Hmmm?

Living this close to the equator, even at 4000ft high, everyone keeps their windows open. It's how we stay cool.

When we first got here, Myles had a hard time with the transition. He was constantly screaming. It lasted two days and it was not fun for anyone. And then he cut three molars. So the screaming was followed by a lot of crying.

A few days into our stay Myles and I went outside to play. A neighbor came up to us to introduce herself. I was excited to practice some Spanish. She asked me our names, followed by, "El esta enfermo?" -Is he sick? I told her no, he was teething. She shook her head and walked back into her house.

A week later she came back out when Morgan and I were outside with Myles and handed us this:

Was this the perfect oportuinty for her to "Share the Word" with us? Or does she think we're not cutting it as parents?

Please discuss.

Sunday - Funday, Costa Rica

It's so great to have Ramona here.

Sunday we all relaxed and hung out for the day. Ramona made some delicious pupusas. I fried some plantains. And, we had some of our new friends over too. Fun day!

Enjoy the pics.



New friend Sally with Magoo and me.



Ramona's yummy food. - I need to learn how to take food pics.



Fried Plantains.... YUM!



Reading and games.



Sis and Bro



Yea for Sunday-Funday, Costa Rica!

On the road to Nicaragua

When we entered Costa Rica we were only given a 30 day Visa. 90-day Visa's are standard. For some reason we were cut short. So this lead us to needing to either (a) apply for extension, or (b) leave the country for at least 3 days and return with a new (hopefully) 90 day Visa.

We decided go with option B. Ramona will be with us, which means we'll have 3 adult traveling with Magoo. We also asked our school for a week off, so we can take time to explore outside of San Jose with her before she goes back to the US.

Sally and Allison (two girls we met at the Language school) are joining us.

While I'm a little excited about the trip, I have a whole list of things I'm worried about. So I'm going to get them out now, and let them go. I hope this will help decrease my stress level when traveling Saturday.

1. Myles will cry on the bus.
2. Myles will be unruly on the bus.
3. Traveling will be stressful- particularly at the boarder crossing.
4. It will be hot during the boarder crossing, there will be long lines, and Myles will have a difficult time.
5. Myles will cry a lot at the temp. housing.
6. Myles will have a difficult time with the transition to a new house.
7. Myles won't sleep.
8. Sally and Allison won't enjoy their trip b/c Myles will be stressing us out.

So that sums it up.


I know Myles is his own person. He has a strong personality and I can't control him. I have to redirect the best I can and not get stressed out.

If you have any other suggestions, thoughts or ides, please put them out there. I really want to enjoy this trip and not get caught up in the stressful moments.

It's been sooooo long.

Well... not really but I was blogging daily, and now it's been 5 whole days, so it feels like forever. There's been a lot happening, so I'll get to it straight away.

Updates:
Magoo is doing somewhat better. He started the medication Saturday evening. By Sunday afternoon, we thought we were in the clear. He was clearly feeling better and his symptoms for the most part seemed to be on the mend. Yesterday we noticed he was on a down-slide. A lot more crying, tugging at his ears, placing his hands on his head - in a weird distressed way, more fever, and not his usual happy-magoo-self. So we decided to call the Doctora.

She asked us to come back in with Myles, so we went back to the ER (b/c that's where she works) and re-started the process to get seen. We went in reception, paid our bill, and waited to be called. The nurse took us in and Magoo went through Triage. The nurse spoke basic English and told us to wait for the Doctora.

The Doctora did not speak any English so an interpreter was brought in. She decided to do a blood test on Myles because his ears looked better but his throat did not look better. So she thought he might have Mono. -Yes, Mononucleosis. So they shuffled us onto another room and took Myles' blood. And that was just AWFUL. He cried, and cried, and screamed, and cried, and screamed. I felt like crying but told myself, you're the mother, you HAVE to keep it together. God it was awful. Morgan was great, and I'm so glad he was there, because he helped me keep calm.

