DAY 1 IN C.R.

Laurel’s Yard

NO LONGER SURREAL, BUT VERY REAL!!!!

We arrived in Costa Rica yesterday and it was a day that we had to roll with the changes and just smile. Luckily we had each other and just sort of shrugged our shoulders, and took every little bump in stride.

When we woke up at 5AM we were greeted by a text saying our flight had been cancelled and we were now on a flight leaving one hour later. No big deal since we had a 3 hour layover scheduled in Dallas and catching our connecting flight was not going to be an issue. Would have been nice to get an extra hour of sleep though.

Got to Dallas in plenty of time to connect. We had already arranged for a van from the hotel we were staying in last night to pick us up at a certain time. So of course, our flight was delayed for about an hour and twenty minutes. I emailed the hotel with this info, but once in the air I lost phone service because of crossing quickly into foreign airspace.

Got to San Jose CR airport late because of the delay. Got our passports checked which took about 30 minutes. Then we go through customs which took about 5 minutes. They barely looked at the bags as they were being screened. Figured out later that customs in Dallas had gone through one of our bags because there was a different brand lock on our bag when we got here. Nothing missing, but we know they looked in a bag filled with some RX meds and other items. After that we looked and looked for the driver from the hotel who was supposed to be there holding a sign with our name on it. No driver. No sign. No kidding. Man at taxi station found a man with our sign finally, but we were told that because we were so late they couldn’t send the van. But they arranged for us to take an airport van and the hotel paid for the fare. Oh, did I mention it was pouring rain? I thought taking an ark might be better than an airport van!

We finally get to our hotel much later than we thought we would. Tired. Hungry. Needing no more surprises or delays. It is situated about 4 miles from the airport. From the moment we stepped out of the van, everything changed for the better. The hotel was very nice, and the grounds were absolutely stunning. Beautiful flowering trees and shrubs, singing birds waking with us in the morning. The breakfast was a typical rice and beans with eggs, sweet fruit, bread, and orange juice. And wonderful Costa Rican coffee. The people at the hotel were super friendly and willing to talk and answer the many questions we had. The name of the hotel is Hotel Robledal. I would stay there again with no problem. I’m done writing for today, but Deb is going to continue telling you about our first 20 hours in this beautiful paradise. Pure Vida.

At 10:00 AM our landlady, Laurel, picked us up at the hotel.  Luckily she had an SUV that could accommodate all of our stuff.  We definitely brought too much stuff with us! Next time we will tone it down a lot.  She drove us back to her compound and we unloaded our stuff.  She said she would come back in half an hour to pick us up to take us to the local grocery store.  It turns out that Costa Ricans get paid on the first and fifteenth of the month so it was very busy in the grocery store.  She showed us where to find things and that was very helpful.  Drove us back here where we have spent most of the day unpacking and putting things away.

This is paradise in many, many ways.  It is beautiful here.  This is a third world country, though, so it is very different from what we’re used to.  The people we have encountered all along the way have been fabulous!  This property that Laurel owns is 2 and a half acres!  She has four homes which she and her ex husband built, one for the caretaker and another for a young couple  who are expecting a baby.  The wife teaches yoga and her husband teaches school.  We haven’t met any of the others yet.  Then Laurel has her studio in her home which is situated right between us and the young couple.  The caretaker is just inside the locked gate on the other side of us but a bit further away.

The streets are a nightmare to drive!  They are extremely narrow and there are trenches that people dig along the streets because of all the rain they get.  There are few and far between sidewalks to walk on so you have to watch out for walkers, bikers, the trenches, and other cars coming at you.  It is like nothing I have ever seen. I would be terrified to drive here!  We probably have a good mile or more walking downhill into town from here.  Some of it is very steep.  We will walk down there tomorrow early to get a new sim card for our phones so that we can use them here.  It is extremely costly to make calls back home so we won’t be doing that.  I have read that if people back home want to call here, though, it is much cheaper for you if not free.  You would need to check with your carrier to see if international calls here are free.

I would be lying if I didn’t say I am a bit homesick.  It is a very different place.  I miss the ease of going shopping when I need something.  This is the rainy season so if we need to get into town we need to leave early before the rain starts which is every afternoon.  Often, when it rains, we will get thunder and lightning.  At those times Laurel advises unplugging our computer and turning off our phones.

We also learned that the howler monkeys and the sloths are only at the beaches according to Laurel.  Tim thinks we will find them in the rain forests near here as well.  We will have find out for ourselves I guess.