I'm OK

Sorry I haven't been posting. This turn of events in my life has hit me very hard but I am getting myself together. I wanted to take a quick minute to thank everyone that has reached out publically and privately, your support is much appreciated! I formed a sociedad and now have my phone and internet in my name. No one will ever have the control over my ability to work again. I can also get a bank account now for the company, but I just haven't gotten around to doing it. I found out my car needed to go for the annual inspection or RTV in June, I went, it failed, I have a mechanic that will fix what is wrong and help me through it next weekend. Things are moving along and falling into place. I have made a decision to stay here for a year and see how it goes. I am way too emotional to decide to move back to the states. Funny enough someone contacted me recently saying that they had a failed relationship here and had moved back and now many years later she is returning because she missed Costa Rica. I don't want to make an emotional decision that I may regret later. Since I am not an "alone" kind of gal, I haven't been travelling or doing the weekend activities I was doing before and have started to save some money. So I figure I will stay here and save, that way if I decide to move I will do it with a nest egg, if not I can always use the cash here to buy land or a house in the future. I still am happy that I am here, it's really beautiful, but I am missing my country, my culture, my friends, and my family.

That's it for now. I just wanted to say thanks and let everyone know I am still alive and kicking.

The bad and the ugly or can I make it alone in Costa Rica

Relationships everywhere fail. Mine did in Costa Rica. Mario and I are no longer together and I am coping, but barely. I don't want to go into details and circumstances, but I do want to share a bit of what I have learned:

1. You have rights as a foreigner in Costa Rica. He believed he would have more rights than me because he is Tico. He was wrong.
2. The police come quickly when called and can actually find your house even though you give them the wrong address. Understand here there is no 15 Maple Drive. We live 800 meters north of Trapiche Nayo, not 300 as I told them. We also don't live on the main road, but apparently people know where we live because they asked and they found us.
3. The police don't mess around and come up with clever solutions to difficult situations.
4. When you are down people come out of the woodwork to make sure you are OK and to help you. Without a cedula (or ID card) you can't get a phone here. Because of this my phone and internet was in Mario's name, since we are no longer together I needed to find another person to help me and FAST since I need them to work. I had at least 5 offers to assist me in getting the stuff I needed. I have offers and suggestions for a gardener to take care of the gardens and a maid if I think I need one. I have been getting tons of texts and emails from people I have met here asking what they can do to help me get through this. I never saw such an outpouring of affection and good wishes when thigs got screwed up in my life before.
5. Setting up an association allows you to get a phone, a bank account and health insurance (well this is what I am told, I am in the process and will see if  it is true)
6. Even the best laid plans can come crashing down at any moment, always have an alternate plan. I unfortunately did not, luckily I am devising one at the moment.

I plan to stay here even though my original dreams have been shattered. I am getting a LOT of pressure from family and friends in the states to move back there, but truthfully I really love it here, with or without Mario. I am going to have to learn to do things on my own, Mario had helped me with so much, but if he could do it so can I. I plan to come out of this stronger and independent, and I will make a life for myself.

Whirlwind tour!

We had our first visitor! I had gone home to the states and my bff Trisha decided to come back with me to visit! What fun!! We had a blast and she took some kick ass photos of all the stuff we did! This is me and Mario at the table at the top of the driveway. I have never quite figured out why they put this table here, well the view is incredible, but there is no way coffee would stay hot to get up here. I have been trying to get a little more exercise, well a little exercise(since more implies I was getting some), since I spend my days sitting at a desk, and so I walk up to the table and then down the steep road back to the back of the house. A few times around and I am worn out! as are Dora and Diego, so I guess it's doing us all a bit of good.

This wonderful spot is a hotel/restaurant near our house called Papa de Paramo (there should be an accent over the second a in papa so that it is the father of Paramo and not the potato of Paramo, but I forget how to do that). We came here the first time when some new friends invited us to a party when their brother came in to visit from Texas and we just LOVE it. It is so tranquil and the food is great! Trish and I spent the day here - just the gals -

and I looked up and saw this sloth in the tree. How cool! He hung out for a long while going up and down the tree. The waiters were worried about him when he went out to the teeeeeny branches way up top to eat. He finally came all the way down to pose for a picture.

We made the obligatory trip to Manuel Antonio to see the monkeys and other wildlife. Sadly, there were no monkeys to be seen. I have never been to Manuel Antonio and not seen a single monkey! Rotten luck - but we wound up renting beach chairs and a tent and sitting out on the beach. We drank some girlie drinks with flowers and umbrellas and Trish got a massage from a woman who gives them right there in the chairs. What a great relaxing day!

The day ended with this incredible sunset. We really couldn't asked for more - ok maybe monkeys - but what a nice day!

We also FINALLY made it up to Arenal. I had such hopes of seeing my first volcano spew lava. I was really worried, but for naught. Arenal apparently has been napping for 7 months. We saw a huge cone shaped mountain covered in fog. Trisha and Mario thought it was great, but I was a little let down. We stayed in a hotel with a great view of the volcano for $30 for the night and drank the BEST sangria in the restaurant next door. Boy is it expensive though. After a pitcher we really didn't mind. I had bought a thermal coffee pot when we got stuck in San Jose so we ordered a second pitcher to go!

