June 17, 2025

    Today I walked to the nearest grocery store. I'd walked there already a couple times before, but today I actually purchased something. On my way there, I ran into some locals on bikes attempting to ask me how far the nearest chicken farm was. After a couple fumbled attempts at explaining it was only about half a kilometer up the road, I broke out Google translate on my phone. Everybody we've met so far has been super nice and welcoming. I wave at cars as they pass me, and about 60% of the time they wave back. I attempt to say Hola more than Hello, but Hello just comes out naturally. Eventually I will catch on, but it is certainly not this day. Anyway, back to my grocery store journey.

    The nice man who runs the local store, La Casa, recognized me from a couple days ago. He had asked me if I spoke Spanish. I said, "Not very well, but I'm learning". He just smiled and looked away. I could tell he had no idea what I had just said, and I certainly couldn't tell what he was saying, but we both kept smiles on our faces anyway. My new policy is just to keep smiling. If I can't understand you, and you can't understand me, the best thing each of us can do is to just keep a smile on our faces. So today at the store, I bought bread, candy and chocolate. My total came to about 3,750 Colon, which is roughly $7.

    On my walk back I passed my new friends on their bikes. They waved at me and I waved at them. They said, "Adios", and I said, "See you later". I made it back just in time for the daily thunderstorm. So far We're both loving it here. There have certainly been things we wish we knew before we got here, but I think that's the case anywhere you go. There have been more positives than negatives, so I'm not gonna complain. It's only been a couple weeks after all. A friend of mine told me once that you have to give yourself three months in a new environment to see if you like it. I think that's true for jobs, but not places.

Ryah and I have been exercising together regularly. I've really enjoyed that. Now that we are both healthier than we once were, we can enjoy regular exercises without getting upset at each other. I used to judge myself rather harshly if I didn't know how to do something that I thought I should know already. I've come to accept that I don't know everything, and I don't plan on learning everything. Just let life come at you. Just smile and wave, don't be afraid to look dumb. I walked to the "La Casa" in shorts with ice cream cones on them, of course I don't speak Spanish.