DECEMBER 28-THE DENTIST'S OFFICE..it's not Portland

One of my primary reasons for this trip is dental work.  Sad but true..I simply can't afford to go to the dentist in the US of A.  At 65, I need some major work...and I need it bad.  After getting a price at home that was just about the cost of a new Mustang, i checked out options.

I'd heard about people coming to Costa Rica for cosmetic surgery and weight loss surgery and while I was here on my last trip, I met a woman who had gone to the dentist and raved about her work.  So I googled Costa Rica Dentists and wrote about 15 of them for prices and estimates.

Meanwhile at home, I had some preliminary work done with the $1800.00 a year that my insurance will cover which isn't much.  I've had 2 root canals, but declined the crowns which would have run me $2000.00 since by then I had no insurance to cover them.  I had a terribly broken molar pulled as well as a tooth that was crooked and had become decayed right in the front of my bottom jaw.  So yeah, since October I've been running around with jack-o-lantern gaps in my teeth...but at least it's a seasonal look.

After taking 6 weeks to heal all the oral surgery up, I'm ready to have things fixed.  

I grew up in the era just before orthodontics for teens plus my parents were middlin' poor so it wouldn't have been an option in any case.  As a result, I've suffered with very crooked bottom teeth.  I did get ortho for my kids but never for myself.  Just couldn't afford it as a single parent.  As a result, my bottom teeth are a mess.  So one of the things I really wanted was veneers on my lower teeth-but they were just too crooked for it.  So I'm getting caps on 5 and 2 implants where I had a decayed tooth pulled and a canine never grew in. plus an implant on the molar on the bottom and a couple of crowns for the root canals..like I said..the cost of a 2006 Mustang in the states.

Dr Marco Munoz Cvallini

I scheduled an appointment at Aesthetic Dentistry with Dr Marco and his son Dr Marco.   A couple of real charmers both of them.  I'd communicated at length with them via email and found them to be very forthcoming and willing to give me an almost firm price for all the work I wanted to have done.  It was $3500.00  Which was less than the cost of 2 implants in the states.  Amazing.

  Dr. Marco A. Muñoz Peralta

Arriving at my first appointment, I found a full waiting room all of who had 10 am appointments.  The TV was going like mad with a game show in spanish and people were chatting and reading, working on their computers and listening to their iPods and generally just patiently waiting for their turn.

Occasionally Dr Marco the Elder would come out and kiss and hug a patient and send him or her on their way and Dr Marco the Junior would bring someone in to his office, while one of the many assistants were bringing people to and from x-ray and fittings and color matching and so on.  It's a busy friendly place and absolutely nothing like a dentist in the US.

At noon, still not having seen anyone, we were all herded out of the office for lunch and told to return at 1:30...so I wandered around, found a soda ( a usually small coffee shop/restaurant that serves inexpensive meals) and grabbed an excellent empanada pollo.  At 1:30 I returned to discover I was the last person back, which made me last on the list to be seen.  I finally got in about 3PM after waiting all day...but say..it's Costa Rica and time doesn't mean the same thing there.  I'm glad I had a book and had met a couple of people from the US to talk to.

Dr Marco Jr had x-rays taken of my mouth and soon was telling me exactly what he could do for me, applauding that I'd had prep work done in the US and scheduling me for another 11AM appointment the next day to begin the implant process.

Now understanding exactly how 'appointments' here work, I wised up and grabbed an early bus, arriving at 9AM, first one in the door and first one to be seen---so remember appointment times are just suggestions in Costa Rica.  Get there early!

Soon Dr Marco senior was singing to me in spanish as he drilled holes for the implant pegs.  He is a total charmer and kept calling me Shirley as I look sort of like Shirley McLaine.  He called me His Little Shirley for over 2 weeks, which was pretty funny as at 5'9" I am anything but little!   I was prepped for implants over a 2 day period, given temps at night and on the 3rd day I was prepped for the caps on my lower teeth and the crowns.  Molds for the first of the permanent teeth were taken and fited to me, adjusted for correct fit and the permanent ceramic teeth designed, including a consultant for exact color match with the lab artiste'.

 The lab work takes several days but it's ok because by now your mouth is pretty sore and it's a relief to have free time that isn't spent in the dentists office.  I scheduled some tourist things, such as a white water rafting trip and a long weekend at Volcan Arenal in the company of a couple of other dental patients from the US.  Took a nice hike with a guy from New Jersey, who had kindly let me borrow his room for half a day when my mouth was uber sore and I didn't want to get right on the bus..theres a rather dingy hotel next door to the dental clinic where he was staying for something like $35.00 a night.

Come monday morning I again arrived at 9 and had 2 crowns put on and was sent on my way by 10:30 and told to return in a couple of days for the lower caps to be cemented in place. 

And so it went...a couple of hours one day, nothing for 2 days then an all day session...interrupted by my bout with e coli which took almost a whole week off my dentist time.  Nobody cares, really, what time you arrive..when you walk in the door the receptionist signs you in and thats the order you're called, usually, except if you need x-rays or are getting a cleaning for fitting for crowns or caps.

I had lots of time to sight see and vacation, the temporary teeth I got every day were fine to eat with and generally I fell into the flow of wait and wait and wait....glad I'd brought a book and my iPod.

My last week was a bit of a rush, due to my lost time, but the Drs Marco went all out to make sure I got finished early on Wednesday the day before my flight, which was at 3PM on Thursday.  I went out to dinner with Dr Marco the elder to test run the fitting of everything and came back in dragging luggage for a final fitting and cementing the morning of my flight, then Dr Marco called his friend the gypsy cab driver who took me to the aeropuerto for $15, which is $10 less than anyone else quoted me.

