Well... we made it!

Hey there folks,

Before I get started,  I promise I will explain the title of my blog in a bit.  This one post will probably be my longest ever, but I've been saving up a lot, so I think we'll get through it.


This here is the first moment of peace and quiet I think I've had in about ... oh... 4 months.  First there was packing, then shopping and more packing, then mad crazy insane-o packing, then "Holy Shit (or Jori Chit! for my Spanish-speaking folks) the container is going to be here in an hour... A FUCKING WHOLE DAY EARLY".  Magically, due to the exhaustive (and exhausting) help from some really good friends, we managed to get that done (in 3.5 hours).

Then of course, it was the final wrap-up and then goodbyes.  And damnit if those goodbyes weren't the hardest goodbyes I've ever had to make.   Some of the friends we left in Portland are so close as to be considered family in everything but blood, and they were absolutely the hardest part for me about leaving Portland.

The trip itself, of course, was also no bed of roses.  We had to take 3 different flights, including an over-night from LA to Miami, in order to best guarantee that the temperatures all along the way would not exceed the extremes (40-85F) allowed for the cats traveling with us.   All told, we left our apartment in Portland at about 2:30 PM (PST) and arrived at our house in San Jose, Costa Rica at about 11:30 AM local time ( equivalent to 10:30AM PST).  For those of you keeping score, that's about 20 hours of active travel!  And several of those hours were spent with screaming cats who really didn't take kindly to being locked in a tiny box for that whole time.  If a crying baby is a sound genetically-programmed to put you on a razor's edge, the sound of a wailing, terrified cat is only 1 step behind it at most.

At any rate... at long last, we made it here!  And the house is every bit as beautiful as I remembered it being.  The wood is gorgeous, the yard is amazing, and the mast bedroom feels like a mini-suite to me (though currently without a bathroom... we plan to fix that later).  We also had the warmest and most overwhelmingly loving and happy welcome I think I've ever experienced.  Hell, aside from the day-of... the welcome home train hasn't stopped running yet!  The night we got here started with imediate family for a couple hours, then friends, then more friends, then... jori chit, it's a party!

Everybody seems happy to see me again or meet me for the first time.  I'm like the baby panda at the zoo.  Most people don't get to see a creature like me up close and personal, so I'm quite an amusement.  I don't mean that they're treating me like a toy or a pet monkey to look at or anything. I mean... they've seen and been around plenty of gringos in their lives.  I think the difference with me seems to be that... I actually care about people.  Maybe I'm good at that, and they like that about me.  Either way, it feels good.

Also, I'm sort of nice, so people kinda like me, which I really enjoy, and I enjoy them as well.  This is Latin warmth at its finest, and is exactly the kind of thing that will make this place feel like home for me... in a way that nothing else could.

It's going to take us a LONG time to get fully settled in.  Like... months.  First we unpacked (good start).  Next steps are to get rid of/give away/sell/etc all the old stuff that doesn't need to live here any more, and make room for all the stuff coming from the container.  This includes not just the old appliances, but also all the closets full of stuff that hasn't been looked at for years if not decades.  This will be no small task, so we'll just take it a bit at a time.  The container arrives in about a month, so that's our window.  I think we'll make it.  We just need to be vigilant, and keep moving.  The unpacking, once the container gets here, will be largely my job to unpack it, since Jime did the VAST majority of the packing.  That is... she packed every single box.  I helped pack the appliances, and I helped move shit around and did other work around the house while she packed... so it's not like I did NOTHING and just sat around and watched her work.  But still... packing is brain-work, and it's stressful, and she did it all, because I don't have experience packing fragile things for long trips, and she does, in spades.  So, I recognize that she did great work, and that SHE made this move happen for us (I'm saying it here, in public, to allow her accolades to commence).  That being said, I OWE it to her to do the unpacking.  And that's definitely something I can do just fine.  :)

Other tasks include getting my immigration documents translated and starting my application for residency.  The plan is to do that within the first couple weeks. 

As for the cats, they're settled into our bedroom for now and will stay here for a while until they really get used to the feel and smell of the place.  Then we'll let them out into the rest of the house, but still keep them inside for another week or two.  Being indoor cats previously, I doubt they'll care to notice the yard, or at least... I think they won't miss it that much.  Then, once they have a nice, solid feel for home, we'll let them out into the backyard, which is completely fenced in.  They COULD get out of it, but they won't, until they learn to climb.  In any case, I'm guessing that based on their previous homebody lifestyle, they won't be in such a hurry to do that.  At any rate, if they finally do decide to climb and explore... well... they have tags with their name and our city and phone number on them.  And by then, they will know what home smells like, so hopefully they'll be able to get back.  And, hopefully they wont' have too many nasty encounters while they're out galavanting.  We have heard that many cats who relocate here (especially from the States) do not do well.  We're really hoping that our conservative approach will give them the best chance possible.  Insha'allah, they'll make it through.

So, I think I'll leave it there for now, for the story of the trip and the arrival.  So now, as promised, I'll tell you about my blog title.  In Costa Rica, they have Coke, like many other countries.  But, unlike many other countries, they also have a local competitor, called Tropical, that sells juices and iced teas and such.  In a really great turn of events, it turns out that Tropical outsells Coke products!  I'm not sure by what margin, but I know it's significant.

So, with that as a background, on my first trip here several years ago, somebody gave me some Peach Iced Tea from Tropical (in Spanish, that's Tropical Té Frío con Melocotón).  For them, it was just a nice local juicy drink for them to bring.  For me, it was like... my first hit of heroin.   I drank the entire 2 Liter bottle pretty much by myself, and within just a few minutes.  I won't lie, it's full of sugar.  But shit, so is coke, and coke doesn't have that effect on me.  Hell, even all their other flavors of iced tea don't do that to me.  Something about this special mix... this particular syrup flavor... lights my taste buds up like Christmas and sends me into a junkie bliss.  After that first trip, I think I brought home like.., 6 Liters, back to the States.  Since then, every time I come here, one of the first things I NEED to have is my own bottle of Tropical Té Frío con Melocotón.  I mentioned that I had a warm welcome when I got here?  Well, one of the things that made it so awesome was that within minutes of my arrival, I was presented with my own 2 Liter bottle (by the guy who's been house-sitting for us for the last year, and who is now one of my new best friends).  I figure the other part of the double-entendre is pretty straight-forward.

Aaaand that's it for now!  Thanks for reading!  I hope to continue telling you stories as they occur to me, both about how my life is developing down here, about the country in general, and later about our other travels when we take our Round the World trip in a few months.  Until then... peace out, home fry!