Costa Rica Active Retirement On the Trail of San Rafael

On the Trail of San Rafael – A single woman artist re-designs the last third of her life…

I found my Costa Rica house in 4 days. Actually, it was more like eleven years and 10 months – but most of that time I didn’t know I was looking.

I bought a Tico house in Costa Rica. And yes – if you Google Tico House you get a long laundry list that pretty much sums up the general characteristics of the Tico house – including:

My Tico House

• Size: between 850 – 1,200 square feet
• Walls of 12 cm concrete block topped with wood
• Roofing: galvanized sheets of steel
• Roof with a low pitch without gutters
• Concrete Tico sink with three compartments
• Varied height of ceilings – from 6’5″ to 8’0″.
• Floors of gloss finished tiles or waxed concrete
• Bedrooms very small – just a bit larger than a queen sized bed
• ‘Suicide’ hot water heater on the shower outlet
• Few electric outlets in the house
• No washer or dryer or garbage disposal
• No hot water
• No built ins or counters or shelves
• No closets
• No screens on windows

My house fit this description plus it had:

1. A million dollar view and …
2. I could afford it.

I decided that affordability was to be my #1 criteria and that I could change or add to something that was already there.

During the tours of Live in Costa Rica on your Social Security, first with George Lundquist followed by Jane and Mike in early March, 2008, I understood that it could be barely possible to live in Costa Rica on my meager social security funds of $750 per month – but how I would purchase a place to live was a very big question.

I had managed to put $25,000 into a mutual fund – and that was essentially the sum of my wealth outside my home, which had only a very modest equity. Most of the properties we were looking at – without houses – had higher price tags than what I could afford. I began to face the issue that for me – a single woman at retirement age – my dream had far exceeded my potential to grasp.

It was the last day of my time in the southern region and at breakfast Jane and Mike announced that today we would visit San Rafael Norte. My heart skipped a beat. San Rafael? Could Saint Rafael be showing me the way?

My mind raced back to May, 1996 when I was suddenly hit with lower back pain and a high fever. Finally deciding that it was not the flu, a friend took me to the clinic in Española, New Mexico where I lived. The doctor there was alarmed and I was sent by ambulance on to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Santa Fe. Upon arrival I was septic (my blood was infected) and seriously close to death.

My sons were called and made arrangements to come. The surgery that night was the first of three I would have in the successive 6 weeks. I had a staph infection in my lower spine. Apparently, the bacteria had been introduced in 1980 during surgery for a herniated disk.

My body had effectively walled off the infection and kept it isolated for 16 years. Now it was raging and difficult to subdue. I was confined to bed able only to raise my upper body 15 degrees. An IV continually administered strong doses of antibiotics and the surgeries were mostly to flush out the area to try to subdue the antibiotic resistant strain.

At one point during my hospitalization I had a dream or a vision. It was so vivid that it would stay with me forever. First I saw the colors – bright red orange and an iridescent, almost neon green-blue. My artist eyes saw that these were complementary colors I loved.

Then, slowly a face began to appear – very close. The background was all in red orange and the features and outlines in this man’s face were in the bright green-blue. His hair was wavy and long.

As he turned his head I found myself able to look through his clear transparent eyes. He looked directly into my eyes and said, “My name is Raphael and I have a message for you.” I waited and thought to myself – wow! He went on, “You are to BE conscious.” And then silence. Nothing more.

Be conscious? Was this some kind of hospital wake up call? I felt decidedly disappointed. It wasn’t until much much later that I came to understand. It WAS a wake up call – a life wake up call.

Weeks later, during recuperation time at home surrounded by friends and family, I found out that Raphael was St. Raphael, one of the three archangels. Not being familiar with the Catholic saints, I was surprised to discover that St. Raphael was a healer.

And the message? I came to understand it in a larger way.

I believe that I was being told to see the events and people and my life with larger eyes – with more consciousness. I was to look for deeper meanings and more direction. I was being told to stop going through life unconsciously. Okay. I get it.

For weeks after I could not paint or teach. I had undergone a life-changing event and it was almost like I was living in very slow motion. Everything became deeper, more intricate, more meaningful and more lovely. I was becoming conscious.

One morning I was sitting outside my New Mexican house just enjoying the sunshine. A car drove up and a woman got out and approached the gate. I recognized her as being one of my watercolor student/friends.

I pulled myself up to my walker and slowly moved to the gate to open it for her – thinking all the way that I hoped she wouldn’t stay long. Sometimes this particular person talked so long and fast it exhausted me. But then, as I looked into her eyes, I saw her with new insight and love. Almost like I could see into her heart and know how truly good she was.

What a gift I had been given, even though it was temporary. Though the peace and insight I had been granted didn’t stay forever, the feelings and memories of it remain. And the color complements of red orange and green blue implore me always to pause and look more closely. And so, with my interest and consciousness nudged I looked forward to visiting a community named for my personal life saint.

