Yet another

Alex was still feeling under the weather, still complaining of an earache, still running a low fever. Another day to rest and get better.

Cristina and the girls went to the Escazu Waldorf School to celebrate the festival of Saint John. This is a very new school having just opened in February, as is typical of the school schedules here. They have 9 students in 1^st, 3^rd and 4^th grade combined and about 15 in the kindergarten. Also typical of Costa Rica, things NEVER start on time. So although Cristina and the girls arrived on time at 10:30 am, most others were arriving by 11 am. So they had a chance to look around the large house and very large yard (by Costa Rican standards) they have converted into the school. First the grades teacher welcomed everyone and explained the significance of this festival. He told a story about John the Baptist, and his wife. The basic theme was allowing your “light” to shine as brilliantly as possible. Things continued with each of the primary grades doing presentations of verses in Spanish with stomping, recorder songs, and a play in English.

The kindergarteners did a sample circle in Spanish and French. Then the primary teacher and kindergarten assistant put on a marionette show about a little girl trying to get her lantern lit and those she met during her pursuit. This was followed by a lantern walk around the grounds, and a school picture. The parents served snacks on the back patio. Overall, Cristina and the girls spent several hours at the celebration.

Alex and I spent most of the morning watching TV together. We watched “The Ewok Adventure,” a made-for-TV Star Wars related movie from the mid-eighties. Surprisingly, I had never seen it before. It was dubbed in Spanish. The special effects were ridiculously bad, but Alex liked it.

As we got the kids ready for bed, Sofia felt warm. We took her temperature and she had a fever! Will this ever end?

At about 8 pm, Cristina and I were on the computer when we heard what sounded like a marching band coming down the street. Nothing really surprises me anymore regarding noise in this city at all hours, but our curiosity got the better of us and we went outside to investigate. A parade of drum corps, firefighters with lit torches, and every fire truck you can imagine was slowly making its way from the church to the fire station in honor of their patron saint, Santa Barbara. It didn’t last long, but it definitely got everyone’s attention.

Late night parade