Yesterday evening and this morning I went through the vocabulary terms at the end of Madrigal’s Magic Key to Spanish and listed the words that I still need to commit to memory or work with in sentences to make them feel more natural and common. I knew the vast majority of terms in the glossary because so many of them mirror the same English terms (except for a few differences in spelling and/or endings) and mean the same in both languages. So, the ones I listed in my personal workbook are the ones that are still unfamiliar enough that they trip me up due to their irregular conjugations or something else.

 

There are approximately 600 of them that I need to deal with. That’s a huge leap forward from the number I struggled with when I re-started this language journey a little over ten months ago. I am DETERMINED to become fluent as quickly as I possibly can.

 

CASITA CHORES

 

Cat’s sweet husband came up this morning and de-populated and de-cobwebbed the one window in this casita that I can’t reach without a ladder. He swept and vacuumed it thoroughly and sucked up its resident for relocation.

 

He is also going to secure the window screens a little better. The original installers didn’t do a great job of that, so there are gaps in places along the frame where insects can squeeze in, which nobody wants in this tropical paradise because mosquitoes can carry some pretty dangerous diseases.

 

I haven’t seen many creey crawlies in here but we do want it to be as bug-proof as we can make it. I’ve caught and released a couple of nickel-sized spiders in here during the time I’ve been here.

 

NEXT SHOPPING DAY 

 

Next time I order from Mas X Menos I need to remember to buy various kinds of soup. My diet of brown rice, beans, cauliflower, nuts, fruit nectar, coffee and cheese is pretty well-rounded, I think, because I supplement it with chicken, beef and fish a few times a week, but I do want to introduce some variety into the mix. I’m not bored by the usual fare at all — it’s so yummy!! — but it can’t hurt to draw outside the lines sometimes, too.

 

Right now what’s in my fridge is mostly vegan. I’m not complaining but it’s definitely a departure from my old dietary habits. (Which is good!) I rarely bought soup even in the States: I made them from scratch. Which, now that I have a crockpot again, I can start doing again!  So instead of buying canned soup in abundance, I’ll order a few of each plus raw fresh ingredients and make some of my own concoctions again. Sounds like a plan!

 

COUNTING THE DAYS

 

It’s almost the end of November. Lisa’s arrival in now just 81 days away. 81 days sounds like a long time, but I’ve already been here in Costa Rica for 80 days as of today and the time has flown by. I hope the next 81 days do the same, and then I hope that the nine days she will be here will slow to a near eternity. I MISS MY BESTEST FRIEND!!!

 

Here are some pretty posy images I captured  after I carried a bag of wet trash to the trash receptacle on Calle Los Angeles this morning…