Escazú Multiplaza

A few weeks ago, we took our first trip to the Multiplaza in Escazú. Some friends had some errands to do there, and so meeting them there was a good excuse for us to find out more about this shopping mecca :-).

When we go to the West side of San José from our apartment in San Pedro, we usually walk to the Outlet Mall and look for the Periférica - this bus takes us North through Guadalupe, then West along the outer edge of San José, then South across the Paséo Colón, past ARCR, and to the South-East end of La Sabana park. Our alternative (for instance, if we *just* miss the bus) is to take the San Pedro bus - across the street from the Outlet Mall - into downtown San José, then hop on the Sabana Cementerio bus. The SC (route # 2) goes just North of the pedestrian boulevard, then West through the Central market and Coca-Cola area, then follows the same route as the Periférica to La Sabana park. Both alternatives cost about c300, and both take about 45 minutes (depending *heavily* on traffic).

Either bus will do it; Before crossing Paséo Colón, when we got just past the Coca-Cola area, we passed a funeral parlor on our right, and got off. Then we walked back a couple of blocks to the posted "Santa Ana / Escazú" bus stop. Our plan was to ask the first bus to come along (Escazú or Santa Ana) whether they stopped at the Multiplaza (I think they almost all do). Our first bus did, so no problem! We weren't the only first-timers on this route - there were *several* other potential passengers who asked our driver this same question - he was nice about it *each* time :-).

Our approach to changing buses is that the earlier we can get on the "new" bus, the better - this gives us more opportunities to get a good seat :-). Also, whenever we ask the driver for help, we try to sit close to the front, and on the opposite side - this gives us a better shot at the driver remembering us and our question.

This worked again (it doesn't always tho, so be aware)! We saw the Multiplaza on our left, and started thinking we would have to cross the highway on foot (ugh!), but the driver held out his hand to all of us first-timers (nope, not there yet). A few minutes later, we pulled off the highway, wound around the Multiplaza parking lot, and stopped at an actual bus stop! This is a *popular* destination! And I don't think it took more than 10 or 15 minutes from where we got on the bus.

We also passed EPA, CIMA, and PriceSmart - good for future reference...

The Multiplaza is *huge!* And it has a *lot* of things that are difficult or impossible to find anywhere else. On the top of my list was to get some Biotin. Well, as we were sitting in the food court, planning our attack, I looked up and saw a store specializing in vitamins. Hmmm - sure enough, they had biotin...

December 12, 2008 - The Elusive Hypermás

Today we are on a mission – go to Hypermás, price some items, and get one of those hand-carts for bringing home groceries. Doesn’t sound like too much, does it? HAH!

Step #1 – find the right bus. Well, already we are hosed. We knew the Hypermás was in Curridabat (a nearby town), and we new the buses went right by our main street (1/2 a block a way). We also (almost) knew that we should be able to see Hypermás from the road. So, we go out and look – we get on the Curridabat bus, and start looking out the windows. No Hypermás. We’re at the end of the line, in Tirrases. No Hypermás. We ask the bus driver (who is very kind) – he says that “the muchacho” will drive us. When we ask “the muchacho” how much, he say c3,000 – yikes! Are you kidding!? We just got off a c250 bus (not the turnip truck, you know). So, we find out from more bus driver conversations that we need to take the same bus back to the main road, then take a different bus (one headed for Tres Ríos), and that will get us to Hypermás. Only we don’t quite absorb the bit about the second bus… So, we get the return bus, the other kind driver tells us where to get off, and we do. We walk around a lot, looking for The Elusive Hypermás. Finally, we compare notes about what we heard, and ask a group of people sitting at a bus stop – they confirm that we need to catch the next Tres Ríos bus. Ahhh – we *do* see Hypermás from the road, and the bus driver stops and points it out for us. We climb the grassy knoll, cross the pista (the freeway), and we’re there!

