El Toucan

There is a wonderful place nestled in the jungle near Playa Cocles called El Toucan Jungle Lodge. It is a very simple hotel run by a German couple who welcome visitors from around the world. Staying there feels much more like sleeping in the monkey house at the zoo. At about 5:00 AM, the local troop of howler monkeys begin their antics of shouting and tree hopping and chasing each other around the canopy. It is certainly a unique way to begin the day. We were lucky enough to stay there for two nights to participate in the fun. In addition to the howler monkeys we saw some toucans at a distance, giant spiders, frogs, humming birds and a blue morpho butterfly in the wild.

slothful lunch

On Thursday of last week, Greg's parents (Don and Marilee) arrived for a week long visit. Greg met them in San Jose and they drove to Turrialba in the rented mini-van. We had a low-key evening in preparation for our big weekend outing.

On Friday morning we sent the kids off to school as usual, then met Don and Marilee at their hotel for breakfast. We then walked all over town to show them the Central Park, the fruit and veggie market, the watch salesman, the fishmonger, etc. etc. After a couple of hours of walking the town, we headed back home and packed up the car for our adventure over to the Caribbean Coast. We stopped at the school to pick up the kids, then drove another 15 kilometers to find a spot to stop for lunch. I don't know about the kids, but the adults were tired and hungry!

Our lunch spot.

We had just settled into our table when James said, "Hey, I think I see something hairy in that tree over there." Sure enough, he had spotted a mama three-toed sloth and her baby munching on some leaves. It's pretty rare to spot these guys at all, let alone awake and with a baby - so we were pretty excited. We did manage to eat our lunch, though, and then got on our way for the real adventure of the weekend. Stay tuned for more stories from the road...

mama sloth and baby

Mama sloth looking for delicious leaves.

Lent

One thing I wanted to observe was the difference in how people here in Costa Rica approached the season of Lent. I would say that relative to the US, the Christians here are much more intentional about their observance of the Lenten season. While Ash Wednesday seemed very equal with ashes smudged on the foreheads of church goers, the presence of Lenten decorations here has been quite different. For instance on the porches of individual homes, on street corners and from the street lights we are seeing simple crosses draped in purple fabric. Some of the crosses even have festive lights! From my perspective, it should not be surprising that people are decorating for a major religious holiday, after all we do deck the halls pretty seriously in the US for our observance of Christmas. I have also noted that on this past Sunday there seemed to be more families gathered for an evening meal, perhaps this too was in observance of the Lenten season.

A typical morning

Alarm goes off...must make coffee. Boil water, put grounds in the chorreadero, pour water through...add powdered milk and sugar aaahhh sweet relief. Who ever thought that this natural product would have such potent medicinal value?















Doors open kids up and at 'em!















Someone needs to run to the corner to go get bread.















Mags get out the peanut butter and jelly, yes the guayaba jelly - you love that stuff.






















Does anyone want eggs, I bough a fresh kilo yesterday (yes a kilo not a dozen).


















Are you dressed yet the bus is here? Have a great day!















Now I need to catch my bus.















Better check the volcano on the way.















You work in agroforesteria at CATIE? Which building is that again, the one with the Pre-Columbian sacrificial alter in front of it? Can you really see the carvings depicting all the heads that were lopped off in sacrifice? Yikes!















What is it you're doing anyways? Trying to help this farmer figure out what is in his barrel? Some sort of fermented concoction made from molasses, rice hulls and a secret blend of Mountain Microorganisms? Great for the plants but what is the chemistry here?





















Better have lunch by the lake, it is so peaceful. Maybe I'll see the giant iguana again and this time I'll have my camera.

Going Bananas

On Friday I had the opportunity to travel with a group of students and two other professors to EARTH University to learn about organic farming techniques and the production of bananas. In addition to the banana research we learned about beneficial microorganisms, compost, circular gardens and capturing methane from the ranch (read manure here) to produce electricity!













The clip that follows is my own movie of how bananas are grown, harvested and packaged for shipping to the US. I don't expect it will be nominated for best documentary anytime soon.

Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ0LMrENpa0

Afterschool Activities

Back in the States, I need a google calendar to keep track of the ridiculous number of activities that our kids are involved in - and who is responsible for getting them to and from each of these activities.  Greg and I are still trying to figure out how we will manage when we get back since he'll actually be working and not on sabbatical!  And, to be honest, our kids are not nearly as programmed as some I know.  We let them have just enough free time to make each other and us nuts on a fairly regular basis.

But here in Costa Rica, the whole "afterschool activities" thing has a new meaning.  There is nothing programmed.  There might be a soccer team we could get hooked up with on the weekends, but our kids would be so far behind it's better not to subject them to the embarrassment.  Instead, we have lots of free time.  And while the kids still manage to make each other - and us - nuts, we have discovered a new level of closeness that we never could have found while racing through our lives back home. 

Most days we wander down to the park at the end of the street and the kids play with other kids from the neighborhood. Other days we sit around the table on the front patio and play card games - to the delight of our neighbors who walk by. Today we went to the farmer's market to give our special banana sales lady a star sticker (and buy bananas and melon, of course).  Two days ago, Maggie and I walked to the main square in town and ate ice cream cones while people watching.  Yesterday we went downtown as a family in search of the fishmonger.  It is a simpler life, and I could get used to it...

Maggie at the park down the road.

Gracie with a new neighborhood friend.

James working on his soccer skills at the park.

The little things

While we are here on such a big adventure, it is easy to get wrapped up in the monumental achievements and lose site of the little things.  But today, I'd like to report on some little achievements that feel big to us.

This past Tuesday we spent the whole day speaking in Spanish to each other as a family.  And while everyone has been speaking and learning a lot of Spanish in parts of the day (school, work, various outings into the community), the honest truth is that we still speak English with each other -so we aren't having a true "immersion experience".  So to stick to our commitment to speak to each other only in Spanish for a whole day, was a big deal.  In other news, Maggie got new shoes this week, and now she knows how to tie her shoes!! Oh, and she also just took me to the park to show me how well she has learned to pump on the swings. Major accomplishments for our five-year-old.

Maggie's new shoes