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.