Firsts...

We've had an interesting couple of days here... Last night, there was a 6.2 earthquake across the border in Panama. We were woken up just after midnight last night with the entire house rolling and shaking. As groggy as I was, it was a surreal experience. Maili (if she had been awake) would have felt like she was in the crow's nest of a sailing ship. Her bedroom is in the very top of the house, about 20 feet off the ground, level with the canopies of the surrounding trees. This was the first real earthquake we have experienced here and it was something else. Back in 1992, a huge quake hit the area cutting Puerto Viejo off from the nearest city (Limon) for around two months. Food, etc... had to be brought in by boat. When I think about these kinds of things, I realize that we're only a step away from being in the middle of a third world disaster. That's when I have to remember that we are in God's hands. Definitely exciting.

It rained hard all night and has been raining non-stop today. The rivers and creeks are full and we have a small river running across the yard of our house. Now that we are living back in the hills, transportation is an issue and we have been without our quad for three weeks now which has made life a little more challenging. Getting Makena to school, taking care of other errands and simply getting back and forth from the skatepark come with a whole new level of difficulty. I can't wait to get the quad back because biking to work several miles in heavy rain on a single speed bicycle, up and down hills, is not the easiest thing in the world. It's not the worst either, but I'll be glad to have my transport back. Life here in the jungle comes with a whole new set of challenges and some days simply consist of taking care of things just so that we can continue to be here.

Later this afternoon I'll be opening the skate park if the rain lets up a little. The entire park is covered but when a big storm like this blows in, the rain gets on everything and skating can get a little dangerous. We'll see how it goes but I'm not holding out too much hope since squalls keep blowing through. The rain is also putting a damper on the house construction. They are a little behind on getting the roof finished and can't really work up that high when things are so wet. Hopefully, they will get it done during the next dry spell and then can work every day un-impeded by the wetness. They're supposed to be done by the middle of next month and we're wondering how they'll make it. Another day in our lives... At least I didn't get peed on by the bat again.