Life in San Jose

Abe and Ike in the Kinder parade
 at school celebrating Independence Day

It's hard to believe that we have been living in San Jose for one month.  So much has happened in that short amount of time.  We have already met many new friends - both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking.  We are experiencing the culture:  the food,  the festive celebrations, the correct way to greet people, the waiting in lines.  We are finding our way around our area of San Jose.  We live in San Francisco del Dos Rios, which is a "suburb" on the southeast side of San Jose.  We walk almost everywhere we go, though we do take a bus or taxi occasionally.  We know how to give directions to our casa

Typical Costa Rican food that

we had at school for a Fiesta -

eggs, casados (black beans and rice),

 corn tortilla with sausage and salsa,

and prestinos 

(house).  It is very important to be able to do that because they do not have addresses here!   Whenever we leave our casa, we have learned to carry our umbrella or raincoat with us - even if the sun is shining! - because most likely, it will rain at some point before we get back home again.  And . . . we are on our way to learning a  new language - poca a poca!

          Things We Are Getting Used To

     ☺locking and unlocking doors and gates multiple times daily

☺bars on our windows and doors

 ☺paying utility bills at the grocery store 

☺no street names or house numbers

☺not flushing paper down the toilet

☺no water pressure

☺termites in our ceilings

☺finding milk and eggs on the shelves in the store - not in the refrigerated section  

     ☺the constant "noise" - whether it's day or night (traffic, car alarms, horns, people talking, loud speakers on trucks that ride through the neighborhoods making announcements, roosters crowing, dogs barking)

     ☺the smell of diesel fuel - all the cars here use diesel 

     ☺the frequent smell of burning - it smells like someone burned popcorn in a microwave            

☺rain, rain, and more rain

Some new friends brought us a houseplant    

Things That Help Make The Previous List

       A Little Easier To Get Used To

☺friendly and helpful people

☺pleasant temperatures

☺beautiful mountains

☺great coffee

☺an abundance of fresh vegetables

☺hot water

☺tap water that we can drink without boiling or treating first

Celebrating!!

Lydia Jane, Kristen, and Hannah - getting ready for
The Parade of Lanterns

Desfile de Faroles

The Parade of Lanterns -

the night before Independence Day