San Rafael Norte is about 4 kilometers north of San Isidro along the Pan Am highway. We turned off the highway onto a well-worn dirt road into the center of the community that consisted of the local elementary school, a small grocery store, the Café Stop internet café, a community center, La Princesa Motel and the church.

As we drove past the white church I caught a glimpse of the glass-encased statue of San Rafael over the door. He was dressed in flowing garments and holding a line with a fish in one hand. I saw that his hair was blonde and wavy and the color of his clothes – faded red and pale green-blue. My heart skipped another beat. We didn’t stop.

The road wound up the hill through several switchbacks and just as the car lurched ahead onto the steepest part of the dirt drive I looked up ahead to see a house painted with bright red orange and green-blue. I asked if that was the house they were going to show me and they said yes. A sharp intake of breath.

We parked at the carport and waited for Anita, the owner, to walk up to meet us and unlock the door. Simple and straightforward, this little house sat on a small plantel – the entire property was about 1/4 acre of land and the house just about 800 square feet with a 180 degree view over San Isidro that was worth a million!

The house sat very close to the road with a northern tree covered area sloping abruptly up behind and the southern part sloping steeply down in front. Close Tico neighbors had houses below but standing in front of the house there were no other houses that could be seen.

I immediately understood that cabinas could be built on the northern slope above and a teaching studio/rancho would be possible on the remaining eastern part of the plantel. I could accommodate students. Anita and boyfriend, Carlos were asking $50,000.

The inside of the house was brightly painted in a myriad of colors with a shiny red concrete floor. While the main house was essentially finished, Tico style, the back kitchen and bathroom were obviously added later and essentially unfinished with an exposed aging metal roof and glassless kitchen windows. The concrete block partial walls with wood above were typical.

The only horizontal surfaces inside were the floors, the toilet and the Tico sink in the corner of the kitchen. No shelves, no counters, no appliances and no windows in the kitchen.

No frills. LOTS of fresh air – even flowing between the single boards in the walls. Rustic and simple. Though making it a home would take some work the basic essentials of shelter were there. And at the 3,600 ft elevation with its temperature range from 64 – 85 degrees year around, shelter mostly meant keeping the rain out.

The notion of a blank canvas came to mind and I thought about the incredible opportunity this offered – to build my life and comforts from scratch instead of buying somebody else’s extravagances and values. I had an opportunity to learn from the ways the Ticos lived and then to add what I needed.

I stepped outside again and Anita pointed out the mango tree and a small citrus tree at the far end of the lot. She brought me a chair and I sat on the edge of the grass looking out over the incredible view with the twin steepled San Isidro church clearly marking the center of the city of San Isidro – the patron saint of the farmer – and as far as I could see were natural hills and farmed fields of coffee or pineapples or sugar cane or fruits….

I imagined the night lights of the city and took a deep breath, silently imploring the Universe for a sign, a signal. Suddenly a huge blue morpho butterfly danced across my view just a few feet in front of my face.

I had seen the blue morpho butterfly on my first visit to Costa Rica five years before – and it had immediately captured my attention and excitement. And here it was again – as close to my eyes as Raphael’s face in my dream.

Later I would come to know that the Blue Morpho is a symbol of transformation.

Oh yeah, that too.

I had received my sign. Walking back to the car Anita said in Spanish, ‘if you buy the house I will clean it for you and paint your toenails.” Best offer I’d had in a while, that’s for sure. That evening I told Mike that I wanted to buy it. And in my mind I knew I had only half the money and would somehow get the rest…. It was Saturday afternoon and I was to leave on Monday morning.

And so, with the generous help and cooperation of Jane and Mike – my new friends and Ana, my new attorney, and Anita, my new neighbor and cuiador (care taker) I left town on Monday at noon having put down borrowed earnest money and become the only shareholder of my new corporation, Acuarela de Corazon (watercolor of the heart) that would soon own the red-orange and green-blue Tico house at the top of the hill in San Rafael Norte. My son, Tim and daughter in law, Shelby would later become co-owners as they contributed the second half of the purchase price.

My first big steps into my new life had been taken. I was on the trail of San Rafael… And though I realized that I was extraordinarily lucky to find just what I needed right then – I also believe that if the signs are there and things seem to ‘just fall into place’ it might be a good idea not to argue.

My next project would be to wind up my life in New Mexico and move – with four parrots and two dogs!

[custom_script adID=97]

Written by Jan Hart who is an internationally recognized watercolor artist, teacher and writer who moved to San Isidro de General from northern New Mexico, USA. At age 66, she still plans to teach, paint and write but is hoping to slow her pace in order to enjoy the incredible colors she finds all around her. For more information about Jan’s watercolor workshops and classes please email here at jan@janhart.com

Keep your eyes open for Jan Hart’s brand new EBook on Retirement To Costa Rica which should be available right here on WeLoveCostaRica.com by the end of December 2009.

If you have a serious interest in buying a home, a farm or land that’s for sale in the San Isidro area, please contact our Recommended Costa Rica Realtors: Daveed Hollander, James Drews and John Wieland, by using the simple form below:

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.