Chronicles of our first week in Monteverde

Thanks to all for hangin' in there with us….we are struggling to get our 128 KB internet connection hooked up here at the house and hope to have success tomorrow with a visit from the local communications / utility company. Hit or miss connection at Mike’s school and little time to trek the short distance to an internet café down the street is an obvious challenge for us in trying to keep the blog clean and fresh….appreciate your patience.

Now that we have been here over a week, we are trying to establish some semblance of normalcy, routines and family ground rules for the boys. The boys are doing great and show little to no sign of major stress with the move. We continue to talk about family, friends and of course, the little green house on Tuttle Ave.

Here are some of my random thoughts and a ‘brain dump’ (in no particular order) of what has been keeping us busy here south of the border.
Last Saturday, we drove to the market in Santa Elena, assisted by our neighbor Adrienne, purchased 20lbs of produce for ten dollars. The market is held in the gym of the public high school and offers all wares, music and opportunites to practice our Spanish. The boys found their new favorite snack, leche nuts’!

We also set out to hike a trail which started just behind our house that Mike thought would lead us to the Dairy, but the thickly forested winding path led us in the opposite direction, up and down hills and to the home of Anna and her baby and then beyond to Stella’s bakery. Anna was kind enough to guide us back to the trail (As her baby crawled outside on a blanket, Anna continued holding the bowl and stirring whatever it was she was in the middle of cooking while guiding us past her patio, through her neighbors garden, under a trellis and then finally, to the stairs that she had described. Apparently it is not uncommon to have trails wind through private property. We were greeted by hundreds of moss covered stairs that led us through lush forests….very cool!


On Sunday, we all walked to school so Mike could attend the Quaker meeting and after, share in the pot-luck. Everyone brings a dish to share and is responsible for toting their own plates, silver-ware and napkins. Beth and I watched the kids in the school playground until the meeting concluded, then we all ate and mingled with others from the community.

The hike to the school is quite manageable from our home…about 20 minutes with the boys and it is more of an adventure through the woods, over bridges and waterfalls and finally through a spot frequented by bird-watchers, with a last chance to snatch a ripened raspberry before finding yourself at the school entrance. On the walk home, we stopped at the dairy to enjoy ice cream, buy fresh milk and yogurt.

In the afternoon, we drove to the Cloud Forest Reserve and watched the numerous hummingbirds as the boys practiced their photography skills. From there, we went on a very adventurous ride, especially driving stick shift, down to San Luis, a spectacular ride with views unlike no other. We spied a waterfall off in the distance and had ambitions of reaching it….would the rental SUV get us there? We came to a river which had washed out part of the road and after getting out and surveying whether we should carry on, decided to go for it…only to be greeted by a sign “See Miguel to pay for access to the waterfall”. Dusk was upon us, so we decided to head back for the day and save our chat with Miguel for another day. It was another harrowing ride uphill towards home as we smelled the taxed transmission of the rental (yet again).

Monday (Auntie Beth returns to Chicago and we head towards San Jose to meet up with the other new teachers for finger printing and work visas.) Down the mountain we drove, making a day of it…deciding to head for the beach. We drove to Jaco beach, giving a local (Dennis, a deacon from Lindora) a ride part of the way. Oh if I had a dime for each time we got lost – Mike earned his first speeding ticket, but the Officer must have taken pity on us as he waived one of the other ‘violations’ . The kids had a great time at the beach…what a difference in temperature…glad we are in the mountains with the more temperate climate. We finally arrived back in Allejuela where we would spend the night before meeting up with the other new teachers early that next morning. We stayed at a very quaint villa, Villa Pacande which we highly recommend. It is nestled just outside of the village proper and is a great stopping point after a long day of travel before heading up the mountain. Our boys played with little Sebastion (the little nephew of the owner), Bruno the dog, picked limes and oranges and received the loving attention given by so many adults in Costa Rica. Beth and I were grateful to sleep on ‘real’ mattresses, and feel the tile floor beneath our feet rather than the concrete floor we are already accustomed to at our new home. We are grateful for Auntie Beth’s visit and all of her help in easing our transition…we miss her terribly already.

The next morning was a full one, we met the two new teachers who would make the trip back up to the mountain with us after spending half the day in San Jose applying for visas. Virginia and Tedi, both very nice, fluent in Spanish and very patient with our little ones. Our boys did well and asked why they could not get finger-printed as well. Needless to say, they slept the majority of the hike back up the mountain which was a good thing for all.

Mike, me and the boys, along with the other new teachers received a nice orientation on Wednesday by Risa, the school’s Assistant Director. We now know where the hardware store is, how to establish a bank account and her favorite lunch spot.. We had our first experience on the local bus which got us from our house to the center of town in Santa Elena. We took advantage of loading up on groceries while in town and am happy to report that the boys were well behaved as they are getting use to having to hold hands everywhere we go in public…even in the grocery store.


Thursday: Mike’s first full day of school responsibilities….will Sally survive a full day with the kids? Happily the answer is YES. Mike had a great day and said that all the meetings were conducted in Spanish which will afford him the chance to tune his ear and become a better communicator. I took the boys down through the pasture, across the street and into the Eternal Rainforest for Children and for a hike on the Bajos de Tigre trail. We spent three hours there…they have a great little nature center with activities for the kids. The boys were consumed with catching butterflies for the first hour at the entrance to the trail. All types of butterflies…any color, shape, size…simply amazing. The boys are certainly appreciating the wildlife and I continue to stress respect, not only for human kind, but also all creatures within the forest. I spied a family of white faced monkeys up in the trees only minutes into our hike, the kids were amazed and we considered ourselves lucky to have been in the right place at the right time. I, myself, am grateful that I did not get the family lost as I’ve always relied on Mike to navigate the trail maps. The afternoon was spent doing crafts (we are decorating the house with the kid’s artwork – which is certainly a cheaper décor option than what had adorned our walls in Chicago). Finally, our neighbor introduced us to a local gal (Goudy and her 5 year old son) who will assist them with their little one. We will also have Goudy come in a couple of times a week to help us. It will give me a chance to practice my Spanish, learn more about the Costa Rican culture, allow me to run out to do errands, etc. and have help with the laundry which is all consuming.

Each day begins between five and six in the morning and ends while we all fall asleep reading bedtime stories in the evening. Living close to the equator, there is not as much variation in time of sunrise and sunset as we experience in the States. Daylight wakes us at 5:30 and darkness occurs quickly about 6:00 PM allowing a couple of hours for dinner, evening chores of dishes and sweeping, card games and family stories. Speaking of chores….the boys have taken real ownership in cleaning and sweeping. Much to the amazement of Mike and me, we have to laugh under our breath when they bicker as to who will wash the dinner dishes and who will sweep…what a delight!

UPDATE: Finally, we have connection to the outside world...so I am writing this from our new home, in a not so well lit master bedroom. YAY
Signed: S