Rubiatica

2011-05-11T09:53:00.000-05:00

Apply to be a volunteer for change...teach English in Costa Rica with my program!

EVOLC is looking for volunteers to start this summer as teachers' assistants with the Costa Rican program INA. This is a great way to gain teaching experience and help make a change in a beautiful country! Check out the website for more details.

http://www.evolc.org/

Visa Run, or an excellent excuse to visit Panamá...

2011-04-14T20:26:00.002-05:00

Isla Perro, San Blas, Panamá

February flew by before I had even gotten used to the fact that it was 2011, and suddenly I was looking at my calendar and realized that I was almost in the middle of March. Dios mio! It was almost time to do a visa run...and the calendar was filling up FAST.

My girlfriend Terri left on March 4th and another set of friends arrived about a week later. Laura and Eric have been my friends for years and they came for an almost two week vaca in Santa Teresa. It was great to see them, and they stayed on a really nice, secluded part of the beach close to the Hermosa side of town. We did a few meals together and some beach time as well as some sunset cocktails, and on one of their last nights here they got engaged on the beach under a full moon! Congratulations you guys!!!

Laura and Eric at Koji's Sushi in Playa Hermosa

While they were here I realized that my time was running out to do a visa run. I needed to leave the country before my 90 days ran out on March 30th, but I also had plans to hang out with another friend and my four awesome cousins who were all arriving before the end of March. So after throwing around a few ideas with my new man who luckily also needed to go on a visa run trip, we decided to take a cheap flight to Panama City, Panamá, and from there make a sidetrek to the San Blas islands which we had both heard was unbelievably beautiful. I've always wanted to see both the city and the islands, and we both have friend who live in the city who we planned to visit.

Concrete Jungle

About four days later, we were off. SJO to PTY. Quick one hour flight. We got a hotel in the city and spent the first weekend there, saw our friends and did some marathon shopping. Compared to the prices in Costa Rica which are tourist/US prices, everything is way cheaper in Panama. Asaf (that's my boyfriend, he's Israeli but he lives in CR) needed to get stock for the surf shop he runs with his brother back here in Santa, and I just wanted to shop for some cheap clothes and a dress for a wedding. It was fun to be in the big city for a weekend - after living on the beach for so long it came as a welcome change of pace. And it's a tropical kind of city, where the juxtaposition of palm trees and skyscrapers keeps you feeling just a little bit beachy.

My girl Amanda who teaches English in Panama City

On Monday morning, we made the trek from the city to the islands. San Blas is an archipelago of tiny islands off the Caribbean coast of Panama, and I would NOT recommend getting there by car/boat. We tried to fly, but our last minute timing didn't work out so well, so we got a taxi to Miramar where we waited for the boat. An hour later we realized we were supposed to board a tiny fishing boat, and ride across the choppiest seas I've ever seen in my life for an hour and a half. There was no other option...so we took the WORST BOAT RIDE ever. No joke. At first I thought it was funny, how the biggest waves I've ever seen were rocking our little boat and not breaking overhead like it seemed they were going to...but after about 10 minutes of slamming over waves and hitting my ass on the hard wooden seat, I realized this ride was going to be hell. We were all freaking out. One girl puked. I fell off the seat into the row behind me at one point. We thought we would never get there...

The island where we stayed in San Blas...EPIC!

But finally we arrived at our little island in paradise. It was a small island near El Porvenir (that's the bigger island where the airport is). It only had about 5 or 6 straw huts on it, one of which would be ours for the next few days.

Our little shack in San Blas

The lodging was muy rustico, sand floor and palm leaf walls and roof...but on the most beautiful secluded island surrounded by the most blue and green crystal clear waters I've ever seen in my life. Everywhere we turned looked like a postcard...I couldn't stop taking pictures. Food was provided by the local kuna people and it wasn't bad - fresh fish and potatoes, salads, fruits and the occasional lobster. On the second day we did a tour to some of the other islands nearby - including Isla Perro, or dog island, which is famous for it's shipwreck snorkeling spot.

Starfish!

Luckily we were able to get a flight back out to Panama City, and we spent the last day relaxing in the air conditioning and eating good city food. Flew back to Costa Rica with our bellies full and our hearts content. Visa run success! :)

More to come soon...pura vida!

Just another midsummer daydream...

2011-03-10T09:30:00.020-06:00

This town is funny. It's sort of a melting pot of a lot of different cultures. Because of the world class surfing and tranquilo beach lifestyle that Santa Teresa has to offer, people from all over the place have landed here and set up shop. Obviously there is still a predominant Tico population, but there are also tons of Gringos, Canadians, Argentinians ("tinas"), and Israelis ("izzys"), as well as a smattering of people from various other countries worldwide. And now there are certain areas of town that are sort of the designated areas for these cultures. Last year when I first came here, I was shocked to see such a Gringo-esque shopping center at the crossroads in Playa Carmen (the entrance to town). I had seen stuff like this in places like Tamarindo, but the Mal Pais/Santa Teresa area is a little bit smaller/less developed, so it was kind of a surprise to hang out in a commercial center with outdoor seating and lounge areas that reminded me of being in California. Nice to have around though for those days that you crave American food and air conditioning...we fittingly deemed it "Gringo Plaza." Not that all the businesses are owned by Gringos, but that is definitely the place where you can find the most Gringos hanging out.

Only shot I have of Gringo Plaza...
but the dogs are a dead give-away that we're still in CR ;)

So now we've come up with names for all the culture heavy areas in town. There's "Little Tel Aviv" at the other fancy shopping center at the start of Santa Teresa, where most of the businesses are run by Israelis and you can be sure to hear Hebrew being spoken. There's "Tina Town" down by the Brunella's Hostel complex where the Argentinians abound with their funny accents (where "Y" and "LL" is pronounced with a "J" or almost "J-SH" sound) and weird "Is that a mullet?" haircuts. And then there's the always good for a laugh "Tico Town" down by the Pizza Tomate in Santa Teresa, where you can almost always find the local boys hanging out in or outside the restaurant on the street, or in the gutter by the Supermarket, probably drinking guaro and smoking puros. And finally there's us, living somehow in the middle of all these places, making friends with everyone, and trying to remain neutral...so we call ourselves "Little Suiza" (Switzerland) AKA "Maya Town" since we are right by the big and fabulous Super Maya (which we have also deemed our "pantry" since we never have to buy lots of groceries in advance because the supermarket is just steps away from our gate...the lazy cook's dream).

Little Suiza...mi casa ♥

Life has been pretty fun lately, living with my two fabulous roommates from New York. We are loving our little home, our morning surf sessions, and our ladies nights. We cook a lot of yummy meals together and make poor man's Sangria with Chilean boxed wine and OJ from the super. We laugh a lot. And we have nicknames for everyone.

Trinity & Lauren, my fab roommates

Surfing is interesting. It's a lot of fun, and I've definitely been getting better, making progress on my pop up, balancing, paddling, and riding skills, but getting out past the break here in Santa is freaking hard. When I lived in Samara and when I visited Tamarindo it was way easier to get out. The waves were smaller and there weren't so many waves in a set to fight past in order to get on the outside. But here it's big. The waves are way more powerful. It's a work out just trying to get past a few of them. So I've been taking it slow and most days I just practice on the white wash. But at least I have a good time and I get a good workout just getting out there. I finally got out with a little help and motivation from a friend the other day, but then I got really scared as I saw big waves rolling in and crashing in front of me. How was I supposed to get back in? I kinda freaked out and didn't want to try any of the big waves that were coming by, so I paddled towards the shore during a lull and finally rode a wave back in on my knees. But this is how you learn, poco a poco, little by little, so I'm not trying to push things. I need to be super comfortable with my technique before I start trying to catch the big waves. And I love surfing the white wash because I can easily get like 10 good rides in a session!

Surfer Chics ;)

My English classes have been going well. Most of my groups usually have around 8-10 students in attendance, with anywhere from 10-15 registered for the class. It's tough to get students to come every week, and a lot of them will skip a week or two here and there without thinking twice about it. But it's fine, I just do a good bit of review each class from the previous lesson, and try to keep everyone updated on the homework. I've done at least 2 songs in each group so far this semester, which are always a big hit, and we've played some new Q&A games as well as board games and team races at the board. I've been drilling the intermediate students on the irregular verbs in the past tense for the past month (it's pretty much all memorization with the irregulars), and the advanced group is working on past participles and conditionals. It's funny when I forget the correct English, like last night with the verb SWIM. Simple past = SWAM. Past participle = SWUM. That just sounds weird to me. I have never swum in the ocean? But apparently that's the way it is. So I have to be careful...but it's good for my English and even better for my Spanish, when my students are translating everything into Spanish out loud as they write down the English. "I would if I could, but I can't so I won't." = "Lo haria si podria, pero no puedo entonces no lo haré." Impressive, no?

Playa Montezuma

In other news my girlfriend Terri from ATL came to visit last week and we had a BLAST. She loved it here and fit right in...so wish she could've stayed longer! Here are a few gorgeous pictures from our day trip to Montezuma...it was the most perfect sunshiny day for the trip and a visit to the waterfalls! Que suerte!

Terri on the rocks in Montezuma

Gorgeous turquoise waters!

This next month and a half or so will be the month of visitors. I have four more friends coming (two just arrived last night and are staying down at the end of Santa Teresa on a secluded beach, and one will be here in 2 weeks and is getting married on the beach in Mal Pais), and four of my cousins are also coming together at the very end of the March for a cousins reunion trip! It's bound to be an epic month. So stoked. I love summer.

Bueno chicos...nos hablamos. Happy Spring back home in the States, hope you are finally getting some warmer weather! Love from Costa...xx

The Big Bang Theory

2011-01-28T17:20:00.007-06:00

Sunset at the beach across the street, Santa Teresa

Hola from 2011! Back in paradise and things are going well. After a somewhat messy break-up with my tico boyfriend followed by a perfectly timed mini-vacation adventure with one of my best gringa girlfriends, I am finally getting back into my groove in Santa Teresa. Just finished my first week of English classes and had about 60 students in attendance. Hoping that number may go up a little during the second week, but feeling good about the size and energy of most of my groups. Decided to cancel my class in Montezuma after considering opening a new group there, but due to lack of interest and no desire to travel so far by myself once a week, I just let it go. The good news is I am now officially a Spanish teacher as well, currently working with two Swedish boys who have recently moved to town, and looking for a few new recruits. Beginner lessons only, but I have to say I'm pretty proud of my Spanish after a year and a half here. In addition to that I've got a few private lesson English students, so that should make for a decent monthly income. I've also got a great new house with my bestie from NYC. We are loving it...a nice big kitchen, living room with an actual couch, a hot water shower, 3 bedrooms, and a nice big front porch. It's pretty sweet for Ticolandia.

KK at my new house!

So as I said the year started off with a few big bangs...

Bang! Too much fighting with the boyfriend finally led to the end of us. Sad face. But we are both better off without each other...and it feels good to be single again. Getting back in touch with my soul, and studying "Women who run with the Wolves" to awaken my wild nature;)

Bang! I moved into a new house.

Kritter at Playa San Josecito, on the Osa Peninsula

Bang! My long time girlfriend Krista AKA Kritta K came to visit and we went on a whirlwind adventure to the southern zone of Costa Rica to the Osa Peninsula. I finally made it to Corcovado National Park, one of the most biologically diverse places on the planet, where we spotted tons of wildlife and enjoyed la naturaleza. A few pics below. Kritter also got to come see my new house and check out the area where I live for a few days...it was so great to share it all with her! Then we made it down to Dominical for two days on the way to the Osa, where we just chilled and surfed and danced a little salsa;) So glad KK came down...and if anyone else reading this is thinking about making the trip, DO IT!!! So worth it...and you get to see ME!

Scarlet Macaw

Tiger Heron

Bang! I got a surfboard! Meet the lovely "Reina" 6'11" funboard! We are still getting to know eachother, but I'm feeling really good about the future of our relationship. She's just big enough that I can get up on her, but small enough that I can become a better surfer. I am still in a very beginner mode, but owning my own tabla should help me learn a lot faster. Love her.

Me & my Queen, Reina

Final Bang! Today I got a bike! Don't have a photo yet but she is a pretty in pink beach cruiser with a jumbo basket on the front...I am calling her "Rosalinda." Now I have a whole little family of friends...Rubi the red quad, Reina the royal tabla de surf, and Rosalinda the rosada bicicleta.

Love from Costa Rica XOXO

December Wrap-Up

2010-12-26T17:45:00.002-06:00

Playa Santa Teresa

2010. What an amazing year it's been...I found my dream job teaching English in a beach town in Costa Rica. I perfected my Spanish skills to the point where I can now instruct others on how to speak the beautiful latin language. I fell in love with an amazingly sweet tico man and we created a great life together. I worked on my cooking skills, made beach art, discovered new ways of thinking and expressing myself, saw uncountable gorgeous sunsets, and traveled making visa runs to Nicaragua and back to the U.S. I enjoyed a lot of free time and I also put in a lot of time and energy into creating the English program in Santa Teresa and Montezuma. I made new friends and reunited with old ones, and I also saw tons of family that I hadn't seen in years at my cousin's wedding to which I was blessed to make it. I met my long lost half brother that I never knew I had, which in itself was an incredible experience. And finally, to top it all of, I got to spend Christmas relaxing and celebrating with my familia here in Atlanta. For all of this and more, I am grateful. My life is filled with love and joy and prosperity on many levels, and although things aren't always perfect, I am so thankful for all that I have and I truly believe the best way to be is optimistic so I'm counting my blessings!

The turn of the new year is a good time for reflection as well as setting new goals, and sometimes we are too busy to take the time to meditate on what it is we've learned, where it is we've been, and where we're headed. This year I'm making a point to do just that. It's been a year of self exploration in many ways for me, a new country, new job, new language, so many new experiences...and I have learned so much. My only regret is that I didn't journal more about all of my feelings and thoughts. I was doing pretty well with the blog at first, but that too ended up fading into the background at the end of the year. So, one of my goals for the new year is to keep up with my journal and maybe keep this blog going too...or maybe start another, more personal blog to post more inspirational ideas. But one step at a time!

To summarize some of my personal reflections...a few things I've been thinking about and plan to continue working on in 2011: practicing good health, conscious awareness of destructive patterns in order to transform them into positive habits, and allotment of time for personal space for meditation/creativity, allowing my inner femme fatal her self expression;) My health is generally very good but it's always important to keep it in the forefront. Maintain the vibrant life force with good nutrition and proper exercise. Oh, and lots of sunshine! Gotta love that free vitamin D! I've always been a slacker when it comes to exercise and I know this...but it's becoming more important to kick my ass into gear, so yes, like so many other people out there, I'm setting workout goals for the new year. Secondly I've been trying to work on bringing my awareness to any negative behavioral patterns or unhealthy reactions that come up in my daily life, recognize the tendencies I have and recognize it when they happen, and then to try to shift my mind state into a more positive space. The key here I believe is to be brutally honest but also be super gentle with yourself, and with those who are closest to you and act as mirrors of your behavior. Springing from the basic practice of turning of negative thoughts into positive affirmations...and taking that same adjustment work to other energetic and mental tendencies. And the last thing I mentioned, which is perhaps the most important, is the setting aside of personal time to reflect and express, to nurture my spirit and rejoice in my connection with the divine, and to just be...breathing, happy, whole. This is such an important meditation...so simple yet so easy to forget in the mix of everyday life. And even when you're living a tranquilo life at the beach...it's funny how your day gets filled with basic tasks and work and friends and food and suddenly a week has gone by without 15 minutes of breath and silence! So, there are some achievable goals, fit for the soul, for the ever-evolving me in 2011.

