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| White-winged Dove in my Cecropia or Guarumo Tree. |
After the Rain
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| “After the Rain” from my terrace at sunset. |
New Flowerpots
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| I replaced the ugly yellow & orange pots with these more attractive ones. And the little round one on left is new with assorted greenery & a peace lily. The second pot is ornamental grass I cut back for the transplanting, It grows back quick here! Behind post is a bougainvillea that was in plastic! |
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| The greenery by the rocking chairs looks much better in new pot! |
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| And the living room plant looks better in the new pot also! I think. |
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| My newest indoor plant is this palm in my bedroom with philodendron ivy at base. |
I may have told you that my artist friend Anthony has returned from 9 months of traveling in Spain and Morocco and has moved into the house next door that was occupied by Don & Lynda who moved back to Oregon. Before traveling, Anthony lived on the other side of me in someone else’s casita (a small house most big house owners have for guests or rental.). He is the one who made my garden art bird sculpture. He really decorates well with a lot of plants and that motivated me to spruce mine up a little.
We just had a really good, slow, steady rain this afternoon for an hour or so. Garden loves it!
Residency Approved!
Good morning Mr. Doggett,
Congratulations you got your residency approved!
I will send it to you on Monday when I get to the office.
Have a nice Sunday!
_______
That’s the email I just received from my residency attorney. I think there are separate steps to get the actual Cedula or residency card and the CAJA or medical services card. Plus a “Gold Card” for senior adults to get free bus and discounts on other things. Our next step is doing something on June 1 he said. One patient little step at a time! 🙂 The paperwork was filed in February 2015, so about 15 months for approval in my case. Friends have waited a great variety of times from 8 months to 3 years! So not bad and he asked for the resolution on Friday the 13th! 🙂
If you are wondering why I haven’t been posting as much on the blog, it is partly because of having a full schedule and partly because I’m using down time to work on a new photo gallery that will replace my PBase gallery for just Costa Rica photos, It is taking a long time to just upload/label the bird photos, not to mention all the other kinds of photos still to go! I hope to be introducing it soon. It is with SmugMug.com and will look a lot better than PBase plus you can order prints or other items with my photos on them if interested.
Art Exhibit Opening: Encuentro de Cultusas
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| One of my favorite paintings! Sorry! I did not get the country names for any of photos. |
Because of an artist from Atenas in the show, a group of Atenas expats got to attend the Grand Opening of an Art Exhibition titled Encuentro de Cultusas (The Meeting of Cultures) with art from 18 different Latin American countries and all their ambassadors there plus other ambassadors including the U.S. and Costa Rican government officials and the art leaders. We were able to crash this party of dignitaries because of the local artist/photographer who got us in. It was wonderful! One of the best art shows I have ever seen. And the Children’s Museum location in an old fort/prison is simply cool!
And the other cool thing was that each country had hors d’oeuvres and drinks typical of each of the 18 countries. Some were really delicious! And all photos made on my Samsung cell phone! 🙂
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| The Costa Rica Children’s Museum (was a prison in early years) |
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| The Entrance Hall |
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| Some of the photography of John Dessarzin of Atenas who got us in the show. |
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| Someone’s Political Cartoon that includes Donald Trump. |
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| Some traditional & cultural photography. |
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| Plus lots of traditional paintings of culture and local people. |
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| And even some Dominican Voodoo art. |
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| I was amused that all these pretty girls wanted their picture made with this artist who seems uninterested or bored. Oh well! |
“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way
— things I had no words for.”
– Georgia O’Keeffe
Getting Reimbursed for Medical Expenses
The private medical services insurance here is mostly through a government program called INS, a Spanish language acrostic. I finally completed the piles of paperwork with doctor signatures and original receipts (No photo copies! One of my claims was disqualified for this reason.) I mailed them to my insurance agent who got them to INS and I received an email pretty quickly telling me what was accepted and how much they would pay me with an electronic deposit in my local bank account when they received the account number. (I added to the time here by at first sending the wrong number dummy me!) When I finally got that right they informed me that since I still don’t have official residency yet, they could not auto deposit but I could come to an INS office or my agent. My agent requires 15 days, so I opted to go to INS somewhere close other than in San Jose. Alajuela is the closest and I went today and even with one problem, I completed the task within two hours! That is could! The problem was that my agent gave me the wrong address or directions to the office in Alajuela and I wasted one taxi fare ($2) in the wrong place. When I got to the right office, a typical government office with guards and take a number and wait until they call it to be served. It was surprisingly quick with only three employees needed to complete my task and they paid me in cash!
That is likely the last/only time I will do that since I canceled my expensive policy. I’m waiting to receive the government coverage after my residency is approved. Hoping that will start happening this Friday the 13th when my attorney appeals! Ironic? Probably! But I’m not superstitious!
And by the way, this experience today continues to strengthen the motivation to learn to speak AND understand Spanish. It is necessary to live here!
