School is now in session!

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So much for staying on top of my blogging, I think I'm just shy of being one month since my last update! Oh well, I think I can basically get everyone up to speed. The past month has taught me a lot about the pace of life here and that I just need to relax, be patient and eventually things will get done. When I told some relatives incrediously how complicated it was to get all of the uniform pieces for the kids and how the school couldn't provide me with a daily school schedule or lunch prices prior to the start of school, they just laughed and said that sounded about right. So, now that you've gotten a peek into what I've been coping with here's what's been going on.

At the end of January the kids and I were initiated into the process of uniform and book buying at school. The school held a book and uniform fair the last two days of January and first day of February where I was told by the principal I could get everything. So the kids and I went on the first day of the fair and went first to the room to collect books. I was asked if I'd paid yet, and I said no because I didn't know how much the books cost. So I was told to go and talk to someone in the office. That person kindly wrote out the cost of the books for me and also the bank account number for the school so that I could transfer funds. She also very helpfully wrote out how much I owed for the the first months tuition so as I walked out of her office to get into the very long uniform line, I made arrangements to have everything paid for. Then the uniforms. They had most, but not all of the uniforms pieces we needed. Some things were sold in one room and some were sold in another, it was confusing. In my limited Spanish I managed to get as many pieces as were available and learned that I would have to return another day for the rest. To make a long story short, we had to return two more times after that to get everything we needed and then had to make a trip to a tailor to get the kids' pants hemmed. I was able to get all of their text books the first day and the kids were very helpful in wrapping them all plastic. Not sure if this actually helps keep the books from being ruined but that's how the school wants them so that's what we did.

With everything in place for school, we decided to do a little sight-seeing with our relatives that were visiting. We visited Manuel Antonio National Park and spent a great day at the beach swimming and hiking. The kids loved seeing monkeys and splashing in the waves. The day was perfect except for one minor incident: I was stung by a jellyfish! Ironically it was just as my daughter was telling her aunt about how she used to be afraid of going in the ocean because she thought something would bite her, but that she wasn't afraid anymore. The words had no sooner left her lips than I was screaming that something bit me! I walked out of the water to see what I was dealing with and it felt like my leg was on fire. Big red welts formed at the site of the sting but since there were no open wounds I opted to go sit in the waves to see if the water would calm the stinging. (My helpful brother in law offered to pee on it, I declined.) The rest of the day it felt fine. After we left the beach we stopped at a restaurant in called El Avion, which is built around a large cargo plane that supposedly is connected to the Iran-Contra affair. I highly recommend stopping here for a bite to eat if you're in the area because the view of the ocean from their deck is incredible and the food is awesome. It was a perfect end to our trip. As a side note, about a week later the spot where I was stung got very inflamed and hot and itchy. It bothered my for about two days then calmed down. I read that this is pretty normal and I think I'm just about healed now.

Ian, Katie and I also went and visited the Monteverde cloud forest with their grandparents. My father-in-law is a retired high school science teacher and really enjoys visiting this park to view all of the unique species of epiphytes that are a signature attraction of the park. I let him take the lead on the trip planning since he was so familiar with the area. The route we drove was fine, we were able to take nice paved roads most of the way there. Only the last 10 miles or so is dirt road - a vast improvement over trips I've taken in the past. That last part of the drive was... interesting. The road is very narrow and has very steep, abrupt drop offs on the side - no shoulders. So passing other cars was a bit dicey, plus my passengers kept exclaiming how far down it was when they looked over the edge! We stayed in a comfortable lodge that my in-laws always stay at, I think the name was something like La Artista or Artisian?? I should really find out, the owners were very friendly and made our stay very pleasant. At the park my son and my father-in-law spent a great deal of time examining various plants and I think Ian learned a lot. Both kids enjoyed the park, especially the hummingbirds, and visiting the continental divide. It was a bit strange to see the park as dry as it was, the day we visited the cloud forest it was cloud-free and sunny. According to one of the park guides January was one of their driest months on record.

School began the day after we returned home from Monteverde. The first week was only half days of school and I mistakenly assumed that since they would only be at school for 3 hours that I was off the hook for sending any food along with them. Wrong. The first thing Katie told me after her first day of school was that she didn't have a snack and everyone else did. She had a good first day otherwise and thanks to her Ian went to his first day of school more prepared. I also didn't know to send them in their gym uniforms one of those first days, because I didn't have a schedule, but my kids told me that lots of kids didn't have their gym uniforms that first week so I didn't get as much grief for this error. We are now almost done with our first full week of school and I have a schedule now so that helps me be more on top of things. I also figured out the lunch situation. When I asked about lunches before school began I was told to just bring money on the first day because they would know then how much lunches were going to cost. So, trying to get everything done in my morning that I wanted to get done, I put my debit card and a 20,000 colones bill in a plastic zip lock and zipped this into my running top and walked the kids to school. I went and talked to the lunch lady and told her I wanted to pay for my two children's lunches and that I could pay with the card or with the cash I had. She only took cash so we set about calculating how many days I could pay for with the money I had on me. Lunches cost 1,200 colones or about $2.40. The kids rave about the food, Ian told me it's the best food he's ever eaten at any school - ever.

Before I go, I need to brag for a second about my awesome kids. Before school began I was so nervous for them, like up at night worring that this wacky plan of ours was about to cause major chaos in their lives. A new school and a language barrier, my poor babies! I know that we're only one week in, but the kids have handled their new school so amazing well I can hardly believe it. They're making friends (Katie already has a play date today!!) and they're already learning some Spanish and they seem to genuinely like their school. I was really prepared for this to be harder, and maybe/probably we're in for some more challenging days ahead but so far they are doing great!

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Photos

ian and katie at Manuel Antonio
A couple of beach bums sitting on piece of driftwood. Soaking up some sun!

monkey at Manuel Antonio
We saw lots of these white faced monkeys during our visit.

ian and grandpa examining plants at Monteverde
These two science buffs had a great day at the cloud forest, even if it was a clear and sunny day!

ian and katie at the lodge in Monteverde
Here are the kids standing outside our room, waiting to go explore the park. Yes, it was cool enough for long pants and long sleeves!

ian observing a hummingbird at Monteverde
There were tons of hummingbirds to watch, all you had to do was pick a feeder and hold still.

michelle ian and katie on the bridge at Monteverde
Here we are just after crossing the bridge, on our way to visit the continental divide!

ian first day of school
Here's Ian right after his first day of school. He's worn pants most days since then, I think after seeing that his classmates don't wear the shorts.

katie 1st day of school
All smiles!