My work is fully under guarantee, something I am taking advantage of as after a year and a half the lower molar has loosened for some reason.  Again I am having it removed in the US and getting a bone  graft in my jaw, but the replacement of the implant and the crown is free to me.  Try and get that from a dentist in the US.

Aesthetic Dentistry uses immediate load implant pegs which means they can place your new tooth within a few days.  They use a much smaller peg when compared to that used in the US dentists office when I first looked at implants.  The drill a quite small hole into your jawbone, then use a torque wrench for fairies..a tiny tiny thing, to ratchet it into place after applying glue.  

I have nothing but praise for the office staff and the doctors and dental techs.  Though it took a long time, that was because I had a lot of work done and didn't rush things, making sure I had plenty of free time.

Finally, if someone talks about Costa Rica being a third world country and very dangerous I have to disagree.  I'm a senior citizen and did plenty of walking thru the main city as well as hiking in the cloud and rain forests by myself and hanging out in the smaller town of Grecia..I never met with anything but politeness and interest.  My spanish is minimal and many of the people I dealt with spoke more passable english than I did spanish

Aesthetic Dentistry Web Site Link

I highly recommend them for inexpensive but excellent dental care in a wonderful country.

HOSTEL..quatro (or what the heck do I expect for 20 bucks anyhow?)

Day 3 in the Hostel from Hell..guess I'm getting used to it.  Or I'm feeling slightly better and not as crabby.  I've made a couple of friends, went shopping with a couple of the Peruvian girls and generally have been more social.

So I have to write some positives about this dump..I mean place.  It's friendly, the manager and housekeepers are quick to be helpful.  It's convenient to just about everywhere in downtown San Jose and in a safe neighborhood.  It's cheap.

I like the concept of a $20.00 room..and yes, I don't have to pay for my 'private bathroom' that is used by everyone in the computer area.  The manager and I had a discussing the 3rd time I cleaned it up-he saw me with mop and cleaner and asked what I was doing.  I was surprised (not) that he didn't realize that everyone  use the toilet in the computer room when they were there hanging out and drinking beer.

Today I'm doing some packing-I have to pay someone to do my laundry even though the washing machines are also in the computer room..but they aren't for use by anyone but the housekeeping staff..and like most places here, there is no dryer.  So things get hung up on the indoors clothesline, which is right out the door of my 'privatado bano', with a scenic view of what could be a lovely courtyard but is presently just used for trash and storing old machinery.

There are a lot of places around here to eat, and a lot of bars to visit.  Though my bar hopping has been sort of restricted lately, if I felt better I'd be out dancing most nights..I can hear the music in my room.

The shower...it does have hot water, but it's heated with an element thats connected to the shower head..and not grounded either.  It's called a suicide shower by the ex-pat's here.  You have to be sure you get the temperature adjusted prior to getting in the shower and making yourself a giant ground rod.  Avoid adjusting the temp with wet hands and feet.

All in all, it's been an experience

HOSPITAL DE MEXICO...tres

After a restless night I woke to the chatter of birds and Ticas readying themselves for a new day and breakfast.  It was about 6:30 and a beautiful day from what I could tell.  Breakfast consisted of pinto y gallo, naturalmente, huevos revueltos, jugos y platano.  Or beans and rice, of course, scrambled eggs, juice and bananas.  Y cafe  and coffee, some of the worse coffee I've had in Costa Rica, home of pretty excellent coffee most of the time.  I picked at it, drank my mystery juice and ate some eggs, waiting for a visit from a doctor so I could blow this joint.  

I kept seeing huge dollar (or colon) signs, sure I was blowing all my reserve idly laying on my ass in a hospital bed.

About 90 minutes after I ate, I again got the poopies and beat it to the bano, womans bano this time just in the nick.  I remembered I had a Cipro to take then so I did, but I still felt pretty bad-feverish and a bit of an upset tummy.

Round about 11:30 a nurse and doctor came by..the nurse spoke english and translated for the doctor..they were going to release me so long as I would go directly home and there was someone to take care of me.

I lied, said sure there was (did the dog count)? and by 1:30 was waiting for a taxi in front of the hospital, bag of dirty clothes, a water bottle, my computer and my book in hand.  The trip back to the ridge took almost 2 hours and we had to stop twice for 'health reasons'.

Finally arriving back on the ridge, frantic Dobbie got fed and let off his lead, where he has spent a day and night, I took him for a short run in the coffee fields and then brought him inside and went to bed..and there I stayed for the next 2 days.

Oh-the cost of all this? $700.00 which was covered by trip insurance I had bought for $35.00.  I'd have to submit it, but $700.00 was much less than I had figured for a day in the E.R., followed by a night in the hospital, 6 lab tests and a raft of blood glucose tests.  I was told that they kept checking my B.G. because I had been a 45 with I checked into the E.R....that really really low.

But I still felt pretty sick..thank goodness Bev would be home in a couple of days.

STAYING IN A HOSTEL IN SAN JOSE

I had first intended to move from the ridge back to San Jose for the end of my dental work, and had a reservation at Aparthotel Christina, the nice place that we stayed at in 2006.  However when Bev offered the spare bedroom on the ridge, I can cancelled my room there and decided to save some money.  That was before I learned so much about the bus commute, especially how long it could be, and how the appointments work at the doctors office.

