July has been rather dry so far. This
is to be expected before the onslaught that comes in August,
September and October. I read that the Caribbean side of Costa Rica,
especially the northern parts is having a hard week of too much rain
and high seas but not us. I even had to water my pots of herbs this
week due to little rain.
Cable Trolley recently put in by Aldemar and other Serenity Workers to get supplies and
guys across the river. That's John getting a thrill ride across the river.
Our house is almost ready, waiting on
the cabinets. Unfortunately I just 'had to have' light colored wood
with little grain pattern not knowing this would be a problem and
hold us up for occupancy. Our builder specially handpicked Costa
Rican logs for my request,
had them milled and dried. (Could kick myself, hope it is worth it!) But unfortunately the company he used for
the drying kept having their kiln break down so drying took longer
than expected. Now we are waiting for the cabinets to be stained,
sealed and installed.
Mamon Chino are in season now. Somewhat grape like taste, very nice flavor.
Peel off the hairy outer skin, pop the white part into your mouth and chew. There is a large seed in the middle that you discard after working the white part off with your teeth.
We got our kitchen appliances the other
day so that was exciting. We did check out Golfito but were too
apprehensive to pay in cash for 3 large purchases and hope that “guy
over there with a delivery truck” would bring our apliances 2 hours
north and another 45 minute drive up the mountain; (as long as he had
4 wheel drive.) Some of you other brave souls can buy in Golfito and
tell us how it went. Can you say “chicken”, yep, that was us.
Golfito is a town south of here, almost
to Panama, that was a thriving city when Chiquita Banana was present
for employment. But when Chiquita pulled out of the area it became so
depressed that the Costa Rican government allowed Golfito to become a
“duty free” town, no sales tax. It is a hopping place now known
for selling appliances, both big and small along with some other
things but mostly appliances at really low prices. When we visited
it was like a carnival! Very crazy place.
Our nearest town of Pejibaye has an
appliance store along with oh so many in San Isidro. In SI,
they are so plentiful it is hard to remember which appliance store
you visited. With us wanting to boost the local economy, we talked
to Adan in Pejibaye, thank heavens he could speak English. In
Pejibaye, being a little mountain valley town, they mostly do
business with Ticos, very few Norte Americanos probably have ever
bought appliances there. But we Serenity residents are coming!!! We
told the guy to expect more of us and he was pretty excited. Since
they don't cater to Gringos all their appliances were very small, not
what we were looking for. Adan (with 'n', not 'm') told us if we
found what we wanted in San Isidro he would order it and give us
great prices. And he did! Along with delivery!
Our local Pejibaye Appliance/Furniture/Bikes/TV Store. Very nice English speaking Adan works here, ask for best price for cash. Look at the character in the upper left corner of sign.
Very strange, really instills trust, a hooded evil guy! What was the Ad Designer thinking?!?!
So there we are paying in cash for three kitchen appliances and when the paperwork is done he says, “I will call taxi now to deliver.” The “taxi” is a small pickup truck and shows up in minutes! He must have been sitting at the corner waiting for Adan's call! Now, we know the condition of the dirt part of the road to get to Serenity, we normally take it at 10 miles per hour or less. So we are rather worried about our appliances riding in the back of a little pick up “taxi”. But Adan promised us they would protect our goods with ropes and mattresses; they sell mattresses too.
They did indeed get everything protected well. That truck was loaded down with many mattresses along with anything else they could grab to keep everything in place. It was a funny sight. Since our builders live on-site Mon thru Fri. all the guys came to see what was going on when the delivery “taxi” arrived in the dark and helped too. Adan (yes, Adan came along for the delivery, it isn't everyday he gets to sell big appliances to Gringos!) went around shaking hands talking a mile a minute in Spanish; John said it was like reunion night. Adan knew some of the guys and was pretty proud of his big sale and excited to see the Gringo house.
Delivery "Taxi" like the one that came in the dark loaded with appliances and mattresses.
So those of you coming Serenity and
needing to buy appliances, go see Adan in Pejibaye. You can't miss
his store, it is BRIGHT yellow!! He will take good care of you and
give you the same price you can negotiate in San Isidro. And you get
it delivered in a “taxi”!
