Friday. Market day for us in Atenas. Fridays start at around 6 h for me. First a quick shower, then tossing the dogs out into the kennel behind our house and bundling the garbage. Off I drive down the mountain, dropping the garbage in our neighborhood bin along the way. Next, I pick up our cleaning lady and we go to the market together. This is an absolutely fabulous arrangement for me and all those herniated disks squeezing on selected nerve roots up and down my spine. I’m truly grateful, because she carries most of the astonishingly heavy produce for me, while we move from stall to stall. It’s a little embarrassing because she’s barely half my size. But she’s also about 35 years younger than I am, with a fully operational skeletal system – which, I sincerely hope, will not be damaged by schlepping for me!! Back home, she goes straight to work slicing and dicing fruits and vegetables. Today, she also put together the makings of a tropical fruit salad for the weekend, with papaya, mango & pineapple. I’ll add banana, lime juice, and honey later when we’re ready to serve it. I think, there may be enough to make a tropical jello concoction for my neighbor’s little grandson, who’ll arrive Sunday for a vacation.

Barry has made great healing progress this week, feeling very much better. Next week Wednesday come both his post-op and his pre-op check-ups. If he’s sufficiently recovered from his vesícular biliary removal, he’ll be going back in for the endoscopic aneurysm repair around the first week of July.

Also next week, either both of us or at least I, have to go back to the DMV for our driver’s licenses. If you don’t get your CR license before your 90 day tourist visum is expired, you have to take both a written (in Spanish!!) and a driving test, which is not only a nerve-racking hassle, but can also be quite expensive, because you have to take mandatory instructions to qualify for the test. My request for a CR license was only rejected Wednesday because I didn’t have my US green card with me. I don’t carry this precious document without reason, and it never occurred to me that a German passport in combination with a Texas DL might arouse suspicion. Alas, the copy I always have on me, wasn’t good enough! But now I know process and procedure, which, I hope, will make a second attempt more successful. I don’t know, though, if it will be advisable for Barry to go through the repeated queuing. It’s a bit tiring and he’s supposed to rest and recuperate. Let’s see, how he feels next week. These ‘multiple country’ experiences have reinforced my interest in finally applying for the American Citizenship. I’ve started researching the German rules for retaining one’s citizenship. Pretty funky stuff, let me tell you! It is definitely worth a separate post!!

Despite this failure to acquire a CR license, I nevertheless consider my trip to San José a great success. I saw a lot of the city, learned a few things ‘Costarican’ and had a great time. And I visited a top-notch printing facility for my pictures. Of course, that makes my Photolera Claudinha self very happy – check out the link to my photos at

The first sounds of thunder are rolling through the valley. Our daily dousing is definitely drawing near. I’ll leave you with a picture of a street into Atenas. It’s part of the 5-min-route for us to drive to the center of town. Hasta luego, stay dry!