A Broad In Costa Rica

A Note From New Jersey

Remember Robert, Randi, Jacob and Willow? We had communicated online for several months till we practically felt like octuplets separated at birth... Robert has been gung-ho on Costa Rica for a long time - in fact, he's put together a great website called TicoLinks. In the expat world, he's what we'd call Ready.

Over time, he's been selling the idea of retiring here to the rest of his family. Who hadn't yet worked up enthusiasm to match his. In fact, they were downright leery. When they came to Costa Rica for a week in December, they came to our house for dinner. We had a great time, saw them off and on over the next couple of days. Then they took off for the southern Pacific coast, Manuel Antonio and points a bit south of that. On a road that is rough gravel from MA on down. Roughin' it. Here's how it went:

Hi Sally,

We are back in New Jersey, safe and not quite sound. Randi fell in Parque Manuel Antonio and broke her arm. Kinda messed up her day. It was not pleasant for her, with much pain. We made it out of the park and to the hospital in Quepos. Great service at the hospital, taking about an hour from x-ray to cast. Then another hour waiting for the prescription for anti-inflammatory medicine. Total bill, 51,000 colones. [$100]

Otherwise, we had a great time and were sad to leave. We drove around a lot. Went up above Jacó to Playa Hermosa and went to Parque Carara. Stopped in Jacó for a street market. Checked out a few beaches north of Quepos.

Went south to Palma del Sur and up the Intercontinental highway to San Isidro. Checked out some beaches south of Dominical. Went on an all-day tour to Parque Corcovado (bus, boat, and trail).

Spent the last day (Saturday) at the beach at Playa Matapalo. It was as nice a beach as we saw in all our wanderings. A few people, great waves, clear water, and great sunsets.

We did not like Jungle House when we first arrived. It was so hot and humid we could barely breathe. What a shock after coming down from the mountains. Our cabin had air conditioner but we were requested to run it only an hour in the evening. By the end of the week we loved it. Monkeys in the trees every morning. Beautiful birds. Saw maybe five mosquitoes, and no screens on the windows. At least a trillion ants.

We should have spent more time there instead of driving all over.

Jungle House didn't change. We changed. Randi went from, "let's look for another place" on arrival to, "when can we come back?" by the end of the week. She even wanted to check out some lots for sale!

Thank you so much for your hospitality. You really made us feel welcome and made our vacation even better.

I am as sure that I want to retire in CR as I was sure that I wanted Randi to be my wife.

Robert

This is how it happens in Costa Rica. It's how it happened to us. You just kinda get grabbed. So unexpectedly.

I Vant To Be Alone

When ticos on this side of the valley vant to be alone at night, they drive up here to my house, lean against their cars (parked where Mo is standing in the black shirt) and laugh and while away the hours enjoying the view. Often with music. And often, like last night and at least 6 of the 15 nights we've lived here, till 1am.

It's not bad, really, not like they are in my living room. I just hear muffled voices and an occasional guffaw. At first, it was a little disconcerting, but, after taking a deep breath at midnight, I decide I wouldn't infringe on it for anything. It's nice to be privy to a joy so local.

And who could blame them for taking the trip up here? These last four photos show the view during the day - takes four photos to get it all in with my trusty Canon. Even with the clouds hiding the tops of the mountains across the way, it's an incredible view. On a clear day, it's frickin' phenomenal. On weekend days, families come and sit on the vacant lot across the street (where Ryan is standing in the red shirt).

At night, it's stunning: lights as far as you can see. Like Christmas every day. So if you vant to be alone, come on up. We can be alone together.

Dining with the Bloggers

Last night we had our first get-together at the casita here on the finca. Tiny house, big fun! In Key West, we loved having friends to dinner. Just didn't do it often enough. For the Costa Rica Inaugural Fiesta, we had two families: the Bortmans and the Sheridans.

Mark, Dara, Ari, 8, and Eli, 5, Bortman are here from PA for a year, going back to the states in December. Kinda like us but for different reasons (they weren't running way), they just packed up, rented their house, decided at the last minute to bring along the kids, and came to Costa Rica for a year. Mark and Dara had lived in Belize for a year when they were young (because now they are so old: almost 40 just barely over 35), so this is old hat to them! We see them a LOT and will miss them when they go back in December. The plan is to neuralyze ourselves so we'll forget them to lessen the pain...

