Gringo Day

This week has been a long week for us. The kids started school and we started a 4 day orientation that doesn't end until Monday afternoon. By the end of the week we were a little bit tired of the massive amounts of information we had been receiving about just not blowing our nose in public or tossing an object to another person, or disciplining our children in public, etc... as these were all found to be culturally offensive. We also spent a few hours listening to how the pick-pockets work and what the various scams were in Costa Rica that the locals use to extort money. We even saw a TV program in Spanish for women about how to protect your valuables while you are out and about in the city. Despite all this, we decided on Saturday to do what any good gringo would do and go shopping!

Taking the bus downtown to San Jose we managed to get on the same bus with the local "loco hombre" who likes to sing loudly and ask for money on the bus. Not to be deterred we continued on to our destination, the Mercado Central. We had a mission to start a little early Christmas shopping because I have always started my Christmas shopping in August (can you say type A?).

We arrived downtown and made the 8 block walk to the central market which is a large building full of small kiosks of local food, goods, animals, knick-knacks, and the sort. The entire area is kind of like a maze, so we kept the kids close and looked around the area for a certain item I had seen at one of our friend's houses and thought would make a great gift for Ken's mom and my mom for Christmas. Well, we looked, and looked, and looked...I think we went by every store over 3 times in the hour we were there. We never found what I was looking for, but it was fun to just look at all the different items and the way the people interact. This place is a local hangout that a lot of tourists like to come and see too.

When we were done we were really hungry, so we did what any good gringo would do and went to Wendy's. Ken had been craving a hamburger that was 100% beef ever since we got here (the Ticos use mostly soy burgers for some unknown reason). We ordered our thoroughly gringo fare and sat down to hamburgers, fries and frostys. We did detect a bit of soy in the Wendy's burger, but it was great none the less and there were no morsels left at the end of our meal!

The rain started in a little early during our lunch. We have usually found it to start raining at 1pm off and on until about 9pm lately. We took the 8 blocks back to our bus and rode home. When we arrived we took a short but much needed nap and then prepared to have our fellow gringo friends, the Bredbenners, over for a dinner of enchiladas, some awesome guacamole, rice and beans, and even brownies!

As we were eating the feast the phone rang and we were informed of the most wonderful news our family could hear, the Alabama game was on channel 70! We quickly turned to see the Crimson Tide take the field at the Georgia Dome. Oh, it was so good for our homesick eyes to watch the Tide Roll down that field for the next 3 hours. I will spare my Auburn fan friends from the gory details, but the Tide slaughtered Clemson 34 to 10. Yes, it was a day of celebration. So, we felt at the end of the day like we had received from God a gift of home just when we needed it most.

We are so grateful to be here knowing this is where God wants us to be, but it is also nice to know that God cares enough about us to give us those wonderful little moments just when we need them. ¡Gracias a Dios!

I couldn't resist putting this video on our site from one of the newly graduated students, John McLamb. Hopefully it will make you laugh and remember us in prayer as we barely speak Spanish!

Nacho Libre vs Ramses

For those of you who have never seen Nacho Libre with Jack Black, it is one of our favorite movies and we have seen it twice here since we arrived on the big screen when we were at the AMCA house. Well, it only made sense when we told the kids they could have a hamster that they would name him Nacho. We brought Nacho home from the pet store after going to over 5 pet stores in town just to find a hamster. That was only the beginning of the saga for Nacho as he arrived after a frightening taxi ride through traffic (notice previous blog bearing in mind the lack of real enforced traffic laws).

Once in his new home, we placed him in his exercise ball so I could put together the cage. Our youngest, Cade, AKA Ramses, took this opportunity to slam dunk little Nacho across the floor and into the book case to the horror of all of us. Now it gets a little graphic here for those of you that are squeemish...it appeared that little Nacho, eyes open and unmoving, little legs fully extended and rigid, chest not moving, had fought his last match. Poor Connor was completely distraught. I was not quite sure if I should be attempting mouth to muzzle CPR and chest compressions, or if there was some sort of funeral service that you have for a pet you have only had for less than an hour. All I really knew to do was pray. So I prayed, and the kids prayed. I was certain after 2 minutes of staring at this little luchador that he had been dispatched to grassier meadows. Suddenly he opened and closed his eyes and slowly moved his little legs about! Yes, a real live miracle!

