So, I have started a blog. Yes, it is very hard to believe. Me, the person that doesn’t really like computers and hates to type, or can’t type, has started a blog. It is all the fault of a friend of mine, Kimberly, who moved from Southern California to France with her husband, 2 kids and a dog. I thought, if she can do it, start a blog that is, describing her experiences of moving to a foreign country, so can I. (You can check out her blog on the link at the right: 4 Americans in France).

Anyway, I moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to Costa Rica on July 1st , 2005 with my partner Carlos and our dog Tyler. It has been said that it was all my idea to move but I think that this was just so that I could be blamed if things didn’t work out. It has been a year already and luckily, there is no blame to be placed. We both really love it here. There have been bumps along the road and issues to overcome, this is for sure ,but overall, we have definitely made the right decision.

Why would we make such a crazy move? The easy answer is why not? Lots of people make moves to other parts of the country and other parts of the world. Why not me.? I had lived in San Francisco for almost 18 years and loved it. I owned a house and my own business, lived comfortably, had lots of great friends and had a decent retirement account. Then I made my made my first trip to Coast Rica in August 2003 and things changed. I came for a 3 week visit with my partner Carlos. Carlos was born in Costa Rica but grew up in California. However, his family vacations were spent in Costa Rica and with exception of his immediately family, Mom, Dad, brother and sister, everyone in his family still lives in Costa Rica.

The trip was fantastic. On the flight back home, I said I could live in Costa Rica. This set the wheels in motion. When we returned to CA, both Carlos and I started thinking of things to do in Costa Rica. The possibilities were endless. There was one plan after another after another. Then, in March 2005, we made the big decision, sell the house, close our businesses, pack up our stuff and just do it. And that is what we did. We left California 11 PM June 30th 2005 and arrived in Costa Rica at 7AM July 1st 2005. Our dog Tyler beat us here by 15 hours – a long and frustrating story for another time.

Monte Azul

We are here in Costa Rica and have started as business called Monte Azul, or should I say businesses? There have been many changes over the last year on exactly what the business would entail. But I think that we have finally determined the components of the business. It falls into 4 segments:

Monte Azul: This component is the artists retreat in the mountains.

Monte Azul Grafica: This component produces hand-made serigraphs, mainly for the tourist market

Monte Azul Press: This component produces fine art on our Griffin Press. Invited artists use the press to produce works that include wood block prints, monotypes, and other types of art. I am not sure exactly sure about the names or the differences between them.

Rojas + Langendorfer: This component is the art gallery and art consultant business.

All of these components are inter-related. You can get more detail and see what art has been produced or is available at http://www.monteazulcr.com/ or http://www.monteazulgrafica.com/