The Rat Race

I got my mitts on a North American style women's magazine this week. You know the type (if you are a woman) - "favorite family dinners", "easy decorating ideas, "15 ways to avoid colds and flu", numerous articles on style, family, health, food - it never ends. This and many other similar magazines come on the market every month, if not more - and they aren't cheap.

It was exhausting reading it - so much so that I was thinking about it while trying to get to sleep last night. I used to enjoy reading these magazines but never was able to achieve everything they told me I should be doing or saving or creating or wearing or baking or decorating or gardening or entertaining .... and so I always felt a bit as if I never measured up to what I was supposed to be.

And that is truly dreadful. Imagine believing that magazines should tell us how to be and how to live our lives. They are fine for the odd recipe or cleaning tip now and again or just for amusement when sitting in the dentist's office waiting for your appointment.

So I started thinking about how my life now in Costa Rica differs from my life in Canada. I buy clothes at Ropa Americana, a few things at the Multi-Plaza in Escazu, and I've also ordered clothing on line, which has worked out well. And I get family and friends to mule me down things we need.

I need bathing suits and shorts, cool tops, nice sandals, pretty cotton dresses, but not the latest suit design. I don't need winter clothing, spring clothing, fall clothing. I don't have access to actual English magazines - they are available in Spanish but I'm not up to that level yet and that's a good thing in this case.

I brought a few cookbooks with me, and bought a Costa Rican cookbook here, so I can make just about anything that is tasty and healthy. Not hard to do with the food available here. On line recipes number in the millions I think so no lack there if I want to look up Asian recipes. Oh, and by the way, I can buy my beloved Asian ingredients in San Jose.

Our rental house is furnished and clean, we have banana trees and mangoes, fabulous neighbors. I take Spanish lessons once a week and yoga/pilates/pool exercises twice a week. We have friends from all over - some are already here, some are on their way down, quite a few are Ticos. We have friends here from Germany, Canada, the USA, Brazil and Bolivia. The weather is terrific. Many social activities are available - our friends in San Ramon organize Beach Days.  Lots of local and excellent restaurants. It's fun to shop in Atenas and interact with Ticos and Ticas. My ears are becoming used to hearing more than just the English I grew up with. I am learning about different customs and foods.

My point? I don't have to live the trumped up life of magazines any more.

Bus to Escazu

Well, that was easy. Get the Atenas bus to San Jose, get off near Casa Canada, walk a few blocks to the Parque de San Francisco de Mata and wait for a bus that says Escazu Multiplaza. Ten or maybe fifteen minutes later, we were there.

The Multiplaza is huge and this is where I'll go when I want to get a fix of North American style shopping. We got there before it opened, so hung around until it did then had breakfast at one of the many food court type eateries.

I was looking for shorts and shoes but didn't find any on this trip - think I'll have to return on my own to clothes shop. It's not really fair to drag a husband around looking at clothes although Lance was very patient.

We did find a bookstore and I finally got a birding book, a great little cookbook with Costa Rican recipes and a super cool oven timer in the shape of a hamburger.

We didn't take the bus back to San Jose because we had to stop at Office Depot and Aerocasillas first so we hailed a taxi.  I'm so sorry we neglected to get our driver's card because he was great. His English was good because his ex-girlfriend was a Canadian from Ontario and he picked up some English from her, then took courses. Puts us to shame not having started more Spanish lessons yet.

He helped us with Spanish words, places to visit in his wonderful country, asked us about Canada - I love this type of interaction - and when he asked me what I thought of his country, I had only words of praise.

We were dropped off at the Coca Cola bus station and our bus was waiting to load. San Jose is so vibrant - I really like it. Couldn't live there, but love to visit. The guy who boards the bus to sell chips, pop and water recognizes us now and brings us two bottles of aqua.

It was pouring rain by the time we arrived in Atenas but Lance had warned me to bring an umbrella, so we were fine - except I was wearing flipflops so my feet were soaked. But the rain is warm, so who cares.