Kevin arrived home with Paul at about 6 pm. Paul, poor guy, was exhausted. I figured they'd both be hungry so I prepared dinner and we ate shortly after we gave Paul the tour of the guest house. We chatted a bit, had a cup of tea and then Paul turned in for the night. I hope he sleeps well. It will be interesting to hear his feedback. At first glance, he seemed happy with his accommodations. He's here for two weeks, so he will have plenty of time to let us know where improvements can be made. He seemed quite chuffed there was a TV with satellite. I hope all our guests are so easily pleased.
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Today, Kevin and I spent the morning clearing up in the guesthouse. When Kevin left to pick up Paul at the airport in San Jose, I stayed behind to wash all the windows... all 78 little panes x 2 (inside and out). I made the bed with fresh, clean linens and two comforters for added coziness. Then I took care of the bathroom and kitchen. I cleaned the fridge out and put the small appliances in their place. Then, I decided to walk over to Martín's restaurant to buy two baskets. Frankie followed me there and back again. It was her first time walking on the log over the river. She needed a boost up, but trotted across without any problems. Martín was there and took down two beautifully woven baskets, which he made last week. I paid him and headed back home, where I filled the new baskets with wood and kindling and placed them beside the counter in the kitchen, just in case Paul wants to use the wood stove.
Speaking of the guesthouse, I took new pictures and uploaded them under Guest Accommodations. Make sure you check them out! Today was the most gorgeous day. It was the nicest day we've experienced so far in terms of weather. Beautiful blue skies, 25°C, with a slight breeze... and just when I was getting hot working in the garden there was a misty rain to cool me off. This particular mist is caused by the east wind colliding with the west wind over the mountains. It's the oddest thing; blue skies and a very light rain all at the same time.
Martín opened all the ponds (which means there is water flowing in all ponds) and it looks fabulous. I love seeing the ponds full. He also cleaned out the chicken coop, so our ladies are happy (I'm not sure they really care all that much, but I like it when it's clean – much nicer experience for Kevin and me). We collected 7 eggs today, and I have to admit, it's still just as exciting as the first time. Martín also cut the grass and Clara weeded the flower gardens so everything is looking really tidy. I spent much of the day weeding in the vegetable garden... two weeks' worth of weeds awaited my return. Weeding is not my favourite chore, but today, I rather enjoyed it. Kevin worked on the guesthouse. He finished installing the new light fixtures I bought at Ikea while I was in Canada. They look great! I'm so pleased. And he also finished putting the shower back together. Everything is now in good working order and freshly painted. Then, the Sky technicians came to install a second satellite box for the guesthouse. We want our guests to have the option to watch some TV or movie in the evenings. Since it gets dark by 6 pm, we want to make sure they will be comfortable and relaxed in this space. Tomorrow, our friend Paul arrives from Canada for a two-week visit. We can't wait to see him. Kevin's parents bought us a clothes dryer as a house warming present. Since it's been cloudy and rainy since I've been home, we decided it was time to go pick one up. November is still rainy, we were told, but the sun should increase day by day. Well, Kevin said it was mostly drizzly while I was gone and I've not yet seen the sun, so I guess sunshine is not guaranteed afterall. The temperatures are still lovely so it's not really that bad, just a little damp. Our new dryer will be hooked up to a propane tank instead of using electricity and we'll be putting it in the carport as we've run out of room in the garage.
Thank you Mary and Keith for a great gift, which will come in very handy! The English teacher, Catalina, just emailed me to let me know that she's set up a meeting with the Rio Blanco school board, which consists of the Spanish teacher, Elizabeth, the dairy farmer's wife, Adriana, and one parent per child. She told them that it would be nice for everyone to meet me since I'm now a permanent fixture in the classroom. They all seemed to have agreed. She did not tell them that I will be presenting them with money that my family and friends contributed to my fundraising efforts. I look forward to their reaction and I hope I can be part of the decision-making process of where the money should go. Finishing the kitchen is first priority, but if there's money left over, there are many other things it can go towards.
How quickly we get back into a routine. Kevin and I woke up at 5:30 am, got up and had a cup of tea and some breakfast. Then I drove over to the school to give the kids the colouring books and pencil crayons I had bought for each of them. When they saw me drive up to the school, they were all jumping up and down and waving. What a 'welcome home' greeting. It was so nice to see them all again. I didn't stay as the kids were writing exams today and I had to get back to finish painting the guest house.
