17 Comments
Sep 20Liked by Marlo Leaman

Wow this all sounds super stressful! 😅

Expand full comment
author

Yep, it kinda was! But I never went to jail, so phew, I did it ok! 👍

Expand full comment

Wow, you are so brave. What an adventure though! So far so good, you've avoided Costa Rican jail. Cheers to being jail-free for life! Yassou!

PS(You are so brave. I need some of that, so I subscribed:))

Expand full comment
author

Thanks Ilona! I appreciate that, but I can tell you I never felt brave! And I too am glad I still am jail-free. My attorney father scared the daylights out of me about jail-time so that was to be avoided at all costs!

Expand full comment
Mar 24Liked by Marlo Leaman

Marlo - I love reading your adventures and all the small things that you had to deal with!

Expand full comment
author

Thanks Kathy!

Expand full comment
Mar 20Liked by Marlo Leaman

With all this … I can’t believe how calm, cool and collected you were when we used to walk the mountain! Lol Great read!! And I get it!!! ❤️

Expand full comment
author

Thanks Linda! Wish I had met you and started walking in those first years- that’s when most of the crazy was! Much better later so thanks- needed that walking group outlet! Pura vida!!

Expand full comment
Mar 20Liked by Marlo Leaman

Sounds very scary working and living in another country. So glad everything worked out so well. Never experienced jail but sure don't want to try. Nowhere, in the US or anywhere else. Keep the experiences coming. Great stories and adventures. Uncle Dave.

Expand full comment
author

Thanks! My dad was a lawyer and he drilled into me that any kind of jail would not be great- thus my longstanding fear- especially in a foreign country!

Expand full comment

Hahahahaa!!! You are DEFINITELY showing up in future Google searches for "Costa Rican Jail." The number of times you mentioned it, I'm sure you've got the monopoly.

Side note: I will NEVER forget Brokedown Palace. That movie shook me.

Expand full comment

I am glad you made it out safely without any need to take a midnight train to the border.

If you find yourself in Bolivia, there is a prison tour which you may find interesting.

https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/inspiration/san-pedro-prison-la-paz-i-did-a-tour-of-bolivias-notorious-cocaine-prison-20220808-h25l98.html

Expand full comment
author

OMG Andy! That's frightening. See why I'm glad I never went to jail for anything? I'm just glad Mark never said, "Don't worry, if anything happens, I'll pretend I don't know you." Yikes!

Expand full comment

I can feel the heart-thumping moments—so many!—and so often w/ doing the books, keeping up w/ the non-stop social security, compensation plans, etc. for the CR govt. OMG, Marlo. We had some rough times too but they came in jolts, like those quick earthquakes. Yours came in like the rolling quakes—lasting a looong seemingly forever amount of time. Some time I'll write, in a later chapter on my memoir, about when we decided we could do our own immigration papers and thanks to our accountant's ineptness were deported, yup. Who says living and working in a foreign country isn't fun? But I think you're ongoing weekly-monthly anxiety of performing these accounting duties, hoping all was well, no doubt took a toll.

Expand full comment
author

You know it Jeanine! Working and living in a foreign country as you know is trial by fire! Maybe we didn't do it 'right' but for sure I was making it up as went!

Your own immigration papers? Are you nuts? Deported? Can't wait for that story!

Expand full comment

Yes, nuts. We were so fed up w/ our dippy immigration atty we decided to go it alone. Wrong! It was a sad day indeed--with our new shipment of books waiting at the Puerto Morelos dock just in time for High Season.

Expand full comment
author

Ooh, eek. I commiserate! Live and die by 'High Season'...

Expand full comment