Pictures

For a bunch of pictures of us flying through the air (and a few others), go to this link  http://www.flickr.com/photos/loriburke/

Life in Escazu and Extended Family

Back in Escazu, we've had an opportunity to get to know some wonderful extended family.....related to Larry's cousins Suzanne and Michael.  And Claire, Adrian and their girls as well as Erika, Arie, and their girls and Don Bernardo and Dona Ofelia have been incredibly generous and welcoming.  

We have been able to get the kids together several times and enjoyed dining at Erika's house as well as attending Shabbat at Don Bernardo and Dona Ofelia's.  And, we were so happy to have everyone over last night for dinner at our place!  And thanks to Adrian for saving the day and getting the BBQ to work after we chased after propane tanks!

 It's been so nice to get to know this warm group of Tico extended cousins!  :)  

Erika is the most amazing baker -- her Nutella Challah is the most delicious thing I have ever tasted!!!!!

 Claire surprised the boys with donuts and pinatas for their birthdays!

Monteverde

Yes, we did it!  We made it to Monteverde -- one of my favorite places in the world!  Monteverde is a cloud forest in the northwestern part of the country.  After a smooth highway drive, we had nearly 10 miles of rugged, rocky, dirt roads to climb.  Steep precipices marked the road as we climbed nearly 1500 meters up.  Monteverde is gorgeous -- with thousands of animal and plant species.  In this cloud forest, butterflies, birds, and hummingbirds abound.

We stayed in a rustic cabin and went hiking on a partially marked trail nearby.  Yes, partially....  it was well marked on the way down to the river -- just not as well on the way back!  But we made it just as it was getting dark.

The highlight of our trip was visiting Selvatura!  There, we hiked up hills and on suspension bridges high up in the canopies of the trees.  We learned about several plant and animal species endemic to the area.  And then, the four of us got harnessed up for an incredible zip lining experience!  Wow!  We all loved it!

Pictures can found here.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/loriburke/  

Oh, and we made it back -- although not without getting lost a bit..... :)

Link to More Photos

For our friends and family who requested to view a few more photos....Uds. estan locos!  But here they are...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/loriburke/ 

Why Live and Work in Costa Rica for 1 Month?

Living abroad and becoming fluent in a second language have been a couple of the most pivotal experiences of my life.  Consequently, I have had a deep conviction about raising our children in a bilingual environment and exposing them to different cultures.  I've spoken with our boys in Spanish since birth.  In fact, Spanish was their first language.  But after 2 years of English Pre-K and Kindergarten, their Spanish language skills have waned.    Their understanding is good; but their ability to converse needs work.  I feel like we are at a crossroads -- and I wanted to do whatever I could to get them in a Spanish speaking environment this summer.

Given the fact that Spanish language camps are harder to find in Miami than you may expect --.and also quite pricey....I started thinking about other options....  And after hearing about our cousin Suzanne's experience learning Spanish and living abroad with family in Costa Rica, it seemed logical.  I could work remotely, rent an apartment, and find a way to immerse the boys in Spanish during the day.  I started researching local day camps and potential accommodations in Latin America.  After researching for several months, we decided to go to Costa Rica for a month!

The boys are attending a local day camp in the mornings while I work.  Then they get an opportunity to interact with kids in the neighborhood in the afternoon (and I can work if necessary) or we can explore the area.  We will get to see some more of this beautiful country shortly when Larry returns and we get to visit more of the rainforest!

Hola! 
We arrived last week in San Jose and have been getting settled in!  We are staying at a friend's cozy townhouse in the San Jose suburb of Escazu.  But the best part is that there are lots of kids in the neighborhood.

At this point, I must interject....as you probably know, our mission here is to live in a different culture, explore the beauty of Costa Rica, but most importantly, to help solidify a Spanish language base for Josh and Ben.

So, with so many nice Costa Rican children, it was quite humorous and ironic (and perhaps slightly disconcerting) that Josh and Ben managed to befriend the only other American in the neighborhood. We're working on making new friends who speak Spanish!






Josh and Ben started camp on Monday.  They are enjoying it -- and I love seeing the pictures taken by the staff.  The pictures show the kids making arts and crafts, playing sports, harvesting fruit and vegetables, enjoying the butterfly garden, taking care of animals, and trying new foods.

At Tiquicia Restaurant - top of the mountain looking down on Escazu

Purchasing fresh fruit and veggies from a local produce vendor

Settling in the house was easy.  Settling in with the language will be ongoing for the three males of our family.  But by far the most difficult aspect of Costa Rica has been transportation.  Yes, this truly is the home of "streets with no name."  And just imagine trying to find the unnamed street when none of the streets have names (except major highways.)  And the maps have no names....  Needless to say, we have been lost numerous times....and we have probably averaged 3x where x=actual time to arrive at destination.  Yes, 30 minute trips are taking 1.5 hours, and so on....

I used to triangulate key data points to develop best estimates for market share data at work.  Now, I'm triangulating data points to find something -- anything!  GPS + map + stop & ask directions = getting somewhat close to destination (although a long detour may be involved.)  Coincidentally, a brilliant article was just published in the Wall Street Journal.  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304870304577489094121477570.html

Apart from getting lost, we are having a great time!  We had the opportunity last weekend to visit some old friends of my Mom's family.  We had a nice time getting to know them, playing on their mountainous terrain, picking mangoes, oranges, lemons, and bananas from their trees, playing with their dogs.  What a spectacular view!  Oh, and did I mention we got lost on the way? 

We've also had a chance to go hiking in the mountains at Universidad para la Paz -- very cool!  (and we got lost for 2 hours)

And we went to INBIOparque, a beautiful biological station and nature conservatory!!!   After developing a solid early science foundation in kindergarten, Josh and Ben would not leave the butterfly garden!!!!  They loved learning about the local butterflies (ie: Morpho) and letting them land on their fingers.

Holding bunnies