Seasons in the Sun

Well, it has been a long time since being on the blog. And, in those days, I have heard four times a song that you have probably not heard in years...It is played nearly daily on Costa Rica's Radio Dos! Check out the oldie but goodie...



Quick health update: My burnt leg has been keeping me down quite a bit...not swimming in either ocean or pool and mostly hanging close to the house where I can keep my leg elevated and aired out. Been a frustrating 12 days (but who's counting). Thankfully, the burn has made tremendous progress in the last couple days.



Tae's September fall from a bed (read about it about 2/3 of the way down this page of previous blogs) has reared its head again in the form of a previously undetected broken tooth. Unfortunately, it is infected and needs to be extracted. Tae absolutely fell in love with the dentist as he and she skipped down the hallway holding hands after his appointment. She is going to break his heart next week when she puts the hurt on him with the needle and pliers...



Here is a slideshow of photos from a couple of weeks ago at our beloved falls of the river MalaNoche. Thanks to John S for the pictures.





Last weekend, Baker and I went to catch the Costa Rica-Uruguay futbol match at the Cueva in San Jose--Costa Rica's stadium, legendary for its bag-of-urine-throwing crowds. This game was the first of two that would determine which of the two teams would advance to South Africa 2010 (the World Cup). The crowd was more raucous than a Rangers-Islanders crowd and I was thankful for Baker's ignorance of Spanish cursewords an ignorance which allowed the game to keep a G-rating. Unfortunately, Costa Rica came up short 1-0 and then lost the opportunity to go to the Cup in the second match, played in Montevideo this past Wednesday. Here is some video from our trip.

We flew roundtrip to San Jose. The flight over the Gulf of Nicoya is a gorgeus one. Some video:

And, while in San Jose, we spent the night at our friend Macho's house. His neighbors have a little bird they call Burrito and Baker shared his tang with him:

While I wallow at the bottom of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, tending to my very flesh, Tara stands atop it in her month long yoga intensive at the Nosara Yoga Institute. She is really enjoying it, finding new insights every day and making many new friends.

While Baker and I were in San Jose, Riley and Tara and Tae went ziplining at Miss Sky, the local zipline company. They loved it...Unfortunately no photos to share.

I have mentioned that we bought an ATV. We are loving it. It is a really fun way to get around town. I regularly drive all three kids to school on it--Riley in front, then me, then Tae, then Baker. I'll get a photo of this for all to see.

At first, the ATV seemed this rugged vehicle with which one could slam through all sorts of potholes and ditches and creeks--taking on whatever rural Costa Rica had to offer it. Then, last week, at the grocery store, I bought a large (double-sized) milk crate that we strapped to the front of the ATV. In that single stroke, we seem to have emasculated the ATV and even mini-van-ified it. No longer the outback explorer, it is now just a second car--or even first car. Funny that.

I played a widowed Mike Brady yesterday, taking my three kids plus the Tutton Three (mais oui je vai avec tom, maya e jemma) down to Samara. A testament to the kids--we had a great time. A little lunch, sea kayaking and body surfing, and some ice cream to top it off. A nice day.

Sure there is more to tell, but we will leave it at that.

Buenas Afternoon

An observation I made the other day:

In Costa Rica, as in much of the Spanish speaking world, people abbreviate their salutations. We do the same in the States and Canada too, and much of the English speaking world.

Only here is an American abbreviating:

'Morning Bob!
'Afternoon, Sue!
'Evening, Billy Ray!

We leave out the "Good" and opt to simply offer up the time of day.

Here is a Tico (Costa Rican) abbreviating:

Buenas, Esteban!
Buenas, Marielos!
Buenas, Elisa!

They leave out the time of day (dias, tardes, noches) and simply say "Buenas" - or "good."

I'll leave you to sort out the meaning of this observation...

Peanut Butter & Jellyfish, and other random notes

Call it official: each of the 5 Costa Rican Casagrandes has sustained an injury during our short but intense stay. Here they are in order of occurrence:

1. Tae falls off a bed in mid-September and receives 5 stitches in his chin.
2. Tara wipes out on her surfboard which then attacks her forehead, leaving her a peach-sized bump at her hairline.
3. Baker mysteriously falls into a small hole at the Hotel Guilded Iguana and twists an ankle.
4. One week ago, during Surf Club, Riley is hugged by a jellyfish, making for a very painful but fortunately short-lived set of welts on her chest.
5. Yesterday, a half-mile after purchasing his dirtbike, Jerry wipes out going 3 mph landing his right calf on the exhaust pipe of the bike and making for a heck of a burn.

Hooray! The family that hurts together, sticks together.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Well?

No, seriously, why? This is a real question here in Nosara as chickens are constantly crossing the road at the worst times, right in front of cars, motorbikes, and ATVs. Not sure what North American residents think is so funny about the joke...We in Nosara just want to know WHY??? And, we'd like to politely ask them to stop, or at the very least to look both ways.

The main road into Nosara village just broke today, officially. It had been falling into a hole for the past month or so. Perhaps a month ago, 10 inches of the road had chipped away and fallen into the wetness below. A week later, two feet were missing; then four feet, then fully half the road was gone. By yesterday, there was less than half a road left, just enough space for one car to get through. Today, at last, construction vehicles were on site to fix it up.

Two firsts today: Today was the first time that Tara said, "I could imagine us staying here a couple years." AND today was the first time that I (Jerry) missed home for real. Other days, I have occasionally wished for some bit of home. But today, I was generally wishing for home. Might be the burnt leg, the lunch that took 45 minutes to receive at the usually rapid serving Soda Vanessa, the dust in the eyes and nose while riding the ATV, the fact that our water stopped working, or something else. But, Alexandria was looking good to me today. And, Nosara was looking particularly good to Tara. Interesting that.

