Bienvenidos a Costa Rica - Welcome Home!

So far we've been welcomed home by friends, rain, an eartquake, and numerous aftershocks.
"Welcome home," the world seems to be saying. We were thrilled to be met at the airport by friends Emma and Jon. As we all enjoyed a snack and conversation on the way home, we got to see rain for the first time in two months. My first priority is to find out what the hell is wrong with Gene's foot and get it fixed, so the first thing I did was call my doctor and get an appointment for him to see him on Tuesday. Then yesterday we took a taxi down to the mall to make our deposits for our permanent residency status (that ridiculous time-sucking procedure that's been going on for a year with absolutely no logic involved). While at the bank, the entire mall proceded to shake like somebody had put it into a paper bag with some flour and seasonings and was preparing to fry it. It lasted about half a minute I think. Most people started running outside. Some, like us, stayed on to watch the immediate reporting of the event on the tv in the bank. It was strange watching the newscaster continuing to report on what was happening around her as we saw everything in her building moving around! The bank closed, as did most of the other mall businesses. A lot of people were hanging around in the parking lots discussing the quake, calling people on their cell phones. A lot more were racing to get home to check on their families. We went to lunch and experienced another good shaking while we were eating. We continued to have modest movements throughout the day, although it is difficult to say how many because our house always vibrates in a most nerve-wracking manner. Gene says it's from the continuous winds on our hill. To me it feels more like something coming from the earth. Either way there's always this constant gut-wrenching rumbling. Last night there were two more really good ones. Apparently there were actually hundreds of aftershocks, but most of them too small to be noticable. At our house, there were some books and things that flew off the shelves onto the floor. Some spice jars on the floor in the kitchen. And that's about it. We were lucky of course. We hear in the news that there were deaths, injuries, a lot of property damage. There are a lot of roads out from landslides. Of course anyone who has their google alerts or other news monitoring service set to monitor news of Costa Rica was immediately aware of the news. But this time, even CNN reported on the earthquake. So we know it was major news because the news media outside the country generally appears unaware that Central America exists. Of course we were getting phone calls (what would expats ever do without Skype and weekly phone calls) and Instant Messages all night long from friends and family who were worried when they read that the epicenter was 20 kilometers from Heredia. Rest assured everyone: we are well. My only real problem today, other than the fact that I want Gene's foot fixed, is that I failed to buy shoes in Lima.
I should quit now. But you know I won't. There are always a few more pictures I just have to post. And a few more thoughts about our travels that I just have to share. Of course you don't have to read them. But I have to write them. I can't help myself!