I am back!

As I have mentioned, Spirit was not a terrible experience. Yes it is cramped unless you pay for the more expensive seats and yes they charge for everything but as long as you go in with your eyes open, it is an option worth considering.  We were a little late last night because the crew were coming from Dallas and that flight was late. The young lady at check in was extremely nice and printed my boarding pass without a charge. One surprise is they would not allow any liquids to be brought on board, even if you bought them in the airport. All of our carry on was searched when we were boarding the plane. I don't know if this was a Spirit thing or a Costa Rica thing as this was my first trip. From now on I will be flying from Madison or Milwaukee or Chicago. I did just find a deal for September to December from Madison on United for $380.00. That is a great price and will save having to go to Chicago. I am still working on the June to August one. Copa out of Chicago has a halfway decent price and they offer two free checked bags as well as a carry on which is important when you are transporting lots of stuff.

One thing about Spirit is their facility in Ft. Lauderdale is just a zoo. They have 2 terminals. Going down I had to go from one to the other. Coming back it was all in the same one. They could use about double the space they have as they have tons of flights in and out of there.

Now back to ordinary duties rather than fun one. Must pick up my mail, do laundry, stock the cupboards and start sorting and packing.

I hope you have enjoyed my travels. Come back in June for Part 2.

I am going to start with being a travel agent.

It did help to save time having my exit tax prepaid but whether you do that or pay it at the airport, be sure and fill out the back of the form. So many people get to the head of the line thinking they are home free and have to step out of line, fill out the form, and get back in line at the end. Thank heavens the line was short when it happened to me.

I know there are so many problems and complaints about Spirit but the counter agent was great and did my boarding pass without a fee. I tried to do them this morning but there wasn't any ink in their printer.

Security was easy and the whole process to get to the gate, even with a couple stops was less than an hour. Hopefully I will still be saying good things about Spirit by the time I get to Minneapolis at midnight tonight.

Cartago to Alajuela

It took almost an hour and a half to the Vida Tropical because of heavy traffic and cost $50.00. Shuttles and cars and drivers have been my highest expense but it is hard to avoid if you are carting luggage or want to see lots of places in a day. I had directions in Spanish and we only stopped 3 times to ask. No telephone calls.

I have a lovely room in the main house this time with an enormous bathroom and a real shower. There is someone going to the airport tomorrow morning so we may be able to share a ride. I mentioned before I have prepaid my exit tax and that will save time at the airport. I still have to do my boarding pass as Spirit charges if they have to print them.

One thing I think I forgot to tell you about is the lines of taxis. The driver shuts it off and when the first taxi leaves, the drivers get out and push the car up a bit. This way they don't waste gas turning them on and off. It was interesting to watch.

This man drove by twice wanting to have his picture taken

The iPad was a big hit for pictures. The finished product was so big and clear.

Raining in Cartago

This is still the summer season here but we are having a cold spell and it is raining really hard. Oh wait, it stopped and the sun is trying to come out. It is much like Minnesota - if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes.

Today is moving day - back to Alajuela which is close to the airport for a night at the Vida Tropical where I started. I have hired a car and driver since I have my luggage with me. It will probably take about an hour.

I am down to one of the microwave bowl pot holders and they have been a big hit. I will need a new supply for when I come back in June for my new neighbors and friends who have been so willing to help. 

When we were walking around the neighborhood we came across this dog. When he opened his mouth to bark it was so funny because he had a deep bark and sounded really old.

I can't believe all that has happened in the last month and I am looking forward to my return June 1st. Pura Vida

See Gerry, we can find a spot for your motor home.

I didn't show much of the inside

Because it is quite cluttered. She operates a business to do with cheese and has an extra refrigerator case in the kitchen and a large white hutch and break front and I would not have any of that. You will have to wait for a later installment to see how it looks. These are the colors.

