there was a couple outside our neighbors house with their trunk open. As we start up our road they flag us down and want to sell us shrimp and fish and something that looks like beef from the trunk of their car. I am trying to make a gentle escape when our neighbor comes out to get her purchase and starts raving about how good his shrimp is. She tells us she bought some last week and sauteed it in butter with some spices and it was wonderful. Mmmmm....that is sounding good! I ask what kind of fish it is and she asks him in Spanish then tells us Koby. Not sure what that is so I will look it up on line. We decide to get a kilo of shrimp....yes I bought seafood out of the back of someones car....but only because the neighbor said it was good! As he is bagging up our shrimp, he grabs the pacage of what I think is beef and asks again if I want some. At this point the husband is outside because the wife has gone inside to get her money. I ask what the red stuff is....the husband can't tell me in english so he goes to get his wife. She comes out and says...."Oh it is so good, it is called...ummmm... " then she makes a gesture with her hand like she is going to squeeze a litle kid on the head and says...."ummmmm....oh yeah.....octopus!" Um...I don't think so!!!! I kindly decline....:-).....and the neighbor says he comes around every week and that they have bought from him for years. Guess we won't have to make that trip to the ocean to get our seafood after all!!
I came home and we had shrimp for dinner and it was absolutely wonderful!! Froze the rest of it in two batches....so I guess there is more shrimp in our future!
Well. I think I have bored you enough so I will stop for now. Need to rest before our big trip to Immigration tomorrow. Wish us luck!
Friday, August 6, 2010
Welcome to Lincoln!
Well today was our Welcome to Lincoln High School Orientation Day. Jake was to be at school by 10am and would be doing activities and meeting his buddy until 12pm and then we would all meet for lunch at 1pm.
We, of course, got there 40 minutes early because you never know how long it will take you to catch the bus to San Jose, then get a taxi in San Jose, then drive through morning traffic in San Jose.....so we always leave ourselves a buffer.
When we arrived at school we wandered around for a little bit before heading over to the high school building to meet all of the other students in the office. Once we knew that they were ready for the students, Bob and I wandered over to the cafeteria to talk and wait for them to get done.
While we were sitting at the picnic table outside the cafeteria, I noticed a woman sitting at the other table who was reading "The Book Thief". Having read that book myself, I told her what a great book I thought it was. That started a conversation that killed a good hour for all of us. Turns out she has two children going to Lincoln, one in 2nd grade and one in 5th grade. She lives in Escazu with her husband and kids, which is not far from us....we bike there to Hiper Mas and EPA.... and she was totally amazed that we had no car and biked everywhere. She said if we ever needed anything and if there was anything she could do to help, please let her know.
As we sat there talking to her, and then eventually just sat there by ourselves because she had to go meet her kids teachers, I was amazed at not only how friendly the teachers were......we had several that stopped to ask us our names and who we had that was going there and how old they were (to see if they would have them in class)....but also how friendly the staff and students were. We had two boys stop and ask us if we knew where the high school kids were supposed to be meeting because they had volunteered to be buddies for the incoming students. They told us their names, asked us our names, asked us about who we had coming to Lincoln, what grade he was in, if he played sports, and then they thanked us and told us how pleased they were to meet us. This happened on more than one occasion as we sat there.
When 12pm rolled around we headed back to the high school building and went downstairs to wait by the commons area. As we sat there, we met another couple. The husband, Bill, is the Director of Marina Operations, at a resort at the beach (Los Suenos Resort and Marina), and is from Boston, and his wife Magaly, is actually Costa Rican. They have a son who is going to be starting Lincoln this year and he is in 6th grade. We talked to them until lunch and then after lunch before we left. His wife handed us her husbands business card with their information on it and said if there was ever anything they could do to help just let them know. Whether it is to ask about where something was, or if I needed a ride somewhere, or whatever. The wife had moved to the States when she was 21 and had lived there for three years. She spoke no English then, so she understood how hard it was to move to a new country.
Jake made two new friends, Bernardo and Ignacio, both of which I think have already "friended" him on Facebook! LOL! Or maybe only Ignacio so far....not sure! They were both his "buddy" because apparently the two of them are best friends and do everything together so basically Jake got a "Two For One" Deal!! LOL!
