April 9, 2011

All of sudden, it started raining and it didn’t stop all day. Ok…I get it, the dry season must be over. Totally stinks. Funny, I am not used to this type of seasonal change. What fun to experience something so different than what I am used to. Rain is nice, providing it doesn’t interfere with my walks.
Someone was coming to our house last night and was delayed quite some time. Of course, traffic. Apparently, once again, roads were shut down due to the local university students rioting and blocking one of the major streets in the city. This time, it was because busses to the interior raised their fares 20% due to increased gas prices. The bus fares have been the same for over 10 years, which is about 25 to 50 cents within the city and only about $15 to $20 to go halfway across the country. Having a riot is just a normal pastime. The students generally have them under an overpass that crosses a major street because it is shady. So, if the riot police can get there quickly and keep the students away from the overpass, the riots generally end sooner because it is too hot in the direct sun. Meanwhile, these latest riots have resulted in classes at the university being suspended indefinitely.
Attached are a couple pictures of our newest friend. I see these frogs with big eyes popping out in all the souvenir shops in Costa Rica and Panama. This guy has been on our porch every night for the past week when we take Ace out. He is so adorable. He hangs on the railing for the steps and stares at us. Sometimes he attaches himself to the wall. Pictures are bad because he won’t come out in the daytime when we can take a good picture. But we are anxious to see him every night.
There are some pictures of the Canal Administration building. We were told there were beautiful murals on the inside about the building of the canal, so went to see them last weekend. After walking up the 130 steps or so, we found out it wasn’t opened on the Sundays. Anyway, beautiful shots of the city from high up (and you can see the McDonald arches as well).
I had to go to immigration last week to get my pictures taken since my status had changed. Our lawyer told us to be there at 7:30 since they were opening at 8:00 now. So we had the opportunity to stand in the sun for an hour before they opened the doors after 8:30. Then had more opportunity to stand in line inside for another 40 minutes before the guy that takes the pictures showed up. Then got my pictures taken and had another opportunity to stand around until they put plastic on the card. My five minute pictures taking session lasted well over 2 hours. Our lawyer’s assistant was with us (who speaks not a word of English) and I am always amazed at his handshake. Limp! Then, I talked with the kids at school about cultural differences. People down here just don’t shake hands. Most everyone greets with a hug and a kiss (although the kiss is kind of in the air). So the locals will shake a gringo’s hand since that is what “we do”. Needless to say, they have never learned “how” to shake hands like in the U.S. On the other hand, I have had to learn not to be uncomfortable with everyone hugging with a kiss as well.
Our neighbor invited us into this apartment to see his newly remodeled kitchen. He still had the original cabinets, but wanted new knobs for all the doors and drawers. However, he had to order them from the states. You can go to the hardware store here and find a wide variety of knobs, but none of the stores will have more than four of any one type in stock. You can find most everything here you want, just not much of it. The rule of thumb is: “if you find it, buy it immediately”. It may not be there tomorrow or for weeks on end.