manuel antonio

drive to the beach
We felt the climate change as we came down from the mountain and headed through villages and little towns to the pacific coast. Who am I kidding? I was mostly sleeping.

Until we got to this point and Mike stopped. We wondered, why is everyone pulling off the side of the road and walking along this overpass?


...and looking in this muddy river...

Crocodiles!

Can you see them? Sometimes it's good to follow the crowd. If we hadn't, we would have missed out on the crocs.


hotel verde mar
This was my favorite place to stay. No restaurant or breakfast, but so much tropical charm.


We loved having a little kitchenette. Somehow it reminded me of college even though we never lived anywhere quite so groovy at BYU.


Our favorite thing about this beach town is the way they left a strip of jungly forest between the hotels and the beach. When you are on the beach, you don't see a strip of hotels. You see trees. This is the view from our hotel. There is a glimpse of bright blue ocean through the trees.





manuel antonio
This forested park was just a quarter mile down the road from our hotel. We saw a sloth almost as soon as we entered the park, then another, then a pair of toucans, and a little golden monkey. It wasn't that easy to see the wildlife, though. They are up high in the thick canopy. We spent a lot of time craning our necks in the unbearable heat and humidity. This is the trail we hiked.


Luckily there were three beautiful, nearly empty beaches to cool off in. Toward the middle of the park we entered the white-faced monkey zone. As we relaxed in the shade and in the water, we had to keep one eye on our backpacks because of the mischievous little critters.



A highlight of the day was making some new friends, Paul and Sarah, to walk around with. They took our picture at the monkey beach.


Here is one of the few iguanas we saw lounging on the beach.


And some more beach pictures.



I think I was happiest walking along the beach at sunset. And running down for one last plunge in the warm waves. Heaven! Thanks for the wonderful trip, Mike!

monte verde cloud forest

When we got to Monte Verde the temperature was about 15 degrees cooler, with strong winds and a cloudy mist in the air. This is Costa Rica's "cloud forest." Most restaurants, shops, and hotel lobbies we saw in Costa Rica were without walls. We weren't sure how they locked up at night. But not in Monte Verde. This is one of the few restaurants we went to with walls. Even so, there was still a local pooch to curl up at your feet while you ate. I just love Mike's blue eyes in this picture.


We communicated with the kids via email. This was a fun internet cafe Mike found.


This is the garden and lush view from the back of our hotel. I spent quite a bit of time reading there, while Mike explored and found a local barber to cut his hair.

We went to the cloud forest park, which featured several tours and experiences. We toured a herpetarium, where we saw indigenous frogs, snakes and lizards. Mike went on a hanging bridges tour while I went to a hummingbird garden.




Together we did an amazing zipline tour through and above the forest canopy. Thirteen different lines, the longest of which was 1000 meters, gave us a different view of Costa Rica's verdant beauty.



As if that wasn't quite enough excitement, the final experience was a terrifying "Tarzan Swing." They attach your harness to a rope and push you off a ledge, and you howl involuntarily, sounding not nearly as much like Tarzan as you'd like to.

I was pretty fulfilled at the end of this day, but Mike realized we could squeeze in a "night tour" of the cloud forest. I didn't take these pictures, but I want to give you an idea of some highlights from the "night tour."
The jewel beetle, which looks solid gold. No kidding.

This one's for you, Ken. The click beetle, which makes a distinct "click" when it flips from its back to its legs. That's not the coolest part, though. It has two tiny headlights that switch on when you touch it. Like two little leds. They slowly dim until you touch it again. Nature is so cool. Especially the stuff that glows.


Our guide was amazing. He pointed out frogs, stick bugs, all manner of insects, and birds sleeping in trees. He showed us swarms of nectar bats darting around the hummingbird feeders. At the end of it all, he zoomed away on his motorbike like an Indiana Jones adventure-nerd.

We finally got some dinner late that night. Beans and rice and the live music playing in our hotel restaurant capped the perfect day.

arenal (costa rica part 2)

observatory
Our first day we drove up north to Arenal. We stayed at the "observatory," the only hotel inside the beautiful national park. We hiked around and marveled at the groaning and rumbling from the volcano.







canyoning
We spent a day on this new adventure sport that involves rappelling, hiking, climbing, and traversing streams. Even getting there was exciting.


