Settling In and going Home-Then There Were Two (Jan 2-29) part 5 of 5

There really should be many more pictures of these days and that there are not I apologize.

We settled in to a nice slowly paced routine over these weeks. We would wake, eat a simple breakfast (toast, oatmeal, or eggs with a fruit shake usually pineapple or papaya since mangos have been late coming back into season) and then some math lessons on the computer. After this we usually found ourselves, more often than not with Isue's kids in tow, on our way to the river where the kids spent more and more time trying to catch the little river fish and less and less time actually in the water except for Jimena who loves the water and doesn't care too much for fishing until we are trying to round everyone up to leave. We then come home prepare a snack or early dinner and then fight to see who gets to use the computers. We still had a netbook at this point one that we bought after both Caroline and Jana left taking their computers with them.

The family-less holidays really took a toll on Laurie and she booked herself and Sidne plane tickets back to Portland for the end of January. It wasn't that I didn't miss everyone too but the thought of spending and extra thousand dollars for two more tickets against getting to spend some really good Father/Son alone time and the decision was an easy one.

We spent a night in San Jose the night before Laurie and Sidne left and dropped them off at the airport very early the next morning. Leif was extremely bummed by this and wanted to change plans and just go home to wait by the computer so we could SKYPE them when they arrived. Very sweet but very boring and potentially emotionally painful too. Instead we kept to the agenda and dropped the car off at the mechanics for a minor valve replacement (the machanic kept telling me it wasn't necessary but I had done some research and thought it best for the car and the environment if I had the work done). While the car was being worked on Leif and I went to the bank and then to Micky D's for a coffee and a soft drink. We picked up the car (they cleaned the valve but didn't replace it thinking that would suffice) and headed out for Orosi, the location of our first week in Costa Rica and the home of Leif's friend Andres and my mom's friends Debbie and Gary. We spent a nice day visiting, going to the pool to swim and play a bit of hoops, and then eating a very nice meal with Flor, Rudolfo and Andres. We left fairly early as we wanted to be home: Leif to talk to his mom and sister and I so I wouldn't be driving in the dark. It was a good thing we start out earlier than planned as we spent a good 45 minutes driving through seemingly every neighborhood of San Jose trying to find our way through. I still have no knowledge of where we were even after looking at a map. It was also on the drive home that the check engine light came back on meaning some day I will have to actually get the valve replaced.

The next few days we spent around the house with Natan spending a couple of nights with us doing the usual routine. We added in building a portable chicken coop for variety. Leif spent Sunday with Isue's family as I had a soccer tournament and he would and did have more fun with them than sitting on the sidelines, bored, watching his old man getting to enjoy himself runnnign around the field.

On Thursday we spent the day alone and headed for the beach at Jaco. We had an awesome time as the waves were calm and the water was nice. We played in the surf for a good three hours before heading into town for a bite to eat. We ate at Subway and then got a fruit shake at the Taco Bar so everyone was happy. While we were at the beach Leif spent some time on the shore looking for crabs while I swam out beyond the break. The scene was picturesque as I was floating at sea when out of the corner of my eye I saw a pelican swoop down toward me getting about 10-15 feet directly above me before realizing I probably wasn't going to fit in its bill no matter how large it may have been. It was quite spectacular especially since I didn't have time to get scared.

The next day, Leif and I joined Karoy and his three charges for a drive on the new freeway to San Jose on our way to the National Park of Diversions (the country's amusement park). the new freeway is AWESOME! It is fairly flat and fairly straight and I have no fears of driving on it in the dark which I ended up doing later that day as we got very behind schedule. before actually arriving at the park we had an errand to run for Karoy's work. Any errand you run with Karoy invariably ends up taking, at no fault to Karoy, three to four times longer than it should. We spent the best part of an hour playing in a parking lot as he waited for some company to load him up with some bags of their product. The transaction could have literally be done in five minutes. Anyway, we made our way to the amusement park and met Wagner a good friend of Karoy's and Wagner's wife and daughter. Karoy had to work but he didn't want me to have to be in charge of four kids all be myself. It was a great idea and I welcomed all the help they provided. Laurie and I had met Wagner previously and he seemed like a very nice guy. He proved this estimation true throughout the day. We did all the things you do in an amusement park: wait in lines, buy cheaply made crap, eat unheathly crap wait in more lines, go on a few rides some of which are great others that aren't so great, and then end up losing half of your group at the end of the day and even though you have made contingency plans to meet at a certain location in case that happens, no one has the patience to see them through ending up with both parties stating they were at that location waiting for the other. Besides the soccer game I was going to miss before we got lost, there was no real rush, so getting lost kind of added to the day's adventure.

