I’m still pinching myself to make sure this is all real and not just some part of a wonderful dream that I never want to end.
I’ve been here five days. Each one has been delightful and confirmational. I did my research exceptionally well. I couldn’t be happier.
As mentioned earlier, there are several people helping me look for a long-term rental within my frugal budget. I have two places to look at in the El Cajon area, and more may come my way before I can get away to actually visit the places and see which of them tickles my fancy best.
The San Ramon Rainbow Refuge II option is still months away, and there is no guarantee I’ll be tapped to become one of the residents and a groundskeeper, so I need to relocate for probably something close to a year elsewhere — not necessarily in Grecia. Another rental in San Ramon could be another option, but I don’t know anyone on the ground there who can help me locate potential rentals. I think San Ramon is my preferred location, but it isn’t so far away that it can’t be visited and scoped out. I will try to get a three-month rental on a Grecia place, which will give me time and opportunity to check out San Ramon. Some landlords will allow “temporary” status for up to three months to make sure the fit is good for both me as a tenant and them as a landlord/lady. That makes sense. But again, if I end up having to get a year-long rental, I’m amenable to that.
In an hour I leave for the first trip to San Jose to get my fingerprints and mug shot taken. Jon’s Uber driver will pick me up here at the VE gate and whisk me to Jon’s and then we’ll be on our way to S.J. We need to get there a t least 15 minutes before the appointment at eleven, so we’re allowing two and a quarter hours to make the journey. If we miss it, we will have to reschedule this trip and the next one, which is two days away. Hopefully the traffic will comply and we won’t have to make any changes, but it we do… hey, tranquilo! Que sera, sera!
I am learning that I can extend patience far better down here. It’s required and getting antsy doesn’t solve anything. I have all the time in the world to get things done down here since I have no other pressing engagements! I am well and truly retired — and I can afford to be down here! What a relief-bringer!
This afternoon I will see if Melaney or Laurie are available to help me organize and count the number of pages that I’ll be presenting during the next SJ trip on Thursday. I need to know what one of the deposits into BCR needs to be before I take an Uber to Grecia tomorrow to make them (and to deposit funds into the translator’s bank account. too). It’s a page-copying fee of just under four cents per page, and it needs to be precise. I can’t just guess. Since I’m such a dolt with percentages and colones still, getting some expert help is very handy!
That’s it for now! More when we get back if there’s anything worth reporting and I’m not wasted. I didn’t sleep a wink last night. Christmas Tree Brain still reigns!!!
On the way back from the San Jose fingerprint/mugshot appointment our driver Adilio kindly stopped at Compre Bien (Good Buy) so Jon Graham Mitchell and I could quickly pick up a few things for meals. I was down to just a couple meals by this morning as I’ve been sharing my food with Topher as often as not, and I knew it’ll be a couple days before I can get out again beyond the two required jaunts to Grecia manana and to SJ again early Thursday morning.
Topher has left VE for a hotel in downtown Grecia. I don’t know how long he’ll stay down there beyond Friday, when he has a dental appointment scheduled, but I’ll see him again tomorrow at the Bank of Costa Rica at around 10:30. He wants to observe the banking process here.
Jon says I can pay the translator at BCR even though she has an account with the National Bank of CR, so that will allow me the benefit of not having to stand in two banking lines manana. Super duper, as bank lines in CR are ubiquitous. Going into one requires Tico-level patience.
There was a traffic accident on the way to SJ this morning so it’s good we gave ourselves plenty of time to get there. It took us two hours on the way in but under an hour on the way out.
You Couldn’t Pay Me Enough to Drive in Costa Rica!
The next time I Uber in (probably tomorrow) I will try to remember to video what the roads, drivers and pedestrians are like in this nation. I’d lose my mind (or my vehicle, or someone’s life!) if I tried to get around here on my own in a vehicle. It looks like mayhem!
The streets are super narrow and are often placed alongside deep runoff drainage channels that are up to a couple feet deep. If a big truck comes along, someone has to yield, in whatever way that is possible. Add in pedestrians who sit and stand right alongside the road and cross it any time they get a chance and motorcycles in abundance who dart in between and buzz around slower moving vehicles, and what you have is YIKES ON WHEELS! I’m getting used to it now but for the first few days I was having so many intakes of alarmed breath and exhalations of relief that no one was crushed as motorists and pedestrians vied for their spots on the same road that I threatened to hyperventilate. Driving in CR ain’t for sissies, that’s for sure. It has confirmed my decision not to get a vehicle here — even a scooter. I want to live!