Retirement in Costa Rica – Getting started and exercising my retired brain.

January 2009 – I woke up this morning – again just after 5:30 with the sun – and realized “I’m on Vacation!”

After a bit over a week here I have few contacts so I have plenty of leisure time. I have no students yet – so I have plenty of leisure time. I don’t have my furniture or belongings yet – so I have lots of room and leisure time. I don’t have my paints and supplies yet – so what am I to do? Be leisurely. My past year has been anything BUT.

My focus, last February after buying the little Tico house in San Rafael was to make as much money through watercolor workshops as I could and to pack up as little as possible to move myself, my four parrots and two dogs to Costa Rica on Christmas Eve, 2008. Through a pet transport specialist I negotiated my way through the process of getting my dogs to Costa Rica even before I got there due to the holiday travel restrictions – but my parrots were mired in red tape and wouldn’t arrive for another four months. (That is a whole other story).

In New Mexico I gave several workshops and held 5 huge garage sales during the summer and fall and slowly whittled down my belongings to some books, electronics, paintings and painting materials, one table and two chairs, a fainting couch (you never know when you might need one), my bed and some dishes.

I even let go of old photos my kids didn’t want and all the old yearbooks. And so much for the teaching notes I had acquired…I figure that I can still reacquire. Closing down a big house and studio and two casitas was monumental – but friends and family offered help and I accepted as my new mantra began… poco a poco (little by little).

I looked around my little house. It was clean and thankfully painted all cool white, as I had requested from Jane and Mike – before I moved in. Artistic color prejudice prevented me from enjoying the discordant color scheme of blue, green, pink, yellow and orange. In July my son, Tim and I had come down and purchased a hot plate, miniscule refrigerator and a plastic table for the kitchen. And, we’d planted a lipstick palm.

Along with my laptop and camera, I had brought with me a telephone to plug in (I was so lucky to have a land line in the house), a battery operated clock, a reading light, sheets, pillow and air mattress, some books, bug spray and personal items. And of course – my coffee pot and a few kitchen utensils.

My new Costa Rican family – Anita and her brother, Alberto, daughter Melany and son Ronaldo had immediately helped me begin to improve my house – through house cleanings three times a week and putting up some shelves in the corners of the bedroom for my ‘closet.’

Why three times a week? A compromise. She wanted to come daily. It is customary here to wash the floors every morning and she was concerned because I allowed my dogs inside. Not a Costa Rican concept. We negotiated for three times a week plus she would wash and line dry all my clothes and oversee my house when I was away for $75/month.

So – alone in my bare necessity Tico house with my two dogs – I ticked off the priorities for the day.

1. Check my emails.
2. Find some foam to put on top of my very uncomfortable Wal-Mart air mattress to make it comfortable while I wait for my belongings to arrive that includes my Numbers bed. I’m told my stuff won’t be here until next month sometime…
3. Start figuring out how to get some help to build an aviary. I heard from my pet transport person that the MAG (Ministry of Agriculture) needs to inspect my place before allowing the parrots to come. It seems to make sense to build an aviary outdoors rather than try to find big cages (none in San Isidro) that will cost a lot.
4. Get a plastic table and a few chairs so that I have the basics off the floor and can sit to use my laptop.
5. Find a light blanket since it really does get cool just before dawn and Seurat keeps trying to crawl under the sheets.
6. Get a microwave and electric skillet, which should just about do it all until my rice maker gets here.

Sliding my purse over my shoulder with camera and laptop, I locked the dogs inside and stepped out to my ’93 4-Runner. I had decided I needed the luxury of a car since it was so difficult for me to walk up and down from my hill.

I had purchased it through Jacqueline Monacel in San Jose who offers a car buying and inspection service for new expats. She found the car I wanted that I could afford – and so far I loved it! The 4 wheel drive was a necessity with my road.

As I bumped and jostled down the winding road I looked out over the beautiful undulating Costa Rican hillsides and smiled. Waves of gratitude to be breathing the fresh air and enjoying the warmth and environmental richness of this tiny country the size of West Virginia.

My first stop was at the Coffee Stop internet café at base of the hill – to check my emails and sample the gallo pinto (standard rice and bean dish) – perfect! I asked Luis about a hardware/lumber store ferreteria and was given directions to Boston Lumber. There are no street signs or addresses in Costa Rica – so it all depends upon verbal directions and the ability to visualize or memorize!

