Housekeeping

When I was first thinking of moving to Costa Rica, I asked my manager: "What is cheaper there?" She had to think for a minute, and then listed the following: having a maid and getting your nails done. I have to say that I wasn't very impressed. In the US I rarely had my nails done, and I'd never had a maid. So, at the time, I didn't think that these "cheaper" items were really going to affect me all that much.

In the US, most middle class families don't have maids. We're taught to clean the house ourselves and to be proud of it. But I discovered a few weeks into my stay here that cleaning a Tico apartment was not really an easy task. Due to the lack of carpet, cleaning the floors takes more than just a sweep over with the vacuum cleaner. It requires a lot of sweeping and then following that up with mopping. And unless you do this frequently, your floors are dusty and you must resort to wearing "house shoes" at all times to avoid your feet from getting dirty. Yep, I wear house shoes...like an old lady...

So after a few consecutive weekends of 2-3 hours of just floor cleaning, I resigned myself to the house shoes and decided clean floors just weren't in the cards for me here. So, then my cleaning spurts became fewer and further between. And then with my traveling schedule, the floors really just became an afterthought. But upon returning after Christmas I knew I had to take the time to really clean them again...or...I could pay someone to do it!

It was hard for me to hire someone to clean my apartment. I felt guilt for not doing it myself, and it also felt a little weird to have a stranger clean up after me. But, when in Rome...

I've had the girl from our office clean my place twice now, and I must say it is worth every penny! For only 12 bucks (I apparently am overpaying here) she cleans the floors, bathrooms, kitchen, and dusts!! 12 bucks!! And if I wanted her to, she would do laundry and other tasks as well.

After having it done twice, I am officially spoiled. And for that price, how can I pass it up?? So, if you ask me if I am integrating myself into the culture here, I guess this is a good example of one way in which I am!

<3,
Amber

4:55 am Wake-up Call!

Well, it has finally happened. I finally experienced an earthquake here in Costa Rica that I was actually aware of! This morning, at 4:55 am to be exact, I woke up suddenly and realized that my bed and everything else was shaking. EARTHQUAKE!! Luckily, I was half-way in sleepy la-la land so it didn't freak me out quite as much as I expected it to. Had it been in the middle of the day, I probably would have run out of building screaming. But, I sat up, thought "hmmm that's an earthquake," and then I went back to sleep.

The quake hit about 60 miles southwest of San Jose off the coast of Quepos (one of my favorite Amber Tours destinations.) It registered about a 6 on the Richter scale. Luckily, even though it was strong, there hasn't been and damage reported across the country.

So, while it was an interesting experience, I hope that Earth was releasing some much needed pressure so that a bigger one doesn't hit soon!

<3,
Amber

PS - On a completely unrelated note, I found myself in the grocery store this afternoon trying to figure out how to say in Spanish to the cashier: "What happened? It looks like Valentine's Day threw up in here..."

Not quite what I was expecting...

A few weeks ago I discovered a burger joint across the street from my office that is owned by a guy from the US. My colleague and I went one day and the burgers were fantastic! While there, I noticed they had corn dogs on their menu.

So today, since it was Friday and had been a long week, I decided a corn dog was just what was needed to end my week. Well, as with most "US" foods made outside of the US, my corn dog just wasn't quite what I was expecting. While it looks pretty scary, it didn't taste much like anything. It was an overall disappointment.

When you live away from home for too long, you really start to miss foods that you are familiar with or that just taste like home. This was my attempt to have a little piece of home today. I should have known it wouldn't be as yummy as I was hoping. Oh well, like I said, they make a decent burger which is another difficult thing to find in this country.

<3,
Amber

New Pet?

This little dude was waiting at my door when I got home this evening. He's much cuter than the giant moth. Maybe I'll keep him...

<3,
Amber

Ladies and Gentlemen...

... Mr. (Sir) Elton John!!! Who knows what this is a reference to? :)

Elton John came to Costa Rica Friday night and I was able to snag a ticket and tag along with my friend Daniella and her friends to the concert. The concert was held at the Saprissa Soccer stadium which is located in Tibas on the Eastern side of the city.

Before the concert, most people arrived early to "tailgate." Costa Rican tailgating involved hanging out on the street in front of the one bar near the stadium drinking beer and talking with others. There were a few food vendors, scalpers, and merchandise sellers mingling with the crown trying to drum up business. It was actually a lot of fun. Once you got into the stadium there were no concession stands - only guys walking around selling soda, water, and snacks.

Even after all these years, Elton John puts on a very good show. He played mostly hits and still sounds just as great as he did in the 70's. I only took my blackberry to the concert, so my pictures aren't that great. I also took some video. I apologize in advance to Elton and everyone else for the really bad sound quality.

<3,
Amber

Volcán Irazú y Cartago

 One of my favorite colleagues, Graham, came to Costa Rica last week to do some work in our office. On Saturday, I had the chance to tag along with him, Daniella, and Krisya to see the Irazú volcano on the east side of town and then to the city of Cartago - Costa Rica's former capitol. 

We woke up very early on Saturday morning in hopes of ensuring that the volcano would not be clouded over. Leaving at 6:30 am did the trick - we had absolutely perfect weather the entire day. Because the volcano is very high up, it tends to be very cold, windy, and rainy there. But on Saturday, it was in the 50's and absolutely sunny and gorgeous. Irazú is an active volcano and could erupt again at any time. It leveled the city of Cartago that sits below the volcano in 1723. It's last major eruption was in 1963 and lasted for 2 years covering even San Jose in ash. Currently, Irazú is sleeping. But, as a precaution, when we pulled into the parking lot, they made us back our car into the space in case we needed a speedy exit. I guess it never hurts to take precautions! As you can see, Irazú is not a conical volcano, but more of a crater with a very greenish blue lagoon at the bottom.

