I managed to get a few more images of Grecia feria iguanas today. You’ll see them plus a few videos of them in action below.

 

Marianele drove me to the ATM in Grecia this  morning so I could withdraw money and then she drove me to the feria and dropped me off.  She wasn’t able to drive me home this afternoon because her son needed her vehicle, but I said that was fine: I could catch the bus home after lunch.

 

Medium size iguana at the feria today

Another medium size iguana

This iguana is easily 5+ feet long from head to tip of tail

Massive iguana

Here is a so-so video of three iguanas in motion:

 

https://www.facebook.com/674337914/videos/pcb.10164438718207915/1344646954342413

 

While at the feria, I bought hongos (mushrooms), papayas for the birds, lechuga (lettuce), salmon and deboned/fileted red snapper (pargo).  I jerryrigged my cart so I could attach my Winco frozen food bag and my Safeway hot and cold bag to it, because Jon told me if I bought fish at the feria the vendor would give me enough ice to keep it cold until I got it home later in the day.  That’s exactly what happened.

 

Also while at the feria, I finished taking pictures of iguanas and shopping before Jon, Dale and Christine finished shopping, so I stopped at the slushie bar to get a healthy drink and a warm cinnamon roll.

 

While I was there…

I sat next to a Tico couple who has been living in New Jersey for four or five years, but they’re planning to move back here even though they are dual American/CR citizens because of the Trump regime’s insane immigration purge. They no longer feel safe there.  They feel they could get arrested and “disappeared” at any time without due process because they have brown skin.

 

I told them I’m trans and left for the same reason. No one who isn’t white, male supremecist and cis-het is safe in T-Wreck’s United States.

 

(In sharp contrast, Costa Rica is fiercely accepting of diversity.)

 

Me standing before the graphic at

immigracion in San Jose

Photo courtesy of Jon Graham Mitchell

 

This young couple and I commiserated with each other for ten minutes or so about how far the U.S. has fallen as a beacon of liberty and justice for all. E pluribus unum.

 

E pluribus unum is a Latin phrase meaning “out of many, one,” a traditional motto of the United States symbolizing the formation of a single nation from many colonies, appearing prominently on the Great Seal and U.S. currency. It represents unity from diversity, reflecting the American ideal of many cultures and states creating one cohesive country.  

 

The US has never lived up to this ideal, but it certainly has been significantly better than it is right now!

 

But this couple still hangs onto hope that the dystopia will end with the death of the cult leader.  That all depends, I think, on how far Project 2025 has been implemented by the time he dies.  It’s already about 60% in place.

 

T-Wrecks isn’t the mastermind; he’s the puppet, but enough of his followers don’t realize that yet. It’s gonna take a generation, at least, just to restore what has been destroyed in the past eleven months by the puppet masters who are working behind the scenes day and night to steal the promise of the United States away from its enormous array of good-hearted, fair-minded, hard-working citizens.

 

Today’s Lunch Bunch

 

I had lunch with Christine, Jon and Dale at a new (to me) restaurant (Barilles) in Grecia. It is a small, very friendly place. The server was delightful and the food was delicious.

 

I ordered a new-to-me Costa Rican favorite — fajitas mar y tierra (translation: fajitas sea and land), consisting of shrimp and beef plus sides of fried yucca and a salad.  I ate every single bite, which was a challenge! Usually I take half of restaurant meals home, but my cart was packed full and I didn’t have room for it there, so I packed my entire lunch home in my belly instead.

 

Crystal is on her way to Maine for the holidays

 

… but she joined us virtually by phone for a few minutes (from the airport in San Jose) to say hi and to send hellos, love and hugs. That was an unexpected surprise and pleasure.

 

Crystal says she will bring me back a calendar from Maine. That will be fabulous because I need one to keep track of my warfarin dose schedule, since I’m 100% responsible for that down here.

 

Lisa says she will bring me one, too, in February.  I’m used to having two — one for the fridge (for my warfarin record) and one at my desk. Perfecto!

Jon and Dale

Christine Kerna

Christine’s three mandatory US-based documents (birth certificate, FBI background check, and Social Security income statement) are in process, thanks to her daughter, who is doing the legwork in her absence.

 

Christine didn’t plan to move here this soon. She came down just to check out Costa Rica as a potential place to retire but then she fell head over heels in love with the culture, the people, and the support system that is in place here, thanks to Rainbow Refuge and its roster of expert “settling in” helpers, including Jon Graham Mitchell.

 

After lunch Jon dropped me at the bus station, and since the bus to El Cajon had departed fifteen minutes earlier, I had time to go through Mercado Municipal and get some coliflor (cauliflower) and cat food before the next bus would wend its way past my bus stop in the heights.

 

The people in the pet store remembered that I had bought the large round cat scratcher and asked me if I like it.  At the moment, I like it better than Charli does.  She still prefers the smaller, rectangular one, but she will probably transfer to the round one when the small one gets shredded beyond recognition.  She still sleeps on it a lot, too.

 

Luck Be a Lady

 

Missing the 1 PM bus to El Cajon was a blessing in another way.  As I stood in line waiting for the bus doors to open and accept riders, there was a woman standing and waiting about four people behind me. Every time I looked in her direction, she gave me a broad smile and the look that said, “Hello!” I smiled back each time.

 

Then, she said something to me in Spanish, but I couldn’t hear her because of the traffic and over other people’s chatting, so I waved her forward. She asked if I spoke Spanish and I said, “Un poco, pero he estudiando mucho!”  (“A little but I’m studying a lot!)  That’s when she asked, “Habla Ingles?” I said, “Si!”

 

That’s when I found out she’s bilingual but her native tongue is English.  She lives here now but she’s from Arizona.  So when the bus boarded, I waved her into the seat beside me and we got to know each other better. She’s a liberal, well-read, fully vaccinated, with three sons, one of whom is traveling the globe for three years on a sailing vessel. (Her other two sons live in my natal State — Washington — in Seattle and Sultan.) She has been able to join her traveling son a time or two and was in Auckland New Zealand the year after I was for a couple of weeks.

 

We yakked all the way to my bus stop. Before we got to it, I asked if we could exchange contact WhatsApp information, which we did, and she has invited me to a Wednesday expat luncheon that happens weekly near the feria at a restaurant.  She said she would ride with me on the bus the first time to show me where to get off and how to get to the restaurant from where the bus lets us off.  I jumped at the opportunity.

 

She is a delightful person. Our vibes match. And she knows Jane Howe but not Marilyn Stevens.  She lives near them in Arriba El Cajon (Upper El Cajon). Her name is Lynda Rice. Here is a selfie I took of us during the bus trip. (We got photo bombed — by his own admission — by a fellow who I surmised is a Mormon missionary.  He was nicely dressed in a suit, as was his seatmate, and they are both from Utah. Nice chaps.)

My newest friend-to-be, Lynda Rice!

 

 

DINNERTIME… THEN BEDTIME!

 

I think I’m going to have the salmon I bought today for dinner tonight.  I put the pargo (red snapper) in the freezer, since it was still frozen enough to stay safe until I got it home.

 

That’s all the news that’s fit to print today. I’ve walked 5505 steps today.  A little short of 6K, but I might make up the difference before I hit the hay tonight.  It’s only 5:30 but the sun has set already.  That usually beckons my internal hibernating bear to come forth and slam me into bed.

 

I shall obey!