THE FLIP FLOP LIFE

After many months of struggle, with constant ups and downs, steps forward and backward, little and not-so little panics and roller-coaster feelings….

Today we have many reasons to celebrate. 

We have written before about the paperwork struggles, particularly to get the drivers licence. The endless queues in full sun for nothing. The trips all over Costa Rica in search of the off-the-beaten-path offices to get a step further in the paperwork nightmare. We have not written that much about the hours lost on the phone to get appointments, the papers that were sent to the wrong office, the double-billed services which took months to get reimbursed….  

But persistence finally pays off. 

I got not only one but two driving licenses – one for cars and one for motorbikes. Frank was able to drive for another 3 months after a border run to Nicaragua. That is, getting a bus from Costa Rica to the Nicaraguan border, leave the country, enter again (all in the same day) and reset your tourism visa for another 3 months. And with the visa, the permision to drive with your foreign driving license.

And, last Thursday, the cherry on the cake arrived. 

We got our residence permits in Costa Rica!! 

PiuuuuuuuuPiuuuuuPiuuuuuu PO PO PO PO PO – I can hear the fireworks in my head! 

The residency is for two years. Renewable for another two and with a possibility to opt for the permanent residency after three years. 

We are BEYOND happy with this! 

We have heard many stories of people that had applied for the same type of visa, just to get it rejected once, and again. People that have been in Costa Rica for more than a decade now, doing border runs every 3 months [ to renew their tourist visa ]. But, either because of luck, or because we follow the application instructions to the letter and beyond or because we got a very good advise… we got it in one go.

Both of us. 

This, by itself would be enough for a big celebration. And, of course, we did celebrate in our favourite Italian restaurant in Puerto Viejo.

Something that we had also done a week ago. Different restaurant and reason to celebrate.

Frank got a contract with IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), one of the largest conservation organizations worldwide. It is also for a very interesting project on plastic waste in the ocean. It could not have come at a better time.

In the August, I also signed another contract with WWF for a beautiful project on conservation innovations.

All in all, it gave us hope. 

Hope that we are on the right path. 

That we can both work for nature conservation. 

That we made the right choice, following our heart.  

Coming to this beautiful country, and starting a new life.