Help For the Hapless Expat

Are you bewitched, bothered and bewildered about certain aspects of living in a foreign country? Is your Spanish good enough for everyday interactions but falls apart completely in unfamiliar or tense situations? 

I want to introduce a friend of ours, Jon Graham - patient advocate here in our town of Grecia.

I think my friend Jane has summed up very well what Jon is doing and she gave me permission to post what she recently wrote:

“Jon Graham

Patient Advocate for Expats

jonenfermero@hotmail.com

7055-6968

I would like to introduce a much needed service provided by my friend, nurse extrordinaire, Jon Graham. In fact, if there is one gift I could give to my fellow expats in the Grecia/Sarchi area, this is it.

Jon has been a nurse for 35 years in the US, most recently as a cardiac nurse, but before that as director of nursing in hospice. For the last thirteen years, he has commuted between San Jose, California, and Costa Rica, spending one month working in the US, then living here for the opposite months. He is fluent in Spanish; more importantly, fluent in MEDICAL Spanish, and he thoroughly understands the Costa Rican culture. He has now retired and would like to continue helping people.

Many of you know that my husband and my good friend both died within the last year. Jon was INVALUABLE help and I could not have handled it without him. He has taken my husband to the emergency room while I was gone, was always willing to evaluate treatments, recommended medications to the doctors in the Grecia hospital for Kathleen, which the doctors used. He was able to get past the “dragons” (the guards who insist you can only visit between 3-5), arriving at 7 in the morning to consult with doctors. He accompanied us to Alajuela [hospital] for testing, and was always willing to talk to medical personnel and interpret findings.

Jon is caring, competent, not an alarmist (helpful in terrifying situations), and very willing to help expats, whether they need accompaniment to a consultation, find themselves unexpectedly hospitalized or in an emergency situation, need to understand their options, or need an advocate in the hospital (really important). He has worked with the director of palliative care here in Grecia, who is very interested in having his help with English patients.  His fees are determined by what you need, but are very reasonable. He is very easy to talk with and very fair. I don’t mean to offend, but he has more experience than many of the newer doctors working at the hospitals, and has a way of communicating with them in a non-threatening manner.

So, do yourselves a favor and write down his email, consult with him, because when the chips are down, we are all in a foreign land, and even the best Spanish can fly out the window when you are ill or frightened.”

We needed Jon on Tuesday. Lance had a requisition from his doctor for minor tests at our Grecia hospital. We went there on Monday thinking we could manage. We had already figured out the clinic (mostly) across from the hospital - it’s where we drop off and pick up our prescriptions, have blood work done (I think), and so on. However, the hospital was a total mystery. Lineups all over for who knows what. Signs weren’t very helpful.

So we contacted Jon and he met us the next day at the Grecia hospital, took us to the right lineup which actually was not in the hospital but in the clinic across the road (we never would have figured that out), spoke to the clerk behind the window and we were in and out in no time with Lance getting an appointment for next Tuesday! Jon will meet us there again next week. We can call on him again if we need help with the actual doctor visits.

Here is one thing Jon told us: if you have hospital appointments with different specialists here in Grecia, they are not all in one building. How would one know that except by experience - such as he has.

P.S. Jon has given me permission to post this.

Interesting Stuff That Happens To Us

We are quite fortunate because Costa Ricas always seem to be helping us out when we get stuck. I think it is in their very nature to be kind and helpful.

Recently I received a parking ticket. Parking in our town of Grecia is a system called elPark. You pull into a numbered parking spot, pull up the elPark app on your phone, enter the stall number, the minutes/hours you want to park for, and pay for the time on the phone (using a preauthorized credit card number). Then I get an email from elPark with my parking details.

The ticket was incorrect and I had the emails to prove it so off we went to City Hall. The guard at the front gave me a ticket to see an agent and I guess it was a ticket for old people because I went right to the front of the line in a crowded room of folks waiting to see an agent. The agent looked through my paperwork then directed us out of the room and down somewhere else. We couldn’t find “somewhere else” in the building. In consultation with the building guards, a Costa Rican came to our rescue! 