The day of Laurie and Sidne's re-arrival into Costa Rica, Leif and I spent cleaning house driving into town. We again got lost trying out a new exit off the new highway but after asking a few people found our way. If we had gone the old way we would have made better time. We found the pet store Karoy gave us crude directions to having asked just one person and we were just two blocks away from where we asked (we actually asked someone at the store we stopped at much earlier but since I souldn't pronounce cemetary correctly to Leif's amusement we flustered the clerk and she ended up being no help and we disregarded her information entirely.

We bought a very inexpensive and as it turns out cheap aquarium, filter and rocks at the pet store then headed back to get a bite to eat. We finally made it to the hotel with enough time to swim for an hour or so even thought it had cooled down more than we would have preferred.

We picked up Laurie and Sidne, a truly wonderful moment in Leif's brief life, and headed back to the hotel for take in pizza from Papa John's better than any Costa Rica pizza we have had but not up to snuff with the nearby Pizza Hut we thought we were ordering.

The next day we went to pick up our computer from PriceSmart begrudgingly. We had some intermittent problems with it and tried to return it but they said the best they could do was to have a service tech take a look at it and if something was wrong replace it with another. From what we have heard, it is very difficult to get your money back once it has left your hand. Anyway, they called to say nothing wrong could be found and it was ready to be picked up so we went with feelings of disappointment to collect it or maybe at best to see if we could at least change it for a new one as per their written exchange policy. When we got there I noticed that they were not displaying that particular computer anymore so any hopes of a change seemed out the window. However they apparently could not find our computer anywhere and there clerk embarrassingly asked if she could offer us a refund of our money. After thinking about it for about 0.00004 microseconds we thought that would be okay. Lucky us. What we think actually happened is that in a serendipitous turn of events, they misplaced the computer when the day before Karoy went in for us to pick it up and they retrieved it from the claims area in the back of the store and almost gave it to him until they saw it was Laurie who had signed for it. Instead they set it behind the customer service counter where it probably sits to this day.

The ride home on the new highway was definitely more enjoyable because of this turn of events, as well as because we learned the correct route to and from the highway to the airport but most importantly we were all together again.

Holidays In The Heat (Dec 24-Jan. 1) part 4 of 5

After dropping my mom off at the airport we made a quick run to PriceSmart (think Costco) then headed off for home. We ended up having dinner with Isue and karoy's family at Isue's parent's home. We had a few glasses of wine with some appetizers and then the main dish of pork roast. DELICIOUS. The kids opened a few gifts, exchanged between the two families and headed off for home. The next day we had visions of sitting around enjoying quality family time when we got a call asking to come down to help as Isue's grandma had just passed away. We spent the entire day down there being as helpful as we could but in reality the most the we could offer was our kids helping with diversion for their kids. Actually, we got a few big packages a few days later in the mail and had Christmas a few more times.

We spent New Year's Eve with the neighbor family after a few hours cooking chicken on the barbeque. It turned out beautiful, so much so that they have wanted more of my famous b-b-que chicken. Actually, it is all in the special sauce supplied by Kraft. There is only one store in town that offers barbeque sauce and it is either Kraft or some god awfully tasting other brand that I have seemed to block, maybe Heinz. Yet everyone I ask seems to really like the taste of barbeque sauce; go figure. After another delicious holiday meal we sat around talking and listening to music (very loud reggaeton {google it}). The neighbors have a computer DJ program that Leif and Sidne enjoyed playing around with. At midnight, we gave our kisses and ate our twelve grapes hoping that the twelve wishes for the new year that we wrote down would come true (later that day one of these had already gone by the wayside) then went outside to watch the fireworks (imagine your neighborhood on the Fourth of July). We (and by that I mean Laurie and a very little bit Leif and Sidne and me not at all) then danced some salsa and merengue.

Its the Holidays that really let you know how much you miss your family and friends.

Then There Were Four (Dec. 18-24) part 3 of 5

On Dec 24th at five in the morning, we said goodbye to mother number 2. For better or worse we were now alone. In the past month we have come to realize how much my mom helped out around here but we have also returned to nuclear family life we have known these past ten plus years.

In the week before her departure we learned through the neighbors that there is a river here in town. It is tucked away ssnd accessible only if you know where it is, one wouldn't stumble upon it accidentally on a morning walk. We know this because we took that morning walk and after descending the long hill in the hot sun, we turned around probably just 200 meters shy of the river. When we asked our Cuban friends why they have been keeping the place a secret from us, they told us that after four years they didn't know anything about this river.

Since then we have have been there 3-4 times per week. There is a little pool that has five or six varieties of fish which we enjoy watching and trying to catch but they are much too quick and smart for us. There were monkeys over head one evening and we also found a nest of some sort of eggs (lizard most likely) dug into an uncovered hole. The best part is that the water is cold, refreshing and clean which is not always the case at the pool we are members of (but that is what you get for only five dollars per month of membership fees). Wish we could have found it a bit earlier but unfortunately for my mom she only got to visit it once or twice before she headed out.

