What Am I Doing Here
This is not a permanent move, it cannot be. If it were, I would lose my permanent residency in the US which I don't want, and besides, I can only get 3-month tourist visas here (consecutively, by leaving the country every three months), and I've put some furniture in storage in Boston (well, in Cambridge really, but we Bostonians like to think of Cambridge as part of Boston). However, it's an indefinite move. I've left my job after six successful years to pursuit other endeavors, as they say, namely to learn Spanish and get "back" into the field of political science. Wish me luck.
Why Costa Rica
It's all thanks to Erin. Erin's a good friend and former co-worker from my previous job who works in operations and moved here back in September, aligning her own interests with the company's. Lobbying her friends to come with her, I took the bait. Thus aligning my own interests, of political science - I need field work and an additional language (and a change), both of which I should be able to get here.
What Is Here
I live in Monteverde, a mountainous region in sort-of central Costa Rica in the cloud forest, a mile or so from the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, three miles or so from Santa Elena, the main city here with 2 or so thousand people. The house is a lovely Costa Rican villa that we rent, with tile and hardwood floors, perched on a hillside with a porch overlooking the gulf of Nicoya, on Costa Rica's Pacific coast. See the map, the house is on the Camino de San Luis, the road in the bottom-right corner (where it says To San Luis and Café Monteverde), slightly outside the map.
How Do I Like It
All talk about robberies, black-outs, once-weekly entertainment, and 45-minute walks to civilization aside, these past three weeks have been true bliss. I've spent most days when I'm not hiking to Santa Elena for provisions or to pay bills on the porch. In the morning with my coffee watching the sun rise. During the day in the hammock reading a book. In the evening with a glass of wine, watching the fire flies, listening to the chirps of the birds, the croaks of the frogs, and the symphony of the crickets. This is peace and I recommend all to do the same, be it just a weekend in the Adirondacks or out in the Stockholm archipelago, anywhere your cell phone can't reach you and you're alone with your thoughts. I love it here but must admit that today starting school and Erin's and Jim's arrival (Jim is another of Erin's friends who took the bait and will be here for three months) in a few days has been much anticipated - it is nice to have people to talk with and it will be nice to have someone other than the cats in the house to hang out with.
What's Next
I'll likely be here for a while. So come visit! Or at the very least Skype me - ftufvesson. Phone calls are expensive.
1 comment:
we wish you luck
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