More Spanish, more walking, more rain...

More Spanish, more walking, more rain… I can’t keep telling you my daily routine so let’s move to some of the challenges we have faced.

I knew things would be different, I know Costa Rica is not a wealthy country so I knew that anywhere I went I would probably have to invest some money into making myself a bit more comfortable. What I did not anticipate is that Monteverde is really not very big in terms of a shopping hub. There are dozens of tour companies, restaurants, souvenir shops but only two big grocery stores, a meat store and one pharmacy/all purpose store. The hardware section is no bigger than my closet at home. I could not find duct tape and have purchased all the hangars I could find.

The AC plug for my speakers is not working and I have no idea where to get a new one. The rain hitting the tin roof is so loud we can’t hear without them. My computer is our lifeline. It is my diary/blog, Doug’s e-learning, our greatest resource, my translator, our music and our movie theatre.

The big problems I seem to be able to solve, it is the $10 problems I can’t. Not as easily anyway. I’m sure that somewhere in Costa Rica I can find everything, I just can’t get it in Monteverde. In fact Kathy purchased a lot of our kitchen supplies at a Walmart so the big companies have even infiltrated beautiful Costa Rica, just not this high in the mountains. I think we now need to take the next step and figure out the bus system around here.

I think they order a lot of things in. The bed frame that I was using belonged to the lady who used to clean the house. Her and her husband came and took it away today so now I have taken the queen sized mattress from the loft and plopped it on top of a very sketchy single bed frame so that I am not on the floor. Apparently getting a new one is not something that can happen quickly. Kathy has also ordered a couch for us but says it will be a while longer before it arrives. I was told patience will be of utmost importance when living in Costa Rica. Many westerners come here with the thought of living here but after six months go back home because they can’t deal with the very slow pace in which everything gets done.

Repairing and reusing is crucial here. Eggs are packaged in an open egg carton and then wrapped with plastic. The plastic comes off to be re-used, the egg carton gets saved so that we can buy the bulk eggs next time. The plastic bags that wrapped the new pots and pans got recycled so that I could freeze half our loaf of bread.

Douglas is learning to deal with eating the same thing several days in a row so that we do not have to throw out food all the time and I am learning to use the freezer. Not because we can’t afford to buy more but because it is such an ordeal to go grocery shopping.

Daily/weekly chores like cleaning, dishes and laundry consume a significant amount of time. You do dishes after every meal, even though there are only two of us you do not want anything sitting around that might attract insects or animals. Garbage has to be walked 300m down the road so keeping it to a minimum is also important.