Country Living in Costa Rica – Clinic Visit & Rollerskating

 You probably already know that we live in the country. After all, we do have a cow, pig and chicken farm to the North, South and East of us and the farms above us in the mountains are all grazing land for cattle. It might make you think that we are hours and hours away from any type of entertainment or healthcare. You might think that if we wanted to say, roller-skate for example we would have to hand carve wooden wheels and attach them to our rubber boots. But alas, you would be mistaken. Tico’s do not let kilometers get inbetween them and their basic necessities, like roller-skating. There is actually a guy who bought a hell-acious sound system, a whole bunch of roller blades, painted a big sign (the one in the picture) and tours the community centers of small towns all over Costa Rica offering “Super Patines!” Awesome skating for only 1500 colones or $3.00 a pop, including skate rental. When my 10 year old neighbor Andrey told me about this I was like “Vamos, Lets go”. Then I realized the hard truth… I was a skating snob. Not only was this ‘Super’ skating on ceramic tile but you had to wear in-line skates. So every time I hit the grout line I wished for my pacer boots with hugger wheels on the hardwood floors of long ago and I was not a member of the roller-blading 90’s so I looked like an idiot. Luckily, my 10 year old skating partner didn’t care what I looked like and laughed at me so hard that fanta came out his nose. I only fell once and my ego was bruised far worse than my bum.

If I did however have to go to the clinic I need only wait until Monday morning and walk to the building across from the school. A whole crew of nurses show up in two ambulances with medicines and file folders. Barry has high blood pressure (note: did not start when he met me). We pay $35 a month for both of us and as long as we have our receipt for payment our appointments, tests, medicines and on-going care is included. He walks to the clinic early on Monday morning gets his blood pressure taken, picks up his script and stops to pick up a carton of eggs on his way home. We get 30 eggs for $3.00, if we don’t mind the slightly irregularly shaped ones. He comes home with a carton of eggs and a weeks worth of village gossip. The clinic waiting room is pictured below.