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So we have been here for roughly eight months, and my wife wants to head back to civilization. We've opted to take one more 72 hour visa run and then move to Montreal when our next 90 days expires. Yes, we will go North just in time for winter.
When we came to Costa Rica, I had the incorrect thought that I would meet somebody here who does what I do for a living. To date I know of no other person who honestly and truly makes a good living working part-time at home online. I thought that Costa Rica would just be the natural choice for people that do what I do. If I was right, they do not frequent the places that I go, or know any of the same people.
So my son is four years old and we need to start thinking about school. Contrary to what the majority of websites say about Costa Rica, I do not think that the public or private schools here are very good.
As for me, my online thing continues to do pretty well. I never graduated from University, so I am considering going back to school. When I went in my 20's, I was struggling financially so studying often took a back seat to eating. Maybe this time will be better.
Anyhow, that's the news. I'll be leaving our private oasis sometime in September. But I will continue to be here to answer the question or two that somebody will ask every couple of months.
If anyone knows anything about sending a shipping container from Costa Rica to Montreal, I would love to hear from you. We are thinking that we may buy more furniture before we leave.
If you found InfoGringo and have questions about living here, I'd be happy to answer your questions. You can even send me a Private Message in the forum and ask me to call you, or I can give you my US number. I brought my Vonage box with me, so I have a US number here in Costa Rica.
I also met one member at the airport, became good friends, and then let her live at my house for a week, complete with pool and maid. Worked for both of us.
I have to start this post by saying that I speak from experience. Getting stung in the ass by a scorpion sets the tone for a rough day. It's a butterfly effect of sorts that ends with punching a large bull complete with horns in the head... twice.
So I rolled out of bed yesterday morning and grabbed the shorts I left on the floor the night before. I put them on and started my day, fumbling to make coffee and checking eMail. When the coffee was made I sat down, albeit briefly. There had been a good size scorpion in my pants and he made his presence known when I sat down.
I now have a scorpion dance.
The point of the scorpion dance is to jump around until whatever is in your pants and shouldn't be there falls out. It works remarkably well, quickly resulting in said scorpion falling at my feet. Shoes? Who climbs out of bed and puts shoes on before making coffee? Not me.
I know from past scorpions that when you see one, you do not need to rush to find something to kill it with. You can walk away and it will still be waiting for you when you return. Scorpions are pretty slow critters.
Somewhat shocked, but with surprisingly little pain, I got my first scorpion sting. Not as bad as being nailed by a wasp in my opinion, not even close.
Stung on the ass by a scorpion pretty much set the tone for the whole day. Here's what I did in the hours that followed, I think the apex was when I punched a fully grown bull in the head, twice. Keep reading, I have mentioned that cows love bananas, and so do bulls.
I fired a guy that has been working for be for three weeks. He bid on one of my projects and said it would be done in 5 days. Fuck it, I don't care if he is ten minutes from completion. He's fired and I want a refund.
Got annoyed about waiting for bus, so decided to walk to the next town. Bus caught up with me at the next stop. I took it.
Went to the pet store to buy scorpion spray, closed. Waited until I got somebody's attention. They put one finger in the air to say something like, "One minute!", or maybe "1 O-clock". I had been waiting outside for ten minutes and it was about one minute to one. "Fuck it!" I left.
Went to the hardware store to buy a light bulb. Four guys behind the counter, two more working in the back, and only one other customer. I waited for a few minutes until somebody asked what I wanted. "A light bulb, here." Nobody came to take the light bulb out of the case. "Fuck it!" I left. They called after me, I ignored them.
Went back to the pet store, I need scorpion spray and it is the only place I know that has it. The one finger pointing up lady was there. In spanish she said they open at one. In spanish I told her that a sign with their hours would not be expensive. "Put up a sign! Seriously, it's not that hard."
I needed the light bulb, so I went back to the hardware store. Amazing, they all seem to speak very good English at the hardware store. "You had six people working, four of them waiting behind the counter, and a total of two customers. If I have to wait you will not get any of my business, not now, not ever." In my haste to leave I did not realize that I got the wrong sized bulb. "Fuck it!"
Again, bus not on schedule. I got tired of waiting. "Fuck it!" I walked.
Got home and the programmer I fired messaged me to say the job was complete. "Fuck it!" Too late. {UPDATE: He was not finished, not even close.}
A huge bull hopped our fence and started to eat our banana trees. When he started to eat a rather large banana tree, I tried very briefly to convince him to hop back from whence he came. He ignored me so I punched him in the massive horned head. He looked at me like he was going to gore me, so I punched him harder. The rest of the banana trees are safe.
So that is how getting stung on the ass effects your day. I do not recommend it.
This morning the housekeeper saw a video I shot of the bull in our yard. Blah Blah Blah, you should not get so close to that bull, it is dangerous. If she only knew I had a fist fight with said bull and won.
If you think I am cruel for punching a bull, keep in mind that I am 165 pounds, and the bull has to be near 1,700 pounds complete with a good set of horns. It's not like I kicked a puppy, I merely got his attention. We're still friends, he greeted me at the fence this morning, but from his own side in the field, not my yard.
I have been enjoying the five months that I have been in Costa Rica. We've been to Florida twice to satisfy our visa requirements, once to Disney World, and the last time to Ft. Lauderdale to do some serious outlet shopping.
Nearly two months ago I got a new member here, somebody that I knew nothing about... Not even gender. Long story short, I met June at the airport upon her arrival with only her Infogringo ID, "Yeisem". Long story short is that she has become good friends with my wife and I, and she actually stayed at our house the last time that we left the country.
