Reflections

So how was Costa Rica? What was your favorite part? We’ve been back in the States for all of 48 hours, and we have already heard those two questions numerous times. The answer to the first one, in a nutshell, is that it was great. If you’ve been following this blog for any time at all, you know that we had many adventures, saw lots of great places, met some incredible people, and learned a lot. What more can you ask from an experience?

As for the second question, it depends on whom you ask. And what day it is. And what time of day, frankly – because we all have multiple opinions that just keep changing. A smattering of answers from the past couple of days…

Gracie: I loved going to the Caribbean beach when Amma and Poppa came to visit. We walked on this jungle path, and then the jungle cleared away and we were on a deserted beach with sticks and logs. It was the best beach day ever.

Maggie: I liked when I learned how to speak Spanish.

James: I liked getting to see all the wildlife – like the toucans that lived across the street, and the scarlet macaws.

Grace: And I liked all the monkeys – both the Capuchin and the Howlers.

Greg: Don’t forget about the volcano. It was…

All: RIGHT THERE!!

Processing through the whole adventure is a monumental task; helping our children to do that and then be able to articulate it to others is more difficult than we could ever have imagined. But our hope is that we will continue to reflect on the experiences we had, the things we saw and the people we met for a very long time. Earlier in the year we were able to see a photographer’s show at the Art Festival called 180 degrees. In this show, her work was all reflections – images captured on the surface of water. We have included our own photographic reflections here – inspired both by her show but also by this process we are now in, where the reflecting is as meaningful as the original experience.

Could you help us? Would you please take two minutes to share a comment with us telling us about your favorite story from this blog? We have over 6000 visits to this blog, and we’d love to know who all is following us, what you’ve gotten out of it, and why you were interested in our adventures. It might help us through our own processing.

Thank you for your love and support these past six months. We couldn’t have done it without you!!

Respectfully submitted,

The Muths

We're packed!

We are packed and waiting for the CATIE folks to check us out of our house. A quick lunch of gallo pinto then a trek around the ancient ruins of Guyabo National Monument. We then drive to Heradia so the kids can say they were in all seven provinces of Costa Rica. Return the rental car, a night in a hotel near the airport then a flight to Fort Lauderdale. Another flight to Tampa, get the rental car and a drive to Grandma's house.

Then we rest for a couple of days.

More soon.

From Coast to Coast and Border to Border

This past week, our family took one last vacation here in Costa Rica... a trip to the Pacific Coast. The trip was planned to help us see yet another province (we've all been studying the seven provinces in 3rd grade Social Studies) and also to visit Carara National Park (the subject of Gracie's first trabajo extra-clase - also for Social Studies). What we didn't realize until we were on our way back to Turrialba was that the trip also helped us complete a full tour of the country - having gone from the Panama border in the south all the way to the Nicaragua border in the north, and from the Caribbean coast on the east to the Pacific coast in the west.

When I've planned vacations before, there has always been a certain amount of anticipation and excitement. There is the waiting - wanting the time of adventure, or rest and relaxation, to arrive as quickly as possible. And there was definitely excitement and waiting involved with this vacation. But perhaps more impressive than the waiting, was the wading. Webster defines wading as moving or proceeding with difficulty or labor - and I would say that we had to wade through each and every leg of our journey - and we have the pictures to prove it!

We started out on Sunday morning driving (in our wonderful rental car - no buses this time!) through fog as thick as pea soup, up and over the highest mountain range in the country. We tried not to cringe as we passed the Cerro de la Muerte (Death Peak) - and even got out of the car for a family picture at the top.

Freezing at the top of Cerro de la Muerte

The temperature difference from the top of the pass to the bottom was a whopping 20 degrees Celsius! We reached the coast, then turned south and headed down to the area near Parque Nacional Marino Ballena. Our hope had been to see whales during their annual migration, but we were off by about 2 months. There was still plenty to see and do though, so we made our way to the beach at the National Park. We may not have seen real whales, but there is an amazing spit of land shaped like a whale tale sticking out into the ocean that we were able to reach by slogging our way through the competing currents. And frankly, playing on the beach in the late afternoon is still one of the best activities ever.

