Hola!
I am on the Caribbean coast and its fabulous! My friend Dominik and I picked up his brother, who has been traveling the US, Canada, Mexico and Guatemala for the past 6 months, at the airport and we rented a car and hit the road.
Last nite we stayed in a small mountain town and woke up and went to some 2000 year old ruins. They were pretty small compared to the pictures of the ones in Mexico, but they were still pretty crazy.
We hit the road again after the ruins (I drove!) and passed through a town that was having a huge parade with bands from the local schools and it was so great to see!
Now we are in Puerto Viejo, a small town right on the Caribbean sea. We are staying in the cutest hotel with bright turqouise painted walls and are about to go get some tasty Caribbean cuisine. So fun.
Tomorrow we take a bus and a ferry to Bocas Del Toro, Panama! SO excited!! Its supposed to be an amazing island and I have heard such great things about it so hopefully it lives up to its reputation. Its going to be weird though because the currency is US dollars. wtf? weird.
I will try to post pics soon --i have a TON to put up!
As always, I hope everyone is doing well back home. Miss you, love you!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
hasta luego Matapalo
Today a group of us left the lovely town of Matapalo. We are now in Quepos and will be catching a bus to San Jose this afternoon. 2 people are returning to Germany, 1 person is going to Ecuador and 3 of us are gonna road trip to the Caribbean coast. Cant wait!
It was pretty sad saying goodbye to los niños. We played some games,took class photos (they love taking photos!) and said goodbye. It was so cute because my favorite little 1st grader, Johan, ran up to us as we were leaving and gave us treats he had bought at the store and gave me a hug. I just wanted to put him in my pocket and take him home! That would probably not be allowed though.
I am so happy that I chose Matapalo to do my volunteer work. I learned so much and got so much perspective on the Costa Rican culture and how different peoples lives can be. The people there live in ways that we would think were shocking and unbearable, but they seem completely content with what they have and are truly happy.
I am going to miss the dirt road I walked to school everyday and saying hola to everyone that passed. I am for sure going to miss the gorgeous beach that was relatively empty except for a couple local surfers and the volunteers. I might even miss the beans and rice served at every single meal. ha. I met some fabulous people there and will absolutely miss them, and luckily I get to travel with a couple of them this week.
I will most definitley NOT miss the musty building we slept in, the uncomfortable bunk bed or the cold, dirty shower, but that was just another part of the adventure :)
I hope that whenever I am able to come back to Matapalo it will be the same untouristy, simple town that it was, although that is highly doubtful. There are already a couple signs for "luxury ultra-private secure cabanas starting in the low 400s" ....ugh.
Hasta luego Matapalo, I will miss you so much--- except for all of your mosquitos. I hate those effin things.
ps--Ive just been told that the blog name should be "su madre" so that it translates to "your mom". oh well....
It was pretty sad saying goodbye to los niños. We played some games,took class photos (they love taking photos!) and said goodbye. It was so cute because my favorite little 1st grader, Johan, ran up to us as we were leaving and gave us treats he had bought at the store and gave me a hug. I just wanted to put him in my pocket and take him home! That would probably not be allowed though.
I am so happy that I chose Matapalo to do my volunteer work. I learned so much and got so much perspective on the Costa Rican culture and how different peoples lives can be. The people there live in ways that we would think were shocking and unbearable, but they seem completely content with what they have and are truly happy.
I am going to miss the dirt road I walked to school everyday and saying hola to everyone that passed. I am for sure going to miss the gorgeous beach that was relatively empty except for a couple local surfers and the volunteers. I might even miss the beans and rice served at every single meal. ha. I met some fabulous people there and will absolutely miss them, and luckily I get to travel with a couple of them this week.
I will most definitley NOT miss the musty building we slept in, the uncomfortable bunk bed or the cold, dirty shower, but that was just another part of the adventure :)
I hope that whenever I am able to come back to Matapalo it will be the same untouristy, simple town that it was, although that is highly doubtful. There are already a couple signs for "luxury ultra-private secure cabanas starting in the low 400s" ....ugh.
