The main difference between here and there, so far, is the hoops. I’m accustom to jumping through hoops and signing on the dotted-line with my hands tied behind my back in order to accomplish anything. Down here, however, not so much. There’s no hoops to jump through down here, you just have to wait. The process of purchasing a vehicle, that’s a good one! As though language barriers aren’t complicated enough, add the currency exchange rate fluctuating hourly and the passing of currencies from one country to another and it’s a lengthy post all by itself. We’re still waiting for the transfer to clear, I asked the dealership if they accept #bitcoin—“unfortunately, not at this time.” We found a couple of barrios we don’t want to live, it’s nice to check those boxes too. I’m still working on those articles, as soon as they’re finished, you’ll be the first to know!

At First Glance - A few things I’ve Noticed.

We pass and get passed on the right, the left, solid yellow, double solid yellow, cops on the side of the road (with sirens on), doesn’t matter—I’m shocked there isn’t any car wrecks. Motorcycles too! Equal opportunity passing—that one might take awhile to get used to.

Banks are open seven days a week. Did you catch that? If you need to read it again, go ahead, I’ll wait. “Banks are open seven days a week.” Fascinating concept, right? The joint controlling everyone keeps their doors open 7 days a week for convenience, the way it should be! There’s a popular catch phrase in the states that’s the exact opposite of that concept—‘bankers hours.’ How do I know they’re open seven days a week down here? Because within the first two hours of our arrival, a satellite ATM ate my debit card and I had to go back to the main branch every.single.day in an attempt to physically retrieve it. Five days without my bank card—Pura Vida! @puravidaville has the same card but, nonetheless, that’s a pretty big obstacle to overcome before the first sunset. There isn’t any hoops, you just have to wait.

When I say I haven’t seen any, I mean none, zero, not one time. Two weeks ago I heard them, took pictures of them and witnessed as many as 10 chem trails at a time above my head. It’s been two weeks now, still no trails.

There isn’t any shopping carts throughout the grocery market parking lot—that’s #new! Before I continue, one of my most annoying pet peeves is those of you who don’t return shopping carts to the location where they belong. You know who you are. You might even get real close, right by the return cage but you just park it close and don’t go the extra 10 inches. Maybe you position it against a parking block or on a curb, maybe you don’t do any of those things and instead you know the people I’m talking about. Well, they don’t do that here, it’s great! Everybody knows how to return shopping carts to the location they belong—what a thoughtful, pay it forward type of gesture. Attention Costa Rican’s, thank you!

Coca Cola is everywhere, I can’t emphasize that enough! I’m pretty proud of myself for not drinking soda, I haven’t drank a soft drink for quite awhile—so much for that! Within my first few days here I drank two of them before I realized everything says Coca Cola around here, they’re everywhere! Everything is red and everything says Coca Cola. There’s 3 liter bottles down here, too, they sell them in two-packs. They got me once twice—danget!

The markets have a large selection of sugar-free chocolate and dairy-free cheese, there’s an entire section of refrigerator reserved for dairy-free products.

This one took me a couple of days to understand, it’s a tough concept for an American to grasp, you ready brother @jlsplatts? No privatized energy. Did you catch that? If you need to read it again, go ahead, I’ll wait. “No privatized energy.” I’m a retired Journeyman Wireman of 22 years, I just left California, I’m very well aware of energy and I know exactly how privatized energy operates. Just in the LA County alone I can name three energy companies: Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Edison, and Metropolitan Water District. When we arrived at our new location, off in the distance I saw wind turbines line the mountain ridge, I asked our host who’s generating and was told “the government.” I learned there isn’t any private utility companies marketing power, the government maintains all of it and because of that, rates remain low. Like I said, that one took me a few days.

_{Highway 58 - Tehachapi, California}

So far, so great, there’s nowhere I’d rather be. We haven’t really had time to do any sight seeing or exploring yet, we’re actually trying to force our west coast mentality down their throats and get wheels, residency, shelter, you know—necessities. Their resistance to our way of thinking is why we’re down here, we need some reprogramming. Everything moves real slow down here, there’s a term for it, ‘Costa Rica Time.’ I love it! I can’t wait to get used to it.

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