Wading out to the Whale Tale 

The next day we spent the early morning wandering through the trails of the private forest on the hotel grounds. Then we headed about 5k up the road to a fabulous waterfall. We trekked across the river on slippery rocks to reach the crystal clear pools where we spent several hours playing and relaxing. A delicious lunch and delightful conversation with the owners of the little restaurant at the top of the falls was a great way to end the adventure.

Crossing the river to get to the waterfall

Day three we checked out of hotel number one and drove up the coast to hotel number two - near Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio. In all honesty, Greg and I were dreading this part of the trip. We had heard some really unfortunate things about the park and the area - lots of crime, lots of tourists, high prices, no animals, and out of control development of a naturally beautiful paradise. What we discovered was far less horrible than we had anticipated. In fact, we found most of it charming. The park itself, for example, is still undeveloped - so undeveloped that the entrance is unmarked and hidden down an alleyway (unless, of course, you choose to enter the back way by wading through the estuary - which we did on exiting). Undeveloped does not mean uncrowded, though, and we did have to share the beach with many other tourists - but people seemed so happy to be enjoying the waves and the monkeys stealing crackers from towels on the beach that we could hardly complain. We even managed to see an Aracari (a small relative of the toucan), a mother monkey carrying a baby that couldn't have been more than a few days old, and a three-toed sloth.

The beach at Manuel Antonio

Crossing the estuary to exit Manuel Antonio

The other thing we found was that the service we received was fantastic. Our hotel (Mono Azul - the Blue Monkey) is a typical little hotel with pools, a restaurant, and a reception desk. But it also hosts the Kids Saving the Rainforest gift shop - and consequently many youth groups who come on service trips. The teens added a really fun energy to the place, and the staff were obviously enjoying their work. One staff member set up a tour for us to go see Carara National Park with a local guide on day four. We drove an hour and a half to the park entrance, then stopped to change into knee high rubber boots because the park rangers said things were a bit wet.

It is nearly impossible to describe this experience without it sounding like a scene from a movie or novel. But really - it was a genuine jungle trek (oh yeah, with three small kids). The trail was muddy from the first step, and partway through we were literally wading in water up to the edge of our boots (trying not to gag on the smell of rotting dates). Within 100 yards of the entrance we were unable to stand still without being mobbed by mosquitoes, yet we had to stand still time and again to stop and see the amazing wildlife. At one point we watched a capuchin monkey (one of a large troop in the treetops) throwing dates down at the head of a coati who was calmly eating the seeds on the ground.

Wading through the muck at Carara National Park

The mischievous monkey throwing dates

The coati on the ground - mischievous monkey's target

Later on we had to stop James from accidentally stepping on one of the many black iguanas littering the trail. We heard the ugly cry and then witnessed the soaring majesty of the scarlet macaws - and then heard the beautiful song of the plain little gray-collared robin. We saw a blob of tree frog eggs hanging off the tip of a leaf over a puddle filled with tadpoles and delicious bugs. And we saw a crocodile hanging out in a lagoon that only two weeks ago was just some grassy land. We also saw poison caterpillars and the incredibly elusive orange-collared manakin (that even made the guide giddy!). When we got back to the car we were filthy, bug-bitten, blistered, hot and exhausted... but extremely happy. All Social Studies projects should come with such a cool field-work component!

The iguana James almost stepped on

The magnificent scarlet macaw

Glass Frog eggs

As if all that weren't enough - we then drove down the highway about 2 kilometers to the infamous Crocodile Bridge and watched about twelve 15-20 foot long crocodiles swimming around in the Tarcoles River. The combination of high speed traffic zipping by, being on a tall bridge, and looking over to see giant man-eating reptiles was more than we could take for very long - and we happily climbed back in the car for the 90 minute drive back to the hotel.

