Climate Change!

Hola. Today I am COLD! Last week in Heredia and this past weekend in Manuel Antonio I was complaining how HOT it was everywhere. I would rather have hot. Because cold weather = sick people. And a possibility of sick ME. :( Pero (But) so far so good. But still- COLD. I packed good clothes for Heredia, capris and long shorts with short sleeved shirts. I was hot but comfortable. Here.. I have one outifit which will work. My ONE pair of jeans and my ONE long sleeved shirt. Which I’m lucky to have brought, it was like an afterthought when I had like an inch extra in my suitcase. Thank goodness. My mama-tica here (who is actually just 3 years older than me) sells clothes, so I was able to buy a light but warm jacket from her. But I am still cold. I need a thick hoodie or something but around here they don’t sell that stuff. Usually it is not this cold. This year is full of weather/nature anomalies. Like the earthquakes and crazy weather. I mean, 8 inches of snow in North Carolina? And now all these earthquakes.. its crazy. But back to me being cold :) . I find myself wishing for my big hoodies and huge comforter or heater. No heaters (or AC units) in Costa Rica. So now that I’ve thoroughly complained about the cold. I hate cold. Ok No mas.
So, this morning our group went to the Primary school here. Just a note, I’m having trouble writing this correctly. I’ve talked about my day so much in espanol that to write it here, it is coming out of my brain in Spanish first and then I think twice and reword it in English. It’s really annoying. But good I guess. So esta manana en la escuela primeria (just had to get that out there so it would shut up) This morning in the primary school we read our bilingual books and did a jelly bean science lesson with the older grades. It was fun and these students don’t get as much English as the other school we were with in Heredia. So it was interesting to see how excited they were to show what they did know in English and try to use what I was giving them.
 Yesterday in my Spanish classes I was placed in a class by myself. Which honestly made me feel like I was going to cry. Not sure why exactly because it’s a great opportunity to be one on one with a teacher, but I guess I was so comfortable with others in the class. And since I had just changed to a new home, with new people, a new climate, and a new area I didn’t know, with new guides, it was just one more change and I wasn’t sure I liked that. But yesterday went well and I appreciated the one on one attention. Guadalupe (my profesora) was able to see exactly what I needed and what I knew. It was very nice. Today David was added to my class. I think this helped me because it added to the discussion in the class. In fact at the end of class we ended up discussing and comparing university education in Costa Rica and the United States and even discussed some politics. It was good to have an extra person in the conversation.
We covered a lot of vocabulary and I know that is something I will be continually working on. I cannot recall how many times I have just stared at Karla and repeated a word in her sentence because I have no idea what it could possibly mean. I want to have the words to talk about things but I don’t yet. And that’s my own fault. CPI has given me the vocabulary book I just need to use my time wisely to study these words. It’s overwhelming to think about how many words we really need to discuss or compare or just to tell about something. I am often frustrated when I don’t know how to say what I want to say, but I am even more frustrated when I can’t understand what others are saying to me. The other day I didn’t understand what Karla said and I did the sign for repeat. Which of course she didn’t know and she just looked at me. So in all my frustration now I’m throwing sign language into the mix. Crazy. After returning to my home-stay this afternoon, I had dinner with Karla and Erick and now I’m in my room attempting to stay warm. Luckily my room is where they store the extra blankets so I’ll be able to snuggle up for the night.



Wednesday- May 26, 2010


This morning about 7am I felt another tiny earthquake. Last week that meant there was a bigger quake further west (that one was in the ocean to the west of Costa Rica). I wonder if that is the case today. Today we will be visiting Trapiche, a ‘typical’ farm nearby. I’m not sure what they mean by typical but I suppose I shall see. It rained again all last night, so it’ll be a muddy walk to the meeting point. I find it funny that we were all wishing for cool weather last week but now we get the extreme. Cold and wet. :( An adventure though, that’s for sure.


