July 01, 2007 - Strange

We're back in California now, and some things are pretty strange.

I haven't driven a car in over three months. I find myself going soooo slooowww! Every once in a while, I'll look at the speedometer, and I'm going 50! I speed up again, and before I know it - 50! Those drivers whizzing by at 80 are wondering what I am on. If they don't blink as they pass me. Don't worry, it's just Costa Rica hangin' on. The Max speed limit in Costa Rica is ~60 mph, and most "fast" roads have a limit of ~40 mph. And buses go even slower. (of course, taxis make up for that). I'm almost back to my normal habitual-speeder self; doesn't take me long...

Everything seems so much bigger! Our normal little old house is HUGE! It practically echoes! The cars are enormous - "small" SUVs here (Escape, RAV-4), are large cars there. It is unheard of to try to drive any of the "mid-sized" or large cars around the Costa Rican streets (ok, we did see one Cadillac in Orosi, and semis do fit on the major arteries). Even deodorant comes in bigger containers.

It was almost 9:00 at night before I realized it - the sun was still up. I did miss that...

I got un-addicted to all those TV shows - ahh.

Big shopping trips for groceries. I got used to going every day, walking, and carrying back only a couple of bags. Yesterday, I drove, filled up a cart, and lugged in about a dozen bags. It's a voyage in itself!

Hot water in the kitchen!?!?!

Oops - TP goes where?

We got mail. Junk mail - yuck. Books and DVDs - yay! In Costa Rica, we got no mail - none whatsoever. But we did get a different sort of "junk mail" - cars with PA systems drive around the neighborhoods performing the same service. None of that in California, unless you count the musical ice-cream trucks ;).

People are hidden away :(. I definitely got used to greeting a lot of friendly "strangers." And constantly running into friends around town, and "planning" a get-together later the same day.