God Bless Mike and his passion for building ovens and charting rain fall! Should I be surprised that he can spend hours talking about both...he is a science teacher now isn't he?
I am sitting in the living room writing this blog, almost blinded by the brilliant blue sky and the sun beaming in through the windows and warming me up like a cozy blanket. The season is a changing...gone are the all day rains - replaced with windy, very windy days with some 'pelo de gato' or blowing mist. The sun is a welcomed old friend, but boy does it cool off quick in the late afternoon when the sun dips below the trees. It is that time when I grab my thermal underwear and my fleece and honker down for the night in my flannel sheets. Often times, we'll wake up in the morning and it is 50 some degrees in the house, good thing we all love eachother and can get close and share body heat.
The weeks are flying by, one day folding into the next. It seems like just yesterday that I attended the all day workshop at the Friends School for an introduction to Quakerism. I found the subject very interesting and enjoyed hearing about George Fox and his early 'crusade'. At the end, with just a few minutes remaning for some Q & A, up went my hand and out came "I have interest in leading the Children's Meeting, are the teachings of Jesus acceptable lessons? I was happy to hear the word YES and well, I'm sure you know where this is headed. I am not only leading Children's Meeting right now (with the help of Rowan) but I've also been asked to coordinate the Christmas Program for the kids which re-enacts the story of Jesus's birth. So, I am busy pulling together material for making costumes and will be busy this coming Sunday in Children's Meeting cutting crowns for the three kings out of cartulina and assembling the Angel, Gabriel's halo. I have a very enthusiastic 7 year old who wants to play the part of Gabriel, however; he may be disappointed to find out that swinging from a zip line attached to the aging rafters of the meeting house might not happen! The kids are excited and were very engaged last Sunday as I walked them through the story using my children's bible! Just another one of my many projects; perhaps the most rewarding and important though! John Gustavo wants to play the part of God and asked me today if God has fingers? Imaginations running wild - that's my five year old!
I continue to be very busy with the Building Project, we are moving slowly but moving none the less. We continue to develop relationships with US foundations/companies who have previously supported Costa Rica. Thankfully, we decided to take a break for the holidays, which I can tell you puts a smile on my face.
The boys are busy and fully involved in the 'play date' thing. Actually, they are off to Jackson's house for a couple of hours of play...so what an unexpected surprise for me. Gaudy has a friend down by the Cheese Factory who has been caring for a baby congo (howler) monkey who we think was either abandoned by his parents or hidden in a tree, to keep out of danger, and then forgotten by his parents. The little furry one has made several visits here, accompanied by his 'baby bottle' of milk and a little towel to keep him warm and cozy. You can see by the pic, John thinks it is pretty cool! The congo will likely be turned over to someone here who can re-introduce it back into the forest, but until then, a special treat for the boys! Now that the November birthdays are past us, we look toward the holiday season with anticipation as we know it will be filled with events, concerts and a month off school. The boys are excited to write their letter to Santa and are eager to use their own hand-writing this year. Oh what a difference a year makes! They are now reading preschool level books and I am delighting in sitting with them after dinner for some quiet time as they work hard to sound out the letters and rejoice in C A T....yes CAT!
Michael got a nasty scrape while playing and climbing a tree right outside of our front patio.
One slip and OUCH! That one hurt - but you can see how easily little ones heal. John, of course, has to display his war wounds as well - really, my kids do bathe, they are just forever scarred!
Speaking of healing, we went for a quick hike Friday after Thanksgiving with Veronica and Stuart back behind the other private school in the zone, "The Cloud Forest School". Not 15 minutes into the hike, Michael and Stuart run a short distance ahead and little did they know that the tree that they were pushing on was fully rotted out - the next thing I hear is "Watch Out". I try to protect my head but the hands don't make it in time. The tree limb breaks over my head and Peter Pointer intercepts it - I wince, one would think "Oh my head", but I screamed "Oh my finger". Fractured - with time as the only healer. Two popsicle sticks and some tape make a nice splint and I'm off dish duty for some time.
