Building a House in Costa Rica

My wife and rented a house in Costa Rica in 2006, after we both retired. We loved that rental house high up in a little mountain village. Every day was cool, and we had a view of three cities from our back porch. The daily pace of the village was slow and peaceful. We decided to stay.
We bought some land as close as possible to our rental house. Actually our new property was a hundred meters away from it. It took almost a year to get approval from the local government to build. They wanted to make sure that our building would not harm the precious water supply on the mountain.
Building went along without a hitch. Every day a crew of fourteen men busied themselves around our structure as the building rose out of the ground. The view in the new house was even better than the rental house. Not only is there a great view but on a clear day we can see the Pacific Ocean between a gap in the mountains.
It was a gamble, it seems to be paying off.