Independence Indeed!

Thanks Mike for posting such a detailed summary on the Torch Run – a nice harbinger of the meaning of Independence Day and the pride felt by all who call this home.  If you’re following the blog, you know that yesterday was Independence Day and Oh how we celebrated.  The day started early (as it always does) and we were out the door and on the road to Cerro Plano at 7:40 a.m.  We hiked up to the field across from the local school and took in the pre-parade address and national anthem.  It was a beautiful day with clear blue skies as far as the eye could see.  I knew it would be a hot one as I saw many a sunscreen bottle tucked into back-packs and bags.  The backdrop of the pre-celebration was one of anticipation, kids running around and frolicking about, school girls checking their outfits and make-up and all the spectators vying for that perfect spot on the parade route.

We spied a shady spot down a hill on the way out of Cerro Plan.  Not but 10 minutes into the parade we found ourselves out of battery power on our digital camera, so off Mike went in search of batteries.  30 minutes later he appeared and we were back in business. 

The parade was awesome, the drums, bands, dancing and on-lookers –all were part of this magical day.  The local schools have been preparing for this day  since we arrived here in Monteverde beginning of August,  so it is eerily quiet today without the ‘boom boom boom’ echos of  the drums practicing after school.   This holiday is marked by its parade and performance by the students in the community.  The schools perform the national anthem, carry the Costa Rican flag and twirl batons.  The colors were vibrant (lots of red, white and blue) representing the colors of the Costa Rican flag, the bright colors of the girl's skirts and the Costa Rican dress worn by so many of the youngsters.

We enjoyed watching not only the kids in the parade but also the spectators.   As we made our way through Cerro Plano and finally to Santa Elena we found ourselves watching others and wondering what they were thinking on this very special day.  Families, young, old, sick, healthy – all were out to watch this main thoroughfare turn into a stage for the day.

We saw many a friendly face as we made our way down to Santa Elena – and were surprised by the number of folks we already knew and who have become part of our social/support network. 

The scorching sun got the best of both boys as they rested on mom and dad’s shoulders and finally closed their eyes for the decent down into Santa Elena.  We stole away into the SuperCompro to replenish our water and to grab fixins for a picnic.  The streets were lined with people as the parade headed into the town proper.  The Friends School was well represented with the kids in Kinder riding in a float, older kids toting masks and yet others with colorful flags!

We scouted around for a shady spot to picnic (hard to find in the middle of a parade) and then ran into our trusty “go to guy”, Kyle, who led us up a path to an abandoned soccer field – bleachers were comfort for our tired bones.  We fueled our bodies with cheese, yogurt and bananas and then off we were heading back into town. 

 

The day was full and the boys did really well.  So well, that we decided to take Veronica and Stewart (her six year old) up on their offer to visit that afternoon .  So back home around 2 p.m. and then off to Stewarts by 3.  They live through the pasture, across the street and about a 7 minute walk away.  They have a sprawling pasture and a ton of Guava trees.  We had great fun and will plan another outing with them soon.

We were all tired and weary by the end of the day and had no trouble laying our heads down about 7 p.m.

A great independence day indeed!

Signed: S

Torch Day, Antorcha de Independencia

On Tuesday, September 15, five Central American countries, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua celebrate their independence from Spain in 1821. A torch relay, representing the message of freedom beginning in Guatemala City, the former capital of the Central America, traveled the Pan American Highway and crossed into Costa Rica yesterday. At intersections along the highway, the flame is passed to torches carried by runners who then shuttle the flame up the main roads into each town. Schools play an important role in carrying the torches and marching in Tuesday’s parades.

Today, I arrived at school knowing that there would be a little morning ceremony to welcome the independence torch, or antorcha de independencia. I soon realized that I would be joining the 7th and 8th graders, not in my classroom, but rapidly walking to Cerro Plano, the next town to the north. There, we waited for the high school students, some of whom had stayed up the entire night shuttling the torch up the mountain from the Pan American Highway. First hearing some cheers and then catching sight of a group running toward us from around the corner, our group let out a collective cheer. The excitement peaked as the torch reached us and we all picked up our feet and joined the run to school about three kilometers uphill. The torch passed from person to person and all attention was on the moment, cars and trucks had to pull over as our group passed. We collected more students and parents as we reached the rocky road at Monteverde. I decided to sprint ahead of the group to take advantage of photo opportunities. Passing near our house, I waved to Sally and the boys as they came running down the pasture cheering us on. Dodging potholes, passing the cheese factory and grazing cows, we finally arrived at school to deliver the torch to the field.

