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...

Live Music in Grecia!

Last night we went to Diego's Red Door in Grecia, and had a great visit with friends, along with an excellent dinner and fabulous live music! You can read a spot-on review of the restaurant and the band "Two Can Jam" in this month's Mountain Howler (note: this is not a permanent link).

After dinner, we extended our visit over coffee and dessert, then crashed at a friend's house nearby.

We returned home this afternoon - the trip had the added benefit of learning about some new bus routes :-D.

We left our apartment in San Pedro in the afternoon - 3 buses and 2 hours later, we were in Grecia. We took the San Pedro bus and Sabana Cementerio bus to the Grecia terminal downtown. When we got on the Sabana Cementerio bus, I asked the bus driver if he knew the Grecia terminal, and could he tell us when we got there. This has become a good habit, but I also never count on the driver to remember. So, we roughly knew where the terminal was, and so as we neared Coca-Cola, we peered around anxiously. At one stop, we started to rise, and the driver put his hand out to us - indicating that we should wait (nope, not there quite yet). Then he stopped a few blocks farther (I don't even know if it is a regular stop), and motioned to us. We thanked him profusely, and got off the bus. Then what? Well, we asked someone, and she pointed back the way we had come and said it was a couple blocks back. Having just come that way, we were inclined to ask someone else... We waited until she was out of sight, then asked at a nearby cafe. The gentleman behind the counter *came out* of his cafe, walked us down part of the way, and pointed around the corner - doh! We had gotten off the bus within 10 feet of the entrance to the *huge* terminal, *full* of buses, all with *great* *big* signs on the front, saying "GRECIA." Ok, it *was* out of sight around the corner...

A short wait later, we hopped on the bus - we were a bit surprised by the c815 fare - we were thinking of the c425 fare for the Alajuela bus. But, as we thought about the alternative bus route (SJ->Alajuela->Grecia), we figured the total amount would be the same. It comes to only about $1.45, but it stripped us of all our small bills and change.

About an hour later, we pulled into the terminus in Grecia - it is the same place that the bus from Alajuela uses - just West of the central park.

We killed some time sitting in the park (aahhh) and drinking iced coffee (AAAAHHHHH) with a friend, then headed over to the Red Door.

Our return trip was nearly the reverse - buses leave for San José from Grecia every 25 minutes. We decided to get off on the Paséo Colón, and after about a 10 minute wait, caught the Periféricia all the way home. I timed some of the distances on the way back:

• Grecia terminus 2:10
• Enter Autopista 2:25
• Airport 2:45
• Paséo Colón 3:00
• Home 4:00
  

December 14, 2008 - Sunday in the Park with Friends

Today we caught up with some more friends! We met Norman, Isabel, and Nico in La Sabana park – Nico is now 2 years old! He didn’t quite remember us, but we didn’t scare him either :-).

We hadn’t been to La Sabana park before, just ridden buses past it, so it was nice to experience the park as well.

December 13, 2008 - Festival de la Luz

Today is for celebrating! We have an apartment with a guest room, a set of warm blankets, and a parade with a friend!

Linda drove out to our side of things (she was our guest-room guinea pig :-D) – we went out to lunch at Machu Picchu (a Peruvian restaurant near our apartment), showed her around our neighbourhood a bit, then caught the bus into San José for the Festival de la Luz!

The Festival de la Luz is an evening parade with lighted floats and bands. It starts at 6:00 with a fireworks show.



And Santa arrives on a moto!



For us, it started at 5:30 with a light drizzle :-(. By 6:00, it was raining! We were soaked, and already tired of standing – we were at the end of the parade route, and knew that the parade would last several hours. So – we took a vote and left early. We watched the fireworks as we walked back to our bus, and watched the parade on the television as we dried off at an Italian restaurant (the pizza is good, and so is the pesto fettuccini). We did have some fun tho – “look at all that rain! I think that’s sleet, isn’t it?”

One thing that was so surprising – at least until you think about the culture – is that a 9-year old girl was sitting, waiting for the parade to start, and her father said “let’s go, there is a lot of rain” – and she went! Without a *bit* of complaining! Maybe she was miserable sitting there, but she didn’t show it. And parades are such a big thing for kids. Still, you see so few spoiled kids here.

Next year, we’re thinking we’ll try for a party room on the route – do the parade thing the grown-up (spoiled?) way…

March 30, 2008 - Orosi Day Trip

We finally made it back to Orosí - it is almost unbelievable how long it took us to make the trip.

