So, that was exciting! Tonight about quarter to 5 our time, we experienced a full on earthquake. Like 6.0 earthquake at the epicenter. Which apparently, according to the Richter scale is classified as strong. It didn't last very long. Maybe 30 seconds. But boy it was different! Our neighbors came to check on us, which was very sweet of them. Everything was fine. My little art guy feel over in the kitchen and the hanging fruit basket in the laundry room swung around, but other than that, we really were fine. By the time we realized what was happening it was over.
Being from the land that nothing ever happens in (no earthquakes, hurricanes, poisonous snakes, alligators, fire ants, etc.) this was a new experience for us. I had to look up the whole Richter scale thing. Our neighbor said that the heavy rains this time of year sometimes cause tremors. He even called this tremor season. Brings to mind that silly movie that always seems to be on cable. Anyway, not sure how much scientific fact there is to his comment, but interesting none the less.
All of this did prompt us to look up the Red Cross information about earthquakes. I have been meaning to do that, but just hadn't gotten to it yet. Turns out you stay inside the house if you are already in there. And the whole thing about the door frames being safer, nope. Apparently a large sturdy piece of furniture is a better option. Want to know more? Here's the link to the Red Cross information.
So anyway, that was the big excitement for the day. Or maybe the week!
Friday, May 13, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
A Forrest Update and Taxis
Thank you all who prayed for Forrest this morning! He did much better today. I think it helped that he knew I was coming in to read to his class halfway through the morning. We're praying that this will continue tomorrow. We also discovered that his teacher has a bachelor's degree in Bilingual preschool education. He couldn't be in a better place!
And now on to one of the things that we never experienced in our old life, but have done servery times here. Riding in Taxis. The boys love it! Forrest asked today if we could take a taxi to school, just for the fun of it! And every time we get in, they have to sing this song. Funny how they learned it living in the north woods of Michigan where I think the closest taxi was probably four hours away. Anyway, someday, maybe I'll capture a video of them singing it, but for right now, enjoy this little video with the taxi song.
And now on to one of the things that we never experienced in our old life, but have done servery times here. Riding in Taxis. The boys love it! Forrest asked today if we could take a taxi to school, just for the fun of it! And every time we get in, they have to sing this song. Funny how they learned it living in the north woods of Michigan where I think the closest taxi was probably four hours away. Anyway, someday, maybe I'll capture a video of them singing it, but for right now, enjoy this little video with the taxi song.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Mover Monetes
Remember the whole 'getting all our junk to Costa Rica thing? One thing that I forgot to mention about that is durning the time we were checking in our luggage in the hot humidity of Miami, I was singing
"Cristo Puede mover montes
solo Dios puede salvar
mi Dios puede salvar
por siempre autor de salvación es
Jesús la muerte venció
él la muerte venció"
You might recognize it better as
"Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave."
It struck me that God would bring this song to mind. At first glance it seems to be just about salvation. But He spoke in a specific way to me. If He is Mighty to Save, the Author of Salvation and if He conquered the grave, He certainly could take care of getting our stuff to Costa Rica.
Today was a hard day. Forrest threw a whopper of a fit going to school. It breaks my heart! I know that once he gets there and gets going with class, he is fine, but it's a hard start. He says he misses his brother (they aren't in the same class now) and it's a whole lot of new.
Today in chapel we sang Mighty to Save in English and I was struck again. If my God can conquer the grave, move mountains and save me, He will be able to give Forrest what he needs to get through this transition. And me for that matter.
As you think of us, will you pray for us in this transition. We talked as best we could with Forrest's teacher and she said overall, he really is doing well. He isn't crying the whole morning, he isn't wetting his pants, he is playing with the other kids and when we pick him up at the end of the day he really is glad he went. But it's that initial start of the morning. And this kid never has warmed up to things quickly. Ha! Remember this?
We get to school around 7:15 our time, which would be 9:15 eastern. Would you pray for us specifically then? Thanks all!
"Cristo Puede mover montes
solo Dios puede salvar
mi Dios puede salvar
por siempre autor de salvación es
Jesús la muerte venció
él la muerte venció"
You might recognize it better as
"Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave."
It struck me that God would bring this song to mind. At first glance it seems to be just about salvation. But He spoke in a specific way to me. If He is Mighty to Save, the Author of Salvation and if He conquered the grave, He certainly could take care of getting our stuff to Costa Rica.
