Work hard, play later...

WEEK ONE went well. Slowly, but very well.

We travel about 30 minutes (45 if it's bad traffic) from Santa Ana to Heredia to where the call centre is located. The drive to work gives you nothing but eye candy the whole way there, with mountains, cities and crazy motorcyclists who'll stop at nothing to live dangerously! They weave in and out of traffic like it's their playground and the whole time, all I can think is "I'm glad I'm not driving this SUV".

OK back to the vista that is Costa Rica.... You have never seen natural beauty until you've visited this country. I was wide-eyed the whole way there, and had to remind myself to remember this feeling. I'm sure in another couple of months, it will feel like home and I won't even notice the lush green landscape.

IBM Heredia is a newly built site, and you'd never think it belongs in the midst of the somewhat homely city that surrounds it. With marble floors, indoor fountains and the newest technology has to offer, it's a lovely place to work every day. The people are really nice to work with and I'm quickly realizing that I have a lot on my plate (YAY!)... My challenge will be getting others in line with what's on that plate!

At lunch, Roseline has been taking me around to the local restaurants and I've already found my favourite place! It's called Venetia and it only has 7 two-seater tables. Something to mention about Costa Rica is that you will hadly see menus in places that aren't really fancy, or chain restaurants. This is a prime example. Having ordered in broken Spanish, it's a crap-shoot to see what shows up on my plate... but let me tell you, I could order in Arabic, it wouldn't matter; it's ALL wonderful food!

The work days are long because we start so early. I'm two hours behind, but the work day is in line with Toronto time, so this means we get picked up at 6:30am, so we can arrive to the call centre for "9am". We hold sessions with the agents where we listen to calls and hear the exact verbatim they leave on he survey, and some days the team managers schedule these until 6pm local time... which means an 11 hour day! Not to worrry... I'm not working those hours every day, just once or twice a week.

Besides... I'll work a few extra hours if it means I get to live in paradise! Now I have a real answer to people who sarcastically say "must be nice"... Yeah, IT IS!! BOO-YA!

If you like pina coladas... and getting caught in the RAIN

This morning Roseline and I went to the market. It's a very busy street bustling with vendors, locals and tourists alike. It's also a wonderful place to practice your spanish and gain familiarity with the local "colones" (money). It's much easier to deal in the local currency versus American because you will always pay the real price. When you give them American, you risk mis-calculation of the exchange rate.

I had to get money out of the ATM before going to the market and let me tell you... when the bank balance is quoted in colones, I'm a millionaire! It's very cool to see it in print! lol Basically 500 colones is equal to $1.00. So browsing the grocery store, you will see a bottle of salad dressing with a price sticker of $1,650. You freak out at first but if you just divide by 500, it's pretty easy to do the math and quickly decide if you want to buy the item.

After we came back, I found I still didn't have enough of the essentials to start out with so I ventured back to the grocery store to pick up a few more things on my own. After everything was put away, I decided to take a walk around the Avalon complex. Unfortunately I didn't get too far.

The skies opened up and I soon found myself sitting on the concrete under an overhang at the side of a building. It poured for a good 8 minutes and then let up enough for me to find my way back around the building to the front door. I was still soaked!! Hopefully I'll be able to venture around here this week to get a better feel for the grounds.

I'm making dinner tonight but upon perrusal of the kitchen cupboards, I found not one frying pan; only pots for the stove-top. Wish me luck!

Erin

First 24 hours - travel, travel, and more travel

WOW the last 24 hours have been insane and full of interesting travel. Mom and Dad picked me up from my apartment shortly after 7pm and drove me to the train station. I truly thought Dad was going to have an anurism trying to get my 200lb luggage into the back of the car but all is well... I think.

I boarded my "First class" car. (which, with the discount, came out to the same amount as a regular ticket!) Well! Let me tell you... First class VIA is the way to go! I'm assuming I feel this way because I've never really experienced the first class treatment, but it was really nice. Immediately after struggling to get all my crap onboard and loving the embarassing outpour of mom's emotion, I was given a rum and coke and a bag of the tiniest pretzels I've ever seen. I was then treated to a delicious meal of roasted veg and goat cheese penne, a glass of red wine, and dessert. And this was all served in REAL porcelain dishes!

When I arrived in Toronto, I immediately caught a cab and would you believe it costs $65 to go from Union station to my hotel in Mississauga?!?! That's more than my train ticket! Just glad it's not my dime. The hotel was superior accomodations with a clean, fresh room, a wide screen TV and oh yeah, a jacuzzi tub! So I took full advantage of the room and hopped in the bubbly tub for a soak and then had my shower. 5:50am came way too quickly though.

Took another cab to the airport and I swear this driver could have been someone's spindly great grandfather, he was so old and I got really worried when he hoisted my thousand-pound luggage into the back of his car.

Though baggage check, (found out that my heavy suitcase was only 68lbs), walked down the long hallway to security and wouldn't you know it... I totally forgot about my toothpaste and it was confiscated by the guards there. It's 134 ml's... I won't make THAT mistake again! My wonderful, expensive sensodyne!!!

I get on the plane and am seated right in the front row of business class. Yet another first (other than England, but I was 14 and didn't appreciate the difference) The stewardess came around with juice and soon after we had an amazing breakfast of fresh fruit, yogourt, an omelette, sausage and this fantastic tasting warm cottage cheese mixture that I swear was made by plane food angels. 1 movie, 2 TV shows and a nap later, I arrive in Costa Rica.

No problem disembarking whatsoever... I've found out that so long as you're polite (and you have a giant "CANADA" luggage belt) you are as good as accepted! Roseline met me at the airport with the VIP service driver, and we drove the 30 minutes back to Santa Ana where we're staying. Roseline is very nice, and thankfully at this time, a bit motherly. I'm sure this will wear off as I get used to things here. (hopefully)

The apartment is very nice. Not as big and spaceous as the earlier pictures had assumed it to be, but big enough for one person and occasional guests! It's maxed out with a washer/dryer combo machine in the kitchen (I feel very European) and all stainless steel appliances. The walk in closet is plenty big enough and the bathrooms are nice too. It took me a while to figure out how to flush the toilet, though! For a while I was afraid it would only be "yellow let it mellow" but you push this button on the wall behind you and voila!

Later in the afternoon, Roseline took me to the nearest grocery store called Mas o Menos (which literally translates to "more or less") Well, it's More. I bought the bare BARE essentials and $50 later here I sit with bread, butter, apple juice, apples, green beans, spaghetti and sauce, laundry detergent and dish soap. Oh, and a bottle of red wine. Did you know they sell all licquor and wine in the grocery store!?!?! There's a whole aisle full of it.

Tomorrow morning Roseline and I are going out to the market where there are cheaper fruit and veggies and apparently very good, local coffee. I have yet to find coffee creme though. I may have to live on powdered creamer but I'll keep you posted.

Well that's about it for now. I'm pretty well all unpacked and had a chance to sit down for a bit. Roseline and I are headed out to a local restaurant for dinner. I'm still on Toronto time though, so for me, it's already 8:15pm and I haven't eaten since breakfast! We'll see what the local fare has to offer.

Erin xoxo