Now our champion is safely ensconsed in his cage up high above "Ramses" reach. Ken and I take turns holding our youngest whenever we let Kayleigh and Connor play with Nacho. Yes, our own little luchador has lived to fight another day.

"These are a few of my favorite things..."

This week as we recovered from our illness we decided what we needed was a little deversion, so we found it! We went to the Children's Museum in San Jose on Wednesday, and on Friday we went to the Parque de Diversiones.

The Children's museum was great. They had an area for aerospace and a planetarium section, a natural habitat area with some examples of the local flora, insects, animals, etc..., a history of Costa Rica through the ages, a large area devoted to the study of the human body, including the great inclosed photo of us in a large mouth! They had a cool house you went through that was built on an 21 degree angle where you could really see physics at work! There was a literature section and a small art museum area. They had histories of the banana and coffee plants and their contribution to the economy of Costa Rica. They even had a train, plane, helicopter, and some places outside where you could take a pretend trip through a banana farm and work in a coffee shop.

The amazing thing about this place that was decorated like a medievil castle is that it was located in the renovated former national penitentiary. Apparently the Costa Ricans wanted to make a statement after the prison closed that they wanted to focus on the future of the country and not the past turmoils. The tickets were really inexpensive considering the amount of exhibits they provided, $1 for children and $2 for adults. We had a great time and I know we will be back again soon!

On Friday we went to the local amusement park, Parque de Diversiones. It reminded me a little of Alabama Adventure with a Spanish flair. As Ken and I have gotten older, and especially after a stomach virus, we find some of the more exhilirating rides to be a little too moving on our digestive system. Anyway, that made my favorite thing the old town San Jose section. They had some beautiful oxcarts (a national symbol) and an recreation of the old San Jose. They had these old buggies that they sometimes pull with horses and they had a small theatre where they put on various productions. It reminded me a little of Stone Mountain.

I believe Cade's favorite was his first kiddie roller coaster ride. It was so neat to see him go from a little timid to shouting, "Woller coast fun!"

Connor and Kayleigh really enjoyed the flying octopus ride. The

ride was spinning so fast I couldn't even get a clear picture of it. Ken just about lost his breakfast on that ride!

My big experience was on the ride that drops you some 500+ feet in 3 seconds. By the time I said,"I don't like this!" it was over, phew!

We had some ice cream and called it a day before the rains started. It was a really great time for the kids. We will plan on coming back again after the rainy season is over.

Connor has made me promise to blog this week on the new addition to the family, so check back

later and I promise the full details and some pictures!

A Day in the Life...

