Exploring Costa Rica

Yesterday was an exciting day of exploration for me. I went on a tour with a group of friends to Guayabo National Monument located on the slopes of Turrialba Volcano, and the Basilica of Our Lady of The Angels in Cartago.

The Gauyabo National Monument is actually a National park located in the middle of a lush jungle protecting the Pre-Columbian ruins of a 2,500 year old city that once supported about 10,000 indigenous people. Guayabo was a prominent political and religious center until around 1400 AD after which the city was abandoned. The reason why it was abandoned is not clear. It could have been an epidemic or perhaps a war with a neighboring tribe. The site appears to have been populated from the year 1000 B.C. although the local chiefdom developed around 300 to 700 A.D. when the stone structures that can be seen today were built.

They discovered large stone roads, round foundations to homes and stone aquaduct that had to have been carried in by hand. There were no beasts of burden back during this time in Central America. The aqueduct is still operational, and the water was recently tested to be 97% pure! This was the most important find in Costa Rica because there are only two Pre-Columbian functioning aqueducts. One in Machu Pitcchu, Peru and this one in Costa Rica.

Mound where the Chief's home was built.

Burial grounds and tombs discovered.

Reversed Culture Shock

Yesterday was a bit of a backward culture shock for me. I went to San Jose to a large mall with a couple of friends. It was so large and so bright and had stores I recognized the names of like Forever 21. The food court had not only very nice CR foods, but Sushi, Subway, Kentucky Fried Chicken and other familiar names.

Out of my 67 years almost all were lived in Dallas, Tx. It is a very modern city and always has been. The last four years I lived in the US I moved to Greenville. I had lived there from 2 mos. to 14 years old. So it was an easy move, but is a much smaller and older town. No large malls and a very old downtown that just starting to make a comeback. I think it was God's way of easing me into what was coming.

The town I live in is named Santiago de Puriscal. Most people just call it Puriscal even though that is actually the county name. It is a very old town that has been rocked by earthquakes several times and much lost. It is in no way a wealthy town, but full of the sweetest most giving happy people on earth.

So...when I walked in the mall yesterday my eyes just danced. Everything was shinny and new. I even had a chocolate swirl McDonalds soft ice cream cone!

It is nice to know that I can live in my sweet little slow paced town, but can still go to what I am more accustomed to when the mood strikes.

Shopping in Santiago de Puriscal.

Shopping at the mall in San Jose.

Pura Vida!

Residency Continued

I am always so proud of myself when I go into a bank or government building here in Costa Rica to conduct business. Every time I step inside the doors my heart starts pounding plus I have pretty big eyes already, but I think they double in size. I do not speak Spanish, and sometimes it is very hard to find a person that speaks English. At places like this there is usually one who speaks enough. Even knowing that I enter hoping I do not have to mime my way through it.

Before I moved to Costa Rica I had to get my birth certificate, Social Security letter, and a background check then send them all to Austin to the Secretary of State to have them notarized and an Apostille attached. All of these items had to then be translated into Spanish before filing my request for Residency. My attorney, Roberto Umana, took care of all this and the filing.

My request was approved and now to complete getting my Residency I had to go to the Bank Of Costa Rica today and purchase my Warranty and pay the cost of credentials and over staying penalties. These are for the final resolution. The "Warranty" money is to be used in case anything "goes wrong with me" there will be funds to purchase a one way ticket back to the states without Costa Rica having to use "public funds." What a novel idea! If the immigrant gets in trouble or does not keep all the laws of the country they send them back to where they came from on the immigrants dime. The other deposits were for the cost of credentials which would be my "Cedula" or card of proof that I live here legally. This has to be renewed every two years until qualifying for a permanent residency. The "over staying" penalty is a $3.00 charge in the case of having been here more than the 90 days allotted without permission.

Next I will need to gather my rental contract and all cost of living expense receipts and take them to the Caja to qualify for health insurance. Without it I do not qualify for residency. In other words, there is some financial responsibility for immigrants to pay for their own health care. The exact monthly cost I do not have yet, but with my income and cost of living it will probably be between $80.00 and $100. a month! That is for everything, plus most meds are free. This is a very big difference in what it would be costing me in the US for my medical insurance. The Caja does not include dental or vision insurance.