On a lighter note...my semester of English classes came to an end just about a week and a half ago with final exams and I am so proud of all of my students! They have truly improved their skills with the language and I feel so good about the impact I have made. But I'm also really stoked to be able to stay and work with them again in 2011, because I have got to get them speaking more. If there is one thing that they still need to get over their fear about, it's speaking, and I finally figured out some new techniques of translation practice with simple conversation that seems to be working quite well. I plan to keep it up in the new year and hopefully get everybody's confidence up to speak more fluidly. Teaching is great, a lot of fun, challenging and creative at the same time, and I'm constantly learning new things. I'm considering continuing teaching English or possibly Spanish in the future when I return to the states. It's a wonderful profession.

Right now I'm in Atlanta for a few more days of vacation and then I will return to Costa Rica just in time for New Years Eve (YAY Fiesta!!!) Unfortunately, my boyfriend and I are moving AGAIN when I get back, but hopefully this will be the last time! The last time I blogged we were living in a sweet vacation house that a friend was care-taking, but that was only for the rainy season, and in the beginning of November we relocated to a small but sweet apartment more in the center of town. It's been a great little spot, close to everything, it came with a lovely cat (who I think actually belongs to a neighbor a few doors down but she spends a lot of time on our patio), and we've met a lot of neighbors who have become good friends there. We are on the same side street as the big SuperMercado, which is convenient, and right across the street from one of the most beautiful beach spots in Santa. Check out the view from under the palms above ^^^

But like I said, we are moving again, which is due to a sanitary issue I'd prefer not to discuss here (let's just say the bathroom stinks more often than it should), but we are so lucky that we have found a perfect place to move into and it's just a few houses up the same side street on the same block. Good thing, because I sold the car so we don't have an easy way to move everything at once. The new place is bigger and has a nice front porch and we are super excited because we will be sharing the place with my favorite little NYC transplant Trinity ;) She was living in Montezuma and Santa Teresa earlier this year and we became the best of friends. Then she left for the rainy season, but she's coming back for at least the next 6 months. What a treat it will be to have my girlie here again to kick it with! And get this: just a day before we were leaving ST for the holidays, we weren't sure what we were going to do about our living situation, because the house we were looking at was occupied until the 7th and our current landlord wasn't happy with our moving plans...but it just so happens that the current inhabitants are some rad friends of ours who offered to let us move in a week early to help us get out of our current leasing agreement (gotta give up the whole month of January), how nice is that! So it all feels kind of like a miracle, everything is coming together beautifully as it always does here. Ah, sweet Costa Rica...life always seems to fall perfectly into place in your luscious lands <3

Hasta Pronto! Espero que todos pasaron un Feliz Navidad!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

...and then the Earth trembled!

2010-09-18T13:43:00.006-05:00

Wow...what a week! In the past week I've experienced many new, interesting, exciting, and scary things. There was a skunk in my kitchen that made me scream, a family of raccoons visiting our trash bin (mind you now that I've made friends with one I kinda like seeing these guys around), a ginormous four inch cockroach crawling by outside (these guys on the other hand are not welcome), bright green frogs having sex on a leaf in the yard, and frog eggs from said frogs hanging on said leaf in a gelatenas clear substance the next morning (cool). But nothing was quite as amazing as the tremors I felt on Thursday and Friday.

It was my first time to experience an earthquake (tremor, really, but to me it was pretty significant). The entire house shook. I just so happened to be getting dressed (it was around 9:30 in the morning) and had to run outside to a safer spot topless...good thing we don't have any close neighbors. The house we live in is built on the side of a mountain, and there is a fault line running through Cobano and a seismogenic plate that lies beneath most of the Nicoya Peninsula. This area is basically where two tectonic plates meet under the surface of the Earth: the Coco Plate and the Caribbean Plate. Apparently the shifting of these two plates is what causes the earthquakes and tremors, and sometime in the future a very large earthquake could destroy the entire peninsula. I'm not so sure what it all means, but that's what they say. It seems to me the whole area is sort of in a constant flux, especially the tip of the penninsula where I live (Montezuma, Cobano, Cabuya, Mal Pais, and Santa Teresa). The mountains drop at a steep angle down to the coastal areas, the terrain is rough, and at any time landslides and topographic changes are possible. I guess that explains why the roads are so bad, because paving them never seems to last that long. As the land changes, so do the pothole prone roads.

The tremor was Thursday morning and it reached 5.3 on the Richter scale. There were apparently more than 6 more aftershocks, only one of which I felt. Then came the flashes in the sky. Thursday night as we were going to bed we started noticing some lightening in the sky, but there was no thunder. Heat lightening I suppose. We went to bed but kept seeing these flashes of light outside the window, so we got up to watch the storm. But it wasn't raining and there was still no thunder, just continuous flashes of light with the occasional bolt of lightening going sideways across the sky. I have never seen so much atmospheric activity - the flashes continued with less than 5 seconds between them for at least a couple of hours. It was truly unbelievable, kind of beautiful, and a little bit frightening. We are living in the beginning of the end of days, after all. Who knows what could happen, or what's normal anymore.

Again on Friday morning there was another big one, 5 point something, and then again this morning around 3 am, 4 point something. During both of these I was sleeping and I didn't feel anything. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I guess I'm a good sleeper like my dad. :)

So...aside from mother nature showing me her wild side this week, life has been pretty normal. It's midterm exam time for my students, so now we will really see who's got the dedication to pass the test and finish out the semester. I think most of them are going to do just fine, and I'm making an extra effort to do a whole review class so they are well prepared for the exam. The weather has been surprisingly really beautiful lately, with several full days of sunshine this week which means I got in a little beach time. Last weekend we spent in San Jose again, this time because I had to take the car in to pass her technical inspection, which after spending hundreds of dollars in repairs and borrowing a tire from a similar car at the local mechanic's, she passed by the skin of her teeth (now there's an interesting idiom to use in my classes...any ideas where that one came from?). Now that Geovanna passed inspection and we are getting close to finishing the rainy season, I'm considering selling her and keeping the quad come November. I've been planning to sell Rubi (the ATV), but in reality she is much more fit for getting around on these roads as long as it's not raining: she's newer, has fewer problems, and she's built for off-roading (or on-roading in Costa Rica). Plus she can go a lot faster, and she's a lot more fun to ride! She's perfect for the dry season, and since I'm thinking I probably won't stick around for the entire year next year, she's probably my best option. Yes, that's right, I'm currently considering wrapping things up here in May or June of 2011. But no promises. There are still a lot of things that could happen between now and then...

And there you have it. Hasta la proxima, pura vida!

La Vida Tranquila

2010-09-04T12:36:00.007-05:00

Livin la vida tranquila. That is the truth these days. With the rains coming more frequently things are slowing down even more around here. I can hear the waves crashing down more clearly. The monkeys are howling louder. The winds are blowing harder. I feel like my senses are being heightened from the silence surrounding me. Tourism has almost reached it's yearly low and only the locals remain. It's kinda cool to be a part of it, experiencing the vacation spot without the slew of invading vacationers. I can truly say I know this town, from both sides now.

Don't get me wrong, it's not rainy everyday (or at least not yet). August was actually really nice, a good balanced month, and lately the mornings have typically been rain free, with the clouds rolling in in the afternoon. The locals are still doing their thing. The motorcycles and quads are still bumping along the pothole-filled roads, and the hardcore surfers are still making their way to the breaks on the daily. Life goes on, but it's clear that this town was built for tourism. A lot of businesses will close for at least one month sometime during September and October, and many locals will take their yearly vacation back home to where ever home may be (San Jose, Nicaragua, Europe, the U.S., and Israel are common destinations). It's a good time to escape, and I'm hoping that my two week trip home is well planned, smack dab in the middle of October, the rainiest month of the year, when my wonderful cousin Dan just happened to be getting married in Pennsylvania. The perfect excuse.

In the mean time I plan to continue with my teaching, which has definitely become one of my passions. My students are truly a joy to work with (for the most part). I've also found myself igniting and reigniting some of my other passions: clothing design, for example. Simple cut and tie projects with big guys t-shirts that I'm turning into dresses and halter tops. The next step is to try some at-home DIY screenprinting. We'll see how that works out. Not a major project yet, but I'm testing the waters. It could be a great little business to start once the tourist season starts back up. My boyfriend Javier makes macrame jewelry to sell at the beach and so I've been toying with the idea of joining him with some homemade beachwear. Other ideas include shell and driftwood creations like mobiles and little paintings. The rainy season is definitely a good time to get creative, and I'm grateful to have a nice space in my home to do some work. Fun work, that is.

Last weekend some gringo friends of ours, Maryann and Paul, invited Javier and I to go to San Jose with them. They have recently relocated here from Cape Cod, and they are buying a jungle lodge in Mal Pais. They sort of needed help since they didn't know their way around the San Jose and they don't speak much Spanish, so Javi played tour guide and I played translator.

Javi and I on the ferry to San Jose

They covered the hotel which was basically a nice Tica lady's home, and she cooked all our meals for us. We helped them find their lawyer, do paperwork for a visa application, get fingerprints done, and go shopping around the city. We also picked up their 16 year old daughter Carly, who had just flown in from the States. She'll be living here for the next three months or maybe longer, doing an online home schooling program with a local advisor.

Amigos

We had a lot of fun tooling around the city and it was nice to get out and do something different. The beach is beautiful, but I do crave a little taste of city life from time to time. We are planning to go back again in the next few weeks to visit Javier's mom and daughter, and we hope to go to the Parque de Diversiones (amusement park) as long as the rain holds off.

Yesterday we had planned to do a BBQ on the beach in the afternoon, but as you come to expect around here, we got rained out. So the BBQ turned into a dinner party. We made ceviche and fish sticks from fresh caught "dayboat" Jack and hung out at Pachamama, the lodge in Mal Pais that our friends are purchasing. Pachamama means mother earth; there's a translation that I love. We drank Chilean wine out of a box and made friends with a raccoon. At first I thought they were crazy for feeding it, but then I realized how cute he really was, and I joined the action by feeding him some tostadas myself. His little paws were super soft, and he was very gentle and careful around us. I still can't quite get used to the idea, but they are actually trying to encourage the natural wildlife to be around their lodge. No dogs allowed, but raccoons, monkeys, and other small mammals are more than welcome.

Our friend the mapache

Other highlights from the past month included a visit from my girlfriend Meredith, who came for a second time after her first trip back in March. She brought a friend with her which was great since I had to teach some evenings while she was here, and they were having the best trip. They literally came during the best week in August, weather wise. During their two day trip to La Fortuna to visit Volcan Arenal, they were blessed with a completely clear night, and actually saw hot lava flows around the volcano. I've been twice and never been that lucky. Then they arrived at the beach and we had three days of sunshine. It was amazing.

Surf's up at Playa Hermosa

We went surfing at the most beautiful beach nearby, Playa Hermosa, which has become my new favorite. It's a lot easier to surf there for beginners, plus it's less crowded and wider and cleaner than the beaches in Santa Teresa.

That's me catching a (baby) wave!

We also visited the Montezuma waterfalls and hit up reggae night over in Montezuma, which is about the only big party that's still happening around here. It was a blast, and the girls were already talking about coming back...again!

Meredith and Caitlin eating seafood in Montezuma

The other night I accidentally left my keys in my car when I went into the super to buy some groceries. I locked the car up good like I always do, bought my groceries and reached for my keys...but they weren't there. Of course, I was checking my messages on my phone before I got out of the car and somehow just forgot to grab the keys on my way out. But that's no problem because I made a spare door-only key and I keep it in my wallet...it must still be there, right? Wrong. I have no idea where the extra key went, but it wasn't in my wallet, so there I was without a key and without a locksmith. Of course there isn't a locksmith here! So I called around to a few different friends and a taxi driver who is my student, but no one had any grand ideas. One friend jokingly told me that the only "locksmiths" around here were the thieves. I stood there feeling a bit defeated, when suddenly out of nowhere one of my students pulls up, jumps out of the car and when I explained my problem announces "I'm a mechanic, I can do it, just let me find a hanger." He runs behind the supermarket and comes back with a wire and a metal rod. He slides it into the door and within about 2 minutes he works his magic and voila, my door opens. It was truly a miracle that he showed up, and things just seemed to work out, as they always seem to around here, just people helping people. Pura Vida.

I'll leave you with a few more photos of the house. Saludos a todos mis amigos, I miss you all much and please come visit! November through April/May will be beautiful here ;)

Front porch looking at the house

View from the window

We sometimes spot whales while eating breakfast...

The Haps...

2010-08-16T13:57:00.004-05:00

Buenas...

I'm sitting here at the bakery in Playa Carmen using my laptop today. It's been a slight adjustment getting used to not having internet in the house, but thanks to my iPhone and a super cheap pre-paid line from ICE, the Costa Rican phone company, I've been able to stay pretty well connected. Somehow full time internet on the 3G network here works out to be less than ten cents a day. Calls are about 10 cents a minute. What a difference, I was paying almost $90 monthly in the states! I feel like it's too good to be true, like it's only a matter of time until they catch on and realize that they're offering these plans for way too cheap. But for now...I'm rocking my jailbroken iPhone in tico-land!

The first month of my second semester of English classes has gone really well. I’m excited that we have seen an increase in enrollment in the courses, and I'm hopeful that most of the students will stick with it through December. I worked closely with the Camara de Turismo in Santa Teresa-Mal Pais to get things organized for this semester, and I felt proud that they really wanted me to stay. I really do love teaching and even if I’m having a bad day by the time I get in the classroom and interact with my students it cheers me right up. Attendance has been pretty good overall and it seems the students are enjoying the classes. The two new groups of beginners are particularly enthusiastic, which is fun for me. I have a total of 93 students enrolled right now!

I feel like I've become a better, more efficient teacher, and lesson planning is starting to come quicker. One key thing I've learned: Preparation is everything. Having back up games and extra activities planned always helps, because you never know how things will go. Sometimes a group goes through material way faster or way slower than you expect. Each class in unique and you have to be prepared to cater to the students’ needs and interests. I think I'm getting better at that.

In my personal life things have definitely changed a lot over the past two months! I just moved again after realizing that the adorable little house my boyfriend and I were sharing was a little too expensive for us. We loved it but we came across a better option in Santa Teresa so we decided to take it. Now we should be much better off (read: financially), and the place is pretty nice too. It's a gringo style vacation house that normally rents to tourists, but it had been abandoned for a few months so lots of things need to be fixed up and repaired. A friend of mine is taking care of the house and overseeing all of the repairs, so we are getting a great deal and just have to put up with a few minor imperfections, but once everything is fixed this place will be pretty pimp. I definitely miss living with the family in Cabuya, but we try to pass by or meet up with them ever so often. They are such wonderful people. I especially miss my baby sis, Tiffany. What a little love! But I do love that I get to share a life with my sweet boyfriend, and we have a great time hanging at home cooking, watching movies, and doing little art projects. I don't know what I would do without him, especially now that the rainy season is in full effect. He has made life so much easier and more fun!

I do have days where I miss home, and they've been happening more frequently as of late. I don’t know why, maybe because of all the moving and not having all of the comforts of home, or maybe because I’ve been here over a year now and I’m just starting to really miss my people, but those feelings have definitely been popping up. Then again I look at where I am and how many interesting and unique experiences I’m having and it all fades away. I think too it’s because the rainy season can be a little bit harder to deal with here, and lots of the friends that I had here have gone back to the states or where ever for the low season. But again, I love my work, I live on the beach, and I'm super happy with my boyfriend...I don't think I can complain too much :)

That's it for today...my girl Meredith is coming to visit tomorrow so this week will be extra special! I'll get some pictures up of the new place and the latest adventures soon! Besos de Costa Rica!

2010-07-14T19:10:00.008-05:00

Hola amigos! Time for a quick catch up session on the last month...I've been on vacation!

