Birthday in Grecia

Not a very ambitious plan for my birthday: pack up, drive to Sarchi for souvenirs, stop in Grecia for a quick lunch with Vicki and Marcos, then get to the new Airbnb and find some dinner.

The first part went off as planned. Sarchi had less shops than I remember. The big one that we used to go to was completely closed up. But we got a few things we wanted. I didn’t find the container for salt that I liked in Fortuna. Like everything else in CR, things were expensive in Sarchi.

Ramon and his crew went on ahead to get lunch and get settled at the Airbnb.

We found some flowers to bring to Vicki and Marcos, and made it to their place about an hour late. We had a nice lunch of arroz con pollo, tuna pasta, and salad. The best thing, other than reconnecting with Vicki and Marcos, was the kids connecting with Carlos, Chris, and Dani. The ages of the kids were similar enough, and Carlos and Chris spoke English very well (Dani could understand a lot, but isn’t yet confident enough to talk much). They also had two little dogs which were fun to play with.

In the car before we had arrived, the kids and I requested to keep the visit short. Visits to friends and family can stretch into hours and hours. Even our dinner with our Airbnb hosts lasted four hours. But the lunch went so well, and the kids were enjoying each other so much, that when V and M suggested we stay the night, it didn’t take much convincing. The only drawback was that we would have to pack the car up one more time, but it was worth it.

The boys gave up their bedroom, and with the addition of two air mattresses, we fit the five of us in one room. This would be the first (and only) night we were not staying in paid lodging! And it let the other crew have a bit more space on Kat’s last night in CR.

The Rodriguez-Fallas family has a favorite taco place, and they wanted to take us there. We were still a little full from the late lunch, but we wanted to experience these tacos, which were not your typical tacos. For example, the one I got was called Vampiro. It’s two tacos on a hamburger bun with a “cowboy patty” on top of the tacos. I think the cowboy patty was a hamburger, but it may have been made of something else. The Vampiro was big, sloppy, and delicious. I seriously used a napkin after every bite. It was that messy. Alex got the Poty (which we joked is probably what you have to do after you eat it, which turned into a joke about what if Taco Bell named their items after what it did to you digestively. “I’ll take two Watery Farts and a Skid Marks Grande.”) The Poty was three tacos on a bun with two salchichones (hot dogs). It took a bit of effort, but we both finished our “tacos.”

Back at the house, we chatted about plans for tomorrow and then showered and hit the sack.