Yippee! Our lawyer just e-mailed us to say congratulations - our residency procedures have been approved and we are now official residents of Costa Rica!
It only took nine months - kind of like a pregnancy I guess.
If you are looking for a lawyer, we highly recommend Romulo Pacheco, Pacheco, Marin and Asociados. Mr. Pacheco took care of everything for us, including getting our drivers' licences.
Everything has gone so smoothly throughout all of this adventure. Of course, planning helps! Still, we have a great lawyer, great doctor, great vet, great hairdresser and barber, great house and landlady, great friends, great weather ..... I need to come up with some new adjectives. Even the move down here, including Genny's trip, went off without a hitch.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Restaurants and the Dry Season
Last Thursday, we met friends and enjoyed bocas and wine at Grego's, a bar and restaurant on highway 3 not far from Atenas. Service and food is excellent. We sat outside on the covered patio, enjoyed the company, the weather and chatting with everyone.
It's close enough that we can walk down there, but thank goodness our friends drive us home (or we call a taxi) because it's all uphill going back to our house.
We now know why this is called the dry season - no rain since early November. Today I walked up the hill behind our house where our banana trees are and the ground is cracked and so dry. Everything was rustling in the wind and there is a lot of wind. The mango tree is flowering but also throwing tiny mangoes on the ground so I expect that is some sort of normal culling? The tree is huge and old and has survived for a long time so I guess it knows what it is doing.
After several months of clear blue skies all day long, now we notice that clouds are forming in the early afternoon. They look like they could be rain clouds, but not a drop falls and then they disappear in the late afternoon. I think we are experiencing the gradual transition into the green season.
It's close enough that we can walk down there, but thank goodness our friends drive us home (or we call a taxi) because it's all uphill going back to our house.
We now know why this is called the dry season - no rain since early November. Today I walked up the hill behind our house where our banana trees are and the ground is cracked and so dry. Everything was rustling in the wind and there is a lot of wind. The mango tree is flowering but also throwing tiny mangoes on the ground so I expect that is some sort of normal culling? The tree is huge and old and has survived for a long time so I guess it knows what it is doing.
After several months of clear blue skies all day long, now we notice that clouds are forming in the early afternoon. They look like they could be rain clouds, but not a drop falls and then they disappear in the late afternoon. I think we are experiencing the gradual transition into the green season.
Monday, February 20, 2012
The Ninth Month
We're nearing the end of our ninth month here and, as usual, we've been really busy.
We had our first visitors - family members who were making their first trip to Costa Rica. As soon as I get my photos organized, I will post a few pictures of my niece and her husband and the places we visited when they stayed near us.
Rented our first car, had our first emergency visit to vet with Genny, first time driving the Costa Rican roads, both in daylight and at night - lots to tell. More soon!!
We had our first visitors - family members who were making their first trip to Costa Rica. As soon as I get my photos organized, I will post a few pictures of my niece and her husband and the places we visited when they stayed near us.
Rented our first car, had our first emergency visit to vet with Genny, first time driving the Costa Rican roads, both in daylight and at night - lots to tell. More soon!!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Yet Another New Place to Dine At!
About a week ago, our fellow Canucks took us to a really fabulous place to eat - the Mirador el Pueblo Restaurant.
Total cost for 4 people, meals and drinks included: 23,000 colones, or $46 CAD. That is a just bit over $10 CAD per person. We each ordered the same thing - fish. The view from this place is amazing.
Total cost for 4 people, meals and drinks included: 23,000 colones, or $46 CAD. That is a just bit over $10 CAD per person. We each ordered the same thing - fish. The view from this place is amazing.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
We've Been Busy
The time just seems to fly by. Looking at my calendar, we met up with friends on January 20 and they drove us around to Grecia and Sarchi, towns we had not yet been to.
Grecia is a town I want to go back to and explore a bit more. It's the capital city of the canton of Grecia in the province of Alajuela (thank you, Wiki). We stopped and saw the church (Iglesia de la Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes) and the park. Wiki has a lot of good information on this church - very interesting.
Then on to Sarchi, home of the world's largest oxcart (carreta), and famous for crafts and locally made furniture. We stopped at one of the tourist souvenir places - it even had a carreta with two oxen and a boyero (oxcart driver) so the tourists could take photos. Lance bought a map and, when paying for it with colones, was asked by a bus tourist, "What kind of money is that?" Ha! why, it's the currency of Costa Rica! and we use it all the time. Everything in this shop was priced in USD so I guess these tourists just get on and off the buses, visit the tourist places, pay in USD, and that's it.
We found a really good soda in Sarchi, where we had lunch. Across the street was an ice cream shop so we had to visit it, of course. I tried to order a bebida de frutas mixtas (mixed fruit drink) but ended up with a plate of mixed fruit. Oh well, I'll know better next time. It was still really good fruit.
It is so much fun exploring all the roads, seeing new towns and we are so fortunate to have such great friends.
Grecia is a town I want to go back to and explore a bit more. It's the capital city of the canton of Grecia in the province of Alajuela (thank you, Wiki). We stopped and saw the church (Iglesia de la Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes) and the park. Wiki has a lot of good information on this church - very interesting.
Then on to Sarchi, home of the world's largest oxcart (carreta), and famous for crafts and locally made furniture. We stopped at one of the tourist souvenir places - it even had a carreta with two oxen and a boyero (oxcart driver) so the tourists could take photos. Lance bought a map and, when paying for it with colones, was asked by a bus tourist, "What kind of money is that?" Ha! why, it's the currency of Costa Rica! and we use it all the time. Everything in this shop was priced in USD so I guess these tourists just get on and off the buses, visit the tourist places, pay in USD, and that's it.
We found a really good soda in Sarchi, where we had lunch. Across the street was an ice cream shop so we had to visit it, of course. I tried to order a bebida de frutas mixtas (mixed fruit drink) but ended up with a plate of mixed fruit. Oh well, I'll know better next time. It was still really good fruit.
It is so much fun exploring all the roads, seeing new towns and we are so fortunate to have such great friends.
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| Oxcart in Sarchi. |
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| The church in Grecia. |
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| Pizza Mangia in Sarchi - you must try this place. We ordered fish casados and an arroz plate. Lance, Diana and the owner of Pizza Mangia. |
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