We have a new addition to the family! Mauricio Aguilar just started working with us this week as our new Placement & Travel Coordinator. Mauricio was born and raised in Washington State (USA), but is actually Costa Rican! He's been back here in his homeland now for about 18 months and is studying sustainable tourism in a local university.

Mauricio will be handling all volunteer communication up until arrival, including assisting with any tour bookings. Not only can he (obviously) speak perfect English and Spanish, but is able to understand the needs of our volunteers in a special way, having been a volunteer himself. You'll find him friendly, knowledgeable and easy to get along with. Why don't you give him a call and say hello!

Looks like we're long overdue for an update on what's been going on around here. There is so much news, I'm not sure where to start!

First of all, I want to welcome Roberto Lamagno from San Diego. Roberto came to us with the intent of participating in our 2-week volunteer program. Much like what happened to me, he fell in love with the country and people and decided to make Costa Rica his home. Roberto is now a Director with Tropical Adventures, sits on the board of directors of our foundation, and is leading a wonderful project on the Talamanca Indigenous Reservation. His experience, vision and loving energy are a welcome addition to the family.

The second thing I wanted to share with you is actually about the project Roberto is managing on the reservation. The reason we sent Roberto (as we have other volunteers) to the community of Uatsi on the reservation, is because there is great need in that area. Many families have no access to water without walking for hours, very few people have electricity, nobody speaks English, and indigenous families struggle constantly just to come up with food to feed their families.

Our goal as a foundation is to do our best to help the community become self-sufficient without imposing ourselves as outsiders, and to preserve their culture. Roberto inspired a plan for the community that was welcome with open arms. Thanks to a generous loan, we are now constructing a cultural center in which to meet and to teach English, as well as business skills. In addition, we're also building some houses which will become a bed & breakfast and restaurant. They will also be creating a commercial fish farm, planting organic gardens and orchards.

Through the English classes and training, community members will learn to manage the B&B, restaurant, fish farm, gardens, and orchards. They are also learning to become (ecologically-conscious) tour guides for their breathtakingly beautiful area. They will slowly pay back this loan through the funds they make with these projects. However, this loan is not enough to cover the costs of the project, and donations are needed.

At the same time, we're working on a project to build some aqueducts in the mountains to provide water for many families who are without. This is very labor-intense work, as these homes are in extremely remote areas. Thankfully the families who will be receiving the water are helping out with the labor. What we really need are some donors for the supplies.

As if that were not enough, I have some more wonderful news to share with you. In just a few short weeks we will receive our first group of orphans for our new orphanage in Paraiso! The plan is to start with 6 teenagers and sets of brothers / sisters, and then to build a new building to accommodate many more. On the same property we are building an organic garden, playground, trails, butterfly farm and bird sanctuary.

All of this is, of course, wonderful news. We're all very excited about these projects, which are supplementing the other projects we already have going on.

Now comes the most important part. We need help! All of these things cost money. Your generous donations will be accepted with open arms! We're also looking for volunteers to help us out with every aspect of these projects. If you feel moved to do so, we would appreciate your assistance.

I'll be posting some financial information shortly, so you can see what it takes to keep these projects going. In the meantime, if you are able to help us, or if you have questions, please contact me for more information by email or by phone: 1-800-832-9419.

Thanks and many blessings!

I know everyone always says, "My! She's growing so fast!" But it's really true. Babies grow up way too quickly. I haven't seen my niece, Rhea Sue, since Christmas. And each time I look at her adorable pictures it makes me sad to think I'm missing out on all her day-to-day growing up.

I just thought I'd share with you some Christmas pictures from this year. Here you see a picture of me with my sister, Paula, her husband, Bert, and my new niece, Rhea. A great time was had by all. You may click here to be re-directed to the photo page.

Finally made it to San Francisco on Tuesday. The folks flew in yesterday and my best friend, Trent, drove in today. I just thought I'd share more pictures of Rhea. She's adorable! Sorry I haven't been writing as often. I hope to do more of that this week. We'll see what happens...

Here you can see Rhea with my mom -- her grandmother.

Here is another one where you can see grandma.

And of course, the happy mom, Paula.

And the proud father, Bert.

Another beautiful soul transitioned last night. Grahame Smith was an amazing person, so full of joy and love. Grahame and his partner, (I believe of more than 40 years) Richard, were the first people I met when I moved to Palm Springs many years ago. They took me under their care. Sometimes taking on the role of big brothers, other times the role of parents.

I've only had a handful of people I would call mentors in my life, but Grahame and Richard ranked pretty high on that short list. Grahame was very practical and had an infectious smile to go along with his witty sense of humor, as you can see in this picture of me with Grahame.

