My sister, Elena's, visit to Costa Rica

My sister, Elena, and two of her daughters came to visit Cindy and I in Costa Rica. Elena, Sara, Kimberly, Cindy and I went to a beach called Conchal which means sea shells. It was a beautiful beach with beautiful clear blue water. Instead of stand there were millions of tiny sea shells. Sara, Kim, Elena and I went to stand in the ocean. A wave knocked me over. It was a lot of fun. We laughed very hard on our trip.

We went over the largest bridge in Costa Rica and we took a ferry back across the Gulf of Nicoya. Cindy drove the car onto the ferry. The rest of us walked over a wooden bridge onto the ferry. When I was on the ferry I did a scene from the movie Titanic...I am queen of the world. I

I had to throw away my beach shoes because they stunk so badly. For two two days we were at the beach we at a little restaurant or what they call a soda. It is not the drink, it is a very small restaurant. The family that ran it became our good friends. The mother made really good Costa Rican food.

After Sara and Kim went back to the states, Elena, Cindy, myself, Carlos and his cousin, Teresa, went on a day trip. We saw a really huge decorated cart that is on display in the central park of a city called Sarchi. It was painted beautifully. We also visited the shop where we saw them painting small carts of different sizes. We visited a lady and I got to make empanadas. I really enjoyed making them.

Elena, Cindy and I had a really good time playing Skip-o, Rummikub and King's corner. It was good to see Elena. It has been a long time since I saw her. The last time was when I left Boise in 2003. I hope she comes back and sees us again soon.

6 weeks update

I can't believe it but I have been here for 6 weeks already! I have been to different places and even I got to ride the buses here.

Temple Trip:
I went to the temple in San Jose. It looks just like the Raleigh temple both outside and in. We went in a mini-van which held 12 people. It was a fun van! I got to wear earphones and listened to the session in English. It was really nice.







































Beach trip:
We went South to a town called Quepos. Carlos and I took the bus to Quepos because we didn't have enough room in the car for everyone. It was my first time on an Costa Rican bus. The ride took 3 hours and we met Cindy, Mary-Carmen, Tyson, Courtney and Carlos' Cousin, Teresa, there. We went to a really nice beach called Manuel Antonio. We had to walk a long way through a rain forest to the beach but it was very nice there. I was very hot and sweaty after the long walk.

































I looked really good in my swim-dress but didn't get in the water.




That night we went to a small restaurant which is called a 'soda' and ate supper. I had Arroz con Pollo which is rice with chicken and veggies and a cabbage salad. To drink I had MORA which is a berry drink with milk. I stayed in a nice motel called a cabina.

Mary-Carmen and her family had one room and I was right next door to them and I shared my room with my sister, Cindy. Thank goodness it had two beds. I slept in one bed and my sister slept in the other. And I even shared my shampoo with her!




The next day we went to the house of a friend of Carlos' cousin. We had a BBQ there with salad and veggies and tortillas. It was all very good. Carlos and I left to take the bus back to Esparza and Cindy left with all the other people in the car. On the bus ride up and back I got to have chocolate milk. It was yummy!

A young woman, Dagmar, comes to the house 3 times a week to teach Cindy and I Spanish. She speaks very good English and I am working on money, colors, numbers, days of the week, months and so forth.

It has been raining a lot, more than is usual this time of year. With all the rain we have more mosquitoes and boy do they love me!! We have also had 3 earthquakes the past 2 weeks but I only felt 2 of them. There has been no damage from any of these earthquakes and I am glad of that!

Mary-Carmen, Tyson and Courtney came to visit. I gave them my room to stay in. It was fun to have them here. Courtney started walking while she was here. She would laugh and laugh when her Dad, Tyson, would say "Move monkey" It was very funny!


Well, that is it for now.

Nan

PS...Thanks to Cindy for helping me write my blog. I tell her what to write and she types it in and helps me put the pictures in.

My first week in Costa Rica

The flight to Costa Rica was good. I got to drink Bloody Mary Mix-virgin of course- on both planes. Going through immigration was very different. The gentleman who checked us in was very nice and he welcomed me to Costa Rica. This is the first time I have been out of the United States.

Carlos met us at the airport and it was good to see him. I noticed traveling to Cindy's place that the roads were different. They are very narrow. The life is good here but I see that the people live very poor. There are lots of bicycles and they don't wear helmets which they should but the professional bicyclists do wear helmets which is great. This way they protect their heads.

The showers are very different here. The head doesn't move. The water comes straight down and it is not heated but it is a little warm. They only have a small shower, not bathtub.

Cindy has 3 dogs and one cat. Napo, his wife Negrita and their daughter, Puppies. The cat's name is Alli Cat. I love the way the dogs bark at things. It cracks me up. I like to feed them left over toast or pancakes or things. They do tricks for the food. I like to tell them to sit, lay down, play dead and shake.

The stores are very small here compared to those in the states. The have lots of bakeries here in Esparza but Cindy only let me go to one! The climate is very humid and hot. It cools off some at night. We have had lots of rain this week. It has rained almost everyday. (This is not usual for this time of year)

We can see cruise ships from Cindy's deck so I have seen 3 of them so far. In the park they have dancers and people selling things to the tourists. I drank a pepsi out of bag. That was funny. They pour the soda into a small plastic bag then make a hole at the top for the straw. It was odd.

I have eaten several different foods here. The food is absolutely yummy! We go to a famer's market on Saturdays and get fresh fruits and vegetables. I also bought a tamale there and I liked it very much.

I met Cindy's neighbors from Germany. They are really nice. They gave me my first coke here in Costa Rica...and my last because they don't have caffeine free here and the DR said no caffeine because of my blood pressure.

I got my hair cut. The people speak Spanish here but a few speak some English. I am trying to learn some Spanish. I went to the dentist. A lady dentist and she was very nice. I had 4 cavities filled-2 really big ones-and it cost me $100 total for all of them. I go back next week to get more fillings and my teeth cleaned.

I am having a good time but I do miss the states. I will keep you posted on what else I am doing each week. And maybe have more photos. Here are some photos we took this week.


This is me in the park with my cool sunglasses
this is me sitting on the bench by a tree
in central Esparza Costa Rica













Here is another view of the park















This is the view of a papaya tree with a bird nest in it. This is right off the deck.













another view from the house
after I got my hair cut
















Me holding fruits that grow at Cindy's place. Mangas, papayas and pineapples!! Yum Yum

Under construction

I am helping Nan get her blog going...I think I am doing things a bit backwards (sending the invites before we are ready) but hopefully by Monday we will be up and running. Please check back and leave comments for her. She will love it!!
Cindy