As we expected when we arrived back at our villa in Orosi valley, our temporary hosts had not even noticed we were missing in action the night before. They thought we just wanted to be aloneJ We were alone alright! I say temporary hosts because they are friends of the owners, Steve and Nancy Riley. Rick and Allison are house sitting and caring for Lola May, their Rottweiler while the Riley's are in the states for the holidays. They are a really nice couple from Nasaro Beach in Guanacaste (originally from Austin, Texas). This is their dry season and very hot. So dry that they don't see any rain from December to May! Boy, oh boy are they seeing the rain now. We spent the evening in our villa, speaking of our adventure thus far, and enjoyed a bottle of wine. There is a fabulous "hot tub" on the patio which is surrounded by candles….very romantic. I put "hot tub" in quotes because it is a tub with jets that you fill with hot water when you want to use it. You can finish two glasses of wine while you wait for it to fill, but it is worth the wait. It is very private and secluded, nestled in the botanical gardens that Steve and Nancy have created. The villa is incredible with tile everywhere and the best king size bed in Costa Rica. These are Steve's words, but I can attest to this….I will explain this another time. Wednesday, December 26th we got up early and enjoyed sitting on the patio drinking our coffee and watching the rain. Yes……watching the rain……again and still more rain. Later in the day we headed off to Steve's office and Yami let us use the internet connection to call the kids and George at the office. Skype is so totally cool. We can call home, Skype to Skype for nothing and Ray got camera's for Tracy and George so we can see each other as we talk. Todd already had a camera and just had to download Skype on his computer. We really enjoyed connecting to the folks we care about. I feel so much better when I can see Tracy and she me. My intentions for updating all our friends on myspace.com everyday has posed a few opportunities, but I will do my best.
Because of the rain we decided not to get to far from the villa today so we decided to explore Hiper Mas (sounds like Heepay Mas) which is owned by Walmart. We wanted to check out prices on different products like small appliances, televisions, electronics as well as groceries. The first three products mentioned are very expensive but groceries seemed to be very similar to the USA. They have lot's of local cheeses and wonderful local, organic produce to choose from. I saw a bumper sticker that said "Costa Rica all Natural"! So…….true! We also found a wine from Chile that comes in a carton for $4 a liter. It's called Clos……and it's really close to wineJ My new choice for Cabernet as other imported wines are very expensive. The customer service in Hiper Mas is amazing, in fact, we have found most Tico's to be very accommodating. They seem to receive much joy from giving. While traveling around in the mountain farming communities if you stop they want to fill you up with whatever they have to share. What a beautiful concept…..to give is to receive. Thank you, God!