Water

Don't believe a word of it!!! The water is NOT warm. At all.

Drinkable, yes (all over the city of San José, I might add), but warm enough in which to take a comfortable shower? Nope. The good news is, that whereas I once enjoyed a long 30 min shower a day, I now enjoy only 10 minutes. Like fast-food, the shower has become an "in-and-out". Of course, I specifically try to go quickly (besides the fact of cold water) because this is not my home, and I don't want to ruin people's shower schedules.

But here, it's the in-and-out business.

The shower fixture in the home I'm living is such that, if one turns the knob barely to the left, the water will come out of the shower, and I may get as much as 3 seconds' worth tepid water before it turns ice cold again. This discovery was through trial and error; I tried once turning the knob all the way to the left, but to no avail. The water didn't get hotter or colder (it couldn't get colder), but stayed the same. I really appreciate the showers at home.

To add "insult to injury" as the expression goes, the Ticos insist that cold water showers are healthier because they don't dry out your skin, and they open your pores, and they let your color shine. Yeah. They would say that... Of course, by ensuring that I spend no more than 10 minutes in the shower, I can sleep in longer. That's good.

And yes, as I said earlier, the water is drinkable. The doña makes me tea every morning. I try to get it myself, but most of the time, she won't let me. I'll explain manners in another post.

Just to clarify, I still clean myself thoroughly, just in one third the amount of time it took me before.