Trip to Santiago de Puriscal to Resolve Caja Problem, Shopping and a Big Meow

Caja, CCSS in Puriscal

We visited the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social office, in Santiago de Puriscal, on Friday. This is the place to enroll in the national health care, seek medical attention and fill prescriptions, all through the nationalized health care system. It's also the place we needed to go to resolve the issue that arose when trying to renew my cedula last week. 

The wait in line was short. The masked clerk was in an office, behind glass with a small slot at the bottom to pass documents. Once it was our turn I realized I couldn't hear anything she was saying. John had to bend over and put his ear next to the document slot to hear her. Fortunately, she knew what we needed to do to resolve my problem. We left with forms to fill out and have notarized. Once that is done we will return to turn in the paperwork.

Azani in Santiago de Puriscal

Shopping in town was next on the day's agenda. One of the hardware stores transformed their display area into a clothing store called Azani. We found a few t-shirts for John and I found this nice view out their window.

View out the window of Azani in Puriscal

The chickens were running low on food so we went to the feed store. The feed I have been buying for more than a year has recently changed. It used to be pellets of uniform shape and color. Now the feed is mixed with whole or cracked corn, sometimes rice and the color of the pellets has changed. The price remains about the same, but the product has changed. I asked our workers about this and they noted the same thing with the feed they buy for dairy cows. 

Barricade in front of the park in Santiago de Puriscal

John went into another store while I walked around part of the park and took pictures. The park is closed due to covid. When they first closed the park it was roped off with plastic tape. Now they have sturdy metal barricades. I did find a new, unique view of the park. Looking through the doorway of the maintenance building you can see the back side of the iconic Puriscal Sapo (toad) and beyond to the old church.

Puriscal park and old church

When we returned home I was the first to unlock the front door. As I approached the door I heard a very loud cat meow. I looked over my shoulder because I thought the neighbor cat was at the gate trying to get my attention. I heard the loud meow again and realized it was coming from inside the house. Spencer, our dog, stays inside the house when we aren't home. I didn't think to check if Kitty was inside before we left. She seemed pretty upset at being locked up with Spencer. I can only imagine what went on when we weren't home...