Atenas Costa Rica - Mostly Dance

Putting Together the Right Team in Selling and Buying A House: Part 2

JoAnne Tucker / February 21, 2020February 21, 2020 / Personal Life

We had no intention of buying a home in Costa Rica when we visited in late October. We were here to check out how we could handle the high humidity in rainy season. We did think it would be useful to get a sense of the real estate market with the thought we might buy at a later date, and to get to know the different neighborhoods in the community of Atenas where we thought we might like to live, so we reached out to Marian Veltman to show us around. We had rented a house that was managed by the company she is connected with. In fact, her husband had picked us up at the airport and when I asked him about Marian showing us around, he commented, “She won’t just sell you a house, she will make sure you are really settled in it and know your way around the community.” Hum, I thought, that is an interesting comment…

So Murray and I began going out with Marian and getting to know the different neighborhoods. We saw lots of homes that didn’t interest us. As we went around, I was impressed that Marian was listening and paying attention to our interests. Murray really loves his swimming workout, and finding a house with either a large enough pool or easy access to a neighborhood pool was taken very seriously. When we heard about a community that was over a half-hour drive away and where Marian had a house listed, she even enthusiastically contacted another real estate person to make sure we could see a second available house in the area and drove us down. That was a fairly challenging drive, especially when we got near the community and drove a very narrow, rough, dirt road. But we didn’t like either house.

And then one day when we were looking at homes, we drove up a very lovely driveway to a house that we both loved and everything changed!

For us and our needs this house really stood out! Now we began to think differently. We calculated our budget and put in an offer based on what we could afford, knowing that it is much easier to buy in Costa Rica than to sell. We learned more about closing and the taxes you have to pay along with lawyer fees in Costa Rica. The closing costs are actually higher than in the US. We took all these costs into account. Marian was respectful of our thinking, not pushing us to go higher in any way, which we really appreciated. It took a bit of negotiating and we liked the very personal way she worked with us and the seller, and we came to an agreement which was in our budget. So this stage of getting an offer accepted was complete and it had all been extremely positive, working with a very professional, knowledgeable person who had lots of energy and positive outlook. When we left to go back to the US, she said she would be at the airport to pick us up when we returned to Costa Rica.

And 2 ½ months later she indeed was there, along with Piet, one of the property managers whom we had also met. We indeed needed two cars for our 8 very large bags and 4 additional carry ons! (We decided not to send a container but to take only what we could fit into suitcases. We were flying Southwest, which allows you to check 2 bags each, along with paying for extra bags and overweight. It was well worth it to have our stuff with us right away.)

Murray and I at the airport (photo taken by our son-in-law who helped us to get to the airport with all of our bags.

Three days later, we closed on the house. Marian had carefully prepared a list of useful numbers for us and promised to take us shopping the next day. In the meantime (and over the next few days), we enjoyed some wonderful pastries that were a gift from her.

Bright and early the next morning, Marian picked us up and we spent all day shopping, going from one store to another to make sure we had the basics to get started in the new house! Beds for all the bedrooms, a sofa and a TV for the living room, pots and pans for the kitchen, dishes and glasses and on and on went the list. By the end of the day we had all the basics that we would need! She promised to take us again. We were deeply grateful for her help. It didn’t end there.

Murray and Marian after our long day of shopping. Murray was exhausted! Marian still had lots of energy! I was somewhere in between.

Among the many challenging things for new expats is banking. When we had gone to contract on the house and expressed some of our concerns about how we would function in a new country, our lawyer had said that his secretary would help us set up a bank account. She did, and she set up some of the bills, like electricity and phone, so they would be paid automatically.

Other bills, like our homeowner’s fees and water bill, would have to be paid differently and not online. Until one has some form of residency here, banking is limited. I found myself very overwhelmed about how to pay the bills at another bank. Marian and I had emailed back and forth and we had planned that we would do another shopping trip together. When she picked me up I expressed my concern about paying these bills and so we decided to stop at the bank where they could be paid and she could show me how. It ended up being very easy and I was so excited and relieved that I just wanted to hug her and do a dance of joy!! The transition was getting easier, thanks to her generous help.

