charliedoggett.net
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| Bigger than the little geckos on my ceilings and walls and didn’t want to go out. Not sure of ID though similar to Ground Anole, or maybe Ameiva or Whiptail. He eats insects to pay rent, though I don’t like his little poop on the floor! |
Earlier posts on lizards at home: A Scorpion in the Sink and Lizard on the Wall!
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| Clinica Santa Fe in Alajuela where I went for my foot X-ray |
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| Clinica Linea Vital in Atenas where I see Drs. Candy and Anna. (Google Photo) |
Okay – I’ll try to make a long story short. The last two weeks my right heel has been painful to walk on, especially during the night (getting up to go to bathroom) and when I first arise in morning. (I’m afraid it is because I have been living in sandals for 9 months, walking everywhere in them. Now I’m using walking shoes with a heel cushion.) Dr. Candy looked at it maybe two weeks ago and gave me an anti-inflammatory which worked great during the 1 week I was taking it. Then the pain came back. So I return and was surprised she now has an associate, Dr. Anna who was on duty. (Yeah, I know, all my docs are women here, including the dentist!) 🙂 Anyway, Dr. Anna questioned me and felt of it an said she believed it is a bone spur on my heel (plantillo espolon). In addition to a different medication I am to take 3 times a day for two weeks and soaking my foot in warm Epsom salt water followed by ice cold water daily, I was asked to go get an x-ray (de rayos x or imagen radiológica). She wrote the prescription and said her assistant at the front desk would give directions (he is also a nurse and EMT and ambulance driver – 2nd photo at Clinica Linea Vital with ambulance). This is all happening yesterday morning.
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| The Map – In case you need to go to Clinica Santa Fe, Alajuela 🙂 |
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| I should have never let her shoot us with that bright window behind us! Tried to fix! Oh well, we got a lot planned anyway and I am now the treasurer. |
We all thank my friend Aaron in Canada who read my last post on Angel Tree and sent money! Wow! We are off to a good start financially!
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| Unidentified Butterfly In My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica I’m seeing fewer now. June & July are the peak months for butterflies here. |
If you know the identity, please leave a comment below. Thanks! -Charlie
And my Spanish post today: Verbos Tallo Cambio
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| Teen in one of the school bands |
Okay. I’ll stop after this, though there are a lot more photos from the parade that I like. 🙂
I could have made this Faces post all children, but since I used some faces of them in Post 1 (children), and a cool youth face in Post 2 (bands), and another youth face in Post 3 (flags); this is mixed, even with adults.
I’ll go back to bugs and bird tomorrow, but Wednesday I head out for 4 nights in the Talamanca Mountains, so more new stuff then! Maybe a better photo of a Resplendent Quetzal! Then the following week to the Nicaragua border on Visa Run again. And the week after that to the Caribbean again. Never a dull moment! 🙂
And don’t you like the looks of the Atenas Ticos?
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| Do you not want me to make this photo? |
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| Colegio Liceo had the largest group of marching flags led by a Drum Majorette. |
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| When they stopped they had a very intricate presentation of weaving the lines in and out of each other to create a sea of red, white and blue – Colegio Liceo. |
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| As usual I watched the parade from Gelly’s across from Parque Central. Here Colegio Liceo is starting their presentation seen in second photo. |
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| Escuela Central Elementary School did great for younger kids! And they had the coolest caps! Boys and girls marched in separate lines. That’s elementary school for you! 🙂 |
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| Colegio San Rafael was led by a drum major. |
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| Though not as large as Liceo, San Rafael had impressive group & show! |
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| Patriotism and color on 15 de septiembre is just as big as US 4th of July! Just no mucho fireworks in Atenas. Another shot of Colegio San Rafael. (There’s a big fireworks show in San Jose. But I like my little farm town!) |
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| Unlabeled School (or I missed the sign) leave our area by the church. |
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| Banda Escuela de Musica is a community band for all ages (child-adult) that meets, learns and practices after school. It includes my Spanish teacher, his son and son’s nanny, and another friend. I help raise money for their Panama trip. Notice, like others, they are now all drums except for 2 saxophones and 3 xylophones called marimbas here. |
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| I like their spiffy uniform shirts which they are wanting to replace with “real” uniforms sometime. It is a community activity requiring donated money not easily obtained. |
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| It is an after-school, community music school that teaches how to read music, how to play other instruments when they can be obtained, and the band will add more instruments over time as they can. It could become big in Atenas. |
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| Banda de Colegio San Rafael is a suburban high school smaller than Liceo but sharper looking uniforms. All drums because of lack of music teachers. |
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| Ticos teens like to dress sharp and appreciate cool hats! |
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| Banda de Colegio Liceo is the largest from the largest school with golf shirts as uniforms and again mostly drums because of few music teachers. |
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| All drummers are cool and since nearly all of the band are drummers . . . Boy! My band director would never have allowed sunglasses! 🙂 So maybe this is why Ticos are the happiest people on earth!? |
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| They are followed by and overshadowed by the largest troop of flag bearers in the parade, also a part of Colegio Liceo. More flag photos tomorrow! |
By now you may have learned that high schools are called “Colegio” in Spanish in Costa Rica. If not, that is your new Spanish word for today! 🙂
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| Unknown school with 8 boys on drums – what I was calling an “ensemble.” |
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| Escuela Central Elementary School As with the others, mostly drums with a few marimbas (xylophones); smaller and less organized than high school bands. |
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| As I walked to town I passed this family of 3 kids with their lanterns. The kids all met at Escuela Central to start the parade, so I went to Central Park. |
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| Many of the girls had “doll lanterns” (light inside) in traditional dress. The boys had old fashion lanterns or oxcart lanterns mostly. |
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| Several just waited for the parade holding their lanterns. |
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| Some were held high and others in their hands. And some of the kids wore traditional clothing making it colorful, though a confusing crowd of people mostly parents hovering around their kids. |
And no one ever seems to know the parade route in advance so you can get a good place to see. There were a hundred or more of us on the west side of the park waiting and they marched only on the east and north side! Grrrr!
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| He flew into the house last night. Not in either of my books. |
My Spanish Blog tells about Getting Spanish Conversation Practice for the Cost of a Pizza.
And for more moth & butterfly photos, see my Costa Rica Butterflies PHOTO GALLERY
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| Escuela Central older students prepare for Independence Day Parade |
This is the primary school and these were learning to march with flag poles (sans flags) which will be part of how their school participates in the 15 September Independence Day Parade. This morning at the same school the band was practice marching in this same place but I couldn’t stop, running late for my class. All the high school bands are preparing too as I can hear their drummers and we have a community band that will also participate in the parade next Tuesday morning.
Hoy aprendo verbos saber y conocer en Aprendo Español en Atenas.