We first tried in the middle of December - we planned take the bus and stay several days with our Spanish School Family. When that didn't work out, we next tried in January - but that time, we didn't even get as far as details. So many things interfere - we were sick, I was trying to schedule surgery, life happened... We were stuck with this idea that we couldn't make such a long trip (and back) in only one day. Then you have to consider all the junk we have to take with us if we stay even one night - yikes! By March, we had gone on enough multi-hour bus trips that a full day didn't phase us as much, so we thought we would try renting a car for the day, and plan on a single-day trip. Well, the car-rental thing was a bust. This is the time that you really appreciate the culture here - Each time we called the family to plan a trip (and then when we called to re-schedule), they were unfazed. I could feel my whole body clench, but they were super-cool.

Here we were, running out of Costa Rica time, brains adjusted to the idea of a day trip, with a load of gifts (not something you want to take back to the states with you). So, we did it! We caught the 8:00 bus from Alajuela to San José, took a taxi to the Cartago bus stop, where we just caught the bus to Cartago. Ahhh. We recognized the right place to get off the bus - an easy half-block walk later, we are on the Orosí bus! Unbelievably, we were in Orosí just 2 hours after leaving Alajuela!

We had a great visit - my Spanish is getting better (but still very halting, and I don't really "hear" it well), and Rick's Spanish is *great*! There is a new baby, so we got to make a fuss :).



Since we got there so early, we had coffee while they had a late breakfast. They have been through some tough times - their oldest son was in the hospital with a bleeding ulcer. He had an attack while working in Guanacaste, then a stressful ride in the ambulance to Cartago - the ambulance driver from Nicoya didn't know Cartago, and so got a bit lost. The family had made trips to Nicoya to see him while he was in the hospital there (he had to stabilize before the ambulance ride), and they were talking about how long it took to drive there - they got home at 3:00 in the morning one time. But now he is in the Cartago hospital - it is the premier hospital in Costa Rica for stomach problems (and Costa Rica has a *very* high incidence of stomach cancer). They had put off visiting their son that day because we were coming to see them - yikes!

A bit later, José took us up to his family´s finca - it is a short (but steep and bumpy) drive up the mountain. No one really lives there, but there is a shack where people can stay overnight if needed. The views are amazing! While we were there, we saw a helicopter - José said that it was owned by a gringo who lives on the other side of the ridge - he can get to San José in 20 minutes. Talk about decadent!



The finca is in coffee country, but the coffee plants are in trouble - José showed us the damage caused by an insect infestation. The healthy beans are normally white inside...



We got back to the house and had a fabulous Tico lunch - Teresita cooked chicken soup (my mouth is watering just thinking about it). It is so rich!

Lunch just added to the feeling that could only be described as homesick. It seems strange to say it, especially since we really only spent 3 months there, but there is no more accurate word. From the time we entered the valley, past the coffee plants and the orange-blooming trees, recognizing friends´ houses, familiar restaurants, the rocky river, the soccer field - well, just about everything - I had a lump somewhere in the vicinity of my throat.



I thought again about living nearby - if we do end up close, I think I *will* talk to Teresita about getting cooking lessons from her...

Well, our return trip was not as smooth as coming to Orosí - it took us 3 hours instead of 2. We hit some traffic, but we also found out where a lot of buses leave from Cartago (about 4 blocks North of the Ruins / Central Park). All told, we spent 5 hours of travel for 5 hours of visiting - a pretty good rate I´d say!

OK, so this has been something of a ramble - I'm out of practice...

May 01, 2007 - Labor Day, Costa Rica

Today is Labor Day in Costa Rica, and in much of the rest of the world as well. So strange that it is not celebrated today in the USA, since the event that marks it *happened* in the USA. At any rate, it is a big day off for folks here. The local swimming pool is the busiest I have seen yet - cars are parked even on the side street a block away.

On Saturday afternoon, we were surprised to hear the local cannon/fireworks go off several times, accompanied by a parade of *huge* trucks around town. They drove and honked for almost an hour. They passed our corner, and we walked to the main street to see how far it extended - at least 4 blocks down and back, bumper-to-bumper trucks. There were rock haulers, cement trucks, semis (yes! in Costa Rica!), and bulldozers. We decided they were celebrating Labor Day early. Later, we asked someone about it, and he suggested that it was the owner of the stone quarry showing off - he and the owner of a similar concern seem to be embroiled in a pissing contest. Either way, it was pretty interesting, and attracted quite a crowd.

We had planned to have our homestay "parents" over for cafecito this afternoon, but they called to say they couldn't make it. We have been thinking about how to reciprocate some of the visits we have had with others - usually over a meal of some kind. Our kitchen is *very* limited, with just enough plates, silverware, and coffee cups for us, and no good way to cook rice and beans (you *have* to have rice and beans if you invite someone for a meal). Finally, we decided to buy a couple more coffee mugs, purchase a selection of pastries, and have cafecito at the table outside. We'll see how that works.

