On our way to Puerto Viejo, we saw our new friends sitting in a cafe down the road. Confirming they would be coming for supper, we happily carried on..
First on the agenda is grocery shopping. We bought another set of dishes (on sale, yes!); our little home is set up only for four...
We actually had a bit of a planned agenda today: we went to meet a woman who we feel like we know-she's got a website we've been following: http://www.travelexperiencecostarica.com Her name is Lisa Valencia and she has a guide business-if you are thinking of coming to Costa Rica and want to experience without having to find things yourself, Lisa is the person to hire. She is busy setting up a little rental accomodation just on the outskirts of Puerto Viejo- doing a lovely joob painting and decorating- and is open for business! A shared kitchen for renters.
Stopping for lunch a our favourite French restaurante, Sucre et sel, for the most amazing crepes you've ever tasted, Allie and I went down the road to the mega super for groceries. Our meals were arriving just as we were, timed that well-you want to dig in as they are hot off the pan-they melt in your mouth...Michael and I had the ratatoulle crepe special with salade and Allie and Gabriel had ham and cheese crepes. Art on a plate and for the palette!
The Concrete Jungle opens at 2:00 on Saturdays. Gabriel couldn't wait to try out the long-board! They've got great equipment and greatinstruction! Unfortunately, it's shutting down for the next few Christmas/New Years' weeks so this is it for awhile...Gabriel has such a great time skateboarding! And we had fun watching and visiting with the other spectators. By the time we needed to leave, he had gotten up onto a rail some of the other kids had set up.
By four we had loaded up our groceries into our bike baskets-it's amazing how much you can transport on a bike! 5 bags of groceries and an entire set of dishes-a little soggy in the box by now with the off and on rain...LOL, life's an adventure!
Realizing we'd forgotten cutlery, we stopped into our little neighbourhood store...to find the proprietor's and all but the die-hard customers standing outside...power outage...oh,oh...
Being on a mission ourselves,and knowing the general direction of the cutlery, we made our purchase and rushed home. Wishful thinking...our power was out too. And the rain was picking up...Fortunately, the meal was prepared and marinating; we could cook it on the gas stove if we absolutely had to...Michael wondered if he should get some candles just in case, so he ran back to the store. By this point the power came on, but the rain was picking up...Into the electric frying pan with our supper! Salad's prepared. Michael returned to flickering lights and the rain getting stronger. We were waffling...should we call and spare our new friends the rain, or could we do this? We knew their phone wasn't working; we decided we'd let them decide...Michael wondered at putting up tarps that he'd seen stored away. He got them up around the living room just as torrential rains began pummeling our little home. It came with such force, the entire deck (living room and hallway..they are outside, under a roof) floor was soaked! tarps up, candles lit, power stayedon...cozy...except we couldn't hear each other without shouting! Oh...ambience!
Michael had arrived to meet Sybille and Doug and family at the entrance to our road. This was the most powerful downpour we'd experienced thus far! We would'nt have blamed them had they not ventured out; but we were happy they did! Decked with an umbrella, flashlight, box of snack bites, and a bottle of wine, these hardy Canucks braved the elements with true pioneering spirit! You just have to appreciate people who are so willing to embrace "whatever".
The rain died down to manageable decibelss and we had a lovely time getting to know each other. Sybille is a teacher in Toronto and her passion for teaching shines out. You can tell she's one of those cherished and life-changing educators in many young lives! Doug is a contractor who is equally passionate for meticulous, quality work. They are generous, "pay-it-forward", socially interested people who were so easy to know, as soon as we met, actually. They birthed their babies by midwife and love to shop at value village....Those babies are 16-year old Sarah, who is lovely and respectful and works in a classroom with six-year-olds and was just wonderful and intuitive with Gabriel, and Rebecca, who is artsy and accomplished and articulate, especially forher 12 years. Need we say more... well we can: they are warm, intelligent, embracing, respectful, grounded and values-driven individuals who make a delightful family, one we're very happy to share a little part of Costa Rica with!
