Del Mar Academy

Del Mar Academy, a Bilingual Montessori School located in Nosara, Costa Rica: ""

(Via .)

First Day of School

 

 

I love the school. It is the reason we came and I can see it being the reason we would stay. The staff are knowledgeable professionals and the environment is simply magical.

I can’t imagine returning to a “regular” school after a place like this.

I ran into some Costa Rican parents who said this is one of the nicest schools in Costa Rica in terms of quality and organization. These founders really had a vision and are on the path to fully realizing the dream of a perfect learning environment for children. It is a community effort though and there is an understanding that success is based as much on the parents as on the school. It is a school and community that strives to embraces the real genius of adventure learning by balancing high academic excellence in the full big picture of life experiences with family, friends and in nature.

Learning is an experience, not a work sheet and that is so refreshing!

 

There have been a few key new improvements in the status of visitors (in my long term tourist status) to Costa Rica.

1. Long term tourists can open Costa Rican bank accounts.
2. A new law was just passed enabling families with children in Costa Rican schools to get long term tourist visas.

It is a very new law and most lawyers still don’t know about it yet.  The will help us tremendously in avoiding the 90 day exits for 72 hours. Most families go to Nicaragua or Panama but it is a trek with 3 young kids alone.  I have also heard that after the travel expenses are all said and done, it would be easier to just fly to Florida.

Volcanoes

I can tell my life has changed course when I consult a monthly tide calendar posted to my fridge.  My neighbor brought the printout over as a recommended must-have.  She said, “you can’t plan to go to the beach if there isn’t one!” Good point. It also drives home the ever present point that this landscape is constantly changing.

For all of my self praise about my good packing skills, I have some serious holes in my planning.  Did I really think that 2 sets of swim wear would be enough for each child? Did I really think that 9 bottles of sunscreen would last 4 months? Did I think my kids would have any kind of social life with no body boards?

Catching Fish With Our Bare Hands:

 

Preschool Physics with A Coconut:

 

How Many Kids Can Fit in A Tide Pool?

 

By Request: Toes in Pacific Sand:

 

Can't Resist The Baby Foot Prints:

 

This Little Boy Fought For His Coconut:

 

 

What In The World Is This?

(This is what Oliver decided to chew on and fought me when I tried to take it away)

 

My Volcano Collection:

(What?! Mamas can collect shells also)

 

The Fishermen Are Off and So Are We

Nieghbor's pool

We wandered into our neighboring neighborhood and found this

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bull’s eye and the monkey’s heart

I suppose it is inevitable to meet interesting people in a place like this. As of now I have only heard some small portion of their stories and they are as wild and detailed as the jungle. I have met a number of impressive ladies here, each one came to this same place from dramatically different journeys. Some arrived through tragedy and some from desperate longing. Some came with a restless heart and others seeking a firmer ground. So far this looks like cowgirl country. They lived adventurous lives of bohemian travelers, international diplomats, or successful capitalists and they have all decided to call Nosara home.

I have only caught short moments with the women who founded the school that brought us here. They have profound vision and indescribable drive to make this dream a reality. Beyond this they are grounded, clear headed and practical. One of the founders said “If our school gets 800 students then we have gone off course. Our focus is quality.” You can feel it when she says it but you can also see it in the school and listening to the teachers.

I’ve run into a number of single moms here. Single by choice or logistical circumstances similar to mine. I am not the first mother to bring my kids to this place in search of an optimum environment. I am not the first one to do it at great sacrifice either.

The ones who have been here a while feel a strong connection to the surrounding natural environment. I guess it is inevitable here - you will either love it and embrace it or you will hate it and flee. It is so in your face that it doesn’t give you a choice. These women have taken up every past time from surfing to gardening. For them they are not passing time at all; they are very much in time, present in the moment. They are naturalists by observation and research.

On our way back from a walk, one of the ladies, who is a wealth of local knowledge, introduced the kids to some seeds:

The Bull’s Eye and the Monkey’s Heart.

The Bull symbolizes stability, strength, peacefulness, helpfulness, and determination

The Monkey symbolizes fun, activity, friendliness, curiosity and rebellion

...seems appropriate for the characters we are meeting

Killin' Time

Waiting...

Waiting...

 

Blow Hole!!!

 

 

I'm sure you can imagine the fun that is when you are 1, 3 and 5 years old!

 

 

 

The aforementioned rocks and tide pools

 

 

 

Our daily rain shower

 

nuff said

Boa, perhaps

 

This is what happens to your kids in the jungle

 

The Complexity of Simplicity

What measure of discomfort and uncertainty would you endure for extreme beauty?

In Costa Rica and in Nosara, they market the life of Pura Vida, the “Pure Life.” “Pure” in the Costa Rican sense is authentic, relaxed and connected. Sometimes pure is equated with simple. Simplicity is relative and ironic. North America is filled with conveniences and accommodations yet it just makes everybody more hurried. Somehow they have less time even with everything moving more smoothly. Efficiency, which should simplify daily life, just comes to mean fast paced. This life in Nosara is pure but I’m not sure this life is more simple, just simple in different ways. The jungle is intense and complex and even overstimulating. The logistics of being here as guests are even more complex.

I would say the difference has more to do with choice than simplicity. In North America, you have a choice to participate in all of the opportunities or choose your path and make your day. The problem is that the vast selection of options retards responsible decision making. We think if there are choices we must experience as many as possible. The reality is that we can choose the life we want to live. In this regard, I like Europe because there are choices but we are not bombarded with them. They just need to work on the weather ;)

In Nosara, so many things are not available so it forces you to live this “Pura Vida.” We are not overwhelmed by too many choices. Things get done when they get done and thing happen when they happen. Things either fall into place or they don’t.

One thing Nosara has that is not a matter of choice is a great variety of accessible natural beauty. We were going to the beach as a family but Sean and Maya surfed while the boys felt lost in the vastness of the open ocean and huge waves.  Today I walked the boys up the coast and we found a forgeable river flowing into the ocean.

 

The surrounding rocks made tide pools that were just perfectly toddler size. Leo and Oliver finally found themselves. Oliver plopped his butt in every precious pool while Leo climbed the rocks.  The intimidating waves were stopped by the boys’ new fortress and they were alive with curiosity. They needed a boundary defining their space. Sean and Maya joined us later and Sean said, “this really is paradise, isn’t it?!” With all of the struggles and adaptations, it really is all worth it.