We have only been subjected to two power outages while here in Costa Rica. According to our neighbours, who are from Orange County, CA and have lived here for several years, power outages are quite common and occur frequently. The first one lasted only an hour; however yesterday, we were without power for about 6 hours. Because of this, we were ‘forced’ to spend the late afternoon at the pool as the house was far too hot to spend any length of time in. We then had to eat our dinner out on our deck while watching the sunset. Seeing as we had no means of cooking dinner, we ordered in. Pizza and empanadas; both of which were delicious! The sun sets at precisely 5:30 every night and all is dark by 6. We were all willing to retire for the night except Gabriel kept yelling “party” and insisted that we light the candles.

Only half of our village’s power was out so we headed to the pool’s cabana. The cabana provided us with hammocks, light and fans. Unfortunately, it also provided us with mosquitoes so after a quick stay (5 minutes) we returned home. Soon after our return to our HOT bungalow, the power company arrived with a new transformer and a cherry-picker truck. Ward applauded and Gabriel watched excitedly as the men, whom he all called “Bob” did their work. He enjoyed himself so much that after about half an hour of viewing, he fell asleep in his Zaida’s arms.

Being forced to play at the pool, have a sunset dinner and lounge under the stars. Just another day in paradise.