Spanish Bloopers

Alright, two funny stories for today.

Sooo... In the morning, I greet all the other staff at Sojourn with "Buenas dias! Como esta usted?" The other person usually responds, "Buen, gracias a Dios." ("Good, thanks to God.") I THOUGHT they were saying "Buen, gracias, adios." ("Good, thanks, goodbye.") I just found out last night while reading Trish's blog that they are saying "Thanks to God" instead of trying to shoo me away.

And, the "ee" sound in English is the same as the "i" sound in Spanish... Today, one of my tico students wrote in her assignment notebook "workshit" instead of "worksheet." As I checked her work over, I started busting out laughing because apparently I assign "shit" for homework. In her quiet voice, she says, "Miss Siscoe, what's so funny?" I tried to stop laughing (but it didn't work) and said, "Oh nothing!" I wrote in "ee" over her "i". Hopefully her parents don't notice.

Serious Faces, Grocery Shopping, and Read to Self

We took a few moments for a photo shoot before Music Class today. Here's the results.

The "serious" faces.

and of course, the "goofy" faces.

We will be applying our addition and subtraction knowledge with a budget simulation project. The lesson plans call for grocery ads with dollar amounts on them.... however, those are a rarity here. SO, I invented my own "grocery ad" of sorts. Would you like to shop in my grocery store? :)

Here's a couple photos during Read to Self today. They're working so hard!!!

Mwa Ha Ha Ha

Tricia was away this past weekend as she was in a wedding in the States.... little did she know what she was in for when she returned.

This was waiting in the shower for her at her 5am shower time yesterday morning. :)

I stayed with Kim Maple and her son when Jaclyn and I came to visit CR in May... Kim had us over for dinner this past weekend while Trish was away, and I am borrowing David Beckham's cutout for something at school... sooooo Trish saw him for the first time in the shower.

In English we spell laughing hahahahaha, but in Spanish we spell it jajajajaja. I think jajajajaja makes me laugh more!

Mas Fotos de Parque de La Paz

Here are the promised photos! :)

A dirt bike path. Lots of bikers hanging out and showing off tricks.
The view of the mountain from the mountain, ha. Aren't the clouds gorgeous?
Whimsical, eh? There were so many children and adults flying kites from the mountain. Some of their line was so thick that we could see it all the way to the kite! Some kites were so high or far away that they were tiny ants floating in the sky. No offense to any one who really likes ducks, but the ducks here are really ugly. Perhaps a cross between a turkey and goose? Strange...

Lots of greenery surrounding us everywhere! It is the rainy season after all...

Una Nota de Mi Estudiante Llame Yena

An assignment in Writing Workshop was to write a letter to me to let me know what the students were currently thinking and feeling about being in 4th grade. I just thought I would share one letter from Yena, my new student. She is a very intelligent young lady and skipped 3rd grade. Here it is:

Dear Miss.Siscoe
I've passed to fourth grade!
I've made friends very fast.
I don't know why almost all the children in here are so kind to me.
Being the youngest girl in the classroom is kind of scary to me. You're a great teacher!
I think you will be a great astronaut.
I hope I'll grew more.
Sincerly, Yena


P.S. I told the students I want to be an astronaut someday. :)

Parque de La Paz

Trish went to a wedding in the States this weekend, so it was just me and Kim L. We went to Parque de la Paz and enjoyed the kites and view of the city. Here's sampler photos :). More tomorrow.

Thanks for the Mail :)

Shout out to Jaclyn Miller for a letter a couple weeks ago! So great to hear from her!! Jaclyn came to Costa Rica in May so I love knowing she can picture exactly where I am at.

And another shout out to Todd Bryant for an artistic postcard! Thanks, you made my day!

Oh, and Kim Maple invited me, Kim L., and Kim V. over for dinner tonight... Yes, 3 Kims in one room was quite interesting. We watched the political debate and ate fried chicken and brownies. Yum!