I like the house I’m living in now. Karla tries to talk to me a lot and slows down everything so I can understand. I liked it in Heredia because Cecelia used many hand gestures and Jaqui spoke English. But it’s a challenge here because neither Erick nor Carla speaks ANY English. For example, I could ask Cecelia: Ayer is yesterday, correct? And she would let me know if I was right. If I would ask Karla that she wouldn’t have an answer because she doesn’t know any English. So it’s more of a challenge for me to be here and be truly totally immersed. Here I am pushed more to really remember my vocabulary.


12:20pm (Wednesday May 26, 2010)


Just returned from the Trapiche Tour. It was a great tour, although we’re all soaking wet now. :) The Trapiche Farm is a local farm which produces sugar cane and coffee. We were able to walk around the farm and saw how they harvest and produce the coffee beans. It was a nice tour and I preferred it to our Café Britt tour because it was more personal and we could ask more questions. For Café Britt there were 40+ people in our group, for the Trapiche Farm it was just our group and Sonia, so 8 people in all. We learned so much about the plants and were shown other plants on their farm like banana plants, plantain plants, and a macadamia nut tree. At the end of our tour a few of us were given a ride in the traditional Costa Rican cart with Oxen (I was one of the ones to ride, along with Emily & Terri). We were able to see how they cooked the sugarcane and helped make our own candy with the sugar product. It was so neat and, as I said before, personal. The entire farm is run by a family. The son gave us the tour, the father and other son was cooking the sugar down and helped us with our candy and the mother made us lunch. It was so nice. I got a few bags of coffee to bring home. Now we are back at CPI for our Spanish classrooms. That’s all for now, I have some vocabulary to study!

A few things..

A few things about Costa Rica…


People from here are called Tica or Tico…

In Spanish, they often add “ita” to the end of their words which is intended as an endearing addition. (ex, llenita instead of lleno which is full, kind of like “I’m just a little full”)

The summer, or Dry Season is from November to April, the wet season- or winter is May to October.

There are 7 indigenous tribes left here but there are only a few thousand in each tribe.

Coffee and Fruit are big exports here.

Students here begin learning English in Kindergarten.

Most septic systems can’t support the flushing of toilet paper, restrooms have trashcans for toilet paper.

There is no pound here, dogs wander the streets. Some are without homes but many spend their days outside their homes, acting as protectors. I have only seen one dog on a leash, they are never tied up.

Costa Ricans are Catholic, this is written in their Constitution. BUT they have freedom of religion and can therefore practice ANY religion they want.

Many roads here are very narrow. They say that is because roads were first constructed to accommodate ox carts and since businesses sprung up before cars came around, the roads remained the same width.

There are no addresses like in the United States with street names, zip codes, etc. All mail arrives using an address that is in reference to landmarks. Like 50 meters from the plaza, a white house with a red gate.

Hola de Monteverde!