This shaven haired, very muscular and tall man indicated we should follow him. We walked and walked - I whispered to Lance that we were following a complete stranger to who knows where. Into the Mercado Municipal de Grecia we went (a huge indoor market in the middle of town). Past all the fruit, vegetable and meat venders to a set of stairs. Up we went - turns out it was the office of elPark so our stranger knew exactly where to take us. We thanked him and my ticket got sorted out.

Another example: we recently renewed our cedulas (residency ID cards, everybody has one) and had to wait for them to arrive - they expired on March 29. Since our association with the CCSS (socialized medical system here - if you have residency you must join) expired on the same date, we had to reassociate with the CCSS. This meant taking our new cedulas and all associated paperwork to the affiliation wicket in the CCSS medical clinic building in Grecia. You sit (or stand if there are no chairs) at the end of the line and wait. On this day, we waited three hours but I’ve heard of longer and shorter wait times. Finally our turn came but it quickly became apparent that we were totally at sea what with the ambient noise around us and the rapid fire Spanish from the clerk.

To our rescue! Costa Ricans! One lady in the lineup saw our predicament and sent her husband over to help us. He was bilingual so thanks to him we got through it all. It’s nerve wracking because you never know if you have all the correct paperwork and if you don’t, away you go to get it and come back and line up again. We were asked if we were married and thankfully I had our Costa Rican marriage license with us. There’s a reason why we remarried in Costa Rica. I won’t go into it here but I did a blog post on it a few years ago.

Turns out our rescuers are also our neighbours - they live not far from us in the same complex. They rescued us a second time, the very next day. Now that we were reassociated with the CCSS, we went to our newly assigned Puente de Piedra Ebais so I could make a doctor appointment. We had been told to be there at 0800 but the receptionist was telling everyone to come back at 0900 the same day. Our angels somehow talked the receptionist into giving me an appointment for the next day right then and there.

The next day, back at our Ebais clinic and waiting to be called by the nurse and then the doctor. The Costa Rican lady next to me started to chat, in English! She showed me photos of her husband and children. We traded names and phone numbers and it turns out she lives not far from us. She even went into the nurse’s office when my name was called, saying “venga, venga” to me (“come on, come on”) like they do when calling little kids. She stayed and translated for me which was a blessing because there were lots of questions about my medical history. We had some good laughs when none of us could make ourselves understood - pointing at private parts and so on. You will always see a nurse first before the doctor - they take your height, weight and blood pressure. Everything is entered into the computer system and the doctor pulls the same info up on his computer.

Fortunately, the doctor was bilingual.

The Puente de Piedra Ebais clinic is much larger and more modern then the Barrio Jesus clinic we were assigned to when we lived in Atenas. The nurse and doctor offices are large and the nurse has an electronic blood pressure machine and electronic scales, not what they have in B. Jesus. It’s also very close to our house - a five minute drive. Grecia has its own hospital - Hospital San Francisco de Asis. 

Road Trip to Playa Hermosa, Jacó, Costa Rica - Day 4

Holiday is over - time to head home. We had our last vacation breakfast, sitting in the open air restaurant right beside the beach - watching the waves and the surfers. This time I ordered granola with yogurt and this came with coffee, orange juice and a large plate of fresh fruit.

Final hotel and meal costs are as follows.

Room: $59.29 USD per night x 3 nights = $177.87 USD

             Taxes.                                          = $  29.13 

             Total:                                           =  $207.00 USD

Full breakfasts are included in these rates. We had a superior ocean view room on the ground floor. Two double beds, AC, small refrigerator, wifi, safe, small sitting area outside. The hotel is two stories high. We prefer the ground floor because there is no elevator to the second floor.

We ate dinner twice in the restaurant for a total of $86.65 USD, including drinks. Lots of different selections and the portions are large.

Staff at the front desk, on the grounds and in the restaurant were all really nice and obliging. We highly recommend Terrazo del Pacifico Resort.

Travelling in Costa Rica in the off season is the way to go. Hotels and restaurants are not crowded. I had the pool to myself. Room rates are drastically reduced. Everything is so green because this is the rainy season. That doesn’t mean it rains all day every day. Sunny mornings, cloud in the afternoons and then maybe some cooling rain - or, better yet, a spectacular lightning storm over the ocean. Also, we travel during the week (Tuesday to Friday) because the weekend traffic can be very heavy. This is when the office workers are headed to the beaches.

