Dorthy, I Don't Think We are in Kansas Anymore!
The other day I had National Geographic (or Animal Planet, or whatever) on the TV as kind of background noise, but my attention peaked when I heard the word 'crocodile'. This biologist has made a life's work out of trying to find the first live croc recorded to measure more than 15 ft. nose-to-tail. Hmm! He doesn't hurt them – just catches, measures, records, and then releases them. (Talk about a mis-spent youth!) He has been all over the world for 20 years in this quest. (What peaked my interest was that my neighbor told me that the previous weekend we had a big croc lounging around in the cove off my back porch. Huh? Yea, turns out he (she?) comes around every so often.)
Anyway, Doctor Croc is going on and on about how, after traveling the world for years in his search, he thinks he has found THE place that his giant croc is hiding out. And, where is that? You guessed it! Costa Rica! What you didn't guess was that he is headed to the bridge that crosses over the river on the highway just about 15 miles north of here! Turns out everyone around here knew about The Bridge, except me. People drive up there on Sunday afternoons with a bucket full of chicken parts and feed the crocs. Pura Vida. Well, it beats sitting home watching NASCAR!
My New Casa
This is my house viewed from the Las Gaviotas Marina next door.
And this view is from the entry street - my back yard
As you can see, Las Gaviotas is no bad place to get stuck in
The view from the 'back bar' (My house is to the left)
This is the front bar from the lobby
The Phone Company Monopoly Revisited
I had told you previously about the national phone company monopoly here and how it led to some strange things. Long delays getting a phone installed ... No high speed internet because both the satellite and cable companies are barred by the phone companies deal with the government from providing that service .. etc, etc.
Well, how about this one? A while back, the phone company got permission from the government regulatory agency to make some changes in numbers, and exchanges, etc. So, now the number for “911' is – ready for this? - to get '911' you simple dial '127'. Everyone stills refers to it as 911, but you dial 127! You can't make this s.. up!
Golfito Cable TV
I did not have TV until I moved in this place. Since I've been down here, about all the TV I saw was the soccer games in a bar, which was OK by me. I have never been a big TV watcher. But, the cable here in Golfito is definitely a mixed bag
Some of the channels are Spanish, some English. Some of the Spanish channels have English subtitles, some don't. Ditto the English channels. Channels like History Channel, Animal Planet and National Geographic are a mixed bag – some shows in English, some in Spanish and they may or may not have subtitles. You never know. The movie channels (HBO, etc.) are a similar mixed bag language wise.
Of the two CNN channels, Headline News is a Spanish Channel. The regular CNN News channel is in English, but is the British version (broadcast out of their London studios). So, it is heavily European news, except for the 30 minutes or so each two hours when it comes from their Asian Studios in Hong Kong.
Both the ESPN sports channels are Spanish (no subtitles), but both broadcast some of the shows in English. However, on some of the English broadcasts (irritatingly), they do a Spanish voice-over.
There are also channels (networks) in French, Japanese and Chinese, none of which have subtitles. The German channel is a news channel (ala CNN) that alternates hours - 1 hour in German, the next in English. ???
And of course, there are two (at least) channels with 24/7 programming of evangelists, faith healers and miracles what-evers, plus one additional Catholic channel.
By the way, to you American Idol fans I apoligize in advance – But, for those of you who think American Idol is over the top – wait until you get a peek at Spanish American Idol! Ha!
Whew! Why such a hodge-podge? Well it turns out, the local cable company is privately (locally) owned. And, since they have to 'buy' coverage from the individual networks, they do a balancing act of what they can afford, what their customer base will support. As a result, the line-up is also subject to (and does) change on a monthly basis.
Word to Live By
Never play pranks with your horse, your razor, OR your wife.
Grocery Shopping – A Gringo Lost in a Tico Supermarket
When you go to the market, some of the items on your grocery shopping list are fairly easy to find,
either because the Spanish word for the item is close to the English word, the item can be identified on sight, or because of the picture on the label. Plus, you learn the words for a lot of items just from eating in the restaurants (salt, pepper, mustard, ketchup, etc.) And, to some degree, things are grouped in sections and departments, ala a U.S. supermarket. But, in other cases – Oh Boy! It's like a scavenger hunt.
