JMZ
Janet Zimmer Joined: March 17th 2009
Logged in: September 9th 2009
Logged in: September 9th 2009
Travel Blog Posts
View of the front
I just realized that I had not published my blog from July! But here it is September and I am moving into my house in 8 days. There are still finishing touches to be completed, but my household goods will be delivered this Friday and I will take up permanent residence on Sept. 16th. The whole construction process has been so wonderfully managed by my Tico friend who is bilingual. Without his help this effort would have been impossible as I am not yet able to communicate in Spanish. But I have been working with a fantastic architect and with a great construction team. Never having built a home before, I am amazed at the number of decisions that have had to be made - from the type of ceiling wood to the baseboards in the ... read more
Roof joists
During my last visit at the end of June the progress made on my casita in Baho La Paz was encouraging. The roof joints - all galvanized metal, were all built and installed and the roof was in place. The crew was busy working on finishing the interior walls. By now (June 17th) the floor should be poured. Next comes the ceiling, then the tile. I had great fun making final decisions on the tile colors on this last trip. At this point all the tile is being stored at my Tico friend's house in Piedades Norte. On the Maryland side, the June 30th retirement date is coming VERY quickly. I am shutting down my work here at the University (prepping it for being passed along to my replacement) and trying to finish the packing of ... read more
Casita construction
I visited the site of my casita in Baho La Paz last week. When I was there in February the bulldozer was not able to complete the land leveling (NO trees were removed!!!) because of the heavy rains. But now, 1 1/2 months later, all the walls are up, the crown is being finished, and the roof starts this week. It is becoming VERY real - this move anticipated to take place sometime this summer. I have a wonderful crew of Ticos working on the house - a master builder and assistant and 5 brothers in the Ramirez family. The Ramirez's have been my home-away-from-home on all my visits to CR since 2004. And they have reported seeing the Resplendant Quetzal and white-faced monkeys in the forests on my land. Our reforestation efforts are starting to ... read more
Janet and Edwin
The train is leaving the station! I am retiring at the end of June and moving to the Baho La Paz area as soon as my house is ready for occupancy. Although I have become dear friends with several Tico families in the area, I also still want to reach out to other North Americans in the area just to create a network of friends and acquaintances (and to seek advice, too). I am a retiring university professor/administrator and will continue teaching online for the university (University of Maryland University College) after I get settled in Costa Rica. I am very excited about the changes upcoming, but will also admit to waking up in the middle of the night with concerns about having everything fall in to place. I will post some pictures of my casita ... read more