Step #2 – look for stuff. Not too bad – this is basically a really big store, full of groceries on one side, and housewares and sporting goods on the other. Some of the prices (@ approximately c550 per dollar):
- 21” TV c92,000
- Tico semi-automatic clothes washer c164,000 (this is 20” wide, and so would fit through our 26” pila doorway)
- Weight set c61,000
- Plates c390
We decided to buy a coverlet (king size, c25,000) – San Pedro nights are just a bit on the cool side for me; even three of our (thin) blankets weren’t warm enough. We also saw (amazing, since I had been looking for this *all* last year) foam mattress tops (the egg-crate kind) for about c7,000 (twin).

Step #3 – buy grocery cart. Hmmm – not a one in sight. We looked for one of these all last year, and finally (at the end of our stay, of course) someone said that Hypermás and Cemaco had them. Well, Hypermás does not! We finally asked the nice lady, and she said “try Cemaco” :-D. We went back and asked her what the right word was for the item, and she didn’t know – she said maybe “carrito” or “carretillo.”

Step #4 – get home. This wasn’t so bad at least. The nice lady pointed out the direction of the bus stop, and we went. Caught a likely-looking bus, and got off just a couple of blocks from our apartment.

Step #5 – relax!

Unexpected Tasks – What Did You Expect?

I don’t think we really have “unexpected tasks” anymore – we pretty much expect that there will be things that we have to do (tasks) that we didn’t think we’d have to deal with (unexpected).

Friday (our first full day in Costa Rica) was full of these things. The first thing you always have to deal with in a new place is getting oriented. This one was pretty easy – we are right across the street from Mall San Pedro – we had been there before on a previous trip. This time, we found the pedestrian signal light – the *safe* way to cross the street.

Our first problem to deal with was money – we had left our small stash of colones in the states, as well as our single Costa Rican bank card. We had some dollars, but not a lot. And we had no breakfast. We cross to the mall, find several ATMs, but none are working for us. We find our bank, but it isn’t open until 1:00. We’re a bit cranky – no food, surrounded by restaurants! We finally decided to charge a sandwich – who’s picky at this point? Well, really, who’s *thinking* at this point! We go back to our hotel, ask about other banks, and find out that (duh!) there were several other banks in the mall. Shoot! We go back, change all our dollars to colones at a different bank, have a nice conversation with the bank guard about English, Spanish, and apartment-hunting, get some *wonderful* coffee, and decide to just wait until our bank opens.

We’re in line at 10 minutes till 1:00, and only have a short wait to see our banking expert. We should have thought of this before, but as it turns out, this was a more necessary trip than we thought! We needed to get a new bank card to replace the one left behind. But, because we got new passports, the number changed. Because the number changed, we had to update our account reference. So, we got all that taken care of – and I even got my own card this time :-D. It is amazing how much paperwork this sort of thing takes – we spent over an hour at the desk, and our guy was typing and stamping the entire time! It is a Friday, and so we can pick up our new cards on Monday (if we go to the central office. We would wait until Wednesday if we wanted to pick them up at the local branch). Meanwhile, we can’t do any transactions (online or in line) until we get our new cards. Contrast this a bit with our situation in Alajuela last year – the ATM ate our card, and the guy inside got us money using our passport. We got a new card in roughly the same amount of time.

Next stop – lunch (seems like we’re eating all the time!), then catch some buses to ARCR on the other side of town. *This* was *great!* We had planned to find out more about the bus system through San Jose – it seems so complicated, especially when you are coming from another city, and need to get to the other side of San Jose. Well, we took two buses, and it was *easy!* I think I’ll have to post separately about the details.

We got to ARCR about 3:30, and signed up for AeroCasillas so we can get mail forwarded from the states. Then we got the ball rolling on looking for an apartment.

