I haven't written in sooo long so this may be a long post. Firstly I want to share the flowers I received over the past few months. I didn't even know you could send flowers here, but a little while after my mom passed away I got a call and was told that a new friend, Phil, had sent me flowers. What a wonderful surprise!! I was able to give the florist directions to my house (another surprise) and on Monday I had this beautiful bouquet! Thanks Phil! I think my mom had a hand in it because they used her favs - gladioli and gerbera daisies. It lasted a long while and definitely cheered me up everytime I saw it.
On valentine's day my honey came through with this beautiful arrangement of roses. How creative to make a heart from the palm fronds. I loved it!
So on to freedom ...
Lately I have been feeling trapped here in Costa Rica. I think it is because I gave up so much of my independence. I rely on Mario for so many things. Everyone says I speak a lot of Spanish, and I can usually get my point across, but it isn't always easy and there are many people I have a hard time understanding. Mario is always there to help, but I am used to fending for myself so it is hard. I also have developed phone-phobia and have a hard time calling for things since I am afraid the person on the other end won't understand me. I have also been petrified to drive here. We have a Suzuki Sidekick that has a standard transmission. When we bought it I was leery since I barely drove a stick in the flatlands of New Jersey. There is no way I can handle one here. The hills/mountains are STEEP and I am afraid of sliding backwards trying to get into first gear. Mario has always taken me wherever I need to go, but lately I have been antsy to make my own way in Costa Rica. So I bit the bullet and bought a little piece of freedom - my own automatic, Geo Tracker! So cars here are REALLLY expensive. I think there is an 85% import tax which jacks the prices HIGH. This little baby ran $4,600 and it is a 94! Still it is 4 wheel drive which I thought I could do without and then found out - nope - need it. The first big trip we took was to Panama to get her some tires. There is no tax in Panama so the tires are supposedly cheaper. We bought other things that turned out not to be cheaper so I didn't look into the tires cause they were expensive in my book too. The frontera - the border between Panama and Costa Rica is really interesting. We went to Paso Canoas and one side of the road is Costa Rica, the other Panama. You have to remember which side you are on to figure out if you are getting a "bargain". We bought a stereo for Mario's car - yes now it's his - I couldn't drive it anyway. It has an ipod connection so we can listen to the ipod on long trips. I took his stereo since my car came with a casette player and I haven't seen a tape in years. Now I can play CDs! The deal is if you bring stuff into Costa Rica you need to pay taxes on it so everything you buy gets installed in Panama and you say you bought nothing if asked. Worked for the tires. While I was shopping I thought wouldn't it be nice to have electronic entry into my car. I had to use the key (oh my) and I prefer the remote. So I asked at a store and they said it would be $90 for an alarm system. I really didn't need an alarm, but they said they always come together and I could get it deactivated. What the heck - I figured it was safer to have the remote so I could get in the car quickly if I was shopping and an alarm couldn't hurt. So I went for it. The man said he was throwing in this little gadget that would turn the car off if it was stolen. Well that I REALLY didn't need - but hey if he was giving it for free... an hour later - boop boop my car locked and unlocked like a charm. The installer shook the car and the alarm went off. He showed me the little button under the dash that I had to push to start the car and off we went. An hour and a half into the 3 hour journey home the car turns off. hmmmmm - so we push the little button and no luck the car won't start. Uh oh. Luckily Mario had managed to coast the car to a little pulperia (corner store) in the middle of nowhere. We had no idea what to do. There is no AAA in Costa Rica. The people in the store tried to help but they didn't know anything about alarms. I had the receipt but no idea how to call Panama for help. Finally I thought to call information, who told me the country and area codes to dial Panama. We got the installer on the phone and he starts telling Mario to disconnect and reconnect wires. Of course it is dark now so it is impossible to see, and we have no flashlight in my new car. Thankfully when the store owner heard me start to cry he remembered his brother was a mechanic and nicely went