Bob Esponga

Had a fun weekend in Monteverde, though admittedly didn´t take advantage of an entire weekend of free time, good health and blue skies. I regret not making more of an effort to hike in one of the reserves, but alas I was too busy eating cake and ice cream and more cake and more ice cream. I had a great time celebrating Sebastian´s 6th B-Day on Saturday with about ten of his 6 year old friends, most of the neighborhood families on our block and countless members of extended family - grandparents, aunts, cousins, etc. I knew it was going to be a good day, when I returned home to a Sponge Bob pinata laying in my bed - under the sheets, head on my pillow. Before the party Roy, Marlon and I did one loop (about 8 miles) of the Caminata, the fundraising annual walk organized by the school. It was a scorching day and 8 miles spent trudging up and down the rugged terrain of Monteverde inspired a perfect appetite for the pizza-eating and water balloon throwing that was to follow.

We returned home tired and hungry, but excited to see Sebas and all of his regalos (presents), most of which were battery operated cars and trucks. I found some little parachute men at the one toy store in town (which also doubles as the library and bookstore) which were a huge hit. We spent a good hour after pizza-eating, launching the men off the balcony of the house. The party lasted about four hours, replete with food, pinata bashing, and running (ad nauseum) up and down the dirt road leading to the house, yellling, pretending to fall (sometimes really falling) and doing it all over again.

As for the rest of the weekend, I spent Friday night dancing at the usual haunts, and went to a house party on Saturday, which was strangely reminsicent of the house parties of high school days. Want-to-be-bouncers lingered at the front door inspecting the caliber of party-goers and American music blasted inside a room devoid of any furniture. Some differences; the iridescdent disco ball hanging from the center of the room and the blacklights and flourescent Bob Marley posters papering the walls. Another somewhat arresting difference about this party and those I attended in high school was that a few of my students MOTHERS, who admittedly are about my age, were there drinking and dancing. It was slightly awkward talking to Mark´s mom about how Mark didn´t hand in his poetry assignment while waiting in line for a beer.

Anyways, Sunday was very lazy. Yuri´s first student and the namesake (!) of Pablito came to visit for a few days. Paul, though we called him Pablo Grande, is a really good guy and the boys were so excited to see him again. Unfortunately with Holly (the other student) and Sergio (a cousin), that made 9 people living in a house with 5 beds and one bathroom. Yuri pretty much slept on a blanket on the kitchen floor. I offered her space in my master bedroom, but she insisted that this was normal and she´s used to sleeping on the floor. I for one felt entirely not normal, retiring to my spacious room for one, while five boys crammed into a double bed. Roy suggested that we all sleep in the ¨big bed¨ (n.b. the ¨big bed¨ is not quite a full sized bed) for one night, but we decided that Pablito might get squashed during the night.

The school week has been going well...pretty uneventful. Looking forward to another weekend in MV. I´m planning to hike Cerro Amigos, a relatively short, but very steep trail to the highest point in Costa Rica. On a clear day it´s possible to see Arenal volcano from the summit. Other than that, I`m beginning to gear up for my trip to Nicaragua next Saturday. Excited to start traveling again. And then, only about three weeks left at school - unbelievable!

Hope things are well in the north. Adios por ahora.

Kat