I do a lot of research before trips (too much to be honest), so I felt pretty prepared when we decided to move to Costa Rica for 3 months. But I’m realizing that google can only get you so far in life.. It’s been a wild ride figuring out life outside of OKC, but we’ve gotten into a groove and we’re pretty comfortable here- as long as I don’t get bit by anything poisonous, I’m good!
Things the internet can’t teach you about living in Costa Rica.
- Everything molds, even if you thought it was completely dry when you put it away... it will mold eventually. Nothing a little cleaning can’t handle but but seriously, I pulled out my extra pair of glasses today and even those were a little fuzzy. *everything except for this backpack. I always carry my canvas one onto the plane when I fly but I really wanted to find one that would be practical for this trip, so I ordered it right before we left and it was the best purchase by far. The biggest pocket is a leakproof cooler so we use it all the time for beers and snacks to take hiking or to the beach.
- We don’t have a doorbell or glass windows, just screens to keep the bugs out. So when someone comes over they just yell or whistle to get my attention. “Helloooo?” “Kels?”. It cracks me up every time.
- Shaking the covers is part of our nightly routine. Gotta watch out for those poisonous scorpions. (So far we haven’t had anything besides a few giant ants in the sheets)
- We have to sit on top of the dryer to get the best wifi connection. (Update: now it only works while we’re sitting on our bed or in a VERY particular spot in the middle of the pool, it’s always changing.) #firstworldproblems
- The loud sound of coconuts falling and hitting the sand is as normal as hearing a dog bark, it happens all day. We’re used to it now but we still have to remember to *look up* when we’re walking to the beach.
- I didn’t know Netflix has country restrictions, so when we got here we realized we were blocked from watching some of the normal shows we watched at home. But there are ways around it- VPN ftw! Gotta watch Frasier somehow.
- Crabs and geckos get in the house all the time. At first I was freaked out but once I saw our favorite little kitchen gecko eat a mosquito, I realized that more geckos = less bugs.
- We pretty much only wear our swimsuits because it’s hot and #whynot. But hard lesson learned: wear a shirt when you’re frying tacos. I have a battle wound on my stomach from oil popping me in the belly button. (PS this applies to you no matter where you live, I’ll admit I’m 28 and I should’ve known better.. lol)
- My skin is always shiny. I laugh out loud to myself when I think about how I used to wear highlighter on my cheeks at home so that they would look “dewey”. No problem with that here since l’m naturally dewey 24/7. I’m probably going to wrinkle up like a prune when we go home because I’ve gotten so used to the moisture.
- When people rake their leaves, they burn the leaf piles afterwards. It took me several weeks to get used to the smell of smoke at 3am without having a minor panic attack and jumping out of bed to make sure the house wasn’t on fire. You know when you forget to turn your straightener off, and you hope and pray you don’t smell smoke when you get home later? (no, just me?) Well that’s a similar feeling.
- At home in Oklahoma, we have bird poop everywhere. Here, the iguanas are the ones doing the pooping, and let me tell you.. they can do some damage.
- The howler monkeys go nuts when motorcycles drive by. That’s one of the sounds I’ll miss the most for sure. (I’ll miss the hideous macaw squawk too though)
- We have to hardcore meal plan. It’s not like at home, where we’d plan on grilling chicken and then change our minds at the last minute and decide to get $5 Little Caesar’s pizza instead. We have to buy meat at a store an hour away and the vegetable truck comes by twice a week. So if we don’t plan ahead then we’ll end up eating a packet of cheap ramen for dinner. (which we’ve done and actually, I’m into it. I never thought I’d eat it again after college but it satisfies my craving for Asian food while we’re here. And if you add in cilantro, green onions, sriracha, maybe an egg.. it’s pretty delicious ;)
- Bonus: it’s every bit as awesome as I read it would be to be able to see birds and animals pretty much everywhere you turn. We’ve seen sloths and monkeys, whales and dolphins. Basically if you want to see wildlife, all you have to do is open your eyes.
