Bird Meets Cat!

Allow me to make the introductions...."Snowball meet Tookie"!

Last week, as we crossed the main road by La Colina on our way home from school, we spied a white fluff ball in the middle of the road. You can probably guess how this story ends - Kitten makes it way to the Schaefer house (the kids will tell you she followed us home), truth be told, she had some help, let's just say by two pair of eager hands! I knew I had a short window of time to find a caring home for our new friend, before my cat allergy kicked into high gear. I made an agreement with the boys that “Snowball” (it was either Snowball or Whitey) could spend one overnight with us before she had to go. I got to work quickly, made some calls and kitty was turned over to a loving family with two little girls, who I am sure, are showering her with an abundance of TLC.


The introduction...



Come on...stop being so stubborn and say hello to eachother!



Eye Contact...making progress!



Hey, What's that White Stuff in your bowl? All I get is Papaya, Avocado, Bananas and Egg? Hello...I'll have what She's Having!



Come on over Tookie - all ya gotta do is lean over and let your beak do the work!



I guess ya can teach a Toucanet New Tricks!



Hop on Kid, take a load off!



Who has the Upper Shoulder?



One Kitten Out the door, a dozen hermit crabs Enter!

Peace,
Signed: S

Kin to a Barn Raising!

A tree planting party? Now that’s a first! So, when I saw this invitation on my Facebook page, I jumped at the chance to spend the morning in lower San Luis at my friend, Karen’s farm. The invitation read something like this….

Hi everyone,
You are invited to come to our farm next Saturday for a tree planting party! Our farm is within the Bellbird Biological Corridor, and since last year we have been working on reforesting a degraded part of our property with native trees. This year, we are focusing on our lower pasture, which we hope to convert into an agroforestry area which will include organic coffee and fruit trees, as well as native trees.

We have about 100+ more trees to get into the ground before the rains truly dry up, and if you'd like to help us out next Saturday morning, we'd love to have you!!
If you can make it down, please bring:
* Long pants and rain boots (long grass with potential critters)
* A shovel
* Gloves if you have or want them
* Hat, sunscreen, bug spray, etc.
* Items for potluck lunch as well as plates, utensils, etc.

We'll have lemonade and snax flowing to keep the planters full of energy

*** We are also hoping to put in a simple friendship garden near our house, made with cuttings or "hijos" of plants / flowers that our friends have in their gardens at home. If you have cuttings or favorite plants that you'd like to add to our space, we'll find a special place for them


Mike had already committed to a Saturday morning activity with a local conservationist and a group from the Monteverde Institute measuring trees (sounds right up this science teacher’s alley), so I loaded up the boys and headed down the Trocha to the San Luis valley. We gathered our boots, shovels, sunscreen and cold tuna salad (everyone needed to bring something to share for lunch), picked up a friend and her son on the way, and arrived at Karen's quaint bungalow (their little house on the prairie well before the afternoon rains).



The trees were purchased (for a donation, I think) from the University of Georgia’s campus in San Luis. After lathering up with sunscreen, I headed into the pasture with my shovel in one hand, and my trusty camera in the other. The host family welcomed us into their home and provided instruction as to what and where to plant. In some places the grass was so high, one of the guys had to power up the weed-whacker to make room to dig the holes. A mango tree here, an avocado tree there…I sure hope we can sample the fruits of our labor in a few years ☺






















All in all, there were about 10 families that participated and boy, did we have fun. The older kids quickly shed their jeans for shorts and tees and headed for the river just down the road. Hours later, they appeared, wet, dirty and exhausted, but still had left over energy to practice their acrobatic skills they are learning in gymnastics class. The younger ones enjoyed the tree swing, getting in on the fun of planting and playing with little Christopher’s toys.






We’d plant a little and chat a lot, plant some more and then retire to their home for some homemade lemonade, snacks, fruit, and homemade muffins to feed the hungry work crew. Their little bungalow was so comfy, with air flowing from the back porch through the house and spilling out onto the front porch. I escaped with just a few Chigger bites and just barely rosy red shoulders.

We planted about 150 trees that morning and enjoyed the fellowship with our neighbors. I reckon this is how things happened years ago, when community members would show up to support and help with whatever was the need for the day.

We loaded up and headed back up the Trocha with several sleepy boys and one tired mom! But, wow, it was worth it.