You can see what a beautiful guy he was and what an adorable couple they made. Here is a picture of Grahame with Richard.

I'll miss you Grahame, but I won't say "good bye," because I know you are still here in my heart.

I finally got a couple of pictures of Rhea Sue, my sister Paula's baby. The pics aren't that great, but at least I can see she is cute! My sister is going to kill me for putting this picture of her on this site, but keep in mind, she was in labor for 46 hours! This other picture is Bert, my brother-in-law. You can see that none of them got much sleep this past weekend!

After what seemed like forever, my sister Paula finally gave birth to a healthy and adorable baby girl, Reah Sue. She was born around 9 or 10 PDT last night. My sister had been in labor since Friday night. I had no idea labor could last that long!

I don't know all the details, but I know she is healthy and weighs 7 pounds, 13 ounces. The anticipation was awful. I kept thinking, "Poor Paula!" I really can't imagine what it's like to go through that whole process. But she is a trooper and managed to do her thing. She gave birth through the help of a midwife. It was really interesting to hear about the preparations and process.

But it's much more interesting to know I'm an uncle again! I'm thrilled to say I'll get to meet Rhea and see my family this month in San Francisco. It'll be the first Christmas I get to spend with all of them since about 2002. Such a shame that Isaac is not going to be able to make it.

Rhea Sue was named after my grandmother (Rhea) and Bert's (Paula's husband) mother (Sue) who died several years ago.  Oh well, that's all for now. Expect to see lots of pictures of Rhea Sue as time goes on!

Some of the women in one of our indigenous tribes living in a community called Shiroles took it upon themselves about 7 years ago to generate an income for their families and community. They maintain crops of cacao, process it and turn it into chocolate bars, liquid chocolate, cookies and other delectable delights.

They have a great system down now through production, but they could really use some more help with the post-production process. They don't have much experience in getting their product to the marketplace. With the right help, these women could be marketing their products to local stores, restaurants and hotels and boosting their income by leaps-and-bounds.

Someone with even basic marketing skills could be of great assistance to them in developing a plan and then accompanying them as they visit these potential outlets. This is a very shy group of people and many of the restaurant and hotel owners speak English. Your efforts with this group would help sustain an entire village. Please let me know if you are interested in working with a group like this.

I finally made it over to the farm of one of my neighbors to check it out. They are gringos who have lived here almost 30 years. And they have been growing coffee for over 20 of those years. Cafe Cristina (named after their kids, Cris and Tina) was one of the first organic coffee farms in Costa Rica. In addition to not using any chemicals, they use natural anti-erosion methods, hand-pick their coffee and sun dry it as well. They are incredibly environmentally conscious -- and nice people too!

As you might imagine, their coffee is wonderful. There is something nice about drinking coffee that has been roasted that very day instead of waiting for it to be shipped to another country and sit on the shelves for months. They are offering a special. Buy 4 bags for $36 and have them shipped anywhere in the world (shipping included). Check out their website!

I've been getting requests for Dr Kim's number. I wish I could find his website, but I can't. Anyhow, his telephone is 231-6361. Mario is his brother-in-law. He manages the office. If you call and you don't get a call back in a day or two, call again. They are super busy. (Saratica, I couldn't find your email address and you only gave me your profile page -- which was empty.)

My sweet friends, Irene and Giovani, went to the beach this past weekend. They knew I was at home sick, so they made this sign for me in the sand, photographed it and emailed it to me. That was so nice of them! Here you can see another picture of them hanging out on the sand. They are former French classmates of Isaac who we hang out with on occassion.

What a long few weeks! As you know by now, I just got out of the hospital. I ended up being in there for 5 days. In the end, they think I had 2 different infections. One viral, like meningitis, and the other bacterial in my respiratory system, like streptococcus.

I had been sick for about 15 days earlier. I had (and still do) awful headaches, pain behind the eyes, sensitivity to light, was bruising easily and was nauseas. Most of the time I was in the hospital, I was sleeping. This whole thing has really worn me out. I’ve been home now 3 days and still haven’t been out of bed very much. My head and neck are in lots of pain.

The surprising news was that I only paid about $3,000 for all of the many tests, doctors, medications, and a private room for five days. Though that didn’t initially sound like too much to me, I realized that it’s more money than many people in Costa Rica make in a year. Hopefully my insurance will cover part of this.

I guess the worst part was how I have felt over the last 23 days. But beyond that, the hardest part was just letting go of all the “important” things I was supposed to have been doing. Sadly, it took something this serious to remind me to take good care of myself.