Hola de Monte Verde. I write this from my new homestay with a young couple named Karla and Erick. But more about that in a minute. This past weekend we all went to Manuel Antonio. In Manuel Antonio there is a lot of hotels because it is right on the beach. We had a long drive there but spent the afternoon in Manuel Antonio National Park. It was soooo humid. It was like being surrounded by the heat. Reminded me of being in a tanning bed with no fan. IT was just Sticky. But the constantly sweating was worth it. We hiked first on a trail which was to lead us to a waterfall. But the rain these past few days made the river on the way impossible to pass. But we were able to walk in the jungle. On this small path around twists and turns and over small streams and around huge tree roots. It was pretty amazing. We were drenched by the end and probably smelled horrible but it was such an adventure. It reminded me of walking through the woods back home except I recognized none of the plants and heard the call of unusual birds and animals. We were able to hear and then see two howler monkeys fighting in the tree tops. Back on the main path through the National Park we found more animals. We saw a female 3 toed sloth high in a tree. Further along we saw a paca, a large rodent, scurrying around the jungle floor. We then saw a male 3 toed sloth, it has a dark spot on its back. Javiar, our guide, pointed out some bright colored crabs and we saw a huge bamboo plant (not originally from here obviously, brought over from the Indies). At the end of our hike we saw a 3 toed sloth descending to the ground. It does this once a week to do its “business” then climbs up again for another week. This sloth was in a tree right on the path and was just 5 feet from the ground. Many people had gathered around. It was moving around quite a bit and I got some video, I’ll try to post it. By the time we got back to the van to head to lunch we were exhausted and smelled horrible lol.
After lunch we went back to the park and walked to the beach there. It was beautiful. We walked the beach, just relaxing and tried out the water. On each side of this beach area was jungle and large rocks. We walked to some of the rocks and found small tide pools We were able to see dozens of hermit crabs. Dr. Powell and I happened to be watching one as it pulled itself out of its old shell and slipped into a bigger one. It was amazing.
After the beach, we headed to our hotel. It was on the side of the mountains and had a great view of the ocean (Pacific, by the way). It was very relaxed and felt beachy, very open. We showered (thank goodness!) and then after some time with the internet (yay!) We got ready for dinner. I stayed with Emily again which was great. Because she’s fun and also because she had a blow dryer  lol. Of course all the getting dressed up and fixing of the hair was for nothing because 5 minutes before we left Emily noticed it was pouring down rain. Within 5 minutes of going outside my hair was a puff ball. The humidity there is crazy. We went to this great restaurant that was all open and the back looked into the forest. I had Pizza with tomatoes, olives, and mushrooms. It was just what I needed. Delicious. We also shared some deserts (with coffee, of course!).
 In the morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then went to the public beach. It was beautiful as well, huge rocks on each side and some further out in the ocean. There were many vendors on the beach offering beach chairs and umbrellas, surf lessons and even massages. Emily took surf lessons. She stood up a few times, it was pretty cool to watch her. I took the time to relax and walk the beach and enjoy the sunshine. Emily and I checked out the souvenier shops and then we all headed back to the hotel.
We checked out and then headed for Monte Verde. The road here was horrible. We curved up and around the mountain for almost an hour. I luckily had my audiobooks to listen to so I didn’t hear the crazy stories Sonia was telling. Apparently they were about cars rolling backwards off the road. Which seems pretty likely. The road is barely wide enough for two small cars to pass on. In some places it appears to be enough for only one. And the drop offs beside my window didn’t seem to have a bottom.
We arrived here to a small community outside of Santa Elena and I met my host family, Karla and Erick. Santa Elena is a small community (Kara called it a Pueblo) outside of Monteverde. I met Karla and we drove to their home. It is a very nice house. They have beautiful wood ceilings and walls and the tile around the house is so nice. They have big black tile in their kitchen and in their bathroom the tile is all over the ceilings and walls. In my room there is a computer but I’m not sure if it works There are lots of things piled around it and I’m not sure if its used or not. I’ll have to ask tonight. I unpacked a lot of my stuff which was nice. It will be great to not really live out of the suitcase. I will be with Karla and Erick for two weeks. I have more to write about but no time! Pictures soon I hope!

