Week #7 Update 02.27.08

Dear Friends & Family,

We had a blast today. We are currently in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica, the most visited national park in the country. As we hiked through the park today we saw all kinds of birds, iguanas, chameleons, three-toed sloth’s (yes, I counted), and what can best be described as a R.O.U.S. (rodent of unusual size, per The Princess Bride). However, since it wasn’t such an unusual size, it is probably more of a R.O.S.U.S (rodent of slightly unusual size). The R.O.S.U.S. looked like a cross between a rat, a rabbit and a squirrel. I have no idea what the actual name of the R.O.S.U.S., but I feel confident that R.O.S.U.S. will catch on soon.

Even with all these fun creatures, the highlight of the day was the monkeys. I’ve never seen so many monkeys, nor been as close as I’ve been today. These sneaky devils know the drill. They come out in packs and ham it up for the tourists. All the while they are looking for the unsuspecting foreigner. We witnessed a beautifully orchestrated heist today. The culprits made off with what looked like PB&J sandwich. Jessica and I tried to warn the unsuspecting couple, but our cries were too late (or possibly in the wrong language).

I was also the target of an attack. To set the scene, Jessica and I had just witnessed the heist of a man’s snorkel. As they were making their getaway, the monkeys had to jump across the trail. As we were watching two monkeys make the jump, we were distracted from what was happening directly above us. High above another monkey had a few small coconuts at the ready. I could have used the warning “bombs away!” Getting hit from forty feet up with a small coconut on the shoulder hurts. I looked up in time to see him drop the second coconut and was able to dodge. Quite the rascals.

We’re now watching American Idol with Spanish sub-titles. It’s great getting a bit of American culture every now and again.

Our seventh week at Hogar de Vida was also eventful.

After church on Sunday we were invited to a fund-raising event held in honor of Hogar de Vida. The event was a gringo-style chili cook-off held at a beautiful home in Atenas. (In Costa Rica, gringo is an endearing term used for those with light skin who don’t speak Spanish.) We were all surprised to see how many English speaking people were there; most of them are American and Canadian fixed-income retirees who have moved to Costa Rica in the last few years. We guessed there were at least a hundred there eating chili and having a good time. We gave a sample of the chili to the kids we took with us. They hated it. I had a good time talking in English. The review of the party from the kids was “too many old gringos” and “bad music”. I guess songs like Elvira and Unchained Melody aren’t their style.

After the fund raiser, we were invited to Olga’s house for Sunday afternoon coffee. Olga, and her husband, Enrique, have worked at Hogar de Vida for over ten years and are the house parents of the upper house, where Jessica works. We took a taxi to her home with Kimberly, one of the tias, and Priscila, one of the kids, and had a great time chatting it up with her family for their regular Sunday afternoon family time. Olga and her siblings grew up in the home and just recently Olga and her husband, Enrique, purchased the home from her mom after building Ma a new home in the back yard.

For those of you keeping score at home, we have now killed three tarantulas and three scorpions. We have talked to the Ticos (Costa Ricans), and they pretty much said that tarantulas are bad, but scorpions are really bad. To make matters better (or worse), the scorpions were killed in the hallway outside our bedroom. Despite Jessica’s major fear of spiders and insects in general, all her practice of spider-spotting is finally paying off.

Monday was Kimberly’s last day, but before she left she wanted to milk a cow. So we joined Ben (one of Tim and Dena’s sons) and Josiah (Ben’s cousin) for milking duty. When you have twenty-three kids in the houses, fresh milk every day is very useful. Jessica had some previous experience from going to the Big Butler Farm Show. This was my first experience. We had a good time - tasted fresh warm milk, filled a bucket and most importantly didn’t get kicked. So, all in all it was a successful experience.

We also welcomed four new kids to the upper house on Monday. Three of them are siblings - a five-year-old girl and a set of two-year-old twins. The children are very sweet, but it was apparent that the older sister has been mothering the twins versus being a kid herself – which is probably why they’re now here. We also welcomed a two-week-old baby girl. All in all, I think getting new kids might have been harder for Jessica than losing kids was a few weeks ago. Four absolutely beautiful children who need love and now don’t have parents – if she could sign adoptions papers right then, we would have been coming home with kids of our own.

All in all, the week was full of emotions. As we’re drawing close to the end of our two months, our thoughts have been turning towards our return – which is exciting and unnerving once again.

We have six days left and return Wednesday night March 5th. We are use to 80’s and sun, so if someone back home can place the order for warmer weather on the 5th we would appreciate it. Hope all are well.

Lots of Love,
Jon & Jessica