Hasta luego Matapalo, I will miss you so much--- except for all of your mosquitos. I hate those effin things.
ps--Ive just been told that the blog name should be "su madre" so that it translates to "your mom". oh well....
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
mucho monos!
Hola again!
Today we went to Manuel Antonio again and did a great hike to a waterfall and all around the park. It was fabulous. Kind of hard, and we had to cross a river and I was afraid of caymans or snakes, but there were no crazy animals in the water (that I could see) and we hiked up the waterfall and had to use vines to get down. The best part is that I did the hike in a cotton dress and flip flops. I dont need fancy gear. I am Janna of the jungle!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdYKYF2RG0Q
ha! :)
We went to the fabulous beach again and were searching for monkeys but didnt see any. We did see a sloth close up moving sooo slow to switch trees (crazy!), a deer that let me pet it and the crazy rat type things with no tails.
Then it happened....as we were leaving the park we saw a ton of monkeys playing in the trees and they came so close to us!! I was so excited, I totally geeked out. I feel like my whole trip is now complete. They are SO cute and so crazy looking with human-like faces and expressions. I took a million pics and will post them soon!!
Tonite we got back to Matapalo and had dinner and now everyone is at the bar next door and we are planning our lesson for tomorrow: Question words, itsy bitsy spider, thumpkin and some number songs. So fun!! Its going to be sad to leave the kidlets on Friday... but I am SO excited to rent a car with a great group and see more of the country!!!
Pura vida, bitches :)
Today we went to Manuel Antonio again and did a great hike to a waterfall and all around the park. It was fabulous. Kind of hard, and we had to cross a river and I was afraid of caymans or snakes, but there were no crazy animals in the water (that I could see) and we hiked up the waterfall and had to use vines to get down. The best part is that I did the hike in a cotton dress and flip flops. I dont need fancy gear. I am Janna of the jungle!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdYKYF2RG0Q
ha! :)
We went to the fabulous beach again and were searching for monkeys but didnt see any. We did see a sloth close up moving sooo slow to switch trees (crazy!), a deer that let me pet it and the crazy rat type things with no tails.
Then it happened....as we were leaving the park we saw a ton of monkeys playing in the trees and they came so close to us!! I was so excited, I totally geeked out. I feel like my whole trip is now complete. They are SO cute and so crazy looking with human-like faces and expressions. I took a million pics and will post them soon!!
Tonite we got back to Matapalo and had dinner and now everyone is at the bar next door and we are planning our lesson for tomorrow: Question words, itsy bitsy spider, thumpkin and some number songs. So fun!! Its going to be sad to leave the kidlets on Friday... but I am SO excited to rent a car with a great group and see more of the country!!!
Pura vida, bitches :)
Sunday, September 21, 2008
fotografia dos
Hola,
Here are more pics of Manuel Antonio, Puntarenas, and Monteverde. I had the best time. Miss you Rebecca!!!
Here are more pics of Manuel Antonio, Puntarenas, and Monteverde. I had the best time. Miss you Rebecca!!!
Im back in Matapalo and school is great! We actually have materials now and I am with 2 other teachers with just the 1st -3rd graders and they are SO fun. I absolutely love working with the kids! They are so sweet and when I see them in town they yell ¨hi teacher!¨ So damn cute.
This weekend my friend Jodi came from Heredia to visit. It was SO fun. We stayed at a hotel in Matapalo on the beach (hot shower+ big bed= muy happy janna) We laid by the pool and went to the beach and Saturday we went to Dominical and stayed in a great hostel with the funniest American woman who owned it and worked at the bar. We went to the ¨discoteque¨ and it was so fun! It was so interesting just watching people dance. They switch from Spanish hip hop type music to traditional salsa type music and everyone went out and danced salsa. I got to practice again and I think I am getting better! ha. Hope you got back to Heredia safely, Jodi!