End of my first week in Costa Rica

Two more weeks to go!  I am having an amazing time in Costa Rica.  I would love to show you more pictures, but my computer has decided to choose this period of time to stop working correctly.  My laptop's screen is just barely lit enough for me to see the words i am typing.  I've attempted to change my brightness settings, etc but no luck.  :( So I will do what I can to get posts and pictures out.  Thursday we went back to the Calle Viquez school to read stories in Spanish and English and do a science lesson. It was a great experience.  I had so much fun with the students and they were excited to speak English with us.  Thursday there were two interuptions to our spansih classes.  First we were able to spend about an hour talking with a man and woman from an indigenous tribe here in Costa Rica.  They told us about their traditions and showed us their cragts.  They make masks and purses as well as other art works.  90% of their tribe are artisans.  It was amazing to see them work.  Our second interuption was an earthquake. We have heard it was actually pretty large to the southwest of us where we were in San Jose but because of my computer problems I have actually not investigated it much.  In our classroom we were working with our verbs when I noticed Rich was shaking our table.  I laughed a little thinking of my mom, brother and sister when they'd shake the pew in church.  I looked over to pick on him when I noticed his legs were not moving.  But everything else in the room was. We looked at our Profesora and she said, what is that? Its an earthquake! And she ran for the doorway.  The three of us in the class just sat there looking at each other and the walls, almost in a daze until Profesora Martinez said get up! lol. The trembling didn't last long and we were lucky it was just a samll tremor because obviously we were so curious about the earthquake we didn't even think about protecting ourselves.  Thursday night I ate with my mama tica and then her son came over to talk with me in English.  She had to tell me abou her weekend trip and wanted to be sure I understood.  She and Jaqui were going on a mini vacation and they were leaving at 5pm on Friday night.  I would leave their house at 6am the next morning. So her daughter in law would be staying with me.  Thursday morning I ate breakfast with Cecilia and we said our goodbyes.  That morning we had a trip to La  Carpio a shanty town outside of San Jose. It is a community created by
Nicaraguan Immigrants.  With conditions so poor in Nicaragua over the last 3 decades, Costa Rica and other countries have become a place where dreams can come true. Many immigrants head north, attempting to reach the United States.  If you haven't, you should check out the movie "De Nadie" which means: The Nothing. It is a documentary about what happens to immigrants from central america who attempt to make it to the United States border.  Its probably the most heartbreaking  movie I've seen, but La Carpio is the most heartbreaking place I've ever visited. The living conditions there were unbelievable.  Houses were made out of mismatched peices of tin or wood. Most had no real door, no windows, and a poor ,if any, floor.  Water ran from who knows where into the street and the gutters.  We went there to meet Gail, a woman who, after working with the Peace Corps in Costa Rica in the late 70s, decided to come back.  With the help of donors she has built a humanitarian project there.  Over the years she has helped establish a preschool, a clinic, and structured primary and secondary schools. We met Gail at her preschool. The first thing you notice is that, it is all her. The workers there have been hired from the community or communities nearby. The workers are wonderful and they sometimes have to work for nothing when donations dwindle to zero.  We were able to sit in on morning circle time with the preschoolers.  They sang 'isty bitsy spider' and a "Buenos Dias" or Good Morning song with us.   Looking around at these adorable faces, I forgot briefly about the homes they would return to.  They were just as happy and excited about life as the preschools I worked with in Missouri.  After art and play time, we went for a walk with Gail.  And reality struck again.  La Caprio has paved roads and sidewalks on most of those roads.  These were part of a deal made by the garbage companies when they wanted to put a landfill at the end of their main road.  The people of La Carpio said no- even paved roads/sidewalks and extra money was not worth it.  So the trash company threatened to go to immigration.  So the people of La Carpio agreed.  As a sidenote, the Costa Rican people do not mind the Nicaraguans being here. Most will straight up tell you that they want more and are too qualified for the jobs that the Nicaraguans will do.  Like picking coffee, being janitors and maids, etc.  So at the edge of La Carpio is the landfill.  We went on their trash day (they get free trash pick up as well with the landfill deal) and trash was heaped on the street waiting for the trash truck.  Dogs were picking through it and it spread over almost the whole street.  Gail pointed out they are lucky to have trash pick up at all, but the trash trucks coming in from other cities to the landfill barrel down the streets with no concern for the children crossing the street.  Just walking down the street was like watching one of those 'feed the children' commercials, but i couldn't change the channel.  We walked down to one of Gail's other projects, a bunkbed shop.  Using a simple construction they are making bunk beds to sell to the local people for a reasonable price.  She said most have just one mattress on the floor which may be shared by the whole family.  The purpose of this project is to get people off the floor and stop the spread of disease.  One group was able to help deliver a bunk bed. I helped built the peices.  Drilling and gluing, etc.  The shop is in a local woman's garage and is run by a young couple and another young man.  They hope to expand soon maybe to make baby cribs, tables, etc.  After this we went to the clinic and another school Gail has helped improve. The morning was exhausting. The emotions of being there are unexplainable.  Just overwhelming.  I was able to purchase a few items from a small store created by local women of their crafts inside Gail's school.  After this morning we had to return to CPI and had Spanish classes all afternoon.  When I got home my mama tica was already gone and her son was there to help me out.  On Saturday morning I woke up extra early and we met (with all our suitcases) to head to Manuel Antonio, a National Park and beach.  Today I'm actually leaving there but there is, as always, much to talk about.  I will try to post more soon and maybe some pictures..

