This morning, I have been reminiscing about the presumptions I had about Costa Rica before arriving here in September of last year. It has been a very pleasant experience discovering where I presumed amiss!
First thing I did when I got up this morning was take a hot shower, my first in weeks. It seems every time in the last several times I have decided to shower, the water was running cold and wouldn’t warm up even after ten minutes. I presume Deb had some hot or warm water washing underway or her dishwasher going during those times.
So when I discovered, early this morning, that the water was hot, I turned on the shower and luxuriated for a good ten minutes (horrors!) while it washed over me. Until you’ve had to shower in cold water, or tepid water, you have no idea what a difference it is to stand in a torrent of warm water. It’s heaven on earth. Neither the casita I stayed in in El Cajon for four months nor this apartment have been able to “promise” me a hot water shower, so when I get one, its luxury is certainly NOT lost on me. I used to take hot (or at least warm) water for granted. Not here in Costa Rica!
THINKING BACK TO ONE YEAR AGO
…to the days when Grecia Costa Rica was simply the name of an unexplored town that I was interested in as an option for settling in upon arrival to PuraVidaLand, I remember conceiving of it as Cle Elum-like (very small town, rural, agricultural, with heavily forested outskirts): a few streets tucked away in an otherwise vast wilderness.
Well!
Grecia, Costa Rica is nothing like Cle Elum was or ever has been! It is a pretty big place but with the appeal of a much smaller town. Its roads are congested with vehicles, its sidewalks are bustling, rustic and precarious — you have to watch your step or risk ending up on the ground without warning — but the attitude of the passersby is most often welcoming, collegial, and slower paced. Very few folks are rushing, passing, crowding you from behind.
The vibe is village-like
So, my preconceived notions were more than a little off. But the differences I encountered upon arrival were far from jarring or unwelcome. It was more like, “Well, this is a pleasant surprise!”
As someone who hasn’t caught a bus or any other mass transit conveyance since high school, my first few, in-a-new-direction bus rides were taken with my heart in my throat, but in each case, some kindly, helpful Tico noticed my anxiety, took me under their wing, and escorted me so I wouldn’t feel so lost, alone, and on my own as I feared I would be.
There are kind, patient, helpful people here
Just yesterday on my way back home up the hill from the soccer field, I stopped for a minute, sat my grocery bag on the ground, and took out the thermos to have a drink of water before proceeding. During this brief break, a 30-something Tica passed me by with a warm, friendly, “Buenos dias.” I returned the greeting.
Then, a few steps farther on, she stopped, turned back to face me, and asked, “Do you need help?”
I assured her I was fine — just pausing to drink a little water — and thanked her for her thoughtfulness. She smiled, turned, and went on her way.
THAT’S COSTA RICA EMBODIED!
Any time I have ever looked lost or confused, some Tico or Tica has noticed, stepped in closer, and asked if they can help. And if I’m looking for a specific store or other location, they don’t just point or offer directions, they escort me to wherever it is I want to go. Even if it’s three blocks away!
In Costa Rican culture, very few people are so wrapped up in their personal priorities or obligations that they won’t take or make time to lend a hand, spare long moments over a conversation, or even check in on the wellbeing of total strangers, as I was to these wonderful people!
It’s refreshing as spring rain!
In Other News (including more Costa Rica experiences)
Deb is having Gabriel build a fence across the top of her property on the property line so she can reinstall the gate that is down by the road closer to the house. I’m glad. I’ll be able to use the remote to open the gate from my home instead of having to walk halfway down the driveway so the gate catches the signal.
And maybe I’ll even decide to have my groceries delivered here, since I can see the arrival and open the gate. I could order cat litter in bulk, too, again. (I’ve had to rely on Jon or Adilio to pick it up for me in Sarchi and deliver it because getting 44 pounds onto two buses at two different bus terminals that are blocks apart would be very difficult!)
The fence and gate will be installed before the rainy season, Deb says, so that means within the next month to month and a half, probably sooner.
It’s gonna be FUN seeing/hearing the rainy season transpire here in San Isidro de Grecia/Alajuela. In El Cajon (my last rental), the rainy season bordered on scary. The culverts above and behind the casita became torrential RIVERS and I wondered if the hill I was on could become so saturated that it would erode and come down on me and everyone below me. (Not likely, but it did seem a remote possibility on daily monsoon-like occasions!)
Here in San Isidro, it’s safe. And Deb is having an arborist trim the tallest trees so lightning doesn’t strike them.
The thunder and lightning events in Costa Rica are INTENSE
They are both furious and exhilarating to me. But that’s just because I’m kinda NUTS about NATURE!
These storms fascinate me but they frighten a lot of people. The thunderclaps are close, loud, and all but unpredictable. The thunder sends Charli right under the bed, poor girl!
Some deem these events NATURE’S FURY
Naw. It’s just physics. It’s nothing personal. No malice intended or emotion involved.
But their mere existence is enormously provocative. It’s super easy to understand why superstitious people of olde (and some religious fundamentalists to this day) believed that natural events like this (and eclipses, volcanoes, and other natural phenomena) signaled that “the gods are angry!”
NOPE!
Today’s To Dos
Today, later, I’ll fax or mail my Charles Schwab paperwork off to Texas so they can put that to bed and send my RMD to my savings account. I have no other scheduled engagments this week until Saturday and Sunday, when a neoghborhood friend and I will be walking again. Of course, I’ll be walking every day between now and then. (Today, in Grecia.) Walking is always my first daily activity because I LOVE IT!
Tammy Sweem is a giver
…and it’s high time we all gave to HER, especially during this time of greatest need.
I will contribute to Tammy Sweem’s GoFundMe campaign today. She is a dear friend doing battle with lymphoma. I am posting the link here so you can read about her and donate or share the link to help Lisa reach her financial goal so Tammy can concentrate on healing and recovering without wasting precious energy worrying about her bills!
I doubt I’ll be editing Shayne’s excellent manuscript
I read the first four chapters and don’t believe she actually requires a line editor. If her agent finds a mass market publisher who’s interested, the publisher will have its editor weighing in on the manuscript, so there’s no need for her to pay me to do what a publisher would insist on doing anyway, in my opinion… If she disagrees, I’ll be happy to do it, but she wouldn’t find much difference between the two iterations, hers and mine. I don’t think it’d be worth the money to her, frankly, since I charge $35/hour for basic in-line editing, and her manuscript is novel-length long.
Haven’t seen Sonia’s manuscript come in yet
It will probably require at least a little tweaking, but that’s only an assumption. She has had AI look it over, so that may not be an issue at all. She may well need Lisa’s illustration services, though, since she says she isn’t entirely happy with what she has been able to create. So, we’ll see if I even have any editing to do for her.
My Dog Bite Update
I think that within the week my dog bite will completely resolve itself. It has a small scab along its leading edge now. As long as I leave it there, keep it clean and salved, and let it do its thing, it should be 100% very soon.
My body still knows how to heal. Good, robust genes are responsible for that as is (I’m sure) my attitude and medicinal ministrations. I am a WELL individual and appear to be becoming even moreso here in CR with plenty of sunshine, excellent nutrition, less stress, a cheerier attitude, etc. It’s all CUMULATIVE!
That’s all for now. Gotta get ready to head for Grecia!