We took the same 2 buses back to our hotel, and relaxed a bit – contacted some friends, got on the internet. It felt good to get so much accomplished, even if some of it was not on our original list :-)

Lost? You're Not Alone

We all have those moments where we feel like we need to take a moment and get oriented. We get off the bus in a new town, look around, feel an urge to look at our map, compass, GPS, whatever. For most people, this is the extent of it. You get your bearings, and off you go. Maybe you circle the block once, but you get where you need to go.

If you click on the "navigation" label, you will see pretty much how my process works - it can be a lot of fun.

But there are those who simply will never be able to find their way around. They are the perennially lost. We joke about it, but a new study shows that there is a developmental brain disorder that is the root cause of this disability. Researchers have "documented the first case of a patient who, without apparent brain damage or cognitive impairment, is unable to orient within any environment."

"When moving through an environment – familiar or not – a person creates a mental representation of the environment, called a cognitive map. It is the ability to "create" and "read" these cognitive maps that enables a person to navigate by following a route without getting lost."

The inability to create these cognitive maps causes this "topographical disorientation."

There is a website specifically designed to inform people about orientation skills and to reach others who experience topographical disorientation, GettingLost

October 17, 2007 - Alajuela Map

Here is a map of Alajuela, provided by Norman and Isabel at Vida Tropical. I’ve added the bus stop to Grecia (G). The buses from San José and Heredia can drop you next to the parking lot across from Soda Palmares (1). The express bus to UCR is on the South side of the central park.

There is a good seafood restaurant North and West of the Tribunales (on the road to Poás) – called something like Aquí Sus Mariscos.

October 02, 2007 - Orosí Map

Here´s my working map of Orosí.
We stayed in a house (#4 on the map) for about two and a half months.

August 21, 2007 - Cartago map; Better

This is *much* better! The draft got cleaned up! I lent it to someone who had never been to Cartago before, and he really liked using it :D

August 21, 2007 - Cartago map; what a mess!

Yikes! this is a *huge* mess of a map! But, it still helped me find my way around. Notice the block I added North of the park and the block I added to correctly split the park and the ruins. See the oh-so-many-times-moved bus stop to and from Orosi (that was fun - a good example of when not to trust the guide book map). You can see where I got turned around (I didn't notice a turn that the bus took), and had to move the justice building.
Even though I started with the park and ruins in the center of my map, we ended up spending most of our time North and West. That just seemed to be where the action was - so that is where the detail got added.

August 21, 2007 - Paraiso map; beginnings

This was my first stab at a Paraiso map. If I started making regular trips, I would add the location of the Saturday morning farmer's market.

August 21, 2007 - Grecia map; Better

Here is a better map, created by the good folks at B&B Grecia
- sometimes it *is* better to use existing goodies

August 21, 2007 - Grecia map; draft

I promised I would expose my foibles with map-making, so here goes...
Here is my first version of Grecia - notice the crossed-out block/street, and the questioned business names - ya gotta start somewhere...

August 09, 2007 - Where Am I? 101

Where Am I? 101
Or, finding your way around a Costa Rican town.

First, REMAIN CALM! All will be well – don’t panic. Every time I panic, I get lost.
I finally feel confident stepping off the bus in a new town. OK, proud. Cocky even. I don’t expect to find everything on the first trip, and I know I will find plenty of interesting places that I didn’t plan on. Here’s what I do.

Do some planning ahead, but don’t get anal – this (the latter) was the difficult part for me, but I’m getting better. If the town is fair-sized, look it up in a guide book. If you are staying in a hotel, see if they have a hand-drawn map. If not, make your own. Get some grid paper (or just any paper), and lay out a basic pattern, with a central park and cathedral in the center. These are usually a full block each, and within a couple of blocks of the center of town. If the guide book has a map (this is important), COPY it onto your paper – guide books usually show no more than 10 square blocks. Add some of the landmarks, like banks and perhaps a hotel. Mark the bus stop (coming and going) if this information is available. Mark a couple of avenidas and calles, and mark the compass directions. If you have any specific destinations, mark them on the map. Of course, if you are starting from scratch, your map will start out with nothing but a street grid and a central park & cathedral. That’s OK, because you will add to it as you go! Also, if you start with another map, keep in mind that parts of it could be wrong (or changed since it was published). This is also OK, since you will be marking it up.

