We’ve just had ‘Expo’ in San Isidro; originally a small farming show, its now a huge 10 day event, catering more for the urbanites with loads of fast food, stalls selling tacky merchandise, and deafening music that resounds off the hillsides until the wee small hours.

But John and I always go, primarily to see the cattle. Breeders come from across the country to show off their best and John thoroughly enjoys the farming talk

I’m thoroughly prejudiced of course but it’s a special delight to find Aberdeen Angus here – the best of British beef breeds, its content up in the cooler climes of the mountains. We have a warm invitation to visit this fellow’s owners – lovely Ticos, so proud of their stock and so welcoming of our interest.

We’ve had a couple of sad moments though. Our lovely cleaner Cecilia, whose new home-building I featured last year, has moved – now too far away to travel, she can no longer clean for us. We parted with hugs and tears in the eyes … and her parting words ‘Mi casa es su casa‘ – ‘my home is your home’ – we’ll certainly keep in touch.

And our lovely young Tico neighbours Jose and Laura have moved – stretched themselves to buy a property with space for Jose to build a bigger workshop for his furniture making and woodworking business. Their traditional Tico style home is old and badly in need of a lick of paint, but its in a lovely setting surrounded by mature fruit trees.

They came to visit on baby Samanta’s first birthday – a little treasure, we’re going to miss her too. I love to get this wee human on the floor with her toys … but she makes no effort to crawl.

There wasn’t safe floor space in their old home, and now the rough concrete and broken plaster in their new home isn’t safe either. This infant has moved from sitting in her buggy to sitting in a walker, and she’ll learn to walk without ever crawling – such an important milestone in child development, its never occurred to me that life on the floor – with insects to boot – isn’t always an option for infants in the tropics.

This last week, I’ve had my first experience of the private health care system in San Jose, a booming centre for ‘healthcare tourism.’ My best friend ruptured a spinal disc – in agony with sciatica, she had 3 days on morphine in the ‘Clinica Emergencia‘ here, but took a month to get well enough to stand a 3 hour journey up to San Jose for an MRI at Clinica Biblica hospital.

She had that last Monday morning and was in theatre for surgery at 6.00 p.m. – had a laminectomy, fusion of two vertebrae with titanium rods, and a fancy plastic spacer inserted in a second joint. She was well enough to leave on Wednesday but we stayed in town until she was fit for the return journey on Saturday.

All in, the bill was around USD$21,000… gulp, and while we listen to the American healthcare debate here and all the objections to ‘socialist medicine’ (a la the UK system), I reflect on having had brain surgery six years ago without parting with a penny.

Sure we pay through national insurance contributions, but at least a crisis doesn’t render us bankrupt. That said, the Clinica Biblica neurosurgical team were brilliant and she’s now pain-free and well on the road to recovery. Whatever the cost, that’s worth rejoicing, but what if you don’t have the cash?

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Written by VIP Member Sheelagh Richards. Sheelagh is originally from Scotland and her husband John who is from Wales are two inveterate British travellers who fell in love with Costa Rica, the beauty of the Talamanca mountain range and the perfect climate of the Rio General valley where they have established a small Bed & Breakfast called Casa de Los Celtas.

You can see more about John and Sheelagh’s very affordable B&B outside San Isidro here and photographs and prices here and you can also see a free online video interview with John & Sheelagh Richards here.

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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.