The Escuela de los Amigos

Doug and I both have parties that we are supposed to go to today. Mine is a brunch so I got up early and made two loaves of banana bread to bring with me (if I can make it). Doug’s is a sleepover. He is still in bed. Not sure how this day will end.

…

Well, I did not make it to my brunch. Partly because I’m not sure I could make it that far without passing out and partly because Douglas had no interest in going.  Normally at this point I would blame him but in reality if I really wanted to I could have left him alone and gone on my own. Oh well, personal progress is slow.

Doug’s sleepover got cancelled. After listening to the kids I’m not sure it was ever really on. They had booked a room at a lodge but not put a deposit on it and from what I can tell none of the parents were supporting the idea. In the end Douglas invited everyone to stay here. The boys said they would stay and the girls were staying until 9 but then heading to one of the other girls houses to sleep.

Miguel showed up part way through the evening after having had a few beers and I’m not sure if it was his trying to socialize with them or the thought of having to sleep in a creepy wood cabin but the boys caught a ride home with the girls. End of sleepover. Oh well, they all had a good time.

Nos fuimos para un medio día a pie y encontramos que juegan al frisbee en la escuela de los amigos cada sábado. También hay una reunión de todos los domingos donde cantan y socializar. Similar a un grupo de la iglesia, pero estos son los Quakers. También hay una barbacoa de hamburguesas todos los viernes a la Carolina Lodge cerca de la escuela de los amigos.

Septic systems in Costa Rica:

After more than 24 hours of illness this seems like a good time to discuss the septic system at our house and likely at many if not most houses in Costa Rica.

I asked my landlady how the septic system worked. She was quite uncertain about my inquiry but I told her I did not want to be doing anything that might upset the system like letting the water run too long or letting things go down the drain that might damage the system etc.. Now she was certainly not very knowledgeable on the subject but she was fairly certain that the only thing that is actually connected to the septic system is the toilet. Everything else (shower and kitchen sink) just flows into the ground. Even the septic system is some form of weeping tiles with an overflow into nature. It never gets emptied. This house has been here for at least 20 years. All I really know about Costa Rica septic systems is that no matter where you are, in a house, in a restaurant, at a hotel or a business etc. you do not flush toilet paper. I was told by the homeowner, by the school, and there are notes in every bathroom. The septic systems in Costa Rica cannot handle toilet paper. This was also the case in Nepal and Thailand. Nobody wants to publicize the bad news only the improvements to the old system so there wasn’t much research t be found. 

“Inadequate residential septic systems continue to contaminate Costa Rica with raw sewage. The Costa Rican government does not have regulations for the design, construction, installation and inspection of residential septic systems”.

This leaves it pretty much up to new home construction and home buyers to make the necessary improvements to the old systems in order to make things better.