Closing a Chapter and New Beginnings

New Year's Eve seems like an appropriate time to reflect and take inventory of what has been a whirlwind of changes in our lives.  

Just two and half years ago my husband of almost 25 years surprised me, no, make that shocked me by asking me one day what I thought about retiring and moving to Costa Rica.  As I shifted the eight or so bags of groceries in my arms to dump them on the nearest counter in the kitchen, I replied "what, are you kidding?"  

No, he was dead serious!  We had visited Costa Rica about two weeks several years ago and fell in love with the scenery and just general vibe of the country. During that trip we drove over several pot riddled roads, and one in particular that required my maximum support "over the boulder shoulder holder" for the one and half hour journey to drive 15 miles over a very rocky road to Monte erde.  Even back then we ranked the trip as one of our top vacations ever.  Now here we were a decade or so later contemplating uprooting our comfortable lives in Texas to move to a country where we did not know a soul.  Fortunately, he had already done tons of research so he had rapid fire, convincing responses when I probed further to determine how he had arrived at Costa Rica as our prime choice of retirement location.  

We spent two months scouring the Internet looking at real estate listings...and of course, we broke the cardinal rule of renting for a year first.  We decided on Atenas as our new hometown after extensive reading about the location due to the weather, access to amenities, and size of the town.  

A couple of months later, we flew down to Atenas and after seeing numerous homes, opted for a wonderful lot overlooking the town.  Yes, we were completely nuts and took the risk of having a home built in Atenas while we would still be living in Texas.   We ere blessed to meet a couple from Michigan who had made the same leap to Costa Rica a few years ago and had begun building spec homes and then selling each one.  The builder sold us the lot and helped oversee every aspect of construction.  We are sure that God blessed our madcap plan since our beautiful home was completed within five months of breaking ground.  

A year and a half later we are in Costa Rica itching to move into our home, which has thus far been a blessing in rental income since it was completed in May 2011.  The rent income over the 18 months allowed us to furnish it and provide a cushion for us until we move into it within about eight weeks from now.

I read a great book in the last couple of days by Nadine Hays Pisani entitled, "Happier than a Billionaire," in which she chronicles her and her husband's journey to their new lives in Costa Rica.  I only wish I could write as humorously as she does.  Her move parallels so many things in our lives although we are not quite as adventurous as she and Rob.  For one thing, I speak and can write fluently in Spanish, which I can see is a great advantage if moving here.  I have also been reading many blogs of expats with keen interest.  Initially, reading all the blogs made me contemplate ditching my blogging efforts until I realized that each person brings a completely different perspective to share....like reporters out in the field.  Some folks have rose colored glasses on when they arrive and then lose them quickly, while others successfully learn to appreciate the differences between their past homeland and the newly adopted one.

Of course, I might should mention that my sister and brother-in-law, who live in Calgary, Canada, are probably the biggest gamblers of all....they had never been to Costa Rica, but trusted our opinion enough to invest with us in building what we always dreamed of doing over the last few years......constructing a family compound in a tropical location!  So, the family compound of two adjoining homes on one lot with an indoor and outdoor kitchen aptly named "window to heaven" has become reality for us.

I am hoping that having lived in Mexico, Canada, the US, and now here will provide me with a good foundation to appreciate and respect cultural differences.  I have always felt very blessed to have been born in Canada, able to become a naturalized US citizen, and have a mother who was born dirt poor in Mexico.  She truly helped my siblings and I appreciate the value of opportunities that exist in the US.  I have many wonderful family members who live in Acapulco, Mexico, who have seen their peaceful world be decimated by the drug trade over the last few years.  Unlike my compatriots in the USA or Canada, they cannot just "move to a more peaceful and safe area" due to economic reasons and frankly, safe places to live in Mexico have become pretty much non-existent.

Before I digress too much, I should get back to the inventory!  I retired from my state government job with the Texas prison system in February.  Even though working for a bureaucratic agency posed quite challenging for the 18 years, I actually truly loved my job and met some hard working individuals in the midst of a sea of lazy, useless employees who would not have made it in the "free world" (term used to define for profit companies).  Initiative was not a word many employees cared to employ in their jobs.  

