They´re here, AND they´re alive...

Dear Adoring Fans,

Hello to you all!

Sorry that it´s been so long since we´ve written, but a recent and quite entertaining post from our aunt Nancy prompted this post. If you haven´t read hers, go read it. Thanks Nancy!

We´re alive. And what´s better, our parents are here! And what´s better yet is that they arrived alive and well and almost ready to attempt all sorts of Spanish! Well, dad is. Mom´s playing it safe and sticking with "Gracias."

Greg and Gail and Danny Wilcox made it safely also last night and are on their way to Monte Verde, while our parents are staying around here to spend some quality morning time in a fantastic hotel overlooking a valley and some waterfall while spending time in a hot-tub, and spending some quality afternoon-time hanging out with their beloved children (me. And Sam. I guess) and Kristen.

I can´t remember what the last couple things were that were posted on this blog, since even I have neglected to read them...ssshhh...so I can give a brief two weekend update.

Two weekends ago, Sam and Kristen and I made plans to go to Guanacaste, which I think I spelled wrong, but that place nontheless. Sam was supposed to take a bus at 1pm after classes, which he missed, so he tried to get tickets for the 2pm bus but they were sold out and the 3pm bus wouldn´t stop in San Ramon to pick up Kristen and I and the 4pm bus would be getting to Liberia which is cose to Guanacaste until like 8pm.

SO.

We aborted and decided to head for Volcano Arenal, which is a quite active volcano that spews lava that can be seen at night running down the side of the mountain, which we viewed after spending 4 hours at a natural hot springs that had 20 different hot-pools and swim-up....soda fountains...um, yeah. Anyway.
Not a bad back-up plan.

This past weekend was my 23rd birthday, which was somewhat different (and by ´somewhat´i mean ´completely and totally´) than my previous birthdays. First, the BAD different.

Kristen was sick. And by sick, I mean that she suddenly got food-poisoning at the Albergue (= orphanage) that morning and threw up 9 times in an hour and a half. Not that we were counting. Ever single one. (Nope; definitely didn´t count the two times at the orphanage, the one time in the street gutter on the way to the bus back home, the three times on the bus in a leaky plastic bag, the one time in front of the mall when we got off the bus, the one time in the bathroom in the mall, and the one time on a street corner on the other side of the mall before we got home. Not counting (seriously now) the times she threw up once we finally (F I N A L L Y) got home.

If you´re thinking "Oh! Poor thing...", Kristen approves, as do I. It wasn´t pretty.

So by this time I´m singing "happy birthday to me..." in what one might call a slightly dismal tone.

But then the GOOD different.

I went to an internet café to call my parents (those of you who are saying to yourselves, "right...by ´went´ he means ´fled,´" might be on to something). Things got quite a bit better when the Skype video camera turned on and I saw our family´s "birthday bear" holding a birthday candle with my parents singing to me in the background. Pretty great bit of work. I felt much better.

Then, our host-mom´s aunt, Tia Macha, who is determined to inform and re-inform me every time she comes over that I have "the face of a baby!" (...yep, I sure do! ...) baked me an incredible carrot cake. Our host-sister Gaby put 26 candles on it (shooting for 23 but missing the mark by 3..oh well) and played me a recorder-flute rendtion of "Happy Birthday". It was quite fun.
Then, Kristen handed me her gift, which was a surprise. Weeks before we had looked into getting tickets to go see Placido Domingo live in San Jose that Friday, thinking it would be a fun thing to do. I was a little bummed out when Kristen looked online and told me sadly that they were all sold out.

Liar.

She gave me my present after the flaming (quite literally almost on fire) cake. Inside the card were two mock-tickets to Placido Domingo!
Awesme.
And that was last weekend. The concert was phenomenal, his voice is phenomenal, the orchestra was phenomenal, and the company was...wel, you get the idea. :)

SIDE NOTE: For those of you who are purportedly constantly asking mom and dad if A.) We are engaged, and B.) We are going to bring children back with us, the answer to A.) is NO. The answer to B.) is also NO. If you would like to come and take home a Naranjo Albergue child, you may come and do so at your own risk. But we are not.

And so now, I am sitting in an internet cafe where the cry of "GOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!" is ringing from the TV nearby, the wind is blowing like crazy, the sky is spitting rain, and the northern air currents have dipped the temperature to a very cold 60ish.

Yes, 60-ish. We´ve grown accustomed after three months to having a nice but rainy climate.
January is going to be...bad, for lack of more colorful words.

Tomorrow we´re going to sit in a hot-tub with our parents and eat overlooking some gorgeous green valley with a waterfall. And then Friday we´re going to a picturesque beach for five days.


Like I´m always telling my dad, we never get to go anywhere.

Yeah right. =)

Peace to you. Kristen and Jeff and Katherine say hi.
I´ll tell them that you (all of you) say hi too.

ben.