Unsure of things here at the beach
We arrived here on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica yesterday, having moved our family from the Central Valley. I know it’s only been 24 hours, but I’m not exactly happy right now. We’ve discovered several problems with our new rental and I’m not sure how long I am going to be able to stand it. I’m planning to start looking for a new rental pronto and I hope that we will find one.
Here are just a few of the complaints I have, for anyone who has the patience to listen. Firstly, there is a weird and horrible smell that emanates from all the drains. Not septic really, but I’m not sure what it is. This was not mentioned to us when we first saw the house, but when we talked to the owner on the phone last night, she mentioned the smell thing in passing. Nice. It’s terrible and makes the house smell, particularly the bathroom. Also, the owner’s boyfriend conveniently found a way to misunderstand several things that we agreed on in advance and in writing, including installation of ceiling fans & inclusion of a double on bottom/single on top bunk bed. This makes the bugs bad and the sleeping arrangements inconvenient, respectively. The kitchen has almost no storage space and very little counter, something I really didn’t notice when I first saw the house and was so impressed with the cleanliness and brightness. Sucky. The toilet also doesn’t flush at all. It seemed to fill at a rate of one tank per 6 hours yesterday. Today it’s not filling or flushing at all. We’re using buckets to flush. And worst of all, the internet speed sucks royally. The speed of the internet was what finally made us decide on taking this house, as Arp needs it for work and the kids need it for many reasons. DSL was installed, but we’re guessing something is up with the phone line that is making it slower. Skype worked, but we’re still not exactly happy.
Other things have sucked in the last day as well. I’ve got about 20 new bug bites (windows here are not screened, but I’m working on it using industrial-grade velcro). Arp went to the good hardware store to get keys made – they have a key-making machine, but no one knows how to use it or cares to learn. We have to drive to BriBri later in the week to get it done. Grrrreat. Our car is making terrible noises. When Arp went to the supermarket today, he found out the emergency brake no longer works well – the mechanic “fixed” it recently. In exasperation, Arp got out of the car and locked his keys in. When he tried to break into the car to get them, he broke a window. While Arp was gone, the baby snatched my glasses off my face and promptly broke the arm off. No eye-glass places nearby, so I’ll have to take the bus to Limon to get my eyes checked and order new ones. Luckily, my husband managed to repair the glasses with Crazy Glue when he got back, so they are temporarily wearable. I’m guarding them with my life. And finally, the owner of our rental told us about this great company that will drop off a propane tank for your stove (we have no propane now and are living on microwave cooking). Unfortunately, the company arrived to deliver a tank today but refused to give it to me – they only exchange them and wouldn’t give me one without taking one in return. So I’m living without a stove, and it sucks.
Will someone please let me know if I should expect things to get better? I feel like that that great book by Dr. Seuss, I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew. Not that I really think that Solla Sollew exists. But I have the feeling that I’ve been through as much of a ringer as the character in that book has. I’d like to get myself in the mind-frame of Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are, but I’m frankly having difficulty with that. Normally it’s a perfect book for making me feel better, but right now I’m just wallowing in self-pity. And scratching my bug bites. I’m seriously depressed.
I feel for you. hoping things iron out soon. I get eaten alive by bugs anytime I am in the tropics- hopefully you will build some immunity and find a new rental.
in the meantime- hang in there.
That sucks! Rental houses are always iffy, you never know what you’re going to get. I hope it gets better for you soon!
First, congrats on moving surfside.
Hit the beach and look over the amazing water and try to remind yourself that yes, you are very lucky.
Now, I hate to brace you for what’s ahead, but in our experience, living at the beach was an entirely different world than living in the valley. Things just operate in a different space and time warp. I called it lazytown, cuz absolutely nothing ever gets done. My second name for it was bizzaroland because, well, things that happen just seem way too unreal to be real.
So, settle in, expect the worst and then you’ll be happy when things unexpectedly happen the way they are supposed to.
Once you get over your second round of culture shock you’ll wonder how you ever lived the way you lived before and will hopefully look back and laugh.