All gathered in a great circle to sing songs of peace and liberty from war. I looked around and thought about the reason why so many families moved and stayed here. The people here believe in and practice a life of peace and love. Quakers, non-quakers, Ticos and Gringos, spiritual and non-spiritual, children and adults singing about peace, flowers and justice (yes, social justice). So, this is how we celebrate Independence Day at Monteverde Friends School.

I could not help but be reminded of my Catholic grade school days when we sang songs about peace and how it begins with me. Maybe that is why I feel very comfortable here: the values in this community of peace and love fuse with primary lessons from my Catholic upbringing. The stories and teachings of Jesus were centered on peace and love, and turn the other cheek, and remove the log from your own eye first. Things change. In most of my world after eighth grade, talk about peace and love were reserved for a spiritual retreat or conversation with mom. In many circles, I could have exposed myself as being ‘whimpy’ or ‘naïve’ or ‘high’ for thinking about peace with the Red Russians, the Commy Chinese, or the Palestinians. Discussions about peace became much more challenging early this decade, and unfortunately, songs like If I Had a Hammer did not get much airtime on our radio waves. Approaching the end of this decade, I continue to hope for peace and will gladly sing Independence Day celebration songs about flowers and liberty, that is the liberty from war liberty.

Tomorrow is a national holiday and we will take the boys to Cerro Plano at 7:30AM for their first Costa Rican desfile or parade. So, more tomorrow. Peace and Love, signed M.

Faith-Full?

Occasionally I am asked, by others here in the community and/or my friends back in the States, “what do you miss most about your life back in Chicago”? Well, the easy answer is… my sister, Mike’s family, a later sunset during the summer season, but to be honest I think the answer is just now being revealed to me (not in an AH-HAH moment) but rather a slow and steady disclosure. I have not done a good job at feeding, nourishing and deepening my Christian faith since I have been here in Costa Rica. One could argue “Hey, give yourself a break – you just went through a significant transition” but finding little comfort in that. My travel bible, I’m sure, is somewhere in storage along with the Toddler bibles for the boys. I miss the fellowship and the worship opportunities provided by my home church. So this brings me to the question that I am asking myself of late “What is a Presbyterian to do here in Monteverde”?

Although Mike has attended Meeting each Sunday at the School, I usually stay behind to care for the boys. I have not had a chance to attend Meeting myself but hear from others that it is time well-spent. On my list to check out in deed as I want to learn more about Quakerism and the logistics of the meeting itself.

We ventured into Santa Elena last Sunday to attend the Catholic church, but after being 15 minutes late, standing room only, all in Spanish and having two tired three year olds in toe, the actual time in church equated to less than 15 minutes. Not the most practical alternative but still a viable option.

So back to my initial question…"how can I continue on my faith journey and provide a solid foundation for my boys?" Short-term – here are some of my random thoughts…
1. Call my mom and have her send me Sunday school lessons and some of her material that she uses/has used over her long tenure as a Sunday School teacher.
2. Have her send me or bring with her in February Toddler bibles for the kids (surely I will benefit from this as well as the Toddler versions seem more tailored to my brain capacity these days)
3. Start to build some Sunday routine at my own home with the boys – carve out a nook in the house where we can spend 15 to 30 minutes on a lesson and an activity each week.

Longer term, find out the answers to these questions….

1. Are there any families here in Monteverde or surrounding villages that would support/attend/have interest in a Sunday school for little ones?
2. Could I broaden what I start with my kids into a more structured time inviting other kids into my home each Sunday?
There are a lot of families who land in Monteverde for a finite period of time (six months to a year), with one of the parents usually on sabbatical or yearning for a different educational experience for their children. Are any of these families pondering this very subject? Perhaps someone in the community will be revealed to me and offer guidance/support as how to proceed with this idea…or not.

One thing I do know is that I want to continue to share the stories in the bible with my kids, whether I expand that outward, is yet to be determined.


Signed: S

Exhaustion - Hopefully on the Mend

Back from a brief sabbatical - it has been a rough week as John has been down ill with a high fever and stomach pains since Monday afternoon. I am hopeful that we are making an upward turn today and that he will be well enough to attend Kinder tomorrow.