We had final exams in all my classes and the students generally did really well. Then my girl Grace came to visit from Atlanta and my vacation began. Unfortunately I spent the first weekend sick with a sinus infection and a bit of a fever. I felt bad that I got sick just at the same time that Grace arrived, but she was a good sport about it and went and did some activities on her own while I rested. It's funny, I haven't gotten sick much in Costa Rica, and the only other time I did get sick was right after the TEFL course I took back in August. This time it happened right after my first semester of teaching ended. Looks like a pattern to me…post stress release sickness…but at least my body knows to wait until I'm finished working!

For July 4th weekend, Javier and I went to Samara to visit friends. It was so nice to have a mini vacation, and Miss Geo (the car) did great on her first road trip!

Javi & I on the beach in Samara

We rented a room at Sol y Mar just down the street from where I used to live with Marisol. My friend Krista from Chicago was in town for a few days with her boyfriend and then a few days later my "little sister" Mareike arrived from Germany.

Mis chicas, together again

It was great to be reunited again, and Marisol invited us all for a BBQ party at her house. Samara was beautiful as always, and I ate some of my favorite ceviche from the street vendor there…YUM!

Carne a la parilla

When we got back I had two graduation ceremonies to attend for my students in Santa Teresa and Montezuma. It was an honor to present my students with their hard-earned certificates. I am so proud of them and how far they've come! There were a few representatives from the ICT and the Municipalidad de Cobano that came to speak to the students about the program, and I spoke on a microphone both in English and in Spanish! What a great feeling to know that I've helped change so many lives. This is what teaching is all about:)

Students with their "titulos"

On Saturday Javier and I made the move from Cabuya into our new house in Mal Pais and we really love it! I finally have my own kitchen to cook in and we have a washer and dryer, hot water showers, TV, and internet. It's a small house but it's nice and clean and perfect for us.

Our new home!

Last time I wrote about another place in Santa Teresa, which was beautiful, but when we found this place it was obviously a better option for the both of us, and at a better price. The best part is we have baby coconut trees here so we've been drinking young coconut water everyday…fresh and free!

View from the front door

Class started back in Montezuma on Monday and we had a registration day for the seven new classes in Santa Teresa which will be starting next week. So far it looks like I will be teaching around 80 students total and there will be two brand new beginner groups in Santa Teresa. I'm excited to get going and I've got a lot of new ideas for more conversation oriented classes. I've got to get these guys speaking more comfortably! I am also making a new rule for myself: no Spanish in the classroom! In my TEFL course, I was taught to do all my classes in 100% English, but when I started teaching beginners that had no English I found it was necessary to explain some things in Spanish. Now that they have the basic foundation however, I've got to cut out all the Spanish and go with pure English. I think this will be a tremendous help for them, although it may be hard for me to get used to. I guess I secretly like practicing my Spanish with my students, but I'll have to save that for outside of class!

"Rom Dom"

Ok gotta run, we are cooking some fresh fish Caribbean style in coconut milk for dinner...pura vida

Cambios

2010-06-18T16:24:00.005-05:00

I can't believe it's already half way through June! The other CREST volunteers who came in January and only signed up for six months will be heading home soon (tear). The semester is almost over. All of my classes have their final exams next week and then we get a two week vacation. I can't imagine how I would feel if I was leaving so soon…I think it would break my heart! Luckily I am planning to continue with the program, although there have been a few bumps in the road.

I wasn't aware of this until recently, but apparently the ICT (Costa Rican Institute of Tourism) only sponsors the CREST program in each town for one full year. Montezuma and Santa Teresa already had another volunteer for six months last year, so this July will mark one year here. That means the funding will be cut, and the local Camara of Tourism will have to pick up the slack if they want to continue with the program. The money from the ICT was basically paying my housing and food with the family in Cabuya, and the Camara was providing me with a little stipend for gas and class supplies. When I first heard that the funding would be cut I was super sad because I didn't know if the program would continue, but the Camara of Tourism in Santa Teresa assured me that they want me to stay. In Montezuma, the Camara is very disorganized and there isn't much money, so as it turns out I will only be keeping one night of classes there, and I will open a few new classes in Santa Teresa where there is a higher demand for learning English.

The other major change is that I decided it would be best if I moved over to the Santa Teresa side, since three out of my four teaching nights will be there, and then I'll only have to drive to Montezuma once a week. I spent a few days searching in the past week and I think I finally found my spot! It's a super cute little cabina that one of my students rents out, next to her house on her property, which just happens to be about 50 feet from a gorgeous secluded beach. Hello perfection. It's a little more than my job affords me, but I think I can make up the rest doing some extra private lessons, and it will be so worth it. It comes with everything; it even has a blender for fruit drinks and an oven which is a rarity here in Costa Rica! I can make banana bread and bake root vegetables! Cabuya was a great place because the family was so wonderful and the town is super tranquilo, but it is a little bit out of the way to constantly be driving back and forth. Plus the beaches are better in Santa Teresa, and I can finally get out and surf more! I hope this place works out, but either way I'm trusting that things will fall into place perfectly as they always seem to do here in Costa :)

My girlfriend Grace is coming to visit next week so that's super exciting! It's good timing because I will be finishing with classes and have a little break. We are planning to drive to Manuel Antonio for a few days and possibly do a little rafting adventure on the Rio Naranjo. I want to take her to the national park there because it's a beautiful spot to see monkeys and other wildlife. She also wants to do a canopy tour, so I think we'll try the one in Montezuma that goes over the waterfalls. It's close and I think I can swing us a nice discount.

After Grace leaves I'm planning to take the rest of my time off to visit friends in Samara. The first and best friend that I made in Samara is a girl named Krista from Chicago. She was there studying Spanish at the same language school and we instantly hit it off and hung out for the next few months before she went back to the states. She will be back for a weekend and I can't wait to see her! Then my little sister Mareike from Germany will be returning - I call her my sister because we lived together in the same house with our "mamatica" Marisol - so I will stay a few more days to hang out with her. I think my boyfriend Javier is coming with me too, so it will be a lot of fun to introduce him my friends there! Yay vacation!!!

When I get back we will have a graduation ceremony and party for my students in Santa Teresa…I hope they all pass the final exam!!! I think in Montezuma we are all just going to meet at the bar and I will hand out the certificates and make a little speech. I'm so proud of all of their hard work and it's amazing to see the progress they've made in just 5 months! I really am inspired to work harder and get them speaking more English by the end of the year. The main things I'm going to focus on now is more listening and speaking exercises. The grammar and writing are important too, but with each topic we study I want to make sure everyone can express themselves clearly in English. Wish me luck!

Ciao…or as some they say here "cha-ito"

Photo Tour Part 2

2010-06-13T11:29:00.011-05:00

A continuación...

Starfruit tree in the backyard, always popping off.

Starfruit snack. Also good for making fresco (juice/water/sugar).

Limón tree, which is the Costa Rican version of lime and/or lemon, grows here year round here too. It's a little bit more acidic/tart, but it does the trick.

Avocado in the tree in our front yard...getting bigger...we had so many we had to give them away...and they're all huge!

View of the coast on the way from Cabuya to Montezuma, a beautiful shoreline with beaches scattered among big black rocks.

School in Montezuma where I teach (beachfront).

Typical Iguana hanging out in the schoolyard.

Playa Montezuma.

House in Delicias where I stay part time.

There are 3 different types of mango trees in the yard in Delicias...these are the big ones, super yummy!

Papayas too!

This is green noni.

This is ripe noni. Good for you, but oh so stinky!

My little friend Maria in Delicias, age 2, calls me "Ah-me."

Hummingbirds!!!

Typical cow/bull sighting on the road near Cobano; sometimes they are seriously just standing in the middle of the road!

Playa Santa Teresa.

Trinity and I having a beach day with the quad. There are tons of fun beach spots to explore and the quad is such a fun way to see it all…lovin it!

The colegio (high school) where I teach in Santa Teresa.

Bird of Paradise, gorgeous tropical flower!

My fave chicas, Trinity & Silvia.

My fave chico, Javier. <3

Sunset in ST.

Paradise found.

The Simple Life: Photo Tour Part 1

2010-06-12T12:04:00.009-05:00

I've been meaning to post some sort of photo tour of my world on here for quite some time. I wanted to show my house and all the things and people that surround me on a daily basis. I also might be moving to Santa Teresa soon, so I wanted to capture this moment before it's gone. Here you have it, mi pequeño mundo en CR, Part 1...

View of Cabuya Island from the road to Mal Pais.

My street in Cabuya.

Garden outside of my house, which contains bananas, platanos, guanabana, starfruit, avocado, limón, peppers, and lots of flowers.

View from the family's house to my cabina.

Inside my cabina.

My little bro & sis, Yeudi & Kata, 16 & 14 years old.

Baby sis Tiffany, la princesa.

My tico mom & dad, Yessenia & Lucas (more like friends than parents).

Cabuya is a place for fisherman…fresh fish always available!

Lucas with some green plantains from the tree in the yard.

The kitchen.

The stove (with Gallo Pinto in the fry pan).

The kitchen is open air, love this view…

The washing machine and cleaning area. The washer doesn't have a rinse cycle so you do that part by hand. There is a spinning dryer which gets rid of a good bit of the water, then you put everything out back on the line to dry.

Living room & TV.

Geovanna...my new carro!

2010-06-12T11:54:00.002-05:00

Here she is! Geovanna is a 1993 Geo Tracker 4x4, and I love her! I finally found a great used car to kick around in Costa Rica. The quad just doesn't do so well in the rainy season, so it was time to trade Rubi in for some bigger wheels and a rooftop. I wanted automatic because my manual skills are not all that, and I also wanted to be sure I got a 4x4 with air conditioning and a hard top. After 3 days of searching in Grecia (one of Costa Rica's used car capitols), Palmares, and San Ramon, I finally found this one. She's got everything I needed and the price was just right. Big thanks to my tico amigos Yerlin and Carlos and all of their family for helping me find and purchase the car. I can't express how valuable their contribution of time and energy was in this whole process. Without them I probably would've gotten the gringo treatment and the gringo price!!!

So THIS is the Rainy Season...

2010-05-25T21:11:00.006-05:00

Really Rain? Really???

It's been raining so much lately I feel like I have barely seen the sun! There have been a few mornings of sunshine but the past week has been pretty crazy. For the past two days and nights it has rained constantly. I mean all day and all night, super hard and then a little bit lighter, with maybe a 20 minute pause here and there only to start pouring again, and it is still going...unbelievable! Apparently this is how it gets around the start of June, but hopefully it won't be so bad for too long. Normally in the rainy season, the mornings are somewhat sunny, and the rain doesn't come until the late afternoon or evening (just when I need to be in transit to my classes), but lately Mother Nature hasn't been following the rules! Now I am starting to understand why so many foreigners only live in Costa Rica during the dry season. This rain is no joke! Last year was such a light weight rainy season that I didn't realize what I was in for this time. Apparently I haven't seen anything yet, as everyone and their mothers keep warning me about the madness of October...

Ready for the rain

My friend Liz Gilbert, who has the same name as the author of one of my favorite books Eat, Pray, Love, came to visit this past weekend. She is another one of ALIARSE's volunteer English teachers who works here in Turrialba, and we met during our job orientation in January. She came on Thursday in the midst of a big rainstorm, actually the same night that an earthquake hit Costa Rica farther south down the pacific coast. Apparently my students felt the tremor while we were having class, but I didn't notice anything other than some papers falling off the desk. Hmmm. I kind of WANT to feel an earthquake just because I never have before, but I guess I should be careful what I wish for!

Liz drawing on Tiffany

Despite the rain, Liz and I had a great time here. She really loved this area and thought my whole set up with my family and the quad was great. She especially fell in love with my little sister Tiffany, as we spent some time one morning giving each other temporary tattoos with the yummy smelling markers I brought back from the States. Luckily, it wasn't raining too much during the daytime so we were able to go to the beach and visit the waterfall, which was in full force after so much rain. The hike up the river to the waterfall that is super easy in the dry season is finally getting kind of tricky again. I almost lost my flip flop twice!!! On Saturday, we did a tour of my favorite beach spots on the Santa Teresa side. Both nights that Liz was here we planned to go out for a few drinks, but every time we would get ready to go out, it would start pouring. One night we called a taxi, and the other night we used trash bag ponchos to stay somewhat dry on the quad. We felt quite accomplished as we managed to get out and have a blast regardless of the weather :)

Tiff & I with our new tattoos

This past week I also made my first attempts at crossing a river on the quad. All the rivers that were super low a few weeks ago are now way bigger, some of them flowing forcefully all the way out into the sea. But Rubi (my quad) is such a tough girl, I have to hand it to her, she really takes everything like a pro.

Rubi's new rain-proof box

I must admit the first time was pretty scary. The tiny river that I normally cross all the time with no problem had gotten so much bigger. I wasn't sure how deep it was in the center, and I stopped to ponder turning around and making a big loop up to Cobano. But after a moment I decided I could do it, so I put it in low gear and slowly crossed. We made it through! YAY Rubi! It was quite a rush, but I had an even scarier moment with Liz when we tried to cross a river at night and got stuck on a rock. The river wasn't that deep so it would have been no problem for the quad, except for the fact that I steered us onto a big rock and the tire got stuck. The scary part was that I had to reverse back into the river in order to get us unstuck! But like I said, Rubi handled it really well, and we were on our way in no time. Nevertheless, these rivers are only getting bigger, and with time the cut-through roads will be impassable. Yet another reason why a car will make much more sense: I'll be driving the long loop all the way up to Cobano and around, and even if I didn't mind getting a little wet, that's a long way to go on a quad. So the search for a car continues. I should have good news within a week or two.

Tiffany with Avocados from the tree in our yard

My favorite part of this time of the year is that the mangos are still abundant and the avocados are popping off! I've been eating avocado with almost every meal lately, and at least one mango a day. There are so many mangos still that people just give them away...que rico!

Ciao amigos!

Culture Shock USA

2010-05-12T13:15:00.002-05:00

The Capital Building in Atlanta

I didn't think I'd been gone that long, but coming home definitely made me realize how much I've gotten used to life in Costa Rica. The first thing I noticed when I got off the plane was how tall some people were here! There were some black men in the airport that seemed like GIANTS! I mean basketball player tall. They don't make 'em like that in Costa Rica. I got home and took a hot shower...que rico! Not only was the water epically warm, but the soap was super luxurious, and the Q-tips actually had cotton on the ends! And when I went to blow my nose with a Kleenex (wait, there's another type of tissue besides TP?), I closed my eyes in enjoyment at how soft it was. Oh, the simple pleasures.

The first day home was the day my girlfriends were having a Moon Circle, which is like a spiritual gathering for females only, and my plan was to surprise them all when I showed up completely unannounced. So I got ready and cruised over in my Dad's car in an attempt to be uber incog. After a little confusion as to where I was going (slightly disoriented back in a car and back in Atlanta), I found my way to Bridget's house, parked outside, and quietly approached the house. I didn't see anyone around, so I slipped in through the front door and realized they were all out back starting the ritual sharing circle. I didn't want to interrupt, but Bridget must have seen a shadow moving inside the house because she came up to the side door, and to her surprise there I was in her kitchen with a bottle of Lizano in my hand! She couldn't quite process that I was actually standing there...and I was so excited about seeing all my girls that my heart was racing! We finally walked outside and everyone's mouths dropped open in shock! Waves of "Oh my God!" and "What are you doing here?" filled the air as I made my way to each of my friends for a big hug and an even bigger smile. What a fun way to start my trip home!

