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!
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