A few random photos and a video I made.

Hotel at dusk:

Silly stuff:

Olocuita Island, part of the Manuel Antonio National Park:

Marina Pez Vela, Quepos. Some really ritzy yachts moored here.

One of Costa Rica’s Guardacostas (Coast Guard) patrol boats in the front. They have much larger boats also.

Does anyone know what this was used for? It was across from the marina.

A video of the beach in front of our hotel. Surfers up and out early in the morning.

https://youtu.be/H8aB9GOGaHo

Road Trip to Playa Hermosa, Jacó, Costa Rica - Day 3

After another great breakfast at our hotel (coffee, orange juice, fresh fruit and today I had huevos rancheros) we drove north to Jacó to Jose’s Crocodile River Tour. We were signed up for the 10:00am tour which we were told is the best time for lighting for taking photos and seeing the various birds and animal life. There were only five of us - a couple from Holland, a nice fellow from Florida and Lance and myself.

All the staff wear t-shirts with Jose’s Crocodile River Tour written on them. We asked one of them if he was Jose - he said yes, he was Jos A. Another person said he was Jos B. Get it? All the staff were really nice.

It was a short walk down to the little pier where the boat was tied up. The boats are special river boats with lots of seats and a cover to protect from the sun. It was nice to get out on the water and into a cooling breeze. Our guide was so funny - so many jokes - he knew where we all were from and that we lived in Grecia and were Canadians. Icy cold bottled water was handed out about halfway through the trip, which is 1.5 hours long.

Both our guide and the boat pilot had eagle eyes and could spot the smallest lizard and the most elusive camouflaged bird. I saw bird species I have never seen before ... great egret, little blue heron, tricolored heron, snowy egret, white ibis, roseate spoonbill and boat-billed heron. Have you ever heard of the basilisk lizard? It’s also called the Jesus Christ lizard. Why? Because when it is scared, it runs across the water on its hind legs to safety and everyone says “Jesus Christ, did you see that?” That’s what our guide told us, several times. Or more likely, it refers to Jesus being able to walk on water. I’m not being sacreligous here - this is what the lizard is called. Anyway, we saw a few of them and they ran on water.

Some bird photos.

Now to the crocodiles. Our guides knew where the crocs hang out, and they knew the individual crocs, how old they were, how much they weighed approximately and whether they were male or female. They knew the territory the males patrolled and they had given them names based on their individual appearances. Same with the females. The crocs responded to whistles and would slowly glide up towards our boat.

Giving a croc a piece of chicken:

Road Trip to Playa Hermosa, Jacó, Costa Rica - Day 2

We highly recommend the hotel we are staying in - Terraza del Pacifico Hotel Resort - right on Playa Hermosa, just south of Jacó. Our off season rate is excellent, the beach is almost deserted, restaurant not crowded and today I had the pool all to myself. Two pairs of scarlet macaws flew by. It seems, for today at least, we are the only ones here other then a group of surfers. It could be much busier on the weekend when people who work during the week take off for the weekend. Off season (also called green season) is a good time for hotels to catch up on repairs and this hotel is doing some sprucing up, painting of buildings, some dead tree removal, and so on. But none of it affects our stay. Expats know this is a good time to travel throughout Costa Rica.

Breakfast is included and it’s not some skimpy buffet. Brought to our table unasked was coffee, a selection of fresh fruit and orange juice. Then we were handed menus with a large number of items to choose from. The most expensive choice was $9.00 USD but we received no bill at the end of our meal.

My choice, a ham and cheese omelette. I stole some gallo pinto and a piece of queso fresco from Lance. 

Then we decided to go for a drive and headed south to Quepos and Manuel Antonio  This is a very nice drive on a good highway with tantalizing views of the Pacific Ocean popping up now and again. One thing that amazed me were the kilometres and kilometres and hectares and hectares of palm tree plantations. This so intrigued me that I did some research and found out from the Tico Times that these palm trees are used for making palm oil.