Electricity and water report for Monday - Water was off in the morning till 8, and electricity went off at 9 (time enough to get a shower). Electricity back on at 11, back off from 3 - 5.

Weather: got a good downpour on Saturday; Sunday was beautiful - sunny and cool; clear most of Monday, with a few sprinkles in the late afternoon.

Tags: laborday, pool, cannon, celebration, fireworks, drive, friendly, cafecito, visit, electricity, water

April 28, 2007 - our Orosi house

We are learning how to live in Orosi (poco a poco - bit by bit).

Our house in Orosi is definitely Tico style, and not fancy. But it is giving us a taste of how we will live here long term.
It has two bedrooms, a living room (with a TV in a cage - it must be dangerous ;)), a bathroom, and a shared kitchen. Sometimes I feel like I am camping - we have a two-burner gas stovetop (no oven), and we pour hot water thru a filter to make coffee. We have a few plates and silverware (I bought two steak knives, so we have more than one big chef's knife now), and so we wash dishes as soon as we use them - even during cooking, because we use the eating utinsels to cook with :) . Then we bring everything into our living room to eat (the kitchen is outside our apartment, and the fridge is outside under an overhang). We go shopping every day (especially good since the electricity is going out a lot now - no food to throw away). The grocery store is only a block away, so it is *really* convenient.
Orosi is interesting, and cool enough when the rains hit. There are quite a few places we haven't been yet, but plan on visiting - Cartago, swimming hole, hot springs, etc. I have started a map, and expect to fill in some gaps over time. My foot is bothering me though, so I haven't been able to walk very far very often yet.

We were just going to ask our landlady if we could borrow some cleaning equipment, when she asked if we wanted to hire her cleaning lady. Good timing! We hired her on the spot, for $4 per visit (she cleans the main - big - house for $5, so we are probably paying more than if we had bargained). Interesting though; when we asked about caja and taxes (like social security here), they both almost gasped and said no, no, no. So we are trying it out for one day per week. She will also wash our clothes for an additional charge (our house has no facilities for this). We also found out that our landlady will take care of our sheets - we had assumed that she was just lending them to us, and we had to wash them.

Visiting friends and family is very important here - we moved out of Teresita's house on Sunday, and saw them on Tuesday - they said "didn't you miss us? why haven't you visited?" They see each other several times a day.

We had lunch at Susan's house last Sunday, and met her Tico neighbors (Susan is a gringa who bought a house in Orosi - we met here at the Spanish school). On Friday, we walked down to see her (the walk takes about 15 minutes). She was sick, so we brought her a book and some soup. On the way there, we talked with her neighbor for a few minutes. When Susan didn't answer our call of "upe," we figured she was asleep, so we left the goodies with her neighbor (and visited for a few more minutes). As we were leaving, they invited us to lunch on the coming Sunday :D.

After the electricity came back on last night, Rick wasn't feeling well, so I went to Teresita's house to say we weren't sure we could visit the finca with them Saturday (today). I brought a list of baby names Rick had put together for Mariela, and I spent close to an hour with them - talking about electricity outages and baby names. Teresita said she would come by our house soon to visit - I couldn't state a date and time, since our kitchen set-up is so limited. I think cafecito would be best - I think food (or at least offering food) is an important element of these visits.

April 18, 2007 - Saturday drive and visit

(I had a small problem transferring this from the computer to the internet; solved now, but this entry is later than I had hoped for)

Last Saturday we went with our Tico family to visit their friends in San José de la Montaña. This is a small town in the province of Heredia. If you have a map of Costa Rica, you can follow along – it was a pretty long trip... We left Orosi at 10:30 in the morning, and drove through Paraíso to Cartago, where we dropped off one daughter so she could shop and visit cousins (and gained sitting room in the back seat in the process :)). From there, we drove around the edge of San José, through San Pedro. This town has the Latino University and the University of Costa Rica (UCR), and we took a small driving tour. They are in the process of building a new Engineering-school building, so I got a little thrill. We hit a few small towns, then stopped in Heredia. We saw a few landmarks we recognized from our last time there – it certainly brought back some good memories. We parked, and walked to the central market to get some snacks. While there, Teresita pointed out some of the more unusual fruits and vegetables, and I was able to ask about how to cook some of them (I finally have enough Spanish to ask, if not to fully understand the answer, so don´t look for new dishes from me any time soon). José Miguel went to the pharmacy for a leg brace – he had strained it the week before while climbing around the mountains catching songbirds (his hobby, and perhaps a way to make some extra money). We left Heredia and drove through Barva to San José de la Montaña. We arrived at about 1:30 (3 hours, in case you weren´t looking). Irma and Manuel (the friends) offered us lunch (yay!) - arroz con pollo and something else (I asked the name, but didn´t write it down, but it was goooood! I´ll have to find out how to make it before too long). We sat around and talked (ok, *they* talked, *I* listened – and picked up a good part of the conversation). At one point during coffee, the lights flickered, and José Miguel, who works for ICE, asked some questions about the electricity. Not too much later, he and Manual were outside looking at the electrical connections with a ladder, and fixing things. At the end of it all, the lights came on strong. José Miguel reminds me a lot of Dad – if he knows there is a problem he can fix, he is happy to drop everything and work on it. Rick played his guitar for a bit, and Teresita took a short nap (she had a touch of food poisoning from the other day – not her cooking), then we all drove over to Irma´s son´s house for more talking and listening :).