Bring your map, a pen/pencil, and a compass (not always needed, but nice to have). Leave the guide book at home. The guide book is conspicuous and distracting – you are exploring! If you don’t know “enough” Spanish (“enough” is individually defined), bring a small dictionary or phrase book – if it makes you feel like a newbie, guess what? You are! You’ve never been here before! Most important, bring a smile and a “buenas.”

Which brings us to a very important aspect of this excursion – Attitude! Be flexible. Don’t expect to find everything you look for. Treat this as an adventure. When in doubt, know that a taxi is always near; relax and enjoy yourself. Accept that you and your travel companion will have moments of stress and get snippy – let it go. Best of all, go with Rick – he’ll let it slide unless you go off the deep end, *and* he’ll let you apologize gracefully (I know, that *could* be sarcasm, but it’s not).

As your bus is coming into the town, look for landmarks – Tribunales, parks, churches, banks, taxi stands, etc. Have your compass out, and try to fix North in your head (if you can’t, that’s OK – it will come). The bus ride is where I still get anxious. I often end up getting off WAAAY too early (click on “bus” in the tag cloud, and you will see what I mean). Wait till you can see the central park and/or central market, then ring to stop. Many bus terminals are within a couple of blocks of the central park (bigger towns have multiple terminals, and many small towns don’t have terminals). Sometimes it is difficult to tell if you are even in the right town. I find that bus passengers are very friendly, and love to tell you that your town is still ahead (and they aren’t pulling you leg).

Stop, look, and listen. When you get off the bus, your first instinct is to walk - anywhere. Don’t! Find a place to sit, or stand out of the press of people. Pull out your map and compass. Be discreet but not paranoid. Notice which direction most of the people are going. Notice which compass direction is uphill (most towns have at least a slight incline), and mark it on your map. Look around for the park, market, church, or other landmark. Look for the bus stop sign – it usually has some (but not always all) interesting information, like where it continues, schedule, and whether the return is from the same place. Keeping up/down and North firmly in mind, put away your compass and map, and start walking. You are looking for the park. Turn a few corners. Look for trees and spires.

Stop and smell the orchids. When you find the park, have a seat! This is a good time to update your map. Mark the bus stop and any landmarks you noticed on the way. I like to do this several times in a visit, and add stores, restaurants, schools, whatever. Mostly I just like parks . Don’t worry if you can’t remember exactly how many blocks or turns. Just mark what you think is right, and check it on the return. I once added an entire block to Grecia’s downtown – it stayed that way for nearly a week (no one seemed to notice the longer walk).

Ask and ask again. I have rarely had trouble finding the park within a few blocks, but in larger towns, you may want to step into a shop and ask. Also, if you have any destination in mind, like a bookstore or a Chinese restaurant, but you don’t have an “address,” just ask around. I have had conversations in parks that turned towards recommendations for restaurants and stores, and I have asked bookstore owners for directions to a close Chinese restaurant. I’ve asked bank guards and bus drivers about which street we were on. Sometimes you get an answer that is wrong, because (as my Spanish teacher says) Ticos don’t like to say they don’t know something, but most of the time you get the right direction. If you don’t find what you are looking for, ask again (and remember, stay flexible).

Helpful information:

· Este (East) and Oeste (West) are the directions that start with vowels. Avenues (with a vowel) go East and West. Towns are a rough grid, with street numbers (rarely names). Calles are even (2,4,6) West of the center and odd East of the center. Avenidas are even South of the center and odd North of the center. The saw to use is “North-Easterners are Odd.” What do I know about Odd – I’m from California.

· You can usually see the tree-tops of the park and the spires of the church many blocks away.

· The central market is usually within a couple of blocks of the central park.

