Gringa Realtor, another Barb and free range chickens

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After the feria this morning and time at "home" to eat lunch and post an entry in my blog I took a walk to a part of Atenas I hadn't yet explored to meet a new acquaintance, Shelly who's works in a real estate office and a new friend of hers, another Barb. Evidently Shelly enjoys connecting expats when they first arrive here in Atenas as well as offering useful information for living or staying here. I thoroughly enjoyed our 1 1/2 hour visit at the Rainforest Cafe very close to Ana's Place.

Through our conversation I found out that Barb & I have some other things in common besides out first name. She is also gluten-free and in Costa Rica for the first time. I'm discovering for myself just what I've been told and that is that Atenas has quite a substantial expat community and is especially appealing to women since it is quite safe with pretty much all needed services as well as other expats to socialize with.

Barb shared a couple of regular activities that she's participating in that I plan to join or at least try. One is a pilates class a few blocks away as well as a womens group that meets every Wednesday at Kay's Gringo Cafe, you might remember that I blogged about that several days ago.

So after meeting with Shelly & Barb I came back home, checked email, etc. then headed back to Shelly's office to pick up a map of Atenas and some books on Costa Rica that she had told me about earlier. After chatting a bit more about living in Atenas I left for the nearby grocery store that I hadn't shopped at yet. So now I have a full fridge that should sustain me for awhile. The most expensive food item I bought today, considering the feria this morning and the store late this afternoon, was Hershey's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips. As my friends and family know dark chocolate is my weakness...my treat. I haven't found a good affordable chocolate option yet but I'll keep searching!

Oh yes....you might be wondering about the free-range chickens mentioned in the title of this blog. Well there's a little farm right next to Ana's Place where they have chickens that we can hear. Everyday a few make it over to the front yard of Ana's Place and run around. They're kind of the epitome of free-range I would think.

Just a few photos to attach from this afternoon.

Ciao,
Barb

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