When we arrived back at the high school building to wait for lunch, the students were on a scavenger hunt to familiarize themselves with the school. At one point, we had two boys approach Bob and I to ask us if we were on the list of "signatures" they needed. They seemed truly disappointed when they found out we weren't. They apparently won prizes for the signatures.
When lunch rolled around, Jake sat with Ignacio and Bernardo, while Bob and I sat next to two teachers from State College....you heard me right....State College, Pennsylvania. Have I told you all of the weird Pennsylvania connections we have found here? The physics teacher for Jake's grade is from Altoona originally and graduated from Altoona High School. He has a son in Alabama (so does Bob) and a daughter in South Carolina (Bob has a son there). We also meet another couple there and the wife is a teacher at Penn State. It is so weird how many connections there are to Pennsylvania! I know I am forgetting another one but it is late and I am tired....I'll post it later when I think of it!
So as we are waiting in line for lunch, the man behind us asks who we have coming to Lincoln, what grade he is in and if he plays any sports. We answer the questions and tell him Jake plays Soccer to which he replies, "Is he any good and what position does he play?" Turns out he is the assistant high school principal so when he gets up to give his speech Jake manages to make it into his speech when he says that they even have the future Middle defender, and possible goalie, coming to the school. I couldn't tell if Jake turned red or not when the man looked right at him.
So lunch is over....Jake now has a Lincoln High School mug as a welcome gift....and we head back to the office to catch a taxi back home.....in the pouring rain! As we are waiting for the taxi....we are in the lobby talking to Ignacio who we met earlier... I am sitting on a couch as is Jake and Ignacio and Bob is standing. When Bernardo comes back he sits next to me....where his books were....and when he does that Ignacio stands up and offers Bob his seat. I am totally amazed at how polite the students are at Lincoln! It is wonderful!! :-)
Over all it was a wonderful, but long, day and Jake is looking forward to starting school on Monday. Of course he has no idea what classes he is taking because they don't get their schedule until the first day of school....along with their locker number. Fortunately they did tell us what his bus number was, where it would pick him up and at what time.
We think this school is going to be great for Jake and that he will be very happy there!
We, of course, got there 40 minutes early because you never know how long it will take you to catch the bus to San Jose, then get a taxi in San Jose, then drive through morning traffic in San Jose.....so we always leave ourselves a buffer.
When we arrived at school we wandered around for a little bit before heading over to the high school building to meet all of the other students in the office. Once we knew that they were ready for the students, Bob and I wandered over to the cafeteria to talk and wait for them to get done.
While we were sitting at the picnic table outside the cafeteria, I noticed a woman sitting at the other table who was reading "The Book Thief". Having read that book myself, I told her what a great book I thought it was. That started a conversation that killed a good hour for all of us. Turns out she has two children going to Lincoln, one in 2nd grade and one in 5th grade. She lives in Escazu with her husband and kids, which is not far from us....we bike there to Hiper Mas and EPA.... and she was totally amazed that we had no car and biked everywhere. She said if we ever needed anything and if there was anything she could do to help, please let her know.
As we sat there talking to her, and then eventually just sat there by ourselves because she had to go meet her kids teachers, I was amazed at not only how friendly the teachers were......we had several that stopped to ask us our names and who we had that was going there and how old they were (to see if they would have them in class)....but also how friendly the staff and students were. We had two boys stop and ask us if we knew where the high school kids were supposed to be meeting because they had volunteered to be buddies for the incoming students. They told us their names, asked us our names, asked us about who we had coming to Lincoln, what grade he was in, if he played sports, and then they thanked us and told us how pleased they were to meet us. This happened on more than one occasion as we sat there.
When 12pm rolled around we headed back to the high school building and went downstairs to wait by the commons area. As we sat there, we met another couple. The husband, Bill, is the Director of Marina Operations, at a resort at the beach (Los Suenos Resort and Marina), and is from Boston, and his wife Magaly, is actually Costa Rican. They have a son who is going to be starting Lincoln this year and he is in 6th grade. We talked to them until lunch and then after lunch before we left. His wife handed us her husbands business card with their information on it and said if there was ever anything they could do to help just let them know. Whether it is to ask about where something was, or if I needed a ride somewhere, or whatever. The wife had moved to the States when she was 21 and had lived there for three years. She spoke no English then, so she understood how hard it was to move to a new country.