You go down and turn right at Delji Pollo. Then go through 3 stop signs and turn left at the fish market with the paint store across the street. Then directo and look for…

While sitting there I am surprised by a Skype call from my son, Jay! Since Jay and I both have computers with cameras built in, we downloaded Skype for free and can occasionally get a strong enough signal so that we can see each other and talk! It is soooo cool – but a little “over the top” for the Internet Café.

Still – seeing a loved one’s face and talking in real time is elating! The connection is lost a few minutes later.

This morning I meet Casey and Tamara, an ExPat couple building their home way above and beyond me. They moved from Oregon though Tamara is originally from the Ukraine.

He gives me the directions about how to order a cell phone. It is about a 7-step process requiring patience, tenacity and some stamps that are hard to find. I jot it down in my yellow notebook and wonder if anything is easy here. And I remember. Poco a poco.

On to the Boston Lumber yard. What a resource! It has everything if you know how to say what you want in Spanish. I don’t – but I can draw anything and am using my experience with charades to act out what I need! Finally I got to Santiago, a pleasant young man with the easy laugh I find in so many of the Ticos and Ticas.

Hardware cloth was some word he’d never heard of – but we found some very sturdy wire and I drew out what I wanted. Santiago says he has a friend, Cesar, who could build it in steel, which would be nice and strong and I ask him to send Cesar up to my house – “the green one – verde – uno kilometro oeste de la escuela de San Rafael Norte.”

I wonder if anyone ever will get to my house with those directions – but they are all I know. There are no house numbers in Costa Rica and everything is described by directions from some other known place and by color.

Meanwhile, I find that the lumberyard has one old piece of foam that will fit my needs! Hooray! I need to remember Santiago – at least so far. The admonition here is not to get “Ticoed”. The Ticos are such a beautiful people but a high paying labor rate is $4/hour and most work for $2/hour. If they ask for more, look elsewhere, I’m told.

Next stop Gallo Mas Gallo, which is the name of a huge appliance and everything else store where I first bought a hot plate last July with Tim. No super deals on microwaves and electric skillets but I bought one of each. Most appliances are imported here and the prices are near or a little higher than in the US.

Then, a careful dodge and dart drive down the busy street to stop at Casa Blanca – a wonderful store filled with everything you might need inside your house from plastic bags and dishes to plastic furniture – my choice for the day! I bought a table and two chairs. The two chairs are bright turquoise and I really wanted two red-orange ones in keeping with my San Rafael color scheme but they only had one. I accepted the second one in turquoise.

My last stop was at my favorite Super Mercado – San Luis, which is very close to my house. Other than some dog food, bread, mayonnaise, tuna and black beans, I just bought some more fruit – papaya, bananas, avocados and grapes and a pineapple.

All the fruit is very inexpensive and next week I’ll make a point of going to the feria market on Thursday morning. I’m told that if you get there early you can find organic fruits and vegetables in one area but it is usually sold out by noon.

San Isidro’s weekly two day feria is the largest in Costa Rica – and quite an event! I also pick up a couple of fillets of some unknown fish that I’ll try in my new electric skillet! And have I mentioned the Tico cheese? This is pure delicacy. I permit myself a slice in the afternoon and maybe before bed.

Now I am exhausted. I’m surprised at how just a few errands can wear me out. I’m sure it is mental exhaustion more than physical. Someone recently told me I should be doing crossword puzzles for my brain. I replied – “don’t need them. I moved to Costa Rica.” I’m constantly trying to think in Spanish, look for some obscure directional cue as I drive, keep an eye on ‘hard to predict’ traffic customs like passing anyone at any speed over a double yellow line while maintaining an air of confidence. I’m always so relieved to get home and back to my simple little house with two sweet dogs.

I unpack the car and put my new foam “topper” on my air mattress. Voila! It is soooo comfortable that I am asleep in seconds. Cesar didn’t show up but called later to say he will be by tomorrow at noon.

Day by day I am getting my Anglo-Tica feet wet. And day by day I am beginning to realize that I have really done it. I’ve moved to a third world country that sometimes zips ahead to embrace the 1st world in a Skype call and then retreats back in time to join a long line of vehicles slowly following a man with two oxen walking down the center of the Pan American highway.

And I’m so grateful for the 15 years I had in New Mexico where I learned to feel so comfortable as a minority in a Hispanic culture. And for the meager Spanish classes I took in high school and college that have left some foundational residues to build upon in my brain.

Now – I need to look ahead to my first watercolor painting workshop – which I had been planning for a year – on the Osa Penninsula and my first visitor/helpers (my former sister in law, Alice and husband Rick) who have graciously volunteered to come install some necessities in my little house after we return from the Osa Adventure! And an adventure it will be!

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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.