"Things We Miss and Things We Will Miss Someday" Part #2: Other Ramblings...

(a continuation from the last post...). More ramblings, in no particular order... --------------------------- Things We Will Miss Someday — “Meeting New People and Making New Friends” There's a song the kids learned in pre-school that goes like this...“Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver but the other’s gold.” Or something like that. (actually, now that I read that, wouldn’t you want the gold over the silver? I guess it depends on the quantity b/c an entire silver mine would be way better than one brick of gold. Hmmm...) Any-who. I dedicated an entire entry to family and friends back in Milton. But it is also true that we have met some great people during our few short months in Costa Rica, as well. The melting-pot mixture of those people is, in and of itself, part of the experience. I look at this past weekend as a little microcosm of all of this. On Saturday, Liadan had her Tica friend Jimena over for most of the day.

Liadan, Jimena and Flat Stanley making cookies.

Then after Jimena left, the kids went to play with the neighbor’s kids (Swiss/Italian family) and another kid from school (whose mom is from Bolivia and whose dad is from the Czech Republic, I believe). Then on Sunday we went for a pizza party (making pizzas in an outdoor brick oven…which was awesome, btw) at the house of a couple with an American wife and a husband who was born in Costa Rica and lived here his whole life but whose mom is from France and whose Dad is American.

Audrey and Ella at Liza and Jeremy's pizza party.

We were joined by some good friends of theirs — a Costa Rican guy and his parents. The parents were Guatemalan but the dad had bright red hair and was clearly the son of immigrants to Guatemala from somewhere (not sure where) while the mom was evidently a Norwegian-American by birth who was adopted as a baby by a Guatemalan couple. Other than us, everyone in attendance was at least trilingual and conversation would seamlessly flow (sometimes mid-sentence) from English to French to Spanish (we were screwed when it went to French). It was a super-nice group of people and a lot of fun. And I think the kids really do “get” more and more that while people may come from a wide range of backgrounds, speak different languages, have different cultural norms, etc. — "peoples is peoples" (to quote the restaurant owner from "The Muppets Take Manhattan") and your life will be all the richer by embracing friendships and interactions with folks from different backgrounds than your own. Things We Miss — “Our House In Milton and our Neighborhood in Milton”

When Audrey and I were looking to move from our original Milton house (almost 10 years ago!?!) we fell in love with our soon-to-be house. Yes, it was bigger than we wanted. Yes, it had a quirky old-house layout (with a kitchen tucked into the back corner) and a bunch of old-house challenges (I will never stop trying to make energy-efficiency improvements to that house until N-Star finally sends me one of those damn “neighborhood comparison” sheets that DOESN’T say, in so many words, “your house is a freakin’ energy sieve.”). But the cozy-vibe, the 1800’s charm, etc…they sucked us in. And since 2005, that big ol’, quirky house has already helped create a lifetime of memories. It is in good hands right now (the Halls had no idea what they were getting themselves into when they said they would rent it for a while…I mean, who KNEW a tree would fall across the driveway, etc.?!?) but the house was one of the earlier items added by the kids to the list during our “things we miss” discussion. As was the neighborhood (having a quiet little, friend-filled area SO close to the city).

Things We Will Miss Someday — “Our Costa Rican House and Neighborhood"

While the place we are renting is by no means a “tiny house” it has a much more compact layout than our house back in Milton. The kitchen is of a size that allows only for cooking. The family room is basically a landing outside the bedrooms upstairs. Etc. But it is EASY and fosters so much more family interaction than a sprawling old Victorian. We are going to miss this someday. : (

And then there is the view, the view, the view. It’s funny, I never thought of us as being that high up but then we had some people come to visit us who live down in the valley and the husband said “I just looked on the altimeter on my watch and it says we are just about a mile up. Does that sound right?” That took me by surprise. But then again, when you look down to the valley below we ARE kinda high up. We are going to miss this view someday. Looking out the glass walls of the master bedroom or out the window over the kitchen sink while doing dishes or off the deck…we never tire of it. You can actually see all the way to the Pacific on a clear day (one of only three spots in the valley where this is the case, evidently).

I need to get some real pics of the view one of these days but for now, this is dusk from our bedroom.

Then there is going for walks on this little mountain road. Bumping into all of the crazy little neighborhood dogs along the way. Walking down peaceful little lanes to visit a neighbor. It is a beautiful part o' the world.

