Laundry, Costa Rican style

When we arrived here, the most obvious surprise and adjustment we had to make was washing clothes. As soon as we saw our washing machine, we knew we were in a different place. As you can see in the picture, even Timothy is a bit confused by it.

First, let me describe this contraption. It is old, probably made in the late 80’s or early 90’s. The original color is that strange yellowish-beige that was so popular in the 80’s, complimented by over a decade of sun-fading. The lettering on the front reads “semi-automatic” and “Super Deluxe.” It has a cycle selector, two timer dials (the only automatic part), two toggle buttons and one buzzer volume control (perhaps this is the super deluxe feature). There is one large basin on the left and a smaller with a tall cylindrical basket in it to the right. It is connected to the water faucets with ordinary green garden hoses. We asked our dueña (landlady) how to use it and she gave us a crash course, but it took some experimenting and questioning to finally get the hang of it. Here is how it works, as explained by the engineer of the family:

Wash
Step 1: Manually turn on water ensuring that “wash” is selected on the “water selector” button and “wash/rinse” is selected on the “drain selector” button so that the water enters the large basin on the left and does not drain away.
Step 2: Add desired amount of laundry detergent.
Step 3: Insert soiled clothing into large basin.
Step 4: Wait for basin to fill to desired level and turn off water.
Step 5: Use the cycle selector to select gentle, normal, or strong (this simply changes the time between agitations).
Step 6: Set the wash timer dial to the desired agitation time for washing (about 9 minutes).
Step 7: Wait for agitation to complete.
Step 8: Select “drain” on the “drain selector” button to drain the water.
Step 9: Wait for the water to drain.

First Rinse
Step 10: Select “wash/rinse” on the “drain selector” button.
Step 11: Manually turn on water to refill basin for rinse.
Step 12: Wait for basin to fill to desired level and turn off water.
Step 13: Set the wash timer dial to the desired agitation time for rinsing (about 6 minutes).
Step 14: Wait for agitation to complete.
Step 15: Select “drain” on the “drain selector” button to drain the water.
Step 16: Wait for the water to drain.

Second Rinse
Step 17: Repeat steps 10 to 16 adding fabric softener to the rinse if desired.

Centrifuge
Step 18: Move as much clean clothing from the large basin on the left that will fit into the basket in the smaller basin on the right.
Step 19: Select “centrifuge” on the “water selector” button.
Step 20: Manually turn on water to run over clothes in the small basin.
Step 21: Set the centrifuge timer dial to the desired centrifuge time (about 2-3 minutes).
Step 22: Wait about 30 seconds and turn off water.
Step 23: Wait for the centrifuge to complete.
Step 24: Place clothes on line or in dryer to dry and repeat steps 25 to 30 for clothes that wouldn’t fit in the basket the first time.

Going to the market...

We have been living here in Costa Rica for over two months now, and are starting to feel more confident in living our daily lives here. When we first arrived, even basic things like food preparation were daunting because we did not find all of the food that we are used to, and because we did not know how to prepare the food we did find! We have a long way to go in the learning process, but we are learning how to use the fresh vegetables and delicious tropical fruits we buy at the feria (outdoor market) to prepare our meals.

Our neighborhood has a small feria that we had been walking to every Saturday morning, but we recently discovered the HUGE feria in Zapote (a nearby town). The 5 minute drive is worth the experience of this market. There we encounter not only rows and rows of every kind of fruit and vegetable you can imagine, but also vendors selling flowers, baked goods, many kinds of raw meat, juices, clothing, kitchen items, etc. We squeeze our way through the bustling crowds (which is tricky with Timmy's stoller). We are surrounded by the vibrant colors and smells of tropical fruits, vegetables, and herbs. The yelling of the vendors trying to attract us to their produce can be overwhelming because we can barely understand it. There are many surprises as we walk around, including cases of chicken feet in the meat section or juice being squeezed out of some sort of large stalk in the juice section (we're not sure what it is: bamboo or sugar cane?). After an hour or so, we go away with our week's supply of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Throughout the week, we enjoy fruit salads and meals made from the fresh vegetables. By mid-week, we might start running out of what we purchased at the feria over the weekend, but a truck stops on our street every Thursday morning selling produce and we can replenish our fruit and vegetable supply from his goods until we go to the feria again on Saturday or Sunday.