21 January 2011

Countdown to Retirement: 145 Days to go!

Everything for our retirement is starting to fall into place!

While on vacation in Costa Rica this past December, we got our Costa Rica Drivers Licenses and wrapped up a number of details for my Residency application. I was fingerprinted and photographed at the Fuerza Publica (National Police) for Interpol and then we meet with our immigration attorney to sign some paperwork.

All of the documents have now been certified by the Costa Rican Consulates and officially translated into Spanish. I received a confirmation this week stating my application for residency has now been submitted to Migracíon (Immigration). Once my application is approved, we will start the same process for John.

We have a number of things we need to do before we can sell the house. We need to paint a couple of bedrooms, replace some carpet and fix some minor stuff. We've started taken bids for the painting and repairs and hope to have the house ready to go on the market this Spring.

This weekend, the agent from the shipping company will come by and take a look at the furniture and personal belongings we plan to ship. He will give us a quote on the shipping cost, Costa Rica import duty and delivery to our home in Atenas.

We're hoping our kids will come soon to take away a lot of the furniture we don't want. We have way too much stuff and downsizing is a real challenge.

Hard to believe, in just 145 days John will officially retire!

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18 January 2011

Talavera Pottery

A few years ago John and I discovered a small shop in San Antonio, Texas, that imports Talavera pottery from Puebla, Mexico. Talavera is the oldest tin-glazed ceramic in America. It is still manufactured using the same age old techniques that were used back in the 16th Century. Authentic Talavera is always signed by a master potter. When we saw the quality of the ceramic sinks, we decided, right then and there, we would install them in our home in Costa Rica when it gets built.

This past weekend we went back to San Antonio to the Old Mexico Imports shop in the Market Square and placed our order for the sinks we will install in the new house later this year. We selected the Cenefa pattern for the dual sinks in the master bath and the Calla Lily pattern for the guest bath. These are sample photos, similar to what we selected.

We also purchased a number of matching accessories; soap dispensers, towel bars, tissue roll holder, wall hooks and tiles for the back-splashes.

They estimate it will take 2-3 months for the potter to make the sinks and deliver them to Texas. We should have them in plenty of time to include them with the household goods we will be shipping to Costa Rica this summer.

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