It’s Friday and I had a frolic with my Costa Rica family this morning and afternoon.

 

Here are the details…

 

I met Crystal at 7 a.m. sharp at her place

 

…ostentibly to take four laps around the futbol field since we were planning to walk a lot at the feria later on today. But we were chatting so fervently that the four laps went by too fast, so we took two more laps — our usual six– before heading back up the hill toward our homes.  She had to be back by 8, and we were (barely).

 

Our walking time goes by too fast when we’re together because we never shut up, so we don’t realize how much time is passing. I keep track of the laps with my fingers, or we’d probably walk til dusk! LOL!

 

We have waaaayyy too much fun together! We’re going shopping sometime soon so she can get a sundress and I can get new tennis shoes.  Jon and Francisco said the two best places to get shoes for less are the shoe store right next to Subway and the Payless across from my pharmacy (Central).

 

That’s perfect, because the best place for Crystal to get a sundress is at Huracan, and these three places are within easy walking distance of each other in downtown (Central) Grecia.  We’ll catch a bus sometime soon and make it a day — or at least a morning — of targeted shopping…

 

I went home for a couple hours after leaving Crystal at her place. I ate breakfast (beans and rice and peach nectar) and then kind of vegged until 9:40, when I traipsed back down to the Garrisons to catch their Uber with them that took us to the feria.

 

Knowing exactly what I wanted to get there, I was all shopped out and ready to go at 11:30. The rest of the gang — Crystal, Dale, Francisco and Jon — had one more row to visit, so I bid them adieu for a time to go hail a taxi. Jon said it would take three minutes, max, to do that, but that wasn’t the case today.

 

There were zero taxis lined up at the taxi place in the feria!

 

I got to the taxi queue and saw that there was a short line of other elderly folks waiting with their baskets of goods for taxis to arrive, so I got a little antsy, worrying that my tribe would finish their shopping and get to the Grecia Football Club significantly earlier than I would be able to get there.

 

I waited fifteen minutes (minimum!) for a taxicab that would take me — the other folks in line were first and took the first three taxis that preceded me — and then got a driver who didn’t know where the Football Club was, so I pulled it up on my phone and showed him.  He got me there reliably and unloaded my cart filled with purchases (ham, chicken, fish, cantaloupe, avocados, and iceberg lettuce, all on ice and in my cooler bag). I paid him 1K colones (about $2) and went inside.

 

Jon, Francisco, Dale and Crystal arrived less than five minutes later 

 

Jon mentioned that at noon sharp a lot of business owners stop serving clients during lunch hour — noon to 1:30 — so I may have gotten a ride just before the cut off hour.  I have to remember that from now on, or I will have no way to get to lunch (or the bus station) by taxi!  I guess I can call Marianela or Adilio to come fetch me, if that ever happens, to take me directly home.  There are always options!

 

At the Football Club I ordered the Executive Plate with breaded fish (tilapia) and a limonada and Coca Cola.  Jon was in rare form today; I told him he should take his show on the road.  Oh! And he was wearing a FABULOUS pink shirt that made him appear even more handsome than he usually does.  (Alas, I didn’t pull out my camera and take a picture, dammit! I will certainly do so next time I catch him in it!)

 

Dale and Crystal are in their second or third week of Spanish Lessons 

 

…. so we started peppering them with questions, comments and asides in Spanish, which was part of the fun. We threw poor Crystal for a complete loop because it was noisy in there and neither she nor I hear very well even under the best circumstances, so it was pretty funny.

 

For example, when she decided she wanted the shrimp lunch, we let her know that the word for shrimp (which was also on the menu in print in English and Spanish) was “camarones,” and since she learned the pronunciation of the vowels, we kept saying “camarones” until she had that down pat, and then I added, “Me gustaria camarones, por favor,” and she shot back, “Eh, wot?”

 

I grinned and said, “I would like camarones, please” — translating it for her.  She tried a couple times and we said, “Great!  Good! You got it, girl!”

 

She said, “I will never remember that!”

 

I said, “Sure you will!”

 

Almost immediately, the server came to the table, ready to take our orders, and looked at Crystal first. Crystal’s order?

 

“Shrimp, please!” (Fortunately, the server speaks English!)

 

The rest of us just laughed because — well, so much for OUR coaching methods!!!!  Restaurants (and mirthful coaches) are definitely not conducive to learning a language on the fly!

 

But I totally get it!!!

 

I remember my first attempts to speak Spanish in high school.  I was a basket case.  She and Dale will get a little braver as time goes by.

 

The Garrison are now legal temporary pensionado residents of Costa Rica 

 

Crystal and Dale just got their immigration applications accepted and certified, so we were celebrating that at lunch.  Next week they will pay the fees required to take the next official steps — $1000+ worth of expenses for the two of them plus their first required CAJA (socialized medicine) payments — Jon will accompany them — and in a few weeks they should get their DIMEX cards delivered to the post office in Grecia.  That’s when they can start riding the buses for free and get other pensionado perks.

 

My turn will come probably around August

 

Theirs took them 11 months.  Mine may take longer than that from when I applied on Sept 11th of last year. There are so many souls fleeing the United States to Costa Rica and other sane countries right now that the backlogs are horrendous.

 

I paid my meal tab and left at 1, thinking I’d have an hour and a half to get more colones from the bank and three more undershirts at Huracan before the bus to San Isidro began loading at 2:30.  So, I stopped at the bank and at Huracan and did my shopping, then wandered to the bus station to find out exactly when the next bus would head for San Isidro.

 

As luck would have it, the next bus to San Isidro was about 30 seconds from pulling out of the bus station, so I hopped aboard, paid the fare, took a seat, and away we went.  I was the last one on, and the bus headed straight up my street instead of taking the detour route, so I was back home in under 20 minutes!  So, that 1:30 bus will be my goal every time from now on!

 

I got home, unloaded my groceries and shirts, took a shower and texted Lisa to see how she’s feeling. She was sicker than a dog yesterday — had to leave work early, even — but thankfully she is feeling better today and back at work. She isn’t feeling completely back to par, but at least the worst of her symptoms have abated. (If I told you what her symptoms were, it would be TMI. Suffice it to say she was truly miserable.)

 

Dennis only needed a photo of my driver license and my bank interest to complete my tax return, so I’m waiting now to find out what I owe, what I’m getting back, or if it’s a wash. I should hear pretty soon.

 

Charles Schwab still hasn’t gotten back to me so I will reach out again on Monday.

 

I got an unexpected $138.75 in a class action settlement with AVAST, so that will be going into my bank account on Monday, probably.  Hurray!

 

I’ve taken 12, 546 steps so far today!

 

And … that’s all I have for this time.