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

Rapido y Fuerte! Those were the instructions given to me by my Entranador de Boxeo a week or two ago for my first day on the bags, and then the next night by the gay latin dance instructor in reference to salsa steps. Something about the coincidence seemed extremely ironic to me. So far I've been boxing every week night with the exception of thursday when we have dance class. Both dancing and boxing are something that I've wanted to learn for a while. Now the convenience of the dancing class, free boxing gym near where I live as well as the incentive to emerse myself into my new environment have made it possible for me to maintain this routine so far. However, What is most symbolic to me about the coincidence, is that I had ... read more

Wow what a cool first day of school! So I started attending classes this week and I've attended all of them but one tomorrow. It is really hard in two of my classes because they are only taught in spanish and its very challenging to remember all of the vocab and words. It is interesting after not having spanish classes for about 3/4 of a year to try to remember all of my spanish. It is still super hard to remember all of the conjugations for the work but it is a lot easier to write. Also we explored more of the town and we found a bread store and between three people we tried about 5 different things! All of them were so good and tasty and I think I'm going to use it as ... read more

Wow let me tell you, This trip is amazing and I havent even spent a full day here yet. I just arrived in San Ramon and am settling in. It's quite the thing where I have my own balcony and have to climb the stairs and the ladder to reach my room. I'm still struggling with my conjugations but that will be my goal for the trip. The one thing I have noticed is they are not really concerned with bugs and most things are just open and left open. I cant wait till tomorrow when I explore more of the city besides my tiny block. My host mom has 3 businesses, three different restaurants that her son operates and he lives right next door. Her daughter in law operates a really cool craft shop that ... read more

Over Four Years….. I’ve been so busy I missed the fact until just now that on June 5th I marked my fourth year of living in Costa Rica. It has been an amazing time. Since living here, I’ve gone to the beach more in the past four years than perhaps in the last 20 years, repaired/replaced my car brakes more times than in the last 25 years, and have laid in my hammock—well I never had a hammock in the states! In all seriousness, my time here can be described in many ways: rewarding, interesting, enlightening, enthralling, exciting, and even frustrating at times, however, I have no regrets about living here whatsoever. So, overall, it’s been very good. You might be wondering what has made living here a good experience. Of course, each person’s view is ... read more

It’s been a little while since I wrote so I thought I’d take the time once again to share my thoughts with whomever is ready this—hopefully many people. I get many emails from people. Most are from people who want to be here, others are already here and want to learn more about San Ramon (where I live), and others just want to get to know other people in the area. Whatever their reasons, it’s great to hear from people who also are taking the “road less traveled.” The photos throughout this blog entry are fairly random—just a smattering of our properties and our clients. Some of them I will admit were taken by clients who apparently have much better cameras than I do give the crispness of their photos vs. mine! Back in the U.S. ... read more