Anyhow, I’m home now. I’m slowly getting things back together. If I owe you an email or a phone call, please be patient. I’m way behind on everything.

Isn't this card cute? You probably can't read the words. It says, "From what the doctor said, you'll be back under my feet in no time!"

Also cute is the new name I've been given. "DeyBi Pedrinsk" is the name on my records here at the hospital in Costa Rica. I've actually been in here for 4 days now. Tomorrow will be day 5 and I hope to go home. I stopped by on Saturday because I'd been having awful headaches, nausea and sensitivity to light for way too long. Over 15 days. I know, stupid. I don't always take care of myself like I should.

We went through many iterations and guesses as to what might be ailing me. First they thought Dengue Fever, then Meningitis, later kidney stones. A million tests and four days later they think it's some kind of a virus similar to meningitis. Oh goodie. It sure has knocked me off my feet! This is the first time I've ever been in a hospital that wasn't for a scheduled surgery.

All-in-all it hasn't been that bad. Well, the experience wasn't that pleasant. But the staff and facilities have been great. There certainly were times I thought I was just dying or that my body was being ravaged by some flesh-eating (or at least muscle-eating) disease. The headaches were certaily the worst though.

I'm in a private hospital in a private room. I have no idea what it's going to cost me. Hopefully insurance will cover some of it. God knows they still haven't reimbursed us for the money from the house theft yet. More later when I have an update about my health and costs.

I had such a nice time with my family while I was in San Francisco this last week. Pictured here is me with my new niece, Evelyn. Isn't she adorable? She's so tiny!

Thankfully, it seems that John & Hai-Nhu are slowly settling into the parent thing. The last time I saw them they were already much more comfortable with Evelyn, breast feeding, changing diapers.

Now Paula, another sister, is due the beginning of December. She looks amazing and I'm really excited for her.

It was also very interesting -- as it always is -- spending time in the US after having lived in Costa Rica for 2 and 1/2 years. There is always this mix of "Gosh I miss this & that, as well as my friends" with a bit of "Oh my God...I'm so glad I don't live here anymore!" I miss the ability to get things that I want, when I want them. I miss spending time with good friends. But I tell ya, I sure don't miss the traffic, temperatures, politics and other assorted drama.

It was great getting back on that plane and going "home!"

I'm excited to say that today I'm on my way to San Francisco to visit family and friends. My sister-in-law, Hai Nhu, just had a baby last week. Little Evelyn was born on August 23rd 2006 at 8:42AM weighing in at 8 pounds 5 ounces and measuring 20". She was a bit jaundiced for some reason, but a few extra days in the hospital cleared that up.

In addition to seeing the new addition to the family, I get to see my sister, Paula, who is also pregnant. She's due in December. As you can see from the picture, she's settling into this pretty well! My other sister, Mary, also just moved to San Francisco about a week or two ago. So I'll get to spend time with lots of family.

And, as if that were not enough, nephew Sebastian Alexander was born August 11th at 12:37 am, weighing 8lbs 2oz and measuring 21". Sebastian was born to my brother, Eric, and his wife Allison. Sadly, they are in Massachusetts and I won't be able to make it out there this time.

It's a short trip, only about 8 days. But it'll be fun to see everyone. I haven't seen these guys for over a year and I'm also missing San Francisco a bit. So forgive me if I don't get much writing done over the next week.

Some friends of mine on the Caribbean side are looking for their "tribe."  They've found the land, a former organic fruit farm and now they need the people.  They need people who know ¨permaculture¨ and potentially have construction and infrastructure skills and- or are incredible, creative, inspired teachers.  They also hope to raise as much of their own food as possible, and are open to developing a number of cottage industries depending on individual skills and interests.  The plan is to integrate some of the promising youth coming from challenged situations in the area. 

They want sober people and no drugs; and that includes marijuana.  Occasional outside use is fine.  They envision up to 20 people on the land, with the focus being on sustainable development, spirituality, and ultimately a retreat center.  Their spirituality is eclectic, yet mostly nature based.

If interested please send them an email telling us WHO you are and any skills in sustainable living. They are three inspired women, a 13- and a  2-year-old boy.

Send emails here.

Last Saturday the 19th, we celebrated my birthday (which is really August 15) by having a big party at our house. It was a ton of fun, and ranks amongst the top 2 parties I’ve ever had. There were just under fifty people here and the evening was filled with excitement. It started with a surprise showing of Mr. Universe Absolute Fitness 2005 from Spain. The guests were lined up to take pictures with him with his shirt off. He was very sweet and patient with our horny guests.

