Day 2 - First full day in Costa Rica

Day 2
2-4-14

We got up with the sun to start our first full day in Costa Rica. After a good cup of coffee, Kyle, Ryan and Tristan headed to the beach and I went for a run through our neighborhood. It was fun looking at all of the different house names (Casa Colores, Casa Bula Bula, Casa Time-Out, Casa Grande, Casa Muy Grande...). The birds were very loud and lizards scampered out of my way as I ran. Elly doesn't need a leash here so she is in heaven, staying close to me but free to explore and smell. Elly and I finished up our run at the beach.

Elly on the beach.

Our property manager arranged for us to see a house today in this same neighborhood. It is a two bedroom house with kitchen and living room. Most houses here are one bedroom or two. There is a nice patio and a pool shared with four other houses. Gardening, pool maintenance, housekeeping, cable, internet, water and sewer are all included in our rent. Housekeeping comes once a week to clean the house and change the bed linens. We will be adding our laundry to the housekeeper duties for a small cost. What will I do without cleaning and laundry chores?! We have to pay electricity which, like gas, is very expensive. They typically don't allow dogs, but the manager liked us and agreed to let us give it a try for a month to see if Elly is a bother to the neighbors.

We spent much of our day driving around the area and exploring. We looked at two other houses, which we did not like. At the end of the day, we all agreed we like the neighborhood we are in the best, and that renting the two bedroom house (called Casa Charlie) is what we wanted to do. We will move in on Feb 10.

We went to the local super mercado and bought groceries. Given that eating dinner out was $60+ with tip, we need to be eating at home to stay within our budget. We learned that anything with a recognizable brand is twice the cost of local brands - so no Kellogs, Kraft or Hellmans for us. Everything we brought home was a product of Central America. I am a lable reader so my Spanish skills were thoroughly tested. I have a ways to go before reading lables will be easy for me! I expect to use google translate tomorrow to make sure I know what we are eating :-)

We went to the beach as a family to watch the sunset. There were others there with dogs and children and it was so peaceful. Some were obviously tourists staying in a vacation rental nearby, but most were locals. I commented to our neighbor that the feeling is so different from America where we worry all the time how others will react to us or our behaviors. Here it seems the opposite - where people go out of their way to be accepting. Dogs run freely, there are certainly no children on leashes, and people smile at you easily.

Before we left for Costa Rica, Tristan and Ryan were certain they would not want to want to try surfing, but this evening Tristan went for the second time and he is loving it! Ryan hasn't gotten wet yet, but she has the camera with her always and has taken lots of pictures. We catch her smiling often.

Tristan learning to surf!

by Kyle

I want to say something about the life we are living right now. I know you might have an image in your mind of a vacation resort setting and that's not here. Well it is, but that is not where we are calling home. Imagine if you will, a more untouched and undeveloped area. We live in a community that is on a dirt road and even the dirt road could use some work. Why would you live in an area like that? Well I would have to say this a neighborhood! People know one another that live in this community. Life is easy here and it gives you time to reflect on yourself and your mind is not over run with what your day has planned. This reminds me of when I was living in Mexico. Everything was untouched and then I went there ten years later and it was all hotels and roads were all paved. To sum it up, here you have to give up things in life to get other things. We do not have glamorous accomodations, the fridge is small and only holds 2 days worth of grocery, there is no ice being made and water does not come out of the door.