· Streets hardly ever have signs. Sometimes even bank-guards do not know which street their bank is on.

· Usually the wait between buses is half an hour or less.

· Banks usually have bathrooms available.

· Most of this will also work in San José, but there is so much more to deal with. I start with an actual city map here.

I’ll post some of my maps soon – you can see how messed up things can get :(

Visitors to Hospital Mexico

You can see our friend Joe's account of his experience with hospitals in an earlier post. Here is our experience *visiting* him. Rick and I agreed - we're very glad our first trip to a public hospital was as visitors. Now we will be a bit less worried when we go as patients (you know it will happen eventually).

So, after getting our Cédulas and driver's licenses in San José, - yes, all this on the same day :)

We catch the Alajuela bus towards the Hospital México, and ask the driver to tell us when we get there. He says he will, but... Of course, we miss the stop. We get off on the next stop - fortunately not too far, walk back and on to the Hospital. The hospital is like a circus, so we ask for help at an information window. They can't find Joe for quite a while, but finally tell us he is still in emergency. At about 4:00, the nurse leads us downstairs, and we wave to Joe through the window. She tells us to wait for the Doctor; it should be about 20 minutes. Well, about 4:30, we walk back to where we saw Joe, and the security guard shoos us into a waiting room - we have to wait for visiting hours at 5:00. Linda is there right before visiting hours start - she's been through this before; we give Joe's name, and they let us see him one at a time for about 5 minutes. He seems ok - he has a full face oxygen mask on, and can't talk without taking it off - we're just there to let him know we are looking out for him.
5:15 - we're back on the bus to Alajuela; it's rush hour, so we don't get to the last stop for another hour.
Boy, are we tired! We have our leftovers and conk out.

... The next day...

We caught the 11:00 bus from Alajuela, and got off at the correct stop for Hospital México. As we got off the bus, a very nice lady helped us cross the "muy peligrosa" street. She just grasped my hand, and we followed when she crossed. I am finding that this is so typical - so many helpful citizens. I felt like a Boy Scout in reverse :D

At the hospital, we go directly to the emergency waiting room (doesn't that sound like an oxymoron?), and wait for 12:00 visiting time. Linda appears, and we queue up. Then we find out that Joe is no longer in the emergency room (why didn't we check on this before?). We run around for a few minutes, then Rick asks the right guy - we have Joe's bed number, but (of course) visiting hours for the wards don't start until 2:00. So, Linda drives us all into San Jose, and we go to ARCR to get our hands held. Annabel is very nice - she talks to us a lot, and we feel a bit better about the situation. The hospital will not release Joe just to get him out of the way (what were we thinking?!?).
We grab a bite to eat, then head back to the hospital. My navigation skills are excellent - I was always able to point to the correct turn-off as we passed it :(.
At the hospital, we get in the line for the 6th floor visitors just before 2:00 (we're about the 4th group). Well... The people who run the visiting center don't even show up until 3:00 - by this time, I'm sitting down, and Rick and Linda are very tired of standing. To accommodate the long lines, the hospital folks had opened the doors to the outside. It was very strange seeing all these people zip up jackets and pull up their hoods against the breeze. It had to be 74 degrees! I guess it is all what you're used to.
We got to see Joe one at a time, but there was no time-limit. He was *much* better! He gulped down the yogurt drink I brought (he probably wasn't supposed to have it tho). He had a better oxygen system - no full-face mask, so he could talk easier without reducing his oxygen. He told us about the other patients in the room (there were 6 beds in the room). He said he is very happy with the care he is getting at the public hospital (all covered by his $36/month insurance).
Linda drives us all back to Jalapeño's in Alajuela - whew!

Dining In

We had food delivered – we had help with that – you have to be able to tell them the “address” (no street numbers; you use descriptions and distance from a landmark), and you have to tell them what bill you will pay with (they bring exact change only). Then you listen for a honking horn and go outside to flag them down – it is a pretty efficient system, given the circumstances.