Nov 26, 2008 | Expat, Immigration, Living-In
Costa Rica seems intent on passing the new immigration bill. A revised version just passed the first hurdle unanimously. The only good thing in the revision was that one can still apply for permanent residency after three years instead of five. As long as you have...
Nov 12, 2008 | Immigration, Legal Arrangements, Living-In
The Arias administration doesn’t seem to like gringos anymore. If it ever did, which is seeming less and less likely.Last week, it published a new proposed immigration bill which, if passed, will effectively eliminate the gringo middle class here.Pensionados,...
Oct 17, 2008 | Faith, Food, Geezer Band: Harmony Roads, Health & Wellness, Living-In, Medical Care, RYAN
Helloooo. It’s been a wild two weeks over here. I haven’t been sitting around on my shrinking butt doing nothing. Mostly I’ve been busy freaking out because Ryan’s surgery is in the morning. Adenoids out, septum straightened, you-know-what...
Aug 24, 2008 | Chelation & Heavy Metals, Health & Wellness, Living-In, Mail and Shipping
"Satisfaction of one’s curiosity is one of the greatest sources of happiness in life." — Linus PaulingI’ve fallen down another rabbit hole. Last Sunday, a friend here in Costa Rica, Dennis, sent me a video (the first one below). It got me...
Jul 1, 2008 | Building, Living-In
Great new blog entries over the last couple of days here: Costa Rica Mountain. The organic garden that was just getting started when we were there last Christmas looks like it’s producing abundantly. Daughter, Ericka, has moved down (smart girl!) Their building...
Jun 11, 2008 | Culture Shock, Etiquette, Living-In, Plumbing, Spanish, Utilities
Man, my patience is tried. I’m fried, wiped out. I surrender. Ok, I almost surrender, but it’s touch and go. When bad things happen here – just everyday bad things – you come up against the culture shock thing big time. Because simple solutions...
May 26, 2008 | Legal Arrangements, Living-In, Real Estate, Squatters
Garland Baker has a wealth of knowledge, that's for sure. Like on the topic of squatters. In 2004, he wrote this article explaining how…Possession is more important than ownership By Garland M. Baker Special to A.M. Costa Rica Owning property in Costa Rica...
May 7, 2008 | Bureaucracy, Citizenship, Legal Arrangements, Living-In
Translation: Lines, Signatures and Dates. Or Things a Costa Rican Bureaucracy Can’t Do Without. I left out estampilla [s-tom-PEE-jah, stamp] because it doesn’t start with an f. But this is actually the critical item. If at least one (and usually all) of...