A crocodile on the bank of the Rio Tarcoles

Day five was supposed to be an uneventful drive back down the coast and over the mountain pass. Naturally, car-sickness overpowered the dramamine and required a stop on the side of the road - at which point we accidentally slammed Maggie's fingers in the car door. Luckily, we were stopped right in front of a house - and the lovely family provided us with a plastic bag, a bowl of ice, and plenty of smiles and good wishes as we wearily got back into the car to continue the drive. It took far longer than we'd hoped, and made us all more queasy than we'd hoped, but thankfully there was no lasting damage (even to Maggie's fingers!) and we made it back to Turrialba safe and sound.

We didn't realize as we were planning this vacation that it would be quite so exhausting and complicated - or rewarding. We were waiting for some regular old rest and relaxation. But the effort of wading through each leg of the journey produced yet another chapter in our border to border and coast to coast adventure.

The last day of school

I've never been very good at transitions.  I like change, but I find the time period right before a change (when you know it's coming but you can't make it happen any faster) to be agonizing.  I'm a "rip the Band-aid off" kind of gal.  If we're going to make a change, let's make it already.  But saying good-bye is a part of the transition process that I find meaningful and satisfying.  I find great joy in articulating my gratitude and sentiments to someone who has been important in a phase of my life.

So this morning we spent a little extra time getting ready for school by writing thank you notes to the teachers and administrators who have been so important to our family over the past six months.  Grace and James wrote to their five core teachers, I wrote to the Director and his assistant, and Maggie wrote to Teacher Maricela.  Greg packaged up some little gifts from Minnesota. 

We headed over to the school weighted down with our notes and gifts, two huge boxes of homemade brownies and bars to be shared with the kids' classmates, Maggie's princess costume (they were having a royal party for the last day), and a fair amount of anxiety about saying good-bye.

Three hours later, when Greg and I went back to collect our children and all of their books and supplies, we were treated to a display that would warm the heart of any parent.  Not only were our children taking the time to thank their friends and teachers for the welcome they've received here - but they were being thanked in turn.  Grace & James received gifts from a classmate; Maggie's teacher cried upon reading her note.  And several people wanted to know when we'll be back...

The reality is, we don't know when we will be back.  We have attempted to say "hasta luego" instead of the more final "adios", but we have no definite plans for a return in the near future. What we do know is that we have all made friends that we hope will continue to be part of our lives, whether we come back to Costa Rica or not.

As for the transition, I'm hoping our vacation to the Pacific Coast will be enough of a change to get me through the next 10 days!

Maggie giving her note to Teacher Maricela.

James and Manuel

Gracie saying goodbye to Marilu.

On the bus again.

Six months ago we left our cars behind to embark on numerous journeys to explore many things. One of the things I was curious about was transportation. How does one get from place to place when one doesn't have a car? How does it work for an individual going grocery shopping? How does it work for a family of five?

When one lives in a town like Turrialba, where all of the shopping and services are located in the central downtown area, one can simply apply shoe leather (or rubber or vinyl or whatever petroleum based abomination shoes are made from these days) to the transportation problem. Walking around town has its own benefits one of which is the sense of community one gets from seeing friends and neighbors on the street and taking the opportunity to stop and chat. Another benefit is the raw upper body workout one gets from lugging a week's worth of groceries (yes all the mangoes can get heavy) around town. The drawback has been that 80% of the family has destroyed at least one pair of shoes since we've been here due to all the walking we do.

On the other hand, the good thing about living outside of town is you get to add a bus ride to the experience. Now just for reference we are talking about regular, ordinary buses that you might find in the states. I know some of you were hoping for the classic Central American overhauled school bus with goats and chickens and people riding on top. Sorry, no. Just a bus, lots of people inside but no chickens.