First off, is a difference in packaging. Soap products come in plastic bags of differing sizes. So I can't tell the laundry detergent from the fabric softener or the floor cleaner or the powdered bleach.
And try to tell someone with hand signals that you are looking for charcoal. I'm sure they thought I was crazy. Turns out it's kept in the backroom and it's called 'Carbon'. (And, Carbon sucks. God, what I'd give for a bag of Kingsford charcoal).
The bigger problem is a cultural divide. I have a BBQ sauce that requires brown sugar – couldn't find it. I knew the word for 'sugar', but couldn't come up with 'brown'. So, I looked up the words before I went to the store the next time. Brown sugar = marron azucar! Aha, well armed smug me. I spout of, “Donde es marron azucar, por favor?” Nothing but blank looks – from everyone, no matter how I pronounce it! Kind of like my hand signals for charcoal. Next trip to the store, I went armed with another word for brown – instead of marron, I tried cafe instead. Donde es cafe azucar?, I ask confidently. Nope! (I figured out later that cafe was too close in pronunciation to the word for coffee. They just thought I wanted sugar for my coffee.) And the looks on their collective faces indicated that I was on the verge of getting 'put away' for my own good. Finally, on the next trip to the store, I was met at the door by a young Tico lady who had spent time in the U.S. who came to my rescue (word had obviously gotten around about the crazy gringo). Brown sugar comes in little sandwich bag-like packages, and is kept back with things like birthday candles and cake decorations. Plus, brown sugar does not translate. It's called 'caramelo'. Not brown sugar, caramel sugar. Thus, azucar de caramelo, gracias. Class dismissed.
They have blank CDs for sale, packaged just like in the Best Buy, but you don't buy the whole package. You tell the clerk how many blanks you want and she takes off the package top cover, pulls your CD blanks off the spindle and puts them in a bag for you.
Final thought - The big bread supplier here, kind of the Wonder Bread of Costa Rica, is named 'Bimbo'.Yeh, Bimbo Bread.
Another Difference in the Sexes?
A woman asks a woman questions in order to discover something.
She asks a man questions in order to discover something - about the man.
Home, Sweet Home
I am really enjoying the new place. And I just went through the first round of monthly bill paying. That caused me to think;
The Rent - $150
The Electric - $21.50
The Telephone - $9.75
The Cable - $19
The View from My Deck
(particularly at sunrise and sunset)
Priceless!
The Things You See in Golfito
I don't remember whether I shared this with you this previously- But, it is not unusual for peoples dogs to accompany them everywhere. Bars, restaurants, shops, etc. The dogs as a generalization are well behaved and pretty docile. The dogs' owners normally loop the leash around their chair or bar stool, and that is just to discourage Rover from wandering. After you are here for a while you don't even notice anymore, other than the obligatory 'hello' to Rover and a scratch under the chin.
Well, I must admit I was a little surprised the other day in the Banana Bay Marina. “Excuse me sir, is 
your puppy AKC registered?
No that is not an alligator. It is a crocodile. He caught it fishing, and yes he did turn it loo se. Made for a great conversation piece for a couple of days. And, watching people do a 'two-step' when they walked up on it without noticing it was was also priceless.
Good Morning – This is Your Friendly Wake Up Call
It is normally very quiet and peaceful around my new place. Which is important since we tend to be open air and the houses are fairly close together. Quiet, that is except for the period from 5AM until about 6AM. A neighbor down the street's roosters start crowing right about day break. That wakes people up, so they let their dogs out and they (the dogs) commence running around saying good morning to one another.
That wakes up the parrot family that live in the dead hollow tree outside my window. I knew from my 
limited experience with parrots (“Polly want a cracker”) that parrots were not quiet, rather raucous as a matter of fact. But, let me tell you, the racket that a brood of parrot chicks can make as they wait for mama's return trip with 'the breakfast catch' can be deafening. Well, I guess you already knew that from the parrots in your trees.
Till Next Time. Pura Vida!
Guess what's coming later today?
Recent Comments