That's me, sailing down a waterfall:



And jumping in a deep, but narrow pool:



And Mike. I just love this face. I don't remember him being scared, but I do remember the guides joking around a lot.





volcan arenal
The most spectacular reason to visit Arenal, is of course, the active volcano. There is some activity about every ten minutes. During the day you experience smoke and rumbling, but during the night, if you're lucky enough to be there when it's clear (like we were!) you see lava and molten boulders crashing down the side of the mountain.

pura vida

We've been home a week and a half and unfortunately Costa Rica feels like a distant memory. The reunion with the kids was sweet, but getting back into life...not-so-sweet.

Now when we feel stressed Mike and I say "pura vida" and sigh. "Pura Vida" is Costa Rica's mantra, motto, salutation, affirmation, exclamation, and way of life. It's their best advice. (The cynical side of me would point out that it is also their logo, gimmick, and brand. But hey, why not? Pura vida!) It means "pure life." And when I finally began to surrender to Costa Rica's quirks and charms, I really felt it. Pura vida.

My next posts are going to be more of a travelogue, because I want to tell you about the places we went. But here are some photos to give you the flavor of Costa Rica.


First of all, the food. They offered quite a variety, but I always went with the "typico," meaning black beans and rice, fruit, steamed vegetables, stewed plantains, usually with some chicken or fish blended in. It never got old, and was never presented exactly the same. In this picture, it's breakfast.



Next, the car? You have to realize, we had this car. Three times. The first three cars of our marriage were nissan sentras. So it felt like fate that we would be driving around the treacherous and exciting back roads of Costa Rica in one. Mike won the tug-of-war on renting a budget car, but I won on renting a GPS. And I've never been MORE RIGHT about something. Not only were there no street signs, but no addresses. So the GPS took us everywhere by looking up the names or categories of places we wanted to go. It also warned us of the recurring, one-way "dangerous bridges," and it played a little simba drumbeat periodically to let us know about interesting sights to see. We didn't always feel safe driving around Costa Rica, but we survived without incident.



This is just a typical road. We were on these dirt roads for hours between each of our 4 main destinations.


I laughed at both of these signs. Depicted below, I believe is a child (or little person?), a dog (which, no kidding, there were no leashes or fences for dogs--they were just everywhere, happy and chill. At your feet in every restaurant, frolicking in every park. Pura vida.), a sloth, and a monkey. These last two we did see, but only in the forest.




Here we are at the end, after the "pura vida" mentality has completely soaked in.

More to come!

art literacy

"I love this project!" I heard little voices say this in each of the classes I taught this month. Guess what kids, I loved it, too!

We are learning about American regionalist painter Grant Wood, who did the famous painting of a farmer and his daughter, American Gothic. (above)

He also did a much lesser known sculpture called Lilies of the Alley, using "found objects," in 1925. It was the piece we decided to emulate for our project. Hmmm...I can't find any web images of the original, but I can tell you he used "found objects" such as a flower pot, gears, scrap metal, bottle caps, and clothes pins. He painted and assembled them to look like a colorful little flower. I'll show you what some of the kids did.

First, the second graders:



The rest are from my fifth grade class:






I don't know why it looks like I'm frowning. Really, I LOVE teaching art literacy! Maybe it's just deep, happy concentration. Here I am with Sam:

a lump of dough and a place to grow

My mom used to mass produce homemade bread in our kitchen. She ground the wheat herself and baked the bread in #10 cans, so each slice was a huge circle. She did this regularly, and her bread made up a large part of our daily diet. We had our trademark circular peanut butter sandwiches in our school lunches, which were more the mystery than the envy of the cafeteria.

Why is your bread round?

(Defensively) Well, why isn't yours?

It was whole-wheat goodness, which at times seemed oppressive. Why couldn't we have white Wonder bread like the other kids?

Because mom knew what was best. Mom's bread was healthy, filling, and comfortingly ever-present. And on baking day it was nothing short of a delicacy. I can still smell, taste and touch it. The aroma was one thing, but there was nothing better than a piece of bread fresh from the oven, smothered with honey. Everyone wanted the domed top: the coveted "heel." We could easily devour a whole loaf in an evening.