Jen, Bill and Calista, 10, Sheridan moved to Costa Rica permanently, arriving right around the same time we did. Bill is retired, they had fallen in love with Costa Rica and bought a piece o' paradise atop a mountain about an hour from San Jose. They are just now starting to build their house. I'm sure there's an adventure waiting to unfold!!!

The blogosphere brought us together. Once you blog, you search for other blogs like yours, see who's doing what where, how they liked it, what they recommend. You start to "get to know" your fellow bloggers from reading their web diaries. Then you realize they are pretty close geographically and, heck, why not make human contact? After a few months talking pretty much only to my males, I was desperate for a female to talk to in English. So we took the plunge and set up a rendevouz* with the Bortmans. Fortunately, we hit it right off. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to stop talking.

A truly odd coincidence with the Bortmans: during that first meeting, breaking bread at McDonalds, we were talking about plans for the upcoming weekend... turns out we both had reservations to spend the weekend in San Ramon AT THE SAME GUESTHOUSE in a nearby cloud forest. (Imagine, if you will, the "whoooo-eeee-oooo" sound from The Twilight Zone.) This guesthouse had only three rooms and, between the Bortmans and us, we'd rented them all. Fate.

The cloud forest was, um, wet. But, the kids had a blast and it was very relaxing to be just hangin' out. 'Cause, you know, my life is VERY stressful.

On the way home from San Ramon that weekend, we stopped in to meet the Sheridans who live nearby and say hi. Jen is one of those people you just KNOW you want to know. We hung out with them at their rental house for a couple of hours, then headed home. Calista is a doll - so bright-eyed and thoughtful! She is drinking it ALL in, you can just tell. We don't get to see them often, they live so far away. But they definitely got added to the buddy list. And last night's dining with the bloggers!

Tomorrow early, we head off to Manuel Antonio with the Bortmans for a couple of days. We don't have to forget them yet, so we are going to have as much fun with them as we can until they head back home! It's a four hour drive to MA, two to Jaco (HA-ko), then two more to Quepos (KA-pohs). We'll stop in Jaco to meet Tica Macha, 'nother blogger friend who I need to lay eyes on. Then on to the Monkey Room at La Posada and Manuel Antonio to see the actual monkeys. Photos for shore! More soon, love, S.

*Note #3: "the process of bringing two spacecraft together." Feels like that at first...

Friends From Afar!

The boys' last day of school was Friday 6/23. The school year here goes from February 1 to around December 1. Their summer break is only about 3 weeks long, then back late July to finish their current grade. They take a long break December to end of January, then begin a new grade next February. Interesting... a little confusing for us gringos. But we can adapt!

What makes this break particularly sweet is that Sunday 6/25, two of our most favorite Key West families arrived for a visit. Stan, June, Jake and Brett Adams (the Junes) and Sonny, Kathy and Andy Eymann (the Eymanns) lived on either side of us when the kids were little; we all have sons the same age. Those were the golden years - so fun!!! And what a blessing to be raising your kids right next door to parents your age with kids the same age. Never alone, never without a sympathetic ear and good advice.

The Eymanns are still Key West neighbors, they live right around the corner from our house in new town. The Junes moved away three years ago: first to D.C., now in Colorado. We've missed them, but kept in touch. It is SO GREAT to have them all here. Even after all this time, the boys fell right back in step.

This is Kathy sitting in my Costa Rica living room. She's married to Sonny, mom to Andy. (She took the picture above.)

We are hanging around our neck of the woods for a couple of days, lunch at Berni's, of course! Tuesday we go see the Poas Volcano, which we have not seen, then to the La Paz waterfalls, which we have.

Then heading to Nosara for 3 nights. We debated either the Caribbean or the northern Pacific, back and forth. Finally settled on Nosara, it's on the "gotta visit" list, we've all heard so much about it and have Key West friends who've raved... so Nosara it is! The adventure within the adventure... Stay tuned, much more to come!
Ciao, Saratica