Signs

Costa Rican street signs that you don’t see in Canada.

At our children’s school, there is a sign indicating an iguana crossing along the path to the playground. (As if that is going to save the iguanas from being trampled by all those eager little feet headed to the monkey bars.)

Fish Babies

We found Gabriel’s fish motionless at the bottom of the tank last weekend. It was sad to say goodbye to one of our fish but the following day, the kids were so excited to discover 3 baby fishes in the fishbowl. We didn’t even know that Naimah’s fish was a boy.

Here’s a picture of Mummy fish (Léah’s) with one of the babies.

Mangoes

We visited the church in Grecia with Mélanie’s aunt, Michèle, who came to see us in Costa Rica for a week and a half.

Gabriel and Naimah weren’t interested in touring the church so they kept themselves busy collecting mangoes in the park in front of the church. At that age, they can really entertain themselves with anything.

Gabriel scouting for mangoes

(Aside: Gabriel refused to cut his hair for awhile because he liked Zac Efron’s style. When I told him one night that our dove might make a nest in his fluffy hair, he decided to have it cut the next day.)

Naimah collecting as many mangoes as she possibly can in her little arms

Naimah pleased with her harvest

Reviewing the quality of their findings

  

Metal Church

Grecia, which was once named "the cleanest city in Latin America”, is a short drive from Atenas. The city is famous for its church made entirely of pre-fabricated steel plates painted red and imported from Belgium in 1897.

According to an urban legend, the church was donated by some foreign country, and sent to Greece as a gift, but was wrongly shipped to Grecia. However, history records clearly show that order, shipment and construction of the temple were a coordinated effort of Grecia’s population, Catholic Church and Costa Rican government in the Late 19th century.

Corteza Amarilla

During the five months of the dry season, from December to April, most of the trees lose their leaves to conserve their humidity. However, for a brief time, the golden pompons of the corteza amarilla dot the landscape.

White-winged Dove

We started with a cat, then a rooster, then a dog, and then some fish. It feels like we are gathering animals for our very own Noah’s Ark. It is therefore fitting that our latest addition is a dove.

A local nearly ran over this baby white-winged dove while it was crossing the road right in front of our home. He brought it to us so that we can take care of it.

At this young age, the baby dove doesn’t know how to eat or drink on its own. His beak has to be held open to give him water and grains to eat.

We don’t have a real cage so we improvised for now with an upside down garbage bin.

I was thinking we should name the dove “Stevie” for Stevie Nicks but the kids settled on “Snowflake”.

Just like the white winged dove…

Sings a song…

Sounds like she’s singing…

Whoo… whoo… whoo

        - Stevie Nicks (“Edge of Seventeen” lyrics)

Climbing Rooster

Can roosters climb trees? This one-time big city boy didn’t even think they could fly. I discovered that they do fly (at least short distances) which was a relief because when I found our annoying rooster, I thought he had climbed the tree.

Now I can’t chase him away because that tree is hanging over the cliff. Smart.

I was on the phone with someone at work this week who was sitting in the office in downtown Montréal and they asked me if there was a baby crying in the background. “No”, I replied, “just my rooster”.

Fiestas Sabana Larga! Ole!

For 3 days this past weekend, there were big festivities in Sabana Larga (an area 8 minutes drive from where we live).

Getting ready for the fiesta

The fiestas started with a Tope Caballos (horse parade). It was supposed to start at 1pm in the afternoon but scheduling in Costa Rica is very loose so we waited for 2 hours for it to begin. (Interestingly, the Costa Ricans who came to watch the parade arrived at the exact late hour as if they own watches that are set to this alternate tardy time zone.)

Stopping for a beer during the parade

The center of the action

The ticket booth for purchasing tickets for the rides

Ceremony before the bull fighting

(commencement of which also started 1.5 hours late; nobody is in any rush in this country)

Buying some churros (which were so deliciously greasy)

Gabriel loved the fact that the guys holding onto dear life on the bulls wore hockey helmets.

 

Seeing bull fighting for the first time whet our appetite to head to the Calgary Stampede one day.

