I reached a saturation point with my intensive Spanish classes.

An overriding goal of mine is to become fluent in Spanish this year. I was afraid that if I took a break from the routine of going to school every morning for four hours that I wouldn’t return to the Spanish classroom.

When I told my neighbor Margarita, a Tica who lived for 53 years in the United States, about my anguished decision to stop Spanish last week, she asked, “Margie, how long did it take you to learn English?”

I replied, “All my life.”

“Well,” she said, “be patient about learning Spanish in one year.”

Point well taken.

With my new found time in the mornings, I have resumed walking. I could tell that I needed to put walking back into my daily schedule because of the pounds that have crept onto the scale. My diet hasn’t changed that much, I’ve added only a little gallo pinto to my diet – but my exercise routine has.

Walking around my neighborhood is a joy. Virtually everyone I pass says, Buenas Días, or just Buenas for short. These are total strangers who make eye contact and wish me a good day. I love the friendliness here. And I enjoy learning my way around the neighborhood.

I know where the dogs bark, where the chickens and roosters walk, where the potholes fill with water after a soaking rain. I watch the cars, trucks and buses drive through the red light in front of the school as though red doesn’t mean STOP. I wait for the traffic to pass before I cross any street because in Costa Rica, vehicles have the right of way, not pedestrians.

I like discovering streets and shortcuts that are only a few minutes from my apartment. When I first moved to my Rio Oro apartment three months ago, I didn’t know there was a side street I could take to get to the pista (highway).

From my walking excursions, I learned about that side street and the tunnel under the pista that few cars seem to know about for making a U-turn.

There are a couple of horses I usually talk to on my walks. One stands in a large fenced lot on a peaceful side street; the other stands as close to the sidewalk as it can get in its small fenced lot on the main street. Neither answers me when I talk to them. Maybe I need to bring them apples or carrots.

And speaking of local animals, today when I drove back from the village of Santa Ana (called el pueblo), there was a male peacock in my parking space with its feathers fully displayed. Apparently this peacock was showing off for a female that was nearby. I parked my car in the visitors lot and ran inside to get my camera.

These beautiful birds roam freely in our yard during the day; at night they remain in their pen. The sound they make reminds me of a cat crying. A very loud cat. The first time I heard it, I ran outside to rescue the distressed kitty. But there are no kitties where I live, only these beautiful, loud birds.

Birds are common pets in Costa Rica. If you’re thinking of moving here, do a sound test. Unless noisy birds are your thing, make sure your neighbors don’t have birds that will make you curse at 5:00AM.

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Written by Margie Davis

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Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.