Numbers – some data

Today I want to confront you with a few numbers.

The employee who comes three times a week to clean the church and the community rooms and take care of other tasks takes the bus. For one trip, it takes her two and a half to three hours. This is quite normal for many.

The locals here work a 48-hour week and have two weeks of vacation per year.

A trip to a modern shopping mall, six km from here. You have to pay tolls – but why? – probably to keep the roads in use as long as possible. We took almost 40 minutes. Behind the toll (there were already traffic jams before) a total of 19 lanes merge into three lanes, which naturally takes time. But one could say that the whole city is one big traffic jam.

I'm proud that I was recently out driving alone. You have to drive very offensively and aggressively here to even have a chance. We wanted to meet with a church elder to do some crafting. It took me 40 minutes to cover the 4.5 km. When I arrived, I was all the more amazed by how beautiful and quiet the house is located. You just have to turn onto a side street.

We are still in the rainy season. The day before yesterday, it poured continuously, and yesterday it started in the afternoon. We were invited to have coffee with an elderly lady and had very interesting conversations. Shortly after 5 PM, it got dark. Driving at night and in the rain requires utmost concentration. We came home exhausted.

Today, it's shopping at the weekly market again. A bunch of bananas – 14 pieces – costs about one euro here.

Our son Johannes has just crossed the Andes from Chile to Argentina by bike with two friends. One day he rode for 11.5 hours, and the highest point they reached was at 3800 meters! An incredible achievement over several days. Now he is between Mendoza and Buenos Aires and will fly back on November 19. I am very proud of him but also very relieved that all went well.

We have now been in this country for a good four weeks, mostly just in San José. Next week we want to go to the Pacific again and also visit a coffee farm owned by a community member.

And the rainy season should gradually come to an end.