The day before she left we headed into town to spend the day and night in a little oasis in the city. We ate lunch in a little mall and spent time swimming in the hotel pool's cool water. Laurie, Sid and my mom went back to the mall to watch New Moon at the theater and brought back pizza. Karoy and Isue with kids in tow came along as they had some business in town to take care of. Since the the hotel doesn't allow more than four people per room and there were five of us, we asked if their three kids would like to stay with us; which they did. For the three to four hours the others were at the movie it was just me with four crazy, wild and eventually very hungry monsters. I was never so happy to see a box of Pizza Hut in my life.

After dropping my mom off at the airport in the morning and getting in a quick nap, the kids getting in a quick swim, we had a great breakfast then spent the day shopping and heading home for the holidays. We started as six but were now down to four, ready or not to tackle the second half of our adventure.

School's Out For Summer (Dec. 11-15) part 2 of 5

School for Sid and Leif finished the first of the month with a flurry of exams. They both performed very well. The two weeks that followed were supposed to be filled with various workshops that the students could choose from. In reality, the kids got to "choose" to attend the only workshop offered which was two days the first week and three days the next. We showed up every day just in case we missed something and usually ended up just hanging around while the kids played with other students who were there under the assumption workshops were going to actually take place as advertised. We were told there was going to be a sports workshop the second week but it ended up as a field day type thing that Leif and I joined. He played in a soccer game with his school team versus a team from another school. They ended up losing on penalty kicks but he played well with lots of energy and enthusiasm.

That same day I played in two different games, leaving my body wondering what my mind was thinking. Much too old for two games in one day. I have been playing two games per week and that suits my body much better.

The very last day of school workshops ended with a party for each of the classes. They were put together by each teacher and helper parents so each was quite a bit different from the others. Leif's party had a clown and many decorations while Sidne's was much more Spartan except each kid got a fairly nice parting gift (a jewelry box for Sid). The only common denominator was the incredible amount of sugar each child consumed and left with. The day must have been sponsored by the local equivalent of C & H. They honestly still have some candy remaining from that day.

Now that school is out here the days are much longer and it is hard to find activities to keep them busy with. We think we are doing a pretty good job however. See the next few posts in this series to see what we have been up to .

High and Dry (Dec 1-10) part 1 of 5

Well everyone was correct, at least about the heat. When December hit the rainy season was indeed over and it did get a bit hotter. However, the humidity dropped so although a bit uncomfortable at times not any more than when it was a little cooler with higher humidity. We have had two nights of rain in the past sixs weeks; a sharp contrast to our first few months here.

The other reason for the title comes from a little antecdote. Early in December there was a Christmas parade in town (X-mas is a month long celebration) in which we were invited to go to by our neighbor because their daughter, Maria Jose, was playing in her school's marching band. We waited and waited and finally she marched on by, but she wasn't playing. She said later that there were only two songs that her instrument was used. The neighbor grabbed me to follow along the band so we could see her when she actually played. We marched on down the street along with the band and passed Laurie and the kids who were waiting at the car because Leif was avoiding the friendly harrassment of one of his classmates. The neighbor and I followed along for five or six blocks before Maria actually got to play. At the end of the song, I walked back to meet up with the family at the car; passing by the place I left my mother who was still watching the parade that I joined. When she wasn't where I left her, I headed for the car only to find it wasn't there! They had left me high and dry. I looked around for them but they were nowhere in sight and I couldn't wait for them because where we were parked was on the parade route and although it was the type of parade you could join on foot,there would be no way of getting back there in car until the end of the parade. To make matters worse I realized I had the house key and they would be locked out until I got there. This bit of irony didn't take as strong a hold as I wanted it to because it was dominated by a more forceful feeling. The entire walk home all I could think of was that this was somwhow going to turn out to be my fault. As angry as I was that I got left like a stray mutt with ticks or someonel elses's dirty underwear, I just knew that this was going to land on me. I couldn't even think of any counter-arguments because there was absolutely nothing I could fathom which I did wrong. When I got home no one was there. I waited and waited and finally everyone returned; at once from the earliest glance I could tell I was right: it was going to be my fault. There is another side to this story for sure, one in which I am also the goat but without any of the "but how?" or "but why?" in terms of culpability. Much more black and white in the other version, one I am still not sure of how it goes only how it ends: me high and dry and the one to blame for it.

Feel free to weigh in, it couldn't put me in any worse shape argument-wise.

Back On Line

I wish there was a good reason for not updating the blog more regularly this past month and a half but alas there isn't. However, I have been thinking of what I wanted to write so I plan on going back in time and writing brief memories of those times, including plenty of pictures of the past six weeks. The memories, as are all memories, will surely be incomplete and foggy. I am sorry for that and will try to do better in the future. The following is a five part look at what we have been up to.