Butterfly Dance Report

Hello Butterfly Dance property owners,

I spent the entire month of November living in my new house at Butterfly. I sent a lot of emails to friends while I was there, describing what it was like living in the first completed house. It was very peaceful, beautiful and quite interesting. I have to say it was so nice that I stayed a lot longer than I had planned. I enjoyed being the only one out there, but I really look forward to when I can see many more nice houses spread about the hillsides, and there exists a real community at Butterfly. This week, I spent so much time editing those emails and creating a couple of pages documenting my month living in the first house that I'm going to direct you to that webpage for most of the new information about Butterfly Dances.

The link to that page is http://journeysbypaul.com/ButterflyDanceLife.htm

I also posted some new Butterfly Dance films on YouTube (including one on the destructive windstorm that occurred). Those links will be at the top left of the webpage. I'll be back down in the beginning of January for a month or two.

Any Updates?

Well, like I said in the first edition, I'm just trying to communicate what I am able to in regard to the development. And since last time, I don't really have any concrete information for you. I've asked Jairo for his mailing address and have not received it so the only sure option is to continue to send road fund checks to Joanna at:

Joanna H. Marsh,  APDO 591, San Ramon de Alajuela, Costa Rica, Centroamerica

Joanna or Jose will probably tell me if there is a change for sure, or maybe they'll email each of you.

Also, I don't know what the status is of Jose transferring control of Butterfly to us. He hasn't mentioned anything to me lately, so, for now I guess it's still status quo. He's been traveling a lot, so maybe we can figure something out in the next couple of months.

If you don't have his email, it is ranchos@racsa.co.cr   At least, that's the one I have for him.

While I was there, I did notice that the guard and his family that I wrote about in the last newsletter are not living in the bodega. I never did meet those people. A couple of the workers are living there now, so they're the makeshift guards. I wrote a little about them on my webpage. They're good guys. Omar and Roger.

While I've been back in the U.S., I printed up some sheets showing which lots are up for resale, and for what price (if you gave me a price). I'll make it a point of distributing the sheets to whatever person or agent I run into. I don't think there's a great market for sales right now, but it appears that some houses are selling. Maybe some lots, too. I don't know. We'll see.

                                     Pisote

                          My House

One owner emailed me some good questions:

*Is an abogado or attorney being used to legally set up and secure these collected maintenance, security and accounting fees as well as, to assist us home owners in creating this HOA?
 
*In that Mr. Alfaro is receiving, banking, disbursing and accounting our money, is he bonded for both his and our protection?

*How much is Jairo Alfaro paid monthly for his services as maintenance chief?

*Will there be any over site by the future HOA to assure we homeowners are going in the right direction?

*Could you tell us the average monthly cost of water, power, telephone and, if any, internet access?

*Do you know if Jose's friend and architect, Nelson and his Topografo engineer son Gustavo Barifi Giordano are still working on homes in the development?    Yes, the last I heard (very recently) Nelson and Gustavo are doing architectural and topographical drawings.

*Does Jairo speak English? If so, can we get in touch with him? As I am sure you are aware, our not speaking a lot of Spanish and wanting to soon build a home creates problems for us.

Jairo's email is jairoalfarov@hotmail.com                                              phone number is 8894-8895

Like I said, these are good and intelligent questions, but, after hanging out in Costa Rica getting my house done, I have to say that I never heard the term 'bonded.' I really wish things did work like they did in the U.S.  Maybe they do 'bond' down there. What do I know? I'm sure I can get answers to some of these questions, and I'll try when I'm down there. But it's not like being here in the U.S. Here, I can make a list of 8 things to do, and maybe get them done in a day. There, I can make a list of 8 things, and sometimes I get only one thing done (sometimes more). And you get used to it. You have to. If anyone wants to help out on this Association thing, please feel free. 

And I thought I was doing well just learning about the construction techniques and their ins and outs. But I will ask more about the requirements of a homeowners association next time I'm down there.

Final thought, though:  Staying at Butterfly Dances is great (you'll learn how much I liked it when you read my web pages). I wish some more houses are going to be built soon. (Or, at least when the recession ends.) Ann has started back up on hers, and Kurt's shouldn't take more than a couple of months. And after the windstorm setbacks, Gary should be moving into his in a couple of months also.

I can't guarantee the frequency of this newsletter but you can always check my website for updates on my own personal experiences at Butterfly Dances.

p.ogier@comcast.net

http://journeysbypaul.com/ButterflyDanceLife.htm  (life in my new house)

www.journeysbypaul.com (pics and text of construction of my house)

If your email deleted the pictures in this newsletter, try this link -  http://journeysbypaul.com/butterflydance2.htm

ranchos@racsa.co.cr        Jose Pelleya

gitanavida@hotmail.com  Joanna Marsh  (for the bookkeeping)