Today was a hard day. Forrest threw a whopper of a fit going to school. It breaks my heart! I know that once he gets there and gets going with class, he is fine, but it's a hard start. He says he misses his brother (they aren't in the same class now) and it's a whole lot of new.
Today in chapel we sang Mighty to Save in English and I was struck again. If my God can conquer the grave, move mountains and save me, He will be able to give Forrest what he needs to get through this transition. And me for that matter.
As you think of us, will you pray for us in this transition. We talked as best we could with Forrest's teacher and she said overall, he really is doing well. He isn't crying the whole morning, he isn't wetting his pants, he is playing with the other kids and when we pick him up at the end of the day he really is glad he went. But it's that initial start of the morning. And this kid never has warmed up to things quickly. Ha! Remember this?
We get to school around 7:15 our time, which would be 9:15 eastern. Would you pray for us specifically then? Thanks all!
Monday, May 9, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
First Week Done
Well, we made it through our first week of classes! Well, not really the whole week. Classes started on Wednesday, but either way we were at school during the mornings the entire week in some form or another.
The boys had a bit rougher time after they weren't in the same classroom. Which makes sense. On Wednesday Forrest cried and cried when I picked him up. He said he didn't like it that Elliot wasn't in class with him because he was his best friend. Talk about breaking a mama's heart! But the next day Katie Dog came with him to school and things have been better. Although today his teacher said he clung to his perrito (little dog) like crazy.
Noah and i aren't in the same class, which we figured would happen. He is better at speaking in Spanish and I hear it better. So he is working on more advanced grammar and I, while not at the very bottom of the pile, and working on remembering all that I have already learned over the years.
It's been good to get going with classes. After all, this is why we are here this year. We have four hours of class in the morning with an hour break halfway through. I start the day with Lengua (Language) which according to the director, they call it that because if they called it Conversation, we would think we could have a conversation and we can't! Basically we describe things and work on just talking in coherent sentences. Then it's on to Phonetica, where we learn the mechanics of speaking Spanish. Like where you tougne goes when you say a vowel, and how the sounds of the language work. Then we have a break, followed by two hours of Gramatica.
Noah's first two classes are flipped from mine and then after the break he has his Gramatica .
After class we pick up the boys, and we have been packing a lunch to eat at school. The boys have cried the days we haven't. I think they like eating outside and then just playing. Plus, with the half hour walk home (although we made it in 20 minutes today!) Elliot is falling asleep in the stroller. So it's good for us to eat before leaving campus.
Alright, so you'll need to excuse the poor videography of this video, but it gives you a good idea (in condensed form) of what our walk to school is like. Oh, and make sure to note the time of day on Noah's watch. Oh, and one more thing. It sorta ends abruptly. That's because, as you will see, Elliot falls down, needs help, and I never got back to taping. Sorry. We have a whole year here. We'll work on showing you more of campus.
The boys had a bit rougher time after they weren't in the same classroom. Which makes sense. On Wednesday Forrest cried and cried when I picked him up. He said he didn't like it that Elliot wasn't in class with him because he was his best friend. Talk about breaking a mama's heart! But the next day Katie Dog came with him to school and things have been better. Although today his teacher said he clung to his perrito (little dog) like crazy.
Noah and i aren't in the same class, which we figured would happen. He is better at speaking in Spanish and I hear it better. So he is working on more advanced grammar and I, while not at the very bottom of the pile, and working on remembering all that I have already learned over the years.
It's been good to get going with classes. After all, this is why we are here this year. We have four hours of class in the morning with an hour break halfway through. I start the day with Lengua (Language) which according to the director, they call it that because if they called it Conversation, we would think we could have a conversation and we can't! Basically we describe things and work on just talking in coherent sentences. Then it's on to Phonetica, where we learn the mechanics of speaking Spanish. Like where you tougne goes when you say a vowel, and how the sounds of the language work. Then we have a break, followed by two hours of Gramatica.
Noah's first two classes are flipped from mine and then after the break he has his Gramatica .
After class we pick up the boys, and we have been packing a lunch to eat at school. The boys have cried the days we haven't. I think they like eating outside and then just playing. Plus, with the half hour walk home (although we made it in 20 minutes today!) Elliot is falling asleep in the stroller. So it's good for us to eat before leaving campus.