The business end of moving here is a little confusing but not terrible. You are much better off if you have a Costa Rican attorney to guide you. It is worth every penny. Roberto has been such a help plus the fact that his fee in one flat rate. I can call him or email him as many times as I need, and he does not charge a penny extra. He also speaks excellent English. Serves a great cup of Costa Rican coffee, too!

Pura Vida!

My First Visitors

I love living here in Costa Rica and have been excitedly waiting for my first guests to arrive and share the country with them. Well, it did not turn out exactly as planned.

My friends, Joe and Freddie Ann, were to arrive here the early part of January. They arrived at the airport with plenty of time to catch their flight to Houston and then to San Jose. When they approached the ticket counter at Love Field they were told there would be no flight to Houston as they were snowed and iced in! Houston? Houston is about as far south as you can get in Texas. This never happens. They were then told the soonest they could get a flight to San Jose would be in four days. There were so many flights cancelled the future flights were booked. After all our plans and bookings everything had to be cancelled. As disappointed as I was I know theirs was worse. This was their scheduled vacation.

Eight days after Joe and Freddie's miss my mother and sister made it! The fun started when they arrived at the hotel, and I surprised them by being there. I told them I would pick them up the next morning because their flight was a late one. The shocked looks on their faces and the immediate laughing was fantastic.

Our first stop was a tour and history lesson of San Jose. It was so interesting and such a feast for the eyes. Well, maybe not the first stop. The tour company had people at both ends of San Jose taking the tour. They sent a van to pick our side of town up, and we were to meet the tour bus in a parking lot of a museum that was not scheduled on the tour. We got there early, so the driver told us to go ahead and see this museum since we had about a 15 minute wait. We went inside to find an erotic art exhibition. Surprise!

The second day we went to the beach in Jaco. What a crazy trip that was. I was using WazeApp to get us there and back. Going there we had been driving for 45 mins. when we were suddenly back where we started! We turned around, put the information back in the App and this time we made it. On our trip back it happened again! I looked up and saw a sign that said Atenas and San Jose. Wrong way! We pulled off, put the info back in the App and it took us down the smallest roughest scariest road in Costa Rica! We went over a one car bridge we later learned was called the Jesus Bridge because the drop is so far down to the river. We screamed the whole way over it. The rest of the time we laughed non stop at the absurdity of being on such a so called road!

The next day we actually went to Atenas on purpose to visit my friends, Tim and Nancy Muldoon. My family has known Tim since he was in grade school, and Nancy and I were in the same class in high school. They have built a beautiful home there with amazing views. My mother was so excited to see Tim. He was a deacon in the Catholic Church in Dallas for many years. So many of my mother's friends asked her to deliver messages of hello to him. We had a great visit.

After a day of rest I had a party for my mother and sister at my house. I wanted them to meet some of the wonderful friends I have made here. Again...We went to a typical Soda for breakfast and ran a few errands. When we got back to my house to start getting everything ready for the party the water was off! (I am dying laughing just typing all this. It really was one crazy thing after another.) I sent everyone a message letting them know that if I still had no water by 2:30 I would have to cancel the party. The water started to trickle back on at 2:15. I let everyone know it was on. I had to put all the food together, clean things around the house, clean the carport and chairs, set it all up and take a shower and get ready by 4:00. We made it by the lipstick going on my lips. It was so much fun and I think my mother felt a little better about me moving to Costa Rica at that point.

Our last full day together my friends, Tressa and Brian Hofos, treated us to a wonderful brunch at an amazing Tico Soda. They cook everything over an open fire. It was delish and we had a wonderful visit. We all signed the walls inside the Soda as is tradition.

And just like that the week was up. We went to church that morning when during Mass a dog wondered in through the open doors. So normal. It happens all the time. People in Costa Rica love animals. After Church we went to visit George and Aija Lundquist. I first met them when I was seventeen and George was working for my father at Haggar Slacks Company as a plant manager. It was a great visit for my mother. Then we went to see my friends, Cathy and Roland. Two of the sweetest people in Costa Rica. We had to then hurry to my house get their luggage and drive to San Jose back to the Adventure Inn for their early morning flight.

The visit was wonderful despite all the crazy goofs that just kept us laughing. I am looking forward to my next friends arriving in two weeks!

Pura Vida!