Next came Esteban, the fire-spinner. He lights poi on long chains with kerosene and spins them all around very artistically to dramatic techno music. For those of you who have never seen such a thing, it’s quite impressive. Next time I’ll take a video to show you.

By this time, most everyone had shown up and we were eating a ton of delicious BBQ meats, salads, a yummy maple syrup squash dish I made from butternut squash out of the garden and much, much more. DJ Isaac had prepared the playlist weeks in advance and everyone was grooving to the beat and beginning to dance.

Tequila shots started circulating, as well as this crazy orange drink in bottles that were being poured down everyone’s throat directly from the bottle. We went through about 3 gallons of the stuff! Oh, speaking of drinks, Esteban also made these crazy things out of plastic that attach to the beer bottles to help you drink it (beer bong style) in about 4 seconds. So, of course, a competition ensued.

About 11pm the stripper, Iceman, showed up. He put on three numbers as he progressively took more and more off. Our new client (from our Cultural Enrichment Program), Tanya, showed up in time for the show and was picked out of the crowd by Iceman for quite the spectacle. He picked her up, spun her around and I think shocked the hell out of her!

At this point I thought the shows were over, but about an hour later I heard music coming from the end of the driveway. The mariachis were here! They entered the house singing and playing their instruments as all 50 of us started to dance and sing to songs like, “El Mariachi Loco Quiere Bailar.” One of the friends who flew in for the party from San Francisco, Brett, started crying. I do have to say the whole thing was very overwhelming having about 60 people in one room hugging me, kissing me and saying Happy Birthday. This really wasn’t a party of clicky groups. Everyone was talking, dancing and hanging out together. It felt like a real love fest!

As soon as the mariachis were done, but still in the room, Mauricio brought out my birthday cake. Everyone sang to me and then I got the entire cake shoved into my face! It was actually so funny, that I couldn’t even get mad. But it did take quite a bit of time before I got all the frosting out of my ears.

The party finally broke up about 4am and I tried to go to sleep. But I was still so wired from the whole event that I didn’t really sleep. Now Isaac says we have to top this party with one in November for his birthday. Should be fun!

View all the pictures here.

I’ve been fortunate enough in my life to have had many wonderful experiences. Getting to know Alfredo though, has definitely landed pretty close to the top. Alfredo is a member of the indigenous Bribri tribe from Costa Rica. He grew up in the mountains and has never had electricity, running water or a bathroom. He grew up in an abusive home and never had anyone to teach him basic life principles or skills. He left home at the age of 14 and found sporadic work in the mountains. He also started learning Spanish at the age of 14.

Alfredo is now 17 years old. About two years ago he ventured down the mountain and landed in Puerto Viejo, a town of about 2,600 people. He was frightened. He knew nobody and this big “city” was very overwhelming for him. He discovered drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. But thankfully, after experimenting for a while, he found that he did not like that lifestyle.

For about a year now, Alfredo has been working for friends of mine, Roberto and Colin. They have really taken Alfredo under their arms, given him new skills and mentored him in ways he never had. They taught him how to tell time, use a fork and knife and many, many other things. Just recently they built a caretaker’s unit for Alfredo so he could live on their property with them.

Alfredo had been asking me for a long time to take him to visit my house in the Cartago area, as well as to see San Jose. We finally made that happen this past week. It was an amazing experience.

It was also a strange experience. Here we were, a gringo with 2 years of Spanish trying to play tour guide to someone who was born in Costa Rica, but only has 4 years of Spanish under his belt. But we made it happen! Alfredo got to see his first mall, first movie and lots of other firsts. He spent time with our horses, watched TV and loved having his picture taken.

He is one of the most polite and appreciative people I’ve ever met. Because of his experience growing up, he is a very mature 17-year-old. But at the same time he is very naïve about many things.  I found out he didn’t know what the word “furniture” meant in Spanish. When I thought about it though, I figured it kind of made sense that someone who never had any furniture wouldn’t know what it meant. He’s also very committed to his education. He leaves work at the end of the day, takes his bike over 20 miles to the town of Bribri, stops to bathe in the waterfall, changes his clothes and attends night school. Then in the dark he rides his bike all the way home. He tells me someday that he wants to get his masters degree.

It was such a nice feeling sharing lots of “firsts” with Alfredo. He is very intelligent and I could see his world and dreams open up in front of my eyes. I’m very appreciative of the experience and look forward to hosting Alfredo again, and possibly some more kids.

