Media Naranja

Sam took this photo of a mobile made from shells and marine debris.

Generally, we've adapted to the Tico style of rising early, around 4:30 on turtle days, but before 6 on other days and then going to bed early, often just after 9pm. This means you get an enormous amount of things done (or at least lots of things begun) and discover it's only noon. It's very satisfying. The whole day seems to stretch more kindly this way. Two things threaten to throw this all off though. 1) We've family (yay!!) arriving in a few weeks, followed by friends (yay!) and I anticipate later evenings sharing rum and stories. 2) Three of the books I've been waiting for at the library have just arrived in my inbox and I do like a good bedtime chapter or six.

Inspired by these, Maeve used her shell as a horn and sketched this.

This evening, after dinner, I walked into the kids' room as they were standing (in underwear only, which is the norm for them here - and also in Canada I suppose), right hands raised, reciting the Tide Pool Pledge to one another (touch gently, be safe, leave every animal etc.) So, our parental work is done, right? Oh, well, they did dissolve quite quickly into arguing over who stepped on whose bed with whose dirty feet. So, we'll continue.

In case you thought the monkeys and turtles got all the attention, even a worm gets carefully examined. I love how they are still eager to watch and then look things up in the field guides to identify what they've found.

From our Spanish teacher, I learned two things of note the other day. One is that when Costa Ricans can't participate in something because they don't have the money, they say instead that they don't have the time. She explained that it's just more eloquent that way. Also, your significant other is often called your 'media naranja' or "the other half of your orange." Obviously, this is how I will refer to Dan from now on. Our Spanish learning continues to be slow, mostly because we are not diligent enough to practice at home or fluent enough to speak with those around us. Plus, though our teacher is good, she's also interesting and I find myself, in class, wondering about her and wanting to ask about her story (she used to be an archaeologist here and in Egypt, she's left all of her family in San Jose etc.), rather than listen about verb conjugation.