Expat living March 2013

March 2013

Before we moved down here one of the expats said: “living here is like being in a Shakespeare play.” Lately it has been vivid with ups and downs.   We had an appointment to renew our residencia.  Well we didn’t really have an appointment but I made friends with customer service over the phone and and after several phone calls to try to make an appointment, she told me when to come.  I was relieved to meet her and find we actually had  an appointment.  We hired a taxi to take us because our car is kaput—more about that later.  And the driver was such a slowpoke, we were half hour late for our “appointment.  I called Cindy and she said’ “Don’t worry.”  This is a common refrain here.  Our appt was going fine except that one document had only my name on it, not mine and Joes.  “We’re married. “ I kept saying over and over.  And they brought in more tellers to tell us we had to go back to Nosara to get a document with Joe’s name on it.  After about an hour it was resolved and we began the drive home.. We stopped in a ceramic store to wind down and look at stuff we didn’t need.  The cab driver came in with us (usually they stay in the car) and he also did not lock the cab.  We were looking around and suddenly he says’  “Come on! Ladrones! They took the bolsa”  Joe’s back pack on the floor in the back seat was taken.  We drove down the road for several miles looking for the car while he called the other cab drivers and the police.  We lost an Ipod and a kindle.  Fortunately the bolsa with the passports was untouched.   The good news is that the cab company is took responsibility and replaced the items , but is still feels shitty to be robbed.

I was not able to land a telepsychiatry job but I do have a spot in Minnesota for eight weeks  starting next week. .My ten year old printer strained to print out the 36 pages of credentialing paperwork, I had to fill out and send back.   It is inpatient psych corrections so this will be different for me.  And I have never been to Minnesota and I hear it is cold!!

We had a brush fire. .  It appears someone threw a cigarette into the jungle.   After about two hours, our neighbors and then the volunteer firefighters put it out.  We are vulnerable here without a fire department and it gets very dry.

My quad..fell apart….This could have been a disaster.  I had managed to drive the quad up the hill to Martin and Susan’s place.  Then it would not budge.  Tim came to help me and we noticed one of the back wheels was not turning.  Tim tied the quad to his car and towed it up the hill.  We drove it around a bit and could not figure out the problem.  Then Gustavo arrived to pick up money to fix our car.  He glanced at the quad, shook it briefly, and the rear wheel fell off!!

Tim had already helped me the week earlier in the car.  The car suddenly stopped.  People on the road helped me, I started driving it to the gas station and it kept stopping.  Finally I called Joe who called Tim—the car was in the shop for three weeks. And $2000 worth of work.  We are told that our previous mechanic did a poor job and made it worse..so hopefully the car will run a bit longer with all these new engine parts!

My crawl swim stroke now has momentum.  Tim and Wella swim up here regularly and their son is an Olympic gold medal winner in swimming so I thought if I watch them I might learn something.  Aaron, the champion, had told me a couple of things about hand position which I immediately started using but I always felt I moved too slow.  I began to watch Wella and I noticed she rocks her body side to side with each crawl stroke.—the movement coming from the upper body.  She told me  this is a new method—she learned it five years ago.  So now, I swim this way too.  I told her she should start a swim school “Swim Like an Olympian” (she was her son’s first swim teacher).  but she seems to have enough to do—she  and Tim swim two miles per day—usually after a six mile run and she is getting into fashion design.

We had a great Saint Patricks Day party.  No drama, no bad behavior.  Great conversation and rock and roll.  Joe taught the band “Wild Rover”.  People told Joe the Black Sheep Pub is a legend in Costa Rica.

So I guess the rhythm here is muy tranquillo with drama and lots of time and opportunity to do new things. And  never boring.

Back  to the more predictable USA for a work stint.

Love Helena and Joe