Girlfriends

My girlfriends are such special people in my life…they are nothing less than sisters to me! I have been super close with most of these ladies since college, and with friends like these, it never really feels like you've missed a beat. Sure, there is a lot of catching up to do, but it doesn't ever feel like I've been gone that long, and our relationships pick up right where we left off, full of love and laughter and plenty of girl talk. It was amazing to be around all of these beautiful women, and once again I felt extremely blessed by the life I've been given. We had a very exciting and emotional circle that day, followed by wine, snacks, and essential oil mixing to make sprays and perfumes. Oh, and some of the best food I've had in quite some time!!! Love you GA goddesses!

Sunday I enjoyed a delicious birthday dinner with my family and shared stories of life and travels. I love that my parents are so supportive of my adventures, and we are all really close. We pretty much talk about everything and I love that openness. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Dad and I at Nan's Thai Restaurant

Mom and Jason

The next few days in ATL involved the dreaded Visa paperwork. I literally spent all day Monday and Tuesday and part of the day on Wednesday running all over the city obtaining papers and certificates, getting things notarized and authenticated by the state, buying money orders and taking passport size photos. It was a bit of a headache, but I think it will be worth it once I get the Volunteer Visa. And I did get a chance to use my Spanish at the Vital Records Office when a Mexican guy needed some translating!

One thing I noticed while I was driving all over creation is the stress that traffic brings on...yuck. I hadn't felt that in a while and I didn't like it at all. In general the pace here in the city seems a lot faster, people are speeding around in their little bubble cars, and everywhere is too cold with A/C. Four days in, and I was already missing Costa Rica. Take me back to the simple life!!!

Traffic on Freedom Parkway, ATL

The week at home flew by as I stayed busy running errands and visiting with friends and family. It didn't really feel like a vacation in the relaxing sense of the word, but I did get in some great food and drinks with the people that I care about. I stocked up on the things I needed that I can't get down here or that are simply way cheaper in the States. But by the end of the week, I was super ready to get back to Costa Rica. When I got off the plane in San Jose I exhaled………ahhhhh, back to tranquilo ticolandia :)

I have a lot of work to do and classes to teach this week, so I'll leave you with that and write more next week. Again, great to see everyone at home and thanks for all the sweet birthday wishes! Ciao!!!

Mayo: My Favorite Month

2010-05-05T15:06:00.011-05:00

(Editor's Note: This post was written on Thursday, April 29th.)

There was a time when I used to be squeamish about bugs. I used to jump out of my seat if a beetle was flying too close. I would run out of the room and call someone in to come remove the spider or cockroach that was hanging out in my space. There was screaming and lots of goose bumps. As I got older, I got a little better about not freaking out over insects. I got to the point where I could take spiders outside in a glass jar and release them. And I got really good at killing cockroaches (I feel no remorse when it comes to those nasty suckers) when I lived in a cheap rental house in Athens that had a huge infestation. You could say my nerves had been shot down a good bit before, but nothing could of prepared me for what I would encounter in Costa Rica.

Did you know that there are over 300,000 species of insects in Costa Rica? Ok, I knew this place was biologically diverse and all, but out of the 500,000 species living in this tiny country, over 300,000 of them are insects! And I can tell you now from first hand experience, it's true: there are a plethora of bugs living here!

From giant grasshoppers and crickets the size of a Twix bar, to huge "garden" spiders living in my bedroom, I've encountered a good variety of Tico insectos.

Then one day along came the Abejones de Mayo, which are some kind of flying beetles that take over the land in the month of May, and they have already started showing up in the past few weeks of April.

These guys are really big and really annoying. The regular ones are about the size of a raspberry, but today I saw my first gigantor abejones, which are more or less the size of large strawberry. And apparently they get even bigger. They seem to be dizzy or drunk when they fly around, because they are always crashing into your head, or arm, or any other given body part. Sometimes they dive bomb into your flip flops, and sometimes you find that one has somehow made it underneath your shirt and is now stuck there. They don't bite, but they come like the plague, in multitudes. I was literally dodging them in my classroom tonight, and my friend Trinity keeps a frying pan handy so we can play 'swat the beetle' when they start swarming the outside light at night. I can't imagine how many there will be in May, if there are already so many now. At least once they roll over or land on their backs they're pretty much dead, since they have trouble flipping back over. It's kind of like the crabs in the roads; now there are loads of dead abejones laying on the floor everywhere you go. Nice. I wonder if anybody eats them...fried beetles? Or is that only in China?

In May, the rainy season officially begins in Costa Rica. It seems to have come early this year, as we've had hard rainfalls for 4 out of the past 5 days. I am quickly realizing that I was crazy for thinking I would be ok on an ATV in the rain. Sure, if I only had to go a few blocks or even 15 blocks, I could get a little wet, go home and dry off, and I'd be fine. But driving between towns on muddy roads in the pouring rain? It's insane! Not only do the raindrops peg you like little stinging bullets, it gets cold in the wind when you're getting wet AND you can hardly avoid splashing mud puddles on your legs. So everyone says you just need a good pair of rubber boots, a poncho, and some waterproof pants, but I'm thinking I just need a car!

I didn't listen to my Tica mom months ago when she told me I'd be better off buying an old car instead of a quad. I thought it would make more sense to have a newer quad that wouldn't have any mechanical problems, and since I don't know the first thing about mechanics I thought it would be silly to buy an old car that could have issues. Who wants to have a car that's always in the taller? But after seeing how intense this rainy season is going to be, I'm reconsidering my options. Rubi (the quad) is so much fun and I love her...but I could buy an old 4x4 for the same price, and then the rain wouldn't be such a struggle. This is the next 8 months of my life I'm talking about, May through December, which in this country means rain, rain, and more rain. I know it seems crazy to trade in my wheels so soon, and it will definitely be a hassle, but it will greatly improve the quality of my life for the rest of the year. Vale la pena? I think so. Suddenly an '89 Suzuki Sidekick has become my dream car...

My Tico friends will of course help me figure this all out. My mechanic uncle will check out the car and my lawyer friend will transfer the title. I may even have a friend offering to drive me to the Central Valley to find my perfect ride. Now the vision is set in place, time to create a new reality...carro manifesto! I'll keep you posted on my progress ;)

My Montezuma classes had their first exam this week, a "midterm" of sorts, and most of the students did good. It was exciting to see the wheels turning in their heads as they labored over the test for an hour. Then we played a game called "Crazy Dictation" which everybody loved. I forgot how much fun this game was and I'm excited to use it more often or create variations on it. I learned it in my Costa Rica TEFL course, and it's a race between pairs of students. One student reads a text to his partner who then has to run across the room and write down word for word what he has just heard. It's a great listening and writing exercise, and the element of speed and competition makes it a lot of fun. You can have a speed winner and a winner for correctness...but in the end everyone learns something and laughs a lot. Good stuff.

In Santa Teresa I gave the students a take home exam to do during the next week when I will be out of the country on my visa run. I had to cancel classes for a week so I could go get another stamp on the old passport, so I figured it was a perfect time to give them an open book, do-at-home test. I was happy to see that two of my students got together the very next night for a couple of hours to work on the test when I ran into them at a friend's house. "Teacher, Teacher...is this right? What about this one?" I was happy to give them some clues and see that most of their answers were spot on.

May is also my birthday month, so this time I decided to go home for my visa run. I really wanted to see my family and my friends, so I figured I'd treat myself to a trip to the ATL. I honestly didn't feel like going to Nicaragua again, and this way I can try to gather all the necessary paperwork to apply for a volunteer visa here in Costa Rica. With the help of ALIARSE, I should be able to get at least a 6 month visa (hopefully longer), which means no more annoying visa runs for most of the year. It's going to be a bit of a headache going around to the government offices in Atlanta, but it should be worth it if I can get the visa. Hopefully it won't take up too much of my time at home. I really want to relax and spend some QT with my loved ones :) So far plans include a birthday dinner with the family on Sunday night at one of my favorite Thai restaurants in da A, Nan's, and on Saturday (the day I get home), it just so happens that around 10 of my best girlfriends are getting together for a women's gathering called a Moon Circle. I didn't plan this, but how perfect...I will get to see them all at the same time in one central locale. And the best part is no one knows that I'm coming! I'm going to surprise them all when I breeze in out of nowhere...YAY! Que grand sopresa!

Hasta la proxima...

More about Mangos...

2010-04-25T12:43:00.009-05:00

Que calor!

All I can say about the heat is that it's absolutely insane right now...the only time I am NOT SWEATING is when I'm in the shower or just after I get out. Pretty much every other time of day or night I am sweating. It's super attractive. The only positive thing I can think of to say here is maybe I'm losing a little water weight in the process:)

Mangos!!!

The mangos are in full bloom! I ate 3 mangos yesterday and 2 today and I've had fresco de mango (mango juice basically) a few times this week too! They are so delicious! And who knew there were so many different types of mangos? My friends Yerlin and Carlos have 3 different mango trees in their yard! There are little yellow ones called papa mangos (potato mangos), red and orange ones, purple ones, and big green guys called mangas (the wife of the mango according to my joker pops) that you eat when they're a little bit hard, with an optional dash of salt. I heart mango season. Next up? Avocados!!!

Froggie!

Here's a pic of one of the many frogs you might see around here at night. They're not that pretty but they're big and slimy. Funny little creatures, I had to literally move this guy out of the way of my quad the other night upon coming home.

Little Sistas...

Who doesn't love little girls...these are my 2 favorites, Tiffany and Maria, my little sisters in Cabuya and Delicias. <3

Castillos de Arena...

The annual Castillos de Arena event happened last weekend in Manzanillo (a lovely beach just up the coast from Santa Teresa). It was basically a competition of building the best sand sculptures. A big alligator won first place (pic above). There were tons of people out on what is normally a pretty secluded beach, lots of families, music, local food, and dancing close to the beach. Pura Vida!

Vista de Olas...

I finally made it to Vista de Olas, a beautiful hotel and restaurant in Mal Pais with an infinity pool overlooking the coastline. You have to spend a certain amount to hang out there and it's a little pricey, so I needed an excuse to go. Friend's birthday party? Perfect. What a beautiful place to watch the sunset, with delicious cocktails and good looking bartenders...I will definitely be back for the next special occasion!

Classes...

Teaching is going great. I am really enjoying being a teacher...this could be my calling. It's a lot of fun and even like the planning part of it. Attendance has dropped a little bit since the beginning but the students that are still coming seem dedicated and overall I still have good size groups. I am really starting to see their progress which is encouraging. I do have a few that are still struggling with the basics, mainly because they've missed class or they aren't studying at home at all, so I am trying to emphasize the importance of doing your homework and participating in class. I mean if you don't take notes how the hell are you going to remember anything? I'm also trying to incorporate a greater variety of activities into my classes and use more speaking and listening exercises. We finally did some music activities and they were so much fun! I did "Hello, Goodbye" by the Beatles for the beginners, "Free Falling" (Tom Petty) for the high beginners, and "Norwegian Wood" (Beatles again) for the intermediate class. They were all singing in English by the end of the lesson!

Here's the high school in Santa Teresa where I teach, this mural was recently painted and says "This high school is for those who deserve it." Or something to that effect.

I also had two private lesson students in the past two weeks which is great...easy work plus a little extra dinero. And there is a possibility that I might start teaching some basic English classes to the employees at one of the hotels in Montezuma, which would be fabulous. I don't want to overload myself with work, but I would do it during the week and still have my weekends free, plus I could recycle the lesson plans that I've already used in my other classes so the planning would be minimal. Fingers crossed!

Que mas...

Last night we went to an Argentinian party and danced to a live latin band. I have to say my dancing skills have gotten way better and I love it...so much fun! Give me a couple beers and put on some latin music and I'm ready to twirl! It rained on the way home and I got my first taste of driving the quad in the rain. I really need to find some rubber boots and a poncho. The mud could get ugly...kinda like my get up will be for rainy weather :)

Love Love Love from Costa Rica...<3

Lluvia! Lluvia! Lluvia!

2010-04-14T12:55:00.005-05:00

The first rains of the rainy season are finally here! It has sprinkled a few times, and last night we got our second hard rain. I wouldn't say it was a downpour, but it definitely wet everything pretty well. So refreshing! Everything felt a little bit cooler and cleaner today, and the dust was barely an issue in the roads! Aside from the mosquitos that are already starting to bite (actually I think all the bites on my legs are from zancudos, which are like mini-mosquitos you can barely see), I actually think I'm going to like this season even better. It's cooler, there are less tourists, and it's not like it's raining all the time. The idea that in the rainy season the rain never stops is quite the exageration. In fact on the Nicoya Peninsula, we are almost always blessed with sunshiny mornings, and the rain doesn't come till the late afternoon or evening. Usually it pours for a few hours and then stops, so it may slightly interrupt your day, but it's not the end of the world. I'm excited - things are going to feel more like the Costa Rica I first encountered when I arrived last summer.

Cangrejo, pobrecito!

One thing that came as a total surprise was how many crabs there are everywhere! With the start of the rains they are really coming out of the woodwork. These are the tajilaran, and they are so pretty with their orange and purple shells! Right now there are a million of them crossing the roads around here. Apparently they come down from higher ground to lay their eggs on the beach. But the horrible thing is a lot of them are getting killed by crossing the road! It is literally impossible not to kill some of them if you're a driver here. I've been driving really carefully and trying to turn and swerve to avoid them, but when there are so many it's quite difficult. I feel so bad...and the streets are starting to be covered with dead crabbies! Plus my friends keep saying that it's going to get a lot worse. What a crazy part of life here...and of course it's totally normal to them. There were even some crabs crawling in our living room tonight, and my family wasn't phased at all.

Surfer in Santa Teresa

Last weekend there was a surf competition in Santa Teresa. It was supposedly a pretty big deal, and apparently people were coming from all over Costa Rica, but it didn't seem quite as big as everyone had built it up to be. Still it was a good crowd and lots of excitement in the air. The surfers were really good and I enjoyed watching them ride the big waves that were rolling in on Saturday. I guess they planned it around a big swell because it looked kinda scary out there! We sat under the Red Bull tent and enjoyed some ice cold Pilsens while counting how many amazingly hot bodies were passing by. It was a dreamy day, followed by a crazy night at D&N's noche de electronica (not my favorite music, but a fun crowd of people in town for the surf competition made for a pretty wild party). My friend Trinity now has an apartment over in Santa Teresa so I've been able to hang out over there a little bit more and spend the night with her which is fabulous. It's been fun spending more time on that side of things. It's a whole different world compared to Montezuma.

Trinity & I @ Surf Competition

Classes have been going well. I finally was able to locate some small speakers for my iPod, so I was able to incorporate some music into my lessons so far this week and the students seemed to really like it! I thought it was a really fun way to do a listening exercise, and I definitely want to keep using music and other listening activities in lessons to come. This week I did the Beatles' "Hello, Goodbye" with the very beginner classes, and Tom Petty's "Free Falling" with the high beginners. I think I am going to do "Norwegian Wood" (also the Beatles) for the intermediate class. I've been compiling playlists of other songs to use, but it's difficult to find stuff that is super clear and uses simple verb tenses. For the beginners it needs to be pretty basic English...no complex tenses or too much slang. But as we advance, things could get pretty fun with music lessons. Suggestions are welcome!

Lastly I'm honored to announce that I've been asked to work on developing an EFL curriculum for the program that I'm working with here in Costa Rica (ALIARSE). The CREST program is fairly new, with only a year and 3 months under its belt, and so far there hasn't been any kind of set curriculum or syllabus for the volunteers to follow. My students really want to know what level they are completing, and they need that in order to feel like they are accomplishing something and moving up to the next level with their English studies. So we are going to create a basic outline of topics and grammar points that need to be covered in each level. I believe this will help both the students and the volunteers - it will give the volunteers something to follow, and it won't be too detailed that it inhibits the creativity of each volunteer. We will still be able to create unique lesson plans in order to teach each of the concepts covered in the curriculum. It will however serve to normalize the teaching that is happening across the country, so that our students in every pueblo will be graduating with specific sets of English language skills. I'm very excited to be a part of developing this curriculum, and I hope it really helps to improve our program.