When I couldn't get back to the doc because I couldn't make the bus ride without a nearby potty, I realized I was going to have to move into the city if there was to be any chance of getting done by this coming Wednesday-thats just 3 working days.  I leave on Thursday.  I've accepted that I may have to just rebook my flight home and will if forced into it, but I don't want to.  I really do want to come home.

Sadly, Apt. Christina was booked for small singles and I wanted to pay less that $40 a night...taxi rides had eaten up my spending money and I still had a final payment to the dentist for the work

So I consulted my tour guides, the map of the city, my memory of hotels people had said were good and sent out about 25 emails Friday and Saturday.

This is the start of Costa Ricas summer.  It's been beautiful on the ridge for a change.  Cloudless warm days and breezy-not windy-nights.  What I had been hoping for the past 3 weeks was happening just as I was leaving.  Oh well.

San Jose has the main airport and everyone who flys in to this city usually stays at least a day.  Emails came back "No Vacancy".  After about 15 of them, I asked a new friend and she suggested I try the budget places, like hostels.  They were cheaper and usually the last to fill this time of year because it isn't quite a school holiday.  That comes next week.

So I wrote to a hostel booking agency in town asking for a room with a private bath and they booked me at the Hotel/Pension/B&B/Hostel/Apartmento de la Cuesta.  Downtown, just a block off of the main drag and about 6 blocks from the much feared Coca Cola terminal.

They had several rooms available and I could choose which one I wanted when I got here.  I never paused to wonder why, when all the other places had been booked solid, was there one with several rooms available.  The guide book didn't have anything bad to say about it, it commented some rooms had private baths and that it looked like it had been decorated by Barbie and Ken.  Free tipical breakfast. Thats all.

It has an ok website and looked like it just might be the ticket so I paid my 20.000 colones deposit and started to pack up my bedroom in the casa on the ridge.

Sunday, Bev had a big fiesta to go to.  I wish I could have gone but the need to clean up my space, do laundry, pack and the ongoing gut problems made it an non event for me.  I called for Gerry from Jersey the Taxi-man to come between 12:30 and 1:30, figuring that might get him there by 2:30 which was about when I wanted to leave.  I'd forgotten Gerry had spent 7 years in the states and knew the difference between Gringo and Tica time-he was there at 12:15.

So I threw my unpacked and wet things into the shopping bags I'd brought, great synthetic fiber ones I'd gotten as 'gimmie' gifts last summer, and headed out of town, first picking up 3 of his cousins who were going to a Raggaeton concert at a futbol stadium in the outskirts of Alejuela.

He was laughing about how the 3 teens had begged him for a ride and he's said he had a job to go to San Jose first and maybe when he got back he'd take them.  But the concert was to start at 1300 and the kids wanted, HAD to be there for the opening act-it was a local one and they knew the band. 

"We go right by Alejuela on the way to San Jose." I said

"Yes, we do." replied Gerry

"Well call the kids, if they are ready in 15 minutes, we'll just take them.  I'm not in a hurry."

"You sure?"

"Sure-why not-no problem" I replied.

The kids were ready, in the front yard waiting as we drove up and away we went, with many "Muchas Gracias, senora" and one "Thank you" from the sole english speaker.

 We made it there by 1 PM and the kids practiced their english, said thank you very much and ran off to live in the world of Bob Marley circa 2008 for a while.

Gerry and I drove into San Jose and I got my directions out.  The traffic was terrible!  I'd figured that on Sunday there would be, at least, a little less traffic but it was stopped dead at the Datsun dealer where the turn from the Autopista onto Paseo Colon is made.  Then I noticed a lane was blocked off by big barrels and rope, there were some runners in the land, lots of plastic water bottles on the ground by La Sabana Parque...there was a run of some sort happening right on the primary streets of San Jose.  

It took up almost another hour to get from the Parque side of town to the opposite end, where my hotel was, then another half hour to find the hotel.  At this point I was still thinking hotel.

In 'Tipical Tico' fashion, each person we asked directions for gave us different ones.  It is 100 meters from the Parque National.  

Which Parque National?

It is 50 meters from la registario civil.

Which registario civil?

We finally found a taxi guy in the area and he told us correctly how to get there.

It was not quite as I expected.

more to come........

A NEW DAY DAWNING'.....hostel tres

I'm sorry I've sounded so negative about this place, about my experiences lately.  

Chalk it up to just not feeling very good and not being able to eat.  It got me down for a few too many days.  I woke up feeling better!  The antibiotic must be working on the tummy bugs and I was able to actually eat some cereal (with water-they ran out of leche) and some toast this morning with the group of young girls now living here...the jocks having gone on to some other place.

I recognize some German or Swiss, the arguing French girls are still here and still arguing and slamming doors, there is a group of 4 girls from Peru who are stunning, with faces like they were chisled out of coffee colored marble and cheekbones that could cut diamonds.  I'd die for cheekbones like they have.  And huge dark eyes and long regal noses--wow I've never seen a Peruvian woman before..I wish I could paint faces!

The guy from Detroit is still here-he's my age and we talk.  He's cool.  Gave my laundry to the day clerk and hopefully it will be done tomorrow evening so I can pack it up because hopefully I'm coming home Wednesday.

Staying here is real cheap, and it's a ya get what ya pay for type of thing.  I admit that if I could have gotten in at the Hilton (at $120 a nite) I would have been more comfortable-but here I am both saving money and experiencing living on the cheap, which was one of the goals of this trip.  And, if I decide to come back, of the next trip also as much if my time then will be homestays with Tico families.

Today is cooler and overcast, though early this morning it was pretty clear.  Instead of roosters and dogs barking to wake me up, I have the smell of diesel and the constant sound of car horns blowing. 

