Our Crazy Worldschool Year

Costa Rica Week 1:

We have arrived safely in Costa Rica, and our Worldschool year has now officially begun!

I wish I could say that our journey so far has been smooth sailing, but that would be far from the truth. In fact, since we made this decision in early spring, life has been replete with friction and challenge, consisting of nonstop adjustment and constant transition. This has led to lots of big feelings for everyone, children and adults alike. Not much has been easy or predictable. But we are now “settled” into our first Airbnb and can begin a new routine.

Throughout this Worldschool year, we will share weekly updates. These will include highlights of what we’ve done each week, the sharing of personal perspectives from the week in a “the good, the bad, and the ugly” segment, and a “lesson learned” for each week.

Thanks for following along with us and we hope you enjoy the journey!

Highlights of the Week

Boston

We took the Amtrak to Boston and spent a day visiting the New England Aquarium, Quincy Market, and Boston Common.

First Flights

We woke up at 2:15 AM for a 5:40 AM flight from Boston to Miami (3 ½ hours), had a 4-hour layover in Miami, and then took a 3-hour flight from Miami to San Jose, Costa Rica.

A few comments on the flight (which was the first time the kids have ever flown):

• “It was totally normal.” – Older Brother
• “Waking up at 2 AM was cool, however I am very tired. I liked take-off, the plane goes really fast. I liked when it felt bumpy. I didn’t like landing as much. I liked looking out the plane window.” – Younger Brother
• “At first it was really scary, but then I got used to it. I really liked take-off and landing because you go really fast and it is a bump and is really unexpected. Looking out the window is really cool because you can see everything down below but it’s all very tiny and small. When you are up above the clouds it looks like the small clouds are in the water like small, white islands.” – Sister
• “As we were taxiing in Miami, about to take off, engines revving, I glanced out the window and was shocked to see the wreckage of the Amazon Prime plane that crashed last week lying nearby. It did not feel like a promising omen, and I made sure not to point it out to the kids. But thankfully the flight went fine.” – Dad

San Jose, CR

We spent the first two nights in a hotel in San Jose, the capital city of Costa Rica. Mostly we just hung out, did some school work, swam in the pool, and played foosball and air hockey. And took our annual back-to-school picture 🙂

New Car!

We picked up a Toyota Rav4 (our rental car for Costa Rica) and survived the drive through San Jose before stopping for groceries in Cartago. From there, we drove a winding road up into the mountains to our first Airbnb in El Guarco, Cartago Province.

New “Home!”

We’ve enjoyed some quiet downtime in our Airbnb in El Guarco, getting acclimated to our new life, and staying warm (more on why that’s necessary later) by sitting near the fire or soaking in the hot tub.

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

The Good

Dad – We arrived safely! The process of cultural adjustment has begun (and it has definitely been an adjustment)! Living in a country where we do not speak the primary language was always going to be a challenge, which was part of the plan. Thankfully we’ve been able to get by on our (very) limited Spanish so far, and everyone has spoken enough English to help us navigate the unknown. And we’re still standing!

Older Brother – The Airbnb we’re staying at is nice, it is big and I get my own bedroom. We have a hot tub in the Airbnb we’re staying at too.

Sister – I really like that there’s a hot tub at our Airbnb so we can go in it all the time.  So many people speak English and Spanish, so at least we can understand them. We can sort of understand them when they speak Spanish because we have been doing Duolingo Spanish. I can speak a little Spanish but not too much.

Younger Brother – This is a cool place and I really like the hot tub and extra blankets.

Mom – Overall, I would say the kids handled the early morning wake up call, flights and a moderate layover really well. We continue to navigate situations with a mostly positive attitude and roll with the punches despite the fact that it can feel relentless from time to time. Everywhere we have stayed so far has been really nice and I’ve really enjoyed the scenery. I look forward to exploring more and, despite any and all challenges, I for one am very glad to be here!

