Baby Update with Some Cultural Oberservations Thrown In

We're almost to 24 weeks with this new baby.  Feels like it's been a lot longer than that.  For whatever reason, I had that aweful wanna puke but can't but that doesn't mean I can function all day sickness with this one for close to 17 weeks.  Quinn was this bad, but it only lasted, well, 15 weeks.  Whatever.  We'll blame it on the altitude.

While most of my pregnancy with Quinn was here in Costa Rica (we were in language school, remember that year?  ) this pregnancy has been even more Costa Rican, if that makes sense.  We live here now.  We have friends here, close friends.  My doctor this time around is Tico.  It just feels more Tico.  Add to that the fact that this baby will be born here (Quinn was born stateside)  it's just been different.

There are subtle differences in how the culture approaches pregnancy.  For example:  Ticos have absolutely no qualms about touching a pregnant belly.  No thought at all. I am not a touchy person to begin with and then to have 25 year old guys (yes, guys do it all the time!) rubbing my belly, well...it's just strange.

Something else I've noticed that is so very different is people don't ask how I am doing, they ask how the baby is doing.  The conversation typically goes something like this

I walk into a room
Tico friend:"How's the baby today?"

Which I never really know what to say. 
"Ummm, she's fine?" 
"Ummm, she really like dinner last night?"
 I don't know. I usually just say "she's growing!"

I think this points to a very big difference in how children are viewed in this culture.  Here, they are cherished and loved, to a fault some times. As in when one of mine throws a fit, someone is usually there to give them a piece of candy or a cookie to keep them from crying.

Kids aren't considered an inconvenience or annoyance.  We feel this even in the airports as we travel back and forth.  If we are sitting at the gate waiting to board a flight in Latin America, our kids get help putting shoes on, they are given cookies by strangers, no one bats an eye when one cries or gets wiggly.  That help and grace continues though the flight, but once we hit the ground in the US, the attitude is totally different.  Children are viewed as an inconvenience and people often give us looks and rolled eyes.  It's so striking the difference.  I've even heard people say in the US things like "kids shouldn't even be allowed on airplanes."  Here, if you have an infant with you, you are usually bumped to the front of whatever line you are in.

Everyone asks me if the baby is a boy or girl and once they find out it's a girl, they immediately want to know her name.  As in the doctor asked me this last week so he could write it down in my medical records.  I've heard him call babies by their name while he's doing the ultrasounds.   I mentioned to a friend that one of our boys was a couple hours old before he had a name and look of shock on her face was priceless!  She said "OH!! You CAN NOT do that to your daughter!!" 

Nombre Bebé:  Baby's Name

For the record, we haven't settled on a name just yet, and I doubt we'll share it before this little one is born, but you never know, we might cave to cultural norms here.

Speaking of cultural norms...earrings.  Yeah, here they do it at the hospital within the first 24 hours or so.  It was comical to me when I asked on Facebook for moms' opinions on this cultural custom.  Most of the responses were from friends and family in the States and the overwhelming response was "DON"T DO IT!  Let her choose."  The response from my Tica friends was "DO IT!  It won't be as painful and she won't remember the pain.  Plus she's a girl!"  I am not sure I've ever seen a little Tica without earrings.  So we'll see, not sure what we'll end up deciding. This is defiantly ones of those "it's not right or wrong, it's just different" cultural things.

So you never know, after living here almost 5 years, you just might know this little girl's name well before she's born and she might end up with earrings within the first hours of her life.  

Moving, Again

Well.  We are just about 6 days away from returning to Costa Rica.  Somehow that went fast and slow all at the same time.  Strange how time works like that.

And 6 months is just a weird amount of time.  On one hand, it's really long.  It is a half a year after all.  But on the other hand, it's only half a year.  Just enough time to start to get to know someone, to start to feel connected to a community, to start to form new friendships.  It's just a weird amount of time.

It's been a good time of reconnecting with family, supporters, and friends, as well as developing new friends and connections.  One of my biggest concerns about this time was a lack of community.  We are living in an area we last lived in 8 years ago.  That's a long time.  People have moved on.  But God has been so faithful.  About 3 weeks before we left for the US He told me "don't worry, I am going before you."  And He did!  I was able to be part of a women's group for the whole 6 months and those ladies took me in and made me a part of them.  We have also been making connections at a new church in the area, and it's been good.  Very good.

