thebumpsalongtheroad-blog

[thebumpsalongtheroad-blog]

July 15, 2017: The past two days have been long ones. 😂 When we first arrived in Costa Rica I got my first souvenir quickly, a nice little virus🤢 well long story short a few meds and 200$ later I was much better. Unfortunately it looks like Andrew caught this bug late and he was sick all day yesterday along with the night before. We know it's nothing super serious but knowing he is in this much pain and I can't help sucks. We were able to go the the local pharmacy and get him some meds, which are not cheap here by any means, and now he is doing a little better. We think the virus should be long gone in a few days. Today we made the terrible mistake of trying to go into town on a Saturday. With most places being closed on Sundays, Saturday is the only real day Costa Rican's have to get errands done. The buses are a nightmare! One thing I miss is the "southern hospitality" back home. Here, most people, will not move out of your way when you are trying to get off a crowded bus, so you shove while you are being yelled at by the driver to hurry up and get off. Very stressful. We ended up getting off way before our stop and walking as it was much more relaxing then fighting people on a crowded bus. No more Saturday trips for us😂 Costa Rica has been teaching us so many things, one being massive amounts of patience and an attempt at understanding and trying the other cheek. For the rest of the night we have decided to cook in tonight and watch some Bob's Burgers and relax, along with all day tomorrow ☺️ School starts in 3 days and I'm very ready to see the kids that I will get the pleasure of working with for the next two years. ❤️

[thebumpsalongtheroad-blog]

July 12th, 2017 IT'S OFFICIAL!!! We have settled into our new home for the next year, maybe two, and we could not love it more! Our new hosts, Cassie and Arthur are so nice and they have the cutest cat, Bramble, who has taken a liking to Andrew. We spent last night enjoying pizza with Sara and our hosts and it was a blast!! This morning we woke up to the beautiful view of the canyon and the sound of the waterfall. We watched the butterflies snack on the fruit basket that is in the back for them. After our peaceful morning we took the bus to the local Walmart to finally stock up on groceries after about 2 weeks of eating nothing but non perishables. We got some small things for the apartment that were needed like hangers and buckets. We also added two new friends my little cactus and Andrew's succulent. They are the perfect edition to our downstairs table. With school starting in 6 days it feels indescribable to finally be settled after a month of bouncing from house to house and town to town. After 3 houses, 3 hotels and uncertainty we are finally home. Welcome to Costa Rica💙🇨🇷💕

[thebumpsalongtheroad-blog]

July 10th, 2017: Well the past month has been a fun and stressful one but as we near closer to school beginning and we move into our "semi-permanent" home tomorrow morning I could not be more excited to be settled! We started our day by taking the bus into Escazu to go to the multiplaza to deal with banking stuff for rent. Then we decided to spoil ourselves and go to the "fast food heaven" and have not only Taco Bell but also Carl's Jr. AND Subway for breakfast. We looked like stereotypical gringos but we needed some food! After getting some fuel we went back into Ciudad and walked around town to get to know our new area better :) we found a quaint little shop tucked back in the park with handmade bracelets, necklaces and all kinds of other gems for SUPER cheap prices. I got a beautiful sunstone necklace and a super dope woven dread wrap for under 2$! I love my new little dread and the wrap is perfect! We also didn't have a fan in our new place and after two nights of being stubborn and not being able to sleep we caved and bought a little fan which we are embarrassingly excited about!!😂 We met our new housemate Sara from Belgium and she is so amazingly nice and helpful! Her boyfriend is a local to Ciudad Colon and she has offered to help us with any questions. We have found some very helpful people in the last few days and we are so thankful that we no longer feel so confused and lost in this country haha. So for the rest of the night we get to snack on our subs and play some cards before moving into Casa de Bumpers ❤️💙🇨🇷

[thebumpsalongtheroad-blog]

