New Friends - Our Life in Costa Rica Yr #2

People always ask me "what do you do with your time in Costa Rica?" There is so much to do. For one, I joined a women's group called Blooms last year when we first arrived. It's an excellent way to meet other expats and to socialize, although the group is very involved in giving back to the community through charitable projects.

Blooms is short for "Bloom Where You Are Planted". Our goal is to provide support & friendship to English-speaking women new (or not so new) to Costa Rica.Blooms meets for brunch, usually at a member's home, at 9:30 a.m. on the last Tuesday of each month.Membership is free.

Because the meeting location changes each month (and we don't have a car), I'm not able to attend as often as I would like but Marilyn offered to give me a ride to the June meeting. It was held at the home of an artist in the nearby city of Atenas. The meetings are usually pretty crowded. At this meeting I met Toni, who has been in Costa Rica for about 9 months. She is a retired math teacher from WA and her partner Steve, is from San Francisco. Toni & I are military brats so we hit it right off. (Steve is also a military brat). They have 2 dogs and a cat.

Toni picked me up at the little red church in Grecia on Friday and we went furniture shopping near San Ramon (where I bought my furniture piece). We stopped by her house on the way so that I could see it. 

Toni & Steve bought a beautiful, 2 story, "boho chic" little house (Toni calls it a tree house) in Rosario de Naranjo which is not too far from me, but I had never been there. The walkway to the front door of their house is a bridge (you can see the walkway in the video). How many people have to cross a bridge to get into their house? 

They are currently in the process of doing some remodeling and maintenance. It is the coolest house and they also have a pool. There are several rental casitas on the property and a once popular boutique hotel which is now closed. The area is beautiful! It is a hidden gem. Naranjo is only about 20 minutes (or about 12 miles) from Grecia but it is completely different (and hot). Her area is like a jungle and reminds me a lot of some of the beaches, like Puerto Viejo. When we were out walking I expected to see the ocean at every turn, but of course we are hours away from any beach.

Lavanson & I are having lunch at their place later this week.

To give you an idea of how diverse the areas around here are, here's a glimpse of their property

New friends from Devon on Vimeo.