Wow. I have so much I want to write about. But…I’m out of time. I’m headed back to Puerto Viejo with a volunteer. Things are finally calming down around the house a bit. We interviewed a security guard this weekend. I tell ya, that’s a conversation I never expected to have! “Hello sir. Do you have a gun? How big is it? Do you know how to use it? Can you promise not to shoot us?”

Tomorrow is a holiday here. Something about the Virgin of Los Angeles. They estimate about 2 million people will walk to the Cartago Basilica as a pilgrimage. That’s nearly 50% of the population here! They call it “Romeria” and the people making the pilgrimage are called “Romeros.” It’s quite the site to see. It’s hell on traffic though. People make some kind of promise to the virgin, make the pilgrimage and wait to see if a miracle occurs. Oh yeah, and when they get to the church, they crawl on their knees to the front of the church from the entrance. Pretty wild.

I went last night. There were thousands of people there with live music and food vendors. I took some pictures, but I’ll have to put them up later in the week. I just ran out of time. Have a great week!

I guess I need to apologize for not posting more often. I was doing really well for a while, posting just about every day. But I have been so incredibly busy with this new volunteer program we are running. I’ve been shocked at the response. For almost a year I was spending lots of time, energy and money into trying to book people for retreats and workshops. It was becoming clear it was not a “hot market.” Pretty much bummed me out.

But as soon as I breathed word one about wanting volunteers to come to Costa Rica, my phone has been ringing off the hook! I’m really glad to be doing something worthwhile and fun.

It all started with my recognizing the effects of so many tourists in Costa Rica. We get almost 2 million per year. Though they bring a lot of money into the country, not everyone gets a piece of the pie. Not to mention the ecological and economic damages this presents. For instance, the influx of money equates to higher inflation. Higher inflation is not helping the gap between rich and poor. And salaries are not budging.

So I was wondering how I could do my small part to help out and came up with the idea of converting tourist “exploitation” to “contribution.” And what better way than to spend time learning about and experiencing another culture, while at the same time, making some sort of contribution?

The volunteers we already have here are working with the Bribri indigenous tribe, an elementary school on the Caribbean side and Lankester Botanical Gardens. So far, so good!

Now I’m off today to Dominical and Playa Uvita in the south pacific area of the country to scope out some new host families and volunteer opportunities. That means I won’t have any more posts until next week. Sorry! But rest assured, I’ll be back with pictures and stories. Be well!

Photos by Maisie Crow.

Even though I live in Costa Rica, it’s still very easy to “shield” myself from part of life. It’s easy to get caught up in my day-to-day life and to not interact with many people. So when I do things like take a long trip by bus, I really open myself up to some marvelous experiences. Yes, sometimes the experiences are waiting, getting lost, and other such inconveniences. But no matter what happens, I always learn more about other people and myself.

Last Sunday I went to Puerto Viejo (de Talamanca) by bus. I went there to meet with some organizations looking for volunteer help, as I own a company who brings volunteers to Costa Rica from around the world. Ironically (come on, nothing is a coincidence) I ended up sitting next to a member of the Cabeca tribe.

I’ve been living in Costa Rica for more than 2 years now and had never heard of this tribe. It was fascinating to listen to stories of how they live. This 18-year-old kid, Reiner, is the principal and only teacher in a mountain community for 25 students. The community is accessible only by a 3-hour hike. There is a second school further up the mountain, which is a 2-day hike.

They have no electricity or running water. Even more impressive is the fact that Reiner attends the University of Costa Rica in Turrialba. That means, of course, he has to walk 3 hours each way!

One of the reasons I was so happy to meet him is because I’ll somehow be able to hook up with him to visit their tribe. I’m hoping I’ll be able to send some volunteers to his community in the near future. I have dentists, teachers and many other skilled people who are looking to do some volunteering in Costa Rica.

Another thing I wanted to mention was that had I not learned Spanish, I’d have never been able to communicate with him. Reiner doesn’t speak any English, though he does speak Bri Bri, Cabeca and Spanish all fluently.

Not speaking Spanish in Costa Rica, one can get by. But they can’t reap the reward of the intimate conversations with such beautiful people.

Thank you all for writing. I get lovely e-mails from people every day and it really puts a smile on my face. I thought I'd share this one with you (reprinted with permission).

Hi Scott,

I stumbled across your websites after discovering the Costa Rica Young Expats Group and want you to know how happy and inspried I am that an organization such as yours exists in Costa Rica.

I am seriously considering a move from the States (I'm a 37 year old single girl and currently live in AZ - just moved back to AZ Sept of last year after living in Southern CA for 3.5 years), and I will be in Costa Rica at the end of June to attend Christopher Howard's Inland Valley Tour/Seminar before making my final decision to make the move.