Still being a relatively "new" parent to two three-year olds, the sight of my child burning up (como un fuego) and reeling in pain due to stomach cramping breaks my heart. He has slept (if one can call it that) in between Mike and me since Monday night. Need I say more? If there was an Olympic sport for doing flips and somersaults in your sleep...clearly John would be standing on the highest podium with a sparkling medal around his neck. Now I know where the saying "dog tired" comes from. How can one little body put out so much heat?

Finally yesterday, Mike, John and I took a 'tuk-tuk' (think of it as a little taxi/golf cart (I'll post a pic later) to the clinic in Santa Elena. A short wait and we were into see the doctor PDQ. Throat infection was the diagnosis and antibiotics and acetaminofen prescribed. We stopped off at the pharmacy in the clinic and without paying for anything (visit or drugs) we were on our way.

I could not have made it through this week without Goudy who has helped tremendously, watching Michael when we went to Santa Elena yesterday and keeping him busy while I tend to John. Again, we are blessed to have her.

The one thing that did not register in my mind last night when we broke open the medicine from the pharmacy is that there is no such thing as "children's flavor anything", no grape, no cherry, no nothing! The smell of the acetaminofen was enough to make/keep you sick. It took a good two hours before John agreed to take it. We tried making a concoction of it along with orange juice, honey and sugar but it was slow going. Two tired parents then resorted to bribing him with a chocolate chip "hey John, you can have a chocolate chip after you take your medicine" -- NOTHING! Go figure; that the sick child of the two is the one that is not the choco-holic! Finally, we reasoned with him and he took it (straight up) from a syringe and finally he went down. Of course in our frenzy to get out of Chicago back in July, we were frustrated on Monday night searching for the children's pain reliever only to find 1/4 of a bottle of Children's Ibuprofen in the trip kit.

I am weary and tired so will make this short today!
Peace,
Signed: S

MOOSH-GOOSH!

Oh my aching bones! Truly I still think I am 25; but then I look in the mirror and see the wrinkles and the gray hair and feel the soreness in my body after yet another busy weekend which was capped off by a totally awesome hike in the (what the Schaefer family refers to as) MOOSH GOOSH!

Saturday we made it all the way into Santa Elena to the Farmers Market on our two legs! YES, no 'mooch a ride this weekend!" The boys ended up on our shoulders a couple of times, but for the most part, they walked the 3 Km...a milestone indeed. We loaded up on our weekly fruits and veggies and also popped into the pharmacy to get some additional photos of the boys for Mike's work visa. George (a Texan transplant) gave us a lift home - a full 4 hours of activity, ending just this side of "crankiness" :)

Saturday late afternoon we headed to Bromelias which is just a stones-throw away (we share the same driveway) for a night of music and art. Bromelias is an awesome venue for concerts - surrounded by beautiful, lush gardens! The music was delightful, everything from drums to violins, guitar, sax, and singing, oh the singing - I have so much respect for musicians! The kids frolicked with the other youngsters and Mike and I visited with others in the community. We arrived home around 5 p.m. to about 1/2 dozen kids who had taken over our front yard. Boys lined up to have a turn on the tree swing. Yikes - one mom against six 5-7 year olds all vying for a turn on the swing - I survived...barely and no severe accidents to report! We then proceeded to christen our fire-pit and actually, due to Mike's persistence, had success. We had rain earlier in the afternoon so we were not very optimistic but happy to report we enjoyed some sausage on an old, worn skillet by the end of the evening. Several neighbors popped in to chat fireside as they cut through our pasture on their way home. The boys enjoyed chatting with 7 year-old Sequoia who coveted a little lizard we found roaming about. I love the smell of a fire despite the smoke getting in my eyes.

Today I started with a run while the boys whipped up yet another yummie batch of pancakes. Kath (who lives across the road (just through the pasture) returned our flashlight which we had lent her the night before. Kath and Mike made tentative plans to get the kids together for an outing later today. The rain came, the heavens opened up. I think this was the loudest and most rain in a short amount of time that we've gotten since we've been here. By noon, we were in Kath's truck (along with her 4 and 6 year old (and Kyle came along too) off for an adventure - and adventure it was.

