World Cup. A Family Sabbatical. And mold in Costa Rica.

It's been a strange six months-



and I don't mean the weather.


It was great to find comments from fellow dreamers of sabbaticals--it reminded me of the magic behind the challenges, I look forward to corresponding. Fellow dreamers- an update, a family I met through the blog is on their way to Costa Rica in just days time to begin on their sabbatical- seize the day!

 I'd love to say that we have no regrets on our decision to stay on in Costa Rica



because the sabbatical continues to provide a life harvest that is richer than I ever imagined
 serving up experiences that we couldn't have even dreamed a short two years ago.

 Gigi and J. both traveled for a whole lot of hours by bus to spend several days with indigenous populations of Costa Rica as part of their Spring service trip through school.

Hiking in the rainforest hasn't become less exciting- Rick's become more adept at managing the rain.

However, we've had some body-blows this year by way of some logistical challenges and there were times we wondered if it all made sense to stay.  I have a dear friend who is sabbatical-ing in New Zealand this year and she describes it well saying that you have the best and worst days of your life.

But first. . .

It's impossible to overstate how thrilling it was to be in Costa Rica during the World Cup- especially because Costa Rica did so well. 

The excitement was absolutely infectious

Costa Rican's were justifiably proud.

Even the littlest ones in the school were swept away by the excitement. 

The school allowed all students from pre-school through high school to watch all Costa Rican matches that were played during school hours-the emotions on those days was positively electric.

Finding jerseys became a fierce event. . . I had to fight to buy the ones shown below and grabbed them straight off the counter as they were delivered to the store. The stack never made it to the racks. These were the cheaper knock-offs, the 'official' ones ran upwards of $70-$90.

 The whole country shut down during every match that Costa Rica played in...

Grown men wept, ears lost hearing and horns blared along every strip of road in the country.

It's blurry, but you get the depth of emotion felt when Costa Rica, a nation of only 4.5 million people, advanced beating out bigger and richer countries defying nearly every bookies' odds.

 The joy and pride that we witnessed were amazing. I would tell anyone with an itch for a sabbatical to pick a favorite country who loves 'soccer' and be there during the next World Cup. The way my life has turned out I've had the thrill of being in Mexico and Argentina during previous World Cups' and there is truly nothing like it. Go for the whole month, start planning now.

Gigi discovered that she l-o-v-e-s fencing (we will be forever grateful to The European for hiring coach extraordinaire Daniel to introduce this beautiful sport to children) and not only has she had the chance to train with the national team, she has met wonderful friends through fencing.

I love how this picture sums up the 'international' that infuses life through The European School- 

Bono- the blonde- is a Dutch friend being raised in Costa Rica and Nico is Columbian-Costa Rican. When Nico recently came over during World Cup season he ripped off the red and blue Costa Rican soccer jersey he'd worn to watch the Costa Rican match at school and promptly donned the bright yellow Columbian jersey to take in the Columbia match! 

Daniel is a kind and inspiring coach. Gigi is off in a week to do a two-week international fencing camp in Portland. She and Nico will fly back to Costa Rica alone to start school the first week of August. 

What was the logistical problem and how does it relate to fencing? In a word, the driving. Driving in the Central Valley is not easy because the congestion caused by the number of cars on the road  is exacerbated by few routes to cross the many ravines making it all feel like Los Angeles during rush hour.

Sooo. . . we moved thinking the driving would improve but instead, we got this:

We unfortunately rented a house which had mold.

**If anyone knows how to identify this mold I would be grateful to know more.

I developed a chronic cough almost immediately and we can't say for sure if it's related but within 10 days of moving in, Gigi was in the hospital for four days with a tonsillitis infection that had migrated to her lymphatic system. 

See the big black spot? That was fluid in her abdomen that sent us racing to hospital ER because they thought originally that she might have a burst appendix. Several Costa Rican friends jumped in to counsel us and we ended up with terrific care at the Clinica Biblica. 

The trials of renting a house that you thought was going to be a home run on ease of care and instead, was a maintenance nightmare, took its toll. We learned that plumbing parts are nothing like what we were used to in the US. After we had to change out the 5th leaking water valve, Rick reflected on the fact that ours back home were nearly 100 years old and hadn't had to be replaced. The above is the leaking water heater. When renting a house in the tropics all I can say is look everywhere for signs of mold and lack of maintenance.  Lesson learned.

As we head into our third year when we return in August, I'll be returning with some profound lessons under the belt and they aren't about how to identify mold. I can't say I wish to relive the last six months but I know we all learned and survived things that have made us stronger and hopefully wiser.