Weeks 37, 38, and 39: Starting the Process of Returning Home

We only have about 5 weeks until we leave this country and we are starting to mentally (and physically) prepare for the trip home. First on our list is selling our beautiful 1996 RAV4! We would love to have this car in Wisconsin, but we think it would fall apart the instant it turns cold out (nor could we really get it here as we would have to drive it through Central America and Mexico thereby risking our lives in the process of getting the car home)! We have a potential buyer, so we are crossing our fingers all will go through. And for those individuals who enjoy going retro, the car still has a cassette tape deck!

We have also started to say goodbye to friends. John’s close pal, Godi, is leaving tomorrow to return to Iceland. Godi will be returning to the school here next year, but without John around, I think it will be tough for him. We are already looking into the cost of tickets to go to Iceland!

We are also doing our best to enjoy all of our favorite places/restaurants in these next few weeks. Here are some of the local places we love!

Things we miss:

Since we are heading home soon, we have been discussing the things we miss most in the U.S. Here are the top 5 things each one of us misses (this is above and beyond missing friends, family and Soca!):

Mark: Guanajuato tacos and burritos, my garage, having a yard, good drivers and roads, South Shore pizza
Ray: Piggly Wiggly donuts, South Shore, dirtbiking, the cooler weather, my records
John: Culvers, riding motorcycles, good ice cream, my own yard, Tana’s Restaurant (pancakes and french fries)
Janet: Target/TJ Maxx, cheap groceries, having more than one car, good wine at reasonable prices, a steady income

Visiting crocodiles in their “natural habitat”:

During our spring break trip around the country we were able to visit the “Crocodile Bridge” where you can view crocodiles in their “natural habitat”. This entails parking, getting out of your car, and walking on an overpass bridge to view the crocodiles below. It’s very interesting as there are MANY crocodiles in this small location (I think the boys counted about 17). The most dangerous part though is surviving the cars and trucks as they are whizzing by on the bridge!

And we saw this on Facebook shortly after our visit-nice! (Notice this man does not look Costa Rican; Ticos are smarter than this!)

Other interesting notes:

Thank you to our wonderful friends Maxine and Angie for cleaning up the huge branches in our yard. These ladies have big hearts and muscles! 🙂
It turns out John is a runner! He signed up last minute to do a “fun family run” at the school and won first in both the “kid” division and then the “family” division (he ran in the uniform and all)! The races were about a half kilometer and kilometer. He is hoping to join track in his future.
Ray has taken up reading! His 8th grade English teacher has exposed him to some of the great literary classics. This year alone he has read Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, 1984, The Hobbit, The Pearl, The Red Pony, Flowers for Algernon and many more! (That’s him reading in a tree at the beach-breaking his toes has also led to more time to read!)