The End

So that's it. We're back in the US. Starting the process of putting the pieces of our lives back together. We'll get moved into the house soon and get our pets back. Thankfully we have the summer to get our world settled and into a routine before I have to head back to work.

I'm still processing the whole trip. Living in the capital city of a developing country, I've learned so much about myself and the world. I went through stages of culture shock. As a friend describe it, first a high of being in a new place, and then the low of being far from home, experiencing so many different things (not always pleasant or fun) as well as the difficulties of the language barrier. Having Myles along for the journey only seemed to make the highs higher, and lows lower.

And then slowly I came out of it and started to enjoy my life there for what it was. And didn't miss all of my American culture or amenities as much.  I started to accept the new life, and found many great joys in it. I got very homesick at the very end of the trip. Maybe it was b/c I knew we were heading home soon and it was just looming over me.

Costa Rica was a rich, wonderful, challenging and special adventure. I'm blessed to have been able to live there for 9 months with my husband and son. 

Being home, officially ends this blog. If you're inspired to continue to follow us, you can read about us at 3msmith.blogspot.com. I'm sure I won't be blogging as much, but will try to be good at keeping those interested, updated.

Thanks for reading!

Playa Avellana/ Playa Negra

Our last week in Costa Rica...

We spent our last few days in Playa Avellana. We were super excited to have our new friends Roberto, Cindy, and Sunny join us for a few days. Thursday was Cindy's birthday so we were sure to do some celebrating with good food and friends. Her good friends from South Carolina were in the area so the group sang and ate cake!

 

 Of course Myles and Sunny enjoyed the pool.

Video games during down town, and jumping on the bed were fun activities for the boys. 

Playa Avellana is beautiful, and we enjoyed a half-day, swimming, body surfing, and play in the sand.

      

Every night, we had a delicious dinner. Morgan and Roberto went out one afternoon to look for fresh fish. They came home with 2 fish and some lobster. I was almost as excited about the lobster as Cindy. It's been a long time since eating Lobster. 

  

Roberto's friends invited us to Hacienda Pinilla Resort for a morning of swimming, surfing, cocktails and snacks. The pool was beautiful, there was a group of kids playing in the pool, and everyone was super nice and inviting. It was a great morning.

 

We met LOLA, the infamous pig in Playa Avellana.

 

After Roberto and family headed back home, Morgan, Myles and I went exploring. We wanted to see some of the beaches in the area. They are all pretty close in distance but they all have different sand and waves. 

So we jumped in our BEGO and were off....

We visited Playa Conchal which has small shells sand.

We also visited, Playa Flamingo, Playa Tamerindo, and Playa Negra.

Look at these cool trees.

This just might be the right time for us to leave Costa Rica. The rainy season in just getting started. These pictures were taken 15 minutes after it started raining! It sure is a lot of water.

Here are the three kittens that lived under the house we rented. Maybe 5 or 6 weeks. Good thing Cindy and Roberto left some ham in the fridge to feed the little one. Mom was no where to be seen.

Playa Samara/ Playa Corillo

Last week we stayed in Playa Samara. We were in a beautiful guest home. Playa Samara has a few cute shops, restaurants, and a decent dentist. However, the beach isn't anything to write home about. When we weren't playing in the the beautiful pool at the house, we hung out at Playa Corillo which was gorgeous. It had great waves so Morgan indulged in some body surfing. Myles is still a bit apprehensive of the ocean, but is warming back up to the idea of playing with the sand.

Here are some of locals. The frog/toad hung outside our sliding glass door all evening eating dinner. He was quite big!