Pictures

Pictures! These are from our tour of Cafe Britt- they tour was quite comical and we learned a lot. The tour guides kept us very entertained. There is a picture of the banana trees which shade the coffee plants. They look pretty cool. At the end of our tour the guides did a little skit and Dr. Powell was part of their impromptu wedding ceremony :) There are also pictures from our lunch at the Soda down the street from CPI we all had hamburgers and coke. :) That is Terersa and Rich in the picture. The other pictures are the view from our spanish school, CPI here in Heredia, Costa Rica. We have a nice little courtyard outside and those are cloud covered mountains in the distance. Beautiful.

First 48 hours in my homestay

Tuesday, May 18, 2010. 8 pm in San Joaquin, Heredia, Costa Rica.





Wow. What an amazing experience the last 48 hours has been. I met my host family on Sunday evening. Cecilia and Jaqui were very inviting. Jaqui (who is 20) knew some English; she had studied English high school and learned from the television. Cecelia, however, knew none. I am shy sometimes around people I have just met. I realized quickly that even if I stayed quiet, Cecelia had many questions for me. I understood very few questions. I found myself staring hard at her as I talked as if I would see in her eyes some key to unlocking the meaning of these words. I was lucky to have Jaqui to attempt a translation if I got very lost in the conversation, which I did often. Cecelia went to bed soon after dinner (cena) so I felt like I’d failed to create a bond with her. It is awkward to be a guest in someone’s home. And when that someone doesn’t understand what I’m trying to convey, it makes it even more awkward. I worried that I would do something wrong because I couldn’t understand Cecelia’s instructions. Jaqui stayed with me and talked in mostly English about her life in Costa Rica. She just returned recently from a trip abroad in Europe. So she had many insights about how things are different in Costa Rica than in other places of the world.




After dinner, Jaqui walked with me to the church (iglesia) where I was going to be walking in the morning to meet our group. It is just a few blocks from my mama tica’s home. In front of the church is a soccer field and then a school. I have been told this layout is typical of Costa Rican towns. When we got to the plaza (what they call the area around the soccer field) we met some of Jaqui’s friends. They did not know English but tried to talk to me as well as they could. We all walked together back to my mama tica’s home and they sat up talking long after I excused myself for bed. It was interesting to hear the casual Spanish being used and try to decipher their jokes. Jaqui was very helpful in translating but I tried hard to see what I could pick up myself.