Alright, so you'll need to excuse the poor videography of this video, but it gives you a good idea (in condensed form) of what our walk to school is like. Oh, and make sure to note the time of day on Noah's watch. Oh, and one more thing. It sorta ends abruptly. That's because, as you will see, Elliot falls down, needs help, and I never got back to taping. Sorry. We have a whole year here. We'll work on showing you more of campus.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Cafecito
One of the great parts of Costa Rican culture is the Cafecito. A little coffee, most often in the afternoon, but really any time, with some sweet, bread, cookies, just a little something. I will embrace this full on!
Oh, and those Chikys? Fantastic cookies covered in chocolate! Wonderful dipped in mi cafe!
Oh, and those Chikys? Fantastic cookies covered in chocolate! Wonderful dipped in mi cafe!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Our Casa
Ok, so thanks for being patient with me! We made it through Orientation and tomorrow morning classes start at 7:30 am! Which really, the kids have been getting us up at around 6 am so we should be fine getting to school on time. Also, it is full on day time sunshine around here by 6 am, so it doesn't feel as bad as it does in grey grey Michigan.
But now on to one of the biggest questions we have been asked about. Our house. I am going to try and give you the photographic tour. Maybe tomorrow we can get a video of the place so you can get the real feel. And I feel like we are almost to the point where we have our stuff put away and we feel like it's working for us. There are a few more things to do, but that's going to be in the next couple of weeks, and I know you all don't want to wait that long. Maybe tomorrow we can get a video of the place so you can get the real feel.
So this is the entryway. The open door on the right is to the outside. The other door is a half bath. You can just see the stairs in the foreground.
From the last picture, if you turned left, you would be in the kitchen. And isn't it amazing? Yep, great set up! Here's another view.
That big silver thing, that's our water filter. So glad we have it!
Right off the kitchen is a fantastic laundry room, complete with a dryer, and a couple of clothes lines. This is going to be fantastic when the rainy season hits hard and heavy in a couple of weeks.
Ok, back through the kitchen, over to the living room and dinning room.
It will have a table in a couple of days. Right now, the toys get strewn everwhere. But what else is new.
Living room. Love everything about it! It's like it was designed for us!
Now up the stairs to the bedrooms and bath.
View out the window up the stairs. Aren't the mountains amazing? And this was at a more foggy cloudy time of day.
View of the boys room. That tent is Elliot's bed. It's called a peapod and it's a great alternative for a crib and crib tent for us.
Another view of their room.
Bathroom upstairs. No tub, but that is typical. I love how the shower curtain looks like I picked it out for this bathroom. I had no idea it would work this well!
Notice there are no dressers? That's partly because of the humidity. Instead, the closets have shelves that function as a place to put stuff you would put in a dresser.
Alright, there you go! Now it's off to bed, after I get clothes laid out for all of us for school tomorrow. Have a great night guys!
But now on to one of the biggest questions we have been asked about. Our house. I am going to try and give you the photographic tour. Maybe tomorrow we can get a video of the place so you can get the real feel. And I feel like we are almost to the point where we have our stuff put away and we feel like it's working for us. There are a few more things to do, but that's going to be in the next couple of weeks, and I know you all don't want to wait that long. Maybe tomorrow we can get a video of the place so you can get the real feel.
So this is the entryway. The open door on the right is to the outside. The other door is a half bath. You can just see the stairs in the foreground.
From the last picture, if you turned left, you would be in the kitchen. And isn't it amazing? Yep, great set up! Here's another view.
That big silver thing, that's our water filter. So glad we have it!
Right off the kitchen is a fantastic laundry room, complete with a dryer, and a couple of clothes lines. This is going to be fantastic when the rainy season hits hard and heavy in a couple of weeks.
Ok, back through the kitchen, over to the living room and dinning room.
Living room. Love everything about it! It's like it was designed for us!
Now up the stairs to the bedrooms and bath.
View out the window up the stairs. Aren't the mountains amazing? And this was at a more foggy cloudy time of day.
Bathroom upstairs. No tub, but that is typical. I love how the shower curtain looks like I picked it out for this bathroom. I had no idea it would work this well!
Next, our room. Aren't the floors great?!
Notice there are no dressers? That's partly because of the humidity. Instead, the closets have shelves that function as a place to put stuff you would put in a dresser.
Alright, there you go! Now it's off to bed, after I get clothes laid out for all of us for school tomorrow. Have a great night guys!
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