My bridge and turnstile

My view

The neighborhood

Part 3 the rest of the trip

We head back to the church and sure enough, it is closed for the day. It is lucky I am moving there as I still haven't been inside. We run into the couple from lunch again and tell them about our successful day. They also tell us they just got back from the river which is only a few blocks away. I guess we took the long route to a spot way out of town with Señor Juan. Off we go to catch the bus and in Paraiso all these students get on and they are standing in the aisle. Adriana and I are jabbering away - me all excited that I have a neighborhood - and I ask one of them standing by us if they are high school or university. He says university. We chat a little and I ask what he is taking and he responds English diction. We all laugh and he says we heard the two of you speaking English and really wanted to talk to you so we chatted all the way back. It was great.

Part 2 - better get popcorn, I don't know how many parts there will be

We go to a nearby Soda and have a Fish Casado and a fruit drink and meet a couple who are in Orosi for the second year to go to Spanish School. We have a good lunch and a nice visit and head back to the house. Blanca is waiting for us and welcomes us in. There is a gate by the steps and across the parking area. A nice size front yard that definitely needs more flowers. It does have a wonderful big flowering cactus. Inside is a living room, kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom with a suicide shower but I am a pro at that now. One bedroom has a sliding glass door to the back yard which has a high fence all around it and DEFINITELY needs many more flowers. It does have two papaya trees. There is a laundry area - washer and sink - which is outside but covered.

So we start talking - I talk to Adriana and she talks to Blanca. Does the range stay - no, I need to take it with me for my business but we will leave you this. This is burners with no oven so I explain I really need an oven because I bake, especially bread. Ok, we will get you a stove. How about the washer? We will make sure you have a washer. We will leave the sofa and love seat and a rocking chair and we will leave a bed. We will leave this table and this stand, and the refrigerator. It was beginning to look really good so I wouldn't have to supply everything.

So, I knew I better find out how much this is going to cost me so I know if I can even afford it. Did I mention that the view in front is all mountains and from the kitchen window, if it is clear, you can see Turrialba Volcano?

Adriana tells me it will be 180,000 colones and the water and electricity will run about 20,000 colones. All total that is $400.00. Internet and cable is about 22,000 colones or $44.00. 

And the rent won't start until June 1st when you come back. 

So, I did it. I have a neighborhood and the whole village is going to raise me. We walked all over the neighborhood and Adriana asked everyone to take care of me. The man in the store said if I would teach him English he would teach me Spanish. Adriana is going back to Orosi in a couple days and she is staying with one of the neighbors.

We went to Orosi and Adriana met some new friends.

This is a long story and I could make it really short, but since this is what I came here to do, I am not going to. I will try and put pictures as I go.

We arrived in Orosi about noon and as you have guessed, the church was again closed. We just don't have much luck with little white churches. Sarchi and Orosi. As we walked by the school we discovered we could hear a class in session. It was some kind of dance class and they were dancing to HAPPY in English. So, here is Adriana dancing along on the sidewalk. It was lots of fun especially once the kids spotted her.

I wanted to walk around the area so after a few blocks and talking with several people, we were told to check at the Supermarket for rentals. We did and sure enough we were given the name and number for a lady who was moving to San Jose. But we say, we don't have a phone. So, we go out on the street and Adriana starts talking with 3 women - Ludovina from Columbia, Darlene from Nicaragua and Rosie from Costa Rica. Darlene recognized Adriana from Saturday and they take the name and number and call Blanca. Sure we can come over.

So we walk down the street, take the walking bridge over the river and go thru the turnstile, walk a little more - this really is only a little ways. There is a little store and we stop at the second house. Blanca comes out - she also is Columbian and is married to a Tico. She asks if we will come back at 2pm - it is now 12:30. She doesn't want us to see the house messy. We say yes and off we go to eat.

Carlos did not make breakfast

We started with a plan.

I would like to report that we took care of business today and everything is settled but we have found we are not too good with plans. I did make it to an ATM so I am all ready for when we go to Orosi tomorrow. I decided to wait until I would be able to talk to the Internet company because the house doesn't have it and that would be a deal breaker. Things can happen very slowly here and I would hate to have to go someplace else for Internet for the next six months. So, we spent the day here in Cartago. We visited the Feria and encountered some really interesting characters. The one shaking hands with me knew a few words of English and would use them and laugh.