The next morning Jaqui was not awake for breakfast. I said Buenos Dias to Cecelia but was extra nervous. This was my first attempt at a conversation with a Spanish speaker without anyone to interpret. She made me a thin omelet which had peppers in it. We also had papaya and plums with our meal. And of course, we had coffee. Cecelia brought hot milk to the table and sugar. It was very good. She asked me questions which I had trouble with but we had a break through when she noticed my wedding ring. Suddenly there was a context for our discussion and understanding the words she spoke was much easier. We talked about how long I’d been married, and what job my husband did. She was interested to know where he was stationed and commented that her niece’s son was in the military in the United States as well. She said she would pray for my husband. This was a perfect transition to the photo book I brought. In it I had put pictures of my house, my family, a visit to the lighthouse at Ocracoke Island, my dog, and my Mother’s wedding. She helped me when I lost the words for who the people were. She was very interested in knowing which of my siblings were step-sisters/ brothers and which belonged to my mom or to my step dad. When she saw my nieces and nephews she cooed and wanted to know their names and who their parents were. It was wonderful to find a common ground. After we finished with my pictures she took me around the house to look at her pictures. She explained who each person was and their ages. It was so nice. Then I gave her the gift I brought. It was an ornamental plate with a picture of North Carolina and the lighthouses. She was so excited and gave me a hug and a kiss. (Typical of Tico appreciation) She went around the house finding the right location to place it. Cecelia has many ornaments and trinkets in her house, some from other CPI students. After placing my gift on the coffee table (it is the first thing you see when you walk in the house) she showed me the other gifts she has received (from students in Texas, Philadelphia and West Virginia). It was an exciting morning.




I met our group at the Church that morning and we went by a shop with office supplies. I was able to get a Spanish-English dictionary and had my first attempt at purchasing an item without the help of Sonia. It went well! I was excited and proud of myself. The excitement I get about things which seemed so simple back home often makes me laugh. Each day so far has been full of little victories. We next went to CPI (Centro Panamericano de Idiomas). We had a meeting and then I went with Emily, Rich, and Teresa to the “Soda” down the street from CPI. All four of us ordered a “hamburguesa” with a Coke. Very American. It was a nice break from the beans and rice, but was not the same as a hamburger back home.




Monday afternoon we had our first Spanish classes. I have had some Spanish courses in high school and one in college, but the trouble I have is with vocabulary. I understand rules and pronunciation but forget the meanings of words. That is something I will need to focus on. We have 4 hours of Spanish classes each week day. We have a coffee break half way through, which is very nice. I was sent home with mucho tarea y vocabulario. (homework and vocabulary) When I returned to my mama tica’s home she had a friend visiting who had a young boy, Daniel. Daniel followed me into my room and asked me lots of questions. He told me he was 4 years old and he could count in English. He began counting everything in the room. I showed him my photo album and he counted the people in each picture in English. He then borrowed my notebook to write his name, and several other scribbles until his mom called him to leave. It was interesting to talk with a young Spanish speaker. It also prepared me somewhat for Tuesday.




Tuesday morning we went to the Calle Viquez Primary School. It is a low income school. We were able to meet and interact with some of the students there. The English teacher showed us around and let us take part in his lessons. In the 6th grade we worked with students to write to a pen pal in North Carolina. The students had an English phrase book and were able to create a letter with a lot of information. It took some work to process what they were saying to us in Spanish in order to help when the students asked for it. But luckily they were patient with us. I’ve noticed that, while I may be hard on myself for struggling, others are understanding and try to help me improve.




Again on Tuesday we had Spanish classes, but also a cooking class at CPI. We made Picadillo con pasa. As a group we chopped and mixed our vegetables and pressed our own tortillas. It was a quite an experience. And in the end we ate what we made for our lunch. It was fun. Spanish classes were difficult but we learned so much and used so much. It was good to have an idea of how to organize my sentences for use in my home-stay. I ate dinner Tuesday night with just Jaqui so a lot of the conversation was in English. She helped me learn the Spanish words for all the items of the table setting and reminded me of some important Costa Rican phrases to know.




Little by little (Poco a poco, as my Spanish Profesora says) I am gaining the confidence to talk in my home-stay. My Spanish classes are assisting in this, although a big support is the patience and understanding of my host family.

Sorry no pics, I'll get more here soon!!!!!

(This is from Sunday morning, May 16th)
¡Hola de Costa Rica! We have now been in Costa Rica for 3 days and the experience has been amazing. 

Our group is lucky to have Sonya along to help. She is from our language school, CPI and recently attended classes there so she understands our position. Sonya is going to be with us for the next 3 weeks assisting in any way necessary. She speaks both Spanish and English, I hope soon to be able to converse with her in Spanish and rely on her less when we are in situations where others only speak spanish.