July 8th, 2017/ Cont: Well so today has been interesting to say the least. About 10 minutes after posting my post this morning we had a little incident at our house. Remember Santiago the little schnauzer that was stray and living on our porch? Well he stopped showing up at our apartment about 2 weeks ago and we just figured he has found his way to a new home. Well this morning his "apparent owner" showed up at our apartment and was very angry about this dog. He proceed to scream at Andrew in Spanish about his dog while Andrew calmly tried to explain that we didn't have his dog, we were also unaware at this time that he was looking for the dog who used to hang around. He then beat against our gate in front of our house and yelled violently attempting to climb over the gate and grab Andrew. He walked away with his wife angrily and we tried to call police to help us. We figured out quickly that Costa Rica police couldn't help us since we didn't speak Spanish. We called our host who got there as fast as she could. She arrived about an hour later due to traffic and the gentleman is actually the neighbor of the house we were staying in and he came out to talk to the host. He explained that his son said he heard barking from our house. She said that we did not have a dog and when he said his son had seen the grey dog on our porch so realized it was Santiago. She made the comment that the dog seemed stray and had been around for a while but that we did not have him and had not seen him for a while. They didn't seem to believe her either and our host told us the man seemed a little crazy. Needless to say we did not feel safe in our little town anymore and we wanted to go somewhere where we felt safer. We called the couple we met yesterday and asked about their apartments thinking we would get a hotel in Escazu for the night and then try to find housing. The couple, instead, let us stay in another one of their properties while they get our new place ready for us, for free! So now we are in Ciudad Colon in a 3 bedroom apartment that we are sharing with a woman named Sara from Belgium. We get to meet her tomorrow. On Tuesday we move into our one bedroom apartment just a few minutes down the road. It's been a long day with some scary experiences but we are now in our new town getting our new place earlier than we planned. Everything happens for a reason. We love our temporary place and we are very excited for our new place in a few days! Now for a relaxing evening.

[thebumpsalongtheroad-blog]

July 8th, 2017: Well we have set off in the hunt for our next apartment and it has been interesting. We financially are struggling currently but we know that soon the rain, just like the crazy storms this week, will pass. It's crazy how one person can be so over prepared and stressed about planning life and life still throws wrenches in whenever it pleases. Thanks life haha. But we have a small place until August 14th in a new city, Ciudad Colon, and will be closer to my new school which is very exciting! I start officially at the school the 18th and I'm so ready to be back in a school with little kiddos again. I've truly enjoyed having a month of pure vacation and adventure but I'm excited to start getting a routine in place :) Andrew and I have also figured out the bus system here better which works relatively well:) so as we venture off into the next part of our adventure we are bundles of feelings from excitement to nervousness. From Atenas-Santiago de Puriscal-Ciudad Colon we are coming for you. Until next time friends. 💙🇨🇷❤️

[thebumpsalongtheroad-blog]

July 3rd 2017: As you grow older you realize some deep truths that you always knew existed but for some reason when they happen they shock you. The process of uprooting our lives in Wilmington, North Carolina and leaving all we knew to move to Costa Rica has been both challenging and rewarding to say the least. We began planning our move to Costa Rica around December of 2016. We looked at blogs and websites of cities, we looked into getting jobs, housing and basically spent from December of 2016-May of 2017 doing nothing but saving, preparing and planning. We had answers to every question and felt OVER prepared for our new life. We sold all of our belongings, left our cars with family and took a suitcase, one carry on and a backpack and set off to start a new life in Costa Rica. The past few weeks of getting accustomed have been different than I originally imagined. With sickness related to changing elevations and stress, to not understanding certain parts of culture and having a difficult time communicating; moving to Costa Rica has posed many new struggles. I have seen countless friends have huge moments in their lives that I cannot or have not been a part of due to being in a different country. My amazing and beautiful big is getting married soon, my glittle is making big moves in her life and coming into her own, three of my best friends are about to embark to Boone to kick some serious mountain butt and I miss them all with a passion! Being away from loved ones is one of the hardest part of moving. I regret not cherishing some of the moments I should have in the past. However all of these souls hold such a strong place in my heart and forever will. At times I miss home more than I can express. I miss going to cookout at 2am and grubbing on greasy foods. I miss my phone working when I need to it, as here we haven't yet figured out how to use our phones for anything except social media haha. I miss watching the sunsets on Wrightsville beach with friends and enjoying Vito's pizza. I miss grilling out with Richard and Rosie and playing with the kittens and sharing life wisdom with Hagan! I miss the comfortability that home brought. The easiness and accessibility of anything and everything. But there are things I also don't miss. I don't miss feeling obligated to wear make up and look perfect every time I want to leave the house. I don't miss the angry people who are in a hurry to get to a job or a place where they are not truly happy. I don't miss the drama and the societal views of what is important. I don't miss the malls or the roads. I don't miss the small things that once seemed so important, like which bag I should bring to school today. I don't miss the things that society made seem so "needed." I miss the foods and some of the people. I miss the familiarity. In saying this I have had experiences here already that I will cherish for a lifetime. I have learned lessons I would have never been able to learn living in the US. I've been humbled daily. I'm learning new ways to do things and how strong Andrew and I truly are. We have come to love the simple and appreciate the complex. I know that when I visit the US and can drive through a chic-fil-a I will not see just some super delicious food but rather a difference in worlds. Coming from a first world perspective to a second world country has its trials but also has great rewards. I know that one day when we leave here and pursue more travel that we will miss Costa Rica too. We will miss the fried chicken and the friendly people. We will miss the dogs who roam and protect the streets. We will miss the sounds of nature in the morning and the rooster who wakes me up everyday. I will miss how comfortable I feel in my own skin here and the routine of being up at 6 am and being in bed by 10:00pm. I know that Costa Rica will bring me beautiful days and hard ones. I know some days I will come home in tears of joy and others in tears of stress and sadness. I know that this country has more to offer my being than any place I could've imagined in the US and that it will challenge me in ways I've never been, but most be challenged. So while I sit and eat half a personal bag of Picaritos and a "chicken" hot dog for dinner I know that there will be a day soon where I get to enjoy a nice dinner out with Andrew in a beautiful city with a culture that is incomparable.