  The taxi ride last night at about 7:30 PM was frightening to me.  Paseo Colon becomes Aveneda Central and it's a one way street, with parking on both sides until 7 PM, when it becomes a *5* lane street.  However since cars don't move from the parking spots in time, and are then towed away, at 7:10 or so it is jammed with cops and tow trucks impounding the still parked carros.  However, since everyone knows it is supposed to be 5 lanes, they try and fit 5 cars into 3 lanes by making personal adjustments in where they choose to drive.  Fast.

The taxi driver straddled the white line between two other taxis, one weaving in and out where the parked cars were being inpounded, the other weaving in and out of the lane on his right.  And other taxis and cars and delivery trucks and motos were all doing the same thing.  Fast.

We'd race from stop light to stop light to see who got to be there first (there could be no other reason). screech to a stop, the motos would come up between the carros and taxis and trucks and putt-putt-putt there with 2" between their handle bars and the fender, wobbling because it isn't macho to put your foot down I guess, the anticipate the light to get ahead of the 4 wheeled rolling stock.  The red light is not always observed as a stop sign-to traffic going the other direction it may signal "You can make it thru".  So the motos come inches from being creamed from the side by drivers lax opinion of the very red light.  Then everyone lays on the horn.

We did this signal after signal.  You'd never guess that gas is still about $5.00 a gal here-though it is scheduled to come down sometime this month to $4.00 a gal.  I'd never have the courage or the balls to drive in San Jose, especially at night!

I slept hard.all the walking is good for me but tiring.  I noticed my Clarks walking shoes-real old lady but so comfortable for walking in-are about worn out!  I got them before our 2006 trip and have worn them off and on at home, but almost all the time here.  They would have been enough to bring, except walking Dobbie in the muddy fields required a shoe that was at least covered on the toes.

It's a 45 block walk to the dentist-sort of down hill and I can saunter it in about 45 minutes during the day.  Since I usually cab back, and that takes a half an hour, it's pretty much a wash what I do-depends on how I feel.  Today I'm walking to MultiPlaza San Pedro, in the University district.  Looking forward to my shoes (I hope I hope).

Dentist is @ 4PM for a fitting with adjustments being made for a couple of hours they say, then if all goes well I get to take a trial run with the permanent replacements.  Tomorrow will be a final adjustment period and if no big goofs have been done, I'll be finished.

Then I'll  go to R/L clinic for my lip plumping and come back to pack..and that will be it for this trip.  Thinking positive here!

more to come........

 

 

TRIP TO THE HOSPITAL-WAY FUN (not) uno

I bit the financial bullet today and called a cab to take me to El Hospital de Mexico, which contrary to what you might expect, is not in Mexico but in San Jose, Costa Rica.  I was lucky in that my cab driver-
gerry- had spent about a decade in New Jersey and had a charming Jersey accent to his english.  He quoted me a fare of $60 US for the trip, said he'd wait until I either finished at the hospital/or he got another fare, and take me back to the casa on the ridge.

I put a great deal of thought into deciding to go or not...my basic spanish..my very little basic spanish, does not include the words for diarrhea or nausea or fever.  Fortunately my trusty Lonely Planet Guide to Costa Rica Spanish (available at Amazon.com) does have these and other important words.

Gerry  arrived at noon on the dot, packed me into his cab along with a change of clothes..ok a couple of changes of clothes and a couple of towels to sit on...just in case...my computer and a book and we headed off to Mexico to check out the E.R.  I was hoping for a Costa Rica version of Dr Ross but instead I eventually met a very short and quite homely but nice man named Dr Jesus.  If I was religions this could either bring confidence or scare the hell out of me.  All it did was make me work hard to pronounce his name correctly.

Costa Rica has a National Health Care plan..you might know it as the dreaded Socialized Medicine that has been discussed ad nauseum during the recent elections.  It's similar to that in Canada and the U.K. I suppose in that everyone belongs, everyone pays the same premium and everyone gets treated the same.  And, because this is Costa Rica, that includes long lines and patience development opportunities.

Upon arriving, Gerry bullied us to the front of the line, loudly lamenting the sick norteamericano senora - line cutting is not something I am comfortable doing but by then I had changed my pants in the back of the cab even though it was just a 40 minute drive.  He quickly, rapido, explained that i was "muy enfermo con diarrea y nausea".

Well.  I think I can make myself understood after all.  That was much easier than I thought it was going to be.  Different accents on different syllable but, by George, I think I got it!

However I was embarrassed by the line of people who stood behind me and who had been patiently waiting for their turn when I did the Ugly American thing, with Gerrys's help, by acting 'better than' and cutting in.  It appears that isn't as much of a problem in the sala de urgencias because no one complained to him and I received a nice pat on my shoulder from a woman who appeared to be in her 80s,  macha pequeño pobre she said..poor little blondie.  I was at least a foot taller than she, but I was obviously in dire conditions.

As I stood there trying to fill out the form and waving my tarjeta de visa because I do know how to get attention, I had another blast of the poops.  It ran down the leg of my capris and onto the floor.  Then I gracefully puked on the nice old lady.  They quickly removed me to one of the many curtained off cubbies and threw in a set of scrubs for me, along with a towel.

side note There appears to not be a need for wash cloths in Costa Rica, by the way.  I brought a yard of flannel with me and tore it into squares for multi purpose cloths...cheaper and easier to pack that wash cloths...just a hint.

