Learning the ropes....

Whew!  The last couple of days have been educational in learning the ropes of what to do in certain situations.  My husband developed a low grade fever and then the second day had the Montezuma's revenge...not sure exactly if that is the Costa Rican term for the illness.  We were advised to head directly to the pharmacy for advice.  We went to town and were quickly dispatched with four pills at a total cost of less than $2.00 US dollars.  The pills were to be taken one before each meal.  Two days later, the husband is back on his feet and feeling pretty good.  

Today, we had another challenge. This evening we discovered we did not have any water pressure.  We called the caretakers for the rent house, who arrived within the half hour.  As it turns out, this house is on municipal water, but like most other homes in the neighborhood, the home is also equipped with a spare pump that pumps water from a large potable water storage tanks.  Apparently, this neighborhood is notorious for water problems and according to the neighbors, the water has been off during the last couple of weeks during the day and only comes on at night after 9:00 pm.  Somehow, Murphy's Law prevailed and the pump had an obstruction as well, hence no water.  After a few minor adjustments and tweaks, the water was restored in less than two hours.  Guess that explains the two or three big tanker trucks of potable water going by our house the last few days!  Water is truly such a special commodity in life that we tend to take for granted until it stops flowing.  I remember how much I valued a toilet that flushed everytime when we lived in Mexico where we often had water problems.  

Before the water came back on this evening I decided to get cleaned up the way we often had to in Mexico...get the bucket of cold water (from the adjacent orchard which did have flowing water) and a bowl and splash it on even though it was a bit cool.....it was quite refreshing.