Yesterday we went to LaPaz Waterfall Garden. We had a guide with us, Javiar, who is bilingual and very knowledgable about Costa Rica. He will be with us on some of our other visits around the country as well. At LaPaz we visited the Bird House and Butterfly House.

Next we entered the Hummingbird Garden, which was beautiful. The birds whizzed around our heads from feeder to feeder, almost as if in a majestic dance. The picture close up of the hummingbird was a bird which was very protective of his feeder. He sat on this perch for 5 minutes while I watched, leaving only to chase the other hummingbirds away from "his" feeder nearby.

Our group then got to look at a historic Costa Rican home, outside we met a pair of oxen and their beautifully painted cart. La Paz also had many animals, such as monkeys and big cats. It was also exciting to see the Frog House, where we enjoyed searching and discovering the hiding frogs. Each different area was interesting because Javiar was very knowledgable about each topic and taught us something new about each plant or animal we came across.

Then we headed to the Waterfalls. They were amazing. I was able to take a few pictures near the falls. The entire day was amazing and I learned so much from the whole experience, I cannot wait to learn more and see more.

Hola! Pura Vida!

We're here! And its amazing.. we're in a beautiful hotel tonight with the windows open and the mountains in our view. AMAZING.. Our  plane arrived about 4 hours ago and we went through customs quickly and met the great people from CPI (Centro Panamericano de Idiomas), our language school where we are going to take our Spanish classes. They took us to the bank in San Joaquin to exchange our cash, they use colones here. 5000 colones= 10 dollars.. its a little confusing but I'm gradually catching on. San Joaquin is a community in Heredia.

After we had our colones we went to  Super Snacks for lunch, which despite its name, is actually a sit down restaurant with a variety of meals. I was tempted to go with the hamburger and fries, but instead tried the Cansada con pollo and a mango leche fruit drink (a milk based smoothie). It was very good.  We walked around San Joaquin and went to a fruit market, which was amazing, the number of unrecognizable fruits surprised me. I saw some bananas and strawberries and watermelons, but I was constantly using the only phrase I can really recall: Que es esta? What is this? Luckily I was walking with our guide from CPi so when the vendor would reply she could translate for me. Yes, the most frightening realization i've come to is that even if I find the words, I have to comprehend what is being said to me. It is a helpless feeling to have someone look at you and ask a question or make a comment, and all you can do is look pitiful and shake your head. It makes me much more motivated to learn!!

We then traveled to our beautiful, amazing hotel and the drive here was an experience in itself. We have a large van for all of us, and our driver Roger (pronounced Ro-hair) is very skilled at navigating the CRAZY traffic here. ALTO signs mean nothing here (alto=stop) and despite potholes and pedestrians, drivers fly along without yielding.  Mom, think Branson driving on cramped, one way, pot-holed streets. :) I'm rooming with Emily Kelly,that is her in the bottom picture  Skyping with her family back home.Above that is the view from our room. Later tonight we're going to dinner and then relaxing! Tomorrow our destination is the La Paz Waterfall Gardens and the San Jose National Museum and National Theater.  :) So lots of pictures for sure!

Phone info

Hello! This is for all my wonderful friends and family who have my telephone number:
My plan is to keep my phone on Airplane mode most of the day.  That way I won't be charged for any texts or internet usage, because internationally it is really expensive. If you MUST call me, I will turn on my phone after 5pm Costa Rica Time (which is 2 hours behind NC, 1 hour behind MO) until I go to sleep. Any emergencies, my Mom has the contact info for my program leader, Dr. Powell.  But do not fear- I will check my emails (any of them- hotmail, yahoo, uncw) every day as much as possible.  And I'll be posting here as often as I can, so please please email as much as you like!  Love you all!

Homestay assignments

I received both of my homestay assignments! The first week I will be staying with Cecilia a mother and Jaqueline, her daughter who is 20.  The last two weeks I will be staying with a young couple Karla and Erick.  :) Lots of last minute things to do!

