Feb 19, 2007 | Cost of Living, Moving-To, Music
In our frenzy of packing to move here, we sold and gave away most of our CD/DVDs, bringing only the essentials, thinking we could replace what we wanted once we were here. Bringing them was just too much: we had hundreds! Sorting through them would have taken too long...
Feb 10, 2007 | Cost of Living, Living-In, Medical Care
Jack Bauer has nothing on me. I can top any of his 24 hours. 48, for that matter. The past few days, I’ve been a little under the weather, nothing serious, somethin’ I et. I was feeling better on Thursday when suddenly Xavier took ill. X is a guy’s...
Jan 26, 2007 | Building, Cost of Living, Culture Shock, Living-In, Moving-To, Real Estate
Be afraid. Be very, very afraid. Backpacker Mom is having the time of her life. It can go this badly in the states, for sure. Make sure you choose your location, architect, builders and advisors carefully. DO NOT BUILD FROM AFAR. Once your new home is built (properly)...
Jan 17, 2007 | Cost of Living, Farmer's Market, Food
…por favor?" We utter these words constantly at the farmer’s market. Then follow up with, "What do you do with it?" or "How do you prepare it?" There are so many odd, funny looking, sometimes inedible-looking, yet delicious fruits...
Jan 11, 2007 | Colones, Cost of Living, Living-In
If you are wondering why your bag is so heavy after a week of traveling around Costa Rica, you probably have a pound of change gathered at the bottom. In the states, you pretty much want to throw your pennies away. They are worthless unless you’ve gathered...
Jan 2, 2007 | Cost of Living, Living-In
If you are even remotely curious about moving to Costa Rica, join the Costa Rica Living group bulletin board. It’s very active with lots of longtime members. You can search the messages on any topic – you will get tons of good information. On your...
Jan 1, 2007 | Cost of Living, Food, Living-In
Aaahhhh. Whining works. My friend Dianne on the other side of the valley spotted these in Auto Mercado. We went yesterday and there they were! Of course, this little box is $5. But that’s at least as much as it costs to get them here… My life is damn near...
Jan 1, 2007 | Cost of Living, Living-In, Mail and Shipping, Utilities
Saturday I went to pay my utility bills: water, electric, phone, cel phone, tv, wifi. My cel is $8/month and I recently paid three months of that. I haven’t paid my phone yet, but that will be about $5 for the month. You don’t write checks in Costa Rica....
