Today, Charli placed herself in the perfect position for an early morning sunbeam to capture her perfect essence:

 

aawwwww … Isn’t she adorable?

 

THE CROCKPOT IS BUSY TODAY

 

I’m slow-cooking baby back BBQ pork ribs today. They’re marinating in apple nectar while they cook because the instructions indicated that they’re especially tasty that way. (Actually, the recipe calls for apple cider, but I substituted  nectar since it’s what I have on hand.) They’ve been cooking for about five hours so far and are beginning to smell wonderful, but they won’t be ready for two or three more hours. I’ll probably be salivating by then!

 

WALKED TO A NEW TIENDA THIS MORNING

 

Instead of walking uphill to the mini mart that I usually go to when I shop locally, I decided to walk down the hill to the local tienda for the first time, the one Diane told me about. I was hoping they’d have lechuga (lettuce) but they don’t. I got a few other edibles, though, so it wasn’t a wasted trip. The cashier there was a handsome young Tico who spoke a smattering of English.

 

I’ve noticed that Ticos are handsome across the board, and the older they get, the more their weathered faces exude the sense of grace, kindness, and resilience that is their trademark.

 

Here are just a couple of examples:

The gentleman who escorted Topher Benum and me from one bus stop

to another, several blocks away (in Naranjo)

during our bus trip to San Ramon last month

 

Madison’s abuelo (grandfather), who educated me on

the “musical chair” protocol the first time I went to a bank alone

 

Francisco Solano, Jon’s husband

(You must see him in action/real life

to appreciate how utterly adorable he is, visually and personality-wise)

 

I also met a new Tico neighbor (or perhaps a hired groundskeeper?) on Calle Esteban Salas this morning. When I greeted him with, “Buenoa dias!” he asked, “Do you speak English or Spanish?”  (It’s pretty obvious that I’m a gringo, which is probably why he felt comfortable inquiring!)  I said, “A little Spanish only, English is my native language.”  He said, “Oh, good! I like to speak English whenever I get a chance!”  So, we chatted briefly.

 

I told him I’m originally from Seattle, where I live now (pointing toward Casita Tucana21) and have been living for almost six weeks; that I’ve applied for pensionado status, and that I’ve been in Costa Rica for two months (which is 100% true as of tomorrow).

 

We exchanged first names — but I can’t recall his: I will have to ask again next time I encounter him, as it’s one I had never heard before and there was no way to assign it to anything that sounded even remotely like any other name or word that I know in English or Spanish. I repeated his name all the way to the main road from where I met him, but it still didn’t stick with me. Drat!  It’s six letters long, I’m pretty sure, and (I think) begins with D but I can’t swear to it now. (As mentioned before, I’m terrible with names. It takes hearing them again or spelling them for me to recall them. I should have asked him to spell it. That would have locked it in for me.)

 

I learned that the main road from Calle Esteban Salas to Grecia is Calle Los Angeles. That will be easy to remember!

 

Oh!  And I just remembered something from yesterday during my morning walk: I passed the lady neighbor who has the grown daughter with Down Syndrome.  I greeted them both warmly as soon as I spotted them. It was cold here yesterday (for Costa Rica, about 65 degrees; there is even a cold weather yellow alert here).

 

She asked  if I was cold.  I said, “No; soy de Seattle, cerca Canada”  (“I’m from Seattle, close to Canada”).

 

In response, she rubbed her arms with her opposing hands to mimic trying to warm up and asked, “Hace mucho frio?”  and I said, “Si, en Seattle, en invierno!”  (Yes, in Seattle during winter). I told her I’m comfortable here — not cold — in this cooler weather.

 

BUS TRANSPORTATION

 

I almost rode the bus in to Grecia this morning but then I saw the “heavy rain” weather forecast that was scheduled to arrive at noon today and chickened out.  I want to take the bus in and back so I learn where to get off it on the way back.

 

The bus to town stops in Grecia,  so that’s a no-brainer.  But coming back, it won’t stop at my street unless I let the driver know I want to stop there. (“Quiero ir a Calle Esteban Salas, por favor!”) I have to become accustomed enough with the route to know when to ask to get off.

 

After I’ve done it a time or two, I’ll go to town (and maybe other places) more often than I do now because the bus is considerably less expensive than having Marianela transport me hither and yon.  And I definitely want to feel like an old pro at commuting by bus before Jon and I do our two scheduled “English language training sessions” (beginning and advanced) in Sarchi’ later this month. That’s because I will be meeting Jon at pulperia la virgencita where Calle Los Angeles and the calle (street) to downtown Grecia converge. I need to know where that is well before the days I actually meet him there.

 

I will have additional outings to tell you about in the not-too-distant future. (I’m never going to give advance notice of  specific dates or times on social media, for reasons of security, and neither should you.) And yes, pictures will be included! So stay tuned!