Hi all,
It’s another week or well, closer to 10 days later in the land of “Pura Vida” and rainforests. This was “car shopping week”. After this week, I now remember exactly why I really dislike shopping for cars regardless of the country of origin.
First and foremost, all cars in Costa Rica are imported. Second, Costa Rica has a very robust healthcare and educational system (just ask Rush Limbaugh!). This all adds up to third, very high import taxes making cars almost twice as expensive in Costa Rica as they are in the United States. This brings me to the fourth thing. We wanted to buy a decent small SUV made in this decade under less than $15,000. Most of our Tico and Tica friends laughed almost uncontrollably at this thought.
After many days of going to many dealers, we discovered our quest to buy a car has a lot in common with Don Quixote. (ack!)
Our first “windmill” was “car salesman deal with a lot of expats, surely they speak some English.” Ummmm….that would be a NO. So far, in all of the dealerships we’ve visited, one car salesman spoke English. Great…nothing like talking about cars (anyone know the Spanish word for “shock absorber” or “console”?) and the large numbers which are invariably involved ($15,750 or $29,999) in Spanish. Did you notice none of those price examples were UNDER $15,000?
That brings me to our second “windmill”, finding a decent small SUV under $15,000 made in this decade. That has proved to be a bit of a challenge. Most cars since 2003 will be at least $13,000 and over $15,000 if they fall into the “decent small SUV” category from what we’ve found. As a result, we’re delving heavily into the 2000-2003 model years. Most of these cars will run under $15,000. But finding a “decent” meaning “mechanically sound and including an interior which doesn’t resemble a war zone” is a quest we still have yet to complete.
We shall continue valiantly forward since our rental car is costing us a small fortune each month. We have several dealerships to go and a trove of cars for sale by private individuals. We were fortunately referred to a very trustworthy and competent mechanic who we enlist for about $20 a car to thoroughly check out any final candidate. We’ll find a car. The challenge will be finding a car made in the last decade in this decade. Wish us luck! Once we find this “diamond in the rough”, I’ll post a picture with all the details. Stay tuned!
James and Jaci
Audrey took this picture of us on the porch
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Christmas in March!!
Hi all,
My apologies for not posting for awhile. But I have a very good reason. Our ocean shipment arrived and it's like Christmas in March!
After over a month with rental furniture, we now have our own things. Nothing makes anywhere feel like home when you're sleeping in your own bed at night.
On the day our things arrived, naturally it rained all day. As such we weren't able to get started until almost 11am. But we got started regardless. For the remainder of the day, we checked off each box or item by #, directed the movers where to put it; in Spanish usually, got some great practice at numbers. After the better part of a day, our house looked like a war zone. Imagine taking the contents of your entire house, boxing it all up, and then putting it in a house 2/3 of the size; all in the space of an afternoon. For the better part of the last 2 weeks, we have spent most of our spare time literally "getting organized". At this point, we're about 2/3 done. The 3rd level where all of our computer stuff and the office will be is in a state of progress. Audrey's room is done. Corwin's room is almost done. The second level TV room is about 3/4 done. Master bedroom is about 2/3. Living room is about half. We have half the room which still has boxes to be unpacked. Kitchen is done. Back utility room is a "catch all" right now. :) We'll do that last. The dining room is done and looks very similar to our dining room at our house in the states.
Last weekend we had a "marido" (Spanish for handyman) come and spend the better part of the day working on various and assorted things. Electrical wiring needed to be updated. Dryer vent snaked out (it was full of water from all the rain). As it runs UNDER the house when there is a lot of rain, it fills up. Also had him hang our bigger pictures. The walls are all concrete. As such, it takes a hammer drill to put a hole in the wall. But after all of that, our house is actually looking quasi organized. Scary!
I think the thing I was the happiest to see was the one item marked "articulos varios" in our shipment. I've included a picture of the rental version of this item in this blog. So with the picture of the small, old and very inefficient Atlas stove on your screen, imagine a very different picture of the "articulos varios" or our brand new, GE profile, stainless steel, ceramic top stove! It was the item I was the happiest to see. And exactly why it was marked "articulos varios" or "various articles" will forever remain a mystery. The best part was NOW we could actually cook without having to guess how hot the oven was or waiting a half an hour for the burners to heat up hot enough to make the simplest of things. The other day I made apple pies for a potluck at the office in this brand new piece of appliance bliss. I was able to cook 3 pies at the same time in the abundant and accurately temperatured oven. One pie I kept at home. 2 I took to the office. All disappeared in record time.
Once it cools down a bit, I think I'll make some applesauce with my new stainless steel friend. To the person, in my office, no one has actually had apple sauce or apple butter. As apples don't grow natively here people don't eat them a lot. My new quest will be to try and find apples which are even half as good as the ones in my parents’ apple orchard on their farm in Kansas. Once I do, me and our wonderful new stove will have a "Martha Stewart Moment" and can applesauce. Woo Hoo! :)
My apologies for not posting for awhile. But I have a very good reason. Our ocean shipment arrived and it's like Christmas in March!
After over a month with rental furniture, we now have our own things. Nothing makes anywhere feel like home when you're sleeping in your own bed at night.
On the day our things arrived, naturally it rained all day. As such we weren't able to get started until almost 11am. But we got started regardless. For the remainder of the day, we checked off each box or item by #, directed the movers where to put it; in Spanish usually, got some great practice at numbers. After the better part of a day, our house looked like a war zone. Imagine taking the contents of your entire house, boxing it all up, and then putting it in a house 2/3 of the size; all in the space of an afternoon. For the better part of the last 2 weeks, we have spent most of our spare time literally "getting organized". At this point, we're about 2/3 done. The 3rd level where all of our computer stuff and the office will be is in a state of progress. Audrey's room is done. Corwin's room is almost done. The second level TV room is about 3/4 done. Master bedroom is about 2/3. Living room is about half. We have half the room which still has boxes to be unpacked. Kitchen is done. Back utility room is a "catch all" right now. :) We'll do that last. The dining room is done and looks very similar to our dining room at our house in the states.
Last weekend we had a "marido" (Spanish for handyman) come and spend the better part of the day working on various and assorted things. Electrical wiring needed to be updated. Dryer vent snaked out (it was full of water from all the rain). As it runs UNDER the house when there is a lot of rain, it fills up. Also had him hang our bigger pictures. The walls are all concrete. As such, it takes a hammer drill to put a hole in the wall. But after all of that, our house is actually looking quasi organized. Scary!
Once it cools down a bit, I think I'll make some applesauce with my new stainless steel friend. To the person, in my office, no one has actually had apple sauce or apple butter. As apples don't grow natively here people don't eat them a lot. My new quest will be to try and find apples which are even half as good as the ones in my parents’ apple orchard on their farm in Kansas. Once I do, me and our wonderful new stove will have a "Martha Stewart Moment" and can applesauce. Woo Hoo! :)
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