The next few months were spent divesting ourselves of pretty much everything, selling our home, moving into a rent house, getting all of our papers ready to apply for residency upon arrival in Costa Rica, and then hopping on the plane to begin the next chapter in the lives of this 50 something baby boomer DINKS (double income no kids) couple, with an 88 year old suffering from a bit of dementia, a 10 year old Chihuahua, and an 82 year old gypsy in tow.  The gypsy is my very unique father who loves to travel and get into all kinds of misadventures.  I could write a whole telenovela on his love life since my beloved mother, and his wife of 49 years at the time of her death, passed away.  Who knew perceived old men could be such a hot commodity!  

The year 2013 is just hours away now!  I look forward to each day and hope that I will always be grateful for the many blessings and opportunities that God has afforded me, including this big one to live amongst so many incredibly beautiful critters, birds, flowers, butterflies, and of course, the weather!  I am not going to miss the hellacious summer months in South Texas.

Learning the ropes....

Whew!  The last couple of days have been educational in learning the ropes of what to do in certain situations.  My husband developed a low grade fever and then the second day had the Montezuma's revenge...not sure exactly if that is the Costa Rican term for the illness.  We were advised to head directly to the pharmacy for advice.  We went to town and were quickly dispatched with four pills at a total cost of less than $2.00 US dollars.  The pills were to be taken one before each meal.  Two days later, the husband is back on his feet and feeling pretty good.  

Today, we had another challenge. This evening we discovered we did not have any water pressure.  We called the caretakers for the rent house, who arrived within the half hour.  As it turns out, this house is on municipal water, but like most other homes in the neighborhood, the home is also equipped with a spare pump that pumps water from a large potable water storage tanks.  Apparently, this neighborhood is notorious for water problems and according to the neighbors, the water has been off during the last couple of weeks during the day and only comes on at night after 9:00 pm.  Somehow, Murphy's Law prevailed and the pump had an obstruction as well, hence no water.  After a few minor adjustments and tweaks, the water was restored in less than two hours.  Guess that explains the two or three big tanker trucks of potable water going by our house the last few days!  Water is truly such a special commodity in life that we tend to take for granted until it stops flowing.  I remember how much I valued a toilet that flushed everytime when we lived in Mexico where we often had water problems.  

Before the water came back on this evening I decided to get cleaned up the way we often had to in Mexico...get the bucket of cold water (from the adjacent orchard which did have flowing water) and a bowl and splash it on even though it was a bit cool.....it was quite refreshing.

Christmas 2012 Atenas

Our first Christmas in Costa Rica.  While we are not able to be with family here this year, we are very thankful for Skype which is the next best thing since you can see and talk via Internet...for free!

We decided it was not worth the money or time to look for a turkey to cook.  Instead, we are opting for pecan coated chicken breasts, oven made sweet potato fries (made with recently purchased sweet potatoes from the farmer's market that look different than the traditional orange colored yams we use in Texas).  

The neighborhood is very quiet today.  Just the sounds of the water fountain, locusts, birds, and occasional rooster crowing interrupt the silence.  This morning we were happy to see and hear a toucan in the tree in the backyard.  

Yesterday we heard a loud bird across the street.  I managed to snap a picture of the Montezuma Oropendola.  The call of this unique sounding bird is found on many clips on YouTube.  I am amazed how everyday it seems like we hear or see a new bird or species of butterfly. 

Exploring the Neighborhood

I guess I have already developed a "mañana" attitude since I decided to postpone yesterday's posting until this morning.  So far each day has just made me feel more blessed to be able to live here.  I am embracing the simplicity of the lifestyle quite well.

Before we made the big move from the USA to here we were debating on whether to ship our personal belongings and vehicle via freight. After a discussion with our builder, who made a similar move several years ago, we opted to sell pretty much everything and bring only necessities via checked luggage on the flights we made over the last two years.  Our builder made a simple, but profound statement that was the determining factor in our decision.  He said suggested to use the philosophy of "what do I really need?"  Once you separate needs from wants, the decision is easy to make.

