Ok, for those of you who think (read: Michael) all we do here in CR is zip-line through the jungle, frolick at the beach, hike volcanos, just to turn around and do it all again. I (Brad) am writing this blog to set the story straight. Here's a typical week (of course if we are not frolicking): Lis and I are up between 5:30 and 6:30a (yes Tony C that is am, as in morning).

(above our great tico home in San Luis de Santo Domingo de Heredia, Costa Rica - say that three times fast). Lis blogs, chats, emails, then gets the girls up around 6:30 mas o menos (more or less) depending on their mood. I lounge for a while reading or occasionally do my tarea de espanol (spanish homework), but that is rare (homework) because I am on the 5 year program. Vilma (housekeeper do-all) fixes breakfast and packs the girls lunches. I take the girls to school heading out around 7.20a as the girls need to be in their seats by 7:50.

(doggie time for Tatum and Gabi) During school hours I work (yes, many of you may find this hard to believe, but it's true) on my various projects: investments, property mgt, new bus opportunities, volunteering, gym, coaching bball, spanish and junk like that. Lisa is networking, volunteering, blogging, spanish, gym, keeping Gabi happy and just recently accepted a new position at HP. So, now in between her pedicures and massages she will have to work-in some HP time.

School is out at 3:00 but most days both girls have after-school activities including, but not limited to basketball, soccer, attack art or art attack - I can't ever keep that one straight, swimming, dance etc. So their school day ends at 4:15 and if i'm not already at school coaching, I head over and pick up the girls.

When we get home it is snack time, then homework, dinner, bath and if lucky we all watch a tv show before bed time at 8:00p. Add to this piano on Mondays at 6:00p and spanish leasons on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings, the girls keep very busy.

A side benefit of moving to CR is we all watch very little tv and don't eat nearly as much fast food because there isn't any close to our home. Weekends we read, go to our club to swim, exercise, hike etc. We also do the stuff all of you do, like shopping, hair cuts, auto repairs, cleaning (oops Vilma does that) shopping and did I mention shopping already. Seriously, we also visit friends, eat out (we never eat out during the week because of time constraints) and all the other normal weekend stuff to get ready for the next week. Eating out here takes more time. Time to get there, more time to order, more time for our food to arrive etc. Like the rest of the world, CR is not in as big a rush as the US, so everything takes longer.

This is where Don Carlos and his wife lives just outside of our house. Carlos manages the coffee farm that we live on. This building is more than a hundred years old. Carlos also manages our yard, when he has time. New gringos on the farm are not a top priority. Carlos is a bit "complicated."

Our honda pilot arrived after a "short" 4 month journey. There is a hierarchy on the roads here. The smaller the vehicle the lower you are. So when we traded in our mitzsubishi lancer for the pilot we jumped quite a few levels.

Playground by the club.

Club Zurqui below has a swimming pool, kids pool, hot tub, saunas, gym, squash, tennis, bball, pooltables, pingpong, restuarants, etc. We usually spend a few hours there each weekend.

Fruit stand by the road, they are everywhere. If you eat like the locals, fruit, vegatables, gallo-pinto (rice and beans) and a little chicken or fish, you can live very reasonablly. But, we eat like gringos, so our grocery bill is more than in the states. Anything imported is more expensive.

The next slides are of San Luis, our home town. This is the video store, just opening around 3:00p.

This is the meat market, we don't shop here. You have to be a little careful when it comes to meat and poultry, so we do our protein shopping at the supermercardo.

Libreria, means book store, but it has a little of everything and we spend time here and often find what we are looking for.
This is the "supermarket" and again, surprisingly it will have most of what you need from a grocery standpoint.
This is not a supermarket, libreria, or 7-Eleven, but something different. It has snacks, drinks, mini-mart type things but not exactly. Something you have to see to understand.
This is our town bakery, looks like a house, was one at some point. We buy bread here and sometimes pasteries. Doughnuts, cake etc is not always CrispyCream quality but our girls luv tres leches (3 milks) which is cake, cream and frosting or something close to that.....I like it too ...............when I'm not frolicking.

This is the elemtary school in town. Very good by C. American standards, but not equivilant to N. American standards. With that said, CR owes much of its recent success to an emphasis on education. Everyone is entitled to education and health care in CR. College tuition per year is around a few hundred dollars, so it is affordable to many.
Another pic of our hometown school.
Soccer on Saturdays and Sundays. Every town in CR has a town center with a park (soccer field) in the middle, a Catholic church on one side and the public school on the other side.

Produce store, which has great local, fresh produce, cheap!

And the Catholic church opposite the park and school.

That's it, I'm tired and I'm sure you are at this point!