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The Bella Blog
- Mar 25
- 2 min
All Around the Town - Dining in Costa Rica
It's no secret --- Costa Rica is NOT known for it's cuisine! I have nothing against rice and beans, and after living here for 5 yrs, I've certainly had my share. Gallo pinto is fine (gallo pinto is a mix of beans, rice, Salsa Lizano, chopped onion, chopped red bell pepper, and chopped cilantro. Usually served alongside a fried egg, ripe plantains, white cheese and homemade tortillas or a piece of toast). Casados are fine too (casados are always offered at sodas (a local resta
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The Bella Blog
- Mar 10
- 1 min
Escape to Tamarindo, Costa Rica - Wrap Up Video
Just a quick post to say that the wrap up for our 4 day trip to Tamamrindo has been uploaded to Youtube Please check it out if you haven't already #thatbellalife #tamarindocostarica #blackexpatsabroad #blackincostarica #blackexpatslivinglifeabroad
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The Bella Blog
- Mar 6
- 1 min
Single & Dating Abroad Pt2
LIVE in The Clubhouse Monday March 8. Please join us. Let me know if you need an invite or if any men would like to participate. Remember you need to have an iPhone. #thatbellalife #blackincostarica #blackexpatsabroad #retiredblackexpatsabroad #retiredblackexpatsincostarica #blackexpatsdatingabroad
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The Bella Blog
- Nov 29, 2020
- 1 min
Costa Rica Military Abolition Day
I'm a few days early as the official date is December 1st. That is the national holiday in celebration of Army Abolition Day. This is Costa Rica's 1st annual celebration. President Carlos Alvarado signed the law on May 20, 2020 and established the new holiday. Since it is a 3 day holiday, I decided to post on Sunday. On December 1, 1948, President José Figueres Ferrer of Costa Rica abolished the military of Costa Rica after achieving victory in the civil war that year. The bu
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The Bella Blog
- Sep 15, 2020
- 2 min
Costa Rica, A Day in the life
Today is September 15th It's Costa Rica Independence Day Some of you may remember this video, which we posted back in 2018 on our old vimeo channel. Now that we have moved from Grecia, it's fun to look back on those days, so, from time to time I'll upload one of the old videos and repost it to our new Youtube channel -- and you can also view it here. I think this will be helpful to our newer subscribers -- and for those of you who have been around for a while, you might like
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The Bella Blog
- Sep 11, 2020
- 3 min
When You've Had Enough!
**This is an opinion piece on r a c e - you can choose to stop now and not read further. Sometimes a girl just gotta get it off her chest. I doubt that today's topic is being covered by the media, and then again, why would it be? So far as I can tell there are no "official" statistics. The topic is about the rapidly increasing number of black people who are researching, exploring and actively making plans to exit the United States!!! Black people in America have been trying
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The Bella Blog
- Jun 22, 2020
- 2 min
Let's Take A Ride! - Atenas Costa Rica
I shared this video on one of my Facebook groups but thought you all might enjoy it as well. The TOPIC -- HOUSING - Where should we live? This is always a HUGE decision as we discussed in the real estate series. I think the decision is also complicated by the fact that Costa Rica is different from the US in many ways. First - It's not connected by "freeways" - as we know them in the US - "freeways" that take you up and down and across the country with well lit signs and offra
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The Bella Blog
- May 29, 2020
- 1 min
And The Winner Is
We're back with an update on which property we chose! It was a difficult decision but we finally made up our minds. In the video below we will discuss the pros and cons of each location which led up to our final decision. While we were in the selection process I thought this might also be a good time to educate people on exactly how real estate works in Costa Rica as it is different in so many ways from real estate in the states, and I figured...you all just might want to kno
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The Bella Blog
- May 12, 2020
- 2 min
Looking for a New Home in Costa Rica
Since we have put our move to Mexico on indefinite hold, it's time to find a new home in Costa Rica! I've found at least one positive result of the Corona Virus, and that is - it's a pretty good time to look for a new place to live if you are interested in a good deal on a rental. Since there will be a new normal once we are lifted from quarantine, people will more than likely not be doing as much travel. And in a country like Cosat Rica where... Tourism has been one of the f
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The Bella Blog
- May 9, 2020
- 2 min
Two Month Rona Costa Rica Update
HAPPY 70th BIRTHDAY!! We celebrated both of our birthdays on my birthday. Since things have loosened up a bit, we went out to dinner with a couple of friends. Lavanson & I each had a slice of cake with candles. He had the "happy" candles, I had the ones that said "birthday." “In a world where we overcomplicate things, sometimes there are moments that are stand-alone that still bring smiles.” OK I did the research and 70 is the new 50 or at least the new 60!!! Health-wise, old
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The Bella Blog
- May 3, 2020
- 3 min
We All Scream For Ice Cream!
1 - Rona Virus Update I think we are actually in week 8 now and Costa Rica has begun to lift the restrictions a bit. Our virus #s stand at about 725 cases and 6 deaths. Among the changes, many stores and restaurants were allowed to re open eff 5/1 - with special "capacity" restrictions, the 7pm curfew still stands and United Airlines began making limited flights to and from CR. Citizens and legal residents are now allowed to return home. We were in town yesterday to do our g
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The Bella Blog
- Mar 24, 2020
- 3 min
We're on our own! Life in the time of Covid-19
What a week this has been. Who can remember what life was like before we had to stay 6 ft away from each other, wash our hands a gazillion times a day, sanitize everything and stay sequesterd in our homes? Here's the latest news from Costa Rica - We started using an online delivery service for our fruits and veggies. They make deliveries on Fridays. We don't have Uber eats or any of those other fancy delivery services here in our area but this will cut down (somewhat) on our
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The Bella Blog
- Mar 21, 2020
- 3 min
Shelter in Place - Day 10 -The New Normal
Yesterday we received a message from the State Dept Come home. Now. That was the message from the State Department, which announced that U.S. citizens abroad should either return home or stay where they are as the coronavirus pandemic grows.
The department raised its global travel advisory to Level 4, the top warning level, which is usually reserved for nations with war zones or beset by serious disruptions. The announcement is a recommendation, not a requirement, and many of
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The Bella Blog
- Feb 24, 2020
- 2 min
Mardi Gras Costa Rica Style
A quick weekend update. For those of you NOT on FB, here is a pic of the sweet potatoes from our recent harvest - YAY. These are U.S style sweet potatoes (yams), which we don't get here in Costa Rica. We grew them in our yard and this is our 2nd harvest. The first one netted only a few very tiny potatoes. At this time, (along with editing the video from yesterday and writing this blog post), I am also cooking some of the potatoes to make a sweet potato loaf (similar to zucchi
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The Bella Blog
- Jan 28, 2020
- 1 min
Our Combined Expat Travel Community
Good Morning from sunny Costa Rica! Since I stopped posting to our original blog "The Aspiring Expats" last year, we also get followers from the original group plus the newer group at "That Bella Life". I thought, in case any of you were wondering how big our community is, take a look! (this is our presence on Facebook) for your support!! #ThatBellaLife #RetiredExpats #BlackExpatsAbroad #RetiredBlackExpatsInCostaRica
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The Bella Blog
- Dec 16, 2019
- 2 min
Better Days Ahead
Although we had a pretty frustrating several days last week, the end of the week turned out to be much, much better. Thursday was an absolutely gorgeous day. I even hung some clothes out on the line to dry in the Costa Rica sun. Really! I mean who gets to have such a beautiful view? I am always in awe of the beauty here. On Friday, I also picked up our homemade holiday tamales! Yum! Tamale Making - A time-honored and delicious holiday tradition in Costa Rica. For generations,
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