Day 26 in Costa Rica

Day 26 

January 6, 2013

Today was a quiet day at the apartment complex.  I have decided that living simply really makes you appreciate the little things.  I was so excited the other day to find liquid dish soap in the store.  I just haven't been that crazy about using the dishwashing paste.  Perhaps I am not using it right, but I never feel like it gets things really clean.  Now I can make a big sink full of bubbles to wash dishes in. 

We decided to catch up on some laundry in preparation for our excursion to Atenas tomorrow.  I spent some time today researching exactly how to get to Atenas from here by bus.  It is about 30 kilometers or 18 miles and will probably take us half a day if things go right.  We decided to start early in case it takes us all day. We go from our apartment to Grecia, then a different bus from Grecia to Alajuela, at Alajuela we'll have to walk to a different bus station and then take the final bus to Atenas.  We have to get off a bit before Atenas, hopefully we can recognize the stop from the description we have.  If not, the owner of the B&B gave us his phone number and said to call him wherever we end up and he can pick us up.  We are going to spend 2 nights at this bed and breakfast in order to check out the town.  It is supposed to be a popular town for expats.  I am a bit nervous about the bus changes and have researched the stops and the times.  I have also been practicing my bus phrases in Spanish. 

We have found that people in Costa Rica are very friendly. The other day when we were taking the bus home from the farmer's market and grocery store, we were waiting at the bus stop and looked at the front of the first bus that stopped there to see if it was our bus.  A nice older Tico lady told us in Spanish, that that wasn't our bus.  Our bus to El Cajon arriba was the next bus.  We decided that we must stand out on the bus and all the locals know exactly where we get on and off.  We thought that it was awfully nice of her to speak up and keep us from getting on the wrong bus.