I can take the CATIE bus for free or for $0.40 I can hop on the La Suiza bus and go the 3k to the center of town. So for the price of a gallon of gas ($4.00) I can make ten trips to town and back. When you consider that I am traveling with about 40 other people, there is definitely a large savings in terms of greenhouse gas emissions relative those same people driving their own cars. But what else?

When one is in the car, you are isolated from your surroundings. Now I agree that when it is hot and humid, a little isolation from your surroundings can be a good thing. But now consider the banter among friends at the bus stop, the chivalry displayed as seats are yielded to the elderly and mothers with babies, and Maggie getting swept into the arms of a grandmother type who simply refuses to see our little angel standing in the crowded aisle. I guess I prefer the benefits gained from the daily interactions with the people in my community. Yes, there is waiting in the rain and the occasional inconvenience when one misses a bus, but I have to say that riding the bus has been one of my favorite parts of living here.

"Dad, do you have your camera?"

Last Saturday, Mom, Dad, James, Maggie and I caught a bus to Turrialba because we needed to go shopping. We also were planning to make the “On Location” video of the farmer’s market, so Daddy had his good camera along. While in town, we needed something in the grocery store, so we dodged people and cars, crossed several streets, stopped to pet the bunnies in the pet store, and finally arrived at the MegaSuper, just four blocks away from the bus stop. Dad was dawdling behind filming us crossing the street.

When we got inside the store, Mom, James, Maggie and I went to look for some tortilla chips. We thought Dad was still filming us. (It seems like he’s always filming us these days!) After we found the chips, we looked behind us and noticed he was not there. It turns out, he was behind the counter in the meat section. Mom said, “What’s Dad doing back there??” James, Maggie and I went to investigate.

Behind the counter, we discovered Dad taking pictures of a GIANT, RARE, OWL BUTTERFLY! It was amazing. You don’t see them in the wild very often, and they are always flying. But this one kept landing as if it wanted us to take its picture or give it attention. One of the places it landed was… ON MY HEAD! The people in the store were just as surprised as we were. One of the ladies was excited to watch me help the butterfly get out of the store.










When we began our day, we thought it was going to be a normal Saturday. But we learned that sometimes the most interesting and unexpected things happen in boring places. And we learned to appreciate Dad’s new hobby of filming us all the time!

Respectfully submitted,
Grace

Rafting on the Pejibaye River

On Monday June 13^th we went rafting on the Pejibaye river. We wanted to go rafting because Turrialba is famous for its rivers. Marty picked us up then we went back to his house where we loaded the raft on top of his car (that’s normal). We were with our guide Angel, his bother Leo and their other brother David. We also brought along a safety kayak in case anyone fell out. We got to a spot above the river and we carefully fitted our helmets and lifejackets and walked down to the river. We put the boat in but we didn’t start rafting until Angel taught us the commands: adelante (paddle forward), atrás (paddle back) and al piso (get on the floor!). Maggie and I were sitting in the very front, Mom and Dad in the middle then Grace and David and finally Angel in the back to steer.

During the first half Maggie and I got splashed by a small waterfall and Maggie was scared. I was trying to protect her from the big splash. Grace was too busy yelling “Wooo Hoooo!!” to notice the splash. After Grace and Maggie changed spots, Maggie was much happier sitting near Mom and Dad.

At one point we were out of control and ran into some hanging grass with a hive of some sort in the middle. Grace and I got covered in black bugs, but thankfully they did not sting or bite.

We went a little bit further downstream and we got to a calm, small place in the river where we could get out and swim. On the other side of the river there was a rock that we could jump off. Angel and Leo and David really enjoyed the swim. The water was really cold but it felt really good to get out of the boat.

During the second half of the trip down the river we saw a lot of cool things like the ave de sol (a bird with yellow, orange and red on its wings) and a cool lizard that looked like a baskalisk. When we were almost done we got stuck on a lot of rocks because the water was so low.