Sometimes I was my mom's "helper." If I wanted she would give me my own lump of dough to shape into a loaf for myself. I would play with it and sometimes make it into an animal shape, using little dough balls and coils. I would incorporate different spices and color it with food coloring. I would dust it with sugar or salt. It became a masterpiece in my eyes, my own edible art. I don't remember being chided for the mess or the silliness. I remember feeling free and capable.

My mom taught me how to make scrumptious special occasion rolls, cutting dough in circles, brushing on melted butter, and baking until golden brown. She taught me to make pie crusts with fluted edges, and how to decorate cakes, although I never could replicate her frosting roses. She gave me the assignment of Sunday dessert and didn't mind at all when I made it more complicated than it needed to be...like molded orange mousse, individual parfaits, or ice cream cake. My mom allowed me the run of the kitchen. I poured over recipes and baked dessert after dessert. I created my own cookie recipes, the results of which were often inedible. I made up my own pancake toppings, wacky after school snacks, and exotic entrees that required special ingredients. Once, I stayed up half the night making gazpacho and empanadas to impress my Spanish class. She let me have at it.

I suppose my culinary interests were to some degree helpful to my family. I suppose I cleaned up after myself, most of the time. But I think in general it took a great deal of patience and tolerance on my mom's part to have me invade her kitchen. She is a follow-the-recipe kind of a cook and a no-nonsense kind of a homemaker. And yet she gave me latitude to grow in my own way. The closest my mom ever came to scolding me for my experiments was, "you're going to eat that, right?"

So Happy Mother's Day, mom. And thanks for the lump of dough.

let me count the ways...

(to Mike on his fortieth birthday)
You strive for improvement. You love me as much without makeup as with. You help Sam create and make him feel that his ideas are possible. You make house calls to coworkers in their times of joy or sorrow. You are quick to extol the virtues in others. You don’t watch people suffer from a distance; you find out what you can do to help. You love my cooking. You compliment me and make me feel beautiful. You listen without judgment to my insecurities. You compliment my parenting. You go to Sydney’s class when she invites you. You ask my advice. You give me advice but trust me to make my own decisions. You honor my strengths and talents. You seem oblivious to my shortcomings. You support Berkeley and make him feel like a superstar. You are a good son; you take a legacy from your upbringing and make it real and important to your own children. You accept all of our children as they are. You make goals and then make them realities. You are up for anything—from cross-country skiing to laser tag—you’ll do it if I suggest it. You take your family camping in the summer and skiing in the winter and you keep us outfitted for all manner of recreation. You are smart. You are funny. You want to do what’s right. You do what’s right. You understand me. You trust me. You take an interest in my interests and treat me like an authority on those things. You make me feel like I am better than I am. You love your friends but prefer your family. You adore your children. You honor the priesthood and love God above all else. You are a patient teacher. You pray for people. You celebrate the accomplishments of others. You do not get jealous of anyone for any reason. You keep your mind and body clean and pure. You work out. You enjoy doing hard things.

That’s how I love thee…

“…to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight.
….I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.”
—Elizabeth Barrett Browning

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

attention Austen fans

Good news: If you missed the premier of the first installment of the new PBS Emma, you can get caught up at the website this very minute. In the little prelude we hear Austen's own introduction to the character of Emma, "a heroine whom no-one but myself will much like."

I love it and can't wait for next Sunday night! The chemistry between the two leads is palpable, but I do think Knightly is too young and gorgeous. He makes up for it with stern disdain for Emma, which almost masks his affection for her. Romola Garai is excellent as Emma: beautiful, confident, annoying and naive. Miss Bates is maybe my favorite--you really feel the story behind her nervous nature.

Anyway, if you are a fan, watch it and come back here to let me know what you think.

awkward

So, you may think you're getting a glimpse at some of my multiple personalities. Not so.

I maintain blogs for two missionaries, who are siblings. I now have accidentally posted one post from each of them on my own blog. These are real people and not just a figment of my imagination.

Mackenzie is serving in Taiwan, and Brad is serving in the Dominican Republic (a little country that shares an island with Haiti). They both come home this summer.

If I ever do develop multiple personalities, I can only hope they are as amazing as this brother and sister duo. I have enough trouble maintaining just the one personality, though, so I'd best stick with that.