You know you're in Costa Rica when. . .

So we definitely know we're living in Costa Rica when

Photo by Jean Christophe Prunet

 we have to wipe toxic frog residue from Casper's (the rescue dog) mouth right before he throws up. . . I've since gone on to fish a frog out of the pool and tonight nearly stepped on one as I stepped out the door to change the laundry.  I had to break it to Baby-O that although a good idea in theory, the razor-thin smashed one she found on our road, was not a good addition to our 'bug board'.

Photo by Ucumari

Green parrots wake you up every morning. Their shriek is not altogether pleasant but seeing neon green birds swoop,  swarm and glide into the same tree (outside our bedroom) every morning never ceases to feel at once annoying and exotic!





The moth's here are bigger than my hand. We had been tracking a gigantic moth; one so big, each of us had been startled at different times thinking it a small animal of some sort.  So we were sad to find it sucked into the refrigerator filter this morning.  :( Gigi was the brave soul who did the extraction.
We are definitely more connected to nature here love it or not.  We love it.

Take a look at that spear this bug is packing!
Every day brings a new  insect.

Ok, I'm trying to blend the following admission into the tropical fauna so skim over the following 'you know you're in Costa Rica when'. . .

You have to hike away from your car and call a tow truck because the ruts are just too scary and your hands are shaking too hard to hold the wheel.

But before the tow truck (finally) arrives,  a  Costa Rican contractor in a giant and gleaming Montero decides he needs to take a look and declares it, "nothing serious" while informing me that "everyone does it all the time."

 "In fact," he declared, "just last week I had to rope my car to a tree to keep from sliding off the road." Comforting. No more shortcuts. No more unpaved roads.

Then the 'tow truck' arrives only to be an ancient old-school jeep, no matter.

You're happy when he drops to the ground after the 'extraction'
(I felt not unlike the moth in the refrigerator filter) and declares with a grin, "You're fine. You're not leaking any oil or fluids." At this point, I'm ready to drop to my knees or roll into the flora.

 Note to self: NEVER follow iPhone GPS in a Central American country and believe a gray line equates to a road.
I felt better when he told me that he had pulled multiple people up from the same stretch of road. . . one last week.


An ironic thing about this idiotic episode, is that I vividly remember reading a book about an expat in Costa Rica  right before we left and snickering knowingly when she admitted that while taking a shortcut to get a pizza,  they had had to chain themselves to the side of a mountain 'road' as their vehicle teetered on two wheels and very nearly flipped off.  I didn't know whether to feel better or in more foolish company when a kind Brit Will, driving a massive Landrover, stopped by and reported that the week before he had rolled it completely over on. . .that same stretch of land.






On a more memorable note (I hope!) you know you're in Costa Rica when all three of your kids suit up in khakis and a polo to head off to school.  One of the things I like about being here is seeing the swarm of navy-uniformed kids moving around the streets and parks. I must be getting old.

Baby-O in her 'mini-forme' and Bobby--- the dog she describes to everyone as, 'the sausage'.



You meet a group of fascinating expatriates working in Costa Rica for companies from Intel to Proctor and Gamble and the kids. . . play cards. Later, they would be joined by a pack of about seven expat boys and outdo the adults in laughter and hollering.

Everyone we've met has been incredibly kind, gracious and welcoming.

One of the things I've always loved about traveling is running into the craziest things  around any corner. Below see the menagerie that came to check me out as I turned around in their very urban 'driveway'- I felt like Pippi Long stocking might follow at any moment. 

You know you're trying not to worry that your 13 year old is going away for the weekend to another province with all of her grade for a field trip. Stay tuned and pray for our girl that it all goes well.*


* I dropped her off at school this morning at 6:30, she was as exuberant as the mess of kids that were gathered. Along the way she told me that she loved working with Bunsen burners. Yesterday in science class they had been told to separate a mixture of sand and salt and had been given water, a bunsen burner and something else I can't remember. The thing I like about their school, Blue Valley, is that they often aren't given the answers or even clues; the point is for the kids to figure it out. Yes their group blasted the heat up all the way and yes there were flames. Gigi's account? "It was awesome."

J was as thrilled to dissect muscles and tendons on a chicken. The kids seem to have as much fun recording their work with the iPads as doing it. It'll be interesting to see how the school, students and teachers' pull it all together.

Missing you all.