Jake made two new friends, Bernardo and Ignacio, both of which I think have already "friended" him on Facebook! LOL! Or maybe only Ignacio so far....not sure! They were both his "buddy" because apparently the two of them are best friends and do everything together so basically Jake got a "Two For One" Deal!! LOL!
When we arrived back at the high school building to wait for lunch, the students were on a scavenger hunt to familiarize themselves with the school. At one point, we had two boys approach Bob and I to ask us if we were on the list of "signatures" they needed. They seemed truly disappointed when they found out we weren't. They apparently won prizes for the signatures.
When lunch rolled around, Jake sat with Ignacio and Bernardo, while Bob and I sat next to two teachers from State College....you heard me right....State College, Pennsylvania. Have I told you all of the weird Pennsylvania connections we have found here? The physics teacher for Jake's grade is from Altoona originally and graduated from Altoona High School. He has a son in Alabama (so does Bob) and a daughter in South Carolina (Bob has a son there). We also meet another couple there and the wife is a teacher at Penn State. It is so weird how many connections there are to Pennsylvania! I know I am forgetting another one but it is late and I am tired....I'll post it later when I think of it!
So as we are waiting in line for lunch, the man behind us asks who we have coming to Lincoln, what grade he is in and if he plays any sports. We answer the questions and tell him Jake plays Soccer to which he replies, "Is he any good and what position does he play?" Turns out he is the assistant high school principal so when he gets up to give his speech Jake manages to make it into his speech when he says that they even have the future Middle defender, and possible goalie, coming to the school. I couldn't tell if Jake turned red or not when the man looked right at him.
So lunch is over....Jake now has a Lincoln High School mug as a welcome gift....and we head back to the office to catch a taxi back home.....in the pouring rain! As we are waiting for the taxi....we are in the lobby talking to Ignacio who we met earlier... I am sitting on a couch as is Jake and Ignacio and Bob is standing. When Bernardo comes back he sits next to me....where his books were....and when he does that Ignacio stands up and offers Bob his seat. I am totally amazed at how polite the students are at Lincoln! It is wonderful!! :-)
Over all it was a wonderful, but long, day and Jake is looking forward to starting school on Monday. Of course he has no idea what classes he is taking because they don't get their schedule until the first day of school....along with their locker number. Fortunately they did tell us what his bus number was, where it would pick him up and at what time.
We think this school is going to be great for Jake and that he will be very happy there!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Old Age is Running Me Down....And Quickly!
So I was out biking today...doing my best to stay ahead of old age....when I discovered just how quick Old Age really is. You would think with the word "old" in its name that it would be slow...but that is not the case! And the really scary thing is that Old Age is actually capable of chasing down more than one of us at a time so......BE CAREFUL!!
It started off as any other bike ride, we went down to the garage...unchained our bikes.....unlocked the gate....and headed out to Pali. We decided to try the short route to EPA and Hiper Mas, even if that meant going down that REALLY STEEP hill. Oh yeah, and crossing that bridge.
Bob and Jake both road down the steep hill, but I was not that brave....I am thinking this is where Old Age caught up with me. Once at the bottom we crossed using that old, rusted bridge that I showed you in the pictures. I decided to go across first but that didn't help. Shouldn't Old Age be afraid of heights, or water, or falling to its death? Anyway, by the time we got to EPA, Old Age had caught up with us and had a hold of Bob by the toe.
Now I am actually expecting Old Age to be following Bob around....following but not catching mind you...yet for some reason it wasn't happy with just him today......oh no....Old Age had it in for me too!
Its first move was when we stopped at EPA...(our Lowes)...to return a pack of energy efficient light bulbs we didn't need. Bob puts the chain on his bike, then hooks Jake's bike to his bike, using Jake's chain. I am on the other side of the pole chaining my bike up, when I hear Bob say that he has lost his keys. This is bad because the key to the bike lock is on his key chain. We have a spare, but it is at home in the closet with the spares to Jake's and my locks.
I asked Bob didn't he use it to unlock the bike at home....to which he answers yes....but he says that he must have dropped it either at home or on the bike ride. I am now having visions of very wet keys!! Jake says that he will bike home and get the spare set then come back and unlock his dad's bike. We decide to wait until after we are done with our return and after we go look for a chair for Jake's room at the store right next to EPA before Jake goes back. As we start to leave I notice that Bob doesn't have his basket on the front of his bike so I ask him where he had put his chain once he took it off at the house. He says he locked it on the chain holder on his handle bar....Lightbulb!....If he locked it up before we left.....and it was off now....then...he must have unlocked it at EPA.