So back to the sala de urgencias curtain area diaz, where I am furtively trying to wash out my messed panties and capris in the sink-wishing I'd brought a plastic bag to stuff them into and considering just depositing everything into the trash.  After about an hour, Gerry dropped by and said he had a fare..I was on my own and still had not seen anyone.  No nurse or doctor or janitor to mop up the water spilled around the sink.

Eventually Dr. Jesus walked in, introduced himself and began talking to me in swift spanish.

"Slower, please hable lentamente" I  asked in my hesitant and possibly wrong spanish.

He spoke slower but I still didn't get it.

"Diarrhea and Nausea", I said  "Muy grande diarrhea".

He laughed, but I think he understood.  "Had I eaten?  Could I hold agua?"

"No no agua, no comida, dos dias" I replied

"Uno momento, por favor, senora" And Jesus left the room.

An hour later he came by with a small box.  Inside were packed 15 tablets in bubble containers. Cipro.  Boy I guess I really was sick.

" Take 2 now, take one a day for 12 days.  But spend the night here con liquido."  I understood, I thought.

A long while later, a nurse came with a wheelchair to take me to a ward.  I got a clean johnny gown - the ones with no back -  and was hooked to an I.V.  Con liquido didn't mean drinking a lot of water..it meant an IV.

I thought about all the money I was probably spending on the E.R. visit and a night in the hospital on an I.V.  I remembered I hadn't fed the dog before I left.  No phone, so I couldn't call the neighbor to feed him.  Oh well-can't do anything about it now.

HOSPITAL DE MEXICO - dos

When last you left your plucky traveler, she was sitting in a wheelchair, wearing one of those paper hospital gowns with no back, suffering from the trots and the pukes and unable to speak the language particularly well.

So what more could go wrong?  apparently plenty.  I was dehydrated after several days of being unable to keep food or water down so inserting an I.V. needle about the size of a #12 ground wire was rather difficult.  First trying my left crook of the arm-usually the sweet spot for blood draws and I.V. cannulas-nun nurse found no joy there.... then the crook of the right arm, the right fore arm, the right hand, the left fore arm, the left hand and finally a central line.  Finally.  I was so happy to be done with all the pokes that I cried.  I do admit I wasn't very happy, that I was running a fever and that I was sort of afraid of what this was going to cost me.  And I'd never had a central line put in before either so that was sort of scary.  This all took place in the E.R. aka sala de urgencias prior to being taken to a room.

I held my computer, my purse and wet clothing in my lap as I was trundled down a corridor and into the elevator, up several floors and into a ward of women and what looked like nuns but who I discovered later were nursing nuns for the most part.

I was given a bed and a pitcher of water, a nausea suppository, a pat on the head and left alone.

 Eventually I fell asleep.

That evening Dr Jesus came by to check me out.  I was still running a pretty high fever but since they told me what it was in liters or kilometers or something, I'm not sure how high it was.  But I had a headache and generally felt rocky.  However, I hadn't pooped or puked for several hours and I looked on that as a good sign.

Dinner came but I wasn't hungry.  Besides I was still nauseated and didn't want to make things worse.  They kept changing bags of whatever they were running into me though and I sure had to pee.  I asked the man who delivered the dinner trays "el bano?" and he gestured to a door down the ward several beds.  However there wasn't an I.V. pole with wheels nearby so I lifted the bag and, holding my gown together in the rear, shuffled down the aisle, smiling gamely at the other women who were chowing down on dinner and gossiping to each other.

I had just made it to the john when one of the nun nurses rushed up to me and tried to guide be back to my bed.  "NO!  El Bano.  EL BANO" I loudly said.
'
"No No" she said.  "Si, Si el bano por favor"  I replied with emphasis, jerking my arm out of her gasp.  It was either el bano or peeing on the floor at that point.

She let me go in and I rushed into a cubicle, after noticing the urinals on the opposite wall.  Oh.  I was in the mens bano.  Oh well, the door closed and I peed, finished and peeked out.  The room was still empty and I scuttled from the mens room into the arms of Nurse Nun Ratchett who grimly pointed me to the senoras bano.  Why there was a mens bano on a woman's ward I haven't a clue, and why I couldn't use it when there were no men around, I haven't a clue either however apparently I had made a grave error.

The darkness fell and meds were brought around to some of the other women, Mine were on my table side, so I turned on my lamp and tried to translate the directions, having forgotten what Dr Jesus told me that morning.  I figured another Cipro wouldn't do any harm and maybe would do some good..being of the 'more is better' viewpoint when it comes to drugs (a hold over from the 1960s I do admit).

I got out my computer and looked for a wireless connection-silly girl-or a plug in connection-silly girl- put it away and hauled out my book having decided to read.  All around me voices were chattering in spanish, the nun nurses were taking temps and BP's and testing for blood glucose.  Eventually it was my time for a blood draw, BP test ()very high I assume) and a BG test also for some reason.  They also wanted a urine sample but had to leave the cup for that.  We got along with gestures and smiles..it wasn't too bad.

Eventually I fell asleep with the light on.  And woke up to another BP/blood draw/glucose test and request for urine about midnight. And at 3AM.  And at 6 AM.  And at 9AM.

HOSTEL....dos

Where was I last night?

Oh yeah.  Expectations. Wish I could insert that smiley of the orange face banging its little head against a brick wall here.  How can I still have expectations?  Norteamericano expectations even.

The reason the de la Cuesta had plenty of vacancies last night is because it is a dump.  Belongs right next to the landfill, no doubt.

