Shout Outs

A big hello to Jason and Janna Crumrine as they sat under this same tree with me during their December vacation to Costa Rica. This photo was taken this past weekend when I returned to Playa Conchal with my friends. HIIIII tios!!!

This week begins a new term and along with that are lots of new ideas and strategies in my bag. :) Ha, my tico family calls my purse the "Mary Poppin bag" because they (and I!) never know what's coming out of it. In the classroom, we changed reading groups and I grouped one tico per group so now they're surrounded by English :). I'm loving that because they're constantly asking questions -- "What is this? What is that?" Sounds a lot like me in Spanish. We've also been creating our own life-sized drawings of the human body and it's systems. You should see our masterpieces :)... they're currently hanging on the balcony for parents to enjoy. I am also working to use every moment of the school day for learning... so we've been practicing quicker transitions, doing mental math and trivia during bathroom breaks... you know, I'm thinking more and more like a teacher.

And I have friends coming in just a few weeks!!! How exciting! Jenny Olson, Sarah Mikan, and Sarah's friend Kim will be joining me for a quick 4 day visit to San Jose, and I can hardly wait!

But before they get here, we are working furiously on the set and costume design for the upcoming production at the school. I am seriously so glad to be using my artistic background in this way -- it gives me so much satisfaction and joy! A group of high schoolers and adults helped build the set yesterday, so we will begin painting next week. Hurray!!! Sorry, there's no photos of any of this action yet, but you will see the final project on here for sure! :)

Tenga un buen noche!

Playa Conchal con Mis Amigitas

Here's some fun in the sun for you... It was a great weekend!

Snapshots for You, Mom!! :)

We're heading to the beach this weekend... but before I go, I thought I would give you some of the latest photos... Nothing spectacular, but ideas of what it looks like here.

A chair back at the family's house in Heredia. Que bonita!! They have a room with all antique furniture that has been in the family a long time.

Theatre camp last Saturday with Kim V. and the kids dancing to High School Musical.

Trish before the haircut

and after :)

And the past neighbors, Steve and Diane. I tried taking their photo for their latest support letter, but it was so windy!! This is one of the best, but it doesn't do them justice with the wind.

Time for Funny Stories

So I thought there was a bat in my room last Friday night. No joke. I'm laying in bed, it's pitch black, and I hear the sound of wings hitting the curtains. Swish, swish. 'What the heck' was all I could think. I finally wrapped my blanket tight around me (I was freaking myself out, ha) and turned all the lights on (not just one -- all!) and opened my windows and doors... I looked under my bed and desk to see if it was hiding there... and I thought for sure I saw it under my desk. Turns out what I thought was a bat under my desk was actually just a part holding the legs on the desk... right. But then I heard it again... and I saw it... but it wasn't a bat -- it was a HUGE moth. Yup, that's right. I was freaked out over a moth in my room. This thing was seriously huge though. Too bad I didn't think to get my camera out.

The funniest part came the next morning as I'm trying to explain the midnight adventure to my family. Judit says "Oh yeah, I saw your lights on when I got home last night, and I thought, 'How strange that gringas sleep with their lights on and windows open.'" Ha, thanks for the help, sis. We laughed about that one.


I was riding in the car with ManRi and Blanca, returning from the family party on Sunday, and ManRi was driving, well, kind of fast through the city traffic. I said (as usual, not thinking), "Que un taxista!!" (What a taxi driver!) and they were laughing so hard. Blanca repeated what I said to Judit and Rebecca later... They were cracking up too.


Today we were learning about the digestive system and, well, 4th graders fill in the blanks that the textbook doesn't exactly mention. For example, the book calls "pooping" ... "elimination." Ha, quite an official word for that process. So anyway, today we were acting out the digestive system and Gabi jumps out of her seat and declares herself the nutrients that the small intestine is absorbing and then she jumps up in the air like a firework and falls on the ground. The whole class was laughing and then Gabi picks herself up off the ground and says, "And then I was the energy that the nutrients make." Good, we're learning.


That's all for today <3

Process of Harvesting Cashews

I learned today why cashews are so expensive. One nut is on one fruit... and the fruits are big. We started with a pan of nuts and we had to heat them for an hour or so before we could crack the shells...

Then the nuts started "sweating" an oil and smoking... the kitchen was so smoky we were running outside to get air and then running back inside to stir the nuts. Ha, it was quite the endeavor.

And the burnt shells are finally ready for cracking!

And I was learning how to crack the shells with a hammer. Fingers, watch out!

Yo Soy Tica... Mas o Menos ... Jaja :)

The title: I am Tica... More or Less ... Haha :)

Today Sojourn celebrated Valentine's Day, so there were lots of parties and cards to be exchanged. The students were able to wear Valentine's Day colors, which the advertisements defined as pink&white&red&purple... so I took the opportunity to wear my Saprissa jersey. Some of the boys were not excited to wear Valentine's colors, but when I told them I was wearing my Saprissa jersey, they got really excited about the idea.

But we still had learning to do, and the students handled that well too (for the most part... always :)). I need continued prayers for handling the situations with the two difficult boys in the class.

I was thinking about my family a lot today as my great-grandma's funeral was this morning. How surreal when I am still in a foreign country surrounded by a foreign language!

My migraine was finally subsiding this morning, so by this afternoon (maybe because it is Friday!) I was feeling much better.

Then one of the tica teachers, Carolina, invited me to her house to make empenadas, a traditional Costa Rican biscuits with meat and cheese inside. Of course I said yes because I have been wanting more tica friends and more practice with Spanish! So we went to Carolina's apartment and made empenadas. She was so encouraging to me, both about my learning of Spanish and my teaching. Carolina said that she has not seen discrimination in my teaching with the ticos and gringos, which is a huge compliment coming from a tica... and she said it is incredible how much Spanish I am able to speak now. Gracias a Dios!!! I am learning each day... more words and more verbs and more phrases... it's such a process!

and now it's Friday night and my mind is not working in English or Spanish. I just mixed up Spanish grammar while speaking English -- I said "the soccer practice of Esteban" instead of "Esteban's soccer practice". Whoops... so maybe I should stop typing before I type something in really bad English grammar, haha :)

Love!

Migraine Number Two

Why am I getting migraines??? The bright light here? I'm allergic to cheese again? Because my classroom is sweltering?

I left school at noon today and my head is still pounding...

And Grandma Great just passed away... I want to go back to the States for the funeral, but since it's in about 36 hours, it's nearly impossible. My heart will be with my family these next few days.

On a positive note, I am well on my way to having my latest support/update letters completed... They'll be mailed soon :).