Mar 13, 2007 | Culture Shock, Teenagers, Weather
By now, middle of March, it hasn’t rained in about 4 months here in the central valley. While the coast gets more rain, it’s dry as a bone there, too, by all accounts. Costa Rica has two seasons: wet and dry. Starting in May, it rains off and on for a...
Feb 11, 2007 | Criticia Voluptua Right-Right, Culture Shock, Movies
OK, now I’m pissed. They’ve messed with my movies and I don’t like it. We went to the movies tonight seeking a little comic relief from the past two days of hell. Borat is here and sounds like just the ticket. We drive to Cinemark at the Multiplaza....
Jan 28, 2007 | Bureaucracy, Culture Shock
Last August, I wrote about my trip to I.C.E. (EEEEE-say, the phone/electricity company here) and a little bit about waiting in line. Almost everywhere you go to do anything "official" in Costa Rica, expect a line and some type of number machine. If you...
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 25, 2007 | Attractions, Culture Shock, Entrepreneurs, Prostitution
"I once had a girlfriend known as Elsie. With whom I shared four sordid rooms in Chelsea. She wasn’t what you’d call a blushing flower. As a matter of fact, she rented by the hour." Sung by Liza as Sallie Bowles in Cabaret When I met...
Jan 22, 2007 | Culture Shock, Expat, Weather
I told those crazy Bortmans not to go back to Pennsylvania!!! Why don’t people listen to me?
Jan 15, 2007 | Culture Shock, Driving, Living-In, Renting A Car, Travel Tips
I’ve heard this is true in Boston, I don’t know. Xavier says it is – he’s from they-ah. It is definitely true in Costa Rica. Just because it’s on the map, just because you can see it from whey-ah you are standing, does NOT mean you can...
Jan 11, 2007 | Bush, Culture Shock, God, what a world!, Political Blah-Blah, Teenagers, War
Last March I wrote a post about Nazanin, an Iranian teenager who had been sentenced to death for killing a man who was trying to rape her and her niece. Yeah. When I first read something like this, I fervently hope it is just a really tasteless joke. Tragically, this...