To make a long story short, my decision to explore a move to Costa Rica all came about as I was reading Wayne Dyer's book on living an Inspired Life. I feel as though I have just been existing in life, and I've decided I need to make a drastic change from the rat-race of the corporate world etc (not to mention the frightening things the Bush  administration is doing, but I won't go into that :). I plan to take Spanish classes for the first month or so and then find volunteer work to do, meet new people and just see where the adventure takes me. I was thrilled to come across the Costa Rica Young Expats group, as I feared all expats would be much older than I am. And I must say it seemed like fate to come across your websites. 

The thought of moving to a new country alone where I know nobody is both frightening and exiting, and coming across your blog and website was so comforting and even more motivating for me to make the move. Your programs to help in my journey of self-discovery/finding my purpose in life is just what I am looking for. If I do make the move, I hope to attend one of your adventures/retreats once I am settled there, and hopefully we will also meet at one of the Young Expats gatherings. 

Warmest Regards,
Heidi Cohen

I had to share this picture with you. It's a picture of Sophie, the daughter of two friends of ours, Rob and Kirk in Los Angeles. She's adorable, eh? Also in the picture are Kirk's parents. Kirk and Rob are among the growing number of gay / lesbian parents in the US. I don't know what the exact numbers are, but they are getting big!

I still have no idea what it takes to become a gay dad here in Costa Rica, but maybe we'll find out one of these days soon!

My friend, Colin, drew my attention to a posting on the ARCR forums today from a guy who was just here recently from the Las Vegas area with his wife. After many months of chatting online with people, reading books and mentally preparing themselves for a move to a country they have never visited, they showed up to attend a 2-day seminar at ARCR and then to travel around a bit and check out their soon-to-be new home.

It didn’t take long for them to realize that Costa Rica is not for them. Though I have to say the reasons they listed were a bit of a surprise to me (and the other forum members), but the point of the story really is that Costa Rica is not for everyone! We all have our different expectations of what it will be like for us and how life will be for us living in this new “paradise.”

When it comes down to it, no matter how perfect Costa Rica may be for you, there is most certainly culture shock to be experienced and a necessary acclamation period to go through. I consider myself to be a very seasoned traveler and have lived in other countries for short periods of time (such as 3 months in Romania), but it truly took me a year in Costa Rica before I started feeling pretty comfortable. And it took two years to feel like I was really comfortable and like it was “home.”

That is not to say I didn’t absolutely love it from the time my plane landed. It’s just that getting used to the way things are done here is a bit tough. Mostly, it’s cultural. We in the US are so spoiled! And I guess I judged Costa Rica as being backwards and messed up for a long time. Don’t get me wrong, there are certainly things they can improve upon.

But now I find myself really worrying what kinds of changes are to come once the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA....or TLC as it is in Spanish) is passed.  As screwed up as things seem, I think I prefer them broken and slow to “Americanized!”

If you are new to Costa Rica, or panning a move here, I strongly suggest you be patient with Costa Rica – and most importantly yourselves – once you get here. Change can be good, but often takes time. Also, do yourself a favor and:

1. Hook up with some folks who have been here for a while so you can learn the strings and have a bit of a support structure.
   
2. Travel to many places in Costa Rica. Each part is very unique and you may just stumble upon a location you fall in love with.
   
3. Rent! Please. Why would you buy something in an area that you are not 100% sure you will enjoy? Not only is it a risk, expensive and time-consuming, but you contribute to the rising housing costs.

Most importantly, remember what your intentions are in the move. I know many people who say they want “a slower pace of life.” They want to enjoy life more. So when you feel frustrated and impatient, remember to slow down and enjoy the process!

I do have to say that it makes me laugh when I think of these guys making anti-gay proclamations. Do they look in the mirror? Check out the colorful costumes ---- especially the adorable red shoes!

The church teaches that persons with a homosexual orientation "are called, like other Christians, to live the virtue of chastity," and a life of loneliness and lack of sexual intimacy. But I guess they didn't say anything about a life free of fashion!

Last night one of the dogs of my friends, Colin and Roberto, was bit by a snake and died shortly thereafter. It’s really sad. Pancho was such a sweet, loving dog. This picture is about a year old, but he was still just as cute.

Here in Costa Rica we are certainly subject to things we might not be elsewhere in the world. We do have snakes and other dangerous animals. Now mind you, I’ve been here over two years and have traveled a few times into the deep jungle. I’ve never seen any snakes. But don’t be fooled – they are here!