As special part of the trip was that out friend Marty was able to take pictures of us while we were in the raft.

I would do this again because it was very fun and I liked the experience.

Respectfully submitted,

James

Systematic Observations

As we near the end of our Costa Rican adventure, I have been reflecting on the things that I have gained and learned while here. Naturally I have gained far more than I could ever list, and I will likely continue to discover even more after we return to the United States. But in an effort to articulate something I have learned that I can take back to my professional life, I have given some serious thought to systems and institutions with which I have interacted while here – particularly from the perspective of an immigrant (albeit a short term one).

For those of you who don’t know, my work back home is coordinating a coalition of agencies and organizations in Rice County, MN with the goal of building community connectedness in order to improve health. This connection building often focuses on the systems in place to serve families and analyzing whether those systems could be improved to make connecting easier, friendlier, and more efficient.

So in my reflections on the systems and institutions with which I have interacted here in Costa Rica, I find myself continually feeling like there are major contradictions in place – and things that just don’t make sense to me. Take for example our experience today. Greg and I went to the school office to remind the Director that we will need documentation of the children’s school participation to give to our school back home. The secretary indicated that in order to make the document as official and formal as possible, we should go to the regional office of the Civil Registry and purchase “Timbres de Educacion” (stamps from the Ministry of Education) that will be affixed to the documents, then signed, sealed and delivered back to us. So we went in to Turrialba and found the regional office of the Civil Registry. But we didn’t go inside. Why? Because the stamps were being sold by a little old man sitting on the sidewalk outside the office. Literally, we bought the official stamps on the street. AND, this same man (presumably representing the Ministry of Education) could not figure out the total cost for buying three sets of stamps, nor could he make change for me. (We helped him with the math and it all worked out in the end, but come on!!)

To me, this incident was both hilarious and utterly depressing. Really? We are making our children’s school documents more official by affixing stamps we bought from some guy on the street? It just seems so ridiculous.

And that, my friends, is where my reflection led me. If that one incident seems so nonsensical to me, what are the systems and practices we have in place back in the States that are viewed as unnecessary, unreasonable, or just plain ridiculous by the individuals and families we serve? I am a self-proclaimed tax and spend liberal, but I can’t stand inefficiencies. So where are the processes that are needless or wasteful? How can we look at our own systems through a different lens to see things from a new perspective?

I am happy that I still have a couple weeks to enjoy, observe and reflect. But come July, I’ll be more than ready to roll up my sleeves and get back to work.

On Location: The Market

Here we are, the whole family pitching in to bring you this week's "On Location"

Dia de deportes

I would say that many Costa Ricans enjoy sports. Whether it is watching soccer on TV or participating in club sports or family games in the neighborhood. Today we joined other families and the teachers at our school for the annual "Sports Day" to celebrate the values that athletics bring to the people here in Costa Rica.

Maggie's class kicked things off with an interpretive dance.



There was face painting, balloon art and an inflable (you know, one of those inflatable jumpy things with a slide), hot dogs, carne asada (mmmmmm, grilled meat) and tons of desserts.




James and I took second in the Rally (once we figured out that a rally was a parent-kid obstacle course race).



And the Third Grade was victorious in soccer over their arch rival Fifth Grade.



There was talk beforehand about demonstrations of traditional Costa Rican games. But this seemed to fall a little short. Pretty tough to compete with a soccer tournament I guess.

The days are speeding by fast, check back often as we are going to have many adventures in the next three weeks.

On Location: Sugar!

Back by popular demand, Maggie on location in Costa Rica!

On Location with Grace

Here is Gracie's contribution to the "On Location" series.

The Java-dog

In the fall of 1997, while a second year graduate student at the U of MN, I was living and working as a Hall Director on the campus of Augsburg College in Minneapolis.  The Residence Life department enacted a policy allowing hall directors to have pets in their on-campus apartments, and within 24 hours I was on my way to the humane society in Golden Valley.  When I got to the humane society, there was a small, lonely puppy - the last of six in an abandoned litter - just waiting to come home with me.  And so began a 14 year relationship between girl and dog.

