First, if you made your way to this blog then Thank You! I hope you read as little or as much as you like. I hope to keep posts relatively short interspersed with pictures but there may be multiple posts per day depending on when I have time to work on them. This is essentially my journal made public so please keep in mind these are MY opinions, thoughts, and perceptions, not necessarily the rule or accurate information. Its accurate as far as MY perception goes. Your comments and thoughts are welcomed and encouraged! Please post them in the comments section.
It feels fabulous to be writing again!!
I’ll begin with the definition for “foreign”. Paraphrased
from my trusty pal “google” AI: dealing with or related to other countries,
districts, or areas; strange or unfamiliar; coming or introduced from outside; not
belonging to or characteristic of. In a nutshell? I am experiencing a strong
sense of imposter syndrome.
A snapshot synopsis of the first 24
hours includes arriving to gramma's Sunday eve, departing Monday for the airport around 6 am, 3 flights to get to San Jose,
a 30ish-minute drive from the aeropuerto, lying awake trying to process how out
of place I am? Or feel? Rise with the sun @ 6 (consistent here 365 days a year), unpack,
enjoy tasty pastries Clark acquired, light housekeeping, set up my work
station and test drive Zoom, a spontaneous tour from Clark of Coronado, choose local food to try for lunch, more light cleaning, meet the landlord, WhatsApp (my new fave pass time…adios
Facebook!), haphazardly teach two virtual lessons, follow Clark to hunt down
dinner, and finally…Are you tired yet?... Go to the Big W aka Walmart for some
household and pantry items. Wowzers! That’s a lot in 24 hours!
...then ended.
During a layover.
Flying over the ocean for the first time!
Catedral de Coronado is ancient!
Bienvenidos a Coronado mi familia!! The cathedral is beautiful. This picture is no comparison.
Things of note for this first post:
1.
Our house is super open and airy. I’ll make a
separate post on this.
2.
The grocery stores, including Walmart, have a “warehouse”
feel for me. It’s the way the food on the shelf is organized. There aren’t as many
varieties of products so there is more of one thing. Also, another post! So
much info to process!
3.
San Jose is what I would call “sprawling”. The
city feels like it goes on forever. We can drive for an hour and still be in “the
city” even though the neighborhoods or suburbs have names. Everywhere we drive
sort of “looks” the same. The roads are very curvy and narrow with many hills.
This is what I imagine would be true in some European places but am now
associating with Central America.
4.
While Clark can blend in with his olive tone and
black-ish hair, me and the kids feel VERY pale and sticky-outy. Clark said he
felt more self-conscious walking around with us as a group than just on his
own. Part of that may be how we walk together too.
5.
The food we have tried is mostly wonderful. The
products seem fresher and at Walmart, many products are made in Costa Rica,
which I find inspiring. Perhaps because imported goods are so expensive, they
produce and sell what they can here, making use of their strengths. This saves
the locals money AND provides income to the farmer. USA take note!
6.
The weather: It has been windy, partly or mostly
cloudy, and sometimes rainy. For this reason, I haven’t had the opportunity to wholly
experience the beauty of the surrounding mountains and the extreme green-ness
of the foliage. There is quite a bit of fog and mist over the mountains. Today,
Wednesday, it is raining. The rain started around bedtime and has been
intermittent ever since. The weather isn’t a problem, after all, we have
experienced many “English winters” in Missouri, but nonetheless my Costa Rican
friends (ticos) have reassured us the sun WILL come out! The ticos are anxious
for us to have the absolute, best most glorious experience we can have while in
the country!
7.
My hair loves the humidity. Yay for curls! But
Rosabel’s hair, not so much. She is on frizz duty. Maybe we can find some
smoothing serum at the local shop that will work for her.
8.
I am pleasantly surprised that Coronado has
everything we need in a way that would not necessitate us to travel much of
anywhere else. We could stay around our neighborhood and the town of Coronado
for quite some time. Coronado “feels” larger than I imagined AND much more “city-like”
than I imagined. It reminds me of the neighborhoods of my mission near Sydney.
Each neighborhood there had a wide variety of all the types of shops needed for
daily life. You might only look elsewhere in the metro area for large purchases
or specialty items.
I hope to learn where to buy the things we need locally so
we don’t have to travel the distance to Walmart so often. This might require me
to learn to cook, and for us to eat, in the way the locals do…more on that
later. I am feeling in great need of a local tica mentor. Shopping and eating
at family-owned shops is a different way of life than we are used to for sure and
reminiscent of how life was in the USA 50 years ago. Now so many of the chains
and box stores have taken over.
Funny anecdotes:
**When I asked the landlord (LL) if I could “work on the
garden” he wanted to talk about it in person. One of my tico friends had shared
that ticos LOVE their nature so I thought maybe the LL was nervous about how
much I would trim back. When I pointed out some “weeds” I will remove he replied,
“Everything that grows in Costa Rica is considered a weed.” Haha! What??**
**I asked the LL how we would get our water jugs refilled. Clark
had pointed out that there were about a dozen filled jugs here and he had
already drunk through one and half when we arrived. The LL said NO! That water
isn’t for drinking. ~Oh no…ok. Quick
assessment in my brain that Clark wasn’t sick or anything…~ The LL
reassured me the water jugs were filled out the tap and the reason for them is
when the city works on the plumbing sometimes the water gets shut off for a while,
so we need to use those jugs to refill the toilet tank. The water seems very
fresh, clear, and clean. We haven’t had any negative symptoms and don’t expect
to in the city. We have been warned to be cautious in the rural parts where
water may derive from wells.**
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