I swear I hear a faint chuckle coming from behind the stack of fertilizer bags as Bob discovers that he actually dropped the keys by the tire while he was locking his helmut up with his bike. We all have a good laugh about this and then head into EPA.
After we return the light bulbs, we go back outside, unchain our bikes and head out for the short ride to Hiper Mas. Just as we are about to leave the gated lot where EPA and two other stores are located, I take notice of the lovely breeze. My hair is blowing in the wind, I am no longer sweating, and my hair is not all smooshed against my head........Ummmmmm.....where is my helmet? Strike two...Old Age! We bike back to where we the locked our bikes and....it wasn't there. The only place left is inside where we did our return. I go in and ask about my helmut...no one has seen it...and then the guard comes in and talks to me in English before telling them in perfect Spanish what I am looking for. Again....no one has any idea where it is. At this point I am thinking it is gone forever, when I am sure I hear another chuckle. As I go to leave the store, the lady behind the counter, who I personally think has been possessed by Old Age,...against her will of course...says "Wait" and then pulls it out from underneath the counter. Damn that Old Age!
Of course when I get back outside with my helmut, my husband is just standing there shaking his head. As I put my helmet on and start to leave, my husband looks at me, laughing, and says, "Welcome to senility!"
It started off as any other bike ride, we went down to the garage...unchained our bikes.....unlocked the gate....and headed out to Pali. We decided to try the short route to EPA and Hiper Mas, even if that meant going down that REALLY STEEP hill. Oh yeah, and crossing that bridge.
Bob and Jake both road down the steep hill, but I was not that brave....I am thinking this is where Old Age caught up with me. Once at the bottom we crossed using that old, rusted bridge that I showed you in the pictures. I decided to go across first but that didn't help. Shouldn't Old Age be afraid of heights, or water, or falling to its death? Anyway, by the time we got to EPA, Old Age had caught up with us and had a hold of Bob by the toe.
Now I am actually expecting Old Age to be following Bob around....following but not catching mind you...yet for some reason it wasn't happy with just him today......oh no....Old Age had it in for me too!
Its first move was when we stopped at EPA...(our Lowes)...to return a pack of energy efficient light bulbs we didn't need. Bob puts the chain on his bike, then hooks Jake's bike to his bike, using Jake's chain. I am on the other side of the pole chaining my bike up, when I hear Bob say that he has lost his keys. This is bad because the key to the bike lock is on his key chain. We have a spare, but it is at home in the closet with the spares to Jake's and my locks.
I asked Bob didn't he use it to unlock the bike at home....to which he answers yes....but he says that he must have dropped it either at home or on the bike ride. I am now having visions of very wet keys!! Jake says that he will bike home and get the spare set then come back and unlock his dad's bike. We decide to wait until after we are done with our return and after we go look for a chair for Jake's room at the store right next to EPA before Jake goes back. As we start to leave I notice that Bob doesn't have his basket on the front of his bike so I ask him where he had put his chain once he took it off at the house. He says he locked it on the chain holder on his handle bar....Lightbulb!....If he locked it up before we left.....and it was off now....then...he must have unlocked it at EPA.
I swear I hear a faint chuckle coming from behind the stack of fertilizer bags as Bob discovers that he actually dropped the keys by the tire while he was locking his helmut up with his bike. We all have a good laugh about this and then head into EPA.
After we return the light bulbs, we go back outside, unchain our bikes and head out for the short ride to Hiper Mas. Just as we are about to leave the gated lot where EPA and two other stores are located, I take notice of the lovely breeze. My hair is blowing in the wind, I am no longer sweating, and my hair is not all smooshed against my head........Ummmmmm.....where is my helmet? Strike two...Old Age! We bike back to where we the locked our bikes and....it wasn't there. The only place left is inside where we did our return. I go in and ask about my helmut...no one has seen it...and then the guard comes in and talks to me in English before telling them in perfect Spanish what I am looking for. Again....no one has any idea where it is. At this point I am thinking it is gone forever, when I am sure I hear another chuckle. As I go to leave the store, the lady behind the counter, who I personally think has been possessed by Old Age,...against her will of course...says "Wait" and then pulls it out from underneath the counter. Damn that Old Age!