Java was named because of her color.  I had just finished reading the book Coffee Will Make You Black when I met Java, and her deep black color plus the tiny splash of milky-white on her chest and chin made her look like a cup of coffee to me.  From the minute I brought Java home, she was not interested in letting me out of her sight.  Most of the time, she came with me to the office (right next door to my apartment) and entertained any number of Augsburg students. But when I had to go to class and leave her alone, Java was rotten. She was a chewer - and chewed up most of my life that first year (hairbrushes, shoes, my CD collection, the cushions on my sofa, a fleece jacket, the bottle of bitter apple spray I bought to make her stop chewing things...).

In the next few years, Java and I moved several times - but always together.  And when Greg and I got together, Java not only gained a new person in her life, she gained a best friend in Greg's dog, Madison. Our little blended family had a pretty idyllic life - daily walks to the park, lots of ball retrieving, and plenty of doggy chase games around the big tree down the street.

And then came the move to MN, the addition of children to our lives, and the settling in to life as a family dog.  For the last 8 1/2 years, Java has done her best to keep us all together (herding instinct) and to be right in the middle of it all. 

This last chapter of her life has been yet another change.  When we left the midwest to begin our Costa Rican adventure, we left Java in the loving care of Don and Marilee Muth (Greg's parents).  And boy, has she been loved.  She has probably had more treats and walks in the past five months than in all the years since the children were born.  But sometimes love and treats are not enough; old age and a raging case of leukemia have brought Java to the end of her life.

So last night we gathered round our computer screen to say a tearful good-bye via skype, to tell her that we love her even from far away, and to thank her for 14 years of unconditional love.  Rest in peace, sweet Java-dog. Rest in peace.

Home Sweet Home

Costa Rica and Minnesota are different in their own ways.  Here are some of them:

The weather is different. Instead of four seasons like in Minnesota, Costa Rica has the sunny season and the rainy season.

Another difference with Costa Rica is the bugs; they are just everywhere!  Sometimes they are good because they are good food for the cool animals like toucans and frogs. 

When it comes to fruit in Costa Rica, it’s like fruit punch every time! The tropical fruits are delicious. When we go to the market we almost always buy bananas, mangoes, papaya and pineapple.

We have a car in Minnesota, but we don’t have one in Costa Rica.  In Costa Rica, we normally walk places, but its not as fun as catching the bus.

In the U.S. we have our family close, and in Costa Rica they are farther away.  When they come to visit us all the way from the U.S., it’s a real treat. We go places like the beach!

To me, both Costa Rica and Minnesota are Home Sweet Home.

Respectfully submitted,

Grace

On Location with James

An after school nature walk turned into this week's installment of "On Location". Que disfrute!

Teacher Brooke

Here at Escuela Interamericana we mostly have our subjects in Spanish, but we have a few in English – like Science.  Our science teacher is American, and her name is Brooke.  Teacher Brooke was born in Seattle, Washington.  When she was little she wanted to be an actress.  Now, in class, she pretends to be plants and animals to teach us through acting how plants and animals work.

When she teaches, she tries to make everything fun.  For example, she lets us work in partners and plays learning games with us.  She makes me not want to leave her classes because they are so suspenseful and exciting.

She likes teaching because she gets to interact with all of the awesome kids.

When she is not teaching, she likes to swim.  She is very athletic and smart like a cheetah (which is her favorite animal).  

I feel very special to have been able to meet Teacher Brooke. 

Respectfully submitted,
Grace 

On Location with Janet

Our second installment in the "On Location" series. Enjoy!

