Countdown to Springfield MA

I start my new job May 30th. I will be working in Springfield MA with children and adolescents using my clinical nurse specialist qualifications. It is likely that I will be living Enfield CT—the agency provides the lodging, the car and they will arrange my travel from Costa Rica. In my visits to NY I had to do everything myself so this seems so easy. But the job will be more challenging; there are at least 3 work sites and 1099 rather than a W2 for taxes.

Our car just got out of the shop. I cannot figure out how the car can be driving fine and then suddenly there is a problem. The dirt roads are uneven and filled with potholes but the cars look strong enough—we have a Pathfinder. This time Joe and Gunter were driving the car and suddenly there was a loud grating sound coming from the right front axle and smoke was coming out. The brakes look like hamburger meat, Gunter said. We have a new mechanic. We seem to get a new mechanic every couple of years. We liked our last mechanic but we had to stop using him because he replaced a part in Gunter’s car with a used part and charged him for a new one. We never check these things. We know we should… I am still mad that somehow we lost a front tire from the Pathfinder. A new tire was replaced with an old tire. We don’t know how it happened or who did it. Was it done by accident or on purpose?? We don’t know…

And we have a new gardener. Diego suddenly got a new job in Honduras. The day he told us, he recommended his replacement. Lester is 18, thin, medium height, curly hair and speaks rapidly. He wears Diego’s Obama shirt which Joe had given him. So far he is very diligent as are most of our workers in the beginning…and then it is variable. His sister is doing our housekeeping once/week and she is hard working with a vibrant personality. She is 16—she attends high school but she told me school is closed because the teachers are not getting paid.

We are temporarily taking our house off the market. The realtors are not bringing us people and we give business cards for the property to people who come to the pub. We are still selling but we will be lower key about it which seems to be the way here. We are gearing up for our last party before I leave. Joe’s “65 and still alive” birthday party and my “Farewell for three months” party. Adriano, the Italian is eager to do the food and we may or may not have live music. Our neighbor Tim will bar-tend so we just have to organize a few things and hope people will come. We continue to be amazed with the diversity of people here in Nosara and so far they love to come to our parties. One of our patrons called our New Years party “the social experiment” because she said she had never seen such a mix of people in one space.

And Joe has put in yet another garden—in the back of the house. He had the area cleared a bit so it looks like a park. And what a view. It is gorgeous here…
So my next post will be from CT. I will be back in Sept for 3-4 weeks and then back again to Springfield if my contract is renewed…Money, money….Love Helena and Joe