One of the warnings I would like to repeat from many sources. Handle everything with care! The crew found a snake in the bathroom, and I found two scorpions under an old bag of cement. The house had been unoccupied for a long time and human activity will keep many of these things away. But we also found a scorpion in our suitcase after putting our laundry away the previous day. It is common practice here to turn your clothes inside out when folding the laundry so you have to reverse it to put it on. This, combined with delicately removing the clothes in the first place helps to prevent scorpion stings. We found out later that this breed of scorpion is called an alaran and is no more harmful than a bee sting. That does not stop us from being very, very careful. If stung by an alaran, a local told us to urinate immediately, drink lots of milk, water, and beer to purge the poison. When I get the internet I intend to do more research on this matter.

The wiring on the house was completed yesterday, and the completion date is now 21/12. I will go to ICE tomorrow to request the inspection. We also plan to go to Puntarenas to buy our fridge and stove, and maybe some stools for the island in the kitchen and a washing machine. We are still having fun and enjoying the experience.