I will be setting up a meeting with the school committee to present them with the fundraising money. I can't wait to see their faces. When I got back home, Kevin lead me around the property, showing me all the things he and Nacho had accomplished while I was away. We now have a beautiful fence, providing some security next to the cliffs. Much safer now. Then I checked out my garden, which is totally overgrown. I have to get in there and start weeding again! Carrots are growing nicely and so is a leafy green, which we discovered through the wonders of the internet is called Mizuna. It looks a little bit like a type of Arugula with wider leaves and it has a bit of a cabbage bite to it. It's quite delicious. And my tomato plants are really growing. I picked a beautifully ripe tomato. It was small, but really tasty. Then hens gave us 6 eggs today, as well. After reacquainting myself with the land, I got to my chores. I started by putting the first coat of paint in the shower and then the kitchen cabinets, where I had left off two and a half weeks ago. Then Kevin was hankering for some lunch, so I made us both sandwiches with egg, tomato, cheese and Mizuna greens. I continued my painting for a few more hours, but since it was so cloudy today and Kevin was working on installing the light fixtures, it was becoming too dim to see what I was doing, so I cleaned up the brushes and went in to bake some banana bread with the rest of the bananas Rolando gave us. Then I started on dinner. It's nice to be back and feeling productive. I had a great time in Canada. I'm full of mixed emotions though: very sad to leave my children as I had such a fantastic time with them and oh so happy to be back home with Kevin, Frankie, our hens and fish... I guess I settled into our Costa Rican lifestyle more than I had realized. The good news is that Phoenix and Jude will both be coming here during March break. Something to look forward to!
The flights home were good. I had a short layover in El Salvador. So short, in fact, that I got off the first plane, walked over to Gate 15 and walked right onto the second plane. I'm sure glad the first flight wasn't delayed! Having said that, as I sat down I noticed the flight crew from the first plane was filing on board, so I guess the second plane would have had to wait regardless. Kevin was outside the San Jose airport waiting for me at 4:30 pm. A sight for sore eyes, let me tell you! It was the first time we'd been away from each other for two full weeks. It was cloudy and quite warm (23°C). Unfortunately, the traffic through San Jose was incredibly slow and it took us two hours to get out of the city. Then another hour from Cartago to our place. It was pitch dark by then and very foggy so visibility was hampered. You really have to be careful driving up the winding roads, but we finally made it home. I unpacked and found that the Bodum I had bought had shattered into a hundred pieces. I had wrapped it in linen, but I should have done a better job. I had bought it for the guest house, so, we'll have to find a different alternative. Oh well, it is what it is. Now looking forward to a goodnight's sleep. Exhausted. GOING:
When Kevin dropped me off at the airport two weeks ago, I got to the United Airlines counter to check my bags and the man told me my flight to New Jersey had been cancelled due to a storm. I asked him if he could find me another flight. After about 20 minutes (I suspect it was his first day on the job), he found me a flight that flew into Houston with a 4-hour layover before flying to Toronto. Everything went smoothly until the plane flying from Houston to Toronto started leaking fuel. We had been flying for approximately 30 minutes when the pilot came on the overhead speakers, spoke in a calm, jovial voice and said we had to turn back. We landed without incident, except there were about 20 fire trucks, ambulances, police cars waiting for us. It was pretty unnerving. It wasn't until I had talked to Kevin later that evening that he reminded me that it would only take one spark (and wheels touching the ground upon landing often create sparks due to friction) for the plane to explode. There was no sense of panic at the time, but when I reflected on what could have happened, I felt shivers). COMING BACK: I got to the airport in good time and stood in line waiting for the airline counter to open. There were only a few people in the line-up, and right in front of me was a young latino couple (maybe in their early 20s). The young lady looked sick and scared. I couldn't hear what they were saying to each other, but the young man appeared to be working hard to cheer her up, trying to make her smile. He seemed very attentive, which was nice to see. They checked in their luggage, and then it was my turn. There many people behind me, and apparently the flight was nearly full. When I boarded the plane, I found my seat and saw that I was sharing the row with the same young latino couple. From the time we took off to the time we landed, this poor girl was throwing up in a plastic bag. Thank goodness she was sitting by the window and I had the aisle seat. Her partner tried to shield me from it all, but it's hard to ignore. Poor girl. All I can say is travelling is not for sissies! I will be flying back to Canada tomorrow morning to see my kids (YAY!!!), my parents and my dear friends. I'll be gone for two weeks, keeping very busy. I will resume writing when I return November 20. I hope you all come back to follow our adventure!
Well, today I faced the same problem as I did on Saturday. Not only did Rolando give us a bagful of oranges, but he also gave us a big bunch of bananas. None of them were ripe enough to do anything with last week, but Kevin brought up 6 ripe ones this morning. So, after meeting with Angela to go over all the Copey Learning Center details and curriculum, I came home and made some banana bread. I found an easy recipe on-line and it was ready to eat within the hour. It was delicious, if I do say so myself. Kevin gave it the thumbs up, so I'll be keeping that recipe handy. Cooking with fresh ingredients sure does taste better – at least we've noticed a difference.
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