Why Costa Rica?

"Why did you move to Costa Rica?", or "How did you decide on Costa Rica?" are the two most common questions we get asked and for the most part, a common question I also like to ask others.  It is so fun to hear the responses and so fun to hear what has brought so many people from so many countries to this beautiful land.  Everyone has a story, but what makes it so interesting is that we have not only chosen to live in a different culture/country then where we were born or raised, but most of us are doing this while raising our children and for many of us, that is the whole reason we are doing it now....to raise our kids here or to give them an international experience, or for others, to get off the beaten track or to exit the rat race (or a little of all of these!).

"What is different about Costa Rica?" you might ask....well, we get to see, hear and hold many animals that otherwise we would just see in a zoo, on Animal Plant, or in a picture book.  We get to go to the beach every day if we want....the water is warm and the sun shines every day.  Our kids get to focus on being kids....meaning, they get to get dirty, hold wild animals, run thru the grass, ride bikes in the rain, be free of the worry of the labels and styles of clothing, live a life with less material objects, have less homework, less obligations, and very little of a set schedule.  In other words, to live in a place where family comes first.

So, back to the initial question..."Why Costa Rica?"  So, our story goes like this.....When I turned 40 I had dreamed of going to Egypt, but because of the events of 9/11, it was not a good time to travel internationally.  So, my wonderful husband rented me a big 'ole house in Wailea, Maui and I invited a whole slue of girlfriends to become a "Hula Girl" with me.  We not only had a blast that week (many of us, including myself, were leaving our toddlers at home for the very first time), but we all discovered the value of girlfriends, the value of being able to recoup, and that our kids and husbands back home were just fine without us (in the best possible way, of course!).  Many husbands were taking care of the kids 24/7, including mine, for the first time, and we all loved that there were getting to see what we as moms experience everyday with the kids....the good, the bad, and the ugly.

So, we all vowed to keep taking girlfriend trips.....but, when I got home, I discovered I was pregnant with our 3rd, Marissa and soon after that, I was pregnant with our 4th, William.  So, as you can imagine, the girlfriend trips kinda took a hiatus.

But, on my 45th, when I was still nursing William and unable to go away overnight, I planned a whole day of girlfriend fun....starting with yoga on the beach, a kayak trip out to Angel Island, a hike and  picnic, and a sunset sail around the bay to end the day and "Fearless Friends" we became.  I felt rejuvenated and decided to announce my idea for the next year....Costa Rica! 

Front row sitting L-R:  Kayleen (college, came out from Colorado), Casey (college, came out from Colorado)
Middle row kneeling L-R:  Me, Valerie, Lisa, Elizabeth, Kathleen
Back row Standing L-R:  Dear Debbie (RIP), Julie, Deanna (high school, came from Arroyo Grande), Liz, Wendy, Elizabeth, Denise, Leslie, and Marian.....and this was just the sailing crew from the whole day of fun!

And so it was....in 2008, 7 wonderful girlfriends from just about every phase of my life came with me to become "Adventure Girls" in Costa Rica.  Deanna my BFF from high school and her sister Dawna, Valerie my BFF mom friend from San Fran, Kayleen my great friend from college and sorority sister and her friend the wonderful Marcie, and France a friend of Val's who I had been going to Family Camp with for many years.  7 wonderful friends to celebrate my 46th birthday on the 7th of May in sunny (and rainy) Costa Rica.  Amazing.

Kayleen, France, Valeria, me, Dawna, Marcie and Deanna

 Then, after returning home, I knew I had to bring the kids and Kurt to this magical land full of all the animals our kids love so much (our kids are Animal Planet junkies!).  So, I began to contact a bunch of owners from VRBO and Homeaway.com asking for a 2-4 week stay and out of the blue, one of the owners asked us if we wanted to stay longer and housesit their house and take care of his dog.  We took the leap of faith and said YES to a 6 week stay in Play Ocotal, near Playas de Coco on the Pacific side of Costa Rica (I had not traveled to this side with the girls) and in the providence of Guanacaste, or dry zone (which is key when you are traveling to the rain forest).  I booked our tickets using frequent flyer miles (an almost free vacation!) and we left right when school got out in June and returned 8 weeks later in  mid-August giving us 6 weeks in the house and 2 weeks on the road to see the other side of Costa Rica.

Now, this is where it happened.....the starting point of what is now our Costa Rican life.  During the summer of 2009 when we were housesitting the house in Playa Ocotol, we began to run into families at the beach or in restaurants that lived in Costa Rica and our kids began to ask, "Where do they go to school, how do they do that, can WE do that?" and so began our family discussion of moving to Costa Rica.

Waterslides at Rincon de la Vieja National Park Summer 2009

Having multiple age groups in our family, we consulted with the big boys first....they loved the idea, but wanted to have their first year of high school and then they would go, so we began to think that in a few years, after they each had completed their Freshman years, we would go to Costa Rica for one year.  In hindsight, we should have done it sooner.  Middle school, while tons of fun, was not so successful for our boys....it was lots of homework, lots of activities, and lots of scheduling conflicts.  We found ourselves going in many different directions and doing the whole "divide and conquer" thing most weekends.

But, as Dominic was getting thru his Freshman year and Zack set to enter his Freshman year the following year, we suddenly realized that if we did not do this now, it would be impossible to it make happen.  So, Kurt and I began a stealth campaign....not mentioning a word to the kids or to our friends.  I began with research....how much would it cost us, where would they go to school, where would we live, etc.?  I started with what we knew and what we loved, the area of Ocotal/Coco and began to fan out over the dry zone and stumbled upon this new community school (meaning it is a private school, but it has kids from both the local and the expat communities).  It was not your typical American school (which is the whole reason for going to Costa Rica in the first place) and it was bilingual (another reason).  It was small (perfect), it was new (yes, we seem to be drawn to new schools and schools that build new schools!), it had after school activities and it had sports teams (that I would not have to drive to...yahoo!), and it was in a coastal town right by the beach (perfect!),

We applied immediately.

And we got turned down immediately.

They had room in the grades of our 3 boys, but 4th grade was all full and thus, Marissa was not in.  So, this set us in a tail spin...what do we do?  Do we go anyway?  Do we send the boys, and homeschool Marissa?  Do we homeschool them all?  Not!  We kept the stealth campaign going cleaning out closets, secretly packing things up and taking them to our secret storage unit, holding a garage sale, etc.  And then, while we are away at family camp in July, we get the email that the whole family was in.  Kurt and I had a long, heartfelt conversation via cell phone and we gave ourselves 24 hours to ponder.  When I called him the next day, we both had come to the same conclusion....we had to go, now or never, this was meant to be, this is going to be great!

And so, here we are, not only enjoying our year abroad, but liking it so much that we are staying another year.   "Will we stay longer?", you may now ask.  Truth is, we do not know.  Only time will tell and the beautiful thing about this new life is that we have a lot more time.

 

First Day of school at La Paz, 2012
William (1st), Zack (9th), Marissa (4th), and Dominic (10th)

First Day of school at La Paz, 2nd year in Costa Rica, 2013
Dominic (11th), William (2nd), Zackary (10th) and Marissa (5th)