Advertisement
Look at that
Ellie reads! Hard to believe, but exactly 6 months ago (well, when I started writing this it was 2 weeks ago), we moved out of our house in Yardley and our adventure started. What were we thinking? I’d quit my job, we’d pulled the kids out of school and were headed to Costa Rica. We’d never been there before, we didn’t have a place to live. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Now that I look back at it, it seems a little crazy. But, hey, you only live once. Anyway, so far so good - no regrets. Now we are seriously considering staying until December. The main hurdle will be getting our house in Yardley rented out. If that happens, it is most likely that we’ll stay. So if anyone knows someone looking for a house…
The kids are doing really well. Last week (remember this was 2 weeks ago) something in Ellie’s brain clicked. All of a sudden she decided she could tie her own shoes. And sure enough, she could! Now she runs around tying everyone’s shoes - whether they’re on your feet or not -- and every dress with bows and everything else she finds. She
Presentation (in Spanish)
Ellie had to give a presentation at her school about her family. She had to do hers in Spanish and the other kids did theirs in English. even does you the favor of untying your shoes so she can tie them again. It is very cute. She is very proud of herself. Of course Ari knows how to tie his shoes - he just prefers not to.
Then yesterday, Ellie had a day off from school (teacher workshop - yes, they even have those here, too). So Dara’s homeschool kicked into action. They mixed up some dough out of flour and water and rolled out the letters of the alphabet. After baking them, they painted them then started playing around. All of a sudden, I heard Ellie sounding out letters and putting them together - she was reading! I was amazed. Sure, they were only 3 letter words like cat and dog, but she was doing it. Since then she has kept on working at it. Sometimes she puts the letters together and boom can spit the word out and sometimes she struggles and gets frustrated.
As for Ari, he is really doing well with his Spanish. We thought that since his classes are all in English and Ellie’s school is all Spanish, she might pass him in the language skills. This is not the
For the birds
Dara is enjoying her work at Amigos de las Aves. (We had to stop by and see her the other day because one of the dogs there had puppies.) She has been helping Margot use her digital camera -- as they sit and talk, birds are always flying around, squawking and landing on them. Makes it hard to get any work done. Here is Ari with Sam, the aricari. case at all. In comprehension, especially, he is doing very well. There are many times when I am talking with someone in Spanish and, as long as he is paying attention, Ari gets it. As for speaking, we’re not sure how either kid is doing - they won’t speak Spanish with us!
In addition, Ari is very proud of his schoolwork. As I have mentioned before, the work at his school is much like what you would expect (or at least what I would expect) at a European school - a lot of copying into notebooks from dictation or off the board and very few worksheets and no workbooks. He starts off each week with spelling and vocabulary words that have to be used in sentences. Then he draws a picture next to each sentence. Also each week he has to copy a poem into his notebook. He also has to draw a picture to go with the poem, and create a “prop” - a larger art project - to go with the poem and memorize and recite the poem by the end of the week. Even math is all writing - no worksheets. They have to write problems,
Dara and Lucky
Part of Dara's lessons - Margot took this picture! And then she transferred it to her computer and sent it to Dara in an e-mail! Good job, Margot! and often, entire word problems down into their books and then solve them. In addition, all the writing in his notebooks is done in cursive using a fountain pen (I told you - very European).
After we visited my sister in Florida at the end of April, she sent a very nice e-mail about how impressed she was with the kids and the changes she and Boyd had seen in them since Thanksgiving. Sure part of it was just because they are 6 months older, but also part of it is (as Cindy eloquently put it) “the experience of meeting new kids and living in a weird other place looks like it's been really good.” I guess we do see it, too, when we can step back from our daily routines (which isn’t that often).
On a different theme -- a couple weeks ago, we had our most in-depth experience with the Costa Rican medical industry - visits to the doctor and dentist. Don’t worry -- everyone is ok. Eliana’s teachers let us know that there were some times that she’s complained about being tired in school and even some times when she’s fallen asleep. They were concerned
Picnic in the Park
Last Sunday we had a nice picnic at Monte de La Cruz with our neighbors, Julie and Javier. I think we wrote about Monte de la Cruz in an earlier blog -- it is a nice park about 15 minutes up the mountain from us. There is playground stuff, grills, areas to play soccer and more about it and thought maybe there was a problem - even going so far as to suggest anemia. We didn’t really think there was a problem - she had enough energy to play in the afternoons and go to ju-jitsu, right? --but we figured seeing the doctor couldn’t hurt.
Friends of ours had recommended a doctor in Heredia that we had seen when Ari bent his knee the wrong way playing soccer at school (it was nothing). We liked him so we went back to have him take a look at Ellie. Long story short - call this afternoon, see her this afternoon or tomorrow (even on a Saturday), no need to schedule weeks in advance. Cost -- $20. Cost that is, not co-pay. Doctor visit just as you would expect - brief history, discuss symptoms, usual check-up stuff, order some tests. Of course when we met him and explained why we were there, he quickly pointed out that the symptoms Ellie was showing may be due to psychological reasons instead of physical. That is, if Ellie is bored and doesn’t like what they’re doing, she may react by acting tired. Very astute observation - that was what we
Getting Wet
Also at Monte de la Cruz, there is a pretty waterfall. After a bit of a treacherous climb, you can walk right under it. Which, of course, Ari had to do... three times. thought, too, but we figured for $20 it was worth getting checked out. Ellie was very brave getting her blood drawn. Test results were available the same day (an additional $20). Everything normal. We talked to the teachers. Ellie is doing better in school.
A few days later, we decided the kids needed to get their teeth cleaned. So we went to a dentist recommended to us by Ellie’s school (the mother of a former student). Again, we got appointments right away. Again, everything was comparable to what you would expect in the US (even down to the plastic tape they put over the light switch between each patient). Teeth cleaned (by the dentist, not hygienist - not that we have anything against hygienists it is just that back home we only see the actual dentist for about a minute and a half) and fluoride treatment for just $16. No free toothbrushes, though. And we found out that the water here, unlike in Yardley, is fluoridated. I guess they have been duped by the communist plot. We had been giving the kids their fluoride tablets but the dentist advised us to stop. Good thing we asked her about it.
Careful -- they bite
Also at Monte de la Cruz, there is a lagoon with ducks. I don't know why, but kids always enjoy feeding ducks.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.27s; Tpl: 0.021s; cc: 8; qc: 64; dbt: 0.2003s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.2mb
Sally
non-member comment
Nice to see you again!
Hi Bortmans - enjoyed reading your blog entry this morning! We'll have to try the park, you told us about it but I'd forgotten! And the doctor thing here is excellent... I've been reading about indigenous medicine men, too. Wild stuff... I think I'll become a medicine woman/acupuncturist... whaddya think? See you around - Saratica!