After you’ve been in Costa Rica for a few months you start to have moments of “wow, I forgot about that”. It’s kind of cool when it happens because day in and day out, you don’t feel that different after a while. The routine – at least for us – has a lot of similarities to home. Weekdays the kids have school and after school activities, we work (albeit a lot less) and everyone is on a schedule. Then we do family-friend-fun things on weekends that often revolve around an event or dinner with another family – usually with kids the same age as our own.

But when you really compare the hours of the days, it’s quite a bit different. And it’s kind of fun to have those moments of “look there’s an airplane. I haven’t seen an airplane since we landed in Liberia three months ago.” This actually happened to us. Clearly we’re not in a flight path.

Anyway, I thought it might be interesting to call out the ways in which things are subtly different in our lives here in Costa Rica and perhaps the key to Pura VIda (read: Gringos, don’t eff it up trying to “fix” things around here).

Things I haven’t done, seen, heard (or at least a lot less!) since moving to Costa Rica…

Drank soda – I was on a Diet Pepsi a day habit – pretty religiously. I kind of forgot about soda when we got here because it’s not everywhere. And it doesn’t taste the same. And while I’ll drink Diet Coke, I prefer Diet Pepsi but typically there’s only Pepsi – if any Pepsi products at all. It was easier than I thought to shake the habit.
Eaten a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup – seems like something you might not notice but I was on a bender before we left and would often make a special trip to the store to get Reese’s Minis. I’m loading up at Christmas.
Sat at a stop light – actually I sat at one today because I went to Liberia to drop off my hubby at the airport. But it’s been a couple of months since I’ve been to Liberia so that was probably the last time. In fact I remember it – Mckenna (our 8-year old) said “I forgot about traffic lights!”.
Seen a cross walk – Outside of the one in the parking lot at the kids’ school, I’m certain that one doesn’t exist in a 30 km radius of where we live.
Worn high heels, or really any heels – This is a big deal. I wore heels every day at home. Even most of my sandals had heels. I once took a challenge from a co-worker to go a week wearing flats. It was brutal. Now I live in flip flops – or barefoot. I did bring two pair of wedge sandals. I have worn the lower 2″ ones twice now.
Shaved – I know what you’re thinking – I’ve gone totally hippy and I’m braiding my armpit hair now. It’s not like that. I just shave less – like every ten days instead of weekly. I’m not very hairy and it’s (mostly) blonde and fine anyway so it’s cool. It took more getting used to by Shane than me. Sorry (not sorry) babe! I give new meaning to “Beach hair, don’t care”.
Used a back up camera – yep, haven’t even seen one in Costa Rica. Our car is 23 years old and most everyone else’s isn’t much newer.
Used lotion – I use lotion about once every couple of weeks if I want to smell pretty. I haven’t worn perfume in years so lotion is where I get a perfumey scent. But in Idaho, I needed it because it was so dry. Not here. 79% humidity keeps me moist. Let me guess, you hate the word “moist”. I’m bringing it back. Who doesn’t love a moist cake or a moist muffin or moist skin? Way better than dry I say.
Drank alcohol – Ha ha ha ha – I’m totally kidding. I drink the same as I did at home and I won’t apologize for it. Just seeing if you were paying attention.
Taken anything to sleep – I really haven’t taken anything but very occasional Tylenol or dramamine. And the interesting thing is, you can get just about anything here – and cheap. But I like not relying on drugs but rather my own will to get over shit. I still sometimes wake up in night but I decided not to give a damn and just watch Netflix, listen to a book or do Duo Lingo until I fall back asleep. Sometimes it’s 10 minutes and sometimes it’s two hours. Either way, I don’t let the night stresses take me over anymore.
Shopped online or receive mail – There aren’t addresses here so having anything sent to you is one hurdle. The other is the import tax situation. I’ve heard you could be imposed significant import taxes (defeating your Amazon purchase) but haven’t really tested it. I want to keep believing that buying from Amazon in Costa Rica is impossible. It’s saved me a lot of money and even more clutter.
Thrown food away – it used to make me crazy how much food we’d waste because left overs wouldn’t get eaten or we wouldn’t use produce we’d bought because we went out to dinner instead of eating at home. We made a conscious choice when we moved here that we’d need less, use less and waste less and we’ve been really good about it. Sure the occasional lime will dry up before we eat it but for the most part, we consume more than 95% of what we buy.
Been to a movie – I didn’t go to movies much anyway, but the closest theatre is an hour away and driving at night here sucks. And that’s a good segue to…
Driven at night – two months in I realized I hadn’t driven at night at all when I got in the car to head home and had no idea how to turn the headlights on (turns out 23-year-old cars don’t really have automatic headlights). We’ve been out at night – not a lot though – but Shane has driven.
Stayed up late – I made it to midnight one night when several of us went to Tamarindo for a girls’ night out. Most nights I’m in bed by 9 and asleep by 9:30. Shane and I have both been to bed at 8 more than once. Here’s why…
Slept past 6:00 AM – a few times I’ve successfully gone back to sleep but the sun comes up at 5:30 and as a result I’m usually up by 6:00. Mckenna is up by 5:45 every day – no matter what time she went to bed. So given that and the sun sets around 5:30 year ’round, you’re ready for bed by 8 or 9.
Worn makeup – I put on a little eyeliner and mascara a couple of times a month for events or a night out but most days, most of the women here are pretty bare faced and unstyled hair. It’s pretty awesome.
Had a latte, cappuccino or other fancy coffee – I’ve had a few in the three months I’ve been here but compared to a few a week, that’s a pretty big shift. There isn’t a Starbucks or Dutch Bros at all, let alone on every corner with a drive through, so you just go without and don’t really miss it. That said, I’m hitting the first Starbucks I see.
Heard a siren – I had completely forgotten about sirens but when I was telling my neighbor about this blog post tonight, she mentioned it. I haven’t heard one since we’ve been here.
Witnessed road rage – people drive crazy here. You’d swear they are super impatient. People literally stop on the road for however long they want and no one lays on the horn. And no one really pulls over to the side – they just stop in the lane and throw on their hazards. People behind them just wait for the oncoming traffic to pass and then go by – no birds flipped, no horns laid on and no hands thrown in the air (except by our friend Jon but he’s from D.C. so he’s still adjusting).

And this is why Costa Ricans are happier and live longer. Pura Vida.

A lot of these probably aren’t too surprising – or interesting for that matter – but to me they are remarkable because, in aggregate, they make a big difference in my day to day. It’s the little things after all. And there are also a lot of things I have done – or more of – since moving to Costa Rica. That’s my next post… stay tuned!