Tomorrow is a day off so a friend and I are heading back to Manuel Antonio to see parts of the park we didnt see. Waterfalls and some more time on the beautiful beach. Hopefully the monkeys will be around. I need to see some monkeys!
Next week the plan is to leave Matapalo and travel to the Carribean Coast and hopefully get to Panama if there´s time. Then I meet Nate in Belize for 10 days! Woo hoo!!
I hope everyone is great at home! Miss you, love you!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
mas mas mas
Hola!
After another very eventful couple of days, Rebecca and I are in Monteverde, a GORGEOUS town in the middle of the cloud forest.
A group of 6 of us left Matapalo Friday afternoon and went to Quepos and stayed in a great hostel. The girls got a private room with a hot shower. fabulous.
We went out and had a wild time in the bars there (I practiced my salsa dancing with a short, sweaty Costa Rican salsa teacher--Nate you have nothing to worry about! ha.) and needless to say, we felt pretty rough when we woke up early in the morning to go to Manuel Antonio. Only 3 of us were able to power through the walk through the park and to the beach but it was SO worth it.
We saw sloths close up in the guide´s telescope and they are SO crazy looking. Like little smiling Chewbaccas. (I will upload pics soon) We also saw ¨Jesus Christ Lizards¨ (the name alone is great) and a crocodile type thing and some giant rat type animal. BUT...no GD monkeys!! There were even signs on the beach saying ¨dont feed the monkeys¨because they creep up and steal bags of food while people are in the water. All we saw were raccoons doing that. One got away with a giant bag of chips. Ha.
The beach was so amazing--one of the prettiest I think I have been to--and we swam and slept for a bit and then headed back to meet up with the rest of the group. Some people had to head back to Matapalo and Allie had to head back to San Jose to catch her flight back home. Unfortunately she missed the bus, but after some emotional planning, she got a flight the next morning to San Jose. (We hope the plane ride was fun and you made it home okay Allie!!)
The 3 of us had a wonderful dinner and a fun, laid back night and then Allie left in the morning.
And then there were two....
I dont have to be back to Matapalo for school until Thursday evening and Rebecca is done with the project now so we spontaneously decided to head to Monteverde. Let the adventure continue!
We got a bus to Puntarenas (a non-touristy transportation hub thats a little dodgy) and since we were so spontaneous, we found out no more buses were running that day. So we set out to find the hotel in my book and when we asked a nice old man to help us, he offered to drive us there. so nice.
We got to the hotel, got a double room for 14 bucks each and to our delight---it had a TV! Yay. So we sat in the room and watched movies. It was so nice!
The next day we woke up to catch the 7am bus to Monteverde. But.. it was September 15th--Costa Rican indepence day. Which means no morning bus. So.....we had 6 hours to wait till the afternoon bus. Awesome. It ended up being great though because we got to see the independence day parade and watch tons of people. Finally we got on the bus and were all settled and a man walked by us and dropped a bunch of money and made a big commotion about us helping to pick it up. He was hitting my leg to make me move and I didnt realize until after he had gotten off the bus that he was trying to distract us to steal our things. Luckily we had our bags in our hands. I was so pissed and shocked and then we realized that they had taken Rebecca´s bag that was in the overhead thing. Luckily that f&%$er only got her toiletry bag, but still---we were so pissed. But we were thankful they didnt get our money or anything important and tried to take it as a lesson. All part of the adventure?? Ugh.
The bus ride to Monteverde was INSANE. Up a mountain on an unpaved road surrounded by steep, beautiful green hills. We couldnt imagine that there would be a town up there. We finally got here, found a room, had a great dinner and today we are going on a coffee plantation tour and tomorrow we might hit up a canopy-zip line tour. Good times. Hopefully I will see some monkeys!
