So far my time in Costa Rica has been extremely enriching. No, life doesn’t suddenly all make perfect sense, but I am starting to ask the right questions. Santa Teresa inspires this kind of thinking. Listening to the rhythm of waves while sitting on the beach and feeling the warmth of the sun and the cool ocean breeze helps to move these thoughts along as well. :) It truly feels like I never left since my brief trip in November. All of the stress, the rushing, the pressure of my life back in the states is completely gone. It took a couple days for it to sink in that I’m here and I get to stay for a while. What an incredible sense of peace that gives me.

The people here are fantastic. You meet someone one time and the next thing you know they are telling you that if there is anything they can do to help you to let them know and to be sure to come by and see them again. They are very warm, open, and I get an overwhelming sense that they are here for the same reason as me. Many people have made this place their permanent home. Selling everything they owned, moving their entire family (kids, pets, and all), and finding work they can do from a laptop or something local. If you ask them if it was the right choice I imagine their response would be “Claro”.

I’m learning a lot about myself and my artwork; which is exactly why I came here. I live in a house on the beach with an art studio upstairs open to the air. It’s incredible... and I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to live there. It’s absolutely perfect. It took patience and truly understanding what I wanted for a place to live.. and of course some help from the universe or whatever it was that conspired to make this happen. I walked up to the house I wanted and said, “Hola, hablas ingles?” the man replied, “Totalmente.” and I said, “Do you want to save some money and have a roommate?” ;) He answered “I’m not looking for a roommate”.. but I asked to see the house anyway and the rest is history.

Every night I’m completely exhausted by 9 pm. Walking back and forth to town, walking to go see my friends, going to a cafe, trying to talk to everyone I can in Spanish, going to the market, walking up and down the beach, swimming in the ocean when it gets too hot, napping in a hammock, painting in the studio, reading and writing in my journal on the beach, cooking meals with friends... it’s much more tiring than you would think! I can’t imagine how worn out I will be when I start surfing again!