First on the agenda is grocery shopping. We bought another set of dishes (on sale, yes!); our little home is set up only for four...
We actually had a bit of a planned agenda today: we went to meet a woman who we feel like we know-she's got a website we've been following: http://www.travelexperiencecostarica.com Her name is Lisa Valencia and she has a guide business-if you are thinking of coming to Costa Rica and want to experience without having to find things yourself, Lisa is the person to hire. She is busy setting up a little rental accomodation just on the outskirts of Puerto Viejo- doing a lovely joob painting and decorating- and is open for business! A shared kitchen for renters.
Stopping for lunch a our favourite French restaurante, Sucre et sel, for the most amazing crepes you've ever tasted, Allie and I went down the road to the mega super for groceries. Our meals were arriving just as we were, timed that well-you want to dig in as they are hot off the pan-they melt in your mouth...Michael and I had the ratatoulle crepe special with salade and Allie and Gabriel had ham and cheese crepes. Art on a plate and for the palette!
The Concrete Jungle opens at 2:00 on Saturdays. Gabriel couldn't wait to try out the long-board! They've got great equipment and greatinstruction! Unfortunately, it's shutting down for the next few Christmas/New Years' weeks so this is it for awhile...Gabriel has such a great time skateboarding! And we had fun watching and visiting with the other spectators. By the time we needed to leave, he had gotten up onto a rail some of the other kids had set up.
By four we had loaded up our groceries into our bike baskets-it's amazing how much you can transport on a bike! 5 bags of groceries and an entire set of dishes-a little soggy in the box by now with the off and on rain...LOL, life's an adventure!
Realizing we'd forgotten cutlery, we stopped into our little neighbourhood store...to find the proprietor's and all but the die-hard customers standing outside...power outage...oh,oh...
Being on a mission ourselves,and knowing the general direction of the cutlery, we made our purchase and rushed home. Wishful thinking...our power was out too. And the rain was picking up...Fortunately, the meal was prepared and marinating; we could cook it on the gas stove if we absolutely had to...Michael wondered if he should get some candles just in case, so he ran back to the store. By this point the power came on, but the rain was picking up...Into the electric frying pan with our supper! Salad's prepared. Michael returned to flickering lights and the rain getting stronger. We were waffling...should we call and spare our new friends the rain, or could we do this? We knew their phone wasn't working; we decided we'd let them decide...Michael wondered at putting up tarps that he'd seen stored away. He got them up around the living room just as torrential rains began pummeling our little home. It came with such force, the entire deck (living room and hallway..they are outside, under a roof) floor was soaked! tarps up, candles lit, power stayedon...cozy...except we couldn't hear each other without shouting! Oh...ambience!
Michael had arrived to meet Sybille and Doug and family at the entrance to our road. This was the most powerful downpour we'd experienced thus far! We would'nt have blamed them had they not ventured out; but we were happy they did! Decked with an umbrella, flashlight, box of snack bites, and a bottle of wine, these hardy Canucks braved the elements with true pioneering spirit! You just have to appreciate people who are so willing to embrace "whatever".
The rain died down to manageable decibelss and we had a lovely time getting to know each other. Sybille is a teacher in Toronto and her passion for teaching shines out. You can tell she's one of those cherished and life-changing educators in many young lives! Doug is a contractor who is equally passionate for meticulous, quality work. They are generous, "pay-it-forward", socially interested people who were so easy to know, as soon as we met, actually. They birthed their babies by midwife and love to shop at value village....Those babies are 16-year old Sarah, who is lovely and respectful and works in a classroom with six-year-olds and was just wonderful and intuitive with Gabriel, and Rebecca, who is artsy and accomplished and articulate, especially forher 12 years. Need we say more... well we can: they are warm, intelligent, embracing, respectful, grounded and values-driven individuals who make a delightful family, one we're very happy to share a little part of Costa Rica with!
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