After the Feria we went to the Central Square and the ruins of the church. They kept trying to build the church but earthquakes would destroy it. In 1914 they finally gave up. The framework is still there - walls partially built and the interior has been turned into a garden.  We of course had to stop for refreshments on our way back. We each had a coffee item and they were both really terrible. My first terrible coffee so nothing to complain about.

Here are a few pictures to support the day.

I moved

I checked out of the mansion this morning and I have a room in the B & B where Adriana has been staying. We have rooms across the hall from each other. There are 8 rooms, but I think only 3 booked right now. I had met the owner yesterday and she is really nice. She also owns the restaurant downstairs. Adriana has been raving about the breakfast. Here is the view from my window and a shot of my room. We keep telling people we don't know how long we are staying. If it were a really busy season we would probably have to have a firmer itinerary.

Do you think i have enough rice and beans this mornin?

Adriana and some of the kids

Adriana was pretending she didn't speak Spanish to get the kids to speak English. They had fun together.

More of the garden.

Part of the garden

I could live here

Finally, civilization, food,drink and cell phone charging!

There must be a taxi on the other side!

Can we brave the traffic and cross the bridge?

The number of monkeys we saw was limited to one.

She really liked the river!

Adriana left her mark

Adrianna and I

And a different 3

Now there are 3

Señor Juan and I.

Now it is my turn

Señor Juan at the Rio Grande River

I don't know what it was but it must have been really funny.

The church.

OK, I have a second wind

I have taken a shower and feel a bit more energetic so let's see how far into the story of today I can get.

With great directions so we only had to ask 3 other people to reconfirm, we got the bus from Cartago to Orosi. This is a peaceful, tranquil valley area about 45 minutes from Cartago and an hour and a half from San Jose. We started out at the church as we pretty much always do. We stopped to take a few pictures and just as we were getting to the church, the doors closed and locked. Adriana started talking to Señor Juan and found out everything was closed for an hour. Señor Juan is from another town and he and his nephew came to visit the church and the river. So we head for the river - I will never again believe the phrase - it is only a little ways. After what seemed like miles and miles we stopped and talked to a lady in her front yard and she called a taxi. Seems Señor Juan usually comes hiking with a group and hadn't been to the church in 30 years so he didn't really know how far it was to the river.

Off we go in the taxi and finally arrive at the river. It is a lovely river and there is river rafting in some areas. People were fishing and we took a bunch of pictures. It was the first river Adriana had gotten into and she enjoyed it thoroughly.

So, we finish and head out. No taxi. So we start walking and walking and walking. Part way back Señor Juan and his nephew stopped and said "this is where we catch the bus so we will say good bye." Well, they said it in Spanish. and we walked and we walked and we walked. Finally we arrived at a lovely restaurant and had a cool refreshing drink and some lovely food. Little by little we made it closer to town center. We never did make it back to the church before it closed. 

So, back to our day. Adriana wants to spend more time there and we see an add on a gate for a cabin for rent. While talking to a lady about it, Adriana mentioned that I was interested in living there and did she know of any rentals. Well, it turned out she knew a lady so she called her and the lady, Luz, agreed to meet us. Now I have said before that directions are a problem. Well she told us to go up the street 100 meters and turn left and go 100 meters. We went up the street to the hot springs and when you turn left there are 3 choices. We took the one on the left after talking to 2 different people. Poor Luz was chasing all over looking for us. We had gone too far. It turns out that Luz and her husband, their daughter and her family and their son and his family all live in separate houses around this fabulous garden with all kinds of fruit trees and flowers. There are 2 other houses, one on each side of the garden. The other house has a chef in it. The one I looked at is 2 bedroom, living room, really nice large kitchen and laundry room. There is a front porch with 2 great rocking chairs. There is a yard and an area where I can plant flowers and fruit trees all over the place, all kinds. The kitchen has an oven which was important to me so I can do baking. The laundry room has a regular washer, not the Costa Rican version. No dryer but plenty of lines to hang the clothes.

At one point we were walking around and the kids were so great. One young boy first spoke in Spanish, then tried his English out on us and then switched to French. These are bright, sharp kids.

So, to make an already long story shorter, we are going back tomorrow. I am sure I will think of more because so much happened today but I will put it on the pictures.

This is Señor Juan at the church.