Happenings

alright, ready for the random happenings in Costa Rica?

Summer school is in full swing... and then the Administrator of Health and the Administrator of National Security (or something like that) makes a national decision that all schools, churches, and stadiums must close for the next week to stop the spread of the swine flu. There have been 6 fatal cases here in Costa Rica and since there´s only 4,000,000 ticos, I guess 6 is a big number to them. Sooooo the students won´t be attending school at Sojourn next week, but us teachers still have to go in to work... What will we do without students? I´ll keep you posted... I´ve heard rumors of painting classrooms and heavy duty cleaning.

Spanish classes are humbling, trying, challenging, stretching, growing. I am daily praying Philippians 4:13 and 2 Timothy 1:7 to prepare myself for being humbled once again. Even amidst the challenges, I trust God is pushing me and challenging me and requiring me to lean on Him even more every moment of every day. My latest Spanish assignments: To explain how to butter bread, To explain how to brush your teeth, To interview a Bible character, To give steps for a recipe, To defend my opinion on various topics. Some of these tasks are difficult in English, let alone Spanish!

And as far as posting photos goes, I still have daily battles with the Internet... and I´m losing the war. They will come!

I am joining a group to travel to the Arenal Volcano this weekend... lots more adventures in store!

8 days until I´m back in the States!!! It´s crazy to think (and even a bit crazier to say) that I have lived here 11 months and I have only been in the States 10 days of those 11 months! But we are about to change that :)

San Jose Photo Shoot

We found a tiny door...

and then Judit took a photo of me with it because I'm a "giant" as she calls me.

Judit modeling with the garage door.

an awesome store

The little plaques surrounding the door are scenes from a famous Spanish play...

the Mexican embassy.

the National Library that keeps all the thesis of Master's students... Judit's thesis is now there too!

a cork tree... I didn't know cork is from a tree!

steps in Parque Espana

See no, Hear no, Speak no evil.. with cats... I thought you would like this, Kallie!

pictures to come from my art classroom :)

Impulsive Beach Trip!

SO I went to the beach last weekend and I took lots of photos, but long story short, the Internet at our house is not working and I am over at Trish's house to use Internet... and I forgot to bring over the beach pics. Whoops.

So anyway, I can describe the weekend for you :).

There were 5 of us that went; all of us are studying in the Spanish intensive course right now. Caroline, Sarah, David, Jared, and me all ventured to Manuel Antonio early Saturday morning. It's been a long time since I've traveled with guys and girls (usually it was just us girl teachers) so that was a fun change. Caroline and I went to the National Park on Saturday while the other three went ziplining, and then several of us went kayaking on Sunday morning. Wow, it was so beautiful to kayak on the ocean along the beach and the cliffs, with the waves crashing all around you. It was also really hard, especially on the way back. I was in a one-person kayak, so it was really challenging to keep going for about the last 20 minutes or so. Unfortunately, I couldn't take any photos because, well, I didn't want to take my camera in the middle of the ocean with me. ... No need to explain :).

I have to admit, I was really sore on Monday from kayaking :).

Sunset from My Bedroom Window

I'm Trying...

I'm trying to post photos of my latest teaching, but it's not working out tonight. Sorry to those of you who are checking up on me regularly! I'll try again this weekend! For now, know everything is well.

LOVE

Homework Assignments

Alright, so I'm in the intensive Spanish classes for the month of July... and here are some of my homework assignments so far...

1) Read a magazine article and explain to the class what it is about and any new vocabulary you learn. (I chose a political article... seriously, what was I thinking?)

2) Explain (in Spanish of course) how to unclog the toilet if it happens to be clogged.

3) Interview a tico about various phrases and adjectives commonly used.

and more to come. #2 was obviously the most askward...

Let the Games Begin!

Or rather, let the classes begin!!

Today was my first day of teaching art in the morning and taking Spanish classes in the afternoons. Here's what my schedule looks like:

7:30-12:30 Teaching Art

12:30-1:30 Break!

1:30-4 Spanish Classes

And now I have 9 pages of homework!!! A grand wake-up call in my world of "no more college for me!" Ha, maybe I'm like my dad and I'll always be pursuing another degree of some sort... The problem with Spanish is that you never really "graduate"... there's always more to learn.

Speaking of homework, I'd better get started!