Living in Costa Rica

Our swimhole at Pedrogoso River

Our finca (farm) view

We are living in Costa Rica.

Pura Vida – that’s what the locals say. Pure Life

Tourists believe there is so much to do here.

There isn’t anything to do here. It just happens. Being is enough.

The gentle breeze is calming, the mountain stream is purifying, the sun is uplifting, the grazing cows are peaceful.

The land is sustainable. The way of life is sustainable. We feel at home.

In fact, we are at home because this will be our home for at least a year. We plan to move here in the fall after spending the spring here and the summer between MA and Oregon, getting ready for our drive back east and our move in September-October.

Enchanted Bamboo forest by our river

 “Here” in Costa Rica is the San Isidro area, 3 hours south of San Jose in the farming foothills of the Talamanca mountains (and the sacred Chirripo mountain) where it is a wonderful temperature, and the hotter beach is 45 minutes away. There are great neighborhoods with alternative-minded gringos who are healers and lovers of sustainability; we’ve met some great people. Our first weekend we landed here our friends Sheya and Owl and we went to our neighbor’s cool farm on the river for Cantando La Vida (Singing Alive) where we made some new friends.



Cantando La Vida at Finca Amrta

Here’s an email we wrote yesterday to some friends and family (wow, it's really happening):

Dear friends,

I’ve been thinking of all of you as we hang out here in Costa Rica. It’s been an amazing journey – it’s been tiring, bringing up stuff, integration, and a much needed R&R  in a piece of Paradise. We have “settled” for 2 weeks in a small cabin on a farm near San Isidro in the south; our neighbors are our dear friends Sheya and Owl from British Columbia who we met at the New Culture gathering in Seattle when we hit the west coast in September. They are looking for land and new culture community and we are enjoying being a community together cooking, relaxing, giving each other healing and massage, and sharing the possibilities of moving here to Costa Rica. We'll post photos later at www.kulemichelle.blogspot.com (also photos of our time in the Arenal volcano area we really love up north).

It feels we’ve made the decision to move here for a year starting after the summer. Yes, it’s really happening. It’s brought up some sadness about moving further from our long-term friends and family in New England and our new friends on the west coast. It’s also showing me that there is no such thing as one home. I feel we will have many homes.

Just as we open our home to others, others are opening their homes up to us. We want to find a place where we can host friends to stay with us a while, and to host workshops and retreats. It’s also an inspirational place to write! I may bring my corporate business here to train Costa Ricans how to do what I do, to help their economy and perhaps get me long-term residency (a many-year process). Kule has many opportunities as well.

There are wonderful artists, healers, and musicians here and a sense of community and self-responsibility that we are looking for; it’s a hub for alternative and sustainable-minded gringos. This area is not touristy, but it is within 45 minutes of the Dominical beach which is a hot creative tourist spot; we have yet to see the beach because we have enjoyed our last week here in the cooler air and rivers of the mountains. Next week we rent a car and head east to the beach and then west to the sacred mountain Chirripo and the cool community of friends there (that we met at a singing gathering last weekend).

I could see friends and family joining us here some day. Perhaps my mother would  move here, to be back with Spanish speaking people enjoying great weather and beaches, with good health care in close-by San Jose. My sister Mariana may come visit in April, I look forward to that!

There’s potentially lots to do to get ready for our move, but I feel it will be very easy and in a flow.

Here’s our tentative schedule:

Orlando – 1/31 to mid-Feb for the Avatar course

Costa Rica – mid-Feb to April

Oregon – May to August, to enjoy the beautiful summer at Lost Valley to learn more about permaculture, and do a bit more exploring on the west coast, visit my brother Al’s family, the Oregon State Fair that I don’t want to miss, and perhaps the New Culture West camp.

Massachusetts – June visit to start organizing our things, and final drive back east in September.

Costa Rica move – October

We will return every 3-6 months to get our home ready to sell and to update our visa (we can go to Panama or Nicaragua across the border to renew as well, every 3 months)

We’ll let you know our firmer plans to return to Massachusetts.

We’d love your support, and we are there for you as well.

Lots of love!!

Michelle y Julio (Kule’s name in Costa Rica)