Okay, this was officially the longest post ever and next time I wont bore anyone details and just upload the pics!
I hope everyone is doing great.
hug´s and k´s!
After another very eventful couple of days, Rebecca and I are in Monteverde, a GORGEOUS town in the middle of the cloud forest.
A group of 6 of us left Matapalo Friday afternoon and went to Quepos and stayed in a great hostel. The girls got a private room with a hot shower. fabulous.
We went out and had a wild time in the bars there (I practiced my salsa dancing with a short, sweaty Costa Rican salsa teacher--Nate you have nothing to worry about! ha.) and needless to say, we felt pretty rough when we woke up early in the morning to go to Manuel Antonio. Only 3 of us were able to power through the walk through the park and to the beach but it was SO worth it.
We saw sloths close up in the guide´s telescope and they are SO crazy looking. Like little smiling Chewbaccas. (I will upload pics soon) We also saw ¨Jesus Christ Lizards¨ (the name alone is great) and a crocodile type thing and some giant rat type animal. BUT...no GD monkeys!! There were even signs on the beach saying ¨dont feed the monkeys¨because they creep up and steal bags of food while people are in the water. All we saw were raccoons doing that. One got away with a giant bag of chips. Ha.
The beach was so amazing--one of the prettiest I think I have been to--and we swam and slept for a bit and then headed back to meet up with the rest of the group. Some people had to head back to Matapalo and Allie had to head back to San Jose to catch her flight back home. Unfortunately she missed the bus, but after some emotional planning, she got a flight the next morning to San Jose. (We hope the plane ride was fun and you made it home okay Allie!!)
The 3 of us had a wonderful dinner and a fun, laid back night and then Allie left in the morning.
And then there were two....
I dont have to be back to Matapalo for school until Thursday evening and Rebecca is done with the project now so we spontaneously decided to head to Monteverde. Let the adventure continue!
We got a bus to Puntarenas (a non-touristy transportation hub thats a little dodgy) and since we were so spontaneous, we found out no more buses were running that day. So we set out to find the hotel in my book and when we asked a nice old man to help us, he offered to drive us there. so nice.
We got to the hotel, got a double room for 14 bucks each and to our delight---it had a TV! Yay. So we sat in the room and watched movies. It was so nice!
The next day we woke up to catch the 7am bus to Monteverde. But.. it was September 15th--Costa Rican indepence day. Which means no morning bus. So.....we had 6 hours to wait till the afternoon bus. Awesome. It ended up being great though because we got to see the independence day parade and watch tons of people. Finally we got on the bus and were all settled and a man walked by us and dropped a bunch of money and made a big commotion about us helping to pick it up. He was hitting my leg to make me move and I didnt realize until after he had gotten off the bus that he was trying to distract us to steal our things. Luckily we had our bags in our hands. I was so pissed and shocked and then we realized that they had taken Rebecca´s bag that was in the overhead thing. Luckily that f&%$er only got her toiletry bag, but still---we were so pissed. But we were thankful they didnt get our money or anything important and tried to take it as a lesson. All part of the adventure?? Ugh.
The bus ride to Monteverde was INSANE. Up a mountain on an unpaved road surrounded by steep, beautiful green hills. We couldnt imagine that there would be a town up there. We finally got here, found a room, had a great dinner and today we are going on a coffee plantation tour and tomorrow we might hit up a canopy-zip line tour. Good times. Hopefully I will see some monkeys!
Okay, this was officially the longest post ever and next time I wont bore anyone details and just upload the pics!
I hope everyone is doing great.
hug´s and k´s!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
more pics
Hola!
Things are going great here still. Just trying to come up with fun lesson plans for los niños and going to the beach ;)
This weekend Allie, Rebecca and I are going to go to Manuel Antonio, a town with a national park and spend a couple nights in Quepos which is a ´hopping city´. woo hoo.
lots more to tell but I am out of time on the internets so have to run!