The Loss of Another “Best Friend” Today
It is with great sadness that I recognize the expected death of my dear friend Rus Roach. I already miss him. -Charlie Below is the announcement I received from Tom and the funeral is available online An Update from our Executive Pastor |
Thursday, May 5, 2016
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Costa Rica Has Low Terrorism Risk
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| It is nice to live in one of the 10 most low terrorism risk countries, according to the UK’s Daily Mail online news. From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/ Chamber of Commerce PR? 🙂 |
COUNTRIES WITH A HIGH TERRORISM RISK
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| And the high risk of terrorism includes my beloved Gambia West Africa, I’m sorry to say. I’m surprised that parts of the U.S. and Europe are not included, but frequency may be a factor. And what about this proximity to the equator? It reminds me of mission board’s 10/40 Window of non-Christians. From http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/ But comments above by Charlie. |
“A ship is always safe at the shore – but that is NOT what it is built for.”
― Albert Einstein
Private Health Insurance, Public Health Coverage and Residential Papers
Boring Stuff for the Few Readers Anticipating a Move Here
That title just means some details only concern the persons actually moving here or retiring here and I don’t want family or friends back in the states worrying about my healthcare. I’m fine! Don’t worry! In a different country, culture or situation some things take longer than you expect and you just work them out the best way you can, sometimes one day at a time.
RESIDENCY & PUBLIC HEALTHCARE
It has been 15 months since I filed my application with Immigration and I am still not approved yet. I now know people who have gotten it in 6 or 8 months and another in 3 years, so the bureaucratic government office is always slow and it often depends on which agent’s desk your application ends up on or what is happening in his/her life at the time. So mine is not that unusual, but I talked with my attorney by phone this afternoon and here is the update on my application or what is in his control: I am now his oldest application file, so I’m his number one priority now. Good! He has made an appointment with Immigration for May 13 to request “a resolution” on my application. That is between him and the government office, I’m not allowed to go then, but he is planning for approval on that date and has even made a June 1 appointment with the CAJA Office (government health plan) for me to get my healthcare card (Caja Card) which is separate from my residency card (Cedula) and I think that same day we may apply for the “Gold Card” which is for us old people to get discounted or free services like buses, etc. That means we have to do some paperwork and Social Security Office visits between May 13 and June 1. I will try to stay available though I do have a May 20-23 birding club trip. SO I’M HOPING FOR RESIDENCY BY MAY AND CAJA BY JUNE OR JULY. I will not hold my breath! Everything here usually takes longer than suggested!
The primary reason I’m in a hurry to get this residency and public healthcare coverage is because I really can’t afford to keep private healthcare insurance! For a reasonable amount per month I will be on something like medicaid or medicare in the states (only much better!). There will be no co-pay or charges for any doctor visit, surgery, hospital visits, prescription drugs, etc.! I will pay a monthly charge based on a percent of my SS income. I need this kind of “socialized medicine” as some Americans like to call it. Read on to see why.
PRIVATE MEDICAL CARE AND PRIVATE HEALTHCARE INSURANCE
I’m thankful I’ve had no big health issue like cancer or needed surgery, injury, etc.! But private doctors, hospitals and other medical services are so much less expensive here than in the states that for my usual medical needs so far in my life I could afford to have no insurance and just pay cash out of pocket for doc visits, x-rays, EKGs, prescriptions, etc. But prudence makes you plan for the worst and have insurance when you are not on the government health plan yet, as has been my case for the last year.
When I first came, I was could tell my Medicare Supplement Insurance that I was on an extended vacation and be covered for I think it was up to 4 or 6 months. When that expired, I cancelled that policy and purchased a Costa Rica Private Healthcare Insurance Policy which covered 80 to 90% of everything including prescriptions with a few restrictions I won’t get into here. But like in the states it was based on age and for someone turning 75 it was $3,000 paid up front for the whole year. It expires the end of this month and I just sent in my claims for the whole year, so waiting on a check!
Since I still don’t have my residency and thus the almost free government healthcare plan, I figured I probably should go ahead and renew for one more year “just in case.” Well, they do everything at the last minute here and I just got my renewal notice with the shocker that I this year move into the next age bracket of 76-80 years old and thus my renewal cost would now be over $6,000 for the year! NO WAY! That precipitated the above-mentioned call to my attorney and my push to get residency and the government healthcare plan expedited if at all possible.
It is close but the timing of my May residency and June healthcare plan may be just right! Though I may have a couple of months without insurance, so just don’t get sick! Private insurance companies here are about as bad as the states for high costs, but the government plan is certainly a lot better! And I hope to be on that soon!
If anyone considering a move here wants more details, just email and I will be glad to discuss it further and keep you posted on what happens, though I will do that here on the blog too once I’m approved and probably have stories of government bureaucracy to share. 🙂
Rainy Season Starting!
I’m so happy that for three days straight we have had some rain! It is usually May before the first rain, so this is good if it will just continue and increase in quantity! Going 5+ months without rain makes you appreciate it more!