Sunday in Atenas

Sunday, March 3

I awake the first time to the sound of a rooster crowing. In the patio of the lawyers office across the street, there is a rooster running about. No other chickens in sight. Is this a pet rooster? There is no evidence of any other farm-like activity there.

Law office across the street. All gates were closed when rooster was in courtyard. Atenas, Costa Rica. (Photo by Connie)

 

Being Sunday, and still early, the street is pretty quiet. The houses and businesses facing us along our block all seem to be closed. We go back to sleep, and the next sound I am aware of is church bells. There is a large church about two blocks from us, across the street from the Central Park. Bells ring out a little before seven, and again at eight.

Church, Atenas. (Photo by Connie)

Later in the morning, Bob and I walk by the side of the church and stop to listen to the music - a man singing folk-song style and accompanied by guitar, drums, and keyboard. They play this song for quite a while as people walk down the aisle to take communion. All this we can observe through a few open doors along the side of the church. The music is very sweet.

Side view of church, Atenas. (Photo by Connie)

The weather this morning - and all day - is cloudy, very windy, and on the cool side - about 70 F. It has been like this since we arrived three days ago, except that the wind is stronger now. In fact, it was so strong that it blew the chairs on the balcony around and we finally had to bring them inside. During the day, there were also a few sprinkles of rain, but not enough to wet the sidewalks. We Google the weather for Atenas, and the results indicate that this is the weather we will have for the foreseeable future. We begin to surmise one of two things: it is either like this all the time or this is the very beginning of the rainy season. It remains to be seen if either of these hypotheses is true.

We head out to find coffee around 8:30, and it appears that the shops, businesses, and restaurants are closed. But a few blocks from us, up by the bus station, we find an open coffee shop, and it is another Musmanni - the same coffee shop Bob had discovered and loved back in Filadelfia, on our trip to Palo Verde. He is delighted, though we both can't help but notice the similarity to Dunkin Donuts. Perhaps this chain IS owned by Dunkin Donuts? It's possible. Down the street, there is a big store called Pali's. According to Hisano, this store - also a chain in Costa Rica - is owned by Walmart. (Ugh!)

We take a nice walk around town. It is small, but we still haven't seen everything. There will be more to explore another time. For brunch, we head back to our neighborhood favorite place, Antano, where we enjoy a delicious meal and to which we also return for dinner. (We still haven't done a grocery shopping trip that would provide us with lunch and dinner fixings, though we do have the bare essentials for a light breakfast of granola and yogurt or milk.)

It's been a quiet day in Lake Woebegone....

 

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