My New Life

Hello Everyone!

So for those of you who don't know, I moved to Costa Rica with my dog Reagan on November 20th. I did this because unlike most Telluridians, I am NOT a fan of the snow. I think it's pretty, I like to look at it (from a heated room) and on a bluebird day, I like to play. But my version of playing in the snow is different than my fellow townspeople. I haven't been the most avid skier/snowboarder since my freshman year of High School…I don't know why, it just doesn't tickle my fancy. All that said, I decided that instead of sitting through another beautiful winter of five layers, wool socks and a whole lot of whining (by me, of course), that I would take a step towards change - henceforth - Costa Rica.

I've been here for about a week and a half now and things are totally different. We have been staying in a little studio apartment on the top of a hill (large hill) in the jungle. It is incredibly beautiful up here. However, there are definitely ups and downs to staying in the jungle. In the first couple of days I was eaten alive by mosquitoes. No amount of bug spray or layers of clothing could keep them away. The spiders and scorpions are another challenge. Being someone who grew up in "bug free" Telluride, I do not take kindly to the big bugs. At night you have to walk with a flashlight so that you don't step on any of the gigantic spiders or the 3-inch long scorpions. Its TERRIFYING. Then, there's the ticks. My friend Morgan has found three on himself (not attached) and I have found two on Reagan. Luckily none have come after me yet. I wash the dog every day in flea and tick shampoo then cover her in flea and tick powder in addition to the monthly flea and tick treatment from the vet…hopefully I'm doing enough. On the third day that we were here, both Morgan and myself broke into a violent heat rash…awesome. The way to treat heat rash is to stay in a cool, dry place, HA! We literally sleep in a sauna every night with a ceiling fan that's power ranges from slow to a little less slow. While the heat rash is ugly and uncomfortable, it's not going to kill us. We've been taking a lot of cold showers and trying to dry in the sun - definitely making progress. Then there's the salt water. My dog has yet to learn that she shouldn't drink it. When she does, there is a lot of runny poo, peeing and puking - it's quite annoying so hopefully she'll figure it out. The monkeys in the jungle are both a positive and a negative. When its just Morgan and myself walking down the road they are super cute and fun to watch. They leap from branch to branch and make the cutest little monkey sounds. It's a completely different story when we walk down with Reagan. They literally bark and throw sticks at us. Not like little twigs or leaves, but huge sticks. This is also really entertaining, as long as you don't get hit by one. I definitely got what I asked for as far as new experiences go. This is a totally different lifestyle that I am slowly getting used to. Today we move to a new property that is larger and much closer to the beach. My boyfriend, Matty, will be joining us no later than December 11th, but I'm hoping it's sooner.

One last thing before I pack up and move out… I got a job!! I will be working as a receptionist at Costa Rica Yoga Spa - look it up. They host different retreats on the property. I can't remember how large it is or how many rooms but I will be doing similar work to what I do in Telluride. I start on Wednesday so I'll write about it in the next blog.

Until next time...