The long and short of it.....

I follow a few bloggers and sometimes I just want the Twitter size update on some people. You know there are people you like, but not enough to make that commitment to. So below is the twitter update for all of you who like me but not enough to read this whole blog. You're welcome. 

We decided not to build on our land because after some first hand experience we discovered we enjoyed the beach but didn't really want to live in the sweltering dry dustbowl Guanacaste was during the summer or the sweltering humid cloud during the rainy season.  So, we sold our land and decided to move to Arenal area of Costa Rica instead because active volcano danger sounds better than tsunami danger.

End Twitter update. Have a nice day.  

Now, on to the long of it....

Since moving down to CR year ago (whoot whoot) we have been dealing with our land and planning for the next steps. We spoke to and hired an engineer to deal with the land layout and interior building designs for our little metal bunkers. We also cleared the land of foliage and finished the front wall. During this whole process we went to and from Potrero though the year to handle the multiple steps.  We spent time there both camping and renting. We traveled around, found our favorite beaches, visited many different hardware stores looking for building supplies, and ate in a number of local sodas. We spoke to contractors and got estimates for our build that we were on the brink of breaking land for.  

Before that step was taken we paused and asked ourselves if this move was really the move we wanted to make. Plans have been in place since I fooled Eduardo with my womanly wiles and we had ourselves a hitching. It was time to evaluate and make sure we were on the same page. Life has changed a bit since we moved down here, connected with his family, and settled in. We spent a lot of time traveling the country and seeing the varied charms of Costa Rica.  

While, not a large country, Costa Rica has some very diverse land and microclimates ranging form rainforest covered mountains where it rains almost all year long, to the dry gold coast where it rains for 3 months and then not a drop until the next rainy season starts again. Since we are living in the Central Valley, we also got to experience the urban living in a large metropolitan suburb (for lack of better words to describe Heredia.) We both like the access to products, people, and lifestyle that comes with living here. It's nice to be within walking distance of the Central Market, supermarkets, small shops, and, of course, the $5 shoe store. We also enjoyed the southern pacific side of the country. That part has mountains and rainforest but it's farmed more and less populated and is hot and humid almost year round. It feels like the Costa Rician version of Montana but with less snow and more machetes. While it does have it's appeal, like different foods and natural beauty, we didn't enjoy the Atlantic side of Costa Rica as much. To me it's the Costa Rica rural Appalachians. Wild and beautiful, but very few towns and just not an area we could find ourselves in. We traveled to the northern central area of the country and really felt that was the Costa Rica that we were expecting.  It's damper during its dry season traditional seasonal rain during the summer. There are volcanos, higher elevation so different temperatures, hot springs, national parks, and beautiful rivers.   

Most of our travel time was spent in Guanacaste. Guanacaste is the most populated area outside of the Central Valley.  You find the most tourist spots with a large concentration of expats from Europe and North America. One of the tourism appeals is the dry season is so long with more bright and sunny beach days and high temperatures. We have really enjoyed our time in the area during out many visits, however, along with the great things are a number of things we don't like. We don't like how hot it gets. I'm not just talking warm, I'm talking scorched earth with absolutely no rain for 8 to 9 months of the year. Basically everything green and beautiful dies and it turns into one large dust ball. Please see picture below for prime example of the situation. We would need to live in AC for most of the year and that absolutely broke my heart.  One of my favorite things about living here is having all your windows and doors open year round. Potrero was also almost 5 hours away the central valley and his family. 5 hours is not a day trip, or at least one we wanted to think about outside of "oh no" occurrences. Potrero just wasn't what I had in mind Costa Rica would be when I imaged living here. We discovered, that while we loved the area we didn't actually want to live there

Eduardo had visited the Gold Coast and fell in love with it when he lived here. When an opportunity came up to purchase land in a new development in Potrero for an astonishingly cheap amount, he took it.  At the time he didn't know what would happen to the area since it was basically a small village with little established attractions around it. Thankfully, he is a smart guy with a smart sister who recommended the area and the property. The area around our property was built up over the years and that entire area of the country became a vacation destination. The change in the value of the area is what made us decide to not only build our house, but also build rental units on our land. We also knew that the property value had increased greatly since he bought the land 20 years ago.

So, Eduardo and I had ourselves a "Come to Jesus" conversation and decided we actually didn't want  the exact life we had been building to over the past 8 years. It was an emotional decision to close that door, but once the decision was made we were both at peace with it and knew it was the right decision to make. Neither Eduardo or I are afraid to light a fire to our lives and build from the ashes. It wasn't hard to burn that dream down anyway since it was dry and there sure wasn't going to be any rain to put it out. ;)  We spoke to a realtor who is a friend to the family, listed the property for sale, and accepted an offer less than a week later. Were set to close on the land on April 19.  

Both of us really loved the Arenal area north of the Central Valley during our visits. It is basically what we both thought living in Costa Rica would be like.  The area is absolutely beautiful year round. It has a definite rainy season like the rest of Costa Rica, but it also rains frequently during the "dry" season. There is a beautiful active volcano just miles away with a huge, breathtaking man made lake the government created to power an entire country. That whole area is a massive national park. Arenal is teaming with local wildlife like sloths, three different types of monkeys, wild cats, toucans, coatis, and a plethora of lizards and amphibians. On downside that also means some massively nasty snakes but I think I can really work a nice pair of thick rubber boots. Of course, they would need to be some ridiculously tacky color and pattern.

Outside of a couple moderate sized towns, Arenal has a healthy smattering of small towns. The whole area is basically rural in the sense of "I'm 10 minutes away from a tiny town and 30 minutes away from a good grocery store."  The specific area we are looking at is about 20 minutes away from La Foutuna, a medium sized tourist town for the Arenal area and about an hour away from Monteverde Cloud Forest. We would be about two hours away from his family in the Central Valley and need to come here about once a month for a visit to PriceSmart, larger stores, and the opportunity to see family.  

So we are house shopping now. Ok, were a bit further than shopping but that is all I'll say for the moment. So fingerers crossed that we will find the perfect house and spot!