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

Up Close and Personal with Capuchins

The last couple of days have been filled with wildlife opportunities galore. Friday, as Michael and John played at the rock-pile across from Stella’s bakery, we were beckoned by Miguel (our friend from the Hotel Bosque) to come see the white faced monkeys in action across from his reception area. He had a huge bundle of bananas with him and we hurried quickly behind him to get a glimpse of these animals. In a word…AMAZING! This troop was about 20 in size, with 3 ‘bosses’ from what Miguel tells me. Miguel extended his hand with the bananas and the monkeys came right down from the tree to snatch them out of his hand. He then proceeded to high-five one of them – awesome! He gave bananas to the boys and told them to be patient – however the monkeys weren’t sure what to make of us, so Miguel assured us that in four or five more visits, they would feel comfortable with us, make the quick descent down from the tree tops and too feed from our hands. I have never been so close to a monkey where I could actually see their face, (I mean really see it) WOW –
Unfortunately, my pics are blurry and do not do the experience justice, they move so fast it was hard to get a good photo!

The day prior, we discovered a little treasure in our extra bathroom toilet….a drowned mouse. We figure the mouse must have been thirsty, leaned in for a drink and that’s all she wrote. After talking with Mike (‘do we flush or retrieve?’ Mike decided to flush and just have it decay with all the other ‘stuff’ – pleasant!.

We found our first scorpion (albeit dead) in a kitchen cabinet….yes, inside the house. A little thing, but none the less, you really have to be ‘one’ with the bugs or you’ll never make it here!

A couple of other finds from Dad and the boys as well…caterpillars and not sure what the other creature is?

The wind was quite strong today – good for drying clothes, not so good for the stench it was blowing directly our way. As I went for a run, I left the three boys in charge of discovering just what was causing the odor and where in the world was it coming from. As I arrived back 45 minutes later, their task was done. They led me to the edge of our property and there about 100 feet away lay a dead armadillo. We are hoping the vultures circling overhead find this little treasure and do away with it pronto so we can again enjoy the fresh mountain air.

Signed: S

P.S. – As mentioned in a previous blog – the artwork (compliments of Michael and John) adorns our living room/dining room wall – we have a great little nook outside on our patio for crafts and painting – the recent paintings were done using foam cubes (I cut up a large piece of foam the boys ripped out of one of the mattresses (how’s that for resourceful)?

Cost Of Living In Costa Rica

Is the lower wage of the average worker offset by lower cost of goods and services in Costa Rica? I am not an economist, but I will attempt to give some details of costs and wages to provide a perspective on the cost of living here. Wages are certainly lower here than in the US and some things are much less expensive here, but some things here cost as much or more than in the US.

As a baseline for thoughts on income, yearly compensation for teachers, which includes a housing bonus and health insurance averages about $10,000. Many people here work ‘odd’ jobs, doing what they can to earn 1 to 3 dollars/hour. These jobs include cooking, cleaning, repairing, cutting grass, babysitting. Drivers and guides appear to earn decent wages from tourists, but even that work can be sporadic especially during this weak year for tourism. The men on the horses are off to a day of work in the forest to measure and cut wood, likely from fallen trees. This traveling sawmill is equipped with cans of gasoline, chains for maneuvering logs, chainsaws and a hearty lunch.

Now, an extensive list of items that are much less expensive here! Ready? Mangos, bananas, papaya, and pineapple. Yes, they are delicious and we buy them by the kilo but man cannot survive on juicy tropical fruit alone. Most other groceries such as dairy, grains, beans, meat, spices, condiments, toilet paper, soap, wine and beer are similarly priced as in the US. Automobiles and any foreign made appliances, electronics, etc are expensive here, as Costa Rica places high tariffs on imported goods. Gasoline costs the same here and electricity rates are similar at $0.10 kwh. Monteverde is not cheap. The American dollars brought in by tourists and the cost of transporting goods to this mountain town push prices up.

Saturday, walking to Santa Elena, we received a free ride from a neighbor to the ATM for a cash withdrawal. We purchased a hammock at a general store for $20, spent $20 at the ferria (market) for fresh produce, and $60 for groceries at Super Compro. I passed the Planters peanut butter ($3 for 15 oz) but splurged on a bag of chips ($2) a liter box of vino ($4) and cinco cervezas grandes ($8). We treated the boys to scoops of ice cream ($3) and the taxi ride back home set us back $3. During the week, we will purchase bread from the local baker couple, cheese and yogurt from the local farmer and milk from the dairy down the block for a total of $20.

If you do the math, you can see that as we consume food, food costs alone consume most of a teacher’s ‘competitive’ income. A MUCH higher percentage of income is spent on food here than in the US. How do people here keep their costs down? In general, very little meat is purchased, starches and fruit are found at every meal, and any leftovers are eaten the next day, not to spoil in the refrigerator. Since disposable income, or money left over for other things, including savings, is minimal, people just do not purchase unnecessary items. They walk almost everywhere or those with cars offer rides to others without. Private school is a luxury which few can afford, admission to museums and preserves are out of the question for most families, and attics loaded with extra stuff are non-existent.

We were informed about the local economy prior to moving here, so none of this is a surprise. Life is quite basic here and people are happy with what they have and this is part of the appeal of living here. There is still worry about income and how will one support a sick parent or put food on the table when the breadwinner loses a job. This is just a way of life here, just as there is a way of life anywhere else.

FYI
Costs of other items: 100 sheets blank paper $3
Music CD $12
Set of 12 colored pencils el cheapo $2- Rose Art $5
Glue stick $2
2G Flashdrive $30
Crockpot $40
Table Lamp $40
Restaurant dinner for family of four $35
4 ½ hour bus ride to San Jose $5
Private van to San Jose $140