Hasta lluego, que dios te accompaña!

Costa Rican Slang: Pachuco y Tiquismos

2010-04-06T12:08:00.008-05:00

I've been here for around eight and a half months now in Costa Rica and my Spanish has improved tremendously. I can pretty much communicate with anyone in any given situation sin problema.

Playa Samara, siempre tranquila

Still I don't feel like I'm fluent, and I really want to continue my study of the language - especially more vocabulary and the complex verb tenses (subjunctive and perfect tenses). I do study occasionally at home when I have the time - I'll sit down and open up the dictionary or check out verb conjugations I've been meaning to look at. But hanging out with the locals has made one thing for sure - I've learned a ton of Tico Slang, or Pachuco as they call it here. It's a lot of fun to use, and it definitely makes me feel like less of a foreigner, but this stuff is puro tico, which means most of it only functions here in Costa Rica, so if I go traveling to other Latin countries, I'll be back to square one with the word on the street...

Below is a list of some of my favorite and most popular Tiquismos. This is mostly for those of you who speak Spanish, or people who are coming here or living here now. The only one I can't seem to figure out is why the men say "Adios!" when a pretty girl passes by. It's like saying goodbye when you mean to say hello...don't you want to invite the girl to come talk to you? Or are you just sending her on her way? Maybe boys are just stupid;)

Al chile? - Seriously?

Qué me dice? - What do you say? or What's up?

Que es la vara? - What's the deal?

Solo bueno! - Only good! or It's all good!

Póngale! - Hurry up!

Buena nota - A “cool” person

Nada que ver! - Nothing to see! or No big deal!

Zaguate - A womanizer (literally a mutt or a street dog)

Pura vara! - Lies!

Un pichazo - A large blow or a huge hit of something

Que dicha! - How great!

Por dicha - Fortunately

Profe - A teacher

Blanco - A cigarette

Chinga - A cigarette butt

Jetón - Liar

Me presta una teja? - Lend me a buck?

Que vacilón! - How fun!

Viejo verde - A dirty old man

Zarpe - The last drink or one for the road

Como amaneció? - How did you wake up or how do you feel this morning?

Jueeeeee...puta! - daaaaaaamn! or son of a bitch! (comes from hijo de puta or hijueputa)

Upe! – Hello, is there someone there? Anybody home?

Que despiche! - What a mess! or What a good time!

Que quería, galleta María? - What do you want, a cookie?

Meter yucas - To tell lies

Media naranja - Your better half, or perfect mate

Estar puros dieces – To feel great (literally to be at pure tens)

Agarrar el mensaje - To get the hint or idea

Clavo - A problem (literally a nail)

No se monte! - Don’t mess with me!

Tumba la vara! - Stop bothering me!

Hay gente para todo – There is a fool for everything

Vaya busca brete! - Go get a job!

+++

View from Punta Islita

In other news, Semana Santa provided a nice week of vacation, with perhaps a little too much guaro (that's the Costa Rican National Liquor, but the word is also used to refer to any form of alcohol in general). The trip to Samara was wonderful - a stunning drive (on the QUAD!) through country roads with beautiful ocean views and stops at secluded beaches. It was great to see my good friends there and the fiestas civicas were in full effect when we arrived - rodeos every night, amusement rides, street style tico food, and a mix of fun music ranging from musica ranchera (traditional Guanacasteco) to salsa and merengue, and of course a good bit of reggae and reggaeton...gotta love it!

Fiestas Civicas, Samara 2010

Back in Montezuma and Mal Pais, the full moon party/live reggae night at D&N (aka Tabu) last Monday was a blast! I spent the next three days recuperating, reorganizing, and planning for my April classes. It felt great to actually not leave Cabuya for a few days...super tranquilo! I took solo walks along the beach and cleared my head a bit after what felt like a month of non-stop action and fun. Now it feels good to be starting back with classes, although it seems attendance may be dropping a bit (I was warned many times about this). Finally found some speakers for my iPod (they were actually only ten bucks!) so I will be incorporating some music and listening activities soon.

Marisol & I at the Rodeo

Amigos Ticos in Samara

Happy April everybody!

Solo Bueno...

2010-03-25T21:18:00.007-06:00

This morning my Tico father called me into the kitchen to see some kind of animal whose name I didn't recognize in Spanish. He seemed excited for me to check it out, so I jumped out of my seat and darted over to the open air cocina, only to find out that it was a SKUNK!!! (or as they call it, a zorillo or mofeta.) Lukas then informed me that this furry friend lives in the kitchen, under the cabinets, and eats the food that falls to the floor. Sometimes it even enters the house and does a loop around the living room. "And this is ok with you?" I asked, "Isn't this the animal that sprays that horrible scent?" He shrugged his shoulders and said with a smile, "Only if you bother him, otherwise he's fine...it's a little bit of nature inside the home!"

Rainbow Rock

Wow...now it all makes sense. It wasn't long ago when I thought I smelled a skunk-like odor in the kitchen. My Tica mom had told me that it was probably a skunk and that the neighbor's little dog had scared it, causing it to release it's odor. No big deal, I figured, it was outside of the house; but no, that little devil lives right underneath where we keep our pots and pans, just waiting for scraps to fall. Occasionally he even comes out and steals the eggs off the counter (eggs here are rarely refrigerated). Now I know why they often keep them in the microwave!

Oh, Cabuya. My little town is super tranquilo. Aside from the fisherman and the farmers working the land, there really is nothing going on. There are only a few grocery stores, a little bookstore, and a couple cafes around. So the other day when I realized I really needed gas for the quad and I was no where near one of the two bombas - gas stations - in the area (one is in Cobano and one is in Mal Pais), I asked around Cabuya, and sure enough, there are two houses in the hood that sell gasoline. Que dicha! I also discovered through a friend that there is a lady just across the street that does pedicures for a measly 1,500 colones...that's less than three dollars! I immediately made an appointment to get my toes painted. Then last weekend I had a llanta ponchada - a flat tire - that needed fixing, and I also wanted to buy a 6 pack of beer after the super closed (which is early in Cabuya). Well, what do you know? It turns out all of these things are available here, you just have to know which door to knock on. The beer is sold out of a fridge in someone's house, prohibition style, and there is a makeshift taller just down the street that can change my oil and fix my flat tire on the cheap cheap. (Plug for a flat, air and balancing of all four tires, $3.80) And of course, the owner is the brother-in-law of my Tico father. Go figure.

Pilsen, mi cerveza preferida

Que calor! It has been extremely, overwhelmingly, unbelievably hot here lately. Like WTF, are you kidding me, it's-supposed-to-cool-off-at-night-and-I'm-still-freaking-sweating kind of heat. The only ounce of relief I've felt was when I heard from a friend traveling in India that it's 110 degrees over there. Well I guess almost 100 isn't too bad. Still, we could really use some rain to cool things down. I would definitely welcome some more pelo de gato, although I'm a little nervous about the rainy season on the quad. It's going to be an interesting, wet and muddy adventure with Rubi, but I think we'll manage. I've made it through every other seemingly impossible obstacle so far in Costa Rica, so why not conquer the rainy season on an ATV?

Mere & I in Cabo Blanco

Solo bueno... My girl Meredith was here to visit for a week and we had a fabulous time. We laughed so hard that I almost lost weight, but I made up for it by drinking lots of Pilsens and Imperials. We rode around on the quad por todo lado (Mere even learned how to drive it), exploring mother nature's wonders by day, and partying like rock stars by night. We went hiking in Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve, swimming at the Montezuma waterfall (where we met the most gorgeous guy from Uruguay - I think his name was Piero and I still can't get his image out of my head), checking out the beaches of Mal Pais and Montezuma, eating loads of delicious ceviche and garlicky grilled calamaris, dipping into rivers to cool off, and taking a boat trip out to Isla Tortuga where we snorkeled, ate fresh fish, and napped on the white sand beach. It was stellar having a good friend like Meredith here to share my little world with me, and I'm pretty sure she loved it too - she was already talking about coming back in August ;)

Isla Tortuga

My classes are in full swing and they're starting to feel like little communities. All of my Santa Teresa classes had their first exam this week and I'm in the process of grading them. It's nice to see how much progress they have made already (well, most of them), and to think they didn't know any of this stuff just 6 weeks ago! My Montezuma groups are finally feeling groovy after having to change a few things around. We have Semana Santa (Easter week) off, so classes will resume on April 5th. In the meantime, I'm heading back to Samara for fiesta! Just a long weekend trip to see a few friends and a few rodeos, I'll be driving the quad (with a friend) up the coastal road from Mal Pais to Manzanillo, Punta Islita, Carillo, and finally into Samara. There are supposedly some really nice views and secluded beaches along this drive, so I'm stoked. Should be quite the weekend!

And my love for this life in Costa Rica continues...PURA VIDA!!!

Dichos Ticos

2010-03-23T12:31:00.007-06:00

Lazy Days

Ticos really like to RELAX...

I always knew this was true, but it wasn't until I discovered the following that I realized how deeply seeded the slacker culture is here in Costa Rica. My Tico family has this posted on the wall in their house. So without further ado, here is the ultimate profession of the Tico love for relaxation, or shall we say, huh-hum, laziness:

Los 10 Dichos del Tico Vago: The 10 Sayings of the Lazy Tico

1. Se nace cansado y se vive solo para descansar: I was born tired and live only to rest.

2. Ama a tu casa como a ti mismo: Love your house as you love yourself.

3. Si ves a alguien descansando AYUDALO!: If you see someone relaxing, help them out!

4. Descansa de dia para que puedas dormir tranquilo de noche: Rest during the day so that you can sleep soundly at night.

5. El trabajo es sagrado, ¡no lo toques!: Work is sacred, don't touch it!

6. Aquello que puedas hacer mañana no lo hagas hoy: That which you can do tomorrow, don't do today.

7. Trabaja lo menos posible - lo que tengas que hacer, que lo haga otro: Work as little as possible - whatever you have to do, just do something else.

8. Calmate, que nunca nadie murio por descansar: Calm down, no one ever died from relaxing.

9. Cuando sientas el deseo de trabajar, acuestate y espera hasta que se pase: When you feel the desire to work, sit down and wait until it passes.

10. Si el trabajo es salud; que trabajen los enfermos: If work is healthy, then let the sick work.

Seasons Change

2010-03-12T11:06:00.008-06:00

The seasons are different here: we have the dry season and the wet season. Verano (summer) is the dry season, when it gets a tiny bit hotter because there's no rain to cool things off, and invierno (winter) is the wet season, when the massive amount of rainfall brings in clouds and moisture to deflect the sun's piercing heat rays. Right now we are in the dry season (December to April), but we actually got a touch of rain today, and it was sort of magical...everyone stopped what they were doing to listen to the pitter patter of the pelo de gato (a light rainfall or mist, literally "cat's hair"). Apparently this has almost never happened before: rain in the dry season. Everyone is talking about the crazy weather, and the changes that are happening all over the planet. This past wet season wasn't normal either. Sure, it rained a lot, but it started late, and there would be runs of several days without rain here and there. As a newcomer to Costa Rica during the rainy season, it didn't seem so extreme to me, but everyone assured me that this rainy season was a mild one. Well, the times are definitely a-changin'.

Sunset in Santa Teresa

No spring and no fall...it's kinda strange to live with only two seasons, especially since spring and fall were always my favorites. The perfect weather, not too hot and not too cold, the newness and fresh energy that comes with spring, and the crispness and reflective repose that fall inspires: these seasonal changes are embedded in my soul; after 30 years of living with the same cycle, I still instinctually feel the shifting in seasons, even if I'm not immersed in the physicality of them. I realized the other day how things seemed to be starting to bloom around me, internally and externally, and how my spirit seemed excited with the possibilities to come, and I realized...this is spring that I'm feeling! Then I started thinking back to the fall, when it was the rainy season here, and how there were moments that reflected the darkness of fall, especially when it was raining. I am still on a four season cycle. My internal clock just doesn't believe these ticos when they tell me that January is summertime. Sure it might be hot outside and school may be closed for a break, but my summer still starts in June, and that's when I will feel the freedom that summer has always brought to my life. Luckily I have a two week break around then...visa run, perhaps?

My Classroom in Montezuma

I taught a full 18 hours this week, and to top that off I've been planning like a madwoman! I literally spent around 4 hours every morning this week working on lesson plans, worksheets, and tests for my students. But I did it all in the name of freedom - when my fabulous friend Meredith comes to visit next week I want to be free to hang out, explore, and party with her! I'm really stoked that she's coming and looking forward to keeping her wildly entertained with trips to waterfalls and secret beaches, a little surfing, a little snorkeling at Tortuga Island, lots of rides around on the quad, and plenty of sunset cervezas ;)

Classes generally went well this week, although I had some hiccups with my newest group in Montezuma. Let's just say I had my first behavioral issues, but I have a plan to nip it in the bud next week, so hopefully it won't be too much of a struggle. With a location like this, I can't really complain...

View from my "office"

All of my other classes are usually a pleasure to teach; the majority of the students are eager to learn English, and I feel appreciated. As I go over new vocabulary and watch them scribbling down words in English and Spanish in their notebooks and then looking back up for more, I feel a sense of accomplishment. These students want it all, and they remind me of myself when I was first learning Spanish. I wanted to get at it from every angle. Music, movies, poetry, online quizes, googling new words, anything to put a little more español en mi mente. I hope I can inspire them (if they aren't already inspired) to absorb English from everywhere possible. I guess with each group and with each student it takes something different, but hopefully my classes will be dynamic enough to reel them all in. Next up on the agenda (after our pre-Easter test)? Activities with music. Yes please!

Lately I was thinking to myself that my Spanish wasn't really getting any better because I never study it anymore. Julia told me it most likely was improving, I just wasn't noticing it myself, like when you age or grow, it happens slowly so it's not easy to see from day to day. I think she was right. Not only am I constantly picking up new words in conversation (even if they don't sink in the first time it's still helping), but I'm learning things from my students too. They always seem to translate everything out loud, as a sort of mental check, and I love it because it helps me check my Spanish too...how would I say that? Oh, right, of course, that's it. As they get more advanced I will definitely have to limit the amount of Spanish spoken in the room, but with beginners it's literally impossible to put a ban on their native tounge, so I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

Safe Traveler

Hope everyone has a great weekend and happy spring from the land of eternal summer!

P.S. Don't worry Mom, I'm wearing my helmet ;)

Charlando de Cafecito (Coffee Talk)

2010-03-08T09:07:00.001-06:00

You know you live in Costa Rica when...

You can't wait to take a cold shower to wash off the layers of dust and sunscreen and sweat from a day at the beach and a few rides on a quad.

You catch yourself craving gallo pinto in the morning even though you've already eaten rice and beans every day that week.

It's totally normal for your students to arrive to class 10, 20 or even 30 minutes late with no apologies.

Rio Miguelon

The big decision you have to make most often is where to spend your free time between this beach or that beach, a waterfall, a river, an island, or a national park.

Your typical night out involves buying your drinks at a store and drinking on the street just outside the bar, and then going inside the bar to dance to a mix of salsa and reggaeton.

You frequently speak in Spanglish with no conscious effort.

You get really excited when you see a cheese like feta or gorgonzola on the menu at a local restaurant, and you feel a huge sense of achievement when you locate a grocery store that sells soymilk.

You're not phased by creepy crawly things even if they fly down your shirt, and giant iguanas and howler monkeys seem as normal as squirrels running around in the trees.

The Chilean boxed wine they sell in the corner stores becomes an acceptable choice of beverage (so do pre-mixed Cuba Libres sold in cans).

