Making a home

It’s so great having a kitchen again! We haven’t eaten out since we’ve moved in. There was very intensive cleaning required, but now with a few of our own touches it’s becoming a home.

Work
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I was expecting a slow start to work. I was only supposed to be working 1½ hours on Monday, my first day. However, another teacher was sick, so I was summoned to replace him, and ended up with a seven-hour day. All in all I did ten hours this week. I’m enjoying it. The staff are very helpful and I’m having a good laugh with the students. We have a weekly staff meeting on Wednesday. This week one of the teachers was leaving to go back to the States. To mark the occasion a Mariachi band marched into the room in the middle of the meeting and sang and played for 25 minutes! It was excellent, and something I’d recommend to liven meetings up.

Cost of living
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Although the cost of living is regarded as high by Central American standards, it’s quite cheap coming from Ireland. The currency is the Colón, named after Cristobel Colón (better known to you and me as Christopher Columbus). There are just over 600 Colones to the euro. Bottles of beer are anything from 85c to €1 in a bar. Cans in the supermarket are around 49c. The standing fare for a taxi is 47c, and a taxi journey around Heredia is less than 70c. Imported items, however, are more expensive, and not much cheaper than home.

Tico bureaucracy
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Costa Rica is a very bureaucratic country. To get the cable installed I had to fill in five separate forms with roughly the same information. Each was at least in triplicate. I also had to give a photocopy of my passport. Joining Videomanía, the local video shop required only one form, but a copy of my passport plus a copy of one the triplicate copies from the cable company. Our next project will be to open bank accounts.

The local shopping mall
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There is a shopping mall here in Heredia. It’s a good walk, but short by taxi or bus. It’s called Paseo de las Flores, or The Walk of the Flowers. It’s very western, with a food hall, bookstore, and a really well-stocked supermarket. Heredia has all the American fast food outlets McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Taco Bell, Subway, etc. In contrast, the Mercado Central in the town (the Central Market) is very basic. There are loads of vegetables and fruit (the fruit here is really beautiful). Some vegetables I wouldn’t have a clue what they are. There are some that float in boiling water and look like chestnuts, bean pods the size of a hurley and a strange brown root vegetable that looks very suspect!!

Mobile phones
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We’ve discovered a bit more about the situation regarding mobile phones. Apparently the two presidents preceding the current one, Abel Pacheco, are in jail because of a scandal regarding the awarding of licences. So it’s a very touchy political subject. A new contract has been awarded to Ericsson only a couple of weeks ago, and the new system is supposed to be up and running in October.

It’s now just after 8.30pm, and the dinner is on. We’ve rented out Star Wars Episode I for later. It’s getting more like home!

Hasta la proxima semana.