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Published: April 11th 2011
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Our Group
Marcela & Tim, Kelly & JJ; Camie; Mary Jean & Buzz; Kathy & Bernie; seated: Vicky holding Cal; Nielson and his & Camie's 3 children: Gui, Felipe & Bia YOU CAN CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT, THEN GO BACK TO THE JOURNAL OR GO THROUGH THE PHOTOS (CLICK ON THE NUMBERS AT THE TOP) IN THAT ENLARGED FORMAT. TO RETURN TO THE JOURNAL, JUST CLICK YOUR BACK BUTTON OR ON THE NAME OF THE BLOG ON THE RIGHT OR BOTTOM OF PHOTO - DEPENDS ON YOUR COMPUTER. NEAR THE TOP ON THE LEFT WHERE IT READS 'Travel Blogs by: Kathy Bernie << Previous Entry,' CLICK ON 'Kathy Bernie' AND YOU'LL GET A PAGE LISTING (BACKWARDS CHRONOLOGICALLY) OUR BLOGS, WHICH YOU CAN SCROLL THROUGH AND CHOOSE ONES YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN. IF YOU CLICK ON 'Previous Entry' YOU'LL GET ONLY THE LAST ENTRY. WHEN OFF THIS SITE, YOU CAN GO TO: http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Kathy---Bernie/ WHICH WILL TAKE YOU TO THE PAGE LISTING ALL OF OUR BLOGS.
COSTA RICA JANUARY 24 - 31, 2011
FAMILY/EXCHANGE STUDENT REUNION
First and foremost this was a reunion so we rented a villa for the week. Originally there was to be over 20 of us, but as the time drew near, our numbers dwindled to 15 (see group photo below). The ones who didn't make it were:
View of Brasilito Beach
After our snorkeling adventure we stopped for lunch at a TINY restaurant - 4 tables - where we had, no surprise, great fish our daughter *Christina and her family; Marysia from Poland who landed a part in a movie that started shooting the week we'd be in Costa Rica; and Jaqueline from Guatemala who had just started a job in Spain. They were all sorely missed.
*We always tried to include daughters JJ and Christina in these reunions as well, but it never worked out for them to attend. We were so excited when it looked like Christina and family would join us in Costa Rica; JJ was on-board immediately and indeed she was the instigator and driving force behind this reunion. But as luck (bad) would have it, Christina had some medical issues starting in December and so she, Mark and Evan weren't able to join us.
In an effort to make it truly a vacation for everyone, we hired a cook (who then hired her daughter to sou chef) for evening meals. We planned the meals together and then went shopping with them. With 15 of us, someone had to go shopping every day - we took turns. Fortunately there were several good grocery stores in the area. While not super markets, they had the basics. The first big
Our Villa
Main house slept 10 adults; casita 4; youngsters were in with their parents shop we did with the cooks was in a not-so-nearby town, but it had great meat and a larger selection of everything.
So that the parents could have some time "off," a babysitter was hired for a couple of days. The Brazilian kids, ages 9, 8 & 4, were no trouble at all and a babysitter wouldn't have been necessary for them. Calvin at 2 1/2 on the other hand, was more of a handful. To add to the terrible-two syndrome, he had a horrible cold. In fact, Marcela & Tim took him to the doctor and he was given antibiotics for his congestion. It was amazing - after about two doses of the medicine you could see he was feeling much better. Not only did he stop coughing so much, he actually became quite entertaining and loving. Poor little guy had been feeling miserable!
Victoria, who had been visiting in Florida with her sister and family, was sick when she arrived - she and Cal both. Vicky had a fever the first few days and slept most of the time. We don't know what she had exactly, but it took her almost the whole week
Staff & Kids
The babysitter holding Cal, our two cooks (daughter & mother) on each end, Gui, Bia & Felipe to totally recover. You can see in some of the photos that her normal effervesces is not shining through, although she tried to pretend she was fine. A few nights she dragged herself to the dinner table because she wanted to be amidst the laughter and chatter.