The next day we splurged and went to Tabacon. It was expensive - but well worth it. What an escape from reality. Tabacon is a series of thermal springs, all piping through a natural setting. The gardens were unbelievable. The water was really HOT but you eventually got used to it. There are waterfalls everywhere which give a nice massage. We found a few falls that were cool water which was nice too. We had a few drinks at the bar, Mario managed to sit on the stools, but we stayed out of the water because it was too hot. We paid for the included lunch, but I would skip it in the future as we found the food mediocre.

 We found this really cool shop outside of La Fortuna. The sculptures were so beautiful. Trish couldn't resist cheesing it up a bit. I really enjoyed having her visit. Hope she comes back soon!

Creepy crawlies

We are moving from summer into winter and have such an abundance of wildlife. There are TONS of butterflies in the flowers and birds that I have never seen before flying by on their way to who knows where. Probably north I guess. Yesterday was the day of weird bugs. Mario called me into my office to see the mula del diablo this morning. It's weird because they use the word bicho (I have no idea how to spell it but it sounds like beecho) to describe any pesty kind of thing, so a bicho can be an insect, bird, lizard, mouse, you get the picture. So since he was talking about a mula (mule) I figured we were in the mammal category - but nope. He is pointing out the window and I don't see anything, when I realized what he is showing me is ON the screen. A walking stick about a foot long!! How cool!! He said it's called mula since the head looks like a mule's head. I thought it looked more like a seahorse. Anyway this guy hung out all day and then left in the night. He didn't even run when Diego went to sniff him.

Next I went out to feed the birds and there was a single strand of web across the path to the yard. I broke it and realized the garbage hanging from it was the weirdest spider I had ever seen. He clung to the fence and rolled the broken web into a ball and ate it! I looked him up on the internet and found he is a crab spider. A fitting name if you ask me. The "shell" on his back has spikes around it so I am thinking he doesn't have a lot of enemies waiting to gobble him up!

I am heading home again on the 1st of April. The family is spreading my mom's ashes in the ocean and it's my 3 month get out of town time. I think I explained before that when you come to Costa Rica you get a 3 month visa. You need to leave before it expires for at least 72 hours. I have been leaving more often since my mom was ill. We are thinking to go to Panama next time because flying home is so expensive. Although, if Mario's divorce comes through, which it may since they have had the paperwork for a while, we will be getting married and then I can apply for residency and won't have to leave. Anyway, the point is we are getting our first visitor!! My friend Trisha is coming for a week! I am uber excited! I hope she loves Costa Rica as much as I do!

Freedom!

I haven't written in sooo long so this may be a long post. Firstly I want to share the flowers I received over the past few months. I didn't even know you could send flowers here, but a little while after my mom passed away I got a call and was told that a new friend, Phil, had sent me flowers. What a wonderful surprise!! I was able to give the florist directions to my house (another surprise) and on Monday I had this beautiful bouquet! Thanks Phil! I think my mom had a hand in it because they used her favs - gladioli and gerbera daisies. It lasted a long while and definitely cheered me up everytime I saw it.

On valentine's day my honey came through with this beautiful arrangement of roses. How creative to make a heart from the palm fronds. I loved it!

So on to freedom ...

