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/

The Big Bang Theory

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

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!!!

La Vida Tranquila

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...

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!

Cambios

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"

Mayo: My Favorite Month

(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...

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!

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!

Seasons Change

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)

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

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!

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!