Living in Costa Rica . . .Where the living is good By Jo Stuart jostuart@amcostarica.com

save them for me.  No one should go hungry here since besides the three meals a day, there is a morning snack, an afternoon snack and a snack after dinner.  I seldom eat after my midday meal, but my first night I was brought a tray with fried chicken breast, rice, french fries and black bean soup with a hard-boiled egg and two large chunks of plantain in it.

I made a gallant effort to eat but failed.  I explained that I preferred fruits and vegetables.  I have a feeling I will be buying and preparing my own fruits and vegetables.  Down the hill, less than a half kilometer, is a shopping mall with a supermarket.  However, the president of the organization was visiting and told me that all I had to do was make a list of the foods that I liked and those I didn’t and give it to the cook.

Usually there are trade-offs to the choices one makes in life.  Perhaps life itself is a trade-off.  No more car alarms or the beeping of big trucks backing up, or the sound of construction like cement mixers. Instead there are people talking in the walkway and other people’s TVs and radios (fortunately the one nearby plays jazz), or visiting staff who come to clean, pick up dishes from my last meal, or check my blood pressure.

But I still have not settled in completely.  I have appointments and socials to attend elsewhere that preoccupy me.  I see the other residents in the recreation room playing games or listening to a talk, but I am not yet a part of it.  I have yet to visit the exercise room or the dining room.

But I have, after all, been here less than three days.

Jo’s book, “Butterfly in the City: A Good Life in Costa Rica,” is available at the 7th Street Book Store, Lehmann’s and Liberia Internacional.  Or contact Jostuart@amcostarica.com.