Today is my 6 month anniversary in Costa Rica.

 

I have been putting it to good use.

 

And also — er — sorta sideways use…

 

Let me explain!

 

After walking this morning to get in the 7500 steps I’m sworn to uphold (I’m at 8,511 steps now, four hours later), I stopped at the mini mart to get a cantaloupe, a baguette and some butter and cheese, then trudged back up the hill to my abode.

 

Jumped into the shower and then out IMMEDIATELY (after doing what I could at warp speed with cold water to do what felt absolutely necessary)  because the hot water wasn’t working (it is now: Deb probably had a load of wash going), and freezing cold water wasn’t dancing well with my overly warm carcass.  I sure didn’t want to risk cardiac arrest in there!

 

After dressing, I went into the kitchen to prepare a BLT sandwich with — ahem — part of the warm baguette I bought at the store. That was a serious (but ultimately hilarious) mistake!

 

I took a serrated knife and cut off about four inches of the baguette, then sawed it down the middle. (Now I know why Lisa cut into slices the ones we got while she was here!)

 

The serrated knife, as it was slicing down the middle of the baguette (hard and crunchy on the outside, soft and warm inside) managed to gather and push most of the baguette’s innards toward the bottom on the piece that I had cut off to make the sandwich, so I had to nurse the wayward innards back to their original locations.

 

(Yeah, that was largely unsuccessful because by now the crunchy outsides were beginning to disintegrate due to my so-called “repair” intervention.)

 

While I was doing that, I was nuking the bacon so it would be ready, and running water through the iceberg lettuce so it would be pristine when I put it on the bread. I also cut the juicy red tomato into slices.

 

When the microwave buzzed, I was ready to assemble the sandwich.

 

But after putting the tomato, wet lettuce, bacon and mayonnaise on the bread, I noticed that it was coming apart at the seams.  The wet lettuce and mayo had soaked the bottom piece, and the top piece was looking well mangled. Fortuuately, it stayed drier than the bottom piece!

 

This is what I had to contend with after assembling it:

 

Mission: Impossible

 

I never claimed to be a cook, a baker, or even a sandwich maker.  I’ve been lucky when trying, though, right up until this fiasco!  But no way would I ever cook a meal for a group of people I cared about. I know my limits! LOL! 

 

Lisa and I had to eat our way around chicken bones large and small when I made chicken in a crockpot.  I learned I can also get deboned and deskinned chicken, so I’m doing that these days.  (Thanks for the heads up, Lisa! I’M ON IT, NOW!!!)

 

After that, Charli wanted to go outside for a while

 

…but she was hesitating because Mao (Deb’s cat) chased her back inside yesterday, with Deb hot on her tail yelling at Mao.

 

So, I grabbed my spiral notebook and my new Spanish workbook and went out on the patio so I could act as her “Mau deterrent” while she did a little reconn mission.

 

I got about a page and a half of notes written and then noticed that Charli was back inside the house sitting at the screen patio door waiting for me to come back in.  So, I went in and continued to work on the study until noon.

 

At noon I cooked and ate the tilapia that had thawed overnight in the fridge

 

I also ate the small cantaloupe.  Both of them were fine and there were no mishaps.

 

Oh, I also cut three small pieces of baguette (the right way this time) and ate those.

 

Then I went back to work for a while, studying.

Here are images of what I’ve done today:

 

 

 

I’ll probably do more later, because I love it so,

but first I need to finish this goofy post!

 

Today — as mentioned in the headline — is the six month anniversary of my arrival here in Costa Rica.

 

And tomorrow is my 75th birthday.

 

I don’t know what more I can say about my time here in Costa Rica that hasn’t already been said in earlier posts in as many different ways as I could find ways to say (and show) it.

 

I absolutely love this country, its people, traditions, history, culture and environment.  And the people I have met since moving here (and shortly before, virtually) are all wonderful and have been uniformly kind and extremely helpful, as well.  I have never felt like a stranger in a strange land because of it.  The moment I landed, I felt right at home, the language challenge (not a barrier so much as a barely manageable hurdle) notwithstanding. And I’m closing the gap with all deliberate speed between what I know about Spanish and what I still need to learn about it.

 

I have experienced my first “problematic” bug bite, however!

 

Yesterday when I was walking back from the soccer field, I felt a pinch and spotted a colorful little insect (not a mosquito) attached to my arm.  It was red or yellow (I can’t remember now for sure) and about the size of a very small fly.

 

I flicked it off, and a few minutes later the spot bled a little. Later on it stung a little and swelled some.  The area around it is still a little swollen and red two days later because it itches and I have been harassing it instead of leaving it alone.

 

When I leave it alone, it behaves better and the slight swelling and redness die down, so I’ve started putting anti-itch cream on it so I can ignore it more successfully.

 

AND I have begun to apply insect spray again, even during the day, because I don’t want any more encounters like this one!

It sucks to be reminded to do what’s right the hard way!

 

I was very religious about applying both sunscreen and bug spray for the first three months I was here, but since I never got any bites and am never out after dark, I had been neglecting to apply insect repellent more recently.  I won’t do that again, for sure!

 

It’s not a major issue, but it’s hard to keep from messing with it unless I keep anti-itch cream on it constantly.

 

But this has been my ONLY “negative experience” in Costa Rica, so I’ll take it like a man!

(But maybe I should take it like a woman in this case,

because women handle “boo boos” and colds/flu/common crapola better than many men do!)

 

That’s probably because women don’t have other women to coddle and do for them when they get sick after they reach adulthood, as men frequently do. Women historically have had to work through their own maladies while continuing to help their families with their maladies, even when they’re concurrent.

 

WOMEN ARE THE TRUE WARRIORS,

BUT IN THE SERVICE OF LIFE,

NOT DEATH!

 

So, here’s my hearty shoutout to the

STRONGEST (most resilient) PEOPLE ON EARTH!

 

And I think I’ll end on that note.  My 75th birthday thoughts can wait until tomorrow — if I develop any worth sharing between now and then!

 

Hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing it.  (It was a blast!)