Hockey Night in Costa Rica

The Vancouver Olympics are taking place a mere 69 Km (43 miles) from our house in Victoria but we have missed so much of the action because there is zero coverage on TV in Costa Rica. All of the sports channels here cover Football (aka Soccer), Fútbol, and more Futebol. It is almost like the Winter Olympics are not taking place during these 2 weeks. Perhaps this shouldn’t be surprising since the climate of Costa Rica is not conducive to participation in winter sports. How many Winter Olympic medals have been won by a tropical nation? None.

Last night, it was Canada against the USA in hockey and I came up with a way to watch the game on the Internet. With our slow bandwidth, the experience was a bit painful but at least we got to enjoy a little bit of the Olympic spirit.

When our kids are old and grey, they will tell stories about how the Internet was once so slow that you couldn’t watch a TV program without it constantly pausing.

Laughing Cow

Last year, we struggled a bit with the food options in this area of Costa Rica. Unlike the capital, San José, with its larger international population, Atenas doesn’t have any real selections of ethnic foods. We enjoy casados and gallo pinto but sometimes we need variety. And to add to the challenge, Mélanie and I are vegetarian and Costa Rican cuisine caters to the carnivore. If you are a chicken or a pig, you should stay far away from this country.

Now that the highway is open, we can more easily purchase ethnic and vegetarian options in the grocery stores in the outskirts of San José.

Middle Eastern

Veggie burgers

We have even found “La Vache qui Rie” to quench our needs for spreadable cheese. (This laughing cow is so popular worldwide that we have been able to find “La Vache qui Rie” in small towns in Vietnam, like Hội An.)

Bug of the Week

I don’t want to sound like a wuss but I nearly puked when the kids pointed out this bug on the screen door right next to our dining room table.

Black Vultures

Vultures have the unfortunate reputation of being dirty. The truth is that they not only clean up everybody else’s mess by consuming carcasses that would otherwise encourage diseases and pests such as rats, but they also are meticulous in washing themselves, finding water to bathe in daily when they can. (Source)

These large black birds are often hovering ominously in the sky above our house searching for carrion and then stop to perch in the tree right in front of our deck.

 

Make sure you hit the pool

When we moved to Costa Rica 8 months ago, Gabriel was very nervous around water. I wouldn’t say that he was scared the way that he was when he was really little but he still lacked confidence.

In this hot climate, Gabriel spends an inordinate amount of time in water when he is not in school. He is now over his discomfort of swimming to the extent that we have to remind him that when he makes those kamikaze jumps into the pool, he needs to make sure that he lands inside the water and doesn’t overshoot the pool completely.

And speaking of pool, here are pictures of our two “sun princesses”.

Crêpe

There is nothing like a homemade crêpe to Frenchify your Costa Rican morning.

The Grammys

I would love to have a transcript of many of the conversations that our children have amongst themselves. I happened to overhear this exchange today between Léah and Gabriel.

Background: The Grammys were on in Costa Rica today nearly a full 2 weeks after they were aired at the end of January. They were dubbed in Spanish so that might account for the delay.

(Léah heads outside this morning to tell the two younger ones.)

Léah: Tonight’s “The Grammys”!

Gabriel: What’s “The Grammys”?

Léah: You know… Taylor Swift, Céline Dion…

Gabriel: What about “High School Musical”?

Léah: *Not* “High School Musical”…

Gabriel: Michael Jackson!

Léah: No, he won’t be there. Céline will be singing for him. (Pause) We are going to be eating popcorn in front of the show.

Gabriel: Oh my G-d! I love to eat popcorn in front of the show.

(10 second pause)

Gabriel: What about “The Jonas Brothers”?

(End of conversation)

Both High School Musical and The Jonas Brothers are properties of Disney which clearly indicates that the Disney Empire own the hearts of today’s youth.

Fiestas de Cumpleaños

Birthdays are a big deal in Costa Rica. This past weekend, we attended a birthday party that had horseback riding, relay races, face-painting, and a number of other activities.

 

One of the best ideas at the party was the loot bag – each of the kids “fished” for guppies to take home.

The kids named their fish (in order from left to right):

- Iron Man: Gabriel’s

- Sushi: Léah’s

- Bottom: Naimah’s (for the first few days, it insisted on staying at the bottom of the tank)