Even personal photos were edited with the same thought process.  I went through all of our photos and threw away over 1/3 of them once I realized I had tons of meaningless pictures of people that no longer, or maybe never had any meaning in my life!  The ones that I did keep were scanned and saved on thumbnail drives and memory cards....so much easier to transport and easier to preserve too.  It took me about a week to scan all the photos using a $69 photo scanner.

The next step was to identify a list of items to bring that are not readily available here, or that would be cost effective to bring due to the higher cost of replacing those items in Costa Rica.  For example, some of the items are certain spices, good knives, linens, towels, blender, dental floss, dvd player, utensils, good set of cookware, and uninterrupted power supply to protect electronics and appliances.

Enough about moving for today....I went for a walk yesterday morning toward a very pretty and fairly new housing development called Cerro Luna.  The houses have spectacular views.  I also encountered what appears to be a pet parrot that has gone awol.  The bird was sitting on a power line all alone and looked like a lost dog...if that makes sense.  A neighbor I met yesterday said she has seen the same parrot hanging around on various occasions and has tried to entice it down from the line.  I love parrots...so much personality packed into such a small being.  Hope Mr Parrot soon finds a new home.

We were quite excited to visit our favorite restaurant in Atenas, Alida's.  The meal did not disappoint!  So many times we tend to remember things better than they actually were and then are let down when reality brings us back to earth.  However, this is not the case with the food at Alida's.  Of course, taste is subjective, but for us, the pizza and pastas are the best and we feel very fortunate to have such a great place to eat in Atenas.

More tasty culinary surprises

More surprises today...pleasant ones too, which are the best kind.  Of course, the best one is that the world did not end today as predicted by the Mayan calendar.  I would have been really ticked too since we did so much planning to move to this wonderful place.....how could it be the world would end when we were just beginning our new life here in Costa Rica.

The farmer's market was busy as usual this morning.  I had read about some fabulous wheat sourdough bread made and sold by a vendor, Tom, who also makes wonderful pies.  The taste buds were not disappointed.  Good sourdough bread is not easy to find.  I will definitely be a repeat customer at Tom's stand.

The second culinary surprise of the day was finding fresh corvina (sea bass) at the open market.  I love pecan crusted dishes so I pan fried the fillets in a bit of olive oil, coated with a mixture of crushed, toasted pecans, some Panko bread crumbs, and cajun seasoning (after dredging in flour and then a couple of lightly beaten eggs.  Muy sabroso!  Served it up with a favorite refreshing cole slaw made with cabbage, thinly sliced onions, cilantro, chopped jalapeño, and chopped tomato with squeezed lime juice and kosher salt for dressing.  I cannot imagine a more perfect meal.....okay, maybe if I had some great coconut cake for dessert it would have been perfection.

We had an electrician over most of the day doing miscellaneous repairs at the house we are renting.  We had been told he would be installing a ventilator in the restroom.  So, of course I was picturing some type of exhaust fan.  Well, it was a Costa Rican ventilation system which is basically an oscillating fan above the built in cabinet that is controlled by a light switch.  Ingenious!  Easy to replace and practical.  We also discussed the high cost of energy here and options for hot water heaters.  He has suggested considering installing solar water heaters.  Will have to do some further investigation.

Costa Rica Citrus

Just murdered my first Costa Rican scorpion...tiny and moving fast, but not as fast as my flip flop.  Surprisingly, we had more scorpions in the last home we  lived in before moving from Texas.  Also, have not spotted a single cockroach here yet...hopefully, we left them behind in Texas.

Before moving to Atenas, I gorged on Texas grapefruit which were just coming into season before our move.  I had heard that I would not be able to find good grapefruits in Costa Rica.  Imagine my surprise when I saw freshly picked red flesh grapefruits at the local grocery store the other day.  I purchased three since they were very reasonably priced and crossed my fingers that they would taste as delicious as they looked.  Additionally, the store had some very nice fresh blueberries at a comparable price to our grocery store in Texas.

