Puntito - The Little Polkadot Car!

We've been in Costa Rica for 6 weeks now.  Each day walking, taking buses, and hailing taxis in the rain.  This experience has been a huge adjustment from our two-car suburban lifestyle in Colorado.  Not bad, but certainly an adjustment.  Trips to grocery stores similar to Costco without a car have proven to be an exercise in strategy and will.  The only cheese we have found that will melt into homemade mac-n-cheese is a 30 minute walk from our house.  I make the walk.  I love mac-n-cheese. We have it figured out and have hit a rhythm.

This past weekend, as a shout out to our past we made the leap and we rented a car!  I kept snapping pictures of the girls buckling their seat belts, Chris navigating roundabouts, paying tolls...not one of them turned out.  The car was so small it was like I shoved the entire family in a closet with a steering wheel and some seat belts and told them to say "cheese!"  We named the car Puntito, or "little dot" in English.

We soaked in every minute of independence; the fact that we could turn on the radio and listen to Costa Rica's favorite genre of music - 80's soft rock and ballads.  It's the soundtrack of our life.

On this trip to the beach (a 1.5 hour drive) Chris also managed to smack his nose of the bottom of the swimming pool.  He broke his nose and we had a nice trip to the public hospital to entertain his need for stitches.  We paid $120 for 3 clear bandaids and a nurse to aggressively manipulate his wounded nose.  Also in the background?  Construction workers removing the wall of the exam room using a grinder to cut a nail in half.  Shards of nail and sparks were flying across the room to create an entertaining scene.  Chris and I praised God that we learned to navigate a public hospital when it was only his nose at stake.  Now whenever we walk, taxi, or bus past any form of construction we giggle and shake our heads.  Pura Vida!

Books and Coffee!!!

We are about month into language school and books have taken over our house.  Things are said in our house that we've never said before.  Things like - - "Georgia and Reese! You need to brush your teeth so we aren't late for school.  Mom and Dad can't get a tardy in Grammar class!"  We always pause and laugh.  I think Georgia and Reese are enjoying the shared pressure of school with their parents.

Our days start around 5:30am and rarely wrap up before 10pm.  Each moment is filled with attending classes, studying, cooking, hanging laundry, washing dishes, washing dishes and washing dishes.  Dishwashers are not a common appliance here. We've learned to record our Spanish vocabulary words and listen to them while washing dishes.  Chris is continuing his chronological Bible-in-a-year reading by listening to each daily reading while washing dishes. Genius!!

Chris and I have greatly valued our Monday-Friday lunches together before we tackle the books.  We make the 2nd pot of coffee for the day and study and sip, study and sip, study and sip.

In the evenings all four members of our family are often found sitting at the kitchen table studying and practicing; very often, erasing and reworking.  Never underestimate the power of caffeine!