Medical Tourism - Hannah

Yesterday we learned about a big industry in Costa Rica called medical tourism. Apparently a lot of people come from the states to have quality medical procedures done for a fraction of the price.

So today I had the thought about LASIK. Hmmm...

I've wanted to get it done. Actually, as I'm writing this I notice that the font is too small and the words are blurry. I've wanted to get LASIK in the states, but I've never wanted to spend the four thousand it would cost. So I looked it up and saw that the good hospital in San Jose does it for $1600. (And on a side note, why can you never find out prices for medical procedures in the states?) The question is, would that be crazy to trust my eyes to surgeons in Costa Rica? I'm not sure.

Slightly less scary was the thought of Caleb's orthodontics. We're planning to start him on braces fairly soon after we get back to the United States. Our dental insurance doesn't cover orthodontics, so that would run us over $3000. I haven't found out prices here yet, but if we got him started down here, we might be able to save a good chunk of money. It seems safer than LASIK, anyway.

Just maybe though, I'll come back with a face lift, nose job, and tummy tuck. And Michael will have hair. You might not even recognize us.

P.S. We've gone to church for three weeks (the LDS church, that is), but apparently Dylan thought we were going to the Catholic church. I'm afraid we've thoroughly confused him.

Car Insurance - Michael

So we went to buy car insurance the other day. Julia was with us, so I discussed with her why we might choose one type of coverage over another. I asked her what the purpose of insurance was. She said something along the lines of, "To make it so you don't have to pay so much for stuff."

I said, "Yes. But if you buy a $100 microwave, you probably don't need insurance on it. You can probably take the risk that it will be fine and not break. If it does break, you'll deal with having to pay to replace it and will likely be able to do so. However, if you absolutely wouldn't be able to afford the replacement, it may make sense to get insurance on the microwave."

"In the case of this car insurance we could just get the liability coverage or the comprehensive coverage. If we were to wreck the car, we probably wouldn't have the money to buy a replacement. Which means that wrecking the car could cause us to have to go home early. Since the comprehensive insurance is only $200 more for the nine months, it is worth the additional cost."

I thought it was good to try and share that concept with Julia - make it a teachable moment - but I'm not sure how much she cared and how much set in.

Day and Night - Hannah

People here are early rises, and I understand why. The morning is the time to get anything done--it gets dark around 6:00 p.m. all year round, and lately anyway, it tends to rain every afternoon.

If I want to get laundry done, I need to wash a load in the morning so it can be up on the line to dry before the rain comes. If it rains before the clothes are dry, I have to grab the clothes and lay them out on our couches. Consequently we often have clothes lying around the house or hanging on anything that will hold them.

School starts at 7:00 a.m., which means we wake up before 6:00. If you know me, that is very unusual. Michael jokes with me that I'm not a morning person or a night person. I just like my sleep. But we're all adjusting. Basically we've just viewed it like we're in a different time zone. We get kids into bed around 8:00 if we can, and try to go to bed shortly after that. (Though the last couple nights Michael's been up late with work.)

Because it's dark in the evening and we don't know where to go anyway, we tend to stay in. But last Sunday night I braved the road from here to San Jose, the capital. I went with Julia and a few other Young Women and their leaders to hear a broadcast from the General Relief Society President. The way down wasn't too bad, since I was following another leader and it was still light. But the way back was dark and absolutely insane. The road is similar to a winding canyon road but with no shoulder and people walking alongside it. Occasionally the road isn't wide enough for lanes going both ways, and you have to know where those spots are. Add to that some fog to decrease the visibility to squat and you have The Highway of Death. Michael compared it to a horror movie where it's dark and foggy and people suddenly appear along the road. That about describes it. I was amazed that we got home in one piece. It will be a cold day in you-know-where before I attempt that road at night again.

Our Church and a Lucky "Coincidence" with the Cell Phone - Michael

Chapel/Cultural Hall at the church.
You can see the podium behind the kids to the left.

This morning we dropped the kids off at a primary activity at the church. Hannah and I were planning to then walk through town to check out the stores some more and try to get a new SIM card for my cell phone.

When we were about two buildings away from the place where we would get the SIM card, our friend, Silvia Rojas, drove by, honked and then stopped at the same building. We walked up as she was getting out of her car. She was going to pay her cell phone bill there and agreed to help us get the SIM card.
 


Another view of the church interior

If you are not a Costa Rican citizen or don't have a corporation, you can't get your own cell phone contract in Costa Rica. A pre-paid SIM card is generally your only option. However, that wouldn't help with one of the big reasons I want to have my cell phone: Internet access to use the phone's GPS for navigating.
 


Front of the church

As we discussed our options, Silvia offered to just add us to her plan, which would allow us to be on a contract with unlimited Internet. That was a great option for us. It was another one of those "coincidences" in timing to help things work out for the best.




 


Side of the church looking from the back to the front

 



Running of the Dogs - Michael

This morning I went running for the first time since we moved here.

It was hard. There is nothing level in this town. You are either going up steep hills or down them, and down steep hills isn't necessarily easy either. But the most annoying part is the dogs. Every 100 yards or so, you get some dog or small pack coming out to chase you. Some just like to bark, but others come looking to bite. I pegged one in the nose, with a rock when it got about a foot from my ankle and looked like it was getting ready to lunge.

The good thing is that these dogs are like the dogs I dealt with on my mission in Argentina: if you just bend down as though you were going to pick up a rock, they flee.

I started out hoping that if I just ignored them, they would get bored of me. It didn't quite work out that way. I was told that there is a track in town. As boring as it is to run on a track, I'm considering using it, so I don't have to deal with the annoyance of the dogs and how much it messes up my pace to deal with them.

"Lawn Mowing" - Michael

I wanted to share these pictures of the partially "mowed" lawn near our house, because the "mowing" was all done with weed-eaters. In both pictures, you can see a darker section and a lighter section of grass. The lighter patch is the part that got mowed. To give you a sense of scale, the fountain (which is empty) in the top picture is about 20 feet in diameter.

Farmers Market - Hannah

Every Saturday there is a Farmers Market in town. Our plan is to go each Saturday and buy the produce we'll need for the week. There are a few good staples, like pineapples (usually around $1.40 each) and fuzzy guys (pictures to follow), and each week I try to buy something new for us to try.

The Farmer's Market in Puriscal, Costa Rica

Our loot for this week

Michael displaying a "fuzzy guy." I can never remember what they're actually called, but you open up the fruit (on the right), to get what's inside (on the left). It tastes a little like a cross between a cherry and a grape. They look and feel a little like a hard-boiled egg. We all like them. And Julia is happy :).

A plantain. It looks like a big banana, but you cook it. You slice it and fry it in a little oil. I think they're delicious. The rest of the family wasn't so excited about them, so this week I bought one just for me.