3 Firsts Today...Surfing, Playing Doctor & Fueling Up

I think I can honestly say that in the first 40 1/2 years on the planet, I never imagined that I would ever be a surfer. Nor in the past ten years had I imagined it likely that my kids would be surfers. But, here we are in a seriosu surf capital and Baker and Riley have now totally hung ten, dude. They were out there riding some tasty waves this morning in their first surfing lesson. Amazing to watch from the beach as Baker stood on his first attempt and Riley nailed it shortly thereafter. We will get you some photos.

I told Tara later that I am now a surfer also. The fact that I have never actually surfed aside, I feel like a surfer and am now beginning to think about what surfer look I should adopt...suggestions welcomed. Seriously, I think Tara and I will be out there before too long. It can't not happen if one lives a year in Nosara.

Second First: I removed stitches. It has been five days since Tae fell off the bed and today was the day for stitch removal. Tae's stitches were put in by Dr. Diego Quesada in Rosario de Naranjo, four hours or so from here. The night he put the stitches in, Dr. Quesada handed me two small scalpels and a bottle of whisky and said, "You can do it."

And today, once we confirmed that the Nosara doctor, Kattia, was indeed out of town for the day, I picked up the scalpel and delicately removed Tae's stitches. He was in a deep nap in his carseat and the whole procedure went without a hitch. The patient is recovering well and his chin is as cute as ever.

I wish I could say that mine and Tae's was the best medical story in Nosara, but today we met a woman who gave birth six days ago in the back of a pickup on the way to hospital. The roads here are so incredibly bumpy that the baby more or less was jarred out of her uterus during the ride. Her husband said that when she ultimately told him he had to stop the truck because the baby was coming, he jumped into the back only to see the head already emerging. He helped the baby out, laid their newborn son on his mama's chest and continued on the drive to the hospital.

And our third and final first: We filled up our car at a gas station today that was nothing more than three teenagers with several 50 gallon (or so) oil cans filled up with fuel that they dispensed through hoses into cut off plastic coke bottles and the like and then poured into our tank. We bought five gallons of diesel for our car and rode off. A great little gas station. They need to get a mini-mart next to it, so we can buy a hot dog and grab one of those big Arizona Ginseng Honey Teas next time...

Pura Vida!