Things We Miss — “Watson!"

Ah, Watson the wonder-pug. The kids (particularly Liadan) do miss Watsy but it was best that he wasn’t added to the travel mix for the year. We live next to a bazillion miles of woods. Dogs here wander freely. And Watson isn't exactly street-smart (or smart-smart for that matter). He is an untrained dog that relies on an electric fence to tell him “stop running or you’ll get killed.” Up here he would have been trampled by a cow, hit by a milk truck leaving the lecheria, or he would have wandered off into the woods with his “mountain-tough” (not street-tough) dog friends and not known how to make it back. Speaking of the Halls not knowing what they were in for, special props to them for dealing with Watson’s recent eye operation and post-operation care. We get that the timing SEEMS a bit suspicious, but we didn’t actually know that we were leaving a dog with an eye-disease who was on the verge of going blind in one eye (at least, now that I have destroyed all of the papers, that’s the story I’m sticking to…).

Poor Watson...not looking too hot after his eye operation. : (

Things We Will Miss Someday — “Cows, Oxcarts, Horses, etc.” We don’t have Watson in the neigborhood but we DO have cows, a couple of oxen, the occasional chicken wandering out of someone’s yard onto the street, etc. Recently, Audrey and a couple of the kids happened to be driving by one of the pasture areas across the street JUST as a cow was giving birth. And I mean JUST as it was happening. Pretty cool when your suburb-slicker (that’s kinda like a city-slicker but from the burbs) kids get to witness something like that.

We'll save you the action-shot, but here is the proud mama and calf a few minutes later...

Things We Miss — “Trick-o-Treating” Halloween is a “party day” here (school parties, parties at bars and clubs for adults, etc.). The idea of going house to house to get candy doesn’t exist. Putting aside the fact that there is no cultural history of doing so, it would be INSANE to try it around here anyhow. There are almost no sidewalks. Windy roads. Etc. You take your life into your own hands if you go walking by yourself after dark on these roads, let alone parading around groups of KIDS in the dark!?! But regardless, the kids were bummed not to be able to trick-or-treat (although as you will see, they still had a great Halloween…just a different one than the norm back home). Things We Will Miss Someday — “Experiencing Different Holidays and Experiencing Our ‘Known’ Holidays In New Ways…” 15 de Septiembre was an unforgettable experience (as documented in an earlier blog entry). But even Halloween-away-from-Boston was pretty cool. The European School does a great job of creating a real community feel to the school and Halloween was no exception. Each class picks a theme for their room and the teachers and older-kids (high-schoolers) help run a big “themed-rooms” party at the school. All the younger kids show up in costume the night before Halloween and run free with their friends around the school, visiting rooms set up for face-painting, or for dancing, or with a ‘crawling maze” created using desks covered in sheets, and so on. I’ll never forget watching Liadan and her friend Jimena crashing the dance-room. It was just them and a bunch of junior high girls dancing to Enrique Iglesias’ “Bailando.”

Liadan and Jimena crash the junior-high dance room

Ella and her friend Kala at the house before the school Halloween party

Audrey came up with a great idea for Halloween itself. We put together a candy-hunt around the house. The kids were given clues (most of which they needed to translate from Spanish before solving) which would lead them to candy and their next clue. The last clue led them down the long driveway (in the dark) to the little guest cabin, where Audrey had set up spooky candles, music, etc. They had a blast…and it was another example of the type of uber-kid-bonding (they had to work as a team) that they wouldn’t have had back home.

Lia and Ella put their witch-heads together for some planning before the candy hunt.

In the guest cabin (candle-lit for spooky effect).

Things We Miss — “Seasons!”

You don't get scenes like this in Costa Rica...

It’s interesting that the kids are already bummed about this one and it’s only November. Sure, I guess you can say there are “seasons” here (rainy // windy // dry) but they aren’t THAT different. In rainy season it will be generally sunny and in the 70’s up here most of the day and then pours for a few hours. In windy season it is sunny and in the 70’s and then the wind picks up and cools it off a bit for a few hours. In dry season I think it is generally just sunny and in the 70’s all day. The kids talk about missing the feeling of Fall and the fact that it will be weird not to see snow for the year (we watched Hoosiers the other night as a family and there is something about the fall scenes in that movie that make you go “ahhh…I guess cleaning the leaves out of the gutters after fall ain’t so bad after all, right?”). Things We Miss — “Dishwasher”