 And now we are into the last week and the emotions are all over the place!  With the goodbyes and the see you laters and the excitement of heading back to Costa Rica, and well, it's just a lot.  Quinn asks multiple times a day when we are going to Costa Rica.  Almost everything is packed, except for the clothes we need for the next 6 days.  Monday we move out of the mission house and will stay with my parents for a few days.  The van has sold.  There are just a few things left in the fridge.

While we're sad to be saying the goodbyes, we are oh so excited to say the holas again!  We've so missed our friends, our church family and neighbors while we've been gone!  And ok, I'll say it, we've missed our stuff too.  I am ready to be back in our space, with our things. 

So pray for us as you think of us.  That we would say goodbye well and have a smooth transition back to Costa Rica. Things are different there too, friends have left that we didn't think would, so we weren't able to say goodbye.  Things have changed because we've been gone for half a year.  And things have happened in our lives.  After all we're different than we were 6 months ago too.

By the Numbers

 

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An Epic Spring Break

So, we wanted to do something uniquely American over spring break with the boys.  As we thought about it, what is more American than a road trip?  Hours upon hours in the car, construction, stopping at strange road side attractions.  Nothing I tell you.

Oh sure, the boys had road tripped it to Panama and Nicaragua, but those weren't quite the same.

So we started to plan.  We have friends from language school in Memphis and in Kentucky and some friends from college in Southern Indiana.  And then we found out about the City Museum in St. Louis, and a route began to form...



A great big oval.  The first day our goal was to hit the City Museum by about lunch time, which meant leaving MI at 4:30 am.  Early, but doable.   We got on the road right on time, but the kids didn't follow the plan of falling back to sleep once in the car.  At least they were in that zombie like state for a couple of hours.  Well, except for when one started throwing up.  Poor kid, 6 times.  We thought he had out grown the car sickness.  But we made it.

Boy, we weren't prepared for what the City Museum really was!  It's an old warehouse with a series of holes and passages and tunnels and all sorts of things to climb on in and out of the building.  We initially thought we would bring the stroller in, and then we quickly realized that was a really really bad idea.  There were a million people there that day (the walls of the building were sorta pulsing with noise when we waked by on the outside!), but once we figured out the best plan was for Noah to take the big boys and I take Quinn it actually was fun from almost everyone.

Quinn's favorite was by far the piano which I let him bang on as hard as he wanted. The big boys loved the skateboard room where you just run and jump and slide.

Then it was back in the car for another 5 hours on our way to Memphis.  We were sooooo excited to see our friends the Savells.  They have been back in the US for about two years now and are doing great!  We kinda feel like war buddies with these folks.  You know, because Language School is like war!  Or maybe I've been watching too much M*A*S*H lately.  Anyway.

It was great to have personal tour guides of Memphis and boy did we hit all the high points, Graceland, The Peabody Hotel, Beale Street, A. Schwab, Lorrane Motel, and BBQ.  And when I say we hit them, there was some driving by, and some visiting.  Either way, it was a lot to pack in.  There was a lot of laughing, and amazing food!

After a couple of days with the Savells, it was on to Kentucky, to visit more friends from language school.  The Steeles are back in the US as their ministry focus has shifted and Tony is doing a lot of traveling.  We had a great time with them, more good food, learning about their area of Kentucky, seeing the Tennessee and Ohio rivers and laughing.    Somehow we never got a picture with them!

After another few days, we hit the road again and headed to Southern Indiana to see friends from college, the Mains. 

They were amazing!  More great food (as you can tell, this was an eating vacation!), playing outside, porch lunches and exploring caves! The boys even got to pan for semi precious stones at the caves.  Elliot was in love with that whole process!  That kid is a hunter gatherer for sure!

The Mains also threw an fabulous party for their small group so we could share about what God is doing in Costa Rica.  Their church also wanted to hear more, so we were able to share on Sunday morning as well.  Amazing!

After one last lunch on the porch, we hit the road again for the Mitten and made it back by about 9pm Sunday night.  What an Epic Spring Break!