Guest authors, P and S wrote the excerpts for the images below.
S: This was my first ever swim meet.
P: We had so much fun at Halloween! I was a mermaid, Sybil was a SCUBA diver, Momma was a jellyfish, and my dad was a crab.
P: Momma was pretty as a jellyfish.
P: We got a lot of treats and my mom and our dad let us eat them. We went to Las Catalinas.
P: We met two friends from La Paz and there was a rainbow!
Another Friday after school beach sunset! Otro atardecer de viernes!
Bahia de Pirata
S: After this sunset we had a fish dinner. It was a whole fist with bones and it had rice and beans with it. I loved it. It was an outdoor restaurant. The chef's house looked like one of my LEGO builds. It was kind of rundown, but the chef was really kind and the food was great.
P: I had a great time at Pirata. There was a swing at the beach where my mom, me, and my sister went on.
Cara & P walking on the beach at sunset.
S: We were there with my teacher and her baby.
Amigos que Visitan!
S: Our first friends from Austin, H and J, came for a visit. When they arrived we jumped in the pool.
S/P: When we were at Playa Grande me [S] and H made a castle for queen snail. J and I [P] went swimming, jumped over waves, and boogie boarded!
P: We went on a Lazy Lizard, it's a boat. On the way to the cove we saw dolphins and stingrays.
M: One of the best quotes from our time here so far came from Sybil after the "safety meeting" given by the first mate just as we set sail. "That safety meeting was more about beer than safety." Very true...:-)
It was so nice catching up with Rachel and Luke.
A rare photo of just me and Cara, although Parker is peeking in from the bottom right :-)
P: At the front of the boat, there was a net that you could sit on. Me and J played on the net and did a dance party.
S: We stopped at a pretty and calm cove to swim. Me, H, J and P attacked my dad with pool noodles.
On the way back, we saw the sunset.
In the afternoon of their final day we visited our final beach, Playa Dantita.
M: It was an overcast day which kept most of the other beachlovers at home. At times, we had the whole beach to ourselves. We had a great time swimming while H and S built a gladiator arena for hermit crab battles. We are so thankful for good friends and had a great time hosting. We have now successfully hosted 8 people in our condo, so come on down y'all!
Mucha Lluvia
Luke and Rachel timed their trip perfectly. Just a few days after the rains set in. After a week of steady and heavy rains a tropical storm rolled over Costa Rica and dumped even more water onto the completely saturated land. The government declared a national emergency and many people have been displaced and flooded out of their homes.
Before the storms settled over the country, we had heard from our colleagues that we could expect a day off school at some point during the wet season due to rain. This late season storm dropped so much water that we've had the whole week off from school.
This past week has made us realize once again how lucky we are to have found our way to this complex. Besides the amazing community surrounding us, our complex drains really well and although the rains were relentless we were never in fear of the water reaching into our condo.
This is from one of our fellow teacher's houses to give you just a small idea of the damage. Besides homes, bridges and roads have been damaged and flooded all over the country.