Week 8: Getting Robbed, More Teaching, and First Game

So, after I wrote our blog last week, we went to a nice little secluded beach (one of our favorites), and we ended up having all of our things stolen off of the beach!  It was completely our fault as we left our things unattended as we strolled down the beach.  As we were walking a Costa Rican man started motioning to us and pointing in the direction we had been sitting. Apparently two “chicos” came out of the bushes and grabbed our basket of towels, sunscreen, goggles, etc. that also included my purse and brand new camera.  We ran towards the road where they went to try to find them (also thinking that they were younger boys because the man said, “chicos”).  They ended up ditching the basket of items and taking the purse and camera.  Unfortunately, my purse had my phone, our car keys, house keys, 2 credit cards, my driver’s license, and more.  We were locked out of our car with no one to call and no idea what to do.  We continued to look for these “chicos” and talked to the man who saw them on the beach.  After hearing his description of one being “tall with big muscles” we figured out they were likely “men” instead of boys. We also looked more closely at our car and discovered that there were markings on the outside rim of some of the windows that looked as though a crowbar of sorts was used to try to pry open the windows to break in.  God bless the 1996 RAV4 for holding up as they were unable to get in!

Shortly after some local men who were fishing nearby came up and helped us call the police (yes, it is still “911” here!).  Funny enough, the locals told us they usually never go to this beach because there is too much theft!   The police showed up about 45 minutes later just as it started to downpour.  Of course, neither officer spoke English, so I did my best to communicate what happened.  Luckily we had another set of keys at home and the officers were able to drive the boys and I home to get them.  Mark stayed with the car because we feared that these men would return once we left and get into our car because they had the keys now.  There is no way Mark could leave that unattended with our passports and his wallet inside (we have since learned to NOT keep our passports with us, but rather just a copy of them in case they are needed for identification).  We returned with the extra set of keys and the police encouraged us to file a report down at the station.  I’m not sure what they will do, but we’ll see.  We certainly learned a tough lesson and are much wiser for it now!

*Note: we are sharing a phone right now so if you need to reach either one of us we are on WhatsApp with Mark’s phone number: 262-949-7437.

Here is the beach we will not be visiting again for awhile!

More teaching…

Mark is keeping busy as he continues his long-term teaching job and working diligently to refresh his memory on Chemistry and Physics.  He will be done with this job on October 15th when a new science teacher arrives to officially fill the position (apparently, she is a returning teacher who worked at the school a couple of years ago).  He is enjoying working with the high school kids and learning how to work with the 6th graders!  It has been a challenge.  We do our best to help him get set up in the morning and ready for the day.

Just when I think there will be a “lull” in the substitute teaching jobs, I was asked to cover for a secondary teacher who will be out 4 days next week.  It seems that this teacher has to return to the states as her bank accounts have a “lock” on them and she needs to figure out what is going on-poor family!  And they have to travel back with 3 young boys.

I’m sure that many of you are curious as to what we get paid here to sub.  First, teacher pay is very low, even at a private school that charges a high tuition.  We have heard teachers make about $1,800 a month.  The sub pay is $35 a day (there are no taxes taken out of this)-in Wisconsin it is about $110 a day now (with taxes taken from this).  As a long-term sub who is lesson planning, correcting papers, etc. they are paying Mark $60 a day.  It is definitely money that we can use!

First game…

Ray had his first official soccer game!  His school played a local soccer team that was not affiliated with a school, but rather, was a group of boys who were some of the “best of the best” in the area.  They were extremely out-matched, but it was a great experience.  Ray’s team consists of players from 8th grade to 12th grade.  As we drove to the field and saw the opposing team, Ray’s first comment was, “wow, they all look like they have beards”.  Ha!  Ray played tough and did his best so that’s all we can ask for!  We even got to see a rainbow during the game and John got to be the ball boy.

Other events…

• John finally got his first haircut and as he says, “it was cheap and good!”.  John liked that he used a lot of gel and the guy tried to give him a mohawk!

• So, I decided to look into getting the car washed professionally as we do not have a vacuum and our car has been full of sand for quite some time.  I was jumping for joy after I got the car “washed”, which really means “detailed” here, and it only cost me 5,000 Colones (or about $9).  They powerwashed, vacuumed, scrubbed, cleaned the tires, etc for an hour and the car looks like new!
  

  Until next week, Pura Vida!

  Janet, Mark, Ray, and John

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