Teacher Sarita

I would like to introduce you to our Guia teacher. Her name is Sarita. Her favorite animal is a cat.  When she is not teaching or stapling messages into notebooks, she is listening to music. I think that she just got out of college and she is young. She is a Tico.

Guia is kind of like homeroom. It is where you talk about values and do projects for your family. These past few weeks we have been working on our Father’s day gifts in Guia.

Sarita is a kind, generous, smart teacher. Her classes are as fun as running through a sprinkler.  She is the one you need to go to if there are bullies. If you feel sick, you go to Sarita. She likes teaching because she likes to see the wonderful students learn.

She is as nice as the breeze on a hot day. 

Respectfully submitted,

James

On Location with Maggie

A little movie we made this afternoon about the good things we get to see everyday. Enjoy!




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4a3tmZanik

Gettin' buggy with it.

Let me start by saying that I am not afraid of bugs. I am not exactly a bug enthusiast, but I'm also not the type to run screaming when something buzzes in my ear. I was a camp counselor and a Peace Corps Volunteer; I can handle bugs with the best of them. But I have to admit that the bugs here in Costa Rica are starting to BUG me. Maybe it is because of the way they invade our everyday life:

• ants the size of grains of sand that somehow find their way into EVERYTHING - and then BITE!
• big, fluttery things that get stuck between the curtains and the window and make a buzzing sound all night long
• mosquitoes and "no-see-ums" that have turned the kids into itchy-twitchy little things

Or maybe it's because they are also finding their way into places that are surprising and startling:

• like the larvae that fall from the ceiling all over the floor of the shower
• or the cockroaches that scuttle away in the kitchen when you turn on a light
• 
  
• 

• or the giant fire ants that suddenly appear in droves right where you just sat down in the grass

On the other hand, some of the bugs here are just amazing. The giant black and red grasshoppers are too cool for words. The butterflies are more magnificent than I could have imagined.





And don't forget the lizards - who are plentiful here because there are so many yummy bugs to eat. Just this week we discovered a red-headed gecko living in the tunnel we walk through to get to the school each day.



I am looking forward to a life with fewer bugs back in the States (not having to put all cereal in the refrigerator to protect it from bugs and not waking up in the morning with new ant bites in weird places). But I am also appreciative of all the cool things I've gotten to see (the pair of giant, yellow tiger swallowtail butterflies flitting past us on our walk across campus this morning comes to mind). Just another chapter in our on going series... a little sacrifice yields some big gains.

Tin Marin

Thanks to our former roommate, the kids learned this cute version of "Eeny, meanie, miny, mo".  We thought a video would speak volumes - so enjoy!


http://youtu.be/n7M4G1P6cw8

The Real Indiana Jones

The original people who inhabited the Americas left behind treasures beyond our imaginations. Treasures not only in the form of gold and silver jewelry but also treasures in the form of language, mathematics, culture, music and architecture. When we think about the original architects of Latin America, we may conjure images of the pyramids at Chitzen Itza (Mayan) or Machu Picchu (Inca), an ancient civilization found high in the mountains of Peru. But who were the ancient people of Costa Rica and what treasures did they leave behind?

Archaeologists now know that civilization existed in Costa Rica for thousands of years before the arrival of Columbus, and evidence of human occupation in this region dates back 10,000 years. Today when we were invited to explore one of the little known artifacts of this ancient civilization, how could we refuse?

So mid-morning we loaded into Marty's van (you remember Marty, he's the ex-pat chicken farmer who invited us to his super bowl party) and went up to his house. Naturally, any adventure with Marty begins with some chicken-related activity so before we hiked to the artifact, we had to collect the eggs... and play with the puppy. (I'm not sure if real archaeologists collect chicken eggs and play with puppies before their adventures begin, but anyways).



OK, now off to explore the lost civilization. A twenty-minute walk down to the Rio Reventazon through the coffee and sugar cane fields brought us to a large rock that seemed out-of-place in this particular landscape. The rock's placement and size made it immediately clear to us why the ancient people once saw this edifice as a significant and unique structure in their world. The rock was elaborately carved with numerous hieroglyphics, presumably dating back as early as 1000BC. But what do the carvings mean? What messages were the ancient people trying to preserve in this stone?