It is 3am here in San Jose and I was hoping I wouldn't have to be up at this hour, but apparently the stomach virus that has plagued most all of our friends down here has now found it's way into our family. Poor Connor just woke up crying, "I threw up, Mommy!" I am just glad it did not happen the day before on his birthday. Now he is here on the couch with some lemon water and a bowl, and I am standing vigil by him for the next few hours until the worst of it passes. Please pray for all of us as this stomach bug is particularly nasty and has made pretty much everyone in each house pretty miserable for 36 hours.
While I am up I thought I would go ahead and give you a typical Saturday for us here, the current situation not withstanding...
5:45am...Cade comes into our bedroom. He and Connor tell me a motorcycle woke them up and so they get into the bed with us.
6:04 am...They are still awake and the sun is shining in, so I give up on sleeping in and get up to make breakfast.
6:36 am...I am unpacking the last of my clothing as the kids eat some cereal. Why did I bring these long sleeve shirts anyway??!!???!!??
7:44 am...We decide to go ahead and go to the Feria (Farmer's Market) for our weekly fresh fruit and vegetables.
8:13 am...We are on our way with a small cart and stroller in tow. Navigating the sidewalks can be tricky as the pavement is cracked and the elevations change frequently between houses. We play a couple quick games of Frogger to get across a few of the busier streets. 15 minutes after leaving the house we are at one of the panaderias in the area getting everyone a doughnut. Total bill for 6 doughnuts is Ç1,300 or about $2.05 total.
8:25 am... Ken is on his way to a nearby park with the kids and I am going by the ATM and then the market. It looks pretty busy as I pass by to get my cash.
9:10 am...After going to my favorite 3 vendors and using my limited Spanish I am now the proud owner of: 1 bunch of cilantro, 1 bunch of oregano, 1 bunch of thyme, 1 bunch of parsley, 1 bunch of basil (all are fresh), celery, 10 tomatoes, 3 cucumbers, 5 huge red peppers, 5 small scotch bonnet peppers (great for salsa), 3 garlic bulbs, 5 large plantains, 1 lb of strawberries, 1 huge bunch of bananas, and 2 fresh fruit drinks for the kids. All this cost be about $8.50. Now we go home to wash and soak our veggies in a little vinegar to get rid of any unwanted parasites.
10:24 am...Our produce is in the fridge and clean. We decide to go ahead and go to the Hipermas (Spanish Walmart), so we go down 3 blocks to the park where the cabs line up and take a taxi there. It is a beautiful day and we notice lots of people in all the parks along the way.
11:02 am...We decided to grab lunch in the food court. The kids wanted McDonalds. Connor and Cade had hamburger Happy Meals. Kayleigh had chicken. They don't have nuggets down here in the Happy Meals, rather they have chicken legs...they call them McTasty chicken. American food here is pretty expensive, but it's a piece of home for the kids. Ken and I eat Mexican which is cheap everywhere you go.
12:22 pm...After filling 1 cart with new pillows and the other with our needed Walmart type items (cleaners, organizing stuff, etc...) we get in line at one of 25 checkouts along with half of San Jose.
12:40 pm...We are still in line and I decide to take the kids for a potty break and get a spare set of keys at the kiosk by the restrooms. We have 5 keys just to get into our house (1 to the first gate, 1 to the carport gate, 1 to the large carport gate that we take the stroller through when we use it, 1 to the front door gate, and 1 to the front door).
12:51 pm...The keys are ready. I check on Ken in line. He has moved up 2 places. I decide to go get a small fan to add to our cart.
1:01 pm...Just 2 more customers to go. I go back through the store and look for a key chain.
1:14 pm...I return to the checkout in time to bag my items. I never could find a key chain. The cashiers do not move fast as they are not given any incentive to. Apparently the extra personnel that would bag the items are in the store peddling their products instead. I spend a lot of time saying ."No hablo español." The Ticos seem to have no problem just ignoring the well dressed ladies as they point out their particular products.
1:24 pm...After waiting in line for a taxi, we are finally on our way back to the house. We give our taxi driver the address to our house..."Parque Bosque...300 metros al oeste y 75 metros al sur, mano durecha la casa blanca con verde cerca la castilla del guarda con portones negros."
2:15 pm...Cade is down for a nap and I am cleaning up and doing some laundry. Ken takes our taxi up to the local "Freds" to return 2 defective fans. He gets back 40 minutes later and tackles the ants in the cupboard for me. I check to make sure all the containers are airtight.
4:55 pm...I begin making chocolate chip cookies for Connor's birthday and some good ole Mac'n'cheese with chicken nuggets.
6:02 pm... We spend some time catching up with Nana and Papaw, then with Grammie. Connor tells them all about his new baseball glove that he got today and played in the park with and plays a few tunes on his new guitar.
7:55 pm...After a quick visit from our friend Brett and his son, we get the kids cleaned up and ready for bed.
8:35 pm...I spend 15 minutes purifying 3 gallons of water to be used for the next 2 days for drinking. I put the kids to bed after Ken gives them their nightly Bible story and hears prayers.
9:48 pm...Once the kids are in bed I sweep and wash the floor I crawl in bed myself. I can hear the local guard making his rounds outside. He blows a whistle as he makes his rounds to let us all know he is doing his job. Supposedly we have a really good guard. He makes rounds every hour at night. He also uses his whistle if he sees anything suspicious. Sometimes when I get up at night I can hear him on his bicycle going down the street and tooting his whistle. I guess we will eventually get used to it.
4:37 am...Connor has now thrown up 3 times. I pray the worst is over for him and give him a cool cloth for his forehead. I hear the guard making his rounds and prepare to go to bed. I think I hear Cade...better check to see if he has gotten sick....please pray!!!

