Greetings from a suddenly dry Monteverde. The girls finished up their first semester yesterday at the Cloud Forest School and we met with their teachers for conferences today before traveling to the Caribbean coast for their school break.

**I have to interrupt my own post right now to share that I finally saw and captured in video an image of the Keel-billed toucan. I had seen it in flight and often could hear it nearby, but I was finally able to just admire this ridiculously awesome bird. (See the photos and video below)**

We’ve been quite busy since our last update and have spent all of our time within the Monteverde area. I finished up my short stint as the 6th Grade ELA teacher and it was fun to be in Cleo’s classroom. This was a volunteer gig and I was able to help the students create their own creatures through the use of Nature journaling, an art study of a local artist’s photography, and independent research of insects. Cleo will have a new teacher when she returns from the break (fingers crossed). Both are continuing to learn Spanish at an accelerated rate and Gene is particularly getting comfortable speaking. The girls have also joined a Flag Football club on Tuesday afternoons and are waiting to learn their roles in the local production of Wizard of Oz in their drama club.

We are also approaching our 20th movie in the attic since arriving. We finally watched, ‘The NeverEnding Story’ this past weekend. This is a rare movie that we were cautious to watch with the girls, but it ended up with some of our highest scores and remains one of the best movies ever in my opinion.

Elise and I were able to explore the Curi Cancha reserve and were treated to several spider monkeys swinging and playing amongst the trees. These are not easily seen in the area and it was fun to watch them move through the canopy. We also found so many types of mushrooms, interesting trees, a ton of birds, and a lovely pond. (We’ve now seen all 4 types of monkeys in Costa Rica: Mantled Howler monkeys, Capuchin monkeys (the type featured in the movie “Night at the Museum”), Spider monkeys, and Squirrel monkeys.

(I think this would be a great time to revisit Mary Oliver’s poem, “The Pond.” )

Then, we went on a hike with the girls to the Bajo del Tigre, which is a smaller section of family friendly trails that belongs to the larger, Children’s Eternal Rainforest. This was an incredible hike that was highlighted by a troop of howler monkeys (adults and infants) moving through the limbs of the trees.

Lastly, we joined a community open house event at the Cafe Monteverde Coffee Farm. This particular tour was completely in Spanish, yet it was a testament to our progress that we understood quite a bit of the tour. We were able to sample several types of coffee and were treated to a traditional meal that was completely farm to table. The girls spent the time playing games and doing arts and crafts with other young, local Ticos while we toured the farm.

Sabbatical Updates:

For Elise, she continues to set up, monitor, and analyze data related to her research on hummingbirds here in the Cloud Forest. Capturing the hummingbirds has not been as easy as she initially planned, but the camera traps have captured several other creatures (pizotes, bats, peccaries, wasps, foxes and more) passing by the camera.

Elise has also been working on several different articles related to her research back at FDU that will hopefully be published in the upcoming year. Lastly, she has enrolled in summer school (2027) at the University of Florida to finalize and defend her dissertation to complete her second PhD in Wildlife Conservation and Ecology. She’s been very busy!

For me, I’ve been keeping myself busy in a variety of ways. I am taking several online courses during my time here that are a mix of synchronous and asynchronous classes related to the Humanities subjects that I teach at my school. Important note: I am so thankful to be teaching in a state that allows for the teaching of “hard history” and doesn’t hide behind the white supremacist views being adopted by many southern states. I am also reading a ton of books from several different genres and have made a commitment to both read and write poetry as much as possible. I have also been trying to exercise, run, meditate, and journal with more frequency and fidelity. One of my goals is to return to that practice of journaling that I found so important in my first several years of teaching. As Krista Tippett states, “Writing is having a conversation with yourself.” Lastly, I have finally picked up the ukelele that my father bought me for my 50th birthday. I will hopefully hit the road with him and his banjo in 2027 to tour the senior citizen circuit that keeps him busy all year long.

Lastly, I appreciated all the messages of consolation related to the Red Sox losing in the playoffs, but the Brewers received just as much love and attention from me and honestly deserve to win far more than the Red Sox. I was even able to rally a bunch of new friends to hit up a sports bar for the Game 2 victory against the Dodgers this past Monday.

Lastly, more fungus & protists