Happy Independence Day

Saturday was the Costa Rican Independence Day. The country - along with other Central American nations - won its independence from Spain in 1821. The boys started school just in time to get a heavy dose of national songs, symbols, and history. By the end of the week, Kyle was even able to sing along to a few lines in the national anthem when we heard it while driving in our car. ("That doesn't make me less American, does it?")

Speaking of cars, we are now the proud owners of a 1997 Honda CR-V. We purchased it from the mechanic friend of one of the drivers for the clinic. He bought it new from the US and it was driven by his wife - only 71,000 miles on it. He even told us that he would be happy to buy it back from us in a year when we go home. So, now we have 4-wheel-drive capabilities for our explorations of the country. We discovered how important this was when we took the rental car (small sedan) on a Sunday drive that included 21 km of bone-jarring unpaved roads. Fortunately, we and the car sustained no damage!

Back on the school front, Kyle and Sam seem to be adjusting pretty well. There were a few tears on the first day from Sam but both of the boys love the animals at the school (dogs, chickens, rabbits) and have made some new friends. They are even taking the whole uniform thing in stride. After one week at school, they now get a week off (some of the private schools have a short vacation after Independence Day). Kyle says he likes the small class size and the fact that there is a big emphasis on nature ("the school grounds are big and pretty"). Sam says that he likes that he has a few subjects a day in English ("I am more of an expert in it than my classmates") and his teacher is very nice.

We attended our community's night-before and day-of Independence Day celebrations. The night event occurred at the town square and involved music and kids showing off their patriotic clothes and home-made lanterns called faroles, many of which are in the shape of houses and include pictures of various national symbols (bird, tree, ox-cart, flag, flower, etc.). The following day was the parade. Apparently, every town's parade starts at 10AM because during the rainy season no one wants to risk holding it during the regular afternoon downpours. The parade is comprised almost exclusively of groups of school children - some on flatbeds being pulled by huge semis.

A few observations: this had to be the slowest moving parade we have ever seen - the lead car moved at about 1 mile an hour and then the kids would stop every few hundred feet and do their dance/band routines. Second, the parents of the children walked next to the kids, which basically blocked them from the view of the people along the route. But it shows the enormous pride Costa Ricans have for their children - the weekend before was the Dia de los Ninos (Day of the Children). Third, there is no effort to clear parked cars from the route; so, you have the interesting effect of vibrations from the kids' drums repeatedly setting off car alarms during the parade.

Nancy worked at the clinic all week - seeing patients and helping coordinate a group of 15 volunteers, mostly pre-med undergrads from San Diego State as well as a nurse from New Orleans and a guy who is traveling Central America for a year before starting his investment banking job with Deutsche Bank. She treated a lot of patients with bronchiolitis (it is winter and flu season here), scabies and parasites, participated in a health-education "play" for kids in the neighborhood, and worked on taking patient histories in Spanish. She is learning about the indigenous description of parasite symptoms and other diseases. Her favorite word is despacio (slowly) and most of the patients are very patient with her Spanglish. She is excited about working with the doctor and patient educator to set up a weekly women's group and women's health clinic. More to come regarding needed donations for the clinic.

Meanwhile, Steve battled the forces of bureaucracy with the bank and telephone company, looked at cars, and spent a morning with the refrigerator repair guy. He had a fascinating life history (learned through Steve's frequent use of his Spanish-English dictionary) - a 41 year-old Nicaraguan who had worked at chicken farms in Mississippi, painted houses in Florida, and been a janitor for Carnival Cruise Lines. He now works here and sends money back to his wife and 3 kids in Nicaragua. Costa Rica's relative economic success probably makes this a common story.

Cute/funny story of the week: Tuesday the 11th was Steve & Nancy's anniversary, so the 4 of us went out to dinner at the neighborhood pizza place - a mom & pop set-up built around their house. The owners speak pretty much no English, but that is ok because 1) they can show us the pizza pans to find out which size we want and 2) we have Super Translator Kyle. So, we place our order when in walk 3 English-speaking young ladies who are attending the UN's Universidad de Paz (Peace University) which is located here in Colon. They are also apparently vegetarians and are concerned that they won't be able to get a meat-free pizza. Given their inability to communicate with the owner, they are about to leave when he runs over to our table and asks Kyle to intervene, which he does quite successfully and everyone is happy.

We are planning our first big adventure this coming week - thanks to the kids' week off and a light influx of volunteers. We are going over to the Nicoya Peninsula - so this will be the first trip to the beach. There are also nature reserves where there are all kinds of birds and other wildlife. We should have some pretty neat photos. So, stay tuned!

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