Costa Loca

Photos: Bunch of family photos at Nonna's house in August. Will post Costa Rica pics next time.

If you can't say something nice. . .blog it instead, right? So if any of you were having thoughts about uprooting a family of 6 and moving into a 2 bedroom apartment in a 3rd world country -- wait a minute, who would DO that?

As you can probably tell from the timbre of my writing, this trip has been a real adventure. I suppose I use the word "adventure" euphemistically, as one would call getting his toenails pulled one by one "an adventure." I won't delve into the airport fiascos, as it may be too painful to recall. I'll simply share that we were a freak show with our 11 bags, 3 backpacks, 4 carseats, and 4 children under the age of 6. Moving from one place to the other in the airport consisted of Landon moving everything 15 feet ahead in 4 or 5 trips, then me following with the kids. We'd leapfrog our way through the airport this way as we went from one waiting spot to another. We got quite good at it after spending a collective 19 hours waiting for flights. Now that we're here, we're facing some administrative problems with the school and the country. In the end, we're going to have to throw about $4,000 at them to call it good.

On a brighter note, the girls love their school. Joss and Chloe attend a private school here on campus where they get to do a lot of music and art, and they go to the pool every Wednesday. They like the kids here and spend their afternoons playing with the other children in our apartment complex, but I think the language barrier is starting to frustrate Joss. She said to me this morning, "Mom, I'm tired of speaking Spanish." Since she only knows about 4 words in Spanish, I assume she meant she's tired of not understanding everyone else.

I did my first load of laundry by hand last week. We have a big sink and a clothesline, so I decided to cowboy up and just do it. I think I didn't wring out the clothes well enough, however, because they all mildewed. Still, I felt a sense of accomplishment seeing all of our garments hanging neatly in a line. Then I discovered that I had access to a washer for $1 a load in a facility down the road. That's when I shredded the divorce papers. I still have to line-dry my laundry, but I don't mind that. It's kind of fun. Still, I can see myself running home in 2 years and smothering my dryer with kisses. And my dishwasher. And my hot water heater. And I mustn't forget the air conditioner, which perhaps will be the first appliance in line.

*post script: Landon wants me to insert here that we have an electrical unit jury-rigged to our shower head that heats the water for our showers, just so you don't think we're too deprived. It looks a shade safer than the electric chair.