Adios!
Here are more pics!
Things are going great here still. Just trying to come up with fun lesson plans for los niños and going to the beach ;)
This weekend Allie, Rebecca and I are going to go to Manuel Antonio, a town with a national park and spend a couple nights in Quepos which is a ´hopping city´. woo hoo.
lots more to tell but I am out of time on the internets so have to run!
Adios!
Here are more pics!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
mucho mas
The past few days have been very eventful.
On Sunday I went with my two new great friends, Allie, from Toronto, and Rebecca, from London, to take the bus to Dominical which is a little popular surf town. It was so fun! Only about an hour away and it has a bunch of cute restaraunts and surf shops and a great beach. We went to a bar and the end of the day and ended up meeting with another group of volunteers, missed the bus and all 7 of us had to cram into a crazy taxi on the long and bumpy dirt road home. It was a great night! hehe.
Monday was the first day of class...quite the experience:
The other girl who teaches English and I walked for about 20 minutes to get to the school and when we got there, the director guy just said hello and showed us to the class. No direction, no materials, no idea what to teach or HOW to teach! We both kind of freaked out and just ended up basically having the kids tell us their names and how old they are and went through animal names. It was so stressful. But the kids were super cute and after a couple classes we felt a little more comfortable..now we know we have to do lesson plans! I thought I would be a "teachers assistant" for the first couple days, apparently I was totally wrong. oh well. Its all part of the experience!
Today we had the day off so we went to the beach and swam and then rode horses on the beach and through the forest. I hadnt ridden a horse since horse camp in 4th grade when I had to ride the pony because I was so short, but I got a regular size horse named Cyman who liked to trot, and we had a great time together. We saw a sloth and some crazy birds. No monkeys though. I need to see some damn monkeys. Apparently there are a ton around here so I am just waiting to see them swinging through the trees.
We went to the beach tonight in thunder and lighting and a torrential downpour and I got to help release about 50 sea turtles into the ocean! It was so amazing. They are so tiny and take forever to get to the ocean but finally they all made it.
The turtle volunteers have to go on patrols at night looking for mama turtles laying their eggs and after they do, they take the eggs and dig a new nest for them in the hatchery where they are safe from poachers, poor people in this town who sell the eggs for good money because they are considered a delicacy. When the eggs hatch, they release them into the wild. Fabulous.
I am having a great time here! Attached are some pics of my adventures.
I am missing everyone at home and hope all is well. Please email me and keep me updated on your lives!
Playa Matapalo
On Sunday I went with my two new great friends, Allie, from Toronto, and Rebecca, from London, to take the bus to Dominical which is a little popular surf town. It was so fun! Only about an hour away and it has a bunch of cute restaraunts and surf shops and a great beach. We went to a bar and the end of the day and ended up meeting with another group of volunteers, missed the bus and all 7 of us had to cram into a crazy taxi on the long and bumpy dirt road home. It was a great night! hehe.
Monday was the first day of class...quite the experience:
The other girl who teaches English and I walked for about 20 minutes to get to the school and when we got there, the director guy just said hello and showed us to the class. No direction, no materials, no idea what to teach or HOW to teach! We both kind of freaked out and just ended up basically having the kids tell us their names and how old they are and went through animal names. It was so stressful. But the kids were super cute and after a couple classes we felt a little more comfortable..now we know we have to do lesson plans! I thought I would be a "teachers assistant" for the first couple days, apparently I was totally wrong. oh well. Its all part of the experience!
Today we had the day off so we went to the beach and swam and then rode horses on the beach and through the forest. I hadnt ridden a horse since horse camp in 4th grade when I had to ride the pony because I was so short, but I got a regular size horse named Cyman who liked to trot, and we had a great time together. We saw a sloth and some crazy birds. No monkeys though. I need to see some damn monkeys. Apparently there are a ton around here so I am just waiting to see them swinging through the trees.
