72 Hours in-Finding Things

We have been in Costa Rica for almost 72 hours and what has been a common theme so far is “finding things.” Sure, it’s some of the simple things we all face when we travel anywhere like, “Where is my toothbrush and where did I pack the meds?” However here are a few things that we have had to find and we think are unique to international travel.

Where is our house? We have a rental here in CR but have only been to it briefly two times before. So that’s a challenge! However, the more significant challenge is there really are no street signs. We have directions to our home, but it might translate like this, for instance. “Yeah, head up the mountain through Central Escazu for 3 meters, turn left at that big white house with two dogs outside (but what if they aren’t outside today?) then left past the church, until you pass the fruit stand and it’s on your right.” What?

Where is our water? Yeah, believe it or not, our water went out after the first 24 hours and after another 24 hours of making adjustments, we figured out how to get it back. If I had to choose water or electricity, yeah, water beats out electricity hands down.

Where is everything else? When you end up in a new place, all of your normal rhythms are upended and your usual go-to spots don’t exist. So we are trying to discover where everything is. Where do we get coffee, milk, or food to fill the fridge? Where do we find all of the stuff to give our house a good cleaning? How about where you find a curtain rod? Yeah, not a big deal, but I found it a challenge the other day asking for a curtain rod in Spanish when I don’t know the specific word for curtain rod. “No sé la palabra para la cosa, que pone su cortina? Puede ayudar me porfa?”

So, the first 72 hours have been filled with lots of looking and finding as we settle in as missionaries and start anew.

Thank you for your support, your prayers, and your friendship. We are grateful!

Steve, Keisa, Ellie, and Nina.