We turned around at the Manuel Antonio Park and headed back to our hotel. This is as far south as we have been in Costa Rica. Manuel Antonio is a place we think we would like to stay at for a few days. 

The surfers I mentioned earlier were out catching waves early this morning and I took quite a bit of video footage of them which I’ll post soon. They are amazing - like human seals. So comfortable in the water and strong swimmers.

Dinner last night was very good - large portions. Here’s what I ordered - shrimp and a white fish in a tomato sauce, stacked vegetables and two really good potatoes with cheese.

And, oh yes, drinks! A green tea martini for me and a concoction for Lance - the name of which escapes us now!

Road Trip to Playa Hermosa, Jacó, Costa Rica - Day 1

We are on a four day trip to Playa Hermosa, Jacó. We’re staying at the Terraza del Pacifico Hotel Resort situated right on the Pacific Ocean. Very impressed with this hotel. Check in was a breeze with a very nice bilingual attendant. The lobby is large and airy. Our room has two double beds and we’re on the ground floor - the hotel is two stories high. All the rooms appear to look onto the pool and have views of the ocean. A very pleasant two hour drive from our house.

The first thing I did after checking in was to have a swim in the pool. The beach is black sand, not suitable for swimming because of rip tides but great for surfing.

The restaurant is open air, facing the ocean. We’ll have dinner there later. This is the low season so the hotel is not crowded at all and the room rates are excellent. It is hot and humid here though, compared to where we live in Grecia. However, we expected this and our room has air conditioning.

Here are some photos:

Eyes on Costa Rica and Weather Records - April 2019

During March, visits to this blog were received from the following countries:

The following is a summary of the weather for the month:

Despite a fair amount of threatening clouds on some days, the dry season continued through April. The most noteworthy observation was the absence of rain in our region compared to the same period last year when it rained on 11 separate days for a total of about 2.4 inches. This year, the amount was almost negligible (0.01 inches on one day as indicated above).

In contrast, friends living relatively far south on the Pacific coast reported that they had a number of inches of rain in April. Sometimes, when the skies are clear in our region, we can see dramatic displays of nighttime lightning and illuminated clouds in their direction.

Horse Day Memories

Recently, myself and long time friends Lizz, Linda and Judy have been sharing memories of our horse and pony club days from our youth. We all lived in the same area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and went to horse shows together, trail rides, sometimes boarding together at the same stables, and so on. We did so many crazy things - some of which were quite dangerous on looking back.

Today Lizz shared this hilarious memory - she’s a great writer. You can visualize the scene just by reading her words. Comments in square brackets are mine.

“The Claassen family that lived across the street from Woodburns [a farm where we boarded our horses] managed that farm of milking cows. They were from Holland and were all, or at least some of them, artists by night. Especially Hans, I think. There seemed to be lots of dudes, not so many gals, although the ladies could have been interested in other things.

At that time they were working on how to add light to rocks in a river [on one of their paintings]. Diana had something she wished to convey to Hans, so since we were already mounted she decided we would simply ride over. Which we did. Becky and Fred [Becky was my horse, Lizz owned Fred] had previously been there a gazillion times. When we arrived I just sort of reached for Becky's reins, but Di casually tied them to the push lawn mower. Now if there was a horse on this planet that you could tie to a push lawn mower, Becky was this horse.

Alas, apparently there is not.

Something set her off as Diana, having completed her mission, emerged from the house in conversation with Hans. Becky’s head flew up. She darted this way. She darted that way. She ran around a tree. Fred's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. I hastily backed him out of what seemed to be Becky’s circle of panic and he went back to sleep. Really.

Becky got herself wound up into a western spin, where the butt remains planted and the rest flys around. She had the mower flying horizontally sideways.

It was actually hilarious. Diana and Hans and I mesmerized by the low flying machinery, Becky apparently pleased with herself that could create such a fuss, and Fred snoozing on the sidelines. What a scene that must have seemed to a casual observer.

Saturday night at the farm...”

A memory photo courtesy of Lizz - me on the left front on my horse Drum - Ottawa Valley Hunt.