Among the things she knew I was looking for was an inexpensive coffee table. A few days later Marian texted to say she thought she had found one when she was out shopping. She sent us a picture and we said “Yes! Buy it!” She even had it assembled for us. It works perfectly in our living room.

And of course she knows the local vendors and how and where to get things. She helped Murray get his cell phone. She recommended someone to upholster the well-worn dining room chairs. (The previous owner had agreed to leave a few things such as the dining room table and chairs for us.) She is very fluent in both English and Spanish and that makes it very easy for her to help those of us who have very limited Spanish.

I’m used to being in charge. I am learning to ask for lots of help as we make this transition to a new country. We feel so fortunate to have the help of Marian and indeed the comment that her husband made about her not just selling us a house but also helping us to adjust and become a part of this new community is very true!

More lessons learned. When you find the right person, welcome them into your life, don’t be afraid to ask for help and most important let them know how grateful you are for their help. A deep bow of gratitude and thanks to Marian Veltman.

https://www.godutchrealty.com/costa-rica-real-estate-agents/atenas-real-estate-agent/
Marian Veltman of GoDutch Realty

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Finding my Creative Voice in Costa Rica

JoAnne Tucker / March 15, 2020March 20, 2020 / Art, Costa Rica, Personal Life

We have now been in Costa Rica for just over six weeks. The first four were particularly challenging. We furnished our house with the basics, deciding not to get fancy or spend lots of money. We learned how to pay our bills, estimating colonies to dollars so we could understand the cost of things in a way we were used to. We are still figuring out how to manage our house and the swimming pool with its solar heating and infinity design which still remains a puzzle to us. During these first four weeks I often woke up with, and experienced at other times, a huge knot in my stomach. The last few weeks I have begun to get back to painting and that has made a major difference. Particularly the past week I have made it a point to have at least two hours a day devoted to my quiet creative time, mainly painting but sometimes writing. The knot in my stomach is rarely there now. Yes, regular meditation helps some too. For me something additional happens when I am using my creative voice. Fears, concerns, planning all drop away and I become one with my painting, just as I did with dance.

I am aware that I am experimenting right now, not sure what style, medium, or subject matter will dominate. The views from each room in our house are breathtaking. When I think about what I want to paint I have tons of choices. Where to begin… what to key in on… how to simplify and yet capture the spirit of what I am seeing — these are some of the thoughts that are going through my mind. Of course, at this point all that is important is that I show up and just see what happens — no criticism, just being present and finding the creative voice.

For years I have taught and encouraged teachers to find their creative voice, and guided them on how to help children keep their creative energies, which seem to drop off around 4^th grade. When I lead workshops for teachers I particularly focused on the research of E. Paul Torrance and the wonderful way he defined elements that make up the creative process. He also developed creativity tests. I am thinking that it will be useful to remember some of Torrance’s ideas as I explore my creative voice in this new chapter in my life.

When I first became familiar with Torrance, he drew on J.P. Guilford’s thinking and defined creativity as having 4 components – fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration:

Fluency. The total number of interpretable, meaningful, and relevant ideas generated in response to the stimulus. 2. Flexibility. The number of different categories or shifts in responses. 3. Originality. The number of unusual yet relevant ideas and the statistical rarity of the responses. 4. Elaboration. The amount of detail used to extend a response. (From Ellis Paul Torrance – The Father of Creativity by Sergey Markov, June 2017) https://geniusrevive.com/en/ellis-paul-torrance-father-of-modern-creativity/

Sergey Markov’s article is excellent and I learned lots of new things about Torrance. I recommend reading it if you have a strong interest in creativity theory and testing. For the purposes of this blog I just want to say I will be exploring and guiding some of my painting by keeping these ways of thinking in mind. Of course… it will be important for me to not get caught up in an intellectual way but rather to simply explore and not judge.

I’ve completed one 9” x 12” oil focusing on one of the plants in a realistic way.

Now I’m working on another painting and am approaching it by doing a larger scene but with less detail and looking at it as large blocks of colors. It’s also a 9” x 12” board.

In an earlier blog I wrote about the encouragement I got from my Mom in being creative, and the model she provided by completing a lovely watercolor of her dog just three weeks before she died at the age of 90. Certainly Genevieve Jones’s creative dance classes were a wonderful guide, as was my work in creative dramatics with both Dr. Barbara McIntyre and Dr. Joe Karioth.