Remember, I'd already guaranteed my deposit with a credit card and was outside my 48 hour cancellation time limit.  Even if I could find another place it's too late for tonight and tomorrow, with any luck I'll be gone after Wednesday night so I decided to be philosophical about it.s

I'm being philosophical about a lot on this trip lately.  It's been real real eye opening and even my usual good humor and smile have faded a bit.

I checked in and looked at 5 empty rooms, 4 of which were dark and with a small window looking out on the street or trash cans.  The bano privatado was shared and down the hall, the showers-well they are all shared and there are 3 of them for 24 rooms.

The last room was a little more expensive.....$25 to the $20 for the 10 x 10 caves I'd looked at.  The desk clerk said it had a bano privatado...ok I'll pay 5 bucks more for a john in my room.  Especially right now.  The room was larger, sunnier if not cleaner, had a big window overlooking a court yard, an actual closet with hangers and a sorta nice oak dresser thats about 80 years old.  Very scared up.  I like it of course.

But the bano..well private seems to be a word of some loose interpretation here.  The bano is off the laundry area, next to the computer room where I sit now.  Tonight only one of the snobby stuck up french chicks is here, but last night it was full of smoking beer drinking loud guys who were using the wireless (which I can't get in my room around the corner) for their laptops or using the 2 old clunkers that are up here.  Also going were 2 washing machines, raggaeton on someones computer speakers and a conversation in some language I didn't understand.  

Cause all the guys were drinking beer, they were also using the only bano in the area...the one marked for Apartmento 15 .  Yes my $5.00 smelled like a beer hall and lets say toilet seat lifting was optional.  And it was only about 7:30 PM.  I asked the night clerk for cleaning products so I could sorta pick up when I wanted it and tried to tell her I wasn't paying for a private bano, but though she understood the cleaning stuff, the other was beyond her English.

About 10 she brought me a towel and a plastic holder of the all purpose type cleaner they use in Costa Rica for everything, she also brought me a mop.  Then she yelled at the various guys, "Bano privatado" figured in the yelling and left..and yes, I cleaned it up before I went to bed. 

My room, itself was sunny during the day with a nice breeze, though very grubby generally.  Everything is generally grubby like only the middle of the floors get swept or occasionally mopped, the doors all have a big smudge of hand prints on the opening and I decided to wash my dishes before I ate off of them.  This coming from me, who is not exactly Ms. Clean herself.  I have rather lax values when it comes to housework for it's own sake and am pretty tolerant about mess.  But grubby everywhere, cobwebs everywhere, mold growing on the walls-it IS hard to contain I  admit-but established mold in the closet-which I can't use because of it...stuff like that is just a bit more than even I would like to stay around much.

But it's only for 4 nights so I can cope.  Right???

more later.........

.NOT SO MUCH FUN, REALLY

Oh. MY. GAWD.  I am so sick.  My experience of yesterday had gotten much more complicated with 72 hours passing.  Not sure what this is, but I am sick as the proverbial dog.  Unable to keep anything down, unable to move far from el bano, I have pretty much spend the day down for the count.

I missed a couple of days at the dentist which is going to put me behind but I'm almost done there so things should go ok.  I hope.

I considered trying to call a cab to take me into a doctors office, but neighbor Fred tells me doctors offices are closed on weekends.  My best bet is going to the hospital, however I'm not that sick.  I hope.


So I'm reading and sleeping and occasionally IMing with one of my kids.  I get my favorite radio station via the internet so that keeps me company.  And the weather is fantastic today of course.  It would have been a good day to take a long hike at the Poaz Waterfall, which everyone says I must not miss.

Maybe later.

I FEEL THE EARTH MOVE UNDER MY BED-AGAIN

OK-I'm beginning to not enjoy Costa Rica quite as much.  The Disneyland has worn off.

About 45 minutes ago, I woke as yet another earthquake shook the house. Bev didn't stop snoring,  but the dog felt it as he was at my door whining as soon as I was under the door jam. 

I can remember my dogs reactions, when I was a kid, to earthquakes. They always started whining and growling down low in their throats.   Earthquakes and fires in the hills surrounding the San Fernando Valley are some of the most vivid memories I have from childhood.  Same for my siblings.

The little town my sister lives in had a terrible forrest fire in 1994 and she had flashes of childhood memories, the same as I have had, smelling the smoke and seeing the haze that covers everything.  There is a tension in the air that I feel during an earthquake, maybe the same thing animals sense in their primal brains.  I don't have the flight or fight thing-just the get under a door jam thing.  Or a table.

This apparently was a little roller, or it was pretty far away, unlike the one I experienced on November 19th, the first night I was alone in the house here on the ridge. That was a magnitude 6+ and was a topic of conversation amongst the foreigners in the dentist office the next day. Ticos don't even bother to discuss them-there are so many here.

Again I went to the great U S Geographical Survey site

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Maps/region/N_America.php

to see if anyone else felt it.

It wasn't registered, so I filled out an 'unknown quake' report and since the roosters started crowing when the quake happened, I figured I was awake for the day-after all it will be dawn in about 45 minutes.

Later.................

Amazingly enough, though I did go back to sleep and woke up at about 8-sleeping thru dawn.

I checked the USGS site again en voila, there it was. Bigger than I thought, this one a 4.8. An email from the USGS said I was the only report for quite a while and that "Yes, I must be very sensitive to quakes."

How do people live where there are constant earthquakes? And for Central America, it appears to be pretty constant. They just accept that it's going to happen and thats all. They don't bother getting excited about it, may discuss it with a neighbor but basically, if the quake caused no damage to their home or property, to their families person or if nothing fell on their car, it isn't a big issue.

I can't be that kicked back about it though.