Thanksgiving was a treat - Nanci at La Colina Lodge, again opened up her lodge for a Thanksgiving Pot Luck. When she told me the Vargas Super in Santa Elena had a Butterball turkey nicely displayed in the freezer window, my mouth began to water and those of us who are not vegetarian chipped in for the poultry feast. Turkey in hand, the remaining question, who would be the cook? Surely Nanci's oven at the lodge would be best choice, but I could see the panic on her face as she has never cooked a turkey. Alleviating her anxiety, I quickly offered my 'easy bake oven' to roast the bird. The bird barely fit in the oven, but after squeezing the aluminum roasting pan we were able to get some heat to circulate around the bird. Choppy was a great help in reminding me what ingredients go into the stuffing and gravy! All was perfect and we barely had any leftovers for turkey soup the next day. We had a great night and shared good times with some of the locals and others from all around the world. The boys were a big help in the kitchen, helping to clean the bird and test the gravy - YUM!
I had an opportunity to attend a good friend's art show at Rio Shanti a couple of weeks ago - She is here with her kids again this year, but will head back to the States in June. She is so talented and we are proud to have a painting she did last year hanging in our common room here at the house.
From there, I hitched a ride to Sofia's Restaurant in Cerro Plano to support Veronica in her fundraising efforts to rescue two horses that had been gravely mistreated. Although I don't have an affinity for horses per se, I certainly wanted to support my good friend. She took it upon herself to cook a Mexican style meal for $25 a plate to raise donations to rescue an abused horse and her baby. She brought in about $900 and it wasn't until she passed around pictures of the horses that the abuse hit home - you could see the hip bones bulging and the meekness in their stance. We are happy to know that they are beginning to thrive with the proper medical care and TLC. Kudos to Veronica! A night out solo felt like a million bucks! Thanks Mike!
Last week I bused it to San Jose for a consultation with John's doctor, our first meeting. The day was a grim one, rain all the way and the roads were not very forgiving. Leaving at 6:30 a.m., I thought, would deliver me at the bus station in San Jose about 10:30, with a short cab ride to the clinic, prompt for my 11 a.m. appt. Here we were, stuck in traffic winding through the center of San Jose at 11:10, I knew I really had to hustle. Soaked, tired and cranky, I arrived at the dr.'s office only to find a note that she had left after waiting twenty minutes. Frustration beyond belief, but I let it go and headed back to the bus depot to wait another 2 hours for the 2:30 p bus back up the mountain. Two hours outside of San Jose, we hear of a deadly car accident that has closed the highway for 5 hours, so we then backtrack and pick up an alternate route. Arriving back at the little brown house at 9:30 p.m. with nothing more to show for my trip other than dark circles and bags under my eyes...Mike was relieved to know that I was home safely. Perhaps a drawback of living in such a rural community in the mountains...when in need of a specialist you must travel to either San Jose or Puntarenas. Silver lining..."Open" An Autobiography of life of Andre Agassi! Those of you that know me, especially Auntie Beth, know that reading is not one of my passions - but I can't seem to put this book down. Our good friend, Theo, lent it to us and I snatched it up from Mike and am thoroughly engrossed in it. Being a tennis player myself, and coming from a family of tennis players, I recognized all his opponents and recall so many of his great matches, huddled around the TV watching with my family. This guy is very candid and hence the title "Open". A good read!
The roads here are filling up with tour buses and the streets are filled with folks speaking all sorts of languages, German, English, French....hello Summer and Dry Season...ALMOST!
More fun in San Luis - Edward (Raul's younger brother) busy making a make shift goal and evening out a cow pasture for a game of soccer or futbol as they call it here!
I am looking forward to my family visiting in February - we'll spend a night in Arenal in hopes of seeing and hearing the rumblings of the volcano.
Off to the Monteverde Cloud Forest tomorrow as I just received an email that they are looking for a full-time Assistant Manager - Vamos a Ver!
More and more this place feels like home - whenever I doubt whether we are doing the right thing - I look at my boys, playing in the trees, picking up Soldier leaf cutter ants trying not to get bit, frolicking with other kids in the open field in front of Casem and the little market down the street, but perhaps the sweetest is when they come home and gloat about the fact that they know what a word means in Spanish that I may not know. They constantly correct our Spanish and engage us with friendly banter - Do they know how blessed they are, do we for that matter?
Life is full in so many ways and we thank God for this opportunity and experience.
Peace,
Signed: S