For now the creative time is helping me settle in Costa Rica and truly see and appreciate the beautiful landscape we are surrounded by. Indeed, the beauty of our location was one of the guiding forces that brought us here and it could be so easy to get caught up in the overwhelming process of adjusting to a new country and forget that. The two hours of my own quiet time, sometimes in writing and mostly in painting (as non-verbal creativity is more target to me), is so important right now.

End Note (written Thursday night, March 12) This blog was written last weekend. Since then, our community of Atenas has been experiencing major fires due to the heat and high winds. On Tuesday, Murray and I had to leave the house in the late afternoon because the smoke was so intense and large flames were very visible and close to our house. Luckily so far we have been spared any damage. We returned last evening and most of today was spent cleaning. Creative endeavors sometimes have to be put on hold and I am reminded of Rollo May’s hierarchy of needs. Life is certainly a balancing act. After posting this blog this morning on Sunday, March 15th I am going to spend several hours painting. It is not just an option… it is a necessity to keep my balance!!!

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Improvising, Thinking Outside the Box, and Finding the Pulse of Life in Costa Rica

JoAnne Tucker / June 12, 2020 / Costa Rica, Personal Life

It has been four months since Murray and I arrived in Costa Rica and closed on our new home. The world has changed a lot during these four months as has our own personal life. I have written before about how the skills I learned directing a dance company have contributed to problem solving day-to-day challenges in life. That certainly has been the case as unexpected events have colored the four months of adjusting to living here. Some have been very mundane and others life threatening. Let’s begin with the mundane.

If you have been following our journey here you know that we came with all of our life belongings in 8 suitcases. While we made some purchases of major furniture such as beds, sofa and a few folding tables and chairs, it is in the kitchen that I have learned to improvise the most. And even more so as COVID 19 limited shopping trips out. It seems I never have enough containers to store leftovers so I am constantly recycling food containers from take-out and jars that contained other food. That’s something I have never done before. Just this week I had made a concoction of chicken, zucchini, tomatoes and onions and had some left over but alas no formal container to put it in. Looking in the cabinet I noticed an empty glass jar from Rego Spaghetti Sauce with Mushrooms and that became a storage container for the chicken dish. Yes I had to carefully spoon it in, but now it is safely in the refrigerator to make a nice lunch in a few days. I have one glass bowl that is great for stirring things in but it was filled with some fresh pineapple so a medium-size pot worked just as well when I needed a bowl to make pancakes. I could go on and on with examples but you get the idea.

About six weeks after our arrival during the summer dry season here, there were a lot of fires around our area. Over a long weekend they kept getting closer and closer. Luckily our community has an emergency WhatsApp where we keep in touch with each other and share where fire is and what houses might be threatened. Quite a few homes very nearby were fighting the fire sometimes with the help of the local fire department and sometimes with a neighbor that had a fire truck that could take the water out of swimming pools to use for the fire. (I’ll call that thinking outside the box… as that was totally new for me and sure makes a lot of sense.) When fire began getting close to our house, coming down the hill, I put that on WhatsApp and asked what to do. Someone responded and said take our hose and start using it. Well I indeed did have a hose nearby but upon looking at it and at Murray and myself and contemplating becoming firefighters at age 75-plus, we shook our heads, packed a few essential things, called our driver (as we do not have a car), and asked him to please pick us up. He was at our house in just few minutes and we left, hoping for the best.

A neighbor sent us this picture of a stranger who did grab a hose and helped to prevent the fire from damaging our property. We are very grateful for his help.

Once we got to the central area of our town of Atenas, Manrique asked where we wanted to go. Murray and I looked at each other and said, “We don’t know, do you have any suggestions?”

Manrique made a few calls. Most nearby places were full with other people fleeing the fire but he did find us a place about 30 minutes away. Off we went, grateful to be safe and with a place to sleep for the night. Manrique checked on our house along with our realtor and we were lucky that the fire never came on our property. This was back in early March. Now the hillside that had burned is filled again with lush grass and scrubs.