 Daniella, Graham, Krisya, and I.

Due to some previously unlucky tourists, barriers have been placed around the crater to ensure that curious idiots don't try to climb down into the volcano. This sign is warning that "For your saftey, do not go past the barriers." Graham is a rebel...I dared him to do it. 

  We even met a very friendly pizote on our way out of the park. He was just trying to find his breakfast too.

After our early morning tour of the volcano, we began making our way down the mountain and to the city of Cartago. On the way we stopped at a very interesting little restaurant to have a typical Costa Rican breakfast. The walls in this restaurant were covered in business cards, money, notes, and photos from other travelers. So, of course, we had to leave our mark too!

 Graham's typical breakfast of gallo pinto (rice and beans), meat, eggs, cheese, and a fresh fruit juice.

Cartago sits at the base of Irazú and served as the country's first capital city until 1823. Each year in August, people from across the country make a pilgrimage to Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles. Part of the pilgrimage is to walk for miles to the plaza in front of the church. Then, people get on their knees and walk that way from the plaza to the alter.

 Even on this day, people where walking on their knees to the alter in prayer to La Negrita (a statue of a black Madonna that supposedly has miraculous healing powers.)

 At the back of the church is the rock on which La Negrita was found. A natural spring is there and many believe that the water is holy. So people bring empty bottles to fill with the holy water to take home with them.

The Santiago Apóstol (St. James Apostle) Parish Ruins are located in the center square of Cartago. On this spot churches have been erected since 1575. But, each finished church was ruined by a subsequent earthquake. Finally, they got the hint and stopped trying to rebuild the church in 1910. Now it serves as the city's ruins of sorts. Inside is a beautiful garden that opens on Sundays for people to enjoy.

 So there you have it - some Costa Rican history for you. Thanks for reading! More coming soon!

<3,
Amber

Chile

 Shortly (4 days) after returning to Costa Rica after the holidays, I took off to Santiago, Chile for a week of work! Chileans like to say that they are from "the end of the world." And indeed, they are! From Costa Rica it was an hour flight to Panama and then 6 more hours to Chile. It was a 10 hour flight for my colleague from Santiago to Dallas - so it is very far!

Santiago was absolutely beautiful. It is a very cosmopolitan city that has a very European feel. Everything was very clean and modern, and it was very safe. While my trip was mostly work, my colleague Al and I had 1 day free to take a 4 hour walking tour of Chile. Most of the pictures below are from that tour.

We stayed in the Las Condes neighborhood of Santiago. This is primarily a business district, but there were a lot of great restaurants within walking distance and the subway was very close to the hotel as well. Our hotel, Plaza el Bosque, was very nice and had a beautiful outdoor terrace on the 17th floor where Al and I could debrief after our work days. It is summer in Chile, so the weather was absolutely beautiful. While it could get up to 80+ degrees during the day, it was a very dry heat and there was always a nice breeze blowing. Think of perfect weather, and that is pretty much how it was.

 Al and I debriefing...sometimes debriefing requires a glass of wine...

 View of the Andes Mountains from the terrace.

 Panoramic view from the terrace.

On TripAdvisor I found a free walking tour called "Spicy Chile." It is ranked as the #4 thing to do in Santiago! This company is operated by young back packers that love to show off Santiago. The tour is free and the guide works for tips - so it is nice to tip generously. Our guide Fran was an actress in Santiago and she spoke great English. Which was key, since our tour group was full of folks from the US. It just so happens that a cruise was leaving the cost of Chile the next day, so our group was full of what I like to call "cruisers." Needless to say, I was the youngest in the group...

 The cruisers...

So we set off on our 4 hour walking through Santiago. We met in front of La Moneda, which is where the President and government do their business daily. We just so happened to be there on a day when the changing of the guard was taking place. It was an interesting ceremony with soldiers, horses, and a full-fledged marching band.This isn't the best shot. I took a video, but for some reason it did not come out well.

Changing of the guard. 

The tour continued throughout the city. Santiago has a lot of dogs that live on the street and everyone kind of takes care of them at different times. The dogs in this picture were enjoying their day chasing cars. I've never seen anything like this. They would wait on the sidewalk while the light was red. Once it turned green and the cars started moving they would pick a car and chase it for a few hundred feet. Then, they returned to the sidewalk to wait on the next car.

 Dog days.

The largest square in the city was bustling with activity on a Friday morning. There were lots of tourists like us, but also Chileans just going about their business. The mining accident in Chile last year really brought the country to national attention. Luckily, all the miners were rescued. And now, Chile uses this incident as a source of pride and tourism. There was a guy in the square dressed up as a miner for tourists to take their pictures with. 

Cathedral in the large square in the city.

Dancers on a stage in the square. 

One of our stops was in front of Cafe Haiti. When I first looked inside, it looked like a regular coffee shop where most people stood up while drinking their coffee. Our tour guide explained that this was a "Legs Cafe." Basically, the women that work there wear very short skirts (everything else they wear is very modest.) So the business men come in to have a cup of coffee and enjoy the view. Very interesting...

Legs cafe.

Santiago was a very green city - in which I mean there were lots of parks, trees, grass, and just general green spaces everywhere. One thing that was interesting was there were quite a few buildings that had grass growing on their walls. I have no idea how they do it, or how they mow it, but it was very cool. 

How do you mow the grass!??

 Street cafe.

 Park.

 City view.

 Mural.

So again, Santiago is beautiful. I could see myself living there, if only it weren't so far away from everything else. I would definitely recommend a trip there - especially during their summertime.

<3,
Amber