A quick little update on Tookie –
He is thriving and is enjoying his new outside platform, which hangs from our front tree. Although we still have to keep an eye out for him, he enjoys spreading his wings out in the sunlight. He is spending a few days with a friend as we head to the beach tomorrow for a couple of days of R and R (hopefully).

We are fighting a bad virus, John suffered with a 103-degree fever Thursday when I quickly loaded him into the car and drove him to the clinic. Good news is that the clinic took us right away, bad news is that it took John projectile vomiting on himself, me and all over the waiting room floor in order to get us in promptly! Nice work John! He even scored a hospital smock on the way out, as the nurses could not bare the thought of him putting back on his shirt covered with...well, PUKE. After 2 hours at the clinic, we both enjoyed a nice shower to rid us of the vomit and then to bed. He is feeling much better, however he has shared this with Michael now, who has slept the day away and is fighting his own 102-degree fever. So, our plans to head to Samara beach tomorrow morning may be derailed due to sick kids, but the sand and sun will be there later in the week if we choose to reschedule. John is putting his smock to good use – add the cardboard shoe insert from their new soccer shoes, a rubber band and he is ready to play doctor and check out Michael’s symptoms. John says, “mom, bring on the tea with oregano and mint” – a sure fire way to kick the virus.




Good news - we are here in Samara and LOVE the FENIX hotel, right on the beach with kitchenette and all the amenities. The rain has been coming down in droves since we left Monteverde at 10 a.m. this morning, however the boys frolicked in the ocean and we got in the pool despite the downpour. I can't hear the ocean breeze over the sound of the rain! Praying for sunshine tomorrow!

Peace,
Signed: S

Begging for Bed…Just the Way I like it!

Monteverde is alive with an abundance of extra curricular activities this year! And, I for one have taken full advantage of all the offerings. This is in contrast to our first year here where anything physical for kids was greatly lacking. Sure there is pottery lessons, violin lessons, art lessons, but come on...if you know my kids - that ain't happening...atleast not at age five! So, I am thrilled to have more sports opportunities for the kids - I'm all for scraped knees and dirty finger nails!

John is loving his gymnastics class Thursday afternoons. It is an hour where he can balance and walk on a “belt like” rope suspended off the ground between wooden beams, practice his cartwheels and backward rolls and pull-ups on suspended bamboo poles positioned conveniently in between doorways. We are grateful to the gal who has opened up her house/yoga studio to offer classes to young kids in the community. It is a fun hour and the instructor runs a tight ship. I enjoy helping out during the station work and am remembering just how uncoordinated and inflexible I am. We are grateful to Cath and Nicole for their patience and passion!

So that’s our Thursday!

Friday we are off to the pool, this time “Poco a Poco” Hotel which is conveniently located in Cerro Plano. We attended a few classes last year at another hotel but had a hard time getting the kids ready and interested in putting even a toe in the water on Saturday mornings at 8:00 a.m. Fridays classes are working great as I pick them up from school at 1:30, shove a quick snack at them and head towards town for the 2p.m. start! Both Michael and John love the lessons, which by the way, are mostly made up of kids from their kinder program. Poor teacher! There are about 7 kids ranging from beginniners (who have barely seen a pool let alone jumped in one, to my boys who are positioned to show off their keen cannon ball abilities at any time). It is quite funny to see all us parents trying to keep our kids in line from the poolside. Somehow we muddle through the hour and manage to learn something too! 10,000 colones gets us a month's worth of lessons for one child. $20 dollars multiplied by 2 and there you have it!






Saturday, we are off to Santa Elena bright and early at 8:00 a.m. for soccer (or as they call it here, FUTBOL). I remember while running into Santa Elena last year, huffing it up the hill by the soccer field on my Saturday morning runs and seeing the kids play ball thinking to myself “sure looks like fun, gotta talk to Mike about getting the boys involved”. So, yep, a year later, Mike and I are helping another parent coach the 6 and 7 year olds! It s a hoot! I really don’t have any experience with soccer, probably the only sport I never played as a kid – Mike isn’t much better from an experience perspective, but we thought we could all learn a little about Costa Rica’s favorite sport! So, off we went! I ran the warm-ups the first week – I’m sure some of the local kids thought, “who is this Gringa and why is she making us work so hard?”. John and Michael have come a long way in the last couple of weeks and are now feeling more comfortable with the other local kids and if I bend my ear just right, I can hear Michael squeak out a “passé la” request. (pass the ball to me). Way to go Michael! It’s two hours of fun and lots of running around. I often hear the kids whisper in Spanish how I'm an easy target at goalie - with me as a goal tender, there's sure to be a point won! Thanks kids!













