Number 6

San Jose

We made our way into San Jose for the day.  San Jose is the capital of Costa Rica with a population of about 300,000 it is located in the central valley. And for all my friends and family it should be pointed out that San José is still one of the safest and least violent cities in the region. We have never felt the least bit uneasy walking the streets, but we are also aware of our surroundings.

San José City lies in the Torrid Zone and is in a tropical rain forest. However its elevation gives it a mild climate.  In San Jose, the average high is 80 degrees and its low is about 68.  There are 2 seasons, the dry season and the wet season, the temperature does not fluctuated that much between seasons.

In the center of San Jose there are pedestrian streets.  They are usually crowed with people everywhere.  There are lots of people selling items on the streets.  Roger and I love to just walk around in San Jose and sit and watch the city life.  The people are kind and helpful.  There is always someone there to teach us new Spanish words…today was a “spool of thread”. 

The streets of San Jose

Roger wanted to get a haircut.  So in our travels we found a barber shop and with a little encouragement Roger goes in and gets a haircut.  I was snickering because the woman took at least 20 minutes on his haircut and even blow dry the 3 hairs on his head…sorry Roger.  She did a fantastic job.  A lot more work went into this haircut that he would have ever gotten in the US and the costs was about $11.  

Let’s talk about tipping…there is NO tripping in Costa Rica, and for us, we find that difficult.  The concept is that we should not come to a foreign country and apply our customs and habits to other cultures.  I will say when we have tipped, the people always seem very grateful and appreciative.

The Finished Product

Number 5  

Better than your average Fruits and Vegetables

We had heard of these local Farmers’ Markets since we were here last October.  Saturday we set out to find one and see what kind of goods are available.

Farmers’ markets, known as feria in Costa Rica, are usually held weekly on either Saturday or Sunday in each neighborhood (barrio). These markets sell fruit and vegetable and other edible products and crafts. Farmers from all over the country bring their produce and sell it at lower prices than the supermarkets. The specific Farmers’ Market we decided to find was The Feria Verde (The Green Farmers’ Market.  It is held in the barrio Aranjuez.

We start out (with our new shopping bag)  early (7:30) because everyone says to get there early and we pretty much do what everyone tells us to do. 

This outdoor market runs from 7 am  to 1:00.  With the address clearly written on a piece of paper we take our local bus into San Jose.  We then get into a cab and give him the name of where we want to go.  One thing I have noticed, cab drivers study the paper very carefully.  This is a well know market that was founded in 2008.  This is one of the original organic and gourmet markets in the country, offering everything from produce to goat cheese to gluten-free pasta and a score of other unique products usually not available in most Costa Rican stores.  Yet, the taxi driver looks at the piece of paper like he never has heard of it before.  We make our way into a small neighborhood, where a garbage truck blocks all traffic, and we wait and wait (patience is a virtue here)

We make it to the top of a road and the drivers uses his 2 fingers to pretend walking.  OK, this must be the place we get out and we need to walk the rest of the way.  Who said we can’t learn Spanish.

The produce is substantially cheaper and fresher than anything we could buy in a grocery store. 

We are a bit overwhelmed not knowing the proper buying protocol.  I squeeze my way to the front of a vegetable booth.  Now we see that customers have plastic baskets, but we have no idea where do they get them.  I stand there looking at everyone trying to figure out what the hell am I doing.  Finally the man behind the counter hands me a basket and I start filling up the basket with the best looking fresh vegetables I have seen.  I handed my basket to the man and he tells me the price.  That is when I realize my Spanish limitations.  I would just keep giving him money until he seemed to have enough and off we would go to the next booth.

We bought all these at the farmer’s market for under $25.  It includes fresh bread, Chocolate almond pound cake (gluten free of course) and homemade cheese (from a Switzerland recipe).  Look at the size of these figs we bought.  They are so sweet.  A great combination with the homemade cheese, yummy.

On the way back to San Jose, we stop in a wonderful small neighborhood park.  We love the parks of Costa Rica they are a great place to just sit, rest and people watch.  We actually got a bonus of some entertainers.

The stir fry vegetables were amazing!

Number 4  

How to figure out where a bus goes in Costa Rica in 2 steps

We are trying to learn the different bus routes and schedules.  We would normally pick up a nicely printed brochure and look for the area we want to go and find the appropriate bus stop and go. 

  In Costa Rica, there are no schedules anywhere. I believe the routes and schedules are passed down like folklore from one generation to another. You see buses all over, but there is no way to figure out where that bus goes, you must know the route before you get onto a bus.  It’s a vicious circle of confusion for newbies.  So yesterday we decided to figure out where just one bus goes.

Here are the two easy steps to finding where a bus goes in Costa Rica:

1.       Wave at each bus that passes until one stops for you.

2.       Get on the bus and ride it to the end of the route or until the driver makes you get off.

We decided to see where “Routa 2” went.  So we walk to the nearest bus stop and we wait and wait and wait.  Other buses are stopping but we WANT route 2.  To pass the time we start watching these construction people putting a new cement side walk.  I want to get a picture, they were so happy to have their picture taken, they stop their work and smiled for the camera. I must say there are no friendlier people in the world than in Costa Rica. 

We are still waiting for the bus……  One of the construction workers finds a 5 colon piece of money in the dirt and calls me over to give it to me (worth about 1 penny in Dollars).  I am still not sure why, did we look that bad that this man wanted to give us money? I will save that 5 colon piece to remember the happy man working very hard.

  Still waiting for the bus…..

