BarbinCostaRica

It's good to be back in the states in some ways, the most important is family! But I haven't felt bad at all about missing out on cold weather. Today in Maryland is cold, wet and very dreary. After a fair amount of turbulence during the flight from San Salvador to Washington DC it was nice to be back on terra firma. Going through customs was longer and more involved than I had experienced before. It took at least 1.5 hours. So by the time I met up with Judy there at the airport I was exhausted. We finally arrived at her house around 11pm and had something to eat then went to bed. Today has been a day of checking emails and regrouping....whatever that means. Now I'm going to start downloading photos beginning with the ... read more

Hola! Barb and I left Atenas yesterday morning on the 9:00 bus, as planned. The half hour ride to Alajuela was uneventful...always a good thing;) Barb was just digging out her phone to call Maria Elena to let her know we were there when she drove up. I just love it when a plan comes together! The drive to La Paz took about an hour and took us through some spectacular country towards Poas Volcano, lush & green with rolling hills dotted with small pueblos with souvenir shops and restaurants to cater to the tourists....which of course we were! On the way we were fortunate to encounter an elderly Tico with his oxen & beautifully painted oxcart alongside the road....obviously in plain sight for tourists passing by who might want to take photos with his cart ... read more

The title of today's blog entry is due to the fact that we are without water here for now. Actually we're on their emergency backup system but just to flush toilets. Evidently this is affecting all of Atenas. Since it's Sunday they won't try to fix the problem until tomorrow. So no shower for me this evening. Tomorrow morning I'm meeting Barb at the bus station to take the bust to the airport like we did before. Once again Maria Elena will pick us up there but this time we're going to the La Paz Waterfall Gardens Falls Nature Park. You can check it out through this link. I'll be taking many photos but won't be downloading them to my blog until after I get to Maryland. http://www.waterfallgardens.com/ This park should be amazing with all the ... read more

Buenos dias, After a decent night's sleep I'm ready to share with you about my day yesterday with Barb and her friend and now mine, Camille, or Cammy. We met just before 9am yesterday at a bus stop in Atenas. Definitely not the bus station but rather just a stop along the street. I knew the area as it's right across the street from the Central Park and unfortunately it's right in front of one of the many bakeries in town that every morning fills the air with the heavenly smells of fresh-baked bread full of gluten! As always I tried to tune it out...not always easy. Somewhat easier though if there happens to be some dark chocolate available, which of course there wasn't;( None-the-less I survived once again! Cammy is originally from Vancouver Canada and ... read more

Have I aroused your curiosity with today's title? I would guess so. Okay I'm not an expert on bathroom backflow issues but I am privy to what can happen if you don't have plumbing set up right. Now what I and many others have discovered here in Costa Rica and probably other third-world countries is just what the result can be if the plumbing isn't set up correctly. In a nutshell you can get BAD odor coming up from the drains due to the escaping of certain gases. So a quick remedy for the odor issue is to place a paper towel, folded in double or more if you'd like, over the drain when not in use and this tends to take care of much of the problem. Did you know that in the U.S. there ... read more