Cedulas

Today’s priority was bureaucratic in nature. Ramon had an appointment with the US embassy to get a temporary replacement passport. And Elena and Sofia needed new cedulas. We left Alex, Bella, and Lizzie at home.

When we had gotten the cedulas at the start of our trip, it was on a Friday and the place was practically empty. We were in and out quickly. Today, however, the place was packed. We got our number: 662. They were only on 462. So 200 people in front of us.

The oddest thing that happened was when a man approached us and asked in Spanish for 1000 dollars. Cristina told him no, that she too needs 1000 dollars. He said he had a knife (mind you, this is in a crowded courthouse with hundreds of people around.) She said “I don’t care, I have a knife too!” He walked off, then returned with a patronizing “Desculpe.” I love my wife. So technically, we were threatened for $1000 by a guy with a knife. Just your typical experience getting a new cedula, right? I think the guy may have been homeless. He kinda had that look.

After we finally got called (it took about an hour and a half) we were processed quickly and then we had two hours to kill before the cedulas would be ready for pick up. We grabbed some lunch at a nearby sports bar called Chubbs. 3100 casado. Not bad.

I went and got the car while the others went to pick up the cedulas. Then we went to an artisans market for souvenir shopping. Ramon picked up the three kids from home and we met up at the market.

This market was one of those hard-sell markets, where every single booth vendor talks to you, inviting you in, trying to make the sale. Eventually, you get numb to it and I just ignored them. I did ask one of them if they had a salt container that I was looking for. I showed them my picture from Fortuna, and he directed me to a booth on the far side. She didn’t quite have what I wanted, but I found something that could work for salt (even though it’s technically a jewelry box).

After getting some decent deals, Ramon, Lizzie, and Elena left for a dinner date with cousin Carolina, and we headed to Alajuela to see some other family, the Molina-Sibaja family.

Marta and Jose Pablo are showing their age, but they seemed to be in relatively good health. Three of their five adult kids were there: Andrea, Jose Pablo, and Marta. They had enough English that we could converse well enough. They served a platano picadillo (which I got the recipe from Andrea). Also, I got a ceviche recipe from Jose Pablo. I’m going to up my CR food game.

On the way back to the Airbnb, we stopped at Wal Mart for some groceries both to eat in the next few days and to take home.