 After the Sylmar quake on my brothers birthday in, I think, about 1971, I became a mental wreck. We had to move out of our house-it was condemned. That was a quake that brought down the Golden State Freeway, wrecked a hospital near the epi-center and made me decide it was time to consider living someplace other than Southern California.

3 years later, we were in Oregon, and while the weather isn't as nice, we don't have smog, the beaches belong to the people and earthquakes are infrequent.

So OK  while experiencing 2 quakes in 2 weeks here doesn't turn me off about Costa Rica, especially since the last couple of days have been beautiful and sunny, it does make me reconsider  living here, even as a snowbird.

I've always had this thing about unpredictable disasters, like quakes, fires, hurricanes (no way would I live on the gulf coast), tornados (ditto for the breadbasket states).  

I can see myself, like Dorothy in The Wizzard of Oz, flying off in some big tornado, or getting trapped in the middle of a valley while the fire burns down from each hilltop, or having a house fall down on me.  Never knowing where my children are, if my grandchildren are ok.

Doesn't make any difference that my kids are all adults-the mom in me wants to gather her chicks around and throw her body on top of them, like I did to my boys in the Sylmar quake.  Things were falling off the walls of their bedroom, windows were breaking, my husband got thrown down the stairs.  It was a quake that went on and on and on.  You could decide what to do while the quake was happening.  My oldest boy, who was about 8, grabbed his dads hardhat and went under the kitchen table.  That was pretty good thinking so I joined him, with his brother in my arms, as the aftershocks continued.  

I'm glad this quake wasn't as big as that one was....but, it could happen.  Right?

I wouldn't make a very good pioneer I'm afraid.

IS IT STILL CALLED MONTEZUMAS REVENGE IN COSTA RICA??

Whatever it's called, it has me in its clutches! On the way home from SJ, on the very crowded bus yesterday afternoon, I started to feel a cramping in my gut. I'd eaten at a different soda close to the dentists-had an empanada pollo and a large orange drink -nothing really exotic, after all it's difficult to eat anything when your lips are numb and feel like they are about 2" thick.

The cramping turned to burpy gas and then, as we made it to the Grecia turnoff, they turned to...well....the serious poops. I had a newspaper in my purse (Thank you Tico Times) that I immediately shoved under my butt, but...it was too late.

Of course I had white capris on. I had no idea what I should do-rent a room for a shower and buy another pair of pants? buy a sweater to wrap over my butt, which was stained AND oderous? Is this too much information? I waited for everyone else to get off the bus and slithered out the back door-thinking I should leave some money on the seat because SOMEONE was going to have to clean that up.

TMI again?

Maybe, but along with other things, I discovered a visitor needs to know what 'issues' such as the poops are called in a foreign country.

Last weekend I met a nice woman who had just gotten out of the hospital here-and she speaks GOOD spanish. But she and her nursing staff and the doctor were muy frustrated because she did not know the words for those answers to questions that they ask you after surgery.

"Have you moved your bowels?"
"Have you urinated?"

She knew how to say I'm in pain-they teach ya that in travel books. They don't tell you what the spanish form of Peptol-Bismo is called. I had no muscle aches or any flu like symptoms, so I figured I had a touch of food poisoning from the empanada-and it was really good too!

I ended up going into a washroom and cleaning up as best I could-fortunately no one else came in-then walking thru the twilight to a cab. About half way thru the trip, I could tell the driver knew it wasn't bull shit he smelt, no chicken manure or even composted vegetable matter. It was his gringa tourista, feeling sicker by the curve as we rode up and down the hills.

Finally got to Bevs house and I paid him double for his patience, I did buy another paper to use, then stood in the shower for about an hour while I got clean.

Too much information? Sorry-it's reality when traveling where the bugs are new to the body..amazingly it took 3 weeks to hit me!

So remember, when traveling, either take the Peptol or find out what it's called, cause you just may need it when you least expect it.

I spent today totally wiped out, in bed, weak as a kitten and unable to keep anything down. Plus I messed another dentist appointment, an important one.  Tomorrow has to be better! Mostly because I have to start packing, make sure I have someplace to go and clean my very funky room up.

Does anyone know spanish for Lysol?

WHY ALL THE FOG AND RAIN?

When considering a vacation in a tropical locale such as Costa Rica, we tend to dream of sunny beaches, swaying palms and drinks with paper umbrellas in them being sipped as sun sets over the waves.

Why then, constant reader, might you ask, does my Facebook page mentions so much rain, wind and fog?

In a word:  micro-climates.  In some other words, remember the sunny beaches are just found on the coastlines in most parts of the world and there is more to this fair country than their coastline.

I'm staying, on this trip, in what is close to a cloud forrest.  In the middle of a coffee plantation. Coffee loves warm foggy temperatures better than hot sun.  The beans ripen slowly, starting out almost lime green, they go thru phases from grass green thru orange to scarlet and finally at a rich dark brown they are ready to be picked.  By hand.  One bean at a time.  Coffee beans grow in clusters but each bean ripens individually so the cluster may be picked over several times before the entire handful is harvested.

The cloud forest reminds me of the Pacific Northwest.  Today started out socked in fog-I wasn't able to see across the yard.  About 8:00 AM, the sun began to burn off the fog and for an hour or two there was some sun, some warmth and I quickly got the clothes I'd washed out on the line to dry.  Looking down the ravine to the casas on lower parts of the ridge, I saw women in many of them doing the same thing.

