We have been working with Marcela to learn Spanish (for me — it is more of trying to learn Spanish — think of Sisyphus rolling the rock up the hill) for about three years, but we had never met her, her husband, and their dogs until last week. You may remember from your faithful reading of our last blog that we moved to an AirBandB close to them and about 30 minutes from San Jóse airport outside a town called Santa Bárbara.

Costa Rica is one of those countries where you never know what is hidden behind the big gate. We drove into the AirBnB through big, green, corrugated metal doors that opened out toward the street and proceed up a narrow driveway lined with greenery that touched both sides of the car. Once we arrived at the house, we realized that there was a whole world behind the gate including a tennis court, swimming pool and bathhouse, plus the owner’s home and an apartment over what was once the garage, where we would stay. It was gorgeous.

There was one little problem: The grocery store was terrible and there were no fruit and vegetable stands nearby except for the man by the side of the road selling tomatoes and corn. Oh well, we are used to improvising, so we just went with pasta one night and the next night we opted for pseudo-Mexican: tortillas, jalepeños, chicken and rice for Steven and rice and beans for me.

As it turned out, we didn’t need food for Wednesday because Marcela’s husband, Junior, had planned a surprise for us. They live a bit up the mountain from where we were staying on a beautiful property with awesome views of the sunset. We arrived to find that Junior was busily cooking homemade samosas and his Indian version of arracini complete with sauces. Wow! The food was absolutely delicious. Marcela quickly pointed out that they don’t usually eat that way. As is the Costa Rican way, they mostly consume typical food of salad, rice and beans with veggies. To top off the evening, Junior graciously allowed us to pick ice cream (or for me ice water) desserts — also homemade. Steven had one that’s famous in Costa Rica called “Churchill.” To quote Wikipedia: “Churchill [is] made up of ice, syrup, condensed milk, powder milk, ice cream, tamarind, fruit, cake filling. The first Churchills were served in the city of Puntarenas.” He also sampled pistachio (I had a tiny taste and it was amazing. It tasted like real nuts, not like a sugary imitation), and rose water. Here is a space for him to comment: (they were all amazing, as Sue said, the pistachio tasted like nuts, not some sugary concoction; the rose water was brilliant too, it reminded me of Turkish delight, just not as sweet and much creamier) I had strawberry and pineapple sorbets. Both delicious, or as Marcela taught me to say: de muerte lento, which doesn’t translate well, but the sentiment is “to die for.”

We watched the sunset on the beautiful terrace they built and then headed back to our place since we didn’t want to drive the narrow, mountain roads in complete darkness. Because it is close to the equator, the sun sets quickly. One minute the sun is still peeking out above the horizon and the next, it’s full-on dark.

We had the brilliant plan to go to Poás Volcano on Thursday, so after Steven finished working, we (meaning Steven) decided to grab some pizza (we like to try pizza in places not known for it — call us gluttons for punishment) at a place nearby called Oak’s Pizza and Bakery. It was surprisingly good and we met a couple from Kansas who gave us some valuable tips on travel to Machu Picchu. started out on an hourlong drive up another narrow, winding, mountain road. We got there only to find that they weren’t accepting any more visitors for the day or maybe it had gotten dangerous. Poás had been active for several days when we arrived. Oops. I guess we should have purchased tickets in advance. I gave my valiant driver, Steven, a (very much appreciated) break and drove us back to the AirBnB.

While Steven worked, I spent time wandering the grounds and taking photos. At some point I’ll do a photo story in the blog. So many photos, so little space. It’s a tough life for me.

One day with Marcela and Junior didn’t seem like enough since we have no idea when we might be able to meet in person again. They are so warm and welcoming. Marcela has evolved from simply being our tutor to being a friend. We decided to have lunch around noon at El Arco Vivero, a restaurant and botanic garden nearby. Steven bowed out because of work and because speaking all that Spanish hurts our brains! Well, lunch turned out to be in Tico time because Marcela and Junior had an errand in San Jose and the traffic was bad. Driving in the city is restricted by license plate number, so on certain days you can’t drive on the main roads. Many people ignore it, but the ticket is expensive, so they drove the side streets.

The wait was worth it. We chose the tasting menu and all the food is grown at the garden. It did seem to take forever to get each course, but it all worked out. After the meal, we wandered the gardens and Marcela, who knows a lot about plants, told me the names and uses of many. Of course, I have forgotten it all, but I forget more than I remember these days,

The adventure continued as we left the gardens and discovered we had a flat tire. Junior found a “wide” spot in the road and set out to change it. He was struggling with the jack (which they call a gato or cat), when I nice man stopping to help. He had a bigger jack and Junior was able to change the tire quickly. They dropped me back at the AirBnB and Steven and I packed up once again. In the morning, we headed to the airport and Maryland the next day. We had an uneventful flight (thank goodness) and arrived at our next temporary home in Columbia, MD, on Saturday night.