Good Little Catholic Girl

http://www.oldparkedcars.com/2011_12_01_archive.html



We've been on the lookout for a vehicle, and this is one of the models we test-drove. Landon says it's a toaster on wheels. With its drum brakes and lack of power-steering, I refused to even drive it. (We were on a steep, dirt mountain path and Logan was on board. I haven't driven stick shift in 13 years. And yes, I'm a coward.) Although it'll fit our family of 6, we just didn't feel very safe in the 1987 micro-bus. An ex-professor here is selling a 20 year old REAL minivan imported from Massachusetts that we're hoping to buy next week. After going five and a half months without a vehicle, I almost feel like it's "giving up" to get one now. But Landon says he needs it for his research, so I'm going to happily comply with his request.



Jocelynne and Chloe zip-lining through our apartments using a tall broom that is used to brush mold and cobwebs off the walls.



Joss' first day of public school in Turrialba. Tania says Jocelynne won't speak in class, so she talks for her. As one can discern from the pictures, Chloe and Tristan have been a bit jealous and are anxious start their school.



This public school is right next to the Catholic church in the middle of town, and it seems that the school is an extension of the church. On the first day of school, there was an assembly where a Catholic priest delivered a sermon. (Sidenote: it was a surprise assembly that caught me with 4 young children in a standing-room-only hall for over an hour. I parceled out my whining kids to the women around me who were willing to hold them (which was everyone. Theylove the cute little machitos ("light ones"). At that assembly we were informed that the school schedule was changing and the kids would be released at varying times for the next two weeks. I had just arranged transportation for Joss and worked out a drop off/pick-up schedule that would accommodate nap times, the 2 different schools and the CATIE bus schedule. I'm trying to adopt a more laid-back, Tica attitude like all the other mothers who just smiled and nodded when apprised of the change. But I almost became a swearing woman at that assembly, which would've been a shame after that Priest gave such a nice sermon.



http://mightyrivers.net/media/slideshows/Rich-Colors-Of-The-Rich-Coast/content/bin/images/large/Tropical-Water-Apple.jpg

Tristan and I had fun picking water apples the other day. They were high up in the tree, so we had to jab at the fruit with long poles and duck as the apples crashed to the ground.

I've found that one can speak her mind here without being considered tactless if she does it with a smile. Thus, I have been told that I am thin, EXCEPT for my legs. I've been asked my weight, my sister's weight, how much I pay my help, our monthly income, and if my mother-in-law dyes her hair.

I had an encounter with a good-sized beetle at church on Sunday. I felt it walk down my neck and into my shirt, where it got stuck half-way down. My clothes came off pretty quickly, as you might imagine. Fortunately, I was in the church bathroom helping Tristan do his business when the beetle began its death march.