When I say finding the pulse, I literally mean finding the pulse. Murray arrived with a new pacemaker. Three months in, the pacemaker began to fail. We didn’t know this at first but knew something was wrong. Following a trip to visit his cardiologist, Murray was in the hospital with a procedure called an ablation and now his pacemaker is back working perfectly with an exact pulse rate that we check regularly back at home. We are very pleased with the health care here. The doctors even make house calls. At this point we are experiencing the private health care, as we don’t have residency yet in which case an Expat can qualify for the public health care. We are lucky to have very good health insurance from Murray’s work in the U.S. government which covers most everything. The doctors we have met are very knowledgeable and up-to-date on latest procedures. Nursing care is very good. And the hospital Murray was in had all private rooms with a sofa that turned into a bed so I was able to stay overnight. There are some things we could complain about but overall we are impressed with the medical experiences Murray has had here. And we will keep checking his pulse.

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A Visit to a Costa Rican Art Museum Triggers a Fascination with Mascaradas

JoAnne Tucker / March 23, 2024 / Art, Costa Rica, Personal Life

On February 17^th Art House Atenas owners Anna Matteucci and Felipe Keta lead a small group of Expats to San Jose to visit two museums: The Jade Museum and the Museo de Arte Costarricense (MAC). It was a delightful, interesting day. My favorite exhibit was called Valle Oscuro (dark valley) by painter Adrian Arguedas Ruano at the MAC .

As one enters the museum, Arguedas’s bold colorful paintings greet you. A few of his sculptures catch your immediate attention too. The works fill a large gallery room and three smaller adjoining rooms, mostly picturing masked community members along with unmasked figures. While some young children are painted wearing small masks of animals, others are wearing distorted, grotesque, large masks, and still others are depicted wearing large heads mounted on torsos making them look larger than life.

Felipe Keta talking about the artist in front of one of Arguedas’s paintings!

One of my favorite Arguedas paintings. I love the grandma in the center being surrounded by community participants, which captures the intergenerational life that is very important in Costa Rica.

All the paintings of Valle Oscuro were done between 2020 and 2022. On the artist’s website I learned about his fascination with masks:

Arguedas is a native of Barva de Heredia, a small town known for keeping the traditions of making popular mask parades. In his childhood, he found artistic inspiration through the figure of his great-uncle, named Carlos Salas, who worked sculpting the clay to prepare the base that would later serve as a mold to create the original traditional masks, made with paper. Salas had a powerful influence on the artist inspiration and artwork. https://www.adrianarguedas.com/bio.html

Doing more research, I learned that the mask tradition dates to pre-Hispanic time, when the aboriginal people made and used masks for various purposes. They were first used at funerals in two different ways: first, they were used by whoever led the mortuary procession so they appeared to have a higher power to lead the deceased to the other world, and second, they were given to the deceased to identify his role in the tribe. Shamans and chiefs also made special use of the masks as part of their rituals. These special masks are known as Mascaradas.

Today, in Costa Rica they are still part of community celebrations, and much to my delight I had an event in our town of Atenas where mascaradas were a highlight.

A friend on Facebook posted about a fundraising event on the full moon for a local church that included food, music, dance and mascaradas. The evening was called “Lunada Bailable,” and I loved the poster.

I went with some cousins who were visiting from Pittsburgh, and we had a wonderful evening. Music piped through a large sound system contributed to the festive quality of the event. I was surprised to hear a Spanish version of “If I Were A Rich Man” from Fiddler on the Roof. When it got dark and the moon was shining bright, six local dancers began the formal entertainment. While not professional, they put all their energy into their routines. They waved their skirts and used scarfs as props. It was fun to watch one youngster, about age 4, who pretended she had on a long skirt and delighted in following their movement.

This was my favorite dancer to watch. She always had a smile on her face, dancing with lots of enthusiasm.

The closing event was the Mascaradas, with children from ages toddler to maybe 5 or 6 years old, wearing masks and dancing, joined by older boys and teenagers with full body masks! The older kids liked to come over to the tables of the audience that surrounded the performing space, and pretend to scare us.

It was a special evening for my cousins and me to be a part of this community event. I think we were the only ExPats attending.

Three photos showing the Mascaradas in action.

All photos in this blog are by JoAnne!

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