2 needle pokes later, blood was drawn and the nurse told us to come back in an hour to receive the results. We all found a nice little courtyard in another part of the hospital and hung for an hour. It was a nice break. 50 minutes later we returned to the ER and found this:

a

If you look closely, you'll see there is NOTHING. Seriously, all the chairs, patients, doctors, nurses, and staff were removed from the ER area. We walked around with blank stares on our faces. We seriously couldn't believe it. The entire area was cleared out in less than an hour. A staff member finally came up to us and asked us what we needed. He was able to take us to a new part of the hospital where the ER staff was now placed. The nurse said, "We've been looking for you! Go sit over there and wait." WHAT? They were looking for us?!?! WHERE? And they were looking for us, but now we have to wait another 5 minutes (30 mins in reality)??? -We really wondered if we were being punked. Seriously, I looked for hidden cameras.

We were finally called in to see the Doctora (with no explanation of the change of scenery). She said that Myles blood test revealed that he has an infection. But we have to return tomorrow to get the Mono results. She wants him to continue on the medication and we'll make a better plan tomorrow.

I'll keep you updated on what happens next.
UPDATE Sept 23, 2011
Dra. says he's doing better. Test results will be back Monday. But things are looking up!

My finger:
Long story short: I went to the Doctor to get a professional opinion on how to treat the infection. More antibiotics later, some gross stuff came out, and it is clearly on the mend. I give it a week before it's 100%.

Just to keep us in the Medical Care loop, I stepped on an earring Wednesday morning on the way to School. It pierced through the sole of my shoe INTO my foot! The moment it happened, I started crying. Not because it hurt, but because I was so pissed that I could potentially get another infection. Uggg. Sometimes this "adventurous life" is tough! I think it'll be fine, but it was a frustrating moment.

So now that we've got the medical stuff out of the way...

RAMONA IS HERE! She's our live-in nanny. She's been caring for Myles while Morgan and I go to Language School.

Which leads me to Language School. It's been so great. Our teacher- Profesora Melissa, is awesome. Morgan and I are the only two students. She's a great teacher and I feel like I'm making good progress. I know for sure Morgan has made progress as he is communicating very well with Locals. I need to be careful to not "lean" too much on his stronger skills. But I know this is going to be a great situation. I'm thankful we landed at this school with this teacher.

To my running partners and supporters: OMG! I've come to HATE running. It's so much harder here. Add lots of steep hills, 2,000+ feet altitude, rough roads, harsh pollution and cars with no apprehension of hitting pedestrians - and I've come to really dislike my sport. Thankfully Ramona is here to push me out the door to run. I hope she can help me get into a routine before she leaves so I can stick with it. But OMG it sucks!

Okay there are a lot more things to share. But I'll get those in over the weekend when there's more time.

I'll be honest, the Costa Rica "honeymoon" is over. This is real. It's not easy. But I'm growing as a person, and I think this is really good for our family.

Medical Care -Parte Dos

It turns out, I'm not the one with the serious medical problem. Magoo trumps me.

Here's what happen...
For two nights Myles has NOT slept. I mean the kind of night where you're literally up all night, trying to help him get comfortable to sleep for a few minutes... maybe an hour at a time.

Meanwhile I received an email from my good friend Jenny in Portland who put me in contact with a friend here in Costa Rica. The email mentioned that Hannah (the CR contact) had a 1 year old. So I thought I'd contact her to see if I could get information about where I should take Myles and what the medical care process looked like.

She was so wonderful. She did some research for us, and offered to pick us up, take us to the hospital, and stay with us to translate. With Magoo so sick, we took her up on the offer. With her husband and kid in tow, they drove us to the hospital and we were able to get Myles seen by a pediatrician. It was super generous of them. I really can express enough gratitude. They literally never met us before. We spoke twice on the phone, and yes we could have done this on our own... (Did I mention Morgan was four buses deep on his way to and from the airport to pick up Ramona?) But to have them there to be our advocate/translators was so comforting in a time of need.