to get him. Marco worked on our car for at least an hour to no avail. Finally we called Panama again and the installer told Marco which wires to disconnect. Yee haw we were in business!! So we paid Marco like $6 and his brother $4 for the gas and went to leave. Well we hit pavement and the car shuts off again. hmmmm blown fuse. So he replaces it and looks over the wires and off we go! Now we make it a few feet onto the pavement when the car dies again. I am panicking now. I don't want to get in the car and make it another hour and the car dies. We decide to call for Mario's brother to come get us. He says it will be $140 - risking my life doesn't seem so out of the question now. So they put a bigger fuse in and voila we are in business! Off we go!! Everyone cheers, we wave, and hit the road! About 100 meters down the road - guess what - yup car dies. Luckily there is a bar there so we coast in. Mario calls Marco and he says he will come, we can take the car to his house and he will work on it in the morning. The bartender says Marco doesn't know what he is doing, but their son is a top notch mechanic and he can fix it in the morning. They offer to put the car in the bar for the night and we accept. So Marco comes and tells us that it would be better for us to look for another mechanic the next day since he doesn't know what is wrong. My dad is an electrician so I am pretty sure we have a short and I want someone who knows wiring to fix it so my car doesn't catch on fire. 4 hours and $140 later we are home -thank God! We get home at 2 AM, sleep until 7 and start the process of trying to figure out how to get the car home. We got a message from the bar folks, seems their son is ill and can't fix the car. So we start calling everyone we know to find an electrical mechanic willing to drive 2 hours to hot as hell town near Panama to fix a car and drive 2 hours back on a Sunday. Unbelievably we find someone! He removes the alarm system, fixes the short and drives my car back home. So like $400 later I have the same car I had on Thursday - joy. Supposedly I can have someone here install the alarm correctly, but I have had enough excitement for the time being and think I will wait.
On a brighter note - I wound up getting sick with the stress and lack of sleep. I got my annual strep throat or toncilitis. In the states I would have to make a doctor appointment because they don't trust my diagnosis after having the same illness for 50 years. Once I get to the doctor they have to do a culture because they don't know if it is strep or toncilitis. The treatment is the same - antibiotics - which the prescribe before the culture comes back so I never get the reason why they need the culture. Then after the $20 -$30 copay I would get to go to the pharmacy and pay 80% of the antibiotics. Well here in Costa Rica, we went to the pharmacy, I opened my mouth and they said yep you need antibiotics, I paid and off I went. Man I love it here!!
We are moving from summer into winter and have such an abundance of wildlife. There are TONS of butterflies in the flowers and birds that I have never seen before flying by on their way to who knows where. Probably north I guess. Yesterday was the day of weird bugs. Mario called me into my office to see the mula del diablo this morning. It's weird because they use the word bicho (I have no idea how to spell it but it sounds like beecho) to describe any pesty kind of thing, so a bicho can be an insect, bird, lizard, mouse, you get the picture. So since he was talking about a mula (mule) I figured we were in the mammal category - but nope. He is pointing out the window and I don't see anything, when I realized what he is showing me is ON the screen. A walking stick about a foot long!! How cool!! He said it's called mula since the head looks like a mule's head. I thought it looked more like a seahorse. Anyway this guy hung out all day and then left in the night. He didn't even run when Diego went to sniff him.
I am heading home again on the 1st of April. The family is spreading my mom's ashes in the ocean and it's my 3 month get out of town time. I think I explained before that when you come to Costa Rica you get a 3 month visa. You need to leave before it expires for at least 72 hours. I have been leaving more often since my mom was ill. We are thinking to go to Panama next time because flying home is so expensive. Although, if Mario's divorce comes through, which it may since they have had the paperwork for a while, we will be getting married and then I can apply for residency and won't have to leave. Anyway, the point is we are getting our first visitor!! My friend Trisha is coming for a week! I am uber excited! I hope she loves Costa Rica as much as I do! 
