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!

Day Trip to Jaco

I had a craving for the beach since the last time was April... so did some other girls I met randomly. Sooooo there we went! We rode the bus from San Jose to the coast in the early, early morning, enjoyed a day in the sun, and then rode the bus back! Total transportation cost: $10. Food cost: $8. Not bad.

The four musketeers for the day. L2R: Joni, me, Amy, Chrissy. Joni is studying at the Institute just for the summer as she's in college for nursing. Amy has been volunteering at Sojourn for the last month and will be returning to the States on Monday. Chrissy just arrived in CR last Monday volunteering with an organization called Latin Link... She just graduated from Imperial University in London. Quite the random group, but we definitely made the best of it!

This dog hiked with us all the way down the beach and back. Her collar said, "Hola. I am Clarita." and then a phone number for tracking down her owner. Other dogs would approach us, and Clarita would run them off!

Kate the explorer... I have potential, don't I? ha.

Then! We had a surprise and slightly impulsive adventure as we went horseback riding! I'm a little sunburnt at this point in the day (I'm tempted to make the photo black and white so you can't tell!). We rode for about an hour and a half... my rearend is reminding me this morning.

I know this isn't the best photo in terms of detail, but I like it for it's artistic nature.

Planting Seeds

Teaching is all about planting seeds. Seeds of math strategies, historical lessons, science concepts, the joy of reading. Each teacher waters and fertilizes and weeds what the last teacher planted. We all hope and pray it grows. And then the end of the school year comes and we say goodbye.

Dad sent me this photo from their recent trip to Iowa. The house behind the white car was the parsonage we lived in while Dad was pastor of his first church. Mom looks tiny standing next to the tree in the front yard... the tree I brought home from kindergarten and we planted in the front yard. It fit in a cup when we planted it... now it's two times the size of the house!

The tree a good reminder that my students will grow. Not because of me, but because of God. So ultimately, teaching is all about putting in my best work and trusting God with the rest of the growth. Hopefully my students will be giants like this!!! :)