Our first full day with guests

We were all in bed by about 8PM last night. Jill’s parents were up at 4AM yesterday catch their Dallas flight and we just normally go to bed at 8 🙂

Everyone was up by 6AM and I fired up the Black and Decker coffee pot that we bought specifically for when we have guests. When it’s just the two of us I make our coffee in the Aeropress. Everyone had a nice cup of joe while we watched the sun come up.

I made cheese omelettes for everyone to fortify us for our trip to the feria. We left for the feria at 8AM and stopped at the gas station at La Coope. Once again, I got cocky. I thought I had it dialed in when I rolled down my window and asked the nice man to “Llene de regular”. He nodded and I went back to chatting with my passengers. Next thing I knew he was tapping on the car because I had forgotten to open the gas door. Face palm!

After paying for our 50 liters of gasolina we were off to the feria!

We had a productive outing to the feria, buying:

• una pina (pineapple): $1.30
• una media sandia (half a watermelon) and 4 mangoes: $5.50
• cumino (ground cumin): $0.65
• semillas de sesamo (sesame seeds for making our own tahini): $3.35
• 3 chiles dulces (red bell peppers): $1.65
• 2 bolsas de salsa fresco (2 bags of fresh salsa): $3.35
• 1 bolsa de lechuga (1 bag of lettuce):
• 2 kilos tomates (tomatoes): $1.65
• 30 huevos (30 pasture raised eggs): $4.20
• 1 repollo (cabbage): $1.00
• 2 kilos limones (limes): $1.80
• melon (honedew melon): $3.20
• cafe (coffee): $10.00
• chorizo italiano (Italian sausage): $5.80
• totopos (corn chips): $5.00
• chips de planano (plantain chips): $2.60
• and Jill got a handmade wooden bowl for holding Q-Tips in our bathroom: $5.00

All in cost $58.83… $28 worth of fruits/vegetables/spices and $30 worth specialty items including coffee, Italian sausage, chips, salsa, and Jill’s bowl. I am pleased to report that I made correct change for all of the purchases, which assuaged my feeling of inadequacy for forgetting to open the fuel door.

We came back from the feria and Nana and I got all of the frutas sliced up and into resealable bowls.

Jill had a client session at 11AM and then we set off to the town of Sarchi at noon.

We had a mostly uneventful drive to Sarchi except where we spent five minutes behind a bus that was stopped in an underpass. Everyone was very patient and it ultimately turned out that we were waiting for workers to resurface the road on the other side of the underpass before traffic could resume flowing. Those things now seem totally commonplace to me and Jill. I think that’s a sign that we are assimilating.

Sarchi is the ancestral home of the ox cart makers of Costa Rica and boasts the worlds largest ox cart. They still have an ox cart factory that is powered by a water wheel.

After Sarchi we trundled off to PriceSmart in Alajuela to pick up some supplies (we were critically low on Jill’s coffee creamer and on sharp cheddar cheese). We all had low blood sugar so we popped into the PriceSmart cafe. In the US it’s totally kosher to enter through the exit at Costco if you’re going straight to the food service zone. Not so in Costa Rica! We strolled through the exit holding up our membership card and walked toward the cafe. The guy checking receipts waved his arms and pointed to the entrance and I said “comemos” (we are eating) and kept walking. He immediately got on his walkie talking and called in the security breach. They seem to be sticklers for little things like that.

After de-esecalating the security breach (Jill returned to the receipt checker guy and said “Lo siento!”) and getting our lunch, we were ready to brave PriceSmart. We got out for $105, which I believe proves that the “Costco Effect” (you can’t get out for less than $100) applies in Costa Rica as well. I am please to report that the checkout process was not marred by me inserting my own card into the machine. I followed protocol perfectly!

We hit a bit of rush hour in Alajuela but made it home safely. I think everyone had fun. We will head down to Magda’s for dinner at 6:30PM. We have no idea what she’s cooking for dinner, but that’s part of the adventure.