Blogs from Alajuela, Alajuela, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 4

When prices to Europe skyrocket, and plans to rent a summer beachhouse fall through, only one option remains. Head down to Costa Rica. These were the factors that brought on the decision to spend a weeks vacation in Central America around Labor Day. Given the fact that I had never been south of Florida, and the only Spanish speaking country I had been to was Spain, I thought Costa Rica would be a pretty viable option. My roommate had been a couple of times and only had good things to say about it, as well as the scores of people I know who had been there at some point in their lifetime. All said I was in for a great trip, which I was hoping to be the case. After a full Friday morning of flying, ... read more

We have been welcomed into the home of Juan and Gerarda Ramirez. Juan looks after us in our cabinas and Gerarda cooks all the meals. Their english is very poor but then that is ok as our spanish is even worse. It is a wonderful conversation of charades, sounds and brief pauses to look up the word in our dictionary. In the beginning it took longer but now our spanish is improving we are able to speak in short sentences. The tree is green. The apple is red. The banana is yellow....really important things to say. All fun. Juan and Gerarda have 3 sons, John, Leonardo, and Alijandro aged 16,14 and 12. As young men or boys they are more outgoing and sociable with the guests than you would believe of teenagers. Their english is better ... read more

Hola everybody! Well a big finish to a tiring week, Friday we went to Hooters for dinner with the crew it was very American but cheaper than going to one in the States so we went...and we had a blast! -see all the pics and videos- We have done some shopping and exploring in the city but i found it is not a lot cheaper than Brisbane which is a shame so i will wait until Vietnam and see the prices over there before i buy some clothes. One of our host families' cows had a calf over night and we went and had a look. Lynne was smitten and named it Norman (out of the movie City Slickers). Like i said before we are more looking forward to getting into the country side now and ... read more

While moving to a new country, city, or neighbourhood can be extremely exciting; the act of actually packing, hauling, and transporting one's worldly possessions has the well earned reputation of being a most unpleasant and stressful experience. We knew all along that the day would come when we would have to leave our beautiful yard and comfortable home and return to Canada. Having to move all of our possessions to a new home in Costa Rica one week prior to leaving for Canada, well...in the words of an eight year old boy; it was "weird". Another aspect of moving is that it allows a person to gauge what kind of support/friendship network they have established. It was with great relief that our good friend Marlon offered to help us move and with the generous Johnny providing ... read more