As you guessed, we got here safely and everything has been moving along FAST.We were planning on staying at the Hotel Posada in San Ramon on the 1st but ended up staying at Casa del Sol (our rental home pictured below) and have been here since.
We obtained the items we had put in Dave and Arden’s container on the 5th and had only one day to take care of them. We weren’t expecting our container to arrive until the 22nd but we had them delivered to our door on the 6th. All arrived unscathed – the only casualty found so far is a chipped tea cup – not bad I think!!!
The day after we received our container items, all three of us piled in the rental car to go to San Jose to turn it in and get the Subaru! I thank God that Pam is here to help Dave – she has been such a BIG help! I certainly couldn’t have done all that she has!!!
Last Friday our land lady went to the local government owned monopoly for electricity and telephone (called ICE) to get us a land line. We can’t get a phone line in our name as we are foreigners. Even though it is supposed to take at least 2 weeks our English speaking lawyer called on Monday saying he had pulled some strings and it would be hooked up this week and gave us the number!!!
We have postponed and as of this writing and our current knowledge probably will cancel the satellite dish for internet. We have found out that with a phone line we will most likely be able to get DSL. I don’t know how long we will be without internet service but it will be worth it as it should be faster and MUCHO cheaper!!! In the interim we have to go to the Brinks and mooch off their wireless – tolerable for the short term!
We were having challenges with the propane fired water heater (especially with my hand held shower) so we purchased and had installed an on-demand electric hot water heater. So far it seems more reliable and Dave or Pam don’t have to light the propane heater (a.k.a. “old smokey”) before every shower! When we get the hot water to come into the kitchen sink for washing dishes instead of heating it on the stove, the hot water challenges will be over!!!
I really thrive here – the warmth and flat surfaces make it MUCH easier for me to get around. I don’t have to be challenged with the cold decreasing the blood flow to my muscles and causing stiffness. Besides helping to unpack, cooking most all the meals and washing dishes, Pam has been working on me both energetically and physically along with helping me exercise daily to assist me in reaching my goal of walking. I won’t go into detail about what we have been doing, but everyday I get stronger and closer to realizing my goal!!!
There is so much here in Costa Rica that we want to go see and do – it won’t be long before we will be in a position to start! We want to take Pam to some of the places we went to in November and also hope to go see Arenal – the active volcano – while she is here. We’ll make sure to let you know about how the trip to el volcan goes.
We think we have found a nice Tica (native female) named Anna to start working as a domestic next week. She has an adorable little girl about 2 years old named Diana (pictured below) and a Tico (native male) husband that speaks great English. Anna will be here on Tuesdays and Thursdays to clean, do laundry and possibly cook. She speaks very little English but wants to learn. Who knows how much she and we can teach each other!
The weather here has been WONDERFUL – lows of 60 in the early AM and high of 85 during the day. This is summer or the dry season so we haven’t seen a drop of rain. Condensation forms at night that can be seen in the morning but is gone by 8 AM.
We are doing our best with learning Spanish. David has definitely learned the fastest. Soon, we hope to have a tutor come in for some intensive education.
__________________________
Here’s one of our life experiences:
The day after we picked up the Subaru we began to smell gasoline fumes. Dave figured out that the fuel filter had a pin-hole leak and repaired it with Liquid Solder and the old standby, duct tape! After consulting with our Spanglish helper we were told of a “mechanico” that spoke a little English. Dave called, explained the problem, and was told that the mechanic would be at our casa in about a half hour. Sure enough, 30 minutes later Joaquin arrived at the front gate wearing a huge smile and carrying a new fuel filter for the Subie. After about 10 minutes and a brief Spanish lesson, he informed Dave that the charge would be approximately $10 for the filter and $8 for the “house call.” The repair was perfect AND we now have someone that we can trust in an emergency. _________________________
After days of “parrot sightings”, seeing and hearing the loud flock of literally dozens of green parrots flying around in the early morning, we had our first sighting of toucans early this morning. We saw (but didn’t get a photograph) a beautiful pair of them in the trees across the street from the house. An absolutely incredible sight!
All for now – I promise to email again when we get our internet up and running. Maybe we’ll even be able to attach pictures!
Dave & his esposa, Raylene (the Tico’s spell and pronounce it “Reiling”) Read more Entry>>
