Buenos Dias! I am here with another blog post and today I'll be sharing my experience living in Costa Rica the last few months. I recently returned back to the U.S. after a three-month stay in Costa Rica. My partner, Dan, and I decided to relocate to Costa Rica back in February for a while. We had been teaching online for the 2020-2021 school year and wanted an opportunity to explore a new country and immerse ourselves in a new culture.
First, you might be wondering why we chose Costa Rica. When it became apparent that we wouldn't be getting to Myanmar anytime soon, our school gave us the idea to relocate to Thailand or Central America. That way we could still teach online, save money (being on a Southeast Asian salary and not being in Southeast Asia is hard!), and of course explore a new place! We first researched Thailand, but the move there would have been difficult with an expensive self-quarantine, a tough visa process, and a lengthy amount of wait time. Ultimately, we decided on looking into Central America. During college, I went on a short-term study abroad program to Costa Rica and had the best time. I've been wanting to go back since. Costa Rica was quickly added to the list of possibilities. We also discussed Panama, but ultimately, we decided we would head to Costa Rica. Entering Costa Rica during the pandemic was fairly easy. We didn't need a COVID test and we didn't need to quarantine. However, we did have to pay for a special COVID health insurance in case we contracted the virus in-country. When you enter as a tourist, you are allowed a 90-day or less stay. We bought round-trip tickets from February 20th-April 20th. We figured we would spend the first two months in Costa Rica and possibly travel to Panama for our final month of the school year.
On Saturday, February 20th, we took off from John F. Kennedy in New York on a direct flight to San Jose, Costa Rica. We were greeted upon arrival by the humid air and friendly people. We had arranged a driver to pick us up at the airport and drop us off in Esterillos Oeste, which is where we would be spending our first month.
When we were looking for places to stay in Costa Rica, we knew we wanted to be close to the ocean. Dan found the perfect stay for us on AirBnB. Esterillos Oeste is the ideal Costa Rican beach town. It was small, yet had everything we needed. The town has a large ex-pat community, which is common in Costa Rica. However, there are many Ticos and Ticas (local Costa Ricans) who live in Esterillos too. After getting to our AirBnB, we headed straight for the beach. It was better than we ever could have imagined. We were ecstatic to be living somewhere so beautiful for the next month.
Our days in Esterillos Oeste consisted of a lot of teaching, running, swimming, and of course, sweating! The weather was hot, especially since we arrived during the middle of dry season, but having the ocean less than 10 minutes walking distance greatly helped. Not only was the ocean so close, but we also had a pool at our AirBnB. Our AirBnB hosts were two of the kindest people we've ever met. Over the first couple of weeks, we quickly became great friends with them and their five dogs and cat. They are phenomenal cooks and regularly gave us delicious dinners and sweet pastries. We already miss them dearly, but we know we will keep in touch for years to come.
While in Esterillos, we went on some great adventures including an ATV and water fall tour, a trip to Manual Antonio National Park, a trip to the mountainous town of Monteverde, a crocodile tour, zip lining, and several great hikes. Our goal was to make the most of every single day, and I think we reached it.
After our first month in Costa Rica came to a close, we made the move just a 20-minute drive down the road to Jaco for the next three weeks. Jaco is much different from Esterillos. Jaco is a very big surf and tourist town. Our AirBnB in Jaco provided us with bikes, which was very nice. That was our only mode of transportation, which was perfect for the way Jaco was set up. We were living in a much busier area now than in Esterillos. In Jaco, we continued to teach online but added new hobbies into our everyday routine. We joined two gyms including a martial arts gym. Dan is an experienced fighter, and then you have me, who has never taken a martial arts class in her life. However, after just a few jiu-jitsu classes, I was hooked.
Another sport both of us dabbled in a little before coming to Costa Rica is surfing. We knew that we wanted to take another lesson together in Jaco before getting out on the ocean by ourselves. We took a 2-hour lesson on a Friday afternoon with the Surfer Factory, and both of us fell in love with the feeling of catching a wave. After our lesson, we started renting boards from the Surfer Factory a few times a week and it's definitely become hobbies of ours. There's no better feeling than being out on the water on your board with your best friend.
Next, Dan and I are both passionate about learning new languages. Coming to Costa Rica, we knew we wanted to improve our Spanish. During our stay in Jaco, we had lessons at a local Spanish school. It was so much fun to be back in a classroom learning Spanish. After our three weeks in Jaco ended, we went on an amazing Spring Break trip to the Caribbean side. I will have to save all of that for another blog post, it was the best time. Before leaving for Spring Break, we needed to decide what was next after April 20th. Since we were loving Costa Rica, we decided to stay for the third and final month of our school year. Additionally, we went back to our first AirBnB because we loved it so much. It was such a nice feeling getting back to Esterillos. It felt like returning home to all of our human and furry friends.
Our final month in Costa Rica went by way too fast. We surfed, taught, and went to the beach almost every day. At the beginning of May, we had two important visitors flying into Costa Rica. My sister, Kendall, and Dan's sister, Janine, both visited us and we had an incredible trip with both of them. It was such an amazing time that it deserves its very own blog post so look for that soon. Overall, I am so grateful for the time I spent living in Costa Rica with Dan. Both of us grew so much as a couple but also individually. I am looking forward to the future. Here's to the next great adventure!
Comments