Tag: biking

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Tour de Atenas? And Bingo!

Some of the hundreds of bikes going by my house for more than an hour today.

I’m not sure what it is, but they don’t act like they are racing but rather completing a tour. For 30 minutes it was almost bumper to bumper bikes then the stragglers continued for an hour or two more. Participants are mostly Tico or local people with a few expats included. You see these large groups of spandex-clad bikers occasionally around here, usually on weekends and even out on the highways and rural roads. While during the week bikers are working people with baskets making deliveries or just getting to work, etc. Neither the town’s narrow streets or the narrow highways are safe for casual or transportation lone bikers, plus we are all hills which makes it difficult as well as dangerous. It is rare to see children biking the streets and neither kids nor teens bike to school. They all walk to school! Like me! 🙂 As much as I like biking, I think I will still to walking and maybe live longer.

After church online in Nashville I went to the Catholic church for another Bingo experience with other Su Espacio Spanish students. This time more students came, two tables full! A lot of fun. I report with photos in my new Español blog Aprendo Español en Atenas, titled Bingo a los números de práctica and I’m getting better with my numbers in spanish!

My table of 7 was one of two tables of students from Su Espacio this time.
Me and David are missing from the photo of this table.

Tico food and drinks are available for sale and this time I ate a big piece of pineapple cornbread with a Pepsi. Nope, I’m not doing without my sugar fixes here! Dulce is the name for sweets here.  🙂

They just call the numbers (No B-16, N-23 like in states) and we have a bowl of corn kernals on the table to mark our numbers. Susan was the only one of our group (1st on left above) who had a winning card but there were two winners and one prize. There was a drawing and she lost the draw. But the prizes are nothing to write home about!

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Three Steps Forward, One Step Back

Bikes Rule! Shot leaving San Jose in August. I will get a bike but not a car at first.

That title means that most everything is moving along pretty much on schedule with more good things happening in the last few days. I sold another big ticket item and finished my last day in the Village Treasures Shop which is a relief. If you want to pray for something, pray that my dining room table and chairs will sell and the zebra desk for reasonable prices – both are expensive.

The one step back is that my Nashville Police Background Check was not accepted in Costa Rica without an Apostille, so I have to do that again and try harder for the Apostille which they didn’t seem to know about before. The same for the Social Security letter, but Jose said I can get that easily at the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica after I arrive. My first appointment with him is not until January 12, so I will have time. If you wonder what my rush for Residency is, it is because I want it as soon as possible so I can then get on their government health program which will be one of my biggest living cost savings in Costa Rica.

Another new wrinkle in my process comes from the moving company in Costa Rica that I will use for door to door service. Because I am downsizing so much, he now advises that I pack my stuff on pallets in the garage for  a forklift to come get and take in a truck to their warehouse in Tampa to save a lot of money on both storage and shipping. I hadn’t planned on that, but it seems to be the best way for me if I can do it in the next 4 weeks. I had thought I would use the neighborhood storage place, but it will cost twice what the other will cost and then the shipping would cost more because it wouldn’t be on pallets. So we will see!

As of tonight I have more than half of my address changes or cancellations made, so that is good progress this early. But I will wait at least another week to post addresses here. I don’t want mail piling up for me before I get there. Said as if I think anyone will write!   🙂

I heard from Mark and Kim again tonight, the couple I traveled with in August who live in Hacienda La Jacaranda where I’m moving. They will be moving to Panama in January (to try it out also) and have a printer for sale that I will probably get to start with. Well – that’s enough to report tonight! Hasta pronto!

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ARCR Moving Checklist

That will be me in a few months!  🙂
A Biker I photographed near Puntarenas in 2011

I’ve been a member of Association of Residents of Costa Rica (ARCR) since before the summer trip and it is the organization that conducted the seminar as part of the tour and provided me with an attorney who is helping me work through the Residency Application process.

They have helped in other ways and as part of the new member packet, I received a MOVING CHECKLIST FOR COSTA RICA that lists everything that must be done starting at 4-6 months before moving, then 3-4 months, 2 months, 1 month, 2 weeks, 1 week, and 1 day, plus a list for “After Arrival.” I have copied the activities related to me on my own countdown list with the specific dates counting up to December 24, so I will be ready. It gives me more confidence and peace of mind as I check off the things to be done, including my own personal needs. It is too long to place here, but I encourage anyone considering a move to Costa Rica to immediately join the ARCR and pay attention to their great checklist!