The Bad

Dad – School has been a challenge so far. As a teacher, I know that routine, structure, and predictability are important for productive learning. However, since we haven’t had any real “routine,” “structure,” or “predictability” to speak of since July, school hasn’t been easy. But this has not stopped me trying (quite often leading to frustration)!

Older Brother – It is very cold in the mornings and at night. I have a runny nose and I keep losing my tissues.

Sister – I really miss all my friends and family but some people from my family are coming to visit. It was really annoying getting up at 2:00 in the morning for the flight.

Younger Brother – “How I’m feeling.”

Mom – For anyone who knows me, I do not like being cold. Therefore being in a colder than anticipated climate with less than ideal clothing options to stay warm has made things more uncomfortable than I would like. Packing 6 outfits for 1 year of travel among different countries and climates was a HUGE struggle for me and I’m definitely having some regrets! Haha.

The Ugly

Dad – I have reached some very low points in the last few days. I knew this adventure would bring challenges, but the ratio of challenge to success has been much higher than I expected. At times this week it has indeed felt like all challenge and no success, all sadness and no happiness, all loss and no gain. The combination of nonstop challenges and the (sometimes bluntly expressed) feelings of sadness and loss that lurk just beneath the surface for all of us have led to me feeling demoralized and defeated at times. And a demoralized and defeated trip leader is not a good trip leader!

Older Brother – It sucked getting up at 2:00 in the morning to get to the plane and fly over.  It rains a lot 😦 and it can be very loud on the metal roof.

Sister – It’s really overwhelming because we’re in a new place and I’m really nervous about everything. Plus there are wild dogs on the sides of streets!!! And wild horses too.  😴😔😞

Younger Brother – Dad is making me mad and I don’t like school.

Mom – Maintaining peace among the kids while trying to implement “school” in rotating locations, plus navigating less than ideal situations can be exhausting. It can be very difficult seeing the moments of true sadness in the kids and not being able to “fix” it. Preparing myself for the inevitable grocery shopping trip knowing that most everything would be in Spanish and that I wouldn’t be able to find the things that I am familiar with was something I was truly dreading. Having done it twice now I feel mildly more confident. However knowing that in order to get more affordable options means venturing to the small food stalls where English is less likely spoken and they probably don’t take a card seems way more overwhelming…..something to tackle eventually but maybe not quite yet. 

Lesson Learned

The “Twin Falls Lesson” (again) – If you read our first post, you may recall that we were supposed to be in Puerto Viejo, on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, for our first month. I chose Puerto Viejo because it has some of the best beaches in Costa Rica and it normally has a “mini dry season” in September-October while the rest of the country experiences its “wet season.” 

However, due to this year’s extraordinary El Nino, the Caribbean side of Costa Rica is currently getting saturated. Calling an audible, I booked a second Airbnb in the Central Valley town of El Guarco, which has the added benefit of being MUCH closer to the capital of San Jose (meaning less driving – see the Road Trip post to understand how we feel about large amounts of time in the car together at this point). 

Problem solved, right? Not so fast.

As we are now learning (experientially!), Costa Rica has many different climate zones and we did not pack very much for the “cloud forest climate zone” we are currently inhabiting. The other thing about cloud forests is that they experience a good deal of rain, mist, and (shockingly!) clouds too. So it’s not exactly hot and sunny either. I spent several hours on two different days second-guessing myself and my planning choices into oblivion.

Thankfully our Airbnb has a hot tub and fireplace. And after several months of pure chaos and constant transition, being forced to just chill is probably fine. Ultimately, I think I’m learning the “Twin Falls Lesson” from our road trip all over again: control is impossible, and I can’t always make things go the way I want or manufacture specific outcomes. The more I try, the more frustrated I get. Sometimes life and/or nature remind me of this in very painful ways.

So I’m trying to embrace our mountain retreat, go with the flow, and slow down! Pura Vida, right? 🙂