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Available worldwide on Amazon and for delivery within Costa Rica from The Tico Times Store.

When a Phoenix schoolteacher buys a one-way ticket to Costa Rica, she gets pretty much what she hopes for: salvation on a bus, enlightenment in a taxi, and a serendipitous romp of a reporting career. What she doesn’t see coming is a decade-long affair with the country’s sly and hilarious street slang, whose wit and wisdom changes the way she sees life, love, and eventually motherhood. A delight for travel buffs, parents and linguists alike, Katherine Stanley Obando’s ingenious and soulful phrasebook portrays a Costa Rica most tourists never see – and explains how what’s lost in translation helped her find herself.

Praise for “Love in Translation”

“No one who loves Costa Rica should be without this delightful book – but it will also speak to anyone who has ever been far from home, or loved a child, or marveled at the power of language. ‘Love in Translation’ has earned a cherished and permanent spot on my bookshelf and in my heart.”

-Oscar Arias, Former Costa Rican President and Nobel Peace Laureate

“Delicious… Lovingly written, with luminous joy.”

-Carlos Arauz, author of Costa Rica: leyendas y tradiciones

“This is cross culture at its most charming.”

-Henrietta Boggs, Former Costa Rican First Lady, author of Married to a Legend: Don Pepe

“She has taught us a valuable lesson: that our language and culture are rich and worthy of preservation. We must carry it in our souls. The pride of being Costa Rican, just the way we are.”

-María Mayela Padilla, National Culture Award-winning writer and folklorist

“Katherine is an outstanding writer. She’s funny, she thoughtful, and she really knows Costa Rica. She is less a ‘travel writer’ than an immersive anthropologist. She writes with a unique sensitivity: a loving mother raising her daughter in a bilingual world. Whether or not you have any interest in Costa Rica, I don’t think you’ll find a more endearing portrait of familyhood.”

-Robert Isenberg, author of The Green Season (read more of Robert’s comments on his site)