Category Archives: Life abroad
Lost and losing it
Jack and I left at quarter to six. The party was about fifteen minutes from our house, and none of our geezer friends is ever fashionably late. As we bounced down the nameless road that connects us with the rest … Continue reading
Breastilicious?
The headline in the Costa Rica Star read, Topless ziplining and naked horseback riding. Really? Naked horseback riding? Imagine the condition of your inner thighs after an hour or more of clutching a leather saddle between them. Not to mention … Continue reading
Goodbye dry season
Every morning my eyes popped open to the same sun-soaked, chirp-filled backdrop of palm and cedar trees. Not that I’m complaining. It’s hard to imagine a better alarm clock. Sun-shy, I wished, to little avail, for a few clouds during … Continue reading
Puerto Viejo adventure
We planned our first trip to Puerto Viejo, on the Carribbean side, to coincide with the visit of my daughter, Bonnie, and my two granddaughters, Maiya and Bettie Belle. The luscious tropical resort area is a seven-hour trip from our … Continue reading
¡Boy oh boyero!
What’s a boyero? I wondered, when I saw a notice for the Día National del Boyeros, a festival held in San Antonio de Escazu, in the Central Valley. A boyero, it turns out, is a man who drives an oxcart. … Continue reading
Zapote, one church steeple at a time
I can’t remember what we had to pick up the first time we drove the two hours to the postal customs office, in Zapote. What I do remember is trying to find the agency. We’d learned the address: across from … Continue reading
Climbing Mount Fuji
My love affair with Mount Fuji began one crisp November morning in 1995 as I pedaled to work from my home in the Tokyo suburb of Fujiki-Kinome. When I reached the middle of a rickety old bridge I’d been crossing … Continue reading
What’s that smell?
One day last week, I got a whiff of something noxious nearby. The smell was not unlike ones I’ve sniffed driving through Pennsylvania farming country— fertilizer, maybe. A bitter, acrid smell invaded my senses. I felt it in my nose, … Continue reading
Crossing the border
For the myriad expats who have to cross the border every ninety days, here are several ways to get to Nicaragua from San Jose. Those who can afford the price may fly, at a cost of over five hundred dollars. … Continue reading
