During the first two weeks we were here, we had the kids spend a little time each day writing in their journals, practicing piano, doing some math, or reading a book. It wasn’t much, but in light of all the transition, we wanted to have some structure during our day. These last two weeks, we decided to give them, (and ourselves) a break from school work and enjoy the Christmas and New Year Holiday. Because of that, we spent very little time inside our tight quarters. We joined, what felt like the rest of the country, on the beaches of Tamarindo.

The town was full of activity. The restaurants, the streets and the waves were teeming with people. We have been told that Tamarindo supports a population of 4,000 people, but the holidays brought upwards of 15,000 people to town between Christmas Eve and New Years Day. The infrastructure is not set up to support the influx of people, so the electricity was out a lot, the internet was down a lot and people without reservations were left without a place to stay. We were told that this has been the busiest season Tamarindo has seen in almost five years. Needless to say, our second two weeks here were completely different than our first two weeks.

This week will continue to be busy, but already the beaches are thinning out and town is just a little more quiet than it was two days ago. After taking a break from surfing classes we re-started this morning. We will continue to take Spanish classes several days a week, but we are off this afternoon. So, the kids are back to their journals and I am back to my computer. All four of us are reflecting on our exciting weekend trip to Rincon De Vieja.