Our mission, to pick Marias (which I would equate to small blueberries). We parked and off we went - the dirt road turned into a trail (if you can call it that) think of it as a river-bed and imagine it after the hard rain we had in the morning. Total MOOSH GOOSH - it was delightful. I understand that this trail can take you all the way to San Luis which is 7 Km from MV. We picked Marias along the way and bickered about who had the muddiest shoes. Kath proceeded to carry her crocks and walk the entire way in her bare-feet - a braver soul than I. The vistas were spectacular - we could see the Bay of Nicoya. The clouds had cleared and we had sunshine for the entire 2 1/2 hour hike. We were all filthy by the time we all piled back into Kath's car. We shared bread, pancakes and berries and had a lot of good laughs and some almost injuries too along the way. No snake sightings although I kept thinking we would see one after the rain; perhaps one lounging on a rock sunning itself - but no such luck. Michael and John were real troopers as it was all down hill, negotiating inches of mud and rocks, and then uphill on the return. No carrying or shoulder rides this time. On our way home we put our patience to task as we had a herd of cattle in front of us...with very full utters to boot! OUCH - doesn't that hurt?

We returned to meet Ginna walking past the house, after a couple of moments of chit-chat, we invited her up to the house. We had fun getting to know her better and the boys enjoyed showing off their tree swinging abilities. We spent the majority of time watching a squirrel that I am convinced either had rabies, was bitten by something or was drunk as it sat under a tree for an hour while we looked on and the boys tried to torment it (okay, torment is too strong of a word). Finally, the poor thing got itself back up the tree (for now). An interesting shot of the squirrel checking out to see how it matches up against Limper the dog.

Mike made a batch of soup which was perfect after a long hike and a warm shower. The Sunday night movie "The snow leopard" on Planet Earth.

Still no firm verdict on Strider the dog!

Now, it is time for sleep!
Signed: S

The Dog Days!

If you’ve been keeping up with us, you know there is no shortage of 4-legged friends here in Monteverde. The one that has caught our eye of late, is new to the mountain, about a year-old and is sweet with the children. He is called “Bebe”. Imagine a thin “collie” type dog. Bebe has been spending quite a bit of time at the Schaefer house and we all have gotten close to him until two days ago when I saw him rolling around in the side pasture in the dead armadillo (see previous post). Right then and there, he moved down to the bottom of my “who is my least annoying dog today” list. The stench was horrendous (if not having a dead armadillo wasn’t bad enough, now we’ve got it walking around on this dog…YUCK). The only conclusion we came to was that the dog was doing this to ward off attacks and advances from the other dogs in the neighborhood. We now know this to be true as Bebe was getting quite the ‘raz’ from the other pooches. We came to find out from a friend that Bebe had been ‘just’ adopted by Stella (the elderly lady) that owns the Bakery and other establishments here on the mountain. She lives in the hills and does not have any children to frolic with and keep Bebe as active as he clearly wants to be..after all, he’s just a pup. After a trip to the vet yesterday, a good washing, de-worming, de-fleeing and getting fixed, he was ready to spend his first night with Stella. Today while playing with the boys out front, there was Bebe with his adoptive mom, Veronica – Veronica tells me Bebe (now called Strider) ran away last night and wants to be with a family as he ended up on Veronica’s door step. So where does that leave me? He looks aweful lovable now, all fluffy and sweet smelling! Veronica tells me she would take him, but she already has 3 dogs of her own. Lots of folks have dogs here for many reasons, one of them for protection as petty-theft can be a problem. I am sure Bebe/Strider will be a topic at the dinner table tonight…stay tuned on his fate!

The boys spotted a deer in our side yard two nights ago – we missed it, but Kyle, the 8 year old boy (neighbor) vouches that yep, it was a deer. Kyle spent an hour in the pasture after school picking guavas with the boys and later took over the duty of pushing them on the swing…did I mention we love Kyle? We were happy when he accepted our invitation for dinner (Michael and John were delighted, so proud that they had a ‘big boy’ friend staying for dinner…very cute. Kyle proceeded to do the dishes post spaghetti – he said…’you feed me…I do the dishes’…what a great role model for our boys!

Last night Mike and the boys grabbed their flashlights about 7 p.m. and off they went looking for critters outside. Everything was pretty status-quo (your run of the mill finds…katydids, roaches, beetles) when all of a sudden, they came blasting through the door “mom, you’ve got to see this…hurry, hurry, hurry.” Crawling around the rocks that line our firepit was the grand-daddy of Wolf spiders – bigger than my hand fully extended (I kid you not). When I asked Mike if there was a chance it could find its way into our house (through cracks in the concrete, broken screens or under doors, Mike replied “no way, this thing is huge and way too big to squeeze through” – in some strange way, this was music to my ears and gave me some comfort.

