A few people have asked what our accommodations are like, so here is a peek inside our condo from the view of a tree frog on the window. Our condo is 2 stories with an open kitchen/living room. Our bedroom and bathroom are on the 2nd floor, while S & P's bedrooms and bathrooms are on the first floor.
Conocer 'El Cabron Sucio"! The Dirty Goat is our CR car we purchased off two amazing La Paz teachers returning to the states. A 4WD diesel 2013 Hyundai Tucson. He's already confidently pulled us up potholed muddy mountain roads and across beach access roads with water crossings. This is a rare photo just after a car wash displaying El Cabron Limpio in all his beauty. When you come to visit the wheels and side walls will most likely be covered in light red mud and dust.
A fitting sign. S&P have been playing non-stop for the last three weeks. They have been outside or with friends for the majority of everyday. They will periodically check in to grab a mamon chino or a sip of water, before heading back out, to only return at 6pm when it gets dark to come in for dinner. We are so happy they are getting to experience the freedom of play both Cara and I had when we were younger.
Before attending the local bull riding event in Matapalo, we tried a new CR soda, Milory. Similar to Big Red and just as bad! No need to try this one again.
First scorpion encounter! As we were winding down from a day of playing, swimming, and hanging at the condo, we heard Parker give a horror film scream from her bedroom after her shower. Clearly something was wrong. When I walked in she was shaking with fear and crying that a scorpion was on her arm. I did not see anything until I picked up her towel from the floor and saw this little guy. We knew to shake out shoes before putting them on, but had not heard that scorpions also like to climb walls and hang out on towels! Thankfully she was just frightened but not stung. Lesson learned. I am now shaking out shoes, towels, shorts, and underwear to mitigate scorpion surprises.
Sunset at Grande between prep weeks for school.
On the hwy to pick up Nana from the airport I saw an awesomely Guanacaste scene of a sendero driving his cattle down the middle of the road to another field.
Nana to the rescue! While Cara and I were at professional development for the week, Nana took care of the girls. In the middle of the week we headed to Playa Grande to enjoy the sunset.
Here are a few pictures of our new school, La Paz Community School - Cabo Velas.
The middle school, Casa Tenorio, has over 100 students. Here is our teaching crew! Everyone has been welcoming and helpful. Kathy, Carlos, and Jo are the vets and the two Spanish teachers, Deybel and Kattherine are also first year teachers. They have been so patient to speak Spanish with us and give us time to process and attempt to respond coherently. Jose is also pictured, the school's amazing music teacher. Amy, our instructional coach is also pictured.
The week wrapped up quickly. Although Cara and I both had a lot of work and preparation that needed to be done for school, we harnessed our 'pura vida', loaded up Cabron Sucio after work on Friday and headed to the mountains to show Nana the cloud forests of Monteverde.
It is about a 4 hour drive from Matapalo to Monteverde and we arrived just after 8pm to a family run hotel. They were super kind and accommodating and helped us plan our itinerary for the next 36 hours.
Colibris (hummingbirds)! In the morning, we visited the Monteverde Hummingbird Gallery, where we saw some stunning hummingbirds at the feeders they keep out on the porch. While we were getting buzzed by hummingbirds we were also lucky to meet Dennis, a local guide who specializes in birds, and we decided on the spot to hire him to take us to look for cool birds early the next morning!
Is it snake?! Yes, this was our first snake sighting in CR, a non-venemous tiger rat snake. We saw this crossing the street in the afternoon. About 2 feet long and nonthreatening, unless you are a rat.
We had dinner while watching two local fútbol teams play a match in a very thick cloud across the street.
A band was also playing continuously and energetically just behind the grandstands. It seemed everyone in town was out enjoying a Saturday evening, though the clouds were so thick at times I don't know how they followed the ball.
That night we went on a night walk to see some of the nocturnal animals. While we never did see that green viper we were constantly warned to avoid by staying in the middle of the trail, we did see some frogs and amazingly adapted spiders and insects.
The next morning, we were out of our hotel before 6am. When we met Dennis, we were immediately rewarded by seeing a troop of white-faced capuchin monkeys traveling through the canopy in search of their breakfast.
From this same location we spotted several birds, here's one of them, the Motmot. Dennis was amazingly quick about identifying and finding them with his scope.
We then went with Dennis into the
Curi Cancha Reserve in the hopes of some more bird and animal sightings. There wasn't much to see this morning, but it was a beautiful hike and a great way to end our time in the mountains.
We finished our time in the mountains with a great breakfast at Stella's before we hit the road to get back for our first day of school!
First Day of School! 3rd grade and Kinder, here we go!
The night before Nana was to leave we enjoyed dinner at Gracia. They have a beautiful infinity pool overlooking the ocean and the sunset.
We are so thankful to have had Nana's support to help settle us in and give us the time to prepare for school. Some things have been difficult about the move, but we have been so fortunate to have the unwavering love and support of our family.
