Rainy Season, Part 2

Rita and I landed in Liberia at the Guanacaste Airport on October 27th. Typically, the rainy season goes from early May - late November, with September and October being the rainiest months on average.

October did not disappoint.

At this point in our move, our shipping container with all of our belongings had not yet arrived, so until I could go out and purchase a bed for one of our guest rooms I stayed with our builder and friend, Franck, and his partner Maria. The first night of our stay it rained so much that Franck and Maria's living room flooded-- something that had never happened in the 4 years since Franck built the house. The next day, the water was so high that parking lots and roads were underwater and homes near the banks of rivers were completely flooded out. It was devastatingly similar to what happens in Galveston during a tropical storm or hurricane. Some people kayaking down the main road and, at the same time, others pulling all of their ruined mattresses and furniture out of their flooded homes.

We also had some water, which had gotten trapped against the back of the house with nowhere to go, make it into the master bedroom. Fortunately, nothing was ruined and it was an easy fix to create an outlet for that water onto the street. It turned out to be perfect for when it rained hard the next night too. Problem solved, for now.

Since that second night of rain, we haven't had anything significant in terms of weather. A few occasional afternoon or nighttime showers, but it has generally been cooler in the mornings and evenings, and warm and sunny during the day! By the end of the month it will be drier and hot, just in time for Christmas lol.

Our container arrived on a sunny Tuesday, which made the unloading and clean-up SO much easier. The house is looking good, if still a little unorganized, as we figure out what we have left to buy. Bob is back in the US finishing up some jobs, and I'm having a blast honing my Spanish skills in public situations... like at the bank, the vet, the electric company. Proud of my ability to navigate everything so far-- it's crazy how you gain so much confidence when you know you nailed an interaction...and how quickly you're humbled when someone says something to you that you absolutely did not understand lol. So much new vocabulary I didn't learn in school (because I wasn't paying my own electricity bill in college, for one thing) and, on top of that, learning the local vernacular and linguistic nuances. My bastardized Castilian and Mexican hybrid Spanish is learning new things every day.

One thing I will say is that living in the Tamarindo area is a unique experience. It is very touristy (hello, "Tamagringo") and English is widely spoken in Tama proper by servers and shop employees. The Tamarindo Market on Saturdays is almost entirely English-speaking expats selling crafts and goods-- I saw one local vegetable stall. Does that make it easier for tourists to navigate? Sure. Are you getting an authentic Costa Rica experience? Maybe not so much. Tourism is a major part of the Costa Rican economy, so no judgies. However, the gentrification of this area is widespread along the coast-- you pay American prices+ for a more American experience in Costa Rica... and that makes it increasingly difficult for local Costa Ricans to afford to live here. If you're from the US, I think we all know how well it would go over if a large number of rich Klingons came to, say, the Florida Panhandle and started demanding everyone there take their darseks instead of dollars, and speak their Klingon language; then they buy up all the land and the resources and open shops that the local Floridians can't access or afford.

All that to say, I acknowledge that I am the immigrant Klingon here in Costa Rica. The least I can do is be respectful of their language, currency, and customs. So while many Costa Ricans I have met have offered to speak in English while I struggle to communicate around the specialized vocabulary I've yet to acquire, I'm always going to default to Spanish first.

Rita already knows "¡venga!"

'Ta luego <3

Margarita Moreno Q.