Last night we had a major thunderstorm, which was so cool, but also very loud, as the thunder echoes back-and-forth from one mountain to another. You can almost see the lightning roll back-and-forth between mountains and every once in a while, the house shakes down to its very bones as the thunder spanks the ground. We lost power and we lost water due to errant rock splicing through the plastic pipe. By eight this morning two men on motorcycles carrying new pipe, glue, and a shovel were standing alongside the road making the necessary repairs.
I start my walk around 6 am because the sun is usually shining brightly in the sky, and the temperature is increasing exponentially as each ray of sun peaks out from under the clouds. As I walk, I am greeted by children on motorcycles with their parents traveling to the school. I must say buenos dias 15 to 20 times a morning as everyone smiles and waves as I walk by. Yes, it’s official. I am a gringo, as explained to me by a friend but luckily a gringo that everyone wants to help improve her in Spanish, so everyone talks to me, and I fumble along, trying to make sense with a language that I’ve never spoken before. The people are gracious about my feeble attempts, but they appreciate that I try.
Below we will find pictures of my walk. I hope you get a sense of the beauty that I see every day. 
Since everyday is a hot day in Costa Rica I don’t have much advice about keeping cool with no AC except walk early, shower often, and keep your cooking short and sweet so you don’t heat up the entire house. Sometimes standing out in the relief of the daily evening rainstorm is helpful too. (note that there’s no water in the swimming pool) Sometimes life is cruel that way!
So, did I tell you it is mucho caliente aqui? It is, and for that reason I have been walking early in the morning which led me directly to a wonderful day. As I was walking down the rough stone road I saw a young man on the porch of a very old home and he was giving a man a haircut. I assumed it was his grandfather and I yelled out “Buenos Dias!” Now, since I am probably the only white girl in a 20 mile radius I tend to draw attention to myself just by breathing. Shouting “Good Day” adds a whole new dimension so the hair cut immediately ceased. I tried in my very Malo Espanol to talk to them, when the young man with the scissors in his hands, after wincing at my pronunciation stated, “I speak English.” And that began our conversation which led to me hiring him to come over three times a week to just talk to me for an hour in order to try to improve my Spanish. I am paying him of course and he is as thrilled as I am. The people in this area are impoverished and money is hard to come by so this works well for both of us. As you can see there is not a lot around here….there are more hooves than feet.
Yesterday he arrived on his small motorbike and we talked for over an hour. He is a barber and also a chef. He showed me pictures of the food that he has created and I drooled. Everyone who knows me will tell you with a shake of their head and a little “tusk-tusk…the poor dear” look that I am a lousy cook. Therefore, I am working up the nerve to see if he would cook for me once a week so I actually eat some authentic and healthy food.
After my Spanish lesson with him; I went on my walk and yelled out again “Buenos Dias!!!!” to an older woman. Turns out she knows absolutely no English but we managed to communicate a bit until she grabbed me by the arms and led me to the next house where she went in and brought out a young woman named Allan who speaks some English. Long story short we are going into town for breakfast this weekend to celebrate Costa Rican Independence Day. I think it will be fun and I am excited. The people here are so nice and welcoming.
Today I finally decided to leave the house and make the 30 minute trip to go to Nicoya using the 6 speed stick shift which I have been avoiding. I actually had no choice….I have had a headache for five days, another medical issue and was almost out of food. The traffic in Nicoya is horrid as there is one two-lane road in town and they are doing road work on it making traffic come to a crawl all the way through town. I got lost going to the hospital and ended up in the back woods down by a school where all the kids were going home in their blue and white uniforms. They looked adorable. When I finally found the hospital I went inside only to find a waiting room with about 100 coughing/snuffling people in it. But it was after visiting to bathroom I made a decision: I was not meant to be seen by a doctor on this particular day and I left.
Hospital BathroomHospital Bathroom
I then proceeded to the store (which has some Wal-Mart Brands) and then drove home. I am amazed at the price of food and am surprised that people aren’t walking around skeletal-like. I mean seriously who can afford to eat? Not that the pictures that I put up are really food anyway but still…..
$3.27 USD Small BottleSmall Bag $2.59
I arrived home to my new pets…this kitchen spider and the HUGE red ants that share my house with me. There is no use in trying to kill them as they are just replaced by their pissed off buddies. So now I just try to live and let live while just trying to get along with everyone. With any luck I will do no harm and neither will they.
Meanwhile, my daughters are in Massachusetts visiting with cousins and having a great time. I was suppose to be there and then decided to be traveling instead. I am wondering if I made a slight miscalculation. Here is a Video by my daughter Kellis of their afternoon…..you will notice there is water in this pool.
You Should Be A Traveling Fool2.com 