In keeping with tradition, I was the last person in the minivan getting let off at practically the end of the road. A few more miles and I’d be in Panama. A sign and small pink fence greeted me saying ‘Jardin de Jordan’. It IS a cute little house. Three separate doors for the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom and a veranda with a hammock. It has quite a large yard with tropical flowers and trees in it. It has an outdoor shower and foot wash for when I come back from the beach (which, BTW is a two minute walk from here).
The kitchen has a two burner gas stove top, a fridge WITH freezer, a coffee maker and blender. There are the usual suspects…plates, utensils, etc. No microwave though which will be a difficult thing to get used to. I’m afraid to even ask how much one costs, seeing that a new bike will run $160. Yep, that’s not a typo. I will look for a used one. That USB stick that accepts a SIM card will set me back about $90. Now I wish I would’ve gotten a phone that has a hotspot in it. My stupid blackberry does not. Ugh. I can use the internet down the way for $2/hr though. Not too convenient for long term, but it’ll do for now.
My room has a full size bed, some shelves, a fan and wooden ‘windows’ that open up to the front porch, the kitchen and bathroom and a small one above the bed. I have a corrugated roof. I have a safe in here which is large enough for small things and I can fit everything that needs to go in there.
The bathroom is larger than I expected. The suicide shower does NOT work for some reason which doesn’t make me happy. There are only three settings (of course pictures which make no sense, but I have used these before). I hate cold showers. I will insist it gets fixed.
I have seriously had to use my Spanish here. Luckily at the place I ate dinner tonight a girl there spoke English. She was from Luxemburg and has been here for 3 years now. She looks young. She says she’s a gypsy. She looked like one, with short spikey hair that looks like she cut herself and a few scraggly pieces of long braided pieces hanging around her face. She was nice, I’m sure I’ll see her again. It’s a small town. People have been very nice. I’ve spoken more Spanish than English since I arrived in CR. Thank god I listened to those podcasts at work. It’s coming back to me.
So I sit here in my bed, 8pm, listening to the rain and feeling very damp. The papers I had written on are limp and I wonder what kind of havoc this is going to play on my electronics. Luckily there are very few bugs. Actually none are even being attracted by the light above me. There are two small geckos on the wall, keeping things in check but I have to assume they are hungry. I’m grateful to not have to sleep under a net.
The beach was nice…black sand, only a few people but big waves. Nobody got in beyond their waist. The riptides are hellish here. I was amazed to see a bunch of red cross tents set up all along the roads on the way down. These people are prepared for anything it seems. Of course there will be accidents and drinking this weekend due to the holiday. Those red cross people will be busier as the weekend approaches, I’m sure.
Well, all for now. I slept almost 11 hours last night and did it feel great. Hope to do the same tonight.
