One day which preparing our daily Gallo Pinto, I noticed several sheep wandering the intersecting street. I was concerned that they had escaped and would be hit by traffic. My worries were for not. A moment later, a man, accompanied by another sheep, came strolling down the street, grocery bag in hand, and the sheep approached him and began to follow. He walked slowly and the sheep had a great time bounding back and forth across the street, even blocking the progression of a car whose driver waited patiently for the man to round up his herd. The activity occurred on several days, so I imagine both the sheep and the drivers have come to an agreement.

The weather has been exemplary. While we are still on the tail end of the rainy season, there is usually at significant bit of sunlight each day. The nights have been cool, though not unbearable, and with the sun rising around 5:30 am and setting around 5:30pm, I am usually pretty snuggled up reading or writing by the time it starts to cool down.

The places we stayed in within the cities Alajuela and Cartago were typical “tico” apartment, small, made of cinder block, coated with plaster, with tin roofs and barred entryways and windows. Each apartment was distinct but are situated next to each other, sometimes sharing a wall. The front gate often opens onto a covered driveway where the car was parked, with a patio adjacent. Below is a pic of one apartment ready for the Christmas holiday! Casa Mariposa was particularly small, one bedroom with two beds, and the minimal kitchen layout. A tiny gated porch faced the street. However, due to the proximity of inexpensive food at the sodas, there was little need for cooking anyway. In Cartago, the layout included 2 bedrooms, and a larger kitchen. Here is where I was able to starting experimenting with local dish preparations. The kitchen in both locations consisted of a countertop double burner, a microwave, a small fridge, a rice cooker, some misc. dishes, pots, and pans, some kitchen tools. Apartment’s Maria “J” also hosted a bullet blender. It was interesting to rethink how to prepare foods without the usual array of kitchen gadgets but we managed delightfully with a minor purchase of complementary tools.

The most challenging was figuring out the washer arrangement. The machine is not a push-a-button-and-walk-away variety but rather a multi-step operation consisting of turning the dial to wash or drain, and a lever to select the washer side or the rinse/spin side. The water must be added by turning on the hose, and you must adjust the amount of water according to the load size by turning the water off. Load laundry soap, let it dissolve, and then add the laundry. Set the agitation speed and timer. When the timer goes off, turn the dial to drain. When the tub has drained, transfer the laundry to the rinse/spin side. Flip the lever to the rinse/spin side and turn the dial back to wash. Set the timer. Allow the water to fill and rinse the laundry while spinning. After the laundry has rinsed (and it could take a few times), turn off the water and set the timer. This is the spin cycle. Hang the laundry on the clothes-line (our was indoors). Let air-dry for about 24 hours. And behold, clean laundry!

While our spanish is not nearly sufficient (though Andrew’s is MUCH better than mine), we have met some marvelous people helping us muddle through. We met a wonderful young man at a grocery store, Tian, who was very excited to practice his English with us and told us of his dreams to move to Canada to work for Amazon. He was particularly interested in French and we directed him to the area of Quebec. We had come in looking for snacks and left with 6 eggs carefully placed in a plastic bag and a great conversation.  We left Cartago with some great memories as move forward to Aserri!