Turns out Myles has an ear infection, throat infection (strep?) and serious cough. The doctor wrote a laundry list of prescriptions. One was basic drug like Tylenol. The rest are antibiotic and such to clear up this nose, ear and throat.

I also asked her to look at my finger, showed her the medication, and she suggested I see a doctor. She said that I have an infection and need to see a professional, yet she would not see me. Not wanting to start the 2 hour process over, I opted to leave the hospital and deal with the finger later.

I took the list to the pharmacy and got the necessary medication for Myles. I also asked the pharmacist to fill an antibiotic for my finger. He did.


3 Zithromax, 1 x a day for 3 days.
If it doesn't clear up in the next two or three days, I'll head back to the doctor for a more professional opinion. I'm also soaking it. -Thanks Sid!



Doctor Bill =$50
Pharmacy Bill =$120



Sleeping baby =Priceless



Fingers-crossed he sleeps through (or part way) though the night.

Medical Care

10 Days in and I'm already in need of Medical Care.

On the same hand I broke in Laos.


Not a great picture, but you can see there's an infection around my nail. No cut, not bite, just a lot of swelling, throbbing, and pain.

We went to the pharmacy and got some medication.




Take 1 pill for 3 days, apply ointment 3 times a day until it clears up.

Keep your fingerless crossed this resolves it and it doesn't get worse. I'll keep you updated.

Independencia de Costa Rica

Today is Independence day!

We were invited last night by the family down stairs, to join them for a school performance celebrating independence day. Unfortunately, we didnt get any great pictures. It was a really long performance. Most of which I didn't understand, but it was a great experience.

Here's a pic of Christiana in her part of the performance. We didn't catch the older brother Jorge playing the drums b/c the performance lasted 2 hours and Magoo couldn't hang. So we missed him!


Today we were awaken by Fireworks. If you know me, I could have slept right through them. But Magoo was up and ready to go at 4:30. Fun Stuff!

We met two other girls who go to our Language school to explore San Pedro and check out the Independence Day Desfile (Parade). I have to say, it was the SLOWEST moving parade I've ever seen. But it was awesome to check out the students, listen to the music, and experience Independencia de Costa Rica.

1st Weekend

Our first weekend here was pretty much rain-free. It threatened to rain, but there were no major down pours.

A few we explored:

There is a forest right behind our house. We went in and checked out some plants.




Beautiful flowers


Citrus Trees
(Myles using his 'picking skills' the Lewis boys taught him on the Berry Farm in Oregon)



Banana Tree

We also went to the Guadalupe Farmer's Market.
I didn't get any great photos... maybe next time.





We ate yummy pupusas and Morgan enjoyed the HOT sauce.


Here are the Vegetables we bought and the Salad I made. Thanks Patricia N. for the recipe.


Myles really enjoyed the Sauce his Dad made from the shopping trip earlier in the week.


And finally, Myles played with Christiana, the 5 year old who lives downstairs. She shared her toys which he greatly appreciated!

Hide and Seek

Now that we're home with Myles 24/7, we need to be creative with our time. We don't have many toys, there's not really a safe playground close, and it rains most afternoons through the evenings. And I'm talking down-pour rain, not Portland, OR rain -where you can still play when the skies are dark.

Morgan threw out the idea to play Hide and Seek. We tried it and it turned out to be tons of fun for everyone.







If you have some good ideas for us, please send them our way.

Walk to the park

Today we went for a walk and found a great running path. We took a few pics to share with you...








With a minimal amount of toys and play equipment, he's learning to be creative. Cement tube... FUN!

Supermercado

This morning we cleaned the kitchen and reorganized Morgan-style. After a few hours of that, we were inspired to plan meals and make a list for the grocery store.

We went out when it was cloudy and dark (again), and walked to the local Mas X Menos.