Indeed, the grapefruits were very tasty and sweet.  Furthermore, I discovered the mandarins on the trees in the adjacent orchard to our rent home here were ripening faster than expected.  I picked a few and sampled a couple of them.  Very tasty!  Lemons are not to be found here, but you can find limes and another citrus similar in appearance to a lime, but that is yellow inside and very tangy like a lemon.  I used one to make Greek salad dressing the other day and could not distinguish between using a lemon.  Since we have a tree loaded with those types of lime/lemons I will be using them extensively.

I also spotted what appears to be a woodpecker having some orange juice in the orchard and was able to snap a picture of it.

Birds aplenty

Darn real life interfering with my utopia this morning.  I was having too much fun birdwatching this early morning with my new camera when reality set in that we had been summoned via email to the bank this morning.

The tone of the email was of urgency..something about having to present ourselves to authenticate our source of income.  Apparently, the banks have been tasked with being the money laundering police so every foreigner must comply.  We expected to sit and wait at the bank for an hour or so to take care of business since the banks are extremely busy this time of year.  However, to our surprise, we were out of there in less than 30 minutes.  Good for another year!

One thing I like about driving into town is always seeing some new plant or tree.  Today I saw a starfruit tree loaded with fruit.  I also noticed numerous Angels Trumpet bushes just loaded with blooms.  I tried so hard in vain to grow those suckers in the South Texas heat...no success for me, but I gave our neighbor a cutting from our pitiful plant and hers just grew like a weed.  

We met the cleaning lady for the rent home we are inhabiting right now.  A very friendly and hard working individual...puts my housekeeping skills to shame.  I was especially happy to be able to practice my Spanish with her and learn a couple of new words.  I have decided to keep a notebook with new words to pratice and have on hand...such as "perciana" or window blinds.  I will need that word in a couple of months when we order "percianas" for our own home.

Summer in December?

We are settling in quite easily to the "pura vida" lifestyle thus far.   It is indeed in the mid 60's each morning, which is really quite perfect.  

We had lunch with our transplanted neighbors from Calgary, Canada.  They remarked how much they love the warm weather here and do not miss the long cold winters.  Being Texas transplants, we laughed at the observation since one of the primary reasons we selected Atenas as a retirement place was because of the cooler weather.  We will not miss the long, very hot and humid summers in South Texas.

Interestingly, Costa Rica does not have four distinct seasons, but rather only two, which are summer and winter.  From what I gather December to April are considered summer and May through November is known as winter.  The two seasons are also known as dry season and rainy season, with October typically being the wettest month of the year.

A nice, unexpected surprise is the availability of fresh fish at our local open market in Atenas.  We sampled some wonderful fish yesterday at Antaños, a local favorite restaurant.  The ice cream made bu the dairy, Los Pinos, is also remarkably good.  My next visit to the newest grocery store will also involve a sampling of a latte, that are sold for only 700 colones or around $1.50 US...much cheaper than any latte I bought in the States.

First week in Atenas as Expats

First full week in Atenas!  So far, none of us have been disappointed with our move.  The weather and natural beauty here really inspires us to spend a lot of time outside.  Even the dog seems rejuvenated and enjoys roaming the grounds exploring instead of sleeping all day long.

Some things here are done "old school," or the "old fashioned way" to save energy.  One of those chores is laundry.  I did four loads of laundry and then hung all of to dry "a aire puro," or with pure air...and of course sunshine!  Electricity is not cheap here, so while we are fortunate not to require heating or air conditioning, the dryer seems like a luxury as well.

We eat a lot of fruits and vegetables since they are in such an abundant supply.  I love making papaya and orange juice smoothies with just a bit of ice as well as enjoying tamarind water.  Tamarind is a tangy bean that has a delightful pulp that can be used to make really good atole (thick hot gravy texture drink) that is commonly served with enchiladas in parts of Mexico as well as a good cold tangy drink served over ice.  