The kids added this to the list because they are never going to get used to washing dishes the old fashioned way, me thinks. I try to tell them to suck it up because I grew up with 10 people in a house and my dad used to say “sure we have a dishwasher…we have 8 of them and they are named John, Ellen, Tom, Tim, Dan, Brendan, Mary and Patrick.” I hated that joke growing up and my kids hate it now. Nice to see the multi-generational consistency. Things We Will Miss Someday — “A Year of a DIFFERENT Kind of Schooling…” As I said before, there are some frustrating aspects to the European School (namely…not enough math and science). But it blows my mind to look at the way that their creativity has been fostered in a few short months. The extent to which some of the “lost basics” have improved (handwriting, public speaking, having to REALLY take responsibility for their own work, etc.). Even their Spanish is slooooowly starting to come along (although we do need to find more ways to jump-start it further!).

One of Ella's weekly "props" (an oxcart to go along with having to recite a poem in Spanish in front of the class)

Charlie's latest colored-pencil drawing from school (she has him working on blending colors right now)

Things We Miss — “Somewhat Logical Civil Engineering And Traffic Control Decisions” It is SO tempting, at times, to get sucked into thinking “this is just like the US” (because in so many ways it is)…and then something bizarre jerks you awake and makes you say “what the hell just happened?!?” For example…who builds a nice, slick new highway, puts up a “Speed Limit 55 mph” sign (roughly…it’s all in km here but I’m trying to translate for the folks back home), and then puts in exit ramps that are LITERALLY (no joke) 170-degree turns off the highway (on which you were supposedly just driving 55 mph)?!? Or the traffic lights that get added to an intersection with Stop Signs (“ummm…do I go because there is a green light or stop because there is a Stop sign?”). And the fact that the BUSIEST intersections have NO traffic lights (the intersection at the FreshMarket in San Pablo is a wildcard that can almost double the drive to school each morning).

Audrey tried to take a "shortcut" last week. In CR, that means "try a horrible, narrow dirt road that ends in a dead end and has ditches on either side that prohibit you from turning around..." She got stuck...

Things We Miss — “US Construction Standards”: I was talking with another American the other day about a house he was thinking of buying (he is here for the long haul after having started his own business). He said he was about to give up the housing search in favor of buying land and building because it is SUCH a crapshoot re: what you are going to get when you buy a house. Don’t get me wrong. There are some AMAZING looking houses up here in the mountains. But so many of them are built “for show” — jaw-dropping stonework, woodwork, metalwork, finishings, artwork, etc. But then you’ll run into things that just blow your mind.

Beautiful exterior but who knows what fun challenges await you if you buy it...!

— What’s that? You want your house grounded so it doesn’t burn down? Nah. We didn’t bother to do that. — You don’t like the one-inch gap between your sliding door and the floor/walls that the bugs and wind come in through? — Or, my favorite from that particular conversation was when this guy said “we are living in this gorgeous house. Who knows how much they spent on woodwork, inlaid tiles, decorating, etc….but the water comes from a tiny PVC pipe that mysteriously runs off into the neighbor’s yard. They are either taking it from HIS well or at the very least they didn’t ask and just ran a pipe across his property when he wasn’t around.” Things We Will Miss Someday — “Time, Time, Time…” I have mentioned this one before but it is a good note to end on. In the beginning, I think that only Audrey and I were noticing and appreciating the extra family time. We get that we aren’t going to have a window like this again and it makes us savor each special moment even more. Watching the four of them race around the house on their Halloween candy hunt. Seeing the way that they go above and beyond with their birthday cards for each other right now. Seeing just how much more they all PLAY together — as a foursome and in pairings that we NEVER would have seen before back in Milton (e.g. Jack and Ella have been so good in the way that they bond and play with Liadan…I hope they never forget these times and that the bonds and memories built stay with them through life). Sure, there have been epic battles, the days aren’t without their tears, etc. but there has been a lot of laughter and a lot of great conversations. And now we are realizing that even the kids get this. During this conversation about what we miss and what we will miss someday, they all talked about the family time. That simple act of recognition made Audrey and I feel as if this whole crazy plan has been worth it.

I think this pic sums up "having time." Charlie spends about 30-60 minutes a day after school finding tall dried grass blades and weaving his own fake "Montezuma Bird" nests... : )