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My husband’s biggest fantasy is getting a miniature donkey and a miniature cow. Not that their available in CR, but his family had a farm in Italy so he’s used to all these animals. For me, it’s novelty and a way to get back to the very very basics and part of my self-sufficiency program in case the world falls apart.
I’m a big hot springs fan so I did a google search and came up with Tabacon, which is at the base of Arenal Volcano, and Baldi Hot Springs which is also nearby, but less expensive, and is usually where the Ticos go. However, I have not yet been to either of these resorts. I also heard that there was another hot springs about an hour outside of San Ramon. With any luck I will be able to check that one out on my next trip. Here’s a link to Baldi
http://www.arenal.net/baldi-hot-springs.htmIt looks like a great place to soak!!
That Soviet-based program to dumb us down certainly has worked!! I’m always amazed when I hear stories like that. These are the people that should never leave the States. They belong there.
I know chickens stink! And are a lot of trouble. But having just a few of them is part of my plan to unplug! I want to be the Martha Stewart of Costa Rica — gathering my eggs in the morning (as I did at Angel Valley Farm on my last trip) and when they get too old to lay, hand them to my gardener who will take them away and bring them back all ready for the stewpot! Don’t disillusion me about the chickens. I’m getting them anyway (at least for a little while!)
If I had time to hit Esterillos this trip, I’d bring you a box of Krispy Kremes! LOL I love Esterillos; if I were to live near a beach it would be there. On another board not long ago a woman posted her announcement that she was going back home to the States; she’d had it with Costa Rica, then proceeded to list the main reasons she was unhappy and leaving. There were: It’s hot and humid; it rains a lot; there are too many bugs; and they speak Spanish! Where did she move in Costa Rica? The bloody jungle! I’ve lived all over the world, including the Yucatan and Mexico, as has my husband. We prefer a Latin culture, so CR to us is a slam dunk. But there are those people you mentioned who, when they get outside their comfort zone, completely lose their compass!
Effectively, I’m fleeing this place, too, for a simpler life away from all the negative propaganda, the crime, the weird drugs and the mayhem that goes with them, the constant push to buy this or that with money most people don’t have so they will fit in. What a vast conspiracy it was to indebt our nation, convince us to eat food that will ulitmately kill you, take all kinds of pharmaceutical drugs that have very little benefit except to make the shreholders rich, and to watch nothing but endless violence on TV. After a month in CR where I saw no newspaper, no TV, and only a glancing headline on my e-mail account when I checked in with Gringolandia, I felt so much better — calm, relaxed, no stress — and the minute I got home and watched Democracy Now! and saw some horror that the Goddess of Gloom was investigating, I had the immediate desire to get back on a plane and never come back. We want to be self-sufficent too so I am planning a huge garden and maybe some chickens — we’re not getting a TV except to watch DVDs. I’m going to unplug, chill out, and never look back!
You are so funny! I was in Jaco on my last trip and I had all those same impressions, but my girlfriend who was with me kept saying, “Oh, I want to move to Jaco and be a beach bum!” I kept pointing out the strange mouth-breathing people and the trust fund babies and told her she was crazy as a loon. Jaco is fun to cruise through for an afternoon, go the the gelateria and get some coconut ice cream and then move on!
You and I are on the same page. I know the “spoils” is oil but I think using this phrase in the context of our invastion of Iraq doesn’t quite fit, because we certainly aren’t the victors, but that’s really neither here nor there. I like some of the euphemisms we use such as “collateral damage” which really mean murder victims, but hey, what’s a few hundred thousand people when you are trying to control an oil field? I’m wondering now what will happen to the politics of Costa Rica if we were to invade Venezuela.
How can you say “to the victor goes the spoils” when we destroyed Iraq from top to bottom, invaded without provocation based on lies and b.s. and now we are occupying their country while we plunge them into a ghastly civil war. Do you really think we are the “victors”? I’m confused. If they didn’t have any oil, we’d be somewhere else — maybe Venezuela. That’s next, I believe, because we are setting up shop in Uruguay, readying for whatever nefarious acts we may deem justifiable. Oil closed at another record high today — it can only get worse. I saw someone filling their Hummer at the pump next to me today — the pump was $120 and still climbing when I left. There is going to be a trickle-down effect to this mess, and it will eventually affect us all in Costa Rica, too.
“Affluenza” is a great documentary that is shown periodically on LinkTV. Catch it if you can as it is a brilliant expose on the culture of consumerism. I know I shouldn’t complain about a thousand dollar tax bill — but sheesh, my house is only 950 sq ft!!! AND. . . I live in the boondocks, albeit the 6th richest county in America! Property taxes are the least of the reasons I’m bailing out — food costs is the main problem. Where I live food is more expensive than in Beverly Hills!!
You’re right, there is NO shortage of oil — none whatsoever, but now that the Chinese want their Hummers they are sucking up a lot of the supply, and driving the prices up. And then you have the stock market — don’t even get me started on that cabal. Actually, I’m one of the people who IS leaving the US because of the cost of living; why should I pay $1000 a year in property taxes on a house half the size of the one I built in CR on which I pay $78 a year in taxes? I heard a stat not long ago that 40% of the gringos go home after two years — not only do they not want to give up the things we take for granted, they don’t even want to give up their Ding Dongs, Ho-Ho’s, Fruit Loops and the like in favor or an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables.
If you get enough in benefits on SSDI you can qualify for residency in Costa Rica. Most drugs or a generic version of them are available in Costa Rica. You didn’t list the drug you were taking so I can’t tell you how much it will cost in Costa Rica, or if it’s even available. Just the ONE drug costs you $1000 a month?
We’re being propagandized with government doublespeak when they say there are “safe” nukes. But after a 50 year Soviet-based campaign to dumb us all down, there are people who actually believe there is such a thing as a “safe” nuclear weapon, or a “safe” nuclear anything. The depleted uranium in Iraq (thanks to the US) will have far-reaching consequences for all of us — the soldiers coming home will have children with higher incidences of birth defects, cancer, neurological problems, etc. It will be a holocaust, brought to you by the spinmeisters, manipulators,and big business. Don’t get ME started or we’ll both have to be moderated!
Supply and demand they say is fueling (no pun intended) the gas price hikes. The CEO of Chevron got a $340,000,000 severance package and the oil companies have made record profits that have exceeded any heretofore corporate profits in the history of the world. The only thing driving this mess is greed. It’s a good thing that CEO doesn’t live in Italy or the Red Brigade would’ve gotten him by now. Maybe prices will go down when we get that Central Asian pipeline built.
