Ok, we did it-arrived in Costa Rica yesterday for 6 months. We knew it would be hard but we just about killed ourselves trying to get the house ready to rent, get all the tenants happy, cover the laundromat, etc, etc.
Lauren came down
with Strep throat-yes that is STREP!!!!!
Now that came about a week after our complete auto door locking system, auto light system and hot water system that has never broken in 15 years went down and blew out our electrical panel at the laundromat for
no apparent reason.
Now that came after 3 tenants who have been in place for years decided suddenly to move out in mid December, when no one moves in or out of anything.
I could go on and on. Oh yeah, the morning we were leaving
for the airport the school emailed and said we needed to pay the entire tuition by cashiers check or wire to an account in Miami that day, that we could not pay here in person at the school as we expected.
But we are here, we've got Skype
(we can talk to you on video for free if you download the software-our skype number is nancy.brier1
Our Costa Rica landline is 1(506) 2653-1911--yes it is eight not seven numbers. Don't call us unless you
check your long distance rates first ... we got a surprise on our phone bill which was well into the three digits for a fairly brief call.
So you, of course are welcome anytime. Check it out. We are in Tamarindo. It is a bit touristy,
but close to Lauren's school. The bus will pick her up at the house and we might get some sleep.
One really cool thing happened. When we were here last time we met a local family on the beach. He worked for HP in Costa Rica and
they had an 8 year old, only child girl (do I need to say more) Anyway we exchanged numbers and they visited us in Upper Lake for a week just before Thanksgiving. So one of the biggest expenses we were going to have was the car rental (or purchase
then resell). It was about as much as the house rental. During dinner one night at the house Saul and his wife Sujey started talking really fast in Spanish and Nancy could not keep up. Then they turned to us and said Gary, we have an extra
car we don't use and we want you to use it while you are in Costa Rica because you have been so nice to us. Wow! It was like someone handing us 6k.
Lauren is blasting Katy Perry from her ipod in her Hannah Montana Player the lyrics which
don't seem quite Ok for a 9 year old, but.....
Nancy managed to get her levain (that is her bread starter) past customs and past TSA and I got our full size iMac in, they thought is was a TV. We had 6 giant suitcases, 3 carry ons, and of course,
we all had a purse. Nancy brought her digital kitchen scale, which might have turned some heads, or maybe we are just thinking about Lake County where a digital scale means something else and is available at every retail outlet. She also brought
a food processor and mixer. Stuff like that is really expensive in Costa Rica.
Lauren's toe nails have a fresh coat of blue polish.
So how are you guys? Hope all is well.
Take Care
Gary, Nancy & Lauren