I have to smile at John when he put on the team shirt for the scrimmage (yellow netted shirt), in good ole John fashion, he spent five minutes trying to make sure he was all tucked in and presentable….’that’s my boy’!



Mike is spending time with the boys outside before dinner practicing some of their skills – it is fun for me to listen to their stories over dinner (anything from, “mom, did you see my fancy footwork?” to “yo gane, yo gane” (I won, I won)!

So that is what the end of our week looks like – The first half of the week is filled with play-dates which wears me out too, but is so good for the boys to expand their social network. Half the class has been over this year - so I guess I am preparing myself for the November birthday party I will plan for the boys sixth birthday! One little boy from their classroom talks non-stop about the zip line here and is perfectly matched with Michael and John from an activity and energy perspective. Mike made some make-shift steps up to the tree that holds the tree swing so now the boys can more easily maneuver themselves up to the top (yes, they’ve discovered if they climb halfway up the tree) they get a better chance to imitate Tarzan). So fun, until someone breaks a leg or arm - good thing the clinic is only 10 minutes away!

Any filler time is spent riding their new ‘trick’ bikes as they call them – an early birthday present that I purchased in San Jose last month. They will grow into them for sure – some scrapes, lots of bruises but, oh so worth it!




So, this brings me back to the title of this post – and puts a smile on my face!

Peace,
Signed: S

The Dirty Work....Someone has to Do IT!

Happy Independence Day Costa Rica! We were fortunate to participate in our third Independence Day celebration this past Thursday. It was a hot morning, with bright sun beaming down on us before the rains came. A nice farmer's tan I have!





Michael, still coughing, opted to stay home with Dad, so John and I put on our walking shoes and headed toward Santa Elena for the Independence Day Parade. We arrived at 9 a.m., just in time to see the first folks take step out of the MEGA Super parking lot onto the road which would wind through the main street in town, culminating at the gymnasium. I, myself, felt quite proud that I timed our arrival to the tee - finally understanding what is meant by "TICO TIME".

The Friends school was first in line and a hard act to follow, I might add! The 'act' did not come without some give and take! Over the last three years, I recall much discussion during Parent/Teacher meetings about how to best represent the Friends School in the holiday activities. Founded over 60 years ago, the Friends School has grown and now serves not only Quakers but a huge population of local Costa Rican families. I can see both sides of the coin on this one; is there a happy medium where the simplicity of Quakerism can be preserved while recognizing the civic and patriotic traditions of the Costa Ricans? I am delighted that committed parents stepped up this year to make the experience more 'cultural' for the Friends school students. In the past, the 'showing' by the Friends school has been light on Costa Rican tradition and heavy on statements and banners promoting peace and conservation. The national holiday is celebrated by Costa Ricans, of course, and pride in one's country should shine through especially during a holiday such as this. So, thanks to those dedicated teachers and parents for combining tradition and the message of peace into this year's parade presentation. It was lovely and truly a class act!

John and I opted to join the parade and walked along side with other parents and supporters. Lower school girls were decked in traditional Costa Rican dress and danced to typical music blasting out of the back of a oxen cart. Backing up the littlest of dancers were half a dozen older dancers who often perform Saturday morning's at the Farmer's Market. The oxen cart was painted in traditional colors and showcased local produce as it marched through town. Other local schools were kind enough to lend us traditional skirts, so we certainly looked authentic!




This is where John and I come in....we see Manolo (a father of two students) walking behind the oxen cart, with big shovel in hand. Not only is he carrying this shovel, he is trying to manuever this tiny wheelbarrow through the line of dancers so he can clean up the oxen poop before the dancers find it! Showing our support, John and I quickly grabbed a handle and became part of the "Poop Pickin Up" Trio! As we headed onto mainstreet, the streets were packed, folks dangled from outdoor balconies to get a glimpse of the parade. All of a sudden, one of the oxen lets loose, and we're on! We rose to the occasion and got our moment in the spotlight front and center as we carefully balanced the tiny wheelbarrow as it was loaded up with a healthy dose of oxen plop. Hey, we even got a healthy round of applause from the spectators - or were they showing their appreciation for the dancers that followed? Well, one will never know? John gave me a shy smirk as we quickly took our position back on the side of the road, behind Manolo, as we wheeled the pile of poop onward, holding our heads high!




Peace
Signed: S