Of course when I get back outside with my helmut, my husband is just standing there shaking his head. As I put my helmet on and start to leave, my husband looks at me, laughing, and says, "Welcome to senility!"
Monday, August 2, 2010
How Far Would You Walk?
So I wake up this morning to no water and Bob pulling on my toe! (The toe pulling was to wake me up and ask me if I had really paid the $8.00 water bill....which I had.)I rolled back over and went to sleep because honestly....how much can we really figure out at 6:30 in the morning about the no water situation?
Finally when 8:30 am rolls around, I crawl out of bed to tackle the no water problem. Of course it hasn't sunk in yet exactly what this means....having no water....because I am stumbling around trying to figure out what I need to do first to make myself presentable (so I can go ask the landlord what is going on). I throw on my clothes and head into the bathroom to brush my hair and my teeth.....oh yeah....no water. I don't know about you but I am not very friendly in the morning until I get my teeth brushed!
Luckly we have a big jug of bottled water....I'm talking a 2 or 3 gallon size jug.....in the kitchen so the brushing the teeth situation is now solved. Bob and I then head downstairs and out the gate to talk to the landlord. As we turn to go to his house....which is to our left....we see three men kneeling in the middle of the road, working on a water line....problem solved! (See...I did pay the bill, which I actually had a copy of in my hand.) To tell you the truth, I had been concerned that he had accidentally given me someone elses bill which I had then payed, leaving me at the mercy of the paying habits of my neighbor, but that wasn't the case.
So the water dilema is solved...at least knowing the cause of it is no longer a mystery,...of course we still don't have water....but we go ahead over to the landlords because I need his phone number to prevent me from walking over there in the future....calling is so much easier.....and Bob wants a white page phone book. (Apparently there is a Dinsmore already living in Costa Rica, Bob saw the name in the phone book at the hotel we stayed at when we first moved here.)
So I get the landlord's phone number...but not a white page phone book, we apparently have to go to the phone company to get that....and that is when he tells us that there won't be a lot going on today with it being such a big holiday and all. Of course, I have to ask what holiday it is because I can't think of anything big happening on August 2nd in the States, and he informs us that it is a huge Catholic holiday. He tells a little bit about the holiday so of course we go right back to our apartment and look it up in our book about Costa Rica.
Today is the Virgin of Los Angeles Day (the patron saint of Costa Rica).
Now I know you are all getting ready to rush right over to Google and check out what that is so I will save you the trouble! :-)
Apparently, that is the countries biggest celebration. It starts a couple of days before the 2nd of August, when thousands of people walk along the highways, from all over the country, in a pilgrimage to Cartago, just outside of San Jose....to the Southeast.... to honor the national saint, the Virgin of Los Angeles. (Drive Carefully!)Apparently people walk for days to make this pilgrimage to Cartago!! It culminates in everyone arriving in Cartago, on August 2nd, to celebrate that saint. In case you are wondering....we will be staying away from San Jose and Cartego today...you know how my son and husband are about crowds! Maybe next year!! ;-)
On a side note....I am very happy to see that on August 15th I get to celebrate Mothers Day...again... when they celebrate it here. Of course Bob has already informed me that I have to choose a date to celebrate because we are not flying back and forth between the US and here so I can have 2 Mother's Days....what a party pooper! Of course I don't think he has realized that there is no Father's Day here....shhhhh....don't tell.....we'll keep celebrating the one in the US for him....cause we love him!
So, today is a HUGE holiday, which got us thinking.....we are supposed to take Jake to his highschool to register and get his uniforms, but if this is the biggest holiday of the year, surely they aren't open (even though they told us to come today). I decide to call the school to make sure they are open before we go all the way into San Jose, catch a cab to the school, and then arrive there to only find out they are closed. Once I find a phone that works...darn that portable phone...I call and am immediately connected with someone who speaks NO English....Clue #1....and when I ask her if they are open, she rattles on in Spanish....Clue #2.....and when I ask again in English if they are open and she rattles of in Spanish and then hangs up on me.....Clue #3.....we figure they are not open. But to make sure I find two business cards I have, one for the guidance counselor and one for the admissions lady, and call both of their lines directly....neither of which is answered by a person. That is good enough for us, so Jake heads back into his room to steal cars and fight people with swords, Bob heads over to the TV to find a soccer game or maybe some X Game coverage, and I head over to the computer to email two people about translating our documents into Spanish for our residency, before settling down to do some blogging.