Lately I have been feeling trapped here in Costa Rica. I think it is because I gave up so much of my independence. I rely on Mario for so many things. Everyone says I speak a lot of Spanish, and I can usually get my point across, but it isn't always easy and there are many people I have a hard time understanding. Mario is always there to help, but I am used to fending for myself so it is hard. I also have developed phone-phobia and have a hard time calling for things since I am afraid the person on the other end won't understand me. I have also been petrified to drive here. We have a Suzuki Sidekick that has a standard transmission. When we bought it I was leery since I barely drove a stick in the flatlands of New Jersey. There is no way I can handle one here. The hills/mountains are STEEP and I am afraid of sliding backwards trying to get into first gear. Mario has always taken me wherever I need to go, but lately I have been antsy to make my own way in Costa Rica. So I bit the bullet and bought a little piece of freedom - my own automatic, Geo Tracker! So cars here are REALLLY expensive. I think there is an 85% import tax which jacks the prices HIGH. This little baby ran $4,600 and it is a 94! Still it is 4 wheel drive which I thought I could do without and then found out - nope - need it. The first big trip we took was to Panama to get her some tires. There is no tax in Panama so the tires are supposedly cheaper. We bought other things that turned out not to be cheaper so I didn't look into the tires cause they were expensive in my book too. The frontera - the border between Panama and Costa Rica is really interesting. We went to Paso Canoas and one side of the road is Costa Rica, the other Panama. You have to remember which side you are on to figure out if you are getting a "bargain". We bought a stereo for Mario's car - yes now it's his - I couldn't drive it anyway. It has an ipod connection so we can  listen to the ipod on long trips. I took his stereo since my car came with a casette player and I haven't seen a tape in years. Now I can play CDs! The deal is if you bring stuff into Costa Rica you need to pay taxes on it so everything you buy gets installed in Panama and you say you bought nothing if asked. Worked for the tires. While I was shopping I thought wouldn't it be nice to have electronic entry into my car. I had to use the key (oh my) and I prefer the remote. So I asked at a store and they said it would be $90 for an alarm system. I really didn't need an alarm, but they said they always come together and I could get it deactivated. What the heck - I figured it was safer to have the remote so I could get in the car quickly if I was shopping and an alarm couldn't hurt. So I went for it. The man said he was throwing in this little gadget that would turn the car off if it was stolen. Well that I REALLY didn't need - but hey if he was giving it for free... an hour later - boop boop my car locked and unlocked like a charm. The installer shook the car and the alarm went off. He showed me the little button under the dash that I had to push to start the car and off we went. An hour and a half into the 3 hour journey home the car turns off. hmmmmm - so we push the little button and no luck the car won't start. Uh oh. Luckily Mario had managed to coast the car to a little pulperia (corner store) in the middle of nowhere. We had no idea what to do. There is no AAA in Costa Rica. The people in the store tried to help but they didn't know anything about alarms. I had the receipt but no idea how to call Panama for help. Finally I thought to call information, who told me the country and area codes to dial Panama. We got the installer on the phone and he starts telling Mario to disconnect and reconnect wires. Of course it is dark now so it is impossible to see, and we have no flashlight in my new car. Thankfully when the store owner heard me start to cry he remembered his brother was a mechanic and nicely went to get him. Marco worked on our car for at least an hour to no avail. Finally we called Panama again and the installer told Marco which wires to disconnect. Yee haw we were in business!! So we paid Marco like $6 and his brother $4 for the gas and went to leave. Well we hit pavement and the car shuts off again. hmmmm blown fuse. So he replaces it and looks over the wires and off we go! Now we make it a few feet onto the pavement when the car dies again. I am panicking now. I don't want to get in the car and make it another hour and the car dies. We decide to call for Mario's brother to come get us. He says it will be $140 - risking my life doesn't seem so out of the question now. So they put a bigger fuse in and voila we are in business! Off we go!! Everyone cheers, we wave, and hit the road! About 100 meters down the road - guess what - yup car dies. Luckily there is a bar there so we coast in. Mario calls Marco and he says he will come, we can take the car to his house and he will work on it in the morning. The bartender says Marco doesn't know what he is doing, but their son is a top notch mechanic and he can fix it in the morning. They offer to put the car in the bar for the night and we accept. So Marco comes and tells us that it would be better for us to look for another mechanic the next day since he doesn't know what is wrong. My dad is an electrician so I am pretty sure we have a short and I want someone who knows wiring to fix it so my car doesn't catch on fire. 4 hours and $140 later we are home -thank God! We get home at 2 AM, sleep until 7 and start the process of trying to figure out how to get the car home. We got a message from the bar folks, seems their son is ill and can't fix the car. So we start calling everyone we know to find an electrical mechanic willing to drive 2 hours to hot as hell town near Panama to fix a car and drive 2 hours back on a Sunday. Unbelievably we find someone! He removes the alarm system, fixes the short and drives my car back home. So like $400 later I have the same car I had on Thursday - joy. Supposedly I can have someone here install the alarm correctly, but I have had enough excitement for the time being and think I will wait.

On a brighter note - I wound up getting sick with the stress and lack of sleep. I got my annual strep throat or toncilitis. In the states I would have to make a doctor appointment because they don't trust my diagnosis after having the same illness for 50 years. Once I get to the doctor they have to do a culture because they don't know if it is strep or toncilitis. The treatment is the same - antibiotics - which the prescribe before the culture comes back so I never get the reason why they need the culture. Then after the $20 -$30 copay I would get to go to the pharmacy and pay 80% of the antibiotics. Well here in Costa Rica, we went to the pharmacy, I opened my  mouth and they said yep you need antibiotics, I paid and off I went. Man I love it here!!

Ode to my mom

I usually don't write much about my family and friends here, but my mom passed away yesterday and I can't help but remember how she has influenced every aspect of my life. My mom encouraged me to move to Costa Rica, she said that she was proud that I was doing something so adventurous with my life. One of the only regrets I have about my move here is that I wasn't able to be with her and my dad for her final days.

 I am going to post more pictures of our gardens here. My mom was the one who taught me to appreciate gardening. She always had spectacular gardens. She taught me about cultivating new plants from seeds, realizing that plants had specific needs for sunlight and water, and just to enjoy and revel in the beauty of nature. So these pictures are a tribute to my mom:

I don't know much about the after life, but I know where ever it may be it's a much more beautiful place now that my mom has arrived ... and it will be filled with flowers.  Rest in peace mom, I miss you.