Further down the hillside, however, the fog sat in thick pockets of soupy morass.  The road I walk went in and out of the fog as it wove down and up and through the terrain.  Across the valley towards Volcan Poas, much remained hidden but the tip of the volcan had begun to peek out of the fog.

<insert pic of poas here>  

By lunch time today, the fog had gone but the major storm clouds rolled in for the usual afternoon drenching.  All of us with clothes on the line...well I'm the only one with a 'line' for the most part, it's clothes on the bushes, fences, railings and in the trees...were rushing to get the dried things in the house before the afternoon rains began in ernest.  And boy did they!  The wind was rocking the trees, I lost connectivity once again and leaves and branches were blowing over the yard.  We had some lightening and thunder and it was a good time for a nap or to clean up the house, which I decided to do as Bev returns in a couple of days.

When I was starting dinner, marinating a chicken leg and thigh in fresh 'orangeish like juice' and pepper, cutting up the cauliflower and nibbling on the last of todays plantainoes (fat bananas that you fry) the skies cleared and the sun came back out!

I took Dobbie and Suzy for a walk as he had been either inside with me or hooked to his lead all day and needed to stretch his puppy legs.  The pathways were all muddy but the fields were beautiful after the rain.

And as always the sunset was magnificent -  sorbet colors of orange and raspberry tonight that the camera just can't catch-they are so subtle on the undersides of the clouds that a picture just shows grey.

<insert tonights sunset pic here>

So-thats why it isn't always sunny in the tropics-but no matter.  It's a mighty fine place to be.

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW

So it's December first and Costa Rica is teeming with the Christmas Spirit.  

Today at the dentist, instead of salsa or regge playing in the office, there was Christmas music..and the first CD that Dr. Marcos sang along with was a spanish version of all the winter in New England type of Christmas music.  White Christmas crooned from the speakers in a beautiful spanish tenor, then Over the River and thru the Woods, then of course that 'tipical' Costa Rica song, Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow, followed by Winter Wonderland and so on.

It was a beautiful sunny day about 80 degrees for a change, so the whole thing was odd to me.
The stores are all decorated up now, as are houses all along the road below Bevs house.  The icicle type lights are a favorite here, as are blow up snow men, reindeer and Santas.  

House fronts abound with a plethora of blinking flashing lights too, strung thru the trees, draped over bushes, and tacked to every surface.

Occasionally there will be a creche though and for this very Catholic country that seems a bit more like MY idea of a Costa Rican Christmas...

But hay-it isn't my country and I like to celebrate as much as the next person though I gotta say that I'm not going to be able to take too much of New England Christmas music sung in spanish.

It's just wrong!

SUNSETS

I could write forever and never begin to describe the variety of sunsets I see from the back deck at the house.  So I'll just post some of the hundreds of pictures I took.  Deciding which ones was difficult, especially when each passing 30 seconds made changes to the sky that were more beautiful in some way than the last

COSTA RICA-GOTTA LOVE IT dos...FOOD

When considering vacations south of the border (of the US of A that is), one of the things that comes to mind is spicy food.  Food made basically of beans and rice and chiles and some meat or other cooked together with more chiles and onions to make a savory and spicy dish of yummy.

Simple as Chile Rellenos or fish tacos or complicated as a freshly fried Chimichanga Pollo, when we think of southern climes, we think of great food.

Except for Costa Rica, that is.

For some reason, and I've heard several different thoughts on these reasons, spicy food isn't part of the national cuisine, nor is exceptional ethnic Costa Rican food something you'll find all over the country.  Good Mexican food can be found, great Peruvian dishes and even Italian and Chinese is available in many restaurants  in the capitol city of San Juan.

Costa Rica is known for pinto y gallo,  AKA Beans and Rice and which is served with every meal, along with fresh fruit, a variety of juices and occasionally empanadas, which can be either very good or simply awful, depending on their freshness.

If you desire spicy food, bring your favorite Louisiana style hot sauce to season your meals.  I've had great empanadas pollo in streetside sodas-storefront cafes where a quick meal can be grabbed on the run.  I also have had terrible pinto y gallo in the same sodas and somewhere along the line was exposed to
e coli,  which turned out to be the cause of the case of Montezumas Revenge I contracted during my visit.

You can get many US style fast foods in San Jose, if you crave a Mc Donalds fix or need Pizza Hut but be prepared to pay more for it.  And it's not going to taste the same as what you buy at home either.

My suggestion is to check out the large number of Mexican, Italian and Peruvian as well as a great chain of vegetarian restaurants for occasional more expensive dinner meals.  Breakfast is frequently supplied by the hotels and usually is fruit, juice, scrambled eggs, bread and coffee.  For lunches, I frequently made peanut butter and jelly, stuffed it in a baggie and tossed that in my backpack.  If I decided I wanted to eat in a soda instead, I wasn't out a lot of money with the PBJ, and it kept for half a day at least.

Though the water is filtered, I tried to drink bottled water as much as possible.  If bottled water wasn't obtainable, a beer or soda pop is better than milk or a streetside fresca stand where you aren't going to know how clean the fruit was, or where the water or mild came from.

When I was house sitting, I shopped in the saturday farmers market and made a large pot of soup every week, roasted a chicken and ate a lot of fresh veggies and fruit.  However, beware-fruit and veggies go bad quickly in the heat and humidity.  Refrigeration is necessary to keep things fresh, even though they look so pretty sitting on the counter.

Finally and as a caution, I suggest you get a prescription for Cipro from your doctor prior to leaving the US and have it filled.  If you get the Travelers Diarrhea like I did, this drug may make the difference between a lost vacation and hospital visit and just a few days of discomfort.