What's New?

December 23, 2005 - Well, my updates have been very limited but we have been busy adjusting to Costa Rican living. A major milestone however has commenced on Finca de Cynthia - we have started renovations to the old Casa (now referred to as Casa Vieja). I have added a new ablum to show progress photos of the work. Casa Vieja is a very small structure (430 sq ft) but after improvements (new roof, new interior ceiling, bathroom, tile flooring, small kitchen, electricity, windows, doors, etc) will allow us to extend our stays over night to avoid the current 2 hour round-trip. It is hoped that in the future that we will be able to build a new 2-bedroom Casita nearby and use this structure for a 3rd bedroom. The improvements should be completed by the end of February. Starting in January 2006, we will also be making road and drainage improvements (the rainy season has really created several very bad sections) and we have decide to cut back all of the existing coffee plants and replace dead plants with new plants that we grew from seeds. That will take our coffee out of production for about 3-years but it seemed to be the most effective way to re-establish production. The Finca was unattended for 5-years before we brought it and the weeds have really taken over. Feliz Navidad Everyone!!

July 25, 2005 -  Cynthia and I arrived in Costa Rica on June 20th and were able to finally move into our Gauchipelin rent house on July 5th. We are still trying to get out from under alot boxes but we are starting to settle into a very enjoyable daily routine. On July 15th we were granted permanent residency status which is a huge milestone (one major benefit is that it gives us access to Costa Rica's state run medical system at a cost of $37 per month for the both of us). We are seriously behind communicating with our friends and family; so, please bear with us - we just got our email system up and running and have only recently got a telephone line. Everything takes alittle longer here and is compounded by our lack of Spanish. Most of our friends here say it takes several years to really make the cultural shift. 

March 2 - 12, 2005 - Cynthia and I made an extended trip to Costa Rica to find a rental home and complete our permanent residency application (Cynthia needed to be finger printed). Well, we found a beautiful home to rent in Guachipelin (which is a part of Escazu - see the "Links" to access a short writeup about Escazu) just west of San Jose. Escazu is a very up-scale community outside of San Jose and home to many foreign residents. See the "Pictures" of the Gauchipelin home. The home needs some cleaning and gardening but otherwise it is perfect: very secure with a guard at the front gate, very quiet (no roosters), it has an unobstructed view west towards the Pacific Ocean, and it is about 10 minutes from the best private hospital (CIMA), very modern mall with a large grocery store (Multiplaza), Escazu resturants, golf course (Valle de Sol), and hotels (San Gildar & Hotel Intercontinental). The drive to Finca de Cynthia is about 1 hour but the trade-off of living in Guachipelin to ensure an easy transition into Costa Rica living will be well worth it. Now that Orocafe has a permanent presence in Costa Rica we have alot to look forward as we work to close shop in Texas. 

November 13, 2003 - The new website is up and running! Orocafe would like to extend a very grateful "muchas gracias" to Chris Hunter and his staff at Brazos Valley Design for their excellent work in designing and building this website. The work was completed on-time and on-budget which speaks very highly of the efficiency and expertise of Brazos Valley Design ( www.brazosvalleydesign.com) .