I think the toughest part of the situation with Colin’s dog is that there was no way to get a hold of a veterinarian. I’m pretty sure where he lives in Puerto Viejo there is a vet, but they couldn’t get in touch with him or her.

Living outside of the metropolitan area has it’s pros and cons. This is something important to take into consideration when choosing where in Costa Rica to live. And it’s also why I always suggest to rent someplace before buying. One never truly knows if they will be able to handle the area until they try it out!

Please send love and light to Colin and Roberto during this hard time. If you feel so inclined, you can send an email to them.

Costa Rica has long held a reputation as a hide-out for criminals. Supposedly that has changed, but I still hear plenty of stories. I imagine when CAFTA (the Central American Free Trade Agreement) is finally and inevitably passed, the US government will have more say and control over things here.

One big problem has been Costa Rica’s way of handling pedophiles. To date, they are still allowed to be teachers after getting out of jail. The latest ridiculous thing to happen is the release of a guy named Calvert Bleasdale.

Bleasdale is the former San Cristobal sales manager who was apprehended in Panama and extradited to Costa Rica not long ago. He was wanted here on charges of fraud. As the story goes, he swindled investors out of millions of dollars selling them fake sugarbonds and other non existing investment vehicles. He then kept the money himself and eventually fled the country to Mexico and Brazil.

He somehow ended up later in Panama, where he worked as a sales manager for the land and investment scam San Cristobal, which has since seized to exist with its principal Tom McMurrain in jail in Atlanta, Georgia. Two defrauded investors from Costa Rica had tracked him down, and handed him to the Panamanian police which in its turn shipped him onwards to Costa Rica.

Bleasdale has an impressive and well documented history of child sex abuse. In Panama he became a client of infamous Madam Tonya, who ran a child prostitution ring which was basically being protected by the authorities.

Costa Rican prosecutors have now dropped all charges against Bleasdale and even let him keep his residency. The reason stated is that not enough victims came forward to file criminal complaints and/or came to Costa Rica to give evidence in court. However, it looks more like a case of lazy or even corrupt prosecutors.

"The problem I have with this is that there is overwhealming evidence of everything he did, a very large fraud," says one of Bleasdale's victims. "Maybe Costa Rica can give Bleasdale a job in a kindergarten considering they have that information on his criminal sexual abuse of children," he added.

We’re trying to get ready for Semana Santa (Holy Week) here in Costa Rica. Being that we’re a Catholic country, religious festivities are quite a special occasion to socialize and bring out some of the nation's best long-standing traditions.

Each city and town has their own street processions taking place every day this week. They dramatize all the stages of Christ’s way to the crucifixion and resurrection. Oxcarts, horses and trucks are blessed.

It’s also time to indulge in local delicacies of the season, such as chiverre (sweet preserves made from spaghetti squash), arroz con leche and lots of seafood dishes (as many still give up meat for lent).

It’s a very exciting time here, religious or not. Most people have the greater part of the week off from work. And they take advantage of this time to head to the beach.

Time at the beach this during this season can be fun – but crazy. It’s nice to be in the middle of a different culture’s celebrating, but I personally find the beaches nicer when there aren’t many people around. Though it is fun to meet new people, if you happen to be outgoing. And this week all the beaches will be packed!

Those tourists arriving to Costa Rica at this time of the year who have not made plans in advance can have trouble finding car and hotel reservations.

San Jose will be dead on Thursday and Friday, but all the country roads (most especially those leading to the beaches) will be packed.

Besides being a holiday, Easter brings along the end of the dry season, though the rainy season ramps up slowly. So Costa Ricans and foreigners are eager to get a taste of the last sunny, clear-sky weather of the season, while relaxing and hiking at the beach and mountains during Holy Week.

As for me, I’ll be home relaxing!

The thing about truth is that everyone has a different version of it. And though it’s possible that some of us know some of the truth some of the time, it’s pretty unlikely that we’ll know much of the truth most of the time.

I grew up thinking that I could trust at least a few people: parents, church, government, police officers and teachers. One-by-one my illusions shattered.

When I was in junior high school I had a teacher literally push me into the girls room during gym class. Then he lied to the dean of discipline (yes, it was a Catholic school) and told her I entered on my own accord. I was duly punished and I came to hate and mistrust authority.

Next came church. Not only my own parish priest was accused by more than one kid of inappropriate sexual acts, but it seemed the entire church ran amok with problems. Then my own boss at the time, a military priest, made a move on me – as did my vocational director when I was in the seminary.

That’s when the lights turned on for me I believe. I realized if I could be so easily duped by the church I had been so faithful to, it was possible that there were crazy things going on in other arenas.

