Last day in Costa Rica

October 11, 2023

Lesson in life: nothing is what you expect it to be. That's even more true when you are in a foreign country. For example, I looked at the pastries at the restaurant Caffe Negroni and asked if they had a chocolate croissant. She said yes.

At least 20 minutes later she delivered a croissant split in half with warm chocolate sauce spread on it. It wasn't what I expected but there was no point in saying anything. You just have to be flexible. It's important to not have fixed expectations...which is easier said than done.

But why travel if everything is going to be the same? But honestly, sometimes it's like Twilight Zone...or Seinfeld. Or is that my unconscious "America does things the RIGHT way" thinking?

I went to my last dental appointment and got my night guard. I turned down final x-rays.

The old one and the new one in its bright pink case

Last night I went to a nearby Peruvian restaurant. I think it was the most expensive restaurant I have been to in Costa Rica but it was very good. But I couldn't understand my waiter. I wondered if my Spanish had somehow worsened. I asked where he was from and he said San Jose... but originally he was from Cuba. No wonder! He had lived here for 25 years but still talks like a Cubano!

Did you know Ticos don't trill their "r's" when beginning a word like you are supposed to in Castellano (Spanish)? I wonder why...

Since the Couchsurfing conversation exchange was canceled, I decided to walk to the nearby animal refuge. It was supposed to be only a 24 minute walk but I'm pretty sure it took twice that. Sidewalks, if they exist, are in bad shape or you have to walk on what little there is of a shoulder with cars, motos and trucks whizzing by at 40 to 50 mph. And goats and cows on the side of the road without fencing! On the way back some goats decided to try and cross the two lanes of traffic. I was amazed none were killed.

The tour of the animal refuge in Santa Ana cost $30 (at the extranjero rate though I now see as "elderly" I should have been charged only $25; resident seniors pay only $4.50). The young man, Victor, was good and at the end I tried to give him a $7.50 tip and he said it was too much!

I liked the monkeys and ocelot and huge crocodiles but all had tragic and heartbreaking stories of human cruelty. And the area is far from quiet with somebody using a leaf blower nearby and the lone deer being frightened of some awful construction noise next door to her.