daily walks

 Here are some photos from just walking around, near our house. The photo above is of the "land shrimp" that cover our entry way every morning. No one has been able to explain why they come to die on our doorstep, but it's a big pile we need to sweep up every morning. At least they don't bite.

 Today, walking home (which took forever because Liana decided the road was too bumpy in the stroller and she insisted on walking, and stopping, much of the way) we ran into a herd of cows being moved to a different pasture.  A tree had also fallen in the road just past our turn, creating the traffic you see in the photo.

 Thanks to Jenny for selling us this stroller, although I'm going to try lining the back with a pillow to soften the bumps. Where the Co-pe used to be (about half a mile from our house) there is a small food store, named Whole Foods, that has a lot of locally produced items, and basic groceries, so we can walk and put stuff under the stroller. The owners are Tico and Australian and I suppose thought the name was a good idea. We can get Benito's cow and goat cheeses and milk certain days of the week, Mary Rockwell's peanut butter, Murtha's yogurt and sometimes her kombucha, as well as local eggs, produce and breads. They also have high priced gringo import items such as chocolate chips, balsamic vinegar and sea salt. Many of those items cost about the same as at PCC in the states, which is a lot considering the local wage is so much lower. Obviously if you are on a local income you are eating mostly rice and beans and bananas. A nanny, house cleaner, or repairman makes about $2.50-3.00 an hour, yet restaurants are quite pricey, with meals being often around $8 and cheese at the local factory is more expensive than in the US.

 We stopped by to see the horse at La Colina on our way to the store.

 At the store we ran into Rise and her son Liam. They found a walking stick under the bench where they sat and ate oranges. The walking stick is on the piece of grass they are holding, near the top. It's about four inches long.

 This dog lives nearby and seems to be one of Snowy's relatives.

A lovely cockroach in the road. We also saw blue morpho butterflies and a mot mot.

Today I left Liana at a little day care for a couple hours while I went up to the school. She had a great time and didn't ask for me once. She is into repeating words in Spanish and definitely understands that people are speaking another language that she doesn't know yet. She said, "I want leche," at home and then laughed at her use of Spanish.