We left San José de la Montaña a little after 7:30, and got home in Orosi about 2 hours later. I can´t imaging making the trip by bus! We would have to take several – minimum is probably one bus from Orosi to Cartago (1 hr), walk to another bus stop and take one from Cartago to San José (or perhaps an express to UCR), another to Heredia, then one to SJdelaM (or perhaps to Barva, and get picked up).

While we were there, we noticed a couple of things:

- when we passed a church (perhaps just the particular one in Cartago which houses La Negrita?), everyone in the car made the sign of the cross and kissed their hand (thumbnail) (similar to what some soccer players do before a free kick)

- José Miguel said grace before lunch at the friend´s house; it was long and heartfelt. I don't know if this was because the friends were more religious, or if we never noticed at our house because we don't always eat together. (note: a couple of days later, we heard him say grace just for himself)

- when the large dogs at the son's house started barking, there were a lot of “jokes” thrown around about the dogs attacking Nicaraguans (Nicas in the “jokes”). Jokes to them, but a hard nut for us. We had heard before that Nicaraguans were not well-regarded, but it was still surprising to hear good people laughing about them getting attacked (even in theory).

April 11, 2007 - Juán Santamaría day, Spanish school, Los Ticos

4/10/07 (Tuesday)

Today was my second day of class with a new teacher (Belfort). He makes it easy to use new words and verb forms, in part because we aren't very structured, and in part because we mix English in with the Spanish. During one exercise today, I was to fill in the blanks of a sentence with a conjugated verb (pretérito – past tense!); well, each sentence took many minutes, because we would start talking about different meanings for the sentence, and how to word it other ways, then slip into an aside. Usually I learned a lot about normal, average life in Costa Rica during these side trips into chat-land.

I told him about how I finally dropped in on my neighbor of 6 years, and we had a lovely chat at her kitchen table. He said “how sad that it took so long,” then pointed to every house we could see out the window and said he knew all those who lived in them. When one person bakes a cake, the neighbor comes over for a slice. When he walks by, all wave and greet him.

We keep hearing about people who work a long way from home. The father of my Tico family has one of the easiest commutes – he leaves at 6:30 each morning, and drives perhaps an hour to Turrialba. He works for ICE (the state-owned electric and phone company). He usually returns by 7:00. His oldest son also works for ICE, but he travels all over Costa Rica, and is gone for 11 days at a time. One of the sons in law works in construction in Guanacaste (in the far North-West of the country, perhaps 5-7 hours away by car), and has the same 11-day schedule. Their wives and children live here in Orosi, and we see them quite a bit. Two other sons work in San José, 1½ to 2 hours drive away.

Five o'clock is a popular time to visit people in Orosi. On Sunday, friends of the Tico family came to visit from San José de la Montaña (this is a town of 4-5 thousand people, north of Heredia, and is on our list of towns to check out). We had coffee and sweet bread. Then a family from the USA dropped by (the son had homestayed here in the past) – more coffee and bread. On Monday, we walked with Teresita to her sister's house to see her ailing father. While there, more coffee and bread (surprised?). Many different sisters and brothers and cousins stopped by, talked, listened for the lottery results, and watched the news. The jokers in the family reminded me a *lot* of my family (ahh).

I think the rainy season is upon us – today it started raining about 2:00, and rained (with thunder and lightning, of course!) for several hours – we waited out most of it at the school, then hurried home in a drizzle.

4/11/07 - Juán Santamaría day
I asked my teacher today what Costa Ricans do on Juán Santamaría day - he said there are no big celebrations (at least in Orosi. I think Alajuela has more celebrations since he is from that province.). He said that the children in the schools put on a play that depicts the war and event that made Juán Santamaría a hero.

Weather report - Beautiful, sunny morning. 72 degrees inside at 8:00 am. 2:00 rain again, this time we had a real downpour! But it was pretty much over by 6:00.

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!