THE FLIP FLOP LIFE

These last two weeks in Costa Rica are all about closures. In a sense, we are back to where we started a year ago but in reverse. In the first week here we bought a car, opened a bank account and applied for the visa. Now we are selling the car, closing the bank account and picking up the residence permit. We started in Guanacaste, then moved to Monteverde and finally to Osa. Now we are doing the trip in reverse. We lived in Monteverde, had a trip to Guanacaste and moved to the South pacific for the last week. We re-visited our memories and did our farewells.

And while doing so, I am realizing how important it is to do the closure of the sabbatical well; how important it is to leave this wonderful country and finish this extraordinary year with good feelings and good memories.

Although Monteverde has been great from a work perspective, it was windy and cold and, living in town, we had limited possibilities for wildlife watching. For the last days, we decided to move to the Central Pacific. We wanted to be warm and in our flipflops, to see the jungle again and to scratch some things from our bucket list.What a wonderful decision it was!

As I write these lines, I am sitting in the porch in my flipflops (again), watching the mountains, hearing the montezuma oropendola and the toucans in the distance. And the cicadas. It is warm!. And I am back in my flipflops. Yibbieeeee!

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Behind me is the pacific and the whale’s tail. From the house we can see the most amazing sunsets every day.

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Despite all the to do’s, I feel extraordinarely calm. At peace. Feeling grateful. For the opportunity of being here for more than a year. For all the experiences that we have accumulated together. For all that we have learnt – from coffee tasting to building a shelter for the car, to how to cure burns of a sloth or bird watch -. For the Ticos and how kind they have been. For all the wildlife that we have watched. For being able to have impact on conservation (the marine protected area that I worked for has been approved by the Ministry!). And for being able to see, one last time the scarlet macaws, the squirrel monkeys, the fiery-billed aracaris…which we thought we would not see again before returning.

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I would be lying if I say that I am looking forward to return, but at least I am ready. As ready as I can be. There are new exciting projects in the horizon, the possibility of coming back to Costa Rica next year with my students and the prospect of seeing again family and friends. And our wonderful dog. So may be, not bad after all! 😉