[thebumpsalongtheroad-blog]

June 26th-June 28th:

We spent the past few days in Quepos and visiting Manuel Antonio and it was amazing! We woke up and had a delicious breakfast where I tired Pineapple Jam for the first time and I am hooked!!! We then got ready to go to the National Park and see some sloths! We walked to the bus stop and paid only 52¢ each to catch the bus to Manuel Antonio. When we arrived it was only to find out that the ONE day a week that the park isn’t open is Monday and wouldn’t you know it was Monday. so we decided to make the best of it and enjoy the small town outside the park. We stopped by some beautiful shops. The wood work here is astonishing! We bought some small trinkets including a SLOTH TAPESTRY! We went to the shop of an indigenous Costa Rica tribesman and he showed me a tigers eye bracelet with moonstone that he had made and told me about tigers eye being indigenous to Costa Rica. Tigers eye is one of the stones of Capricorn and I took this as a sign that I needed this item, haha. We realized we didn’t have enough colones to pay the man so we said we would come back and buy it later. Instead the man put it in my wrist and told us to just pay him later, whenever we could. This was so odd to me. This man trusted two complete strangers to return and pay him for something he worked hard on. He said “no worries, ours vida, don’t worry be happy” and smiled as we left. We went back to Quepos to get some lunch at Subway, where not one person spoke English which was odd in a tourist town, then went to the bank. We came back to the beach about 2 hours later and our friend was so excited to see us. We thanked him and paid him and he told us how he knew we were honest people and that he hoped our Costa Rica life was blessed. It was one of those life changing experiences I will never forget. We then headed back to the hotel. The next day we got up to try going to the National Park for the second time we were successful in our endeavor and I don’t even know how to explain how beautiful and tranquil it was. After the stress of housing falling through, having to spend WAYYY more money initially then we planned and now living on a very tight budget of 100$ until the end of July, language barriers and overall homesickness at times it was nice to feel truly at peace. We started by being surrounded by tons of people and I didn’t think we would get a moment of not hearing a guide yell about the wildlife while I tried to enjoy the silence and beauty of nature. However we walked about 20 minutes in and really saw how large this Park was and we were finally in the jungle alone on the trails. We saw cute monkeys and crabs that were bright neon orange. We heard the loudest howler money screech which stopped everyone within the area we were in there tracks. Then we went to the spot where I’m pretty sure my soul died and was reborn, “The Perezozo trial,” or SLOTH TRAIL! I was so excited and I got to see not only one sloth but three walking the trial. They were so high in the trees and made it hard to get great pictures but I was just happy to be in the same area as the adorable creatures! We then went to the National Park beach and saw more monkeys and super friendly raccoons that wanted to steal people’s pillows we went in the water which was so refreshing of the humid forest that we had walked for hours. After we cooled off we continued to walk the trails and felt the rain rolling in, as the rain forest properly suggests️ we started our walk back and caught the bus back to Quepos where we spent the rest of the evening eating and catching up on some rest. We went to probably our new favorite food spot, ChiliMex, it’s a little local shop in Quepos where the owner became a quick friend. He knew much English and even helped teach us some small Spanish to help us in the other towns to get food. His family is from Puriscal, our small town, and he was very excited to talk about it with us. We got burgers which were so delicious and after about an hour of chatting we headed back to the hotel, only to return to Chilimex to have a quesadilla for dinner and talk to our friend one more time. We can’t wait to return with family and friends to Quepos! On our last day we woke up and had breakfast and watch the beautiful waves until we had to catch the bus back to Puriscal at 1pm. We have figured the buses out better now and have realized that the stop at the soda is a normal stop, which is why we probably looked odd complaining about something that happens all the time, way to go gringos . The bus ride back was a little scary due to rain and some mudslides that had happened while we were gone which made the roads slippery and when we are close to a cliff at 3,000 feet it’s a little intense haha. But we made it safe of course and we were ready to be home after the long bus ride. Overall Quepos and some of the people there will always have a place in my heart! 🇨🇷️