You are blown away by the kindness and hospitality of the locals who invite you into their homes for a fresco (fresh fruit drink) or a cafecito (little cup of coffee), and stop whatever they're doing to sit and talk (and laugh) with you...pura vida!

+++

Playa Montezuma

Todo bien aqui, everything is good here, just getting into the teaching/planning routine and riding around a lot on the quad! I got the good news from ALIARSE that I can stay here teaching through the end of the year (till mid December) and I'm so happy! It's so nice to know I'll be here for a while and I can really settle in. It's also unbelievably exciting to know that I will get to see the progress my students will make over the course of an entire year. They will be speaking English so much better by then and it will feel like such an accomplishment, really getting to see and experience their improvement. I'm so thankful for this opportunity!

Teaching is going good. I've got five full classes in Santa Teresa and the students are great, very interested in learning. We have fun but we also work hard on grammar and pronunciation. I have around 70 students in my five classes in Santa Teresa (a lot of new names to remember, like Anayancy, Yadira, Crislay, Nubia, and Dago for example), and I'm expecting to have at least 100 in total between all of my seven groups. My two classes in Montezuma began this past week and there weren't too many students, but I know more will come this week. It's tough to get the word out around here. It's also tough to have new students coming in who missed the first lessons because I don't want to repeat too much, but it should be fine once we get going. The new classes went well, although they are each four hour time blocks which is a lot to plan for. I'm still figuring out how to plan for so much time and how to know which activities will take more time than others. The other issue is keeping everyone busy and learning when you have mixed abilities in one classroom. I'm working on ways to keep the quicker students busy while I help the more true beginners to catch on.

My Costa Rica Plates!

RUBI (mi cuadra) is freaking awesome, she has totally changed and enhanced my life. I couldn't be happier with my purchase and my gear shifting is getting smoother every day!

Julia from ALIARSE came to town this weekend for a volunteer visit. We met with the local partners and discussed the program's objectives as well as our own feelings and concerns, but the meetings felt more like casual visits with friends. We rode all over the place on the quad and Julia had no complaints about the bumpy rides and my less than perfect driving (thanks J for being a good guinea pig). It was super fun having a friend in town to explore with and we had a few incredibly delicious meals together: the first night at the Panaderia (Bakery) in Cabuya and then the best pizza in town at my friend Juan's restaurant on Saturday. Que rico!

Julia & I - Playa Carmen

Very excited that more friends will be coming to visit soon...some friends from Samara are coming next weekend and my girl Merideth from ATL is coming the following week. I can't wait to give them all tours of my area and surprise them with a jump off that 15 meter waterfall! This also means I've got a lot of work to do this week preparing my lesson plans...I want to have everything basically set up for the rest of the month ASAP! Hopefully I can pull it off and I won't have to do too much out of the classroom work while my visitors are here.

I also plan on returning to Samara the weekend of the 26th for the start of Semana Santa (Easter week holidays here - I have off). There are fiestas starting on the 25th in Samara with salsa dancing and rodeos all set up in the streets! It will probably be a bit crowded but super fun...and I can't wait to see my sweet mamatica Marisol and go dancing at one of the best bars on the peninsula, Tabanuco. YAYER!

More to come soon, thanks for reading and I hope spring comes soon for all of you people back home in the States!

Pura Aventura

2010-02-28T15:11:00.000-06:00

Mi Cuadra
It's been a great week here on the Nicoya Peninsula. I taught my 5 classes in Santa Teresa again and learned a lot more about teaching. I finally got organized with the Camara de Turismo in Montezuma and put the word out there that classes will begin on Monday (tomorrow). But the best part of the week was when I found Rubi, my new best friend the CUADRACICLO!!! (ATV/quad)

I got really lucky, or should I say I was blessed with help from my Tico friends...Yerlin, who works with the Camara de Turismo in Mal Pais, and her husband Carlos picked me up on Monday in their car and drove me around to look at various quads for sale. It was so nice of them to help me out, and it was really nice to have someone there who knows more about quads than I do. I really know nothing about cars or motors or engines or anything, plus I'm a gringa (which obviously means I have tons of money), so without my friends I would've been a perfect target for getting ripped off. We looked at several different quads around town and then Carlos called his brother, who happened to have the perfect quad on his farm that he only used when he was in town once or twice a month. It's a 2008 Honda Rancho 420, and he wasn't even planning on selling it, but he decided he could use the money. He offered me a super reasonable price, and after a quick test drive, I was sold. We went to the bank and sealed the deal.

No exaggeration
It's amazing how having a set of wheels can change your life! I am finally free to go and come as I please without waiting for the bus...que bueno! And it's such a great way to get around here because the roads are crazy, but with a quad you can literally go anywhere! I'm embarking on a new journey now...of exploring every vista, waterfall, river, and beach I can get to in the area. Yesterday my tica sister and I went to Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve where her grandpa works as a "guarda parque." We went over some crazy skinny little roads filled with rocks to get there...it was quite the adventure! Carlos (who I now call my abuelotico/tico grandpa) took us on a little hike to a beach inside the Reserve, and then the volunteers who live there offered us a tasty lunch. On the way back we nearly ran out of gas, but I discovered that my quad has a fabulous little reserve gas tank! I love her more everyday ;)

Beach at Cabo Blanco
Teaching went well this week too and I am really looking forward to starting my new groups in Montezuma tomorrow. I'm learning that it's super important to be flexible with lesson plans, because you never know how the students will respond to the material or how fast or slow the class will progress. I try my best to respond to student requests and needs, but it's tough to keep them all on the same page (some finish activities super quickly and others take a lot longer). I have to start bringing extra work for those that finish early, and I also started giving homework this week, which I think will help reinforce the lessons and keep them practicing outside of class. I'm also working at improving my repetoire of quick games and 5 minute filler activities in case I need to energize the class or take a break from structured gramatics.

Overall, things are flowing here...I'm really happy with my family in Cabuya, they are super laid back and I love spending time just hanging out with them. It's fun having 2 little sisters and a little brother too since I never had that at home. For the two nights a week that I'm teaching in Santa Teresa I've been staying at Yerlin's house (the woman from the Camara who actually turns out to be the 3rd cousin of my host mom Yessenia) and it is really nice...I even have air conditioning in my room! She's totally opened her door for me to stay there (for free) and all she asks is that I speak English with her and her kids so they can practice! She's a really cool lady and I enjoy spending time with her family too, so it's a win win situation.

Mi Hermanita y Abuelotico
I think the most overwhelming thing about Costa Rica really is it's people...they are generally super kind and welcoming, they don't stress out, they laugh A LOT, they're close with their families (and they're ALL family around here), and they seem to really enjoy life! I am understanding more and more what it means to truly live the pura vida...and the more I understand, the more I want to stay here forever! My job goes through June but I'm hoping I can extend it for the rest of the year. Time will tell...

Much love to all from my favorite spot on Earth...XOXO

Cero Estrés!

2010-02-21T20:26:00.000-06:00

YAY...I finally taught my first 5 classes this past week in Santa Teresa (Mal Pais) and they went really well! I was so excited to finally be teaching and I really enjoyed meeting all my new students. I think they liked the classes too; we played a lot of games and they responded well to competition. Most all of my students are beginners or at a pretty basic level, and I have one intermediate group. Teaching beginners is easier, and I don't have to worry about running out of material! It was really fun to finally be doing what I came here to do and I feel very natural and comfortable in my role as a teacher. I was a little bit nervous before, but as soon as I got going I was relaxed and totally enjoying it. My favorite part was at the end of all my classes when I did a "slang word of the day." This week it was "what's up" and "dude." They all seemed to like it and we laughed a lot...I think it's a good way to end the class on a lighter note. For homework I told them they had to use the slang phrases in the street...jaja!

This weekend I celebrated my new found success with friends in Montezuma. Reggae night on the beach on Friday and a little salsa dancing on Saturday (I'm getting better!). Also, two of the guys that I met traveling in Nicaragua were coming through town so I took them to the Montezuma waterfall. There is a second waterfall up above the big one that's about a 10 meter drop (around 30 feet) and the locals always jump off of it. I never thought I'd have the guts to do it, but when I got up there this time and my friends did it I thought what the hell...WOOOOOO! Adrenaline rush!!! I ended up doing it 3 times. Here's a video:

As you can tell, normally life in Costa Rica is pretty stress free, but as I was trying to organize things to get my classes going, I did get a little bit frustrated with the way things work here. It's hard to remember that everything moves a lot slower, and that you can't have the same expectations as you do at home. People do their jobs, but they do things at a different pace, and the typical gringo inside of me wants to have things done faster and more efficiently. The best I can do is to just try to remove myself from that struggle. I notice myself getting stressed out about something I need to get done or I need to figure out (like getting the white board to my classroom, for example), and I have to slow down and say to myself, "Tranquilo!" Everything in it's time. It's a constant reminder to take it easy. I am learning to be patient and adaptable (these are good life lessons). Things will work out like they always do...pura vida!

It's funny how a little stress can shake things up in your head too. I got frustrated and immediately noticed that I started thinking about the things I missed from home. I think overall I've been doing pretty well living the "simple life" here in Costa Rica. I shower with cold water, I eat rice and beans almost 3 meals a day, I never have air conditioning, my floors are concrete, and I don't have a closet or hangers for my clothes. No car, no cellphone, no greek yogurt, arugula or blue cheese covered ribeyes. Not that I'm complaining, but there are just a lot of things I normally take for granted that I'm living without now. Usually I don't miss them, but the other day when the stress hit I couldn't stop thinking about those things that would make life easier (or cleaner, healthier, more technologically advanced) if I was home. But these are the things that I willingly gave up on my quest to live here, and I do believe it's worth the sacrifice to be in such an amazing place...I guess it was just one of those days. Within a few hours the feeling had passed, and I was back to a heart full of gratitude for the experience I am having. My new mantra is cero estrés (zero stress) which is actually a phrase here kinda like pura vida. And I find that like pura vida, the more you say it, the more you feel it to be true...

I'm meeting with the Junta Educativa tomorrow in Montezuma to plan for my classes here, which should begin next week. Then I'm going to see about another cuadraciclo (ATV) that is for sale and I'm really hoping it works out! Wish me luck, and hopefully I'll have pics to show you soon. Ciao chicos!

Visa Run: Nicaragua, Sidetrek: Turrialba

2010-02-15T10:27:00.000-06:00

A Continuación...

Dusty bus ride to Santa Teresa

Despite the slow pace and disorganization that seems to rule the land here, I was able to meet with some of my students in Santa Teresa last week to do placement testing (conversing in English) and scheduling for classes. The meetings didn't really go as planned, but it was really nice to finally meet some students. They are the real reason I'm here, and I'm looking forward to spending time working with them and getting to know them better. I also finally got in touch with the Junta Educativo in Montezuma (didn't know that's who I was looking for) and they informed me that I would need an official letter stating my request to use the elementary school for my night classes and that we would have to schedule a meeting before anything would be decided. They didn't seem too keen on giving me a set of keys and full access to the school because apparently there were some problems last time...so now my mission is to convince them that I'm trustworthy, the project is important, and that they should be honored to help us out. In the midst of trying to work these things out, I realized my 3 month tourist visa in Costa Rica was almost up! I honestly didn't feel like taking another trip because I was just getting settled in Cabuya, but I also didn't want to start my classes and then immediately have to take a week off, so I decided to go ahead and make a run for the border...

San Juan del Sur

One of the closest tourist spots in Nicaragua is San Juan del Sur, a colorful little beach town on the Southern Pacific side, just about an hour drive from the border of Costa Rica at Peñas Blancas. I decided that's where I'd go to spend my 3 days a fuera del pais. The trek began last Saturday morning at 6 AM when I got a taxi to Montezuma and caught a bus to the ferry at Paquera. I was planning to do all local buses, but I ended up catching a Trans Nica bus in Puntarenas and it was fabulous - air conditioning and movies too! It made crossing the border a lot easier and faster with the help of the bus crew. Somehow I still managed to get screwed out of about $20 when I exchanged my money with one of the "official" cambio dudes. I changed sixty dollars and got the right amount in Nicaraguan Cordovas, but then I pulled out some Colones and the guy punched in some numbers in his calculator that seemed right...so I took the money and got back on the bus only to realize I had lost money on the transaction. Luckily, it wasn't much, but I learned that with these types of things it's best to SLOW DOWN...think about everything thoroughly and do not feel rushed. That's my advice.

Fire Dancer on the Beach

I arrived in SJDS about an hour before sunset and headed to the Casa de Oro Hostel. There I met some great people and we headed out to the bars to celebrate Bob Marley's birthday in true beach reggae style. Beer is only $1 in the bar in most places in Nicaragua, and the Flor de Caña Rum is cheap and delicious.

On day two I got a ride up to Playa Maderas which is a sweet little spot with great surf breaks and beautiful sunsets. You can stay at a super rustic hostel there or set up camping tents just down the beach if you like. It's ultra tranquilo and beautiful, and we enjoyed a day full of sun, surf, and cerveza.

Playa Maderas

We met some Nicas (Nicaraguans) and started chatting it up in broken Spanish about tourism and the weather, and then a random gringo carnie showed up which turned the conversation to sword swallowing, leading to demonstrations with knifes and platanos and plenty of laughter over the sexual metaphors that we all understood no matter what language was being spoken...JAJAJA! (that's hahaha in Spanish)

Haircut in Nicaragua

Later on we met some peeps from Florida who run a surf company here:

Check it out: NicaraguaSurfReport.com

...and we also met their awesome friend Amy the hair stylist who ended up giving me a (desperately needed) free haircut! Thanks girl! My haircut rocks! We watched a little bit of the super bowl and then headed out for some grub at a local bar (fish sandwich, fries, and a beer, $5).

Danielle & I enjoying some Victorias

My two new gringa friends Danielle and Mega were planning to go to Isla Ometepe together so I jumped on board. I had heard great things about the island and wanted to go, but didn't realize that it was possible with the little time that I had. Turns out it was only 2 hours from SJDS! We left on Monday morning and linked up with 5 other guy travelers on the ferry boat over...one of which is an Aussie guy named Dan who is driving a Jeep from the Arctic Ocean in Northern Alaska all the way down to Tierra Del Fuego, the southern-most point of South America.

You can check out his blog here: TheRoadChoseMe.com

Volcan Concepcion, Ometepe

The 8 of us spent the next two days exploring Ometepe together, which is a gorgeous island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua made up of two huge active volcanoes. The island was actually formed by volcanic eruptions and there are smaller islands around it that were made when the lava spewed into the surrounding lake water. We camped out the first night and had a great view of the majestic "Concepcíon," the bigger of the island's two volcanoes. We made a fire on the beach while sipping Flor de Caña, and then woke up early to do some hiking, wildlife spotting, and swimming in the island's fresh water mineral springs.

Ometepe Crew

We stayed the second night at Finca Magdelena which I would highly recommend. Cheap ($5 a bed), friendly, and it has beautiful views. We drank $1.80 litres of Toña (yummy Nica brew) and ate full plate dinners for about $4. Perfect.

This is where it gets tiring. On Wednesday I had to travel all day to get back to San Jose. I left the finca at 7 AM on a "chicken bus" : (Spanish: "camioneta") a colloquial English name for a colorful modified and decorated US school bus and transit bus that transports goods and people between communities in Honduras and Guatemala.

On the Chicken Bus

The word "chicken" refers to the fact that rural Guatemalans regularly transport live animals on such buses, a practice that visitors from other countries often find remarkable. The buses are also commonly used in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, and Costa Rica.

