Cero Estrés!

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!

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!