Kindle in Costa Rica - Will it work?

The short answer... YES, but there are a few caveats.

Recently, Google searches for the words "Kindle Costa Rica" puts our blog, Mi Chunche, in the top 10 results. Since we get so many of these "hits", I thought I would dedicate this post to a detailed explanation of how the various versions of Kindle actually work in Costa Rica.

Kindle Wi-Fi
Amazon's 3rd generation Kindle introduced Wi-Fi. This gives it the ability to connect to a wireless network, such as a home wireless or Wi-Fi Hot Spots. Once configured to connect to the wireless network, ebooks can be downloaded directly to the Kindle. While connected, Amazon's Whispersync automatically syncs your place across any other devices you have, so you can pick up where you left off. This version does not have a 3G cellular connection. You can download ebooks directly to the Kindle Wi-Fi device while in Costa Rica as long as the device is connected to a Wi-Fi network.

Kindle 3G & Wi-Fi
Another version of Amazon's 3rd generation Kindle supports both Wi-Fi and 3G cellular connection via Whispernet. The Wi-Fi on this device works exactly as described above. The 3G cellular connection, Whispernet, uses Sprint. Since Sprint is not a GSM network, the Kindle can't roam on I.C.E.'s (Costa Rica’s government-run, phone, internet and cable network), thus no direct internet connection. You can download ebooks directly to the Kindle 3G & Wi-Fi device while in Costa Rica as long as the device is connected to a Wi-Fi network.

Kindle 1st & 2nd Generation and Kindle DX
The earlier versions of Amazon's Kindles only support a 3G cellular connection via Whispernet. The 3G cellular connection, Whispernet, uses Sprint. Since Sprint is not a GSM network, the Kindle can't roam on I.C.E.'s (Costa Rica’s government-run, phone, internet and cable network), thus no direct internet connection. You cannot download ebooks directly to the earlier versions of the Kindle devices while in Costa Rica. However, if you have a computer, with an internet connection, you can still download any of your Kindle content archived on Amazon.com to the computer and transfer it via USB to your Kindle.

In summary, if you don't have a wireless connection, you will have to download ebooks to a computer and transfer them to the Kindle with via a USB cable connection.

I have a Kindle 2 and John has the Kindle 3G Wi-Fi. He downloads directly from Amazon through our wireless network. I have to download ebooks to the PC first, and then transfer them to my Kindle 2, but it is painless. We love our Kindles! If you're thinking about bringing a Kindle to Costa Rica, do it. You won't regret it.

Please read the comment section for further information.
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Talavera Ceramics Update

Back in January we ordered Talavera ceramic sinks and accessories for the house we will be building in Atenas this year. The ceramic artist in Hidalgo, Mexico, just finished our custom order and sent a couple of photos of the finished products.

The Cenefa pattern will be in our master bath.

The Calla Lily pattern is for the guest bath.

Can't wait to see everything installed...
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Countdown to Retirement: 100 Days to go!

Hard to believe John will finally retire in just 100 days. I received my first Social Security Retirement Benefit payment last month. I haven't worked (except around the house) in more than 2 years, but now I'm officially retired and getting paid for it. John submitted his application for Social Security Benefits today and it should become effective in July.

This past month we finished fixing up the inside of the house. Wallpaper has been pealed off the walls, sheet rock has been repaired, ceiling damage has been fixed from the water pipe break we had last summer, and all the rooms have a fresh coat of paint. This afternoon John replaced all the old door knobs on all the bedrooms, bathrooms and closets. Now, if I can just get him to fix the spot light over the kitchen sink, we'll be done indoors. The inside of the house really looks great and I think a potential buyer will be pleased with all the nice touches we have added.

This week, work will start on the outside. We have some minor stuff to fix outside, then everything will be power washed. We removed a 50' pine tree from the front yard that had finally succumbed to disease and now we will get started on some landscaping to improve the curb appeal.

In the middle of all of this, we are also trying to cull through stuff, packing what we can and setting aside what will be going to the kids. Then, there is all the stuff that will either to donated or trashed. It amazing how much stuff you can get rid of, stuff we really don't need, when you make up your mind to downsize.
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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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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 16^th 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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Our Tropical Christmas - 2010

We just spent a wonderful Christmas vacation in Costa Rica where we ate more than our fair share of Christmas Tamales.







