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

Hello all, Sorry for the delay in writing what has turned out to be my last blog. It is hard for me to believe that a year has passed since I left! Many have asked "why did you leave paradise?" So this entry is an attempt to explain why I left and what lead up to that decision! It has taken many attempts and this being my 20th to get it where now I think I can type what I want to say without it sounding … Let me start by saying that I had an amazing experience in Costa Rica. The people I met, the things I did would have never happened had I not emailed Andrew and asked him if I could come for a visit! Even though I had joked with a friend ... read more

In Costa Rica we're preparing to blast in the New Year. The country doesn't ring in the coming year they use polvora, fireworks to explode into the next year. Fireworks are legal, even for purchase by children. I expect to hear the Red Cross ambulances along with the explosions tonight. As in the states, our plan is to be safely in our home and off the streets before night fall. No parties or guests for us this year, that’s the plan. As our circle of friends has begun to grow our time alone has dwindled, especially thru this holiday season. We’re looking forward to being alone and doing nothing for a couple of days even though we know it’s not likely to happen. I’m thankful for the friends we’ve made this year but as I’ve said ... read more

The wicked winds have arrived in our part of the country! We've heard these winds referred to as the Christmas winds, they're early this year. Perhaps we summoned the winds by decorating the giant cypress tree in our front yard Sunday and Monday. The howling winds began here on Monday night. Bill insists the gusts are no less than 40 mph. The Christmas tree is shaking but so far all the balls have stayed on. We had business to attend to in Palmares sometime in the week so we decided to get out of the wind and take care of business this morning. Palmares is in somewhat of a valley protected by the surrounding mountains. It was a warm, lightly breezy day in Palmares. We finished our business quickly, ate lunch and decided to hang out ... read more

I believe in randmon acts of kindness. We like to practice them as well. They're anonymous acts and not done to recieve thanks or credit in any way. I feel when we are the recipiants of those kind acts they ARE worth mentioning. Yesterday morning we were getting ready to head into Palmares for business with ICE, (the electricity company) when we noticed Edgar, our landlord and friend weed whacking our yard. We talked to him the previous afternoon about he and Bill working together on this the upcoming weekend. We have a large yard. It's much easier and more fun for the two of them to whack it together and admire their work over a couple of Imperials. Edgar is a woodworker, more than that, he is a craftsman. He works six days a week ... read more

Friends, our friends in Costa Rica are awesome! We met two other families’ blogging about Costa Rica thru our blog, When you blog, you seek out others. Trust me, it’s kind of an addiction. The Bortman’s of http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/TheBortmans/ and The O’Boyle’s of www.abroadincostarica.com and http://haloboyle.blogspot.com/ . One of the best things about moving to Costa Rica is the people you meet. We’re pretty open and willing to make friends with the locals but are cautious bringing North Americans into our lives. People move here for millions of reasons. You meet good people and bad ones. Some you wouldn't be friends with in the states, why be friends here? It’s great meeting people first thru blogging as you get a sense of who they are after reading their stories. You only contact someone you want to know. ... read more