[thebumpsalongtheroad-blog]

June 25th, 2017: We left to go to on a mini vacation to Quepos, Costa Rica. We love our little town of Puriscal but have been missing the beach so we set off for a small trip. We caught the noon bus to Quepos and what was supposed to be a 3 hour ride became a 5 hour bus adventure. This was the first time we rode the public bus system and it is interesting. People have the bus stop so they can pick up groceries, say hi to friends and pick up things off the road. I've never been more confused. The bus driver then stopped at a soda about halfway and left 2 very confused gringos annoyed with the 30 minute unannounced stop with no AC on the bus. There was a cute little boy in front of us who was very confused but fascinated with the weird couple of gringos making fish faces at him. ☺️ his grandparents were very nice people though! The people here are one of my favorite parts of Costa. There is the strange, the odd, the amazingly nice and caring and then there is a few scary haha. After the 5 hour bus ride we arrived in Quepos which I immediately loved! The smell of saltwater and the sound of some English, something that DOES NOT exist in our small town at all, were reassuring for us that this Costa Rica is the perfect home. We ate dinner at the restaurant in our hotel, a Best Western with a beautiful view of the beach and then went swimming in the pool. After a long day we are excited to visit the National Park tomorrow. Worth every second of the tough bus ride. 💙🇨🇷

[thebumpsalongtheroad-blog]

June 22nd 2017:

Today was a great day! We slept in, until 9:00 am, which is the latest we have slept since we have arrived. Costa Rica wakes up early, around 6:00 am and goes to bed early too. We have strongly adapted to this schedule but today we got a little bliss of some extra sleep. We woke up and went into town for a few hours. We were able to get some colones from Nella yesterday as we weren’t able to exchange at the bank due to the fact that “we didn’t speak fluent spanish”, which were we told basically means they didn’t want to deal with gringos at that moment haha. Anyways, we got some colones yesterday and set off into town to explore. We visited some clothing shops and I was able to get some really nice leggings for yoga for only 3$ each! Andrew and I both also bought Costa Rica soccer jerseys, as how could you live here and not own one? We ate lunch at our new favorite spot, Pollolandia, and had leftovers to bring home. We also visited the local park where students hang out on their lunch breaks and stopped to see the church at the center of town. The old cathedral was built by Fr. Juan Cortez de Paja who took a vow of celibacy after an Indian Princess died from Influenza that she had caught from him. On the centennial of her death an earthquake destroyed the edifice. Since then the city has not had the money to repair the church so it stands now as a point of reference for most directions in the city. After a few hours in town we headed back home for some afternoon yoga before the rain hit. I have been working on integrating yoga into my daily routine and trying to truly make it a lifestyle. While I am not the most flexible person but I am working on it daily. Overall, Costa Rica is showing me more and more about myself and while somethings may be challenging at times it is very rewarding to live here and experience all Costa Rica has to offer. 

[thebumpsalongtheroad-blog]

June 21st 2017: Day 8

Today was a very fun day! We spent a lazy day at home while Nella and her husband Jason came over to do some repairs on the house, just clearing the shower drain and giving us a new washing machine! Santiago came and hung out on our back porch with us pretty much all day sharing some lovin. We also ordered delivery pizza for the first time which proved to be harder than we thought. We called at 12:30 and ordered to a woman who barely spoke English, after finding out they only took colones, which we didn’t have due to a issue at the bank the day before, we told them we would come into town around 1:30 to pick it up and thanked them. About 10 minutes later a man rode up our hill with our food but we had no way to pay him, as we thought we were picking it up later.  The man simply left and we figured the pizza was a lost cause. When Nella and her husband arrived they brought us some colones and exchanged our money for us. We figured to pizza was probably bad by this point as it was about 2:00 pm. Then around 3:00 pm I received a text message from the pizza place asking if we still planned on getting the pizza. I had never texted a pizza place about ordering before haha. They delivered the pizza about 30 minutes later and it was totally worth the wait! Most of what we have eaten since we have arrived has been chicken, rice/beans and fruits/vegetables. To have some greasy pizza with fresh sliced pineapple and fresh ham was a cure for the homesickness that arises at times here. We are slowly learning how to communicate, though our spanish is still lacking, but we have been able to accomplish some pretty cool things through our learning. We have spent the rest of the evening listening to the rain, sounds of the town and watching some “Stranger Things” on Netflix.