One of the daily adventures now is hunting for tarantulas when I take the dog out before we turn in for the night.  The tarantulas are not as big as the ones we had in Texas, but they are tarantulas nonetheless.  After we come in from taking care of fhe dog's last "business" for the day, I am reminded of one big differences between living here and in the USA.  We have about 8 or ten locks to secure the house every night, including a wooden door deadbolt and secondary exterior door with metal bars and deadbolt.  While violent crime is not a major problem here, apparently property theft is not unheard of in houses that are easy to access.  So the common practice here is to make your home much more challenging to break into than your neighbor's house.  The other advice we hear often is to try to blend with the community, which means not flashing high tech toys that are taken for granted and in widespread use in the USA.  Costa Ricans have a much lower per capita income and substantially reduced selection of items to purchase than in the US.
  

To end on a lighter note, and to infuse some fun I would like to share some of my favorite healthy recipes that I hope others will try as well.

For breakfast, I really enjoy a version of muesili that was served on a Holland America cruise we enjoyed last year:

4 servings

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon honey

1 to 2 apples, peeled and grated

1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts or almonds

1 cup low-fat yogurt (any flavor you wish)

Combine oats, milk and honey and leave soaking in the refrigerator overnight.

The next morning, add the grated apple, hazelnuts or almonds, and yogurt.

What is great about this recipe is that it is easy to make, good for days and great with fresh berries.  Since we cannot readily find fresh blueberries and raspberries here, I have substituted fresh sliced strawberries (which are grown nearby) and sliced bananas.  

Another favorite recipe is known as "gallo pinto" and is a traditional Costa Rican dish.  We love this meal so much we eat it at least three times per week.

1 cup of cooked rice

1 cup of cooked black beans 

1/2 cup frozen corn or canned corn

2-3 chopped green onions

1 tspn ground cumin and 1 tspn ground coriander

2 cloves of garlic chopped

1 tbsp oil

4 Tbs. Salsa Lizano  (available at online stores).  Worcestershire sauce can be used as a substitute.

Pinch of black pepper

¼ cup chopped cilantro, 1 small chopped tomato and 1 peeled/diced avocado for garnish as well as either some crumbled queso fresco or feta cheese.

I also must have some pickled jalapeños to eat with it and a few tortilla chips never hurt either!

How to prepare

1. Fry onion, and garlic in the vegetable oil, about 3 minutes.  

2. Pour in the beans and add the sauce, black pepper and seasonings (coriander and cumin).  Let it cook for a few minutes, but don’t let it dry out.

3. Pour in the cooked rice and mix it with the beans

4.  Serve in bowl garnished with chopped tomatoes, fresh cilantro, chopped avocado, and cheese.

"Provecho" as they say here, which in essence translates to "enjoy!"

Another day in El Pueblo, Atenas

Technical difficulties!  Tried to write a post, but I keep getting errors so will try a copy and paste technique.
Another peaceful day...my favorite kind of day.  Went for a walk down to the end of the road early this morning.  To my surprise, there is a moto cross course that apparently is pretty popular on Sundays.
I also managed to figure out how to install a VPN account on my IPad which allows me to view numerous television shows and movies from the USA.  I love my Spanish telenovelas, but I also enjoy a variety of English language programming so it is nice to now have a selection to watch in the evenings.  The sun rises here early and sets early ...up around 5:30 am and sundown by 6:00 pm...year round.
We went to sample the food at a very nice restaurant named El Mirador (the lookout) right down the street from our rent home.  We were the only customers at 4:00 pm.  Not only did we enjoy the food, but also the entertainment on the TV.  See link to get a snipet of what we watched while waiting for our food to arrive.  Who knew there could be such a crazy sport in Costa Rica.  At least in this sport, the bull wins instead of the humans!  Check out the wild action with the bulls at:  Costa Rica Bulls Zapote

Costa Ricans, like my compadres in Mexico, are a paradox.  Muy despacito or slow for most things hence the saying "mañana," but Lord help us all when they get behind the wheel of a vehicle or on a motorcycle!  Ay caramba, it's like Speedy Gonzales on crack once the motor is running.

Below is the picture (not great) of the black and red woodpecker I spotted and heard yesterday.  I need to work on my photography and blogging skills!

