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