The Road To Hell Is Paved with Good Intentions

Around 9:30 this morning my Internet cut out, again. Oh Joy.

Soon after I received a call from my Swiss girlfriend asking me to accompany her for a mammogram she needed. I jumped at her request. I had tired of fighting the Internet and wanted out.

Well, we headed to Mother Theresa Hospital, yes, that Mother Theresa and she had her mammogram. Well, the doctor wanted a additional sonogram done as he was suspicious.

My girlfriend has a 50/50 chance of cancer in the lump they found. She is going for a biopsy and removal of the lump in 2 weeks. She's 80 and laughed it off. The doctor felt even if it is cancer the removal of the lump should be enough. She thanked the doctor who was so pleasant and spoke perfect English. And then she turned to me and thanked me for being there. I understood exactly how she felt.

We were starving at this point, it was well after 1pm. So we headed to a Pizza Hut, yes, an American restaurant in Costa Rica! And I had spaghetti not pizza! Everything was delicious including the NY Cheesecake.

And of course the city we were in was getting ready for a big old parade, with dancing horses, dancing people, blaring music, street vendors, people lining the streets with chairs....it was a fiesta!

My girlfriend and I slipped into some stores near the Pizza Hut to escape the building crowds and reconnoiter. We decided it was a big deal to be in a big city since we are the hicks in the sticks when it comes to shopping for anything.

As we turned the last of many corners I saw the magical words twinkling on a sign before me....PAYLESS SHOES...yes, OMG, another American store. I wanted to prostrate before it.

If you want to make a million bucks, open a decent shoe store chain in Guanacaste province. I left PAYLESS with a darling pair of quality canvas ballerina shoes with ARCHES for $20! All the other stores here mostly sell cheap crap shoes . Or one must pay almost double the price for name brand shoes. Seriously, it is a huge problem here. This is a society that walks, or rides a bike or a bus, few people here own a car. They and me deserve good shoes.

So my sweet girlfriend, optimistic as she is, joked all the way back home but looked at me very seriously at one point and said, "It was a good day with some bad news but you have good shoes and I have pizza leftovers in my purse." I burst out laughing.  I love that Swiss dry sense of humor.

Yep, these shoes are made for walking.

And life is pure and simple here.

Except Internet access at mi casa.

I will try and post a new edition tomorrow. Thank you for your patience, dear viewers.