One thought was that this rock was used in a spiritual ritual, similar to the altar located on the CATIE campus (not its original location). We know that the CATIE rock was a sacrificial altar, but the rock by the river may have been used in other practices. We know that the symbol of the turtle is often found in the religious practices of other early Americans. One image on this rock was definitely that of a sea turtle - especially incredible considering it is at least a two hour drive on modern roads to get to the ocean.


Some of the carvings clearly depicted people. Perhaps this artifact was a library, storing the history of the people who lived here.



Some have said that this rock was an ancient road map, providing information to travelers where to locate the important places in their civilization. But where would people want to go? Were there other places nearby for travelers to find? Glad you asked.



About 20km north of Turrialba is the Guayabo National Archaeological site, the remains of an advanced civilization of perhaps 20,000 people at its height in 800AD. While not as massive as the Inca or Mayan ruins, Guayabo is Costa Rica's most important archeological site. But unfortunately, what remains here is still largely unknown to scientists. It is well understood that Guayabo had a sophisticated aqueduct system and was a significant trade and spiritual center for this area of Central America. We were lucky enough to visit Guayabo on a previous adventure and it was incredible today to begin to make connections between artifacts from different places of the ancient civilization that once thrived in this area.

Proud Papa

I think it is fair to say that all parents love to brag about their kids. I certainly am no exception. So there we were this morning in the clinic to get Maggie's stitches removed and I was extremely proud of her bravery. She didn't cry or whine or even flinch as the silk was pulled from her face. Perhaps listening to her answer questions in Spanish that the nurse was asking (in Spanish) that buffered my initial impression of the scar that remained on her face.



I know it will fade but I guess I would rather have other souvenirs of our visit here. But on the other hand it kind of makes Maggie who Maggie is. Was I distraught when she was three and tumbled out of the stroller and chipped her front tooth? Yes, but now I don't even notice it anymore - after all, the chipped tooth fits who she is.

And who is she? She is the kid who notices fourteen of these really cool grasshoppers hanging out on the flowers near the path on our way to school. She is the kid who smiles and waves as her classmates greet her with their familiar call of "MAGGIE!" (you have to say it pronouncing the A as an "aah" sound). And she is the kid who can recognize the subtle call of a toucan from a distant treetop-stop and wait for it to fly by.



The rain has stopped for the moment and everything is a bit soggy. We love looking out to the distant hills to see the low clouds blanketing the trees. It is like seeing a "cloud forest" up close.

Goings On

Thought I'd just give a few updates on the events of our world. We are enjoying a Monday off of school because of "Labor Day" and because the teachers had to work this weekend at the CATIE International Fair. The best part is we get to benefit from both. The International Fair is an annual gathering on the CATIE campus for the whole community to celebrate all the different counties that partner together in CATIE's mission to develop sustainable agriculture in the tropics. So on Saturday and Sunday we enjoyed music, food and crafts from Mexico, Nicaragua, Belize, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Brazil, Columbia, Guatemala, Argentina and Europe. The kids got to explore the climbing wall and made a rain stick out of bamboo.





In other news Maggie is recovering nicely from her fall on Saturday. We decided that she is as cute as Shirley Temple and as tough as A.J. Hawk.



The weather here had been like August in the mid-west. Hot and dry. But just like August in Minnesota we discovered that the tomatoes are in! You know those beautiful vine ripe tomatoes loaded with flavor? Yes indeed, yet another bounty from the good earth here.

Just like in our old neighborhood we are enjoying is a cast of characters here in our new house too. Maggie likes looking for the "hop frog" that lives near our front door and I am quite fond of the three-legged dog that greets me on my way home from the bus.


More soon.