It’s where I am, of course!  Austin, to be more specific.
This is sort of a long-overdue update post. The last nine months seem like they’ve been some of the longest of my life, and not a lot (any?!) blogging got done. I’ll make this post a sort of summary, and see where it goes. Perhaps more detailed posts will follow…
Update #1
We left Costa Rica!  Holy crap, right? Back to the good old USofA. Something I never really imagined we would do quite so soon. We spent about 14 months in …

When we moved to Costa Rica, Arp and I felt we had to eventually learn to speak Spanish. As adults, we had our own language goals almost immediately. We wanted to speak the local language, connect with locals, and begin to establish a sense of community here.  Arp plunged right in and started speaking to the locals (he learns language well in an aural fashion). I took my time and started using Rosetta Stone (I learn much more visually). But the kids took a different path, one that many expats …

I just had to share some pics from the other day on Playa Chiquita, a wonderful beach that we tried for the first time on Wednesday. Tide pools, hermit crabs, sea urchins (both live, and some beautiful shells by the hundreds), crabs, and more stuff to explore than any life-learner could ask for. A great beach for kids!

I managed to break our new (used) washing machine. I blame myself partially, but also our shitty rental. The problem is, the “mountain water” that we are using is literally filled with sediment and debris. Large debris sometimes. So the little filter on the washer intake got totally clogged. So then I had this seemingly genius idea to just remove the filter. I figured that would keep the water moving. It worked so well that some debris came right in and managed to clog the intake valve. The washer overflowed, …

In no particular order – I worked on this list over a few days…

Maple syrup.  Real, from a tree maple syrup.
Garage sales.  Finding used furniture, appliances, etc is a pain here.  Anytime someone has a moving sale, expats descend upon it like vultures.  You gotta be quick or the pickings are slim.
Dishwashers.  I would rather waste time scratching bug bites than spending 1 hour a day washing dishes.
Cheap cars.  A $500 car in the US costs $3000 in Costa Rica.
Museums.  I’m *really* looking forward …