Day three in Costa Rica

Day three in Costa Rica - December 14

We had our usual breakfast of scrambled eggs with cheese on toast.  We are looking forward to going to the grocery store and farmers market later today.  We are getting a little tired of ham sandwiches and scrambled eggs.  Our neighbor, Deb came down and visited with us this morning.  She took us upstairs to the top floor to meet Harvey from New York and Lilly from Romania.  They are twenty somethings who are working in Costa Rica.  They have a printer/copier and copied our passports and entry stamps for us so that we could leave our passports in the safe in our apartment.  In Costa Rica you only need to carry a copy of your passport with the entry stamp.  Lilly invited us to a party on the terrace this evening.  All the neighbors are preparing something to contribute to the party.  We'll have to pick up something at the market. 

About mid-morning, Richard (the apartment owner) took us along with Deb and Don to the Maxi-Pali (Walmart) in Grecia.  We bought our groceries and supplies with Deb and Don's help.  I was able to use my limited spanish a few times to ask where something was located.  We loaded all our bags in Richard's car and he took them back to our apartment for us. 

We then walked down the street a couple of blocks to the Feria (Farmer's market).  We walked through looking at all the wonderful produce. 

 

A lot of the farmer's gave us samples to try.  The fruits we tried were all so sweet - much better than we get at home.  We stopped for lunch at the food court in the market.  I had gallo pinto (Spotted Rooster - the national dish of Costa Rica) which is black beans and rice along with an egg.  I ordered the egg because that was the only word I recognized on the available items to go with the gallo pinto.  Eric had chicken empanadas.  We also had papaya milkshakes to go with our lunch.  I had to do all the ordering and paying for all of us in spanish. 

After lunch, we wandered all through the market and purchased a week's worth of fruits and vegetables. None of the vendors spoke English, so I did the best I could to translate for all of us.  When we were done.  Eric looked at me and said he was quite impressed.  I surprised myself with how well I did.   Before we left, we stopped so Deb could try a "pia" I think.  They are called coco frio in Mexico.   People understood what I was asking to find and I was able to understand the directions well enough to find the right stand. 

Here is a picture of our haul from the Feria.  We think we spent about $20 total.  We got tomatoes, corn, mango that will be ripe tomorrow, cantelope, avocados, tangerines, pineapples, limes, onions, cilantro,  brocolli and Salsa Inglesa (a spicy mixed vegetable sauce that we were told is wonderful on everything).