And if that doesn’t make you feel any better, think of me in the frozen north of Canada, where right now there’s a layer of snow and it’s too cold to even stand by a window, let alone open one.
good luck gang.
pura vida.
canuckfamily
(formerly of Atenas)
We went to the beach yesterday and it was wonderful, easily making us forget about the small, crappy rental. It was clear that a nicer place to live is likely all we need. Of course, when we came back we couldn’t cook because the hookup between the stove & the gas tank was fuxxored. I definitely can’t get out of this place soon enough – there’s one possibility we’ve got our fingers crossed for…
Suzanne:
Thanks for your input! I think you may be totally correct. I think we were somewhat insulated from the true “manana” mentality in Atenas, but here at the beach it is in full swing. I’m going to try to put it in my mind not to really believe people when they say they are going to do something, not to believe anything will be on time, and to expect the unexpected. I guess I didn’t figure on another round of culture shock, but here it is. I’ve got to make the best of it or go home, right?
Oh man, I feel for ya. Give me a call if you want to chat and get looking for a new place but I have to say that my rental is shit here too. Toilet also hasn’t flushed right in 2 years, and the odor thing is terrible. I use an infuser and incense sticks and that helps. It does come and go. I think it is because there are no gas exhaust pipes, so lame. Plumbing and electricity is not a great thing here and probably worse out there. Try and enjoy the beach and remember you still have friends in Atenas:) Think of your trip to Limon as a great getaway:) Any new cool people?
We at least got the toilet & stove fixed. The smell is better when the window’s open
The beach, otoh, is absolutely gorgeous. We’ve been twice and are reminded nicely why we are here. We came up with an idea to declutter our place – use 1 room just for storage so the rest of the space is livable and uncluttered. Good thing that the lease is for 3 months, so if we find something worthwhile, we can move at the end of February.
We haven’t had a chance to meet anyone yet, but I’ll talk to one of the homeschooling parents at the feria this weekend. I’ve also had an email from someone local that we’ll prolly meet this weekend as well.
Guys – Do the drain lines have traps (the loop in pipe that goes down and back up)? The trap is meant to hold water which will act as a smell barrier. If there’s no traps, you definitely have big issues. One thing to do is make sure you have poured some water into each drain. We have a sink we never use in the basement and every so often I need to pour some water in to stop the smell from coming out. Also heard that pouring a little oil in prevents the trap water from evaporating too fast.
Hey john – you are right, in a way. There are only 3 drains – 2 sinks and a shower. The sink drains seem not to have traps, very weird indeed. But the smell doesn’t come from the sinks. It comes from the shower drain. Can’t tell if there is a trap there, and if there isn’t, there isn’t anything I can really do. It’s a cement block house, and that drain would be sunk in concrete. What I suspect is really the problem is that the venting system is flawed. Or not. who knows. If you saw what amounts to plumbing in Costa Rica, there would be no end to your laughing. I’ll have to post a separate post about this. Regardless, we can’t get out of here quick enough.
Strangely, yesterday there was no smell. Why would it vary day-to-day? Bizarre.
Another, very likely, issue is the septic system as a whole. My guess is that whatever it is, the septic is overloaded. When we got our house the septic was full and the owner had run a drain pipe to the creek. We could smell it, but needed to find where it was coming out inorder to get the previous owner to pay for it. The smell might vary based on what you’re doing (flooding with bath water), but also by the weather. Maybe a heavy rain, dry wind, etc could affect it. That shower drain also might simply dump out to a drywell of some sort with no trap. Possibilities are endless and they all suck for you with no easy solution.
I had this problem before because the shower just emptied into the septic and would stir it up and send the smell back. Hubby said it was the lack of the traps. We would fill a ziplock bag with water and stick it over the drain to block off the smell when not in use. We also flush yeast mixed with warm water down the toilets once a month.
Love your blog, too bad ya’ll are heading back. I lived in Atenas for my first stint in Rica and loved it. We now live in Esterillos and it’s true about the manana attitude. Why work if you can go to the beach? It’s hard to argue with that, although it sucks to be on the other end…
Pura vida!
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