McCanns in Honduras

Above: Lucy and Sean on the small stretch of beach between the Caribbean ocean and the jungle.

This weekend we went on a trip with other missionaries at our language school to a beach on the Caribbean coast, Punta Uva. Punta Uva is a small beach town on the northern coast of Costa Rica, near the Panama border (to the west). The school set up the trip and the bus travel (6 hours each way) and we had a great time on a much needed break.

Lucy especially loved the water. It took her a little while to get used to the ocean, but soon she was swimming and squealing with joy. She also enjoyed the pool and the bathtub, only her second “real” bath since we’ve moved here.

Although the beach was small, and the water was filled with coral, we had a great swimming spot. We also got to do some snorkeling, played on the beach, and enjoy some fun time with friends.

All in all a great trip, and a beautiful place for Lucy to have her first ocean swim.

Translation: Without Water (seen ag-wa)

Every once in a while, about ever few weeks or so, we loose water in our home. It is not a big deal, it only goes off for a few hours, and usually by the time we go to bed, the water has been turned back on.

We thought this was the case Thursday morning when the water shut off around 9 AM, so we didn’t think anything of it. Unfortunately, is was a big deal, as we still have yet to have water restored, at 6 o’clock Sunday night.

Some guy with a backhoe was working outside Thursday morning when he struck a water line and cut off water for over 400,000 homes in San Jose for over three days.

We’ve been all over looking for water, putting out buckets for rain, and even joining 50 other Tico’s chasing down a water truck, as you can see in the above picture.

Today around 12 a water truck parked on our street (the picture is taken from our front porch) and we all lined up with jugs, bottles, pitchers, trash cans, coke bottles, Tupperware, whatever would hold water. We got about 25 liters and used it to flush our toilet, do some dishes, and give Lucy a bath.

Water is supposed to come on tonight, we’ll keep you posted…

Above: Lucy, Sean, and Lindsey in front of Volcano Poas.

Sorry for the lack of posting early this week, we’ve just returned from a family vacation to the mountains and volcanoes above San Jose. Sean’s parents, Gannie and Mac, flew down Thursday for a quick vacation and some much needed time with grandparents. We rented a car, escaped the San Jose traffic and rain, and made it out of the city and into the hills.

One of the stops on our trip was Volcano Poas, a volcano with a huge crater, aqua blue lake, and constant steam rising from the depths. Despite the constant sulfur smell, we had a great time hiking around the Volcano.

Above: The family huddled together under one of many waterfalls at La Paz.

Another morning, we headed to La Paz, a park full of gardens, animals, and trails along many waterfalls. Lucy loved especially enjoyed the bird and butterfly houses, the monkeys, and the soothing sounds of the waterfalls, which put her right to sleep. The park is filled with all the nature and wildlife Costa Rica has to offer, and we throughly enjoyed hiking around and exploring all morning.

Above: Mac, Gannie, Sean, and Lucy in front of the toucan cage in the bird house at La Paz.

Despite all the beautiful sights and fun walks, the best part of the weekend by far has been time with family. Lucy has truly loved being around her Gannie and Mac, and we cherish the time we can all spend together as family.

Translation: It’s cold!

Above: Lu in her warm, short-sleeve sweater.

Well it appears that the rainy season has also brought in a cold front. Who would ever have imagined that we would report back that it is cold here in Costa Rica, but that day has arrived.  Now cold is all relative here, I think the low today was around 15 C (60 F) and breezy.  We always thought it was funny how the local Tico’s would dress their kids in jackets, hats, and gloves whenever the weather dipped below 70 F, and now we are the ones running for our jackets and long-sleeve shirts!  I told Lindsey today that we know we’ve adjusted to the weather when 65 degrees and a slight breeze makes us want to go inside!

From time to time, as we learn some Spanish, we’ll try to help you learn some as well.

Above: The family ready for a day out in the rain.

Rain (pronounced “you-via”). No other alternate translations, simple rain. In Costa Rica, and most of Central America, there are basically two seasons, the rainy season, and the not rainy season. We arrived here in the not rainy season and didn’t see any rain for a few months. Then a few weeks ago it started raining every afternoon. Although the rainy season isn’t here in full, we have had a few good tastes. The lesson we’ve learned is never leave home without an umbrella or jacket. Some interesting tidbits about the rainy season in Costa Rica:

- Despite the fact that the Tico’s are used to the rain, no one seems to want to go out in it.

- When people do go out in the rain, they almost exclusively use umbrellas, not rain jackets. Rain jackets seem to be a strictly gringo thing.

- There are taxi’s all over the place in San Jose, we’ve never waited more than 5 minutes for a cab, but when it rains there are none to be found. We were stuck out in the rain the other day and asked someone to call us a cab, but he said there were none available, they were all in use. So we put a trash bag over Lucy’s head and walked home.

- Amazingly, the rain can seem to come and go in an instant. It will be very hot and clear in the morning, then pouring in the afternoon, and clear and cool again at night.

The boy scout motto prevails here when going out, always be prepared!

Above: Lindsey and Lucy in front of the jaguar exhibit.

A while back, we headed out the check out the zoo in San Jose. We arrived early (read first ones there, we punctual gringos) and had the zoo to ourselves for a while. We checked out the monkeys, iguanas, sloth, birds, lions, cats, toucans, parrots, peacocks, snakes, turtles, alligators, and too much more to name. Our favorites were the monkeys, which we made a point to see twice. It was great fun to check out new animals and have such close interaction with the nature of our new country.

Above: Sean and Lucy checking out the monkeys.

Above: A giant lizard on the beach at Playa Hermosa (not our photo).

One thing we didn’t plan on for our beach trip last weekend was the abundance of jungle wildlife. We encountered crabs (on the beach and in the pool), frogs, birds, a cat, a dog, bugs, hundreds of cutter ants, and geckos; but most of all lizards!

When we arrived at the beach, we checked in and headed next door to eat a much needed lunch. As we waited for our meal, I heard this loud scratching behind Lindsey. We turned around and not five feet away was a lizard (like the one above) climbing up the side of the wooden canopy! He clambered his way up onto the roof where he sunbathed for the rest of our lunch.

That afternoon, as we were hanging out by the pool, we heard some more scratching and clawing and saw this lizard climbing up a tree.

We managed to get this picture from far away. If you can’t tell, he has a red head and a bright green body.

The next day, after we avoided some small, sun-bathing lizards as we walked to the local tienda, we arrived back to our room to spot this little fella on Lindsey’s pillow.