Guess we will just spend the day hanging around the house...since it is already raining...reading, watching tv, playing video games, and waiting for the water to come back on!
Finally when 8:30 am rolls around, I crawl out of bed to tackle the no water problem. Of course it hasn't sunk in yet exactly what this means....having no water....because I am stumbling around trying to figure out what I need to do first to make myself presentable (so I can go ask the landlord what is going on). I throw on my clothes and head into the bathroom to brush my hair and my teeth.....oh yeah....no water. I don't know about you but I am not very friendly in the morning until I get my teeth brushed!
Luckly we have a big jug of bottled water....I'm talking a 2 or 3 gallon size jug.....in the kitchen so the brushing the teeth situation is now solved. Bob and I then head downstairs and out the gate to talk to the landlord. As we turn to go to his house....which is to our left....we see three men kneeling in the middle of the road, working on a water line....problem solved! (See...I did pay the bill, which I actually had a copy of in my hand.) To tell you the truth, I had been concerned that he had accidentally given me someone elses bill which I had then payed, leaving me at the mercy of the paying habits of my neighbor, but that wasn't the case.
So the water dilema is solved...at least knowing the cause of it is no longer a mystery,...of course we still don't have water....but we go ahead over to the landlords because I need his phone number to prevent me from walking over there in the future....calling is so much easier.....and Bob wants a white page phone book. (Apparently there is a Dinsmore already living in Costa Rica, Bob saw the name in the phone book at the hotel we stayed at when we first moved here.)
So I get the landlord's phone number...but not a white page phone book, we apparently have to go to the phone company to get that....and that is when he tells us that there won't be a lot going on today with it being such a big holiday and all. Of course, I have to ask what holiday it is because I can't think of anything big happening on August 2nd in the States, and he informs us that it is a huge Catholic holiday. He tells a little bit about the holiday so of course we go right back to our apartment and look it up in our book about Costa Rica.
Today is the Virgin of Los Angeles Day (the patron saint of Costa Rica).
Now I know you are all getting ready to rush right over to Google and check out what that is so I will save you the trouble! :-)
Apparently, that is the countries biggest celebration. It starts a couple of days before the 2nd of August, when thousands of people walk along the highways, from all over the country, in a pilgrimage to Cartago, just outside of San Jose....to the Southeast.... to honor the national saint, the Virgin of Los Angeles. (Drive Carefully!)Apparently people walk for days to make this pilgrimage to Cartago!! It culminates in everyone arriving in Cartago, on August 2nd, to celebrate that saint. In case you are wondering....we will be staying away from San Jose and Cartego today...you know how my son and husband are about crowds! Maybe next year!! ;-)
On a side note....I am very happy to see that on August 15th I get to celebrate Mothers Day...again... when they celebrate it here. Of course Bob has already informed me that I have to choose a date to celebrate because we are not flying back and forth between the US and here so I can have 2 Mother's Days....what a party pooper! Of course I don't think he has realized that there is no Father's Day here....shhhhh....don't tell.....we'll keep celebrating the one in the US for him....cause we love him!
So, today is a HUGE holiday, which got us thinking.....we are supposed to take Jake to his highschool to register and get his uniforms, but if this is the biggest holiday of the year, surely they aren't open (even though they told us to come today). I decide to call the school to make sure they are open before we go all the way into San Jose, catch a cab to the school, and then arrive there to only find out they are closed. Once I find a phone that works...darn that portable phone...I call and am immediately connected with someone who speaks NO English....Clue #1....and when I ask her if they are open, she rattles on in Spanish....Clue #2.....and when I ask again in English if they are open and she rattles of in Spanish and then hangs up on me.....Clue #3.....we figure they are not open. But to make sure I find two business cards I have, one for the guidance counselor and one for the admissions lady, and call both of their lines directly....neither of which is answered by a person. That is good enough for us, so Jake heads back into his room to steal cars and fight people with swords, Bob heads over to the TV to find a soccer game or maybe some X Game coverage, and I head over to the computer to email two people about translating our documents into Spanish for our residency, before settling down to do some blogging.
Guess we will just spend the day hanging around the house...since it is already raining...reading, watching tv, playing video games, and waiting for the water to come back on!
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