Mi casa es su casa

Below are some pictures of our new house we will be living in for the next year.

The front of our new house! The backyard where we will plant a garden!

The dining room. One of the kid's bedrooms with bunk beds.

The master bedroom.

The living room.

Our laundry room, a luxury in Costa Rica!

We have plenty of room, including an extra bed! So any of you that have been waiting to visit Costa Rica with some really knowledgable tour guides...come on down!!!!! You will learn how to say, "Yo perdido." in no time! (For you non-spanish speakers..."I'm lost!")

¡Feliz cumpleaños!

Monday after school we had a birthday party for Connor and Kayleigh. All our friends from school came and some new friends we have just met here in CR as well. The kids had a wonderful time hitting the piñatas, eating cake, and opening presents. The pictures really tell more than I can, so enjoy them. We will be moving to our house on Friday, so we hope to do some blogging with a few pictures of our new digs this weekend. For Kayleigh's birthday we had some new skate shoes we brought from the U.S. for her. I love the picture of "big brother" helping her learn how to use them. She had a great time rolling around the AMCA house!

¡Viva la diferencia!

Some of you have asked me about some of the differences we have found here in CR (Costa Rica). Here is only a partial list of some of our observations:

-Almost all liquids here come in bags (ie. ketchup, jelly, sour cream, washing detergent, etc...)

- The largest denomination of money is 10,000 colones, which is around $20 US dollars.

-There are beautiful hummingbirds and flowers (birds of paradise, hibiscus, etc...) everywhere that are not easily found in the US. There are no pine trees, robins, oak trees, or nut trees here in CR. (Nuts are very expensive here...please bring me some pecans at Christmas, Mom!)

-No one writes checks here. They only use credit cards, debit cards, or cash. If you pay cash at some small stores you can get a discount for using cash (about 7%). There is also no sales tax here as well.

-People do not put their toilet paper in the toilet bowl. They put it in the trash cans next to the toilet. The nurse in me finds this practice VERY disturbing.

-It rains really hard here. The fist time we saw the rain come down here I was reminded of that line from Forrest Gump: http://www.gotwavs.com/php/sounds/?id=gog&media=WAVS&type=Movies&movie=Forrest_Gump&quote=raining.txt&file=raining.wav

-Almost all mayonnaise here is flavored with lime. I Love it!!!!

-Houses are locked up like Fort Knox. There is a front gate with sharp spikes protruding from the top, an iron gate in front of most doors, and then the doors themselves. Most yards are surrounded by big walls with concertina wire on top to prevent climbing.

-There is no air conditioning here. Most of the time it is not really necessary anyway, but I am sure my friends from the OR (i.e. Dr. Wolfley) would probably die of heat stroke at night trying to sleep. Due to the constant moisture we have found lotion unnecessary, but cologne/perfume absolutely essential.

-Driving laws are optional, but horn honking is mandatory.

-Pedestrians=speed bumps (See above)

-Everything here takes more time. Going to the grocery store can take more than 2 hours just for a few items. First we have to decide, will we walk, catch a bus, or a taxi? If it is raining we don't want to walk or wait 20 minutes for a bus, so we usually call a taxi. If it is during rush hour we pray the taxi actually shows up since they never acknowledge on the phone that they are actually coming to get you after you give them the directions. On entering the store you must turn over any bags (except for purses) to prevent anyone from easily shoplifting any items. Once you arrive at the store you find yourself wandering aimlessly looking for items you recognize. One lady from our group here bought baking powder instead of salt because she couldn't read the label yet. There are many choices here in CR, but not all of them are good. For instance, women in the store dressed in regular clothing stand there and try to pedal their product to you when you are trying to look at say, lunch meat. Even though I know what they are trying to do I find myself playing the stupid gringa and telling them in English that "I don't really need any help, thank you." If you are buying any produce you have to get the man at the scale in the produce aisle to weigh it for you and put a sticker on it before you go to the checkout counter. God forbid you get to the checkout and don't have all your produce labeled with the proper stickers. That's a major no-no! And at last there is paying at the checkout. In rapid Spanish you hear a lady say"Setentaseismilochocientosnoventaidos colones," SAY WHAT??? Now comes the fun of trying to flag down one of those elusive taxis at the front of the store. By the time you get home you are thoroughly exhausted and realize of course that you forgot the milk which was the whole reason you even went to the store in the first place.

