A domino effect within the Skills4Life organization set off a series of events that found me removed from my smalltown home/school in Siquirres and plonked into the port city of Limon and teaching (at least in the classroom of) an acclaimed international school to two groups of professional adult students. The classes are held at night so it's much cooler, and our class cat has been replaced with a class dog who wanders in periodically for love.

But let's rewind to Friday, when I packed all my belongings, hugged Yami, Mami, and Amanda goodbye, and lugged my bags from a taxi to a sweltering bus for the hourlong trip to Limon. A Skills4Life rep picked me up at the bus station and took me to my new home with Ivanny, Clothilde and Arlethe - another house of grandmother, mother and daughter.

I knew immediately this was gonna be a different kind of situation because the large shelf of ceramic Madonnas had been replaced with a shelf of rum, and instead of being relegated to the yard, the little dog was spinning circles in the living room. My kinda place! We had lunch immediately, and it was a fabulous salad (dressing in this house is lime juce and salt - very yummy) and chicken-and-rice. A big pitcher of orange infused iced tea. I immediately felt right at home!

Clothilde, the matriarch, is a beautiful woman with a bubbly personality, surrounded by two daughters (another lives nearby) and a slew of equally beautiful grandchildren and even great grandchildren. I'd put her age at 70. Ivanny is 50 but looks much younger and is that person who changes a room simply by walking in it. She's a retired (what!?) teacher. They speak less English than I speak Spanish. But, they sometimes make snarky remarks (like me!) and those bad boys translate into every language simply by tone... I can always tell exactly what funny, irreverant remark they made and they know what I'm saying as well.... Sympatico! Arlethe is 17 and in her first year of university. She's studying medicine and has really good English.

Less than half the size of Yami's house (which had that area upstairs just for family) Ivanny's house is set very high in the hills rising from the water and feels very European, with white leather sofa, sunroom (as if anyone sits in the sun here! maybe they call that room something else) and a covered outdoor kitchen in the back corner of the riotously blooming yard. There's a tiny above ground pool because Pita (Clotilde) has to do physical therapy following knee surgery. The house is always filled with pop music, either from a channel on TV or a stereo in the sunroom, and Ivanny and Pita sing along. Elegant Christmas decorations are about.