3 buses, 3 taxis, 1 ferry and 13 hours later, I arrived in Costa Rica's capital city. Needless to say I was exhausted, filthy dirty from all the dusty roads, and super thankful for a hot shower. Aside from the heat and dirt and waiting in immigration lines, crossing the border was fairly easy and I felt pretty safe. It would definitely be a bit sketchier if I didn't speak Spanish...but I felt good about getting across on my own and not getting a bad exchange rate this time!

Since I was already in San Jose and it was almost the weekend...I figured I would go spend a few days with my friend Liz in the mountain town of Turrialba, only about an hour and a half bus ride to the east of San Jose. Turrialba is mainly known for it's cheese and it's rivers. The Pacuare River is a big rafting and kayaking destination, with class IV rapids and beautiful canyon views. It was named one of the top 10 river trips by National Geographic.

Waterfall near Turrialba

Liz is another volunteer English teacher working with the same organization which placed her in Turrialba. Her classes are mostly raft guides and other Ticos who work in tourism there. It was great to spend some time with a girlfiend, and she showed me some really cool spots over there like the Santa Rosa Waterfall, which was unreal! It must be almost 100 feet tall, and it just pours over the edge of the cliff with so much fuerza! The area surrounding it is lush and green, super alive and clean, and aside from a few young locals we were the only people there. At the top there's a natural sliding rock into another swimming hole...muy divertido!!!

On Saturday we hit the river for a rafting adventure. The water level is a bit low right now so it wasn't as fast as normal, but it was definitely exhilarating! The river winds through the vast Pacuare Canyon and passes through the Chirripo Indian Reserve where some indiginous people still live today. The water was clear and made up of wonderful shades of light and dark green.

Rafting Rio Pacuare

Our guide was great and our group was a fun mix of English and Spanish speakers, so we got the full tour in both languages (Liz and I were loving it). Liz saw several of her students on the river guiding tours (what a great job), and we even saw some toucans! But no trip to Turrialba would be complete without a taste of the local queso...so Saturday night after several cocktails at the local bars (where BTW we were almost the only foreigners in sight), we headed over to the 24 hour diner for some fried cheese and tortillas...late night munchies hit the spot YUMMMMM!

Good times across the board...but I am so happy to be home and honestly (I can't believe I'm saying this) I don't feel like traveling again for a while! We'll see how long that lasts, but I'm just craving a little stability and I'm sooooo ready to get into my teaching groove. Wish me luck. Love to ALL!

Current song stuck in my head: Agarra la mano (Sean Paul)

Current mission: buy a CUADRACYCLO (ATV) - decided to go with 4 wheels instead of 2...para mi seguridad

Current local news: Laura Chinchilla was elected as the first woman president in Costa Rica! You go girl!

Current weather back in Cabuya: hot and sunny with a high chance of dust storms

Current state of mind: delirious...

BU-YA! Back to Cabuya...

2010-01-29T14:35:00.000-06:00

The Road to Nowhere
So I spent my first few nights in a hotel in Mal Pais waiting to be placed in a homestay (meanwhile enjoying the beautiful wide beaches and hanging out with some uber chill surfer dudes who live there part of the year). Then I came to Montezuma and stayed a few nights with the local partner William who runs the waterfall canopy tour here. Unfortunately my homestay options were not totally worked out yet and as it is here in Costa Rica, things were moving kinda slow (Side note: I think this was a rare case as most of the other volunteers were placed immediately and really happy with their homestays). I had been in contact with the family that I stayed with back in November when I was here and finally decided to go and live with them again in Cabuya, which is a little tranquilo town sort of in between Montezuma and Mal Pais. I can't tell you how good it feels now to finally be all set up in my own space with a sweet family who has been very welcoming...mi casa es su casa kind of vibe.

Mi habitacion
My room is a private cabina just in front of the family's house surrounded by gardens. It's really comfy and has tons of space, a set of bunk beds for visitors (hint hint), and a clean private bano. They've even made some improvements on the place since I was last here like lining the ceiling with wood to keep it cooler during the day and adding a bigger bed. Last night I did some decorating with the few things that I had to make it feel more like home. I'm eating all my meals with the family, which means rice and beans with every meal, but the company is great and there's always Salsa Lizano! My new family is: mom Yessenia who works part time in a hotel in Montezuma, dad Lukas who works at the local super (grocery store), brother Jaudi (16) and sister Kataryn (14) who both seem really mature for their age, and little sister Tiffany (5) who is the cutest and most friendly of all.

Tiffany (right) with friend Sofia & the neighbor's dog Lula
It's really different here in these small towns because it's basically just a few big families who have been here forever, own the land, and live and work in the community. Quite a change from city life. Next door lives Lukas's mom and brother with his family, and Yessenia's sister lives down the street. The local partner in Mal Pais is a primo (cousin) and so was my taxi driver the other night! Everybody knows everybody and there's a strong sense of community here. I'm stoked to call this place home for a while.

I ordered my new moto the other day and it should be arriving at the dealership in Cobano by Monday or Tuesday! It's a brand new silver-grey (I hope) Honda Wave 100cc!!! It's semi-automatico which means there are gears to change but there's no clutch. Just need to practice driving it around the hood until I get good...I'm trusting that it will come quite naturally and I'll be riding like a pro in no time;)

Last night I had a meeting with the Camara de Turismo in Mal Pais to determine my class schedule over there. We will be doing placement tests this week to group the students and classes will begin the following week. I'm still working on getting things organized for my classes here in Montezuma, but like I said before, everything moves a little slower here so I'm not surprised. The kids schools are closed right now (this is like their summer break) so trying to find the right person to coordinate with has been tough, but I'm sure we'll get it figured out soon. And at least this way I have a little more time to plan my classes!

Sign in Cabuya
Although Mal Pais is only 7 km from Cabuya, the road between the two is so unbelievably bad that it's almost unpassable. I'm planning to take the longer way around when I go during the day, but there's no way I can come back at night. So it turns out I'll be spending two nights a week in the Mal Pais-Santa Teresa area when I have my classes over there (Wednesdays and Thursdays) . At first I was a little bummed when I realized I'd be away from "home" so much, but now I'm excited because I'll have the chance to get to know that area a little better now (and have some beers with my students after class). The Camara offered me a place to stay there (with a local family) on the nights that I teach and they are even going to give me a little gas money, so it should be an easy once a week trip.

Other than that everything is good, I've been making friends and running into people that I met here before, spending time on the beach and at the fabulous Montezuma waterfalls, and gathering materials for my classes. Soon everything will be set in motion!

"Una Puma"
I'll end with a little bit of Tico slang I just learned:
1,000 colones = un rojo (because the bill is red)
2,000 colones = un delphin (because there's a dolphin on the bill)
5,000 colones = un toucan
10,000 colones = una puma
There's a joke too...do you know about the ecological tour of San Jose? A guy at a bar with pumas and toucans in the pockets and a fox on each knee. Jajaja.

CREST Volunteer Orientation and Training - January 2010

2010-01-21T11:57:00.000-06:00

Orientation

Teacher orientation began on Friday, January 15th here in Costa Rica. Most of the new volunteers were flying in from the states on the day before. I met up with a few of them in San Jose and we were driven out to El Centro Espiral Maná in El Imbu de Peñas Blancas de San Ramon, just south of La Fortuna. On the first day we met with Marta Blanco from the Presidential Office, Aitor Llodio from ALIARSE, and our new leader/teacher trainer, Emma Torres. We discussed the project, it's goals and mission, and how we would play an integral part in achieving those objectives. I felt inspired to know that I was going to be involved with such an important program for Costa Rica, and that I might play a role in improving the lives of my students by helping them get better jobs. Through this work the program also aims to improve the economy of Costa Rica by making it a more appealing place to develop international businesses - with more English speakers more jobs will be brought here. And how exciting to know that each one of these teachers here will become a part of some small community or another, reaching out to the locals and making an impact on their education.

Lodging at Centro Espiral Maná

For the next 5 days we worked on preparing ourselves to teach. We covered topics such as lesson planning and objectives, learning styles, ECRIF, and cultural issues. Emma was great about answering all of our questions and addressing any concerns we had about the program. We also enjoyed delicious home cooked meals made by two lovely tica cooks 3 times a day. They even made us snacks for our breaks and desserts too (the class favorites included coconut cookies and rice pudding...YUM!) On Sunday we had the morning free so we took a trip to La Fortuna. We hoped to visit Volcán Arenal but as is often the case it was really cloudy and we couldn't see much. Instead we opted for a relaxing visit to the hot springs which was really nice. We spent some time walking around La Fortuna and meeting some of the locals there as well. It's a beautiful little town with stunning views of the Volcano as a backdrop, definitely a must see here in Costa Rica.

La Fortuna

We did some practice teaching on the last day with the local students in El Imbu and the class went really well! We all felt good about getting up there in front of the class and realizing that we weren't as nervous as we thought! The Costa Rican people are usually super nice and easy to work with, and I think we all got a little more excited about all the wonderful people we will be getting to know in our respective communities. Connecting with the locals and making new friends will be one of the most rewarding parts of this program. And we've already begun to experience that with each other. The last night at training we had a little party, danced and played poker, and drank (maybe a little too much) Flor de Caña, a delicious Nicaraguan rum. It was a great ending to our orientation session!

Fiesta de Despedida

Yesterday we headed out to our sites...Montezuma/Mal Pais, Turrialba, Uvita, and Puerto Jimenez. I was super excited to finally arrive in my community and get settled in, but it was a little sad to be parting ways with the other volunteers - we've all become good friends and naturally bonded after spending 5 days together. We do plan to keep in touch and possibly take trips to visit eachother on the weekends so hopefully we can make that happen. And with the internet we can keep each other posted on our progress and share lesson plan ideas. Are we ready to teach? I think we're all feeling a lot more confident and prepared now, definitely a little scared about those first few days, but ready to jump in and start swimming. Becoming a great teacher is an ongoing process and we will always be making improvements to our methods and critiquing ourselves. I think the best we can do is just to trust our instincts, embrace our mistakes, and strive to constantly be better. How exciting to have this opportunity to teach and to learn so much about Costa Rica and about ourselves! VAMOS!

Gratitude

2010-01-10T13:11:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!
New Years Resolution: BLOG! In the past few months I sort of dropped the ball on my blog. I guess I got carried away enjoying this tropical paradise and didn't want to spend more time in front of the computer (I already spend enough time on facebook, right?). But I really do enjoy writing these posts and I want to continue. I'm thinking of it as blog therapy, to help me process what I'm feeling by sharing my adventures with my friends and family, and also creating a record of my experience.

I wanted my first post of the new year to reflect an emotion that I am inviting into my life more and more these days: Gratitude. In honor of an amazing 2009, the beginning of a new adventure in 2010, and the "gratitude journal" I've been keeping (which BTW is an app for the iPhone/iPod touch that I highly recommend...such a simple, easy way to keep a journal on the go AND it helps you stay focused on the positive), this first post will include a little compilation of journal entries and status updates to outline the past few months of my life here in Costa Rica. But first, the big news:

I got a job here in Costa Rica for the next 6 months (possibly longer) working as an English teacher in Montezuma and Mal Pais, two beautiful little beach towns located near each other on the tip of the Nicoya Penninsula! The job is through an organization called ALIARSE's CREST program (Costa Rica English for Sustainable Tourism), in association with the Costa Rican government's Programa Costa Rica Multilingue, and the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT). I will be teaching English to adults who work in the tourism sector in rural communities. The idea is that by speaking better English, these students can than find better jobs in tourism. The need for English speakers is at an all time high in Costa Rica, so much so that in 2007 President Oscar Arias began an initiative to make Costa Rica bilingual by 2017. The CREST program is a part of that initiative.

I will be living with a sweet Costa Rican family who will keep me fed (lots of rice and beans I'm sure), and I'm planning to buy a scooter to get myself around. The job is exactly what I was looking for and I am so grateful that I was able to find a position in a small beach town and not have to go live in San Jose where the majority of the ESL jobs are...this is truly the manifestation of a dream for me!!! I am in love with Costa Rica...the latin culture, the natural beauty, and the friendly people. I want to stay for a while and I hope some of you will come visit me! PURA VIDA!

In the spirit of gratitude, let me just add that despite this blessed life I've been living *gracias a dios*, I am above all most thankful for my good friends and my family - who are there for me through not only the good times but also the bad - because you make life worth it! So to all of you, new friends and old, here, there, and everywhere, whether you're reading this or not, THANK YOU SO MUCH & I LOVE YOU!

Catching up on the past few months...

*Mid-September to mid-October: Traveled around Costa Rica~Dominical, Manuel Antonio, Cauhita, Puerto Viejo, Heredia, and Bocas del Toro in Panama.

Sunset in Dominical

October 3 at 2:55pm starting to dream in SPANGLISH..

October 11 at 12:51pm went to an all TICO party last night...played Nintendo Wii and watched Costa Rica beat Trinidad & Tobago 4-0!!! learned more slang...spoke spanish for 6 hours straight!

October 14 at 12:16pm at first i wasn't sure who to route for....but alas...sorry USA, you've already qualified for the world cup...entonces...GO Costa Rrrrrrrrrrrrica!!! (that's a rolled "R")

October 15 at 6:35pm swam with some really big fish today like 2 feet long and a whole school of them! Now it´s time for coconut rice, pescado y platanos Caribbean style...loving Puerto Viejo!

October 20 at 3:39pm I am super in love with the fact that you can get fresh fruit drinks at almost any restaurant! so healthy & natural & refreshing, my faves are papaya in agua, banana in leche, and guanabana in agua...YUM!!!

*Back in SAMARA

October 26 at 12:00pm finally got stung by a jellyfish yesterday...and saw the biggest cricket of my life! but the best part of my day was watching these iguanas courting and then having sex!

November 2 at 3:54pm the monkeys are here for a visit!

November 9 at 12:29pm had both a racoon and a bat in the house last night...bienvendios a Costa Rica!

*Back to USA for a week

November 14 at 12:48pm feeling *blessed* to be in JOJA on this gorgeous fall day...yes yes y'all...love to my athens peeps!

Nov 18, 2009 9:28 PM my awesome amiga tica Sofia y su mama...i was invited to stay with them at their home in San Jose on the day I returned from ATL...they were super sweet and made me dinner and breakfast!

*Moved to Montezuma/Cabuya to volunteer in the school and with the turtles for a few weeks
Toucan in Cabuya

Nov 22 2009 at 8:43pm stoked on my new homestay in Cabuya... super nice family, my own room and bathroom, meeting lots of nice people around town and other volunteers

Nov 23, 2009 8:36 AM dreamed I was moving to Miami last night...hmmm...prediciton for 2011?

Nov 24, 2009 9:44 PM I need a scooter...depending on other people for rides is lame...it's like high school, and without cell phones too!

Nov 25, 2009 10:24 AM give thanks for chiles and homemade hot sauce!!! i'm actually getting used to eating rice and beans at every meal!

November 26 at 5:15pm HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Interesting thanksgiving so far...played with baby howler monkeys, watched an ocelot kill a chicken, and got pecked by a beautiful tucan whose beak felt like plastic!

GIVING THANKS...so thankful for all the gifts and comforts I've been given in my life...seeing the humble lives of these people in small pueblos in CR who are so happy and grateful for the little that they have, it really makes you realize just how blessed we are, and that we could easily live with so much less...there are poor people here who are so happy, always answering "muy bien, pura vida, todo bien, gracias a dios." They constantly give thanks for their health and happiness, and find joy in the simplest of things. It is truly eye opening to be surrounded by this attitude...such a reminder that every moment of life is a gift that should be celebrated with gusto!!!

Nov 27, 2009 10:05 AM super fun thanksgiving dinner last night with my new friends from Colorado!

Montezuma Waterfall

November 28 at 1:56pm Spent the morning hiking and swimming under waterfalls...what a beautiful world!

