Super cheap tire repair, the love of Biscuit & insect tales

A few days ago I began to think one of our car tires was leaking air just a bit more quickly than it should.  Having just bought our new used car, I tried to ignore it and hoped it would just get better on its own.  These small challenges just present more Spanish learning opportunities for us.  This morning we were faced with reality when it was clear some action was required.  Fortunately it wasn’t flat.  

The 7 am school drop off of the boys was complicated by Sullivan refusing to get out of the car, stating that he would not go to school because he was too tired.  For a brief moment, it was looking like today could be a challenging day.  He was eventually persuaded with the promises of a cookie after school and that he could bring his beloved small stuffed dog “Biscuit” into the class with him.  After a quick explanation, his teacher was super understanding and eventually even featured Biscuit prominently in a game the class played.  Without a doubt, no such thing would have ever happened at his old school.  This strategy worked well and he reportedly had a great day.

Yes, it's a repair tool.

After waiting a few minutes for the local gas station’s tire mechanic (we were told he was in the bathroom), I pulled the car into a stall.  We were immediately greeted by the pleasantly efficient tire mechanic Javier as well as another gentleman who is quite talkative and apparently a friend of his.  While Javier quickly removed the tire and found two punctures (a rock and a screw), patched them and replaced the tire, my new friend talked our ears off.  He first complimented Sullivan, said that he has a six year-old son at their school and then proceeded to tell me he could easily help us buy some land, and cheaply.  My suspicions that he’d possibly had just a couple of beers this morning were confirmed when he asked if Madeleine was my wife.  He was apologetic, gave me a handwritten business card and agreed to pose for a picture.  He didn’t offer me a beer.  The total bill for the two tire patches was $4.

Another new friend

Because Henry’s been telling us it’s tough for him at school to see the chalk board well from the back of the room, we headed to nearby Tilarán for the nearest optometrist we’d heard of.  The young lady in the office explained that the doctor is only there on Fridays and Saturdays but that glasses are ready in a week once they’re ordered.  This is a great example of how things work a little bit differently here.  The only optometrists that Google could find for me were three hours away in San Jose.  It’s quite clear that local small businesses like this optometrist can thrive here without any web presence at all.  So we have an appointment to come back in two days.

We’d been watching the bee/wasp hive grow on the outside of the boys’ bedroom window.  Today they noticed that the insects were all on the window itself instead of working on their hive as they typically do.  This afternoon, to our general dismay, the hive was nearly completely destroyed.  The culprit was a bird so colorful that we nearly forgave him or her.  It’s not clear to us what kind of bird this is but it seems like it was probably feasting on the larvae.  Will the insects rebuild or move on?

Post-apocalyptic beehive destruction

The guilty marauder

The insect world did vent some anger on our feet during another evening stroll through the neighborhood nature trail.  As we were scouring the treetops for howler monkeys and other interesting critters, Henry and I noticed not-so-pleasant stinging sensations on our feet.  Several small black ants were seeking to exact karmic revenge even though we were completely innocent.  After several swats and a quick jog out of their territory, we arrived to relative safety.  At home we applied some handy liquid cortisone that soothed the bites.  Thanks to a thoughtful work partner for sending us off with this as part of a medical kit.

We feasted on pork tacos, fried plantains and the ever-popular (really) sauteed yucca fries.  Little people in bed to rest for another go-round tomorrow.