Costa Rica has changed me. When we go back to the United States, I don’t think I’ll ever do some things in quite the same way again:

I don’t think I’ll ever feel the need to own a dryer again. In fact, using a dryer would make me feel guilty.
I’ve learned to cook dried beans really well here. I don’t think I can go back to canned. I used to use canned beans all the time in the U.S., but now I even cook chick peas from dried beans.
I wash my …

I was chatting with a friend and mentioned moving back to the US and his response was ‘I’m so sorry man – too bad it didn’t work out for you.’ I was a bit surprised because I hadn’t thought about it in terms of regret at all – because we have no regrets about our experience.  Another couple of friends, one of whom I’ve known since high school, got it right – 1) we spent a year in paradise and 2) having made it here, we know we can …

Arp recently retweeted a quote on Twitter that we both think describes our current situation.  “Being uncomfortable prompts us to change, to move into our next expression. (via @JaqStone)”
We’ve been a  bit uncomfortable, in little or bigger ways, since we arrived in Costa Rica. And while we still love many parts of this country, we think it just might be time to move on.

The bathroom still stinks. Seriously. Not sure there is anything to do about it. Reminds me of the time in NY that I pulled what looked like a rat out of our drain.
The owner seems to think we’re crazy for not wanting to sleep with our mattress on the floor. He says, “Tell me you can just sleep on the floor!” All this, after we confirmed that he would be providing us with a double bed frame, twice, via email.
The stove got fixed, so at least I’m not still cooking …

We arrived here on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica yesterday, having moved our  family from the Central Valley. I know it’s only been 24 hours, but I’m not exactly happy right now. We’ve discovered several problems with our new rental and I’m not sure how long I am going to be able to stand it. I’m planning to start looking for a new rental pronto and I hope that we will find one.
Here are just a few of the complaints I have, for anyone who has the patience to …