Ay de mi.

Two full days down in Costa Rica now. Things are a little different here.

I have never been so scared in my life. Yesteday Roberta and I decided to get a rental car so that we could see the city on our terms and find a place to live. Driving in Costa Rica is like riding a rollercoaster, except that you have a steering wheel and there are busses that will push you out of the way to get where they are going. None of the roads are marked so you are just kind of driving by feel. There typically aren't lines on the road so that means if there is room then go for it. Honking just means that the light is about to turn green.

I am finding it hard to describe driving in Costa Rica because it is so overwhelming. There are motorcycles going full speed between the "lanes" of traffic. Busses stopped in the middle of the road for no reason. Pedestrians playing a nice game of frogger. Nonexistent street signs that were supposed to indicate one way streets. Semi trucks driving towards you in your lane because there was room.

Today we used a map and found our way to an apartment that we were interested in. We drove during the middle of the day and it wasn't that bad. We found the apartment that we want to live in. It is three stories with the third story being a patio on the roof with a small city view and a nice view of the mountains. It is in a nice neighborhood called San Pedro located near the college in a quiet area. The apartment is about five blocks from Claire's cafe and surrounded by many nice restaurants and a large mall. Hopefully we can close the deal tomorrow and move in within the next couple of days.

All in all I love the challenge of living here. It is like relearning how to live. Roberta is kicking butt at speaking spanish. She talks on the phone with people who speak no english and she gets her point across. I am still limited to ordering food and telling people thank you. I did ask the room service lady for another towel and wash cloth though. I was proud of myself.

Wish us luck.