I’m back from Grecia for the second day in a row.

 

Took the bus in to get brown rice and more dehumidifing crystals, and had a fun experience while I was there, too.

 

Stopped First at the Bank

 

…to get some colones for the feria tomorrow, and then walked to Peri to buy three small bags of brown rice and six small packages of dehumidifying crystals, since I already have plenty of plastic containers to hold them in.

 

Got a Flu Shot…

 

Then I walked across the street and spotted a table set up for influenza boosters, so I stopped there briefly to get my annual flu shot. The line was very short; only two ladies were ahead of me.

 

Had a Hamburger and Soda

 

By this time, it was ten minutes to 10 a.m. and I wanted to stop at my favorite Mercado Municipal soda for an hamburguesa and Coca Cola.  I figured I’d miss the 10:20 bus by doing so, but figured that eating there and then crossing another street to Mundo Magico would give me the extra time to pick up a small box of thread at MM while I waited for the next bus to arrive…

 

So, I stopped in at the soda, which is just across the walkway from where I took pix of the wall-wide mural several weeks ago, remember? Here’s one of the pix I took then:

 

 

I walked in, placed my cart out of the way and sat down. Almost immediately, a server came and took my order (which I was able to say totally in Spanish), then stepped away to put it in to the short order cook.

 

A gentleman working there (he possibly owns the place) spotted me, smiled, and came over from behind the cash register/order area to say hello in English. He asked my name.  “I said “Krees” (the Spanish way) and he repeated, “Kris.”  I nodded!

 

He asked where I’m from originally.  I told him the Seattle area in Washington State, USA (in Spanish). He said (in English), “I’m very familiar with most of the United States. I worked there as a driver for 28 years.”

 

He said west coast people and southerners are very nice to interact with and that many other U.S. natives are, too, but the ones in Long Island were his least favorite.  I’ve never been there, but I have heard that they can be kinda snooty, so his comment wasn’t a surprise to me.

 

Politics Palaver

 

We discussed the present political situation in the States — he brought it up — so I mentioned Trump specifically then, whom he then proclaimed “crazy” in English, while I called him (additionally) “depraved and cruel.” I told him I was worried for my Latin friends (and everyone else who’s Hispanic) in the US and for others who are being targeted unfairly for persecution and terrorized in their own communities.

 

This gentleman told me he has a place in Grecia and a ranch with horses in another part of Costa Rica that he visits often. He said he has fancy Mexican stepping horses at the other place. I tried to clarify, asking, “Paso fino?”  He said, “No, mine are another breed.”  (Mexican dancing horses? Azteca? I’m not sure…) I don’t think he specified the breed.

 

El Cajon Former Neighbor

 

At about that time, a former neighbor from El Cajon (who speaks only Spanish) stopped by to say hello.  I asked him in Spanish to say hello to Noelia and Luz for me, and he told my restaurant amigo (in Spanish) that he has moved from El Cajon and is now building a home in Grecia, so he won’t be seeing them to tell them hello for me.

 

The restaurant fellow translated for me

 

… which was great because I had told him earlier that although I can read, write, and speak Spanish fairly well, I still have a hard time hearing it and being able to understand it (as explained in an earlier blog post). And my former neighbor is well aware that I don’t speak Spanish fluently (or hear it fluently) because natives speak so fast and because the pronunciation of many of the words don’t “translate” from my ear to my brain in the same way they do when I speak, write and read it (again, as explained in an earlier blog post), so he used my new fluently bilingual friend as his translator!

 

So, for about three or four minutes, until my meal arrived, we carried on a three-way conversation in that way. It felt very animated, friendly, and fun.  I called my former neighbor “un buen hombre” and my new restaurant friend nodded his agreement. (They have known each other for many years, I gather.)

 

After I left there, I was going to cross the street to get thread at Mundo Magico but I noticed that the 10:20 bus to San Isidro was still there, so I jumped aboard. It left almost immediately thereafter and I got back home here at 11:06.  I will get the thread on another day.

 

(I bought a packet of various size sewing needles yesterday from a street vendor inside Subway in exchange for a donation to his cause, but he didn’t have thread to go with them, or I would have bought that from him, too. Alas!)

 

When I got home I made myself a third cup of coffee. I will probably not sleep tonight as a result of “too much caffeine intake” today but … oh well!   Maybe it will make its way through my system before bedtime, but I’m super sensitive to caffeine, so no guarantees!  I may be writing my next blog post at 10 or 11 or midnight tonight, if the caffeine doesn’t wear off before then.

 

We shall see!

 

My neighbor couldn’t go to Grecia with me today

 

… because there were workers scheduled to drop off building materials this morning at his place and he had to be there to let them in.  But I think we’ll be doing the feria tomorrow morning together, so that’s good. I want to get some pork chops and a beef steak or two for my freezer.  (Sometimes I feel carnivorous and chicken doesn’t do it for me. MOST of the time I’m happy with chicken, beans and rice, though.)

 

Carry on! Have a great day!