Costa Rica: Initial Bumps in the Road

The morning of June 20 got off to a reasonable start. I booked my Lyft ride for 3:30 a.m., so I
could get to the airport with my cats early enough for my flight at around 6:30 a.m. Scrambling
to fit everything I wanted into two large suitcases hadn’t gone so well the night before, and I
never did actually go to bed. But I’d had the presence of mind to buy a luggage scale. So, at
least I knew that my larger suitcase was significantly overweight and adjusted for it before
arriving at the airport. I had worked hard to get rid of furniture and had some success on
Marketplace, and I just thought that everything else I wanted to bring would magically fit into my
two suitcases without going overweight–wrong!

In my defense, I’d put a lot of my parents’ family heirlooms, photos, etc. into storage, as well
as things for both of my daughters, who would soon start their senior year of college and
special-effects makeup school, respectively. I had some of my things stored there as well. So,
with the storage unit packed like a Tetris-queen, and a lot of the larger furniture gone, I thought
I’d done pretty well. At least, I did until I actually started to pack and realized how much other
stuff there was. I’d shipped a little under 200 square feet of stuff ahead of time from my storage
unit, but my executive dysfunction regarding the more mundane things left a lot for my mom and
realtor to go through. Sorry, Emily! Sorry, Mom!

I did get to the airport with the cats though, and although I’d called ahead to United before
booking my flights a couple of months in advance to get all the details about bringing pets, etc.,
they threw me a curve ball. I was previously informed that you could have two cats in one carrier
so long as the total weight was under 25 pounds. Their weight didn’t pose a problem, but they
had a rule now: only one pet per carrier AND only one carrier PER TICKET. So, now I had to
buy a last-minute ticket for another seat and an additional carrier–the airline conveniently had
one to sell me. So, I stood at the desk and called the number they gave me to book the extra
seat, which was surprisingly cheap, but still around $250, and put one cat in their lame hand-
held carrier that looked like a mesh gym bag. I got on the flight to Houston and then to San
Jose, but carrying my original backpack cat carrier on my front, my actual carry-on backpack on
my back, and then carrying the second cat in the hand-carrier was rather brutal, especially
getting through TSA.

The cats and I made it to San Jose, rushed to the meet-up, the Denny’s in Alajuela, where
the shuttle would bring us to Puerto Viejo (PV). But they wouldn’t take me with the cats–even in
carrier(s)–I’d combined them in the original carrier by that point. So, we stayed in a nearby hotel
where I did not inform the staff that I had cats because, reportedly, the Holiday Inn next door
wouldn’t allow them either. They did their business in the shower area–easy for me to clean up.
I rented a car, because that was a couple hundred dollars cheaper than hiring a private shuttle.
The same company who wouldn’t take us the night before offered me a private shuttle for seven
times the price of the original shuttle. We made it here around 11 p.m. on the twenty-first, after
about a five-hour drive. For posterity, I would recommend getting both the GPS and the hotspot
when you rent a car in San Jose, because then you can communicate with people who need to
reach you via WhatsApp. Their GPS is also useless past Limon, but if I had the hotspot, I could
use Waze on my phone.

Now, on to the next bump in the road. The previous owners of the home have a rain-
catchment system that yields very good water. It had been quite dry for a while, but they’d never
run out of water. I did. Mid-shower with hair shampooed and face soaped up, the water ran out.
I tried not to die on my way down the stairs, hoping that the first-floor shower would give me
enough water to mostly rinse off, which it mostly did. I let my realtor know, and I had my water
tanks filled about 1.5 days later. Meanwhile, no showering, no flushing, and drinking water was
from the store. We survived! I will have a well soon. Well water quality in the area is actually
better than both the rain-catchment system and the city water, all three of which are safe.
The last owners haven’t fixed the screens they were supposed to. So that, plus the rainy
season, means lots of bugs, especially mosquitos. I’m sure I’ve had 50 bites in the last two
weeks, and I wear bug spray and have a fan on me at night to help blow them away from me.
I’ve ordered a mosquito net that will be here next week. When the screens are fixed and the
house has been fumigated, it won’t be an issue, but for now, I’ll use my mosquito net, and keep
the DEET on.

