Jet lag - I hate jet lag. CR is only two hours behind Florida time, but that was enough for me. 4:30AM local time and I'm up and out of bed. No coffee. I want coffeecoffeecoffeecoffee -- breakfast doesn't start until 6:30...... stare out the window looking down on San Jose -- lights still burning because the SUN HASN'T EVEN GOTTEN UP YET. Start with that stupid Vonage issue again, internet research, my eyes burn and my stomach churns -- if I can't get this blasted thing figured out we are t-totally out of luck, everything will fall apart...wait - what's this - Windows Vista has/had a problem working with Vonage ---- read, read, read.... they have a work around.... try it on the netbook with Windows 7 Starter (what moron decided any computer should have a half-baked version of any OS put on it??).... no go, nada, nothing... I still want coffeecoffeecoffeecoffee....... I try it on Doug's laptop, with Windows 7 ..... okay, not quite right - tweak, tweak.... play, play, tweak, pray, tweak, twiddle, fiddle, got it -- lost it -- got it - YESSSSSSSSS we have Vonage - it works. I'm standing there wanting to jump up and down, pump my fist in the air and wake Doug up, but that would be wrong - it's been hours, about three hours but we're up and running. NOW I'm going to get COFFEE!!!!
I walk down four flights of tiled stairs, all open air. The dawn is cool and the ornamental gingers flash in reds, oranges and yellows around me. Parrots fly overhead calling to each other. If it weren't so early I'd really be enjoying this. Neatly trimmed Azaleas with their blooms of pink and red vie with the hot pink bouganvilla dangling from the walls for attention. I walk into the courtyard and there it is - NIRVANA - A COFFEE URN. I grab a cup and wander down the breakfast buffet line - fresh guava and pineapple, rice and beans, toast and jam, scrambled eggs and a few things I don't recognize. I settle in at a table poolside (yep, they have a pool too!) and sip my oh so wonderful Costa Rican coffee. Doug is still sleeping so I just enjoy the **gasp** early morning.
I go back to the room and in a bit we both head down for breakfast - eggs, toast, fruit, ham and cheese slices, more coffee and unknown juices - yummo. We go back to the lobby, exchange some currency (Colones are the Costa Rican currency and American dollars are not widely accepted) then we head to Mas x Menos, which is the local grocery store. Our cab pulls up and we are greeted by an umbrella toting (did I mention that June is the rainy season in CR? It rains, a lot - the locals call it the 'green season') doorman (seriously) who brings us to the door and in we go.
It hits me -- we really don't speak much Spanish nor do we have Spanish reading skills -- well, let's grab a cart and see what happens. Twenty minutes later we're roaming around -- looking like the idiot tourists we are -- so many unfamiliar things to see and touch and buy. Familiar things in a totally unfamiliar package -- did you know that down here the mayo, mustard and ketchup come in little BAGS?!?!? How cool - and some of the mayo is flavored with Lime? and the ketchup is sweeter than it is stateside? and the eggs are sold by weight not number and they sell these little teeny tiny speckled eggs -- I don't know from what kind of bird -- it was so much fun. We were (okay, I was) giggling and looking at everything.
Because we didn't know exactly what was going to be going on with the dental work we walked out with pudding cups, yogurt, a box of stuffing mix (there was NO instant potato mix), something called 1/2 butter (I've used it - I'm not sure what it is exactly), milk, heavy cream for the BRITT COFFEE, Coke, Coke Light (they don't call it Diet Coke here), some eggs, some odd little breads and a few other things I'm not sure why I brought. The doorman hailed us a cab and back to the hotel we went.
We unpacked our bags and walked around the Christina - the lobby all dark tile and teak with stunning floral arrangements, the Sala internet for those without their own laptops, laundry facility, underground parking area, coffee area (oh if only i had known!) and back to the pool.
Doug decided he wanted a burger -- there is a Burger King a few blocks over so out we go. We get in line and I am able to order us both lunch (thankfully BK has a numbering system for meals and we were able to figure out large, fries vs onion rings, etc. -- the girl behind the counter gave us the total. I simply stared at her and said Lo Siento, yo no comprende - her reaction was lovely - she smiled and turned the screen toward me so I could read the numbers - it was about 7500 Colones or 15.00 - expensive by Costa Rican standards, but remember - BK is a foreign company. Lunch at a Soda runs about 4.00 a plate or 2,000 Colones.)
We ate chicken lite hotdogs (for some reason they come individually wrapped in the package - luckily the plastic sleeves didn't melt in the hot water). I have discovered I'm not a big fan of chicken lite individually wrapped hotdogs on sesame buns but did have much fun using the bag o' mustard and bag o' ketchup on them. It was early to bed and preparation for Monday's meeting with the dentist.
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