Shopping day

The first thing we did this morning was pick up the Tico Times and look for pictures. On the page with all the photos, the biggest one was Bella being pushed in the swing by Cristina! The picture of Sofia didn’t make the cut, but Sofia understands the baby factor (everybody likes to see cute little babies) so ending up on the cutting room floor didn’t bother her.

We drove into San Jose and did the cedula thing. Maritza came along to help. A cedula is a Costa Rican ID card…kind of like a social security card, in that every Costa Rican is entitled to one, but they are used a lot more frequently than social security cards. They’re used more like a driver’s license is used in the States. You don’t get the actual card until you’re 12 years old, so Cristina got her first one when we came in 1994. During this trip, we noticed that her cedula expired two years ago, since they have to be renewed every 10 years.

Waiting in line...a Costa Rican tradition!

Ramon was sure it would take 10 days or so for the cedula to be ready, which meant we might have to have it sent to the consulate in Los Angeles for pick up, since Cristina has to pick it up in person. Luckily, after explaining to the cedula people that we live in Arizona and are leaving on Tuesday, they put a rush on it and said it would be ready by 2 pm! Perfect! Picking it up in LA would have been a hassle, and we had plenty to do in San Jose anyway.

Next we drove to the artisan’s row, near the National Museum. I’m not sure if this shopping area has an official name or not. These small booths sell various handcrafted souvenirs, from the extremely fancy and exotic to the slightly cheesy. Everything from very expensive hardwood bowls and carved artwork to Imperial beer T-shirts and iguana key chains.

Isabella checks out the wares while the vendor supervises

These vendors used to be located at the Plaza de la Cultura, above the Gold Museum. But several years ago they were relocated here probably because the city thought they were a bit of an eyesore. The Plaza has kind of a nice European look, filled with a variety of people and pigeons, with the ornate National Theatre dominating one edge of the Plaza. So you can imagine why they wouldn’t want what basically looks like a flea market right in the middle of that.

Today we were after gifts for various people. First and foremost, for our friends, the Yakis, who have been watching our house in Phoenix, feeding our cat, raking his litter box, starting our cars occasionally, etc.

Then we needed some things for various other family and friends. And we wanted to stock up our “gift closet” for occasions that come up like birthday parties that the kids get invited to. And we bought a little bit for ourselves, which is important to remember to do. Alex picked a miniature marimba for himself. Sofia got a beautiful, ornate photo album to put some of her Costa Rica pictures in (she’ll have to pick her favorite 40 out of the thousand that she’s probably taken). Sofia also got some little things for her best friend, Bo, and their teacher, Ms. Crain. I wish I had students that thought to get me a souvenir when they went on vacation. That must be nice! I guess I should consider myself lucky when I have 4 intact tires every day after school. Such is the life of an inner-city high school teacher.

I love and I hate these days. These end-of-the-vacation days where you buy a lot of stuff. It’s fun because you get to pick out beautiful things for yourself and people you love. I hate it because after living very cheaply for six weeks, I’m suddenly pouring out money like a faucet. Or at least it feels that way. It’s not really that bad, but it’s always hard for a spendthrift like me.

Maritza got a suggestion for a good place for lunch, so we walked a block or so and ate a nice lunch at a little Columbian restaurant. We had five big plates of food and drinks for 4800 colones! Amazing.

Our little Columbian soda

Next we drove (it is so nice to have a car!) to a store called Universal, where we hoped to find a Costa Rican flag for a good price. Right beside Universal is the jewelry store where we needed to pick up the earrings. To avoid parking and make it quicker, I dropped Maritza and Cristina off and circled around. It took three slow loops before they were ready. Universal was out of flags and the earrings weren’t ready. But Cristina found some cool Costa Rican beads at Universal, so it wasn’t a complete waste.

It was around 2 by now, so we went back to the cedula place and got Cristina’s cedula. Like clockwork.

On the way to our next stop, we needed to get into the right lane, so Cristina stuck her head out the window and gestured that we needed to get over. The guy in the next lane sped up to keep us from getting in. Cristina yelled at him and he rolled down his window and yelled back at her. First he said something obscene in Spanish, then when he realized she spoke English, he pulled out all the stops. He started using every English profanity he could remember from watching movies, I’m sure. But his accent was thick and he sounded ridiculous. His favorite choice of insults sounded like foggy beach. Cristina yelled something to the effect of “You don’t even know what you’re talking about!” I had to hold her by the back of her pants to keep her in the car she was so livid. It was like when you have a dog in the car and you pass by a cat and the dog practically jumps out the window barking and trying to get at the cat. The ultimate joy in this whole experience was when it occurred to me how much the guy would hate it if we got into his lane one car ahead of him. So I gunned it forward to the next car, Cristina gestured kindly, and the guy let us in. As we drove on, you could still hear Profane Man yelling, “Foggy Beach! Moto-fogger!” We waved to him as we accelerated away. It was beautiful, or as beautiful as a profane shouting match can be.

Next, I dropped Cristina and Maritza off near La Casona, a big artisan’s shopping center similar to the artisan’s booths near the museum, just under one roof and a little pricier. They found a flag there and bought it. One more thing marked off our list.

We were done with San Jose but there was one more place we needed to go in Alajuela. It was late enough that Ramón would be home from work, so we went home first, dropped off all our goods, and picked up Ramón.

Just past the airport, there is a factory that makes wood products, the kind of stuff that the vendors sell at the market we were at earlier. This particular factory is the only place we know of that makes these tiny little tea and coffee sets, about dollhouse size. They make nice gifts for children, especially the children/parents at Desert Marigold, who perhaps appreciate wood toys more than the average person. We made it to the Sr. y Sra. Ese factory at 5:15. They closed at 5:30, so we just squeaked in. We wound up keeping them there 30 minutes late, and we bought more than we intended to, but we got some great stuff.

On the way home, we went to a KFC drive-thru for dinner. Ramón ordered from the back seat and we had a good chuckle because he forgot some of his Spanish. He was asking for chicken, instead of pollo, and the guy didn’t know what he was talking about.