So, after at least 30 minutes Roger’s idea is to walk up the same street about 100 meters and wait at another bus stop, ok? We see a Routa 2 bus coming and we start waving!  He stops and we pay our fee and sit down. 

We feel quiet proud of ourselves

  I start counting the turns Left than right than left than right for 6 times.  I am trying to figure out if we had to walk back we could retrace the route.  So now there are only 2 other people on the bus and it stops at the last bus stop.  The 2 women tell us in Spanish to get off.  I must have looked shocked.  We smile and continue to sit on the bus.  The driver comes to a cull de sac in the middle of nowhere, and parks the bus.  

We’re still smiling.  The driver says something and motions for us to stay on the bus. So we sit and smile some more.  He gets off the bus leaves all his money there in front of us and walks away.  

We are still smiling.  He finally comes back and starts the bus again and does a reverse of the left and rights he took to get us nowhere.  He says San Jose and we say Si.

Finally we end up in downtown San Jose and he tells us to get off. 

 Accomplishment of the day:

No need to ever take the Routa 2 bus again!

The sidewalk got finished

Number 3  

When you have no one to talk to

 Are you forced to talk to your husband?

Roger and I have the usual marriage.  I talk, he ignores.  One of my favorite expressions when I get no response “please just grunt” so I know you heard me.  This talking pattern always worked for us because I could surround myself with other “like” people (other talkers).

So here we are in Costa Rica, a year in self-imposed exile, knowing almost no one.  And who do I have to look forward to talking with every day, yep Roger.  He has never been a conversationalist and if I am honest, I prefer being the one that directs the conversations (even if they are one sided).

Already I can see myself searching out people to talk to. We happen to be in the Central Market (pictures to follow) and these 2 men were looking at wooden coasters.  One said how much is 10,000 colones.  Before his partner could open his mouth, I said $20.  Then I started talking about the price of goods in Costa Rica as they looked at the very strange woman standing before them.

So when Roger and I sit down to have wine on the balcony every evening, the topic of conversation tends to be…the traffic below us, (the conversation usually goes..."omg did you see that" with me talking). 

We hardly watch TV anymore so we can’t even have our usual “discussion” about how the Republicans are destroying the country or how the Democrats see taxes as the solution to all society’s ills.  We used to be able to stomp off in our neutral corners until each of us cooled down, but now he’s all I’ve got.  We’ve officially called a truce on politics until we get back to the USA.

Number 2  

How much stuff do you really need:

or

Getting your life into 6 Bags

We made a decision to not ship anything to Costa Rica.  The biggest reason being costs and the second reason was we wanted to try living here first. .  The costs of a shipping container is expensive. We got tentative costs of around $12,000.  The shipper drops a container in your drive way and you have 1 day to fill it all with whatever you want, including cars.  Since we are unsure of our final destination and didn't want to make that kind of commitment without living here for a year. Also the customs on the goods shipped into Costa Rica is at least 30% of the value of the goods. So many people ship their entire lives into a container and then find out that they hate it.  Everyday we see ads for household goods being sold because people are moving back "home".  The statistics are reported to be 80% of the people who come here from the US don't stay.


When we sold our 3 bedroom house we said we wanted a feeling of less "stuff".  To be honest, I did not go through that process of downsizing easily.  I had feeling of insecurity and of not being "safe". Ok we can all psychoanalysis Linda at another time. We sold pretty much all our furniture and put the remainder of our lives in a storage Pod. BTW, selling used furniture has little to no value, even for all the Italian made furniture purchased at Bloomingdale's

The next decision was what do we bring to Costa Rica. When we came in October, we took 3 bags and found a storage unit by the airport and left everything we took there.  I believed I would remember what we brought (without making a list)  but when we arrived I had no idea what was in the storage unit.

Jet Blue allows 2 bags per person  to be checked for free  (under 50 pounds each).  The next 2 bag cost $50 each. The next 2 bags were $100 each.  Since one of the bags weighed over 50 pounds that bag was an additional $100.  So are you keeping up with the math?  That's $400 extra in airline fees.
So not only have I forgotten everything we brought down in October, we packed the new bags 6 weeks before we arrived so pretty much we forget the contents of those 6 bags too.

Unpacking was fun.  When packing with limitations, it becomes so important that every ounce you pack is something you really need.  Makes sense...well when we unpacked I just had to shake my head with some of my choices.  Why did I ever think I needed to bring a DVD player to Costa Rica. Where did I think we were going to rent DVD?. And, why did I think bringing 12 tubes of scratch medication and 15 tooth brushes (oh yes I did) was a good idea especially since we brought our electric tooth brushes.  I now have more pairs of under ware in Costa Rica than a family of 20. So if the amount of stuff you bring is correlated to the importance of that stuff in your life, I value toothbrushes, cut ointment, and under ware.  Hummm what does that say about me?

When we rented the condo over the internet, without ever seeing it in person, (we are the trusting type) I did ask if the kitchen was fully furnished.  The answer was YES.  Something got lost in the translation because the condo had 4 plates, 4 cups, 4 knives, 4 forks and 4 spoons and 1 set of sheets for each bed.  It did not have a coffee marker, any kitchen utensils, storage bowls, cleaning tools, potato peeler and the list goes on...... That's when you realize just what you need!

Here is a picture of Roger's new coffee maker. This is how the people of Costa Rica used to brew their coffee. We are learning to live without our stuff quite nicely.  One last item we brought from home was a small vacuum cleaner.  Nice idea but the cleaning lady doesn't use one!