And, last of all, I include this simply because I wanted to title this post "Peanut Butter and Jellyfish." About a month ago, we gave our friend Maya her very first peanut butter sandwich. Apparently, you can't get one of these classics in France. Unbelievably, Maya did not enjoy it!! Even with milk. But, she is still our friend!

And for the French readers, a poem:

Maya est une jeune fille

E Maya est nous ami,

Oui?

Pura Vida!!

The Week in Review

The highlight of this past week was this weekend's multiple trips to a beautiful and nearby waterfall perfect for swimming and cliff jumping. Baker loved it so much, he went three times. We first found it Friday afternoon after school. Baker and I and his friend Omid and his dad Koz, and another friend Stone ventured off to the falls on ATVs. After a 15 minute ride, we parked the ATVs and took to foot, led by Stone, the only one who had ever been to the falls before.



He navigated admirably, if not choosing the shortest path, at least choosing a correct path. He also forewarned us about the dangers ahead, primarily a snake-infested section of field where the grass grew tall. Stone led the way and with the other four of us trailing close behind, the serpents fled for their lives. The waterfall we arrived to was sheer magic. First of all, after two months of purely salt water swimming, it was an unexpectedly large pleasure to swim in fresh water.



The falls consisted of two parts--a smaller falls on the right hand side under which one could actually climb and get a powerful back massage from the pounding water. The other falls stemmed from the major flow of the river Malanoche and was so powerful that one simply could not swim up to it (believe me, we tried). Between the two falls was a rock wall that was relatively easy to climb, if not a bit slippery, and which featured a number of jumping off spots at, say 2, 6, and 10 feet above water level. The pool below was at least eight feet deep in most places. (I tested by touching my toe to the bottom with arm extended). Stone showed us all the best jumping spots and even led us to a place where we could jump or slide into the heart of the powerful falls to be swept away by the current for twenty or thirty feet.



Baker loved it so much that he took his mom back there on Saturday while Riley was at a birthday party. And, then we went again on Sunday with Riley and Tae. The video below is from that trip. It is my new favorite place in Nosara!

This week, we also purchased an ATV. It is a great way to get around here and very fun. Today, in fact, Baker, Riley, Tae and I all climbed onto what is officially a 1 (or max 2) person vehicle, and drove off to school. Baker is loving driving it, mostly with me or Tara on the back with him, but he has tooled around a bit by himself on the road in front of our house. Here is some video of him driving...

Just last night, Tara started a month-long yoga's instructor course. Each day through the end of the month, she'll have classes from 6 to 9 in the morning, 11 to 2:30 in the afternoon, and 6 to 9 in the evening. At the end of it, she'll be qualified to teach Yoga and will undoubtedly be even more enlightened than her currently formidably enlightened self. Hopefully, she will not simply disappear under a Bodhi Tree. We would miss her too much.

And, during the week, I took my first, and last, gyrocopter filght lesson. It was very fun and exciting. My instructor Guido took off and landed, but I manned the controls the rest of the time, taking us up and down, turning us around and more. It would be very fun to learn, but alas too time consuming. I would have to spend the enormous bulk of the next two months taking lessons to really make it worthwhile. And, that's not how I hope to spend my time.

One final note: Apparently, this blog is now being shared outside our circle of friends and family, even as far afield as France. So, in each blog entry, I will now include some French as a way of welcoming these readers. Without further delay then, this entry's French:

Bienvenue a nous blog. Je suis tu ami. Un deux trois quatre cinc!

Au revoir!

Calmer Days

The picture says it all...Yet I'll still write some. Our agenda has been chockablock with social and recreational events...from surfing lessons to trick or treating parties to dinners at new friends to BBQs...a frenzy in the past four weeks of a bunch of families first meeting and deciding to spend lots of time together. This weekend we, and I think some of the other folks, took a breath.

Don't get me wrong...we love the folks we have met here and are enjoying these new friendships. (In fact, Tara just blasted off on NatureAir for a 24 spree in San Jose with her friend Katy.) But the past two nights of Casagrande-only time has been really pleasant. It has spawned two of these sunset bike rides to the beach, plus an ice cream trip and some fun ATV riding, just among the five of us.

You'll see this postcard picture of Baker, Riley & Tae again as we are almost certain to use it in our electronic Christmas Card this year.

Pura Vida!

Little Baby Turtles

This morning was Awe Inspiring! The alarm went off at 5:05 AM, the sun had already risen. Should we go? Let's do it! Three sleepy kids in PJ's, some water, a few snacks, the camera and we were ready to go. We confidently crossed 3 rivers and made the 25 minute trek to Ostional Beach. We had been waiting for the Arribada (the very large coming of female turtles to lay eggs on the beach) but we were told that this weekend the Nacimiento was to occur (the hatching of the eggs layed a month ago). We followed the hungry stray dogs and vultures onto the beach and went in search of baby Oliver Ridley turtles.

How wonderful! A few locals began by showing us holes in the sand where little noses where peaking through. Far from the water these brave little souls headed (more or less) directly for the ocean. By the end of our three hours on the beach, we had saved some turtles that had rolled onto their backs, shooed away hungry dogs and at times carried babies (from the hole from which they had emerged) to the ocean because they were surrounded by vultures. As with many things, the experience was like a metaphor for life. We were like Angels. We gave them little boosts and carried them when they fell behind. We also let them go a little astray so that they could find their own way and get stronger from the experience and the detours. All in all, a remarkable morning. Now we await the Arribada!

Watch this slide show of our morning!