I got Wi-Fi five days ago! These things take a bit when you don’t happen to reside in the
greater San Jose area. Of the five or so internet carriers in the country, I could pick from two. I
paid for it and they came to install it, but the installation company hired three guys from
Nicauragua that they didn’t necessarily run all the appropriate checks on. One of them stole my
printer. I hadn’t opened the box from the San Jose Walmart. He opened it, carefully removed
the printer, leaving the HDMI cord, the ink, etc., closed it, and put it back on the end table where
it had been. So, I didn’t notice till the next morning when I went to hook up my printer with my
WiFi . I notified my realtor, who said she’d come over to help me file an appropriate report, talk
to the company, etc. She couldn’t come after all, so I started a WhatsApp conversation with the
company Thursday a.m.. They asked me to make a police report. Ugh. So, I went into PV to do
this. They had a lovely tourist police officer speak to me in English, and she advised me to go to
the nearby town of Bribri to the “OIJ” office where I could make a report, because they do
investigations. Ugh. By the time I got there on Friday, the boss of the company whose workers
robbed me asked me not to file the report, but I did anyway. And they’re replacing my printer,
because they believed me. Whew! Mostly, I just wanted my printer replaced. I have no
grandiose visions of what the police investigation will bring.

So, the guys coming this week for electrical work have been more thoroughly vetted! I’m
getting five A/C units–one for each bedroom and one for the kitchen/living room area. I have no
idea how the last owners lived here for two years without it. They’re gringos from America too,
and she baked for a living selling amazing cakes, cookies, etc. The heat from the ovens . . .
Even the locals like my realtor and other workers in my home have commented that they
definitely see why I need A/C. I have fans for now. So, I’ll have A/C and have my oven/stove
hooked up. Then, on to fumigating the house for bugs and getting new floors. It will be
gorgeous!

I will rent out upstairs–two separate bedrooms with full beds and a porch that has a nice
view and a breeze. Renters will have a stairwell to the second floor from the outside soon, so
they don’t have to traipse through the main part of the house. I have a separate downstairs unit
available too with its own bathroom, and it will have garage access. Both units will have a little
kitchenette with a fridge, a microwave, and a coffee maker. They will also be closed off from the
inside of the house and have separate lock boxes on the outside. If I’m not there, I will rent the
main part of the house with a full kitchen, living room, and the master bedroom–not to mention
the first-floor front porch. I have a tico-washer too! It’s like a regular washing machine for
clothes, but a little more manual. It uses less energy and water. The clothes get spun and then
dry the rest of the way on my fabulous clothesline, which I had installed! I did get a dishwasher,
as well. The locals see this as a little ridiculous or extravagant, but I know it will make me
happier!

I’ve been getting around on a cute bicycle I bought here! The dealership in San Jose won’t
have my car ready till August–a Toyota Yaris Cross Hybrid that gets about 65 mpg. With heat
indices in the mid-upper 90s, I bike 3 km to PV for a grocery store, an ATM, a gym, and great
restaurants, and I bike about 2 km in the opposite direction from home to Hone Creek for the
main hardware store and two grocery stores. Sometimes, I can’t motivate myself to bike to the
gym in PV and back so I can exercise. Especially with no A/C at home. I’ll have to rent an
electric bike soon to try to get the feel for a motorcycle. A motorcycle would help so much to get
around road construction traffic jams, and we have a few long-term projects going on nearby. Of
course, my bike is great for that too, but obviously much slower and labor-intensive. Motorcycles
have better lights for night riding too, since it gets dark early here and the roads don’t have
enough lights. My flashlight and bike reflectors don’t quite cut it, but they’ll do for now. I’m
excited for my future here and for the Airbnb! It will help raise money for me to open a
medical clinic for refugees in Kenya. Hopefully, I can start renting by October. In the meantime, enjoy some pictures!

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