It's quite exciting to shop in another country. We planned to make spaghetti with tomato sauce, but when we checked out the the canned tomatoes, they were more than $2 for 12ozs. A lot of the canned goods are imported (i.e., more expensive), so that adds up when making sauce. We put the idea on hold to see if we could find them cheaper elsewhere. Later when we were in the produce isle we noticed the fresh tomatoes looked great and were super cheap. So we bought 8lbs of tomatoes for $6 ($.75/lbs.). So we'll make sauce/gravy from scratch, which God knows we have the time to do.

We walked out with a ton of food and spent less than $80. This is not a bragging session of how cheap we could buy food because that is an art we are not trying to master. But the list below is merely an illustration of items we thought were super cheap. In reality, the produces is native to this area so it's not marked up.

Here it is:

Tomatoes $6 for 8lbs.
Carrots .40 for 1.5lbs.
Pineapple - $1
Watermelon -$2
Spinach .60 for 1 bunch
Red peppers 3 for $1.50
15 Eggs -$3
3 lbs of Tilapia- $10
2.2 lbs Trucha (fish) $10
HUGE bunch of celery $1.50



Morgan strapped most of the groceries to his back in a big backpack. I strapped the kid on my back and we carried the rest in the pouring rain.


Magoo would like to share, the yogurt is just as good in Central America.


And HAPPY BIRTHDAY Jeannie!

Second Outing- Lessons Learned

Yesterday we walked the neighborhood. We checked out our neighborhood grocery store.

We also looked for a playground which is yet to be found. We met a few barrio perros. And we also met our immediate neighbors. We walked to our Language School and met the head secretary and the Director's husband. So all-in-all I'd count that as a great start.

Morgan made a great meal, -Fish Tacos. We called it pretty early night since the sun sets early and rises early.


Today I motivated Team Smith to try the Bus. So that's what we did.
Here are some lessons learned:
-When moving to a country that has a "Rain Season" PACK UMBRELLAS!
-When going out during the "rain season" and it looks like it's going to rain, don't wear a white skirt with green underwear! J/K I didn't wear green underwear. :/


-The bus system here is pretty easy and I think we can use it without stress on a regular basis.


I leave you with one question:
Have you seen Magoo's blocks?

We've Landed!

Okay.. we’re here. San Pedro, a small suburb of the Capital, San Jose, Costa Rica.

We were delayed a week due to Hurricane Isabelle.

First, It should be noted that Myles was a star traveler today. Even with a 4am wake up call, he stepped up and kept things relatively calm for the travels. He slept on the plane for over an hour. The first flight was less than an hour, we had a three hour layover, and the second flight was 3 and half hours, so that’s really not a bad travel day… minus the 4 am alarm clock.

Linda, the Language school director, picked us up from the airport and thankfully had a car big enough to fit all of our luggage and gear. She brought us back to our new home (for the next 90 days) and helped settle us in a bit, She then took Morgan to the grocery store to pick up enough food to get us through the next few days. Unfortunately, he left the bag that had the fish (tonight’s dinner). He walked back to the store with a couple of phrases but they didn't have it. Turns out it was in Linda's car.

Our new home is perfect! Big enough for us, plus our live-in nanny. Yes we have a nanny for four weeks when Morgan and I go to Language School. Lucky… I know. The place is clean, warm, and will be great. As I type right now, Myles is checking out every door, drawer, lock, and gadget.

We met our neighbor/landlord, Maritza. She was really friendly. I understood about 70% of what she was saying, which I think is a strong start to learning a new language. I was a bit surprised how much I understood being that I haven’t really been around the language on a consistent basis for 2 years.

Maritza lives with her daughter and two children who are 5 and 9. Maybe some good playmates for Myles?

Tomorrow we plan to get out early and check out our neighborhood. Linda says it’s beautiful in the mornings and then rains like crazy in the afternoons. So we’ll have to scope a few things out before the downpour.