[thebumpsalongtheroad-blog]

Today we got our new place in Santiago de Puriscal, our elevation is about 3500 feet and its crazy the view we have from our back porch! Our Airbnb host, Nella, is such an amazing host! She made sure we had some necessities and a few beers in our fridge along with tons of helpful advice. Our new little home is perfect! We have a little stray dog who has been hanging around and keeping us company and safe. He follows us into town daily and barks anytime someone who is not us or Nella even walks by. I love having him around! It rains everyday here from about 3:00 pm- 6:00 pm but it is the perfect time to do some yoga and sit outside. Since we are so high up we barley get rained on but we can always see it. We have taken a few trips into the town to get some groceries and a few trinkets as well. We have a cute little market about a kilometer away and they have awesome fruits and cute little things. I bought a little sloth wallet for 1$ and its the currency for the 10 mil colones and its super cute. We got groceries for the week and a few snacks to give us American comfort when we desire it and its made all the difference. One thing I have been snacking on a ton since I have been here is carrots which are amazingly cheap and delicious. One bundle is about 1$ and it lasts me about a week, we have also made some amazing chicken and rice recipes. I love being able to walk everywhere. We visited my school in Escazu the next day and I love it! I wasn’t able to get pictures but I will be able to post more soon. We will have to find a place closer to Escazu because the drive is about an hour from our current place, even though the house is perfect. We enjoyed the school for a while and then walked back to the multiplaza and shopped around for a little before heading to dinner at Outback before we went home. Outback was interesting as the waiter seemed annoyed with our small knowledge of Spanish, even though we were right in the middle of the one the biggest tourist areas in Costa Rica, but the food, as always was perfect and delicious. We enjoyed our dinner and then caught a taxi back to Puriscal. We of course brought left overs to enjoy later as well.

[thebumpsalongtheroad-blog]

Well, we attempted to check in to our temporary home in Atenas but due to internet issues, housing problems and a language barrier we ended up having to get a ride from a local taxi driver, Walter (who, side note, is an amazing connection to have here) to San Jose to a holiday inn for the night.  The next morning we lost internet at the holiday inn and with no phone set up yet and very little local money we needed another place to stay. Walter picked us up and made a reservation for us at a courtyard in Escazu. Escazu is very similar to a tiny America with a Hooters and an Outback within view of our hotel. I ended up catching a virus of some sort and getting pretty sick so Andrew had the hotel call the front office and they called a local doctor service that is free to come and see me. Two doctors, both bilingual, came and gave me a shot of some morphine and a few nausea pills along with a prescription to get me through the next few days. After about an hour and some rest I felt so much better. The next morning we explored the Multiplaza across the street which is a crazy huge mall with stores from Tiffany’s to North Face and even a few local places like super mercado and Extremos. We bought a few cool trinkets and set off to our new place in Puriscal.

[thebumpsalongtheroad-blog]

Pura Vida Day 1&2:

We landed in San Jose, filled out immigration paperwork, went through customs and took a taxi to Hotel Brilla Sol. The drive was a little intimidating as we drove through winding roads with homes and people everywhere. The driving here is also crazy; horns honking constantly but not in anger but rather in effort to let others know where they are. The city is fast paced and everyone seems to know the flow of life here. We made our way through the town and into the hotel drop off area. We checked in with very little trouble and found ourselves in the quaintest space filled with plants and animals everywhere. We saw chickens; which Andrew has now decided he wants to own; hummingbirds, huge squirrels and peacocks! The hotel was beautiful and much needed after the long trip. We fell asleep around 4 in the afternoon and basically slept straight through the night. The next morning we had an amazing breakfast with fresh fruits, pineapple/watermelon and papaya, eggs and rice and beans of course. We sat at the table outside our room for a little and were visited by the most amazing hummingbirds that were flying all around. They stayed for about 20 minutes darting in and out of plants and squeaking to say hello to us. Our little friends helped give me such peace that this new, sometimes scary but perfect country was going to be a wonderful new home for Andrew and I. After this we checked out of Hotel Brilla Sol and headed to Atenas to see our temporary home for the next month.

[thebumpsalongtheroad-blog]

Let the adventures begin.

We started our wonderful journey into a new life today. We travelled from Wilmington, North Carolina to NY, then to Orlando and finally we arrived in San Jose Costa Rica. The 18 hour trip was all worth it! The view on the landing was beautiful. More pictures to come.