April 1, 2011

March 2011
Joe is in the states for the fifteenth anniversary of NERAX . He was given the opportunity to go as an alumni with the flight paid. Unfortunately he lost his wallet on the way to San Jose. Thefts and losses are common here. And people help out. The hotel lent him $100 cash for spending money. Our cab driver lent him the $26 exit fee. He has his passport and there will be airfare reimbursement for him in Boston. But these things are unsettling.

We had our Saint Patrick's Day party. It was incredibly well organized this time Rock band from San Jose, DJ, a special stout made for us by Costa Rica’s craft brewing Co. fabulous Irish food made by an Italian chef. About 200 people—less than our crazy parties, but much more manageable. Check out the pics at www.voiceofnosara.com. The ale atmosphere makes for a congenial conversational ambiance and we also have the ever present tropical breezes and for the party we had an almost full moon. Somebody called our place Shangri—la. The natural beauty, the pure air, and the clean water endure. (deep sigh).

And we are having visitors. My nurse friends Lorae and Cathy were here from Boston. They went to the resort at the Tabacon Hot Springs first which they highly recommend. Expensive but worth it, they said. Then we had Joe’s nephew, Chris, and three of his friends. They are our first guests to rent a boat and go fishing: we have ocean fishing and reef fishing here and they brought back enough fish for us to last for a couple of months. They also enjoyed visiting the Bamboo Bar in Nosara village. Tourists don’t usually go to the village-- I guess the Pacific Ocean and all the tourist things in the American Beach project are enough when you are on vacation. When we have visitors we pretend we are on vacation too. It was unusual to see Joe hanging out in lounge chairs by the pool with our visitors.

And I am involved in my job search to get back to the states. I am working with two companies and will sign up with a third one soon. My old spot at Beth Israel is not available and in general there are more advanced practice jobs than staff jobs right now. MA is my first choice since I am licensed to do advanced practice there. But I am hopeful about a spot in West Va., Oregon or Arizona. Nothing has gelled yet and I am anxiously filling out applications and calling my recruiters. I am looking forward to doing advanced practice work again—I surprise myself. And we do need the money.

I am continuing to work on my memoir—we have now been here six years. The newness of living here has worn off and we have the conveniences of a gas station, internet and a bank. I ride my quad on the dirt roads, go to the beach and it still feels like paradise. I have started doing breathwork classes at Nosara Wellness Center- a beautiful spot here in the jungle. The method is being well received and the facility is open to including me. So this may lead to something . But the money is in the states, at least so far. Hopefully my next post will be from MA, West Va or one of the other states that are easier to be licensed, like Texas. Every state has their own requirements and application processes. First the job, then the license….Hope all are well. Stay in touch , love Helena and Joe