Day 1 - Leaving for CR, Arriving in CR, Cosada

Loading the car - my sister Bobbie and brother-in-law Tim, took us to the Pittsburgh airport 2-2-14.

Spent the night in Houston and and arrived in Liberia on 2-3-14.

Day 1
2-3-14

We are now, officially, an expat family. My husband Kyle and I, our two kids (son Tristan age 12 and daughter Ryan age 15) and our 4-year black lab Elly have just left the U.S. to live in Costa Rica. We arrived in Liberia around noon and retrieved our luggage and Elly. Elly semed to be fine - just a bit thirsty. Customs was a piece of cake - quick and easy. We rented a vehicle to transport the four of us, Elly, and our 8 pieces of luggage. Shocked by the price: $110/day with insurance! Needless to say, we will be returning it quickly.

Our phones were shut off before we left the airport in Houston, so we made the drive to Playa Grande and found our condo (little cabin really) without a map, gps or any other assistance. We just followed the signs to Playa Grande. There are no street names or zip codes - but houses have names and neighborhoods have names. Our paved road to Playa Grande became dirt, and we kept driving. Eventually we saw the neighborhood name and then the house name. 

We were greeted by a fabulously nice property manager who showed us to the place we are staying for the first week. It is just a small two bedroom with a little kitchen and bath. There is a little patio and it is walking distance to the beach. It is a secluded place - but almost everyone that lives in this little community is from the U.S. or Canada so everyone speaks English. I'm sitting on the patio now and it is so incredibly quiet and peaceful. No sounds other than waves crashing on the beach, breeze through the trees, monkeys howling, birds chirping - and my daughter Ryan humming a sweet song.

This is the path in front of the row of cabins. Kyle's surfboard sits in front of ours.

While chatting with the woman who manages the property, we learned that she is from South African and has a 13 year old boy that is doing online school. There are so many online schools to choose from, so I was shocked to learn that her son is enrolled IN THE SAME SCHOOL as Ryan and Tristan! I don't believe in coincidences.

Ryan and Tristan have been smiling since we arrived - I think they are actually shocked that they like it so much. They were so sad to leave their friends and quite skeptical about this adventure. 

We went to dinner at a local restaurant and the food was fabulous. We sat outside and had the traditional Costa Rican meal of cosada. It was black beans, rice, pork, plantains and salad. They prepare the food to order, including frying the tortillas for fresh chips to go with our guacamale. It took quite awhile to get the food but it was worth the wait.

Cosada

While there we met Wilbur - who runs the local Wil-Mart - that is not a typo! And we met Frank, an expat from Florida, and his cat named Frankie. Everyone was very helpful and we felt welcome. It is common to take your dog with you to restaurants, so Elly came with us and sat beside the table. She was greeted warmly by the waiter and others who came by. The tab was about $60 american dollars for two orders of cosada, guacamole, chips, ceviche and yes - five beers between Kyle and I - we were celebrating! This is probably about the same a similar meal would cost at a restaurant at home in PA. 

It was dark by 6:30 and Kyle and Tristan decided to take an evening walk on the beach. They didn't realize that they entered an area where it is illegal to be on the beach at night and it is illegal to have a dog on the beach. It is a national park and these rules are in place to protect the turtles. They were approached by officers and asked to leave the beach. (Kyle tells a more entertaining version of these events on facebook)

We were all in bed by 9:00, falling asleep to the sound of chirping geckos.