This year's July 2nd celebration was made all the better because my favorite big brother, Tobin, had made the trek from Guatemala, where he is living and working, to Costa Rica to see his little sis turn 24 years old! We had a rather full day of the very grown-up feeling activity of moving me into an apartment (look for future blog entry) and were then invited over to my host familia's home, along with my friends Meghan and Juan Carlos, for a yummy birthday dinner. And, of course, for yummy birthday cake as well! 
Meghan, host family Roy, Gabi and Ariana, birthday girl and Juan CarlosAlthough Tobin and I had just a short time here together in Costa Rica before making an unexpected journey home to California to honor and celebrate the life of our Uncle Rod, who we lost suddenly on June 29, we shared some special time together as well as several special reunions.
Nine years after Tobin's month-long stay here in Costa Rica, living with our exchange student, Bernal, and the rest of the Mora family, the two boys were happily reunited, looking even more handsome than they did in their high school days. It was a wonderful reunion and we all loved having a weekend together to catch up, share old memories and make new ones. 
Me with my big brothers, Tobin and Bernal
After an especially tasty breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes, one of Bernal's favorite foods during his month of mama Barbara's delicious home cooking!, we met up with another one of the Costa Rican exchange students, Iriving, who spent a month living with a family in Decorah during the same time as Bernal lived with us. What better way to get reacquainted than to head to the nearby Paintball field?! We strapped on our helmets, loaded the paintballs and did our best to get dirty, rolling around in the woods. Here we are, proudly showing off our battle wounds!
Our final reunion was also a Decorah one--We met up with our fellow Decorah High School and Valparaiso University graduate, Erica Spilde, and her Costa Rican exchange student brother, Diego, who was part of the same group as Bernal and Irving. The next time we will see Erica will most likely be back in Iowa, as she has moved home to the U.S. after living and working in Costa Rica for the past two and a half years. I miss her already!
2 comments:
Megan! It's Katie Skattebo. I'm excited to keep up with your blog. Thanks again for letting me know about your experience! Hope you're doing well
Sounds like you're having a great time! Andrew and I have discussed visiting Costa Rica for Spring Break (now that we're both in the same school district). It would be fun to see you if we make it down there.
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