Farewell Cookout

Apparently, the salsa (or pico de gallo) I’ve been making is a hit with the extended family, because every time we all get together, that’s what Wito tells me to contribute. Today everyone was meeting at Carmen’s house for a cookout. I hadn’t made the salsa the night before, so I took everything over to make it at Carmen’s.

As soon as we got there, I started dicing tomatoes and getting everything together. The kids started playing. It was a warm, sunny day…unusual for Carmen’s, where it’s usually overcast, windy, and a little cool.

Throughout the day, Fabian grilled an assortment of meats: chicken, pork, and beef. I liked the way he served them. After grilling the meat, he would cut it into pieces and serve it on tortillas. So no plates or utensils were necessary. When a fresh platter of meat off the grill arrived, you just picked your piece, scooped it up in the tortilla it was laying on, and ate it. The tortilla made a nice meat-holder. Like an edible plate. I might try that some time at home.

Among the afternoon's activities: the kids played in the sandbox and created an impressive lagoon (filled with buckets of water) and a volcano. I tried to make their volcano erupt with baking soda and vinegar, but Carmen didn't have any baking soda.

The kids slid down the hill behind Carmen’s house. They sat on pieces of cardboard box. Unlike the failed attempt when it was raining, the kids were more successful this time. Still, the hill was quite steep, and the kids often fell off their cardboard. I’m sure we’ll have some nice souvenirs (of the grass stain variety) to take home to Phoenix.

Eventually, the kids played in the hose, getting soaked. After they changed into dry clothes, Fabian got his kite out. It's always windy at their house, so the conditions are perfect for kite-flying.

A little chorus line action

Cristina dancing with her dad

Towards the end of the evening, an impromptu game of backyard baseball got started. We set up bases (using flip-flops, children’s books, and whatever else was handy). We had a nerf bat and a foam baseball, so everyone could play and no gloves were required. At one point during the game, Bella started reading the third base, but we played around her.

Fabian, Ricardo, and Fernando had a lot of fun by adding a tackling element to the game. If they were trying to get someone out they’d tackle them. Fabian especially loves to tackle Wito. He body slams him any chance he can get. We had several pileups, where someone tackled someone, and then everyone else piled on top. Tripping was not out of the question either as you can see from the photo evidence below.

Alex winds up to pitch...Fernando is on first, Ricardo covers first base...

The ball is hit...Fernando takes off...but wait! Ricardo has strategically extended his right leg!

Down goes Fernando! Down goes Fernando!

Wito finally joined the game to pitch...

...and wound up on the bottom of a pileup more than once.

Carmen brings 'em home

Everyone stayed late because it was our last day together and no one wanted it to end. It was also the end of the school break for Costa Rica, so the kids would be heading back to school the next morning. I believe we were the last ones to leave, and it was after 8 pm. On the ride home, Cristina and I talked about how we’d like to live in Costa Rica for a year or two. Especially now that the kids have their Costa Rican citizenship, a year or two living here would afford them the opportunity to learn Spanish, and then if they ever chose to go to college in Costa Rica (since it would be free for them) they’d be able to. It would all depend on a) what happens to our house in Arizona, and b) whether I could get a teaching job in Costa Rica. But regardless of what happens, we’ll definitely be in Phoenix one more year.

Bella fell asleep on the way back to Pavas (it’s kind of a long ride) but she woke up and ate some bread and jelly before going to bed.

I realized that I left my laptop charger at Carmen’s house. Major bummer, because they live so far away. Wito called her and she said she’d bring it by after picking up the kids from school on Monday. But until I got the charger back, I couldn’t do much work on the blog. The battery would only last so long.

Though it was late and we were tired, we found a movie on TV called The Shipping News and got hooked. It was great, although I watched most of it without my glasses, because I thought I was going to fall asleep. But the movie was too interesting.