Language
If you guessed that we were all speaking English, you are correct. Marcela & Tim are raising Cal bilingual Spanish/English - what a gift. Of the Brazilians, Felipe who is only four, hasn't started serious English lessons yet, but Gui & Bia spoke beautiful English. They are attending a school that has many subjects in English - wow, what amazing teachers they must have because their vocabulary was great and they spoke with virtually no accent (just like their mother).
Adventures
Since there were so many of us and we had the villa, that meant we didn't venture very far from the Brasilito/Conchal/Flamingo beach area. Since there was a lot do and see in the area and we were so near wonderful beaches, it wasn't a hardship. However, one day Mary Jean and Buzz drove back toward Liberia to a volcano, Rincon de la Vieja, translated as Old
Woman's Nook, and did a nice hike around the volcano.
On one of the days we had a babysitter, we all went on a canopy zip-line adventure. What a hoot! If you look at those photos (below) one thing stands out - everyone is smiling, really smiling, in every photos. Well, except for a few when we were getting "the safety" talk from our guides. I think they had some of us a bit leery, so when we started and it was so much fun, the smiles broke out and stayed out.
See the video above with Nielson swinging on the "Tarzan" swing. We were VERY high up in the canopy at this time; any fall would have been fatal, but since the swing was secure, we just had fun with it. And by "we" I mean mostly our guides who let some of us swing back and forth for an extra thrill. They were, however, very aware of who was afraid of heights and didn't prolong those folks' swing across the abyss.
JJ & Kelly rented a kayak on two different days and a jet-ski on another. The weather was perfect the whole week, so beach
Our pool
Casita to left was where Bernardo & I and my sister Mary Jean and husband Buzz slept. Had 2 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, kitchen, living room, patio, so a nice hide-away from the hustle and bustle of the main house time was maximized. One evening JJ, Kelly, Marcela & Vicky rented horses and went riding on the beach at sunset.
All of us went out to dinner our next-to-last night. JJ knows the area well, so she made reservations at a restaurant with an ocean view in Flamingo Beach. It was the perfect location to watch the sun set over the ocean, to maul over what a wonderful time we'd all had and reminisce about Alaska. See photos on Page 3.
Reunion History
The last reunion we had with all of our exchange students was in *2007 in Miami, Florida, and at that time we were missing many members of our family and extended family, although it was the first time that the five exchange students were all present at the same reunion.
*See earlier blog: Entry No. 163298 Exchange Daughter Reunion/April 14 - 21, 2007 In addition to this 2011 reunion, we've had reunions in Mexico (1994), Arizona (1999) and the aforementioned Florida (2007). And in addition to the reunions, we’ve seen all the girls in other places as well:
Marcela met us at
Camila’s home in Brazil (1997); visited us in
Arizona (1999); and visited us in Germany (2003); we went to Florida for Marcela's 40th birthday (2009).
In addition to visiting with her and her family in Brazil in 1997,
Camila and we went to Marcela’s wedding in Argentina (2002); she joined us in Quito, Ecuador in 2009.
We met
Jackie and boyfriend Nery in Costa Rica (1998); she came to visit us in the Netherlands (2002); we visited her in Guatemala for a wedding (2008); and she and her sister Mercedes came to Arizona (2009).
We have visited
Marysia in Poland many times; she visited us in the Netherlands (2002) and Berlin (2010).
Vicky (and her mother, Rosa) visited us in Ecuador (1996); spent Christmas with us on Malta (2003); she came with Marcela to Germany in (2003).
As you can see, we've all remained close over the years and it has been Bernard's and my sheer joy to see all these youngsters maturing into such lovely people. This reunion with the kids was especially wonderful for us. We met Cal in Florida (2009) and Bia in Argentina (2002), but had not met Gui or Felipe - how wonderful it was to have all
of our foreign grandchildren in one place and get to know them better.
After every reunion we vow to have another one soon, but life has a way of interfering with such plans. All we can do is plant the idea and hope someone, like JJ did for this reunion, takes the ball and runs with it.
YOU HAVE TO GO ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE FOR ALL THE PHOTOS; THEN COME BACK UP AND CLICK ON SUBSEQUENT PAGES FOR MORE PHOTOS.
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debb johnson
non-member comment
Howler monkey & Bernardo
I like the similarity of the two photos!