Nov 29, 2009 3:29 PM best hangover cure ever = beach + advil + watermelon + sunshine...I'm so not ready to leave CR I am loving it here!

November 30 at 2:24 pm feeling inspired and longing to make art...perhaps found object sculptures with driftwood and shells...yes yes i need a space to do art in my new home where ever that may be

Dec 01, 2009 5:58 PM amazing experience with the tortugas last night!!! que suerte tengo yo! full moon lit beach, 2 turtles laying eggs in the sand, and 3 nests hatching in one night! I helped release over 200 baby sea turtles into the sand and watch them run to the ocean to begin their lives...so adorable! worked really hard but it felt really good to sweat like that...staying up till 4 AM with the babies, carrying bag after bag of pure sand back and forth to the hatchery this morning...wow! thank god there are people who dedicate months at a time to do this work...the hours are insane, you don't sleep much, and the living quarters are muy rustico!

Dec 03, 2009 2:58 PM every night is reggae night somewhere!

Dec 05, 2009 2:05 PM sweet new Aussie friend, good conversation, girl talk on the beach, red wine & a yummy dinner

Dec 06, 2009 10:10 AM today i'm thankful for honesty...

Dec 07, 2009 4:01 PM enjoying the ride (litteraly) on the daily bus back & forth from cabuya to montezuma, always meeting new people...also stoked I'm getting paid $500 for my first graphic design project ever: new menus for a restaurant here in CR!

Dec 08, 2009 3:25 PM trust the flow and keep dreaming~

Boa in Cabo Blanco

Dec 09, 2009 8:02 PM crazy wildlife encounter with a BOA constrictor snake today at Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve!!! great hike, 4 hours of wildlife spotting and exercise...

Dec 16, 2009 3:44 PM YAY!!! 2 awesome job opportunities have fallen into my lap! loving that last minute magic~

Dec 18, 2009 5:32 PM I feel so good knowing that I can move to another country all by myself and carve out a life for myself, make new friends, find work, and experience other cultures first hand by making friends with the locals! this in itself feels like such an achievement!

*Tamarindo for NAVIDAD...

The Family

Dec 19, 2009 11:34 AM on my way to meet my family and two of my best friends who are visiting for the holidays! so stoked to be sharing this experience with them!

Dec 22, 2009 9:12 AM ahhh...air conditioning and hot water showers!

Dec 25, 2009 7:32 AM feliz navidad! an adrenaline rushing adventure tour is a great way to celebrate the holiday...horseback riding, tubing down class III rapids, ziplining through the canopy, and finishing with a volcanic mud bath and a soak in the natural hot springs...perfecto!
Melissa and Torey

*Samara

Dec 27, 2009 4:56 PM stoked to be sharing my sweet little town of Samara with my loved ones and introducing them to my tico friends!

Dec 28, 2009 11:34 AM got the job in Montezuma & Mal Pais! so stoked!!!

Dec 31, 2009 10:38 AM almost the new year...what an amazing 2009...so glad I got to spend the last 2 weeks of the year with my family and close friends! welcoming 2010 with open arms...here's to a new year full of adventure and new experiences...it is all unfolding just as it should and I couldn't be happier. feliz año nuevo!
Ladies Night in Samara

Coconuts & Capriticas...

2009-09-06T21:56:00.000-05:00

15 interesting things I've learned in CR (so far)...

1. Having a bike here is essential and cheap. Learning how to effectively dodge potholes (often full of muddy water) and bats (at night)....priceless.

2. Coconuts can and will fall at any given moment (heads up!)

3. Ants are everywhere; it's normal to squish them or flick them off your body at any given moment and it's not surprising if you eat or drink one occasionally. Dry foods need to be triple bagged!

4. DEET is my friend, especially after it rains...bring on the chemicals!

5. Black beans & rice (or gallo pinto) with every meal is totally normal (including breakfast).

6. There are no addresses here in Costa Rica, and directions are based on landmarks like restaurants, churches, city buildings, etc, that may or may not still be standing. 100M usually equals one block.

7. A “soda” is a small restaurant usually in front of someone's home that serves typical Costa Rican food like gallo pinto, meat, plantains, etc., and is usually around $3 for a huge plate of food.

8. Eggs & milk apparently do not need to be refrigerated and are always sitting out in the supermarkets room temperature.

9. Monkeys, roosters, and even frogs can be extremely loud!

10. Geckos rock! They eat the other insects and they're super fun to watch.

11. Gringo/gringa refers to people from the United States only (Canadians are not gringos)...and apparently this term originated in Mexico during the Mexican-American War. The US soldiers were dressed in army green and the Mexicans shouted "Green go home!" Eventually this was shortened to "gringo."

12. Limon=some kind of bitter lime. Normal lemons & limes are scarce. Vodka sodas just aren't the same here....but the Capriticas are delicious (these are like Caparinias but made with Guaro instead of Cachaca).

13. In most homes here, the TV is always on, even if no one is watching it. It's like back ground noise. Maybe ticos don't like to be alone.

14. Here in Costa Rica, everything is rica/rico (rich)...the food, the drink, the weather...if it's good, you say que rico (how rich).

15. Pura Vida isn't just a saying, it's a way of life. I think this is why ticos have such a high life expectancy rate....it's one of the highest in the world!

*****
I've been a bad blogger...no time or desire to sit in front of the computer for too long...but making a list like that turned out to be pretty fun. A quick run down on what's been happening here: I finished the TEFL course with flying colors, got my certification and a fabulous looking portfolio so I'm all set to teach, but I probably won't start a long term position until January. Most schools aren't hiring at the moment, but in January I should be able to start teaching for the new semester. In the meantime, I'm starting private Spanish lessons tomorrow and will be studying all this week. I feel like my Spanish has gotten worse after all that English study in the TEFL course! All in all it's improved a lot since I arrived, but now I'm starting to make stupid mistakes so I really want to study more and clear up my confusions. Then around 20th I'm heading out to travel around the country...so excited about this part...going to the Caribbean side and then down into Panama to Bocas del Toro! I have to leave the country by the 18th of October for my 3 month "visa run" (this is how a lot of expats stay here...just leave for 3 days and then come back with another 3 month tourist visa). Then we'll head back up the Pacific side to the Osa Peninsula and up through Dominical...and back to Samara by the end of October. It should be a super fun adventure and I'm traveling with a tico so I kind of have a built in tour guide and free Spanish lessons...pura vida! In November I'm planning to do some volunteer work, possibly teaching English to kids in local public schools, or in after school programs. I'm not sure exactly where yet, but I'm looking at some different options, including Montezuma and a small town north of Tamarindo called Potrero. If that doesn't work out I might go work on a farm or a ranch in the mountains or central valley. Time will tell!

Today was a great day...Sundays are always nice...a long walk on the beach this morning where I got a little too much sun (no worries...it should fade into a nice tan), and I encountered a dead baby alligator! It was so cute even though it was dead...only about a foot and a half long plus the tail...just a little baby...and I was able to get really close to it and examine it's scaly skin...so crazy! These creatures seem so archaic to me! Then I swam and showered and had lunch with several friends at a beach bar. Took a bike ride to do some shopping, then came home and relaxed until dinner. Marisol (my mamatica) made us fresh Lodo (parrot fish?) that she had purchased from the fisherman today...it was so fresh! She seasoned it lightly with garlic and rosemary and it was delicioso...muy rico pescado!

Thanks for reading and keep in touch...I miss you all mucho! Here's a few pics (there's a bunch more on facebook). xoxo

Local tico English students including mi Mamatica Marisol (center)...the TEFL graduates...the pig roast party...another beautiful day at the beach...gringas!

2009-08-09T20:00:00.000-05:00

Buenos Dias! Finally I’ve found some time to blog! Between all the traveling, studying, lesson planning, teaching, and socializing, I’ve been a very busy girl…I haven’t even had much time to sunbathe and my tan actually started to fade this week! But luckily I got some beach time in yesterday at the World Surf Tournament in Playa Hermosa. We took a busetta down from Samara and spent the day on the black sand beach which was packed full of people…it was a little insane and chaotic, but we enjoyed the day drinking on the beach…although we didn’t catch much of the competition (it was so packed we couldn’t get that close up). I’ll post a few pics below.

The TEFL course began on Monday and we hit the ground running! I taught my first 2 classes on Wednesday and Thursday with a partner and had my first solo class on Friday. I can’t believe I made it through all that lesson planning! It was a long week…and I remembered what it felt like to be stressed out after two weeks of pura vida…but I am really enjoying the teaching, the locals here are so nice and easy to work with, they really make it fun…and it’s totally rewarding to hear them speaking English with the most adorable accents!

Last weekend I went on an excursion with some friends from the Spanish school up to Volcan Arenal, Tabacon Hot Springs, La Fortuna, and Monteverde. The first night we visited a hot springs resort called Baldi…it was super nice and had a huge variety of pools at different temperatures with waterfalls and swim up bars. One pool was close to 150^ F…needless to say no one could really hang out in there…but it was really cool to feel. Then on Saturday we went to a river with a rope swing and hung out there for a while…super fun! Here's a video of me screaming...

Then we went up to La Fortuna, which is a bigger town…we ate lunch and did a little shopping…I bought a watch! (they don’t sell them in Samara) It’s been so weird without a cell phone, I never know what time it is…and it’s even weirder not to be able to text…if you make plans with someone you pretty much have to stick to it…and if it rains you both assume it is cancelled. It makes dating really different for sure! But it’s kind of a nice change of pace…takes you back to a slower time. Now I can say I really understand the meaning of being on “tico time."

Anyways the last part of the excursion was the zip line canopy tour in Monteverde…super adrenaline rush! They apparently have the longest cables in the country at the place we went, and to top that off a Tarzan swing! You jump from a platform and free fall for a few seconds before the rope catches you (that was the scariest part…but they push you off the platform so you have no choice) and then you swing back and forth through the tree tops…pura vida!

Everything is pura vida here… How are you? “Pura vida.” Thank you. “Pura vida.” Adios! "Pura vida." I'm sorry... "Pura vida.” Is he a nice guy? "Yeah, he's pura vida." So funny!

Que mas? My Spanish is good, but I really want to get better...I can talk for hours but my verb tenses aren't that good. I've been learning a little slang which is fun...and I can totally talk with an attitude;) Pero quando tango demasiado sueno...mi mente no funciona en espanol. And then there are the occasional slip ups...one night during my second week here I accidentally asked the bartender for the most expensive beer they had...oops...I meant to say cheapest! I'm thinking about more Spanish classes after the TEFL...it would really help.

Here's some pics and here's the link to the facebook album I posted today with tons more pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30396&id=1061919043&l=4368621d95

Sunset in Tamarindo

Mi Mamatica & Sistas

Volcan Arenal

Zipline crew in Monteverde

Surf Competition in Hermosa

Scarlet Macaws!

2009-07-26T16:24:00.000-05:00

“20 years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
– Mark Twain

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’ve always loved this quote…life is so much better when you take chances. It feels so good to actualize a dream...especially in Costa Rica...what an amazing place!!!

I’m really happy now because yesterday I bought a bike! I feel like a teenager with my first set of wheels, so excited to be able to get around the town easier…and it has a basket for my stuff…love it! He doesn’t have a name yet…

I wish I had it on Friday when it torrentially downpoured! Here I was thinking, ‘oh, the rainy season isn’t so bad…’ and then the biggest rainfall came in on Friday afternoon. It started with really a high tide…here is my video:

I was stuck at the school for a while during the storm, and when it let up I started walking home with a trash bag over my stuff. There was so much water in the streets, and when I turned down the street towards mi casa, it was a full-on river! I was literally walking through at least a foot of water for several minutes, laughing at myself…I’m in the middle of Costa Rica stuck walking in a river, losing my flip flops, and soaking wet! Later on that night it cleared up, and we ended up going out to the bar to watch the big game – Costa Rica vs. Mexico in the Gold Cup – we lost, but of course everyone still celebrated. I danced a little salsa (I’m learning) and had my first drink with Guaro – the national liquor of CR, made from sugar cane but strong like tequila...que bueno! On the way home that night the frogs were so loud I couldn’t hear myself think…or maybe it was just the guaro talking.

Samara is such a small town: everyone knows everyone, they all know my Mamatica, and if they don’t know eachother there is only like one degree of separation. It’s very different from what I’m used to but I like it. It feels like an authentic Costa Rican experience. I’ve already met some of my TEFL instructors (at the bars, naturally), and I’ve already met some of my future students (during the TEFL course we practice teaching with locals). I can’t believe by the middle of next week I will already be teaching!

Yesterday, the 25th of July, marked the 185th anniversary of the annexation of Guanacaste. Before that this region belonged to Nicaragua. I asked my Mamatica if there was a fight over the territory, and in typical Pura Vida style, she informed me that it was an easy, friendly decision…but of course! People just give things to Costa Rica, like the bridge from Puntareanus to Nicoya, which was provided by the amigos de Taiwan. Anyhow, we went to the town of Nicoya last night, where there was a big celebration in the square, with street food and kids games, and live music and performances. We saw some typical dances from the region, and at the end of the evening was the most popular band from this area, Mal Pais:

Que mas? The food…the food has been a lot of fun. I haven’t always liked everything but for the most part it’s great (and when I don’t like it, there’s always Lizano sauce to make it better, right B?). Some of my favorites were a banana leaf tomale filled with corn stuff for breakfast (pictured below), tortas de yucca (which we made in cooking class), and the typical sopa negra (black bean soup with cilantro, onions, eggs, and in my case, hot sauce…so good!!!)

A few more pics below...thanks for reading and sending encouraging words! Love to all!

Mi Casa

Krista and I on the road to Nicoya

My first visitors, Junx & Cayce

Bienvenidos!

2009-07-22T19:44:00.001-05:00

Hola from Costa Rica! I’ve only been here for 5 days but all the experiences I’m having make it seem like so much longer. I arrived on Saturday to San Jose, stayed overnight with a family in a neighboring town called Heredia, and then got a ride with a Tico to Samara on Sunday. Here in my little beach town on the Nicoya Peninsula, I am living with a sweet Tico woman named Marisol, who cuts hair and does nails in the salon in the front of her house (nice…I can get pedicures!!!) Also living there is her son Bryan (19), 3 other students from Europe, plus a Swiss girl and her Tico boyfriend, which makes for a nice community. I can easily walk to my school from here, which is located in the center of town directly in front of the beach (que lindo!)…

The first night in Heredia I encountered 3 roaches in the bathroom and the bedroom…yikes!..but no more since then. The second day in Samara I took a shower with a frog, and last night with a green and brown gecko – so cute! One of the most beautiful things I’ve seen so far is wild horses running on the beach! There are a bunch of horses and dogs and cats that seem to be running free, but I’m not sure, they very well could have homes, but be allowed to roam…all of my MamaTica’s animals (dogs, puppies, kittens, chickens) roam around the outside the house, and they aren’t really allowed inside.

My Spanish is improving quickly and I took my first surf lesson today! It was super fun! My super cool friends Junx and Cayce are here visiting from Atlanta (they just happened to plan a trip here during the first week of my stay) so we took the lesson together and we all got up! All the people here are so nice, the locals are very welcoming, and there are tons of international students at my school to hang with…and the food has been muy delicioso!!!

Having trouble uploading pictures so I'll do that next time...hasta luego…voy a cenar!

Adios ATL

2009-07-10T00:13:00.000-05:00

I'm leaving July 18th for Costa Rica!!! I'll be taking 2 weeks of Spanish classes followed by a 4 week TEFL certification course during the month of August...then I hope to find a job teaching English. I started this blog as a way to keep in touch, so you, my dear friends and family members, can see what I'm up to. I will be without a cellphone (at least in the beginning) so all communications will be via the web. Ok...time to pack!