The garden is looking fabulous. Mario, our gardener, is doing a wonderful job. All of the trees we planted in May have doubled or tripled in size and the lawn is now well established. We didn't have a Christmas tree this year, but we did manage to string up lights on the casita.




Here is John standing next to our Cashew tree.







Mario has managed to bring this little Mango tree back to life. Jenny planted it about 3 years ago and it had been struggling.










The Almond tree is really starting to grow and should provide good shade on this side of the casita.










Our Valencia Orange has tripled in size and is already producing fruit.

We attended many holiday parties and dinners and made lots of new friends this trip. Our neighbor Max threw a party for his employees and clients. We met a couple, close to our age, and had such a good time with them, we arranged to met for lunch a few days later. We went to the Machu Picchu restaurant in San Jose. The food there is outstanding and you should try to go there if you get the chance.

One evening Mario and Dinia invited us over for homemade Chicharrones. Mario and Dinia are really great folks. They embody everything we love about the Ticos. The friendship they have extended to us is just wonderful. They provided us with transportation to and from airport. Shortly after they dropped us off at our casita, they came over with a huge basket of fresh fruit and a week later they showed up with more. They went out of their way to help us with a number of things we needed to get fixed around the casita. We are so grateful to count them among our friends.

We celebrated Maritza's and my birthday one evening with her, Vinicio and the rest of her family. It was great to see all of our extended family. Like all kids, their grandkids are growing up just too fast.
One of the best parties we went to was hosted by our friend, Eliercer, near Grecia. This is CR at its best! He and his church members put on a Christmas Fiesta for the area poor. Well over 100 kids, babies to pre-teens, waited for hours to get into the Fiesta. Once inside, they were entertained with games, a clown, "dreamsicles" hot dogs with slaw & all the dressings, ice cream, soda, piñatas full of candy. Finally, each child received a nice toy present and a bag filled with apples and grapes.

After the kids party we had "Olla de Carne" for lunch with Eliercer and his family. Then we went to see friends in Alajuela for afternoon coffee and more food.






We spent Christmas Eve with my Tico "son" and his family where we enjoyed a roasted pork leg with all the traditional trimmings. We watched the little ones pass out presents to everyone to open and then it was time to tuck them in bed so they could wait for the Niño Jesus to arrive with their "special" presents.







We had a wonderful time and we were so sad to see our vacation come to an end. We were in the midst of packing on Christmas Day for our trip home on the 26th, when Eliercer and his family surprised us. They showed up in the late afternoon with Christmas Tamales. We brewed some coffee in the chorreador and I made up a platter of cheeses and crackers. We sat outside on the casita's porch to enjoy the impromptu fest with good friends in perfect weather. ¡Pura Vida!
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It's a jungle out there!

This past February I spent 6 weeks in Atenas getting work done around our casita. We built a perimeter concrete wall with chain link fencing, put in a sprinkler system, poured a driveway and added an electric gate. Then I came back with John in May, at the start of the rainy season, to plant the grass, trees and shrubs. We were really hoping to plant some sort of fast growing, climbing vine on the side of the house that bakes in the sun all day. We decided to plant Jalapa.


What a great choice! This is a photo in June, just after John planted the Jalapa. He built a framework of nylon string for the vines to attach themselves and start the climb to the top of the fence.

Here you can see how well it had grown by the end of August. Notice, you can still see through the fence.

And this is the amazing growth as of yesterday. Yea, we have shade and privacy, what more could we ask for in just 5 months.




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Homemade Sausage - Part 2

The Chorizo sausage we made earlier this month turned out so good, we decided to try Italian sausage this morning. In keeping with our healthy diet objective, we made Italian Turkey sausage.

We ground about 2 parts of turkey breast meat with 1 part of pork. Then we added the spices and fried up a bit to make sure the seasonings was just right before we packed it into the casings.

Tonight we plan to cook some for dinner on the barbecue grill.
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