Now that summer vacation is upon us, we have a chance to look back at the school year that was. (Last Friday, June 30, was Ellie’s last day of school and Ari’s was the week before that.) It is hard to believe that the whole school year has gone. In some ways it flew by so quickly it hardly seems like a blink. In other ways, the beginning of the school year seems like it was a very long time ago. It is quite a paradox and I can’t seem to put it into words - but I’m sure you know [View Full Entry]

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Happy 4th of July everyone! Sorry, it seems that the travelblog web-site has had some bugs over the past few weeks. Hopefully those have been worked out and everyone can get access to the blogs. I think that one guy, Ali, runs the whole site. Considering the size and scope of it, I'd say he does a pretty good job. And, hey, it’s free so who are we to complain. Anyway, we’d like to wish everyone a Happy 4th of July. To answer the question that is on everyone’s mind - yes, they do have the 4th of July here. What, [View Full Entry]

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I’ve recently learned that Heredia is not just city living. Gerardo had mentioned that he wanted to take us to his cousin's farm up in the mountains of Heredia. His cousin, Rigo had a wood burning stove and Gerardo wanted to take him some scraps of wood he had left over from his shop. Tejoncito is the perfect vehicle for this type of road trip. We had 7 people, yes 7 - in the truck along with multiple bags of wood on the roof. Kudos to Toyota for making such a fine vehicle. While waiting for Tejoncito to be loaded up, [View Full Entry]

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Everyone has weeds both here and in the U.S. Some of us have had to pull weeds, put chemicals on them to kill them, put down special “weed barriers” to stop them from growing, etc. Costa has weeds as well. At times I’ve seen Ticos outside with their machetes chopping the weeds back, ensuring they stay in perfect form and don’t get too out of control. The only difference between here and the U.S. is that I don’t think that Ticos mind so much when their weeds grow back. Check out their weeds - would you mind!? No one has planted [View Full Entry]

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Good Neighbors A day hasn’t gone by since we’ve been in Costa Rica where the people haven’t simply amazed me in some way. I’ve never been around folks who seem so completely genuine, who love to converse, and who take a vested interest in the wellbeing of others. Matthew has some really amazing neighbors. Ana, Juan Carlos and their children Gaby and Carlos, have welcomed us into their home as though we were family. I’ve mentioned “Sombra” before - she is their faithful dog. The first day Michael and I were at Matthew’s house alone, Ana [View Full Entry]

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This weblog will provide a bit of background on Rachel and me and the opening of our inn. It will take you from brainstorming to the formation of a more official plan to open our inn, it will continue through its progress as we design it and prepare for our opening, and hopefully through our adventures as innkeepers. Some background on us: Rachel is a registered nurse, specializing in pediatrics. She received her degree from Rutgers University and has worked at Robert Wood Johnson and St. Peters Hospitals in New Brunswick, NJ, Newark Beth Israel Hospital and most recently at J.F.K [View Full Entry]

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Costa Ricans really seem like amazing neighbors. Upon our arrival here in Barva, Mike and I ventured over to the Delgado’s to check in. We found Roy, the youngest, in his workshop, busy cutting wood for the many interesting handmade products this family makes and sells. They make everything from cutting boards, to authentic Costa Rican coffee makers to wooden spoons, trivets and hangers. It’s really amazing to see what they are able to make by hand. Roy immediately stopped working in order to prepare us some lunch. The family lost their matriarch, Flora, 3 months ago and since t [View Full Entry]

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I had written most of this blog in March, but never got around to finishing it off and posting it. Recently, however, there was a news story that, unfortunately, gave me the impetus to get this out there. If you’ve been paying attention to the news, you probably heard about the tragedy a few weeks ago in Costa Rica. I’m not talking about Costa Rica’s embarrassing performance in the World Cup -- I’m talking about the high school kids (and their teacher who tried to rescue them) who got caught in a rip tide on a beach on the Pacific coast, [View Full Entry]

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Let me start off with the big news - as some of you are already aware, it looks like we’re staying. I think I did mention the decision we were contemplating in the last blog (or the one before that) I know, I know, it was posted a long, long time ago -- I have been practicing my procrastinating. (Although I was no slouch before, I’m really getting good at it now. Actually, I just bought the book “Getting Things Done” so I could boost my productivity. Well, it was about 3 weeks ago by now and I haven’t cracked the [View Full Entry]

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Hard to believe, but exactly 6 months ago (well, when I started writing this it was 2 weeks ago), we moved out of our house in Yardley and our adventure started. What were we thinking? I’d quit my job, we’d pulled the kids out of school and were headed to Costa Rica. We’d never been there before, we didn’t have a place to live. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Now that I look back at it, it seems a little crazy. But, hey, you only live once. Anyway, so far so good - no regrets. Now we are [View Full Entry]

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