Well, we’ve been in Costa Rica for one month now. We’ve spent as much time as possible in the ocean. We have “discovered” a new beach (separate story) – to us anyway. Had time to visit with friends, and, make time to take care of the “business” of living here. One of those important "yearly" requirements is taking your car through the infamous “Reteve,” or Revison Technica.
Each year your vehicle is required to pass this strict inspection process. You receive a sticker for the front windshield after you pass, and, yes, it is very important to have the sticker. There are transit police (traficos), who periodically set up road blocks to check that your vehicle and papers are current, you really want that current sticker.
Our closest inspection station is about an hour away in Limon. I signed up for the appointment online, we cleaned the car, checked that everything was in order and headed for our first inspection. There were only a few cars in front of us so the process went quickly. There are several “stations” to stop at; first the lights, blinkers, windows and exterior condition of the car. Then, under the hood to check cables and connections. Yes, they care about the WHOLE car. Next they test brakes and shocks. And, of course, they check the car’s emissions. I was very impressed with the whole process and enjoyed watching the results on large monitors at each station. The last station required that we drive and stop over a “pit,” similar to those you see in oil change shops in the US. From this vantage point we were able to watch all the working parts of our car from the bottom up – very cool.
The whole experience was far less stressful than I had anticipated. Unfortunately, we failed the emissions portion of the test. We now had 30 days to have it repaired and retest. Back home, oil change, gas cleaner and a few more tweaks. Next, back to a mechanic in Limon who looked at the results of our previous inspection and sent us on to another mechanic down the road. This mechanic took a look at the results, looked under the car and sent us to another mechanic down the road (everyone specializes here). The sign on this shop was "muflas." Turns out we needed to have a new catalytic converter installed and were able to get that done as we waited. $70 dollars later we had a brand new catalytic converter, passed our test and proudly displayed a bright red 2013 sticker on the windsheild. Business completed. Back to the beach.
Is it just me or do most people love the idea of raising their own food? Although I was raised a “city girl,” being able to grow some of my own food gives me a great sense of accomplishment – plus the security of knowing I will never starve. And, it’s cool. I like to walk outside of my house and be able to pick something, anything, that I can add to the meal. I guess Gordie’s passion for gardening has rubbed off on me. Our tomatoes and peppers have always done well in Arizona and in Costa Rica and this year is no exception. But we find that growing food in Costa Rica is especially fun – unlike Arizona, everything grows and grows quickly. You think it - it grows.
We currently have Basil, Asian cilantro and “normal” cilantro in window boxes, plus wild “Tico” cilantro in the yard. There are string beans are already flowering and baby Romaine should be popping out in the next week or two. Unique to here, of course, are our much beloved fruits – the papayas are getting larger everyday and one of the banana trees is ready to harvest. Then there are the fruits peculiar to our North American taste buds like Cas, Marañón and Mamón chino. They too are growing and growing with no assistance from us. Yum.
