Friday

This morning a man came by the house on his motorcycle. He was a representative of the credit card company and had come to hand deliver me my credit card. This is something Julio ordered for me a month ago. The credit limit is small, but the card comes with benefits like free 24 hour roadside assistance anywhere in Costa Rica, free 24 hour locksmith service, and more (those are just the services Julio has actually used so far).

I cleaned a lot today because everything is covered in dust here at the house. In fact, just to keep my things somewhat clear of the dust, I have them inside suitcases underneath 2 layers of blankets. This is all because Julio is having the kitchen and bathroom remodeled, yay! It's just taking a lot longer than he originally thought it would.

Julio is paying the contractor by the hour and buying all the supplies himself, so this afternoon we went to EPA in the Samurai to pick up a door, door frame, and some more tile. EPA is the Costa Rican Lowe's (founded and run by Colombians) and it is about 20k from our house.

Then we went by a local Costa Rican wood supply store to pick up what EPA was overcharging for. This store is even closer to our house than EPA and it is really cool. There is a tree trunk and tin roof over the supply shed -

They also have fantastic gates - I'll have to snap a photo of them with my real camera someday. Uncle Pat would love them.

And lastly, this evening I spent 4 hours with an eleven year old, Meylyn, Julio's grand-niece?, who took pity on my inability to pronounce anything correctly in Spanish. She took me through the Costa Rican alphabet until I could say it correctly by myself, then she had me speak about 10 words utilizing each letter of the alphabet. What a sweetheart. She is learning English in school, so hopefully I can help her out, too.