Farmer's Market Friday

Felt our first earthquake yesterday.  We were not sure if it was our creaky bed frame since Mike was putting on his shoes at the bed and I was sitting on the other side of the bed getting ready to take the dog outside.....we felt the bed moving, but the earthquake was not confirmed until later when we read about it online.

I have also been duly corrected about the night/early morning temperatures!  While it has been around 73 degrees indoors during the morning, Mike, who gets up much earlier than I said that it is not 73 degrees outside, but rather more like 66 degrees or so.  Maybe tomorrow I will get ambitious and get up  at 5:30 am since it is already daylight and join him for a cup of great Costa Rican coffee and bring my alarm clock with the temp reading on it outside to determine exactly how cool the ambient temperature is during the early morning.  By the way, we are NOT drinking that $7.00 per cup Geisha Costa Rican coffee now offered at select Starbucks in the USA!  Since the hubby says we are on a budget, I advised him he would have to forgo the organic coffee too, since we needed to purchase a new doggie bed for Taco.  The coffee here though is spectacularly good...guess it should be since coffee is grown all around us here, including in Atenas.

I do know there are a lot more birdies out in the early morning.  As we prepared to head downtown to the farmer's market around 6:30 am, I spotted a red and black woodpecker.  I tried to capture a pic of it on my new 24x zoom camera.  Will see if it turned out well enough to share.

We purchase several tropical fruits and veggies at the market...took a picture as well of the bounty we brought home (see pic) which included passion fruit, avocados, papaya, bananas, pineapple, guavas, and  some hearts of palm.  The hearts of palm taste like a bit like corn and make a crunchy addition to a salad.

One last thought, while we do not see tons of Christmas decorations like we would in the USA, there a tons of beautiful red Poinsetta bushes blooming everywhere (not in pots, but in the ground!)  that remind us of the holiday season.

First impressions of new homeland

After two years of preparing through researching, selecting a hometown, and building our new "family compound" in Atenas, Costa Rica, Mike and I finally arrived here on December 9, 2012, with 10 pieces of checked luggage, senior citizen Chihuahua, Taco,  and my mother-in-law, Nell. We were concerned about bringing Nell with us as it was a major change for her, but she seems very happy here. My dad will also be joining us next month.  He loves it here!

For anyone contemplating a move of this magnitude, the groundwork and preparation should not be underestimated.   There are so many details to handle at each stage.  Thankfully, there have been some great websites to help provide checklists, advice, and most of all great friends both in Texas and Costa Rica who have been invaluable in making this move go smoothly.

The town of Atenas is small...only one traffic light.  We have 3 grocery stores (at least that I have found), a nice open air market, and on Fridays there is a local farmer's market.

We are currently living in a very nice two bedroom Tico style (Costa Ricans are known as Ticos) located in the part of town known as Barrio San Jose Norte near the Mirador Restaurant.  The property has a nice swimming pool, covered "rancho" (patio with bbq and kitchen) that also has a hot tub, and several citrus trees.  We also have mango and guanabana trees.

We have spent our first few days dealing with some not so fun things that needed handled.  We obtained a post office box (by the way you cannot purchase stamps at the post office!), went to the big city of San Jose to meet with our immigration lawyer to begin the process of applying for permanent residency, and went up to our house, which is currently rented, to scrounge for some personal goods to tide us over until we move there on March 8, 2013.

The weather here is so incredible...no air conditioning or heating needed.  We are at about 3,000 ft elevation and about and hour away from the pacific coast.  Earthquakes are frequent (had a 4.6 just two nights ago, but apparently we slept through it!), but no hurricanes, tornadoes, or snow storms!  The daily highs are around 85 degrees and evenings 70 to 75 degrees...year round.

I especially love the early mornings and dusk when the Toucans, parrots and gobs of other birds are in abundance.....I will never cease to be amazed by the variety of plants and critters here.  The Toucans are especially entertaining to watch and hear...sound like frogs.

I am a novice blogger so please be patient as I navigate my way through this new experience as well as a new life in Costa Rica.