So, just when you think you’ve had all the wildlife you can take, you are surprised with another find!

As you can see by the picture, our hammock is up and operational! I have yet to relax in it, but have dibs for sure sometime this weekend.

We enjoyed homemade tomales from Goudy’s mother-in-law last night – she is making some empinadas and breads for us today and will be by in the next thirty minutes…YUM – sure beats the beans and rice we seem to find on the Schaefer menu daily around here.

P.S. - A late photo added - Ginna - we love ya girlfriend! Our boys are completely engrossed whenever you are around and you break open a book - you have the gift!

Signed: S

3 Year Olds….Oh how does one keep them Busy?

Time here in Costa Rica, with two (almost four year olds) is exhausting for a 45 year old mother. Not to say that our boys watched much TV in Chicago, but we did have the luxury of sending them to the basement to watch an hour of cartoons so we could clean up the dishes, do some dinner prep or take an important call. So not the case here. There is so much they can get themselves into just with one step outside the front door. This is good (don’t misunderstand me) but requires me to be almost toe to toe with them every step of the way. We had a fenced in yard in Chicago which gave us some peace of mind (although they knew how to escape) -- no such thing here. We are strict about not going into the pasture without an adult although they do push it to the limit – there is a clear boundary of a gate and they do pretty well with staying on the “right” side until one of us is there to meet them. We are also laying down the law about asking permission to visit our neighbors house, explore past the compost pile to the right of the driveway or wander through a small path on the other side of our property. I have become attune to their little pitter patter feet on the concrete patio outside and know when they’ve veered off course, picked up speed and are about to make the great escape.

We brought only a few essentials with us when we were packing at the eleventh hour a month ago to make this move, lots of paperback books, some of their plastic, small animals, some cards, matching games, brain quest work books and some crayons, coloring books, soccer ball and inflatable beach balls. So where does that leave me now? Oh yes, Bobo the monkey and Aunt Sandy’s afghans she made for the boys when we brought them home also made it into the suitcase!

Tree Climbing – Our pasture is filled with ½ dozen Guava trees which are perfect for them to climb on – not to tall and if lucky a ripe guava in reach. The boys love to eat them and use teamwork and any stick or piece of bamboo in their grasp to snag a big one. Michael is quite agile and has no fear of the trees or falling for that matter. John (the more accident prone of the two) is more cautious (which is probably a good thing). Climbing is a daily ritual and can last for one to two hours. Often times, they’ll be climbing with Goudy as I return from my morning run. We also check in on the leaf cutter ants as there are several trails and hills under construction. Tree climbing…it’s a good thing!

Making Orange Juice – Yesterday, the boys (this time Loandry got in on the fun) climbed our neighbors orange tree and gathered upwards of 20 oranges to make orange juice. 'Sounds easy enough', I thought to myself…'I can handle this' -
'heck I'm practically a pro at making mango smoothies and popsicles now'. We had fun washing and drying the fruit before we started. I put the little craft table to use on the patio and even managed to find a glass juicer in the cabinet. We all got a work-out trying to squeeze any juice from these oranges as there was only one out of the entire lot that was semi-ripe. We eeked out enough juice, added some water, a dash of sugar and each boy had a sweet tasty drink to quench their thirst after the harvest and preparation work….Good job boys!

On Rainy Days – Luckily we have not had too many total wash-outs, but on the days when the afternoon rains come, we rummage through our make-shift toy-box (which consists of some old plastic stackables that we rescued from the washing area, cleaned them out and now use to hold our cards, magnifying glasses and animals). Mike brought home some dice and plastic blocks from his classroom so we did some experiments with those, throw in a marble and some pots and pans, and we kept busy for another hour.

So, really it comes down to taking advantage of what you have in your house/school and throwing in a little bit of imagination - we’ll be just fine.

We enjoyed my favorite snack from my childhood Sunday afternoon, POPCORN – made on the stove – the boys got a kick out of listening to the kernels explode and hearing about when I was a girl and pulling up a chair to the stove to help make the popcorn. Sunday night was capped off with 30 minutes of Planet Earth! We decided Sunday evening we could all snuggle up on the futon / couch in the living/dining/kitchen area and witness the wonders of sharks, elephants and impalas! Sunday night family time – just like always!

Signed: S