Futbol, Surfing and Rodeo

That last post was an overdone attempt to dispel the notion that this place is paradise. Forget it. This place is paradise. I say that despite the fact that I have a stuffy head more common to a February in New England, Tara has a peach-sized addition to her forehead, Tae screams more than ever, and Baker and Riley...well they are doing great...The 3 Great S's abound in plenty: Surf, Sand, Sun.



First up in the news...it is hard for anyone not here to comprehend the sadness on Wednesday night when, with 20 seconds to go, the US National team scored a goal against the Costa Rica National team, thus tying the game and all but ending the Ticos' hopes of making it to the World Cup this summer. We were watching the game at a beach bar here called Olga's with another expat family and about half a dozen Ticos. The Costa Ricans played a strong first 25 minutes, going up 2-0 but from there on it was all the U.S. Still the Ticos held on...until the 95th minute of play when the US tied the game on a corner kick. Those out of the World Cup loop need to know that the US had already qualified for the Cup but Costa Rica needed to win this game. Hence, while still a loyal Yankee, I was rooting for the Ticos so that they could be in the cup. The only good news out of this is that the one remaining chance the Ticos have is to beat Uruguay in a 2-game series (best of 2? I don't get it either)--one game is in San Jose on 11/14 and I am hoping to make it to that game.



In a desperate bid to move out of my 4th place position in the Casagrande Family Surfers Ranking (behind Tara, Baker & Riley), I took my second surfing lesson on Thursday, at 6 a.m. Rode some sweet waves and, briefly toyed with 3rd or 2nd place in the ranking. After lessons for Tara yesterday and for Baker and Riley today, I am sure to be back in 4th. Thank you Tae for showing no interest in the sport yet. Check out this vid of the whole family surfing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbGYC5Kyq9U



Being the surfers we are, we have also suffered our first surfing injury. Yesterday Tara (who is really #1 in the family now) took a big wave, or should I say it took her, flew her off the board, flipped her board up in the air and landed it right on her forehead. Fortunately, she is totally fine but has a big lump (which we imagine will turn all sorts of interesting colors) on the left side of her forehead. You can see some real video of Tara surfing at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i14hA0z_yw&feature=related. Different from the video posted the other day, this was made by a friend and you will see two of Tara's friends also surfing in it...Tara appears first (surfing) at about 1:10 in the video..



Hopefully, we will all survive today. At 3 p.m. we are off to our first Costa Rican rodeo, just a couple miles from where we live. When we were in Tamarindo last weekend, taking a boat cruise, our guide asked us if we knew about MalaCrianza, one of the most famous bulls in Costa Rica, and the "home" bull for Nosara and surrounding areas. MalaCrianza translates more or less to Bad to the Bone, as George Thorogood described it. I googled MalaCrianza and came up with this video. This could be us in just a few hours...(unlike the surfing video, this really is the bull we will see today...)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRY4J8TT9hw



That's all for now. Let me leave you with a photo of Riley and her friend Javid in school...



Pura Vida.