I’m back with my walking routine, which helps keep me on a more or less even keel. It’s crucial to remember that there’s more to life than whatever T and the GOP wrecks.

Walking

I used to wear a headset when walking. I’d listen to music. But now I’m going without a headset, listening to nature. This is the last spring, summer, and fall that I will be hearing these specific animal sounds live; in September there will be a whole new chorus to accompany me on my daily walks: 250+ species of birds and monkeys among them, and more species to be on the lookout for: sloths, snakes,  crocodiles, frogs, lizards, finches, hummingbirds, gophers, mice, cichlids, wild cats, gobies and many more. There are half a million species in CR!  (300,000 of them are insects, many of which are breathtakingly beautiful!)

International Health Insurance — Gigantic Ripoff!

I looked into international health insurance for the interim period while I’m waiting to be granted pensionado status in CR (which can take up to two years), but the prices are obscene (starting at $1600 a month!!!), so I’m going to forget that and just sign up for MediSmart when I get down there.  It’s a massive discount program for most medical services, and the services I will need until my pensonado status kicks in are relatively inexpensive down there anyway, even without MediSmart. And for $2 more a month I can get Charli Pet MediSmart, too, in case she needs any vet services. It costs about $16/month for MediSmart, so yeah… it’s pretty much a no-brainer.

Medicare Advantange Now in Costa Rica

I hear Medicare Advantage is now accepted in CR at one of the hospitals with branches in most areas, but I refuse to bow the knee to Medicare Advantage because it’s a GOP scheme to privatize Medicare and I will not support it.

If CR would accept Original Medicare, I’d be all set, but it doesn’t, so I have to go out on a limb a little bit.  But that’s where the fruit is, so I’m going! Maybe they’re considering it, now that they have allowed Medicare Advantage. But I’m not holding my breath…