On three occasions I’ve been purposely mistreated by the police when I was completely innocent. For instance when I was on 42nd Street in New York City (before it was cleaned up a bit) and showing something from my wallet to one of my military buddies (who just happened to be black) a cop tried to arrest me for buying drugs! Then he threatened to take me into the subway and “beat the shit” out of me. (Serve and protect? My tax money at work.)

As if these types of experiences were not bad enough, we have events like the Kennedy assassination and 9/11. At one time I would have been naive enough to believe the government wouldn’t lie to her citizens. I know better now.

But I’ve learned that I can’t put any energy into trying to find the answers – or “truth” from much in the world. I’m learning to embrace mystery. There is something magical about getting to the point where one can stop asking “why” and instead ask, “how am I going to treat myself and others as I move forward in unknowing.”

It’s awfully easy to get caught up in right and wrong. After all, we are conditioned from the time we are born into believing in such dichotomy. In the long run I really think that there is no such thing as “right” or “wrong.”

Where I really get stuck though is in knowing how much responsibility I have in holding others to truth. For instance, if I really thought the government was involved in a conspiracy (or many), do I have an obligation to do anything about it?

How about discrimination or others, human rights, hunger, pollution? Where does the line begin and end for personal responsibility? I guess it comes down to each individual deciding what kind of world he or she wants to live in and trying to take small steps to create that for themselves.

I’ve seen individuals who could change the world, so I know it’s possible. Do I need to follow in their footsteps? Or can I just affect a change in my own life and environment? In the end for me personally, I seek to respect myself and others and to take small steps toward change. Because when it comes to the “big picture,” it’s all a bit too overwhelming for me.

I was talking to my friend, Colin, the other day and he mentioned that he was at a brunch with some neighbors – and husband and wife I also know. They got to talking about he and his partner, Roberto, being “out” as gay in their small Costa Rican beach community of Puerto Viejo. It clearly upset this couple on one level, even though they claim to be okay with they gay thing themselves.

Colin mentioned that he was too old and had already done enough healing on his own gay "issues” and that he just didn’t have the energy or desire to hide who he really is to others around him. It was his personal truth that was important to him.

At that comment, the wife responded, “Just because you’re okay with being gay doesn’t mean that the others around you are. Aren’t you worried about not respecting the other person’s truth and upsetting them?”

Needless to say, my friend was quite upset about this. I think mostly because he was happy to have found these “normal” neighbors in a Caribbean world with many troubled folk. He had made the assumption that because he and these neighbors agreed on so many points that they would agree on all points – or at least those which felt near-and-dear to Colin’s heart.

What ran across my mind when Colin told me about this story was how other people’s “truth” bothered me at times. Let’s say I run into a person with no legs. That’s pretty much their truth and not much can be done about it. But it has at times made me uncomfortable and upset me. Should that person be held to hide their truth? Stay home maybe where he or she won’t upset anyone?

I have run into way too many people – and clients – in my life with huge self-worth problems because they were afraid of their own truth. This has usually stemmed from comments other people have made, leading them to turn inward and judge themselves as not being “normal,” beautiful and ultimately worthy.

Perhaps it would be best if we could be more compassionate with ourselves – and others. After all, why do we assume that the truth of others has anything at all to do with us?

I wanted to share some information with you about a brave young lady. Her name is Allex. She's 17 and lives in the Seattle area. Last November Allex was diagnosed with a type of cancer called Adenocarcinoma Stage 4. This means the endocrine system (hormones, adrenal glands, pancreas, etc.) is used to transport cancer to various locations of the body. This type of cancer is EXTRAORDINARILY rare in healthy young adults. When she was first diagnosed, doctors discovered tumors in her lungs (the source), multiple bone locations (5), the spine (2), and the brain (9) and gave her a prognosis of 8-10 months.  She has been going through both chemotherapy and radiation since her diagnosis.

I created a blog for her and am also trying to raise money to help  the family pay the cost of the last drug available to improve and prolong Allex's life.  While the family has a valid Rx and doctor approval, the insurance company is balking at paying.  At $180 per pill and 2 pills per day, that leaves a monthly bill of $10,800.

Allex would also love to receive your prayers, love and email with words of encouragement. If you feel moved to donate to the cause, please click here. Thanks so much for your consideration.

It's really interesting how different a social life can be here in Costa Rica. For my first year-and-a-half I really didn't socialize with any other gringos. Between grad school, learning Spanish and getting settled in my new home, I didn't have a lot of spare time.

But this last six months I've really been making an effort to get to know more people. As the number of people we have to choose from to hang out with is severely diminished by the fact that there are jus