-There are no street names or numbers, but I am told they are trying to place some street signs and numbers on some areas in downtown San Jose. Most believe this is a fruitless endeavor as the signs are made of metal and all the junkies like to sell any scrap metal they can get their hands on.

-Some streets have their own security guards that are there 24/7 with a day guard and a night guard. We (the residents) pay these men to watch out for potential robbers. Although they have no real weapons to speak of I have heard they will chase someone down and beat them senseless if they steal or mug someone when they are around. Usually these guys are from Nicaragua. Which leads us to the next thing...

Things that are the same:

-The people here tend to treat Nicaraguans the same as Americans treat people from Mexico. They allow them to take the jobs they do not want, like landscaping, construction labor, and guard duty. Many of the jokes are also about what they refer to as "Nicas." The Ticos (Costa Ricans) seem to feel that although the Nicas are doing this so they can better their lives, they should go back and better their country instead.

-Most Ticos are very friendly. It is kind of like being in a large city in the South. Busy, but the people will take time to talk to you if you ask them a question and they appreciate our attempts at learning their language.

-These people here love their roasted chicken (kind of like Southerners love fried chicken).

-Ticos enjoy a good party and love a weekend at the beach.

-Ticos love their kids. This is evidenced by all the parks they have and the fact parents are frequently seen there with them playing and spending time as a family. We were glad to keep this tradition here in Central America. We have become park connoisseurs and enjoy the opportunity to meet Tico families and make new friends. They truly are a wonderful people.

So, with all this in mind and the many other things not yet named we say "¡Viva la diferencia!"

The grass is always greener

This first week has been a tremendous week for adjustment and patience. We have seen the best and the worst of our area in all the miles we have taken on foot around here. Some of the things we have found ourselves grumbling about like the temporary commune living in the AMCA house with new faces coming and going every night (usually arriving around 1-2 am) has been both a curse and blessing for us. The kids always seem to take it all in stride and enjoy meeting the new people. They have even given some command performances of break dancing and air guitars for their captive audience. For Ken and I the lack of privacy, especially the lack of a bathroom close to our room we can use, and the fact we are all in one room in bunk beds as a family, has been a challenge for sure. I guess we can't all serve in Portugal (inside joke).

This all being said I have been very aware of the massive amount of poverty here in Central America. We no doubt have it very good down here compared to many of those around us. Ken was speaking with a homeless man the other day that told him he was going to try and find work in a neighboring city because he was unable to find work here. The man did not ask for a handout, but merely said he needed to find work so he could better his condition.

This morning I got up early and went to the local farmer's market to purchase our vegetables and fruit for the week. Along the way I saw many people putting their garbage in the street for pick up and also many people going through those same garbage bags looking for aluminum cans to sell, food to eat, etc... It is hard for me to really feel justified in my complaints about our cramped lifestyle for the next two weeks when I see teenagers having to scrounge around through the trash for food.

As I took the children to one of the many local parks in the area I was humbled by the knowledge that God has really provided for all of our needs. We have learned the first few verses of Psalm 23 in Spanish "Jehovà es mi pastor, nada me faltarà ." which translates, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." How true that simple message has become for each of us.

Thank you everyone for your continued prayers. God is really pruning us right now, but that is exactly what we have needed. It is not always easy for us to find these places in us opened and bared to the world, but through these moments I know that God will grow us into the beautiful creation He has designed. God bless you all, or, as they say down here...¡Diós Te Bendìga!