Blogs from Berlin, San Ramon, Alajuela, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean

Our friends Jesslyn, Dustin and Emanuelle from Arizona stopped to visit us for a few days on their two week trip to Costa Rica. Here's how things went. Sunday mid-day we met them at the mall off the auto pista. Unfortunately, they arrived before we did as Bill's intuition is a little rusty. We brought them to the house to get settled in then went out for a driving tour of San Ramon in the rain and had a late lunch in one of our favorite restaurants, Pilar Hildalgo. We came back to the house and discussed what they wanted to do in the area and made a tenative plan. Monday, Bill took Jesslyn and Dustin on his morning walk. The girls and I met them half way at Las Musas, a local waterfall and waterpark ... read more

May already! Where has the time gone? Happy Cinco De Mayo to those who celebrate. It’s strange to think we’ve been living here for close to four months. It seems like only a few weeks. We’ve gotten word from family in Arizona that the heat is arriving. We are still enjoying weather in the 70’s on warm days low 80’s. You should see us run for the fan when the temperature nears 80 degrees. What a change! We’ve found warm afternoons are a great time to watch rented movies with popcorn and a fan. The big news of late is that we’ve finally closed on our property and Bill has completed the installation of propane on our Izuzu Rodeo. All I can say about the conversion to propane is that Bill is desperate to talk to ... read more

so i didnt get crunked mom. i actually spent my birthday in a costa rican paradise ! i´ll try and paint the picture for you... about 15 people from our old community surprised (well somewhat) us in a HUGE trunk(like for transporting bulls) at our doorstep April 15th 9 oclock am. we hopped in and booted it down the dusty roads (which turned us a black colour) for about 40 minutes. we soon found ourselves driving down a driveway longer than creighton rd´s to this UNREAL farm! cut grass, HUGE property filled with trees and clear cut area annnnnddd the most amazingly structured house!! ( solar power, water purification, and this really neat water consevation system set up in their yard, i was very impressed) . the people obviously had money that owned it. it was ... read more

met my first howler monkey the other day(congos as they call them here)yep, crawled in bed with me and started making those crazy sounds they are known for! that very same night i got bit by a BushMaster ...the most poisonous snake around my area im living in. luckily i only had to amputate my left leg, got to the hospital before the Four Hour Death Mark. APRIL FOOLS! but wouldnt THAT have been a super sweet true story!?? havent met any snakes yet, but DID meet monkeys in the trees...they are so beautiful! quick update' work is getting going. we´re now working on building a new kitchen. side job is building a pavillion type hut that they call a RACHO ... we needed to cut down some palm tree leaves so on wednesday this week ... read more

hey there everyone! so this website is finally making sense to me... for the FIRST time i just read everyones blogs to me!! thanks to everyone who´s reading and replying, it makes me smile just seeing the update of your lives! i miss hearing your voices on the phone or in person, but knowing you´re doing well and keeping in touch makes me feel connected ! so since i´ve last written...hmmmm... the canadian group has improved our dynamics immensely! not that we were unbearable, but we certainly werent expressing ourselves well to eachother. we´ve got an open communication system going on now . Aunt Mary you´re right when you say that these are the most valuable lessons i´ll learn this year! I love our two leaders Karina and Elli, they each are so uniquely funny, I ... read more