Firsts Week in CR

We have now been in Costa Rica for a little less than a week and are getting settled. One thing I learned from living at Pony Creek for two months this summer is that it does take time to get settled and I can't judge how I feel about a place for a few weeks, until we figure out some routines. Everything is new and it's hard to relax when we meet new challenges so often. 

When I woke up on the morning of our flight, all the words and looks everyone has been giving us came crashing down on me and suddenly I felt how crazy this all sounded. What ARE we going to do when we get there? Once we landed in San Jose, however, things came thick and fast and there has not been any time to question. All along, Seth and I have figured that, worse comes to worse, we just buy plane tickets and go home! One thing is for sure: time is on our side. We have no expectations or deadlines and we have the freedom to take as long as we need to solve problems. 

We originally thought we could get away with not having a car. People have said the bus systems are good and we are trying to do this as cheaply as possible. But when I mentioned this to Lyn, who runs our Airbnb, she flipped...and now I see why. We are living on a dirt road about half a mile from the bus station. I can just see us getting caught in a downpour walking home. If it were just the two of us, different story, but with a 4 year old who melts down because we no longer own a glue stick? Not good. 

We found that renting two compact cars is much cheaper than a larger vehicle, so guess who gets to learn to drive in CR? Me! Luckily my dad taught me to drive a stick, so we avoided that upcharge. Driving in a developing country is an adventure, but I'm glad I'm being forced to do it. It does cause me stress as I'm learning, but being too afraid to drive would be a long term problem I'm avoiding. Once I realized there's virtually no such thing as road rage and everyone cuts everyone off all the time, it's gotten a bit easier. The worst thing you can do is not go fast enough or wait too long at an intersection. But even then, no one seems to mind. Horns and flashers are used to announce your presence, and no one seems to care what anyone else does. They'll just go around you.  And when I'm unsure, someone will often waive me in or through an intersection. 

We got here on a Saturday afternoon, so we had just enough time to get our cars, check into our place and run to the local mercado for Sunday food.  We attended the Tropicana Ward on Sunday, just guessing at which ward we belonged too. Because the addresses are sketchy here, LDS tools didn't recognize ours. Luckily we got it right and hopefully they will transfer our records before we move on to our next place in a month. We told them we are temporary, but looking for a house. The bishop, who was out of town for the meeting, texted Seth that night and a couple of days later we got some suggestions from him on rental listings within the ward boundary. 

I made a few contacts before I got here, one was the Ayala family. They live a block away from the temple and their son had been a mission compaion to Jonathan Curzon in Nicaragua. I have been communicating with them for several months and we finally met on Sunday afternoon. They are from El Salvador, but have lived in CR for many, many years. Sister Ayala speaks very little English and it is great for my Spanish practice. I can understand most of what she says but it is still hard for me to respond. Her husband and children spoke English and we had this funny conversation switching back and forth between Spanish and English whenever we couldn't quite find the right words. 

That was a tiring day. Listening to and speaking Spanish all day was exhaustin. But at 5am I was at it again! The Ayala's invited me to a local wholesale market (open between 10pm and 7am) that sells fruits and vegetables to businesses. Jenna and I woke up at 4:30 to pick up Jorge and Dora. By the end of our trip our little car was overflowing. Everything is sold by the box or kilo. I ended up with 16 kilos (35 lbs) of potatoes because the price was right. 12 pinneapples, a box of mangoes, 2 boxes of bananans and various other things in smaller amounts. Prices are very good for fruits and vegetables, but not for meat, eggs and cheese. In order to get the most for our money, we change the way we eat. It is a relief to have enough food while we deal with other challenges. 

Isaac's birthday was on Tuesday, so we made a trip to Jaco Beach. Traffic was bad at a particular intersection, so we diverted through the small town of Atenas. It's mountainous and the roads are so steep that I was in first gear most of the way up and down. But oh how beautiful! I am surprised at how clean everything is. I've been to a few third world countries and Costa Rica has a similar feel (barbed wire topped fences, cinderblock buildings and potholes), but there isn't garbage everywhere and people take care of their property, even in the city. But these small towns were above and beyond picturesque! After making that drive, we're going to have to apologize to the Tropicana Ward. We really aren't city people, and there is so much country to see. 

Jaco Beach was another totally unique experience. You could tell it is a tourist destination. The shops and hotels were very nice and the prices reflected it. We loved it. I have a feeling we are going to fall in love with every place we visit.