Coming back from the US is always nice. I can safely say that we are happier in Costa Rica than we ever were in the US. We still prefer Montreal to Central America, but you can not beat the weather in this region. Just ask National Geographic. they rate Atenas as having the best weather in the world, and we are just a couple of short miles from there.
We also met a guy via Craigslist that takes care of our dog when we leave. He left soon after we came back last time, so now we are babysitting his Subaru WRX. It's a pretty funny car, tinted windows (including windshield), thrush pipe, purple lights inside that blink with the bass, and piles of racing modifications. This is not the type of car that I normally drive, but it is a lot of fun to zoom around Costa Rica with a monster under the hood. Mazda should not own the rights to, "Zoom! Zoom!"
Let's see what else.... My son turned four on Christmas Eve. In the five or so months that we have been here his vocabulary in Spanish has grown to somewhere around 150 words. It was amazing to see him go from zero Spanish for the first two months to speaking quite a lot in the three months that followed. I think that we are doing him a huge favor by coming here for a year.
A few months ago we were toying with the idea of going to Italy next. I think that this idea is dead now. A good friend of mine moved to Vietnam about six years ago, and I for one think that Vietnam sounds like a really cool next place to live. Perhaps not for a whole year, but for three months would be a neat adventure. That is enough time to get to know the basics about a place. Before my some goes to school, I want him to be a seasoned traveler with at least a second language and maybe even a third. He says daily that he wants to go to French school, an idea that neither my wife or I put in his head. HE wants to go to French school, that is 100% him. I think that we will let him go to a French school, it's a great idea.
Moving on, I should talk a little about drivers in Costa Rica, they are terrible! Drivers here think nothing of following the car in front of them into an intersection just as the lights change, and then blocking the whole intersection until the light at the next block changes. Then somebody from the opposite direction blocks the intersection. Make that worse as it is happening at every intersection and you can create gridlock with a half dozen vehicles. Idiots when they drive!
You know the expression, "Only you can stop forest fires." Perhaps they should create billboards here that read, "Only you can stop traffic jams." They just do not realize that blocking a road to talk or get ahead of the light and into the intersection effects everybody. If everybody stopped doing it, everybody would get where they are going faster. They are ten times worse than the drivers in India. I say that from experience.
The bus system here is fantastic. Yes, they do need to deal with traffic, but they are reliable and cheap. It takes a little more time to travel by bus than it does by car, but who can beat the 50 cent price tag for most trips? We have the money for a car, no problem there, we just do not think that it is so important to have one here. (And we live in a rural area.)
Latin American Fashion is questionable at best. Don't get me started on that.
And now my son needs to get to bed.
FYI, I joined Twitter today. Here is my profile page: http://twitter.com/derekbarker Please follow my Tweets. I am more than happy to help new people coming to Costa Rica, and even pick you up at the airport and see that you have a good first day here. Come by the house, have a beer by the pool and unwind after your flight. We like to meet new people.
The basic idea is to buy and sell shares of Reality TV Show contestants and make money in the process. This may not be that easy as share prices drop to zero and trading stops whenever a contestant is voted off the show. With that, you do not want to be left holding shares of a loser.
When somebody wins the show though, your account is credited with their full value, plus the full value of the next runner up.
I need 500 people to BETA test the system. I am just getting started. If you have a minute, please click on the "Digg" button at www.RTVSE.com
So I was lounging yesterday and discussing the usage and meaning of, "Pura Vida!" To me it means to enjoy life in the now, things have a way of working themselves out.
On the surface, seize the day or 'Carpe Diem' might sound a lot like 'Pura Vida!', but that could not be further from the truth. Simply put, here is the mathmatical equation:
(Carpe Diem + Procrastination)2 = Pura Vida.
In effect, seize the day and do nothing.
With that, 'Carpe Diem' is really the root of 'Pura Vida!' without the procrastination.
We have only the essentials, we moved here with a few boxes as checked baggage. As we stay, the essentials change though, so we are getting stocked up.
When you arrive in a new place, the essentials include little more than a toothbrush, cash and a passport. As you stay, things like having a bed become an essential. Before you know it, Kalamata Olives and a car are also essential. We've located everything that we really need, including very good bacon. Kinda spendy at about $5 per half pound, but worth it.
With what seems like all of the essentials covered, now we need to put some art on the walls. Our house is spartan to say the least. I love that there is no clutter; no TV, no old papers, no knick knacks, no miscellaneous pieces of crap that you never threw out because it might be to something important.
We need interesting things in the house, like a picture on the wall. We bought a toucan fridge magnet yesterday, it is a start. A toucan fridge magnet is definitely a step toward a turtle soap dish, a nicer set of towels, and a native knock off painting on the wall of a guy on a beach blowing a saxophone at sunset.
But I digress.
As soon as we get back, we need to find some furniture for the piazza. Having a comfortable place to sit outside is essential in this climate.
We just felt a big earthquake here in Alajuela. Reports say that it was either a 6.1 or 6.2, depending on what website you believe.
I was in my office when it happened, my chair shook around, and my desk moved a little. Within ten minutes, the maid called from her house to see if we were OK.
The pool looked like somebody had done the world's largest canon ball. When it was done, we lost nearly two inches of pool water.
Past that, there isn't a whole lot to report. We are 10-15 miles North West of San Jose, and I've been reading that the epicenter was between 22 and 28 miles North West of San Jose. So we are pretty close to the center.
That's the Infogringo news on the big earthquake. Nothing that putting a hose in the pool for a couple of hours can't fix.
I guess that I should start by saying that I work online driving traffic through affiliate links, this website makes exactly no money and it really doesn't matter.
I'm planning a move to Costa Rica this summer... with me I'll be bringing my wife and my dog. She is a 60lb pit bull-- she's very sweet and a bit of a pris ...
