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

I just completed my first week living in Costa Rica, and for the second time in my life. As many of you know, I first moved to this wonderful country in June of 2005. I had returned to the US in May of 2012 to work on a project, and now I’m back, thankfully. So, this blog entry will mostly be about my impressions of moving back here again and my first week living in the tropics. The tropics? It hasn’t felt much like the tropics this week, at least in terms of the temperature and amount of sunshine. In fact, it felt more like the tropics in Washington, DC before I left. That’s okay though because the reason to love Costa Rica—particularly the San Ramon area—is our constant year-round temperature of around 73 to 78 ... read more

In my last blog entry a few weeks ago, I suggested that I would be announcing something soon. Well, that day has come. On Saturday, July 27th, I will be moving back to Costa Rica. In particular, I will be relocating to San Ramon where I first lived, starting in June of 2005. Here is a great article on San Ramon: url=http://internationalliving.com/2013/03/comfortable-and-convenient-living-in-san-ramon-costa-rica/http://internationalliving.com/2013/03/comfortable-and-convenient-living-in-san-ramon-costa-rica/ I enjoyed my 14 months in Washington, DC. I reconnected with old friends and enjoyed this bustling city. I also worked on some interesting projects. However, not soon after I arrived in Washington, I found the tropics to be calling me back "home." I think it is the year-round warm temperatures, stunning scenery, and slower pace of life that attracts me to Costa Rica. It'... read more

Raemi and Ian got into San Ramon around 12 on Thanksgiving Thursday! We immediately headed to where they were staying, which was about 15 minutes away from the center of town. It was called Vista Valverde, located on top of a hill where you could see everything: the entire Nicoya peninsula, the ocean, Puntarenas, and the lights of San Ramon. It is quite the sight. The owners, Tom and Susan, are a North American couple from Oklahoma. They were very nice and hospitable. Susan is an excellent cook; I couldn’t wait for breakfast each day. It was so nice to get a touch of food from home. : ) We were staying in our own little cabin, with a kitchen, living room and couch where I slept, and a separate bedroom. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving ... read more

The last two days I have been the littlest bit homesick. I think it is because Janne’ left. I have asked her to write a little bit about her experience in Costa Rica, so I can post it on here. : ) School has been crazy. Last week and in the following week I will have had 2 exams, a paper due, and a 10 minute presentation, all among other homeworks. It doesn’t seem like overly much- but when you don’t have weekends to do homework, it is quite a bit. This weekend we have a 3 day weekend! Today is Alyssa’s 21st birthday, so tomorrow after class we are going to head to the city of San Jose and spend the afternoon there. I am also planning on working on my tan this weekend! Now, ... read more

This morning I woke up early to catch the bus at 8. I am finally accustomed to waking up early, but am still always tired… Me and a few other girls went to the Zoo in a city about 45 minutes away. We had to tell the bus driver where we wanted to stop, and he literally dropped us off on the side of the highway. We are lucky there was a police man there to tell us where to go, in order to catch the next bus. To get to the zoo we had to walk about 800m to a different bus stop and wait. Here, another but picked us up. Once again we told the driver where we wanted to go, to make sure he would stop there. The first driver stopped and told ... read more