Even the cable and utility companies in the States don’t give that wide of a time frame. Suddenly being told they will arrive at your home between 8am and 5pm on Tuesday doesn’t sound so bad any more, does it?
In my October 2nd post – You’re Moving Where? Costa Rica? – I wrote the following about living in Costa Rica. “…along the coasts and in the rainforests – which is where our new home is – life moves slower; manaña is said to be the national answer to everything. This is one of the most profound things that has attracted us to this country and quite honestly, it’s a part of Costa Rica’s charm… the ability to live life at the perfect pace. It is truly Pura Vida.”
Well… this awesome vibe carries over into ALL aspects of living here, including when you need repairs or maintenance on your home… in which case, I guess, it’s not so awesome. At any rate, allow me to explain what happens in Costa Rica when Murphy’s Law meets up with the manaña pace of life here.
We’re renting our home in Nosara this year, which is wonderful when repairs are needed. All we need to do is call our wonderful property manager, Tiffany, and she takes care of everything. I just love it! And it sure beats a bunch of trips to Home Depot on the weekends. Since we’re living in Casa Tres Vistas long term, which is not typical for this house, we had discovered quite a few things that needed attention. Tiffany was great and immediately starting working on them.
Sooo… Wednesday arrives and I’m about to start a webinar that I’d been preparing to give to a large number of potential clients when EVERY SINGLE WORKER that Tiffany had called showed up at the house AT THE SAME TIME. As I peeked out my 3rd floor window, I said to myself, “This can’t be happening, not now.” So I quickly sent an instant message to my wife, Jodi, who was downstairs and told her to please ask them to all come later. Well… Jodi tried her best but one of the workers broke through and walked into my office – where I was holding the webinar – and held out her mobile phone saying the word, “Tiffany.”
At that moment, time stood still for me and everything that happened next was in slow motion… except for my mind. My mind was working feverishly, like a NASA computer, trying to calculate what I needed to do to get out of this situation. The result was to take the phone, talk with Tiffany, explain the situation, and get back to the webinar. So I did. And Yes, I had to be clever and then mute the webinar while I had this conversation.
If it wasn’t stressful enough taking a call in the middle of a webinar that I was giving, I had to then hear the following words. “When people show up in Costa Rica to work on your home, you don’t turn them away. It could be weeks before I can get them to come back.” You gotta love, Tiffany though! She was doing her absolute best to take care of our needs ASAP and she knew it would be a while before anyone could return; so she made her case to me. And it was a good one!
I thought, “OK, I can do this, I’m a computer guy. I multi-task all the time. No worries… I can do several things at the same time. So, I got back to the webinar and THEN the workers began to work.
As I continued my presentation, there were people on the roof fixing a leak, which required hammering; one person was in my office opening windows, spraying wasps nests and then knocking them down; another person was removing a safe that was secured to the wall; and there was drilling going on outside my window to repair a lock on a door by the pool.
As I dodged wasps, talking as loud as I could to drown out the sounds around me, and waved at people walking in an out of my office, I had to laugh! If the people in my webinar could only see me now. You know… the best stories and funniest moments always come from life’s experiences. And this was truly one that I would not forget.
Pura Vida,
John
November 5th, 2009 at 10:20 am
LOL – so did you get any new clients out of it? I bet you were able to pull it off. Can’t wait to experience. You are taking this so much better than I thought you would. This move is sooooooo good for you! See you all soon.
November 5th, 2009 at 10:26 am
Hi John,
I wish I could have seen you trying to give your webinar…..whatever that means. A strange sight I am sure….
November 6th, 2009 at 7:21 am
All right well some us go to Fargo to the technical conference you are in Costa Rica.
As an immigrant myself I can only say that your decision is the right one. Enriching one’s life is by being simplier and deeper is the right thing to do.
I will try to keep in touch and see what you learn for a very selfish reason. As my little ISV is taking shape the goal is to allow it to flourish with the ability to support and work from anywhere. Seems you already took that road so I am looking for lessons learned.
Having immigrated to this country seeking freedom from social democratic environments in Europe for a more entrepeneur world in the USA I feel blessed having raised my four kids here and seeing them flourish. They speak 3 languages and have roots in both continents.
Having made that giant step I will leave you today with two quotes
‘You can never forget your roots, but you for sure can grow new ones. The trouble is you need to feed them both.’
In my native Belgium the flemish say: ‘You are as many times a man as you know a language’
A bientot et bon voyage.
Guy
November 6th, 2009 at 8:28 am
Wow! Guy, I very much appreciate your thoughtful and insightful comments, as well as your support. Those quotes are great! My family and I are very excited at the opportunity to truly become bilingual, as we feel it will enrich our lives immensely. And Yes, I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences here; both personal and especially, what it’s like to work from another country. Muchas gracias para su amistad. John
November 6th, 2009 at 9:00 am
We lived for a year in Peru, and I only wish they had blogs then. Some of my friends saved letters I wrote them, but most of these fabulous experiences live on only in my ever-growing-dimmer memory.
The “manana” experience is something you just have to learn to lean into. We were running a software implementation project at the Lima Stock Exchange, and would have to constantly ask…manana like tomorrow? Or manana like someday, maybe sort of soon if it happens to work out?
I would love to spend another year abroad – this time with kids – and will live this year vicariously through you. To me, your decision to break out of the box is a reminder that we all have choices and don’t have to just live our lives by default, following the herd around us.
Keep us posted!
Adrianne Machina
Tornado Marketing
November 9th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
Well, we sure missed you in the deluge of a fall trip we recreated from this springs trip. My waterproof GPS dripped for 4 days following our return. But as you know it’s more about the people than the ride, the ride is just the kicker!
Hope to see more great adventures from your year.
Steve