One more day until Costa Rica

I'm getting so close to the day I leave.. I had to write up my first blog posting for my Costa Rica course, I've added it below.  I'll keep doing that, but I'll be sure to add some regular stuff :) Cuz the other posts aren't all that exciting.  But for tonight, this is all you get- bed time!!

My bags are packed and sitting at my front door, which may cause some difficulties seeing as my last bar of soap is somewhere in my suitcase, and I still have 32 hours before I officially leave for Costa Rica. I guess you could say I'm ready to go. But very nervous at the same time.



Last October I visited UNCW's main campus for the first time, although I'd been a student at the university since that May. My classes were all at the UNCW Extension program in Jacksonville, NC. It was exciting to visit the School of Education and see all they had to offer. I passed that day, while exploring the building, a large display about a Summer Study Abroad to Costa Rica. I remember my friend and I studied it for a long time, both remarking on how amazing the experience could be. I went home and talked with my husband about the opportunity and I believe he was more excited than I was. Through his encouragement, I decided that I would take part in this experience. My husband is a Marine, and his job will be moving us soon to southern California, where the demographics of schools will be tilted toward hispanic children. I hope that this experience will better prepare me for the students I will be teaching in the near future. It is so important that a teacher considers the point of view of his/her students. This program, Walking in the Shoes of Your English Language Learner, will allow me not only to consider an alternate point of view, but to be placed in their position. I believe the next 3 weeks will change my teaching and change how I will be able to assist my future students. I am thankful to have this opportunity to improve myself and, in the process, improve the quality of the education of the students I will one day teach.


This experience brings around many emotions; I am thankful, hopeful, and ready to go. But, as I said before, I am also nervous. I will soon be in a place I've never been, living in a house with people I will barely know, and surrounded by people who speak a language I don't understand. Yes, I am nervous. But also very excited. All those points are frightening, but exciting as well. This trip will be my first out of the country, I will see things with my own two eyes that I've only observed on television or in a book. I will be meeting new people who have had a life different from my own. I will gain so much by becoming part of their household. As for the language difference, it will allow me to become immersed in a language I have wanted to learn for many years. I've taken spanish courses in high school and college but never gained the confidence to use what was presented to me. For the next 3 weeks, I will have no choice! The Language Immersion will all but force me to use what I already know and what I am learning in my classes.


Tonight I am nervous, excited, eager, worried, anxious, thankful, hopeful, and ready to go!

Home

Home is a difficult word. It is a word that creates some confusion. For example, Sunday afternoon I left home to head home.. The two locations are almost a thousand miles apart, but are labeled similarly because, home is many places. My home is the house I am in right now, in North Carolina. It is the place Ben and I share with our pup.. but it is also in Missouri- with our families. Very confusing :) But as I said, Sunday I headed home (from home). I had a short trip, just went to drop off my pup (ok, she's 4 years old might be time to start calling her a dog..I like pup). But I was able to spend some time with my family which was great. And after a crazy busy semester, relaxing. Which may sound unbelievable, in reality I was running around very busy for the 3 1/2 days I was there. But seeing family helped me to de-stress and keeping busy spending time with them was just what I needed. Now here I am back in NC, back to the reality that I'm leaving the country in 3 days. I'll be spending 3 weeks in Costa Rica. It still seems unreal, but the closer Friday comes, the more nervous I get. I think about how often I lose the words I want to use when talking in English, now I'm supposed to find the words in Spanish? Most people know I'm quiet, but in Costa Rica they'll probably assume I'm mute. :) I'm excited for all I will be doing, I'm going to be so busy while I'm there. Every day is planned, we'll be seeing so much while we're there. And learning so much. Each day I will have 4 hours of Spanish classes. So hopefully this will give me the confidence to communicate in Spanish. I will be posting as often as I can on here, hopefully I'll be able to easily upload pictures as well.