First Day of School with Bandage to Boot

Here I sit on the porch crafting this post (sun shining and brilliant blue sky again…for now) – a memorable day as I sent my three boys off to their first day of classes at the Monteverde Friends School. Mike strolled through the pasture about 7:15 a.m. and the boys about 11:30. We enjoyed visiting with the horses in the pasture over the weekend as they ate constantly for three days straight. Back at home by 12:10, I’ve already done the laundry, swept, done the morning dishes, translated the letter from School for everything I need to know about Kinder...and now a moment for myself to think about all the change this family has undertaken. It is almost surreal to think that we are here, experiencing very similar tasks and daily activities….just in a different way.

After spending a couple of hours in the classroom over this past weekend, Mike is no doubt, ready to WOW his students with his special gifts and talents. John and Michael stepped right into their class at noon today; a kiss and hug for mom, and off they went to join the others in a circle. They will be exposed to lots of Spanish as the teachers have structured the weeks as; one week English, and the next week in Spanish. My boys will be rolling their double r’s in no time for sure. Mom still needs some help with that!

We had a little scare last night about 7 p.m. – the boys were rough-housing on our bed and all of a sudden, Michael took a tumble and all I could see was blood all over this face. It is a little frightening to know that there is not a hospital nearby and that the clinic in Santa Elena may not be staffed 24X7. NOTE TO SELF: We need to confirm and post some emergency phone numbers on the fridge…just like in CH. We quickly applied a compress and reached for our trusty first-aid kit. We patched him up good and all was well until 10 this morning, when John and Michael got into it again and WHAP, John gave Michael a slap (of course right on the bandage which is so prominently displayed on his forehead) and then Doctor Mom had to spring into action. Luckily blood wipes right up off a concrete floor. Michael is a trooper and after a second round of nurse-maiding, off we went to school...none the worse. We are uncertain if he needs stitches, likely not, but will probably have a scar no doubt in the middle of his forehead. We need to keep brother John at bay for a couple of days :) No running 5 minutes up the street to the Hinsdale emergency room last night. Pictures to follow as Mike has the camera at school today. Goudy came at 7 a.m. for two hours this morning to help me with the boys and to again give us another dose of Spanish. What a God send she is and so great with the kids.

Yesterday was Mother’s Day, so there was no school, we ventured out in the a.m. to the pig farm down the road but all the pigs were inside so no sightings; although we enjoyed bird watching and chatting with other visitors along our way. In the late afternoon, we ventured to Santa Elena to grocery shop and seek out a hammock for our front porch. We had our full rain garb on and trecked only a ½ mile before we flagged down the last bus coming down from the Cloud Forest Reserve.

Sunday we met a fellow who owns a hotel just up the road. It is a charming place with a lovely view. He and his wife, along with their two kids purchased the hotel about six years ago after fleeing from LA. A very interesting guy…they have over 40 animals at their place, including a goat and a tarantula. He is serving a dinner (all in the community welcome) at their restaurant this Friday, which we have on our calendar…should be a lot of fun.

Saturday we loaded up on fruits and veggies at the Farmers Market...YUM. John enjoyed a ride on the merry-go-round.

I have enjoyed my runs each morning the last few days up to the Cloud Forest and back, about 5 km round trip. All up hill on the way up, so my lungs are still adjusting to the altitude…the hour I spend does wonders for my spirit and my soul, not so great for my 45 year old knees though ☺

I will close this for today, as I will spend this next hour before getting the kiddies on looking for work. I am wanting to do some consulting (perhaps 10 to 15 hours a week) and will start to pull up my network of friends and co-workers from the past to see if I can make some connections.

P.S. - We did take Michael to the clinic in Santa Elena after school today. The son of one of the long time residents (transplants from NY) gave us a ride, helped us out during checkin and drove us home. What a nice community, always willing to help and lend a helping hand. No stitches, just a butterfly bandage so all is truly well. Entire time spent at the clinic....about 20 minutes...now that's service!
Signed: S