We went to the beach tonight in thunder and lighting and a torrential downpour and I got to help release about 50 sea turtles into the ocean! It was so amazing. They are so tiny and take forever to get to the ocean but finally they all made it.
The turtle volunteers have to go on patrols at night looking for mama turtles laying their eggs and after they do, they take the eggs and dig a new nest for them in the hatchery where they are safe from poachers, poor people in this town who sell the eggs for good money because they are considered a delicacy. When the eggs hatch, they release them into the wild. Fabulous.
I am having a great time here! Attached are some pics of my adventures.
I am missing everyone at home and hope all is well. Please email me and keep me updated on your lives!
Playa Matapalo
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Matapalo!
After a really long and interesting bus ride (scary bridges and dirt roads) I made it!
Its beau-ti-ful! The beach is so amazing. The town is really tiny and off the beaten path.
I am not staying with a host family like I thought, I am actually staying with all the volunteers who are here to do sea turtle conservation. The location of the project site and living area is right across a dirt road from the beach. I am happy to be staying here with about 25 other volunteers who are all very interesting and fun, but the idea of living in a dorm-style hostel room for 4 weeks is a little scary...
Oh well. I am living at the beach for 4 weeks!
I start working at the school on Monday at 7:30am (eek) and I am really excited!
It is really hot here and today was really sunny so I jumped in the ocean and had a swim. fabulous.
My only complaint is that because its tropical and rains at least once a day, its very damp. I hate damp. Like hate hate. Damp means clothes dont dry and they smell musty. I hate musty. Like hate hate. Okay--thats my only complaint. I think I can get over it. After all, I am living at the beach for 4 weeks!
I will post pics soon.
Ciao!
Its beau-ti-ful! The beach is so amazing. The town is really tiny and off the beaten path.
I am not staying with a host family like I thought, I am actually staying with all the volunteers who are here to do sea turtle conservation. The location of the project site and living area is right across a dirt road from the beach. I am happy to be staying here with about 25 other volunteers who are all very interesting and fun, but the idea of living in a dorm-style hostel room for 4 weeks is a little scary...
Oh well. I am living at the beach for 4 weeks!
I start working at the school on Monday at 7:30am (eek) and I am really excited!
It is really hot here and today was really sunny so I jumped in the ocean and had a swim. fabulous.
My only complaint is that because its tropical and rains at least once a day, its very damp. I hate damp. Like hate hate. Damp means clothes dont dry and they smell musty. I hate musty. Like hate hate. Okay--thats my only complaint. I think I can get over it. After all, I am living at the beach for 4 weeks!
I will post pics soon.
Ciao!
Friday, September 5, 2008
San Jose
Nevermind. Going to Matapalo tomorrow.
A uvolunteer person came and picked me up at the house and took me to a hostel in San Jose to stay so I can take a 6am bus to Matapalo tomorrow morning.
Its kind of exciting to take the bus, especially since I have a piece of paper outlining exactly what I need to do:
¨once you get off the first bus, there will be another bus right next to the bus that you just got off. This bus will take you to Matapalo.¨
ha.
So tomorrow I will leave the hostel at 5 am to get to the ¨Mercado la Coca-Cola¨to get on a 6am bus to Quepos, get off at Quepos and get on the bus thats right next to the bus, and go to Matapalo where someone will be waiting for me. So fun.
This hostel is really nice and Im happy to be here. I went and had pesto penne in the restaurant (picture attached, Adina. ha!) and read more about the central pacific coast (where Matapalo is) and listened to some music.
Its pretty crazy actually being alone but kind of liberating too...as many people know, I rarely do things alone so it feels good to break the mold. I also feel very safe and well taken care of by uvolunteer so that helps too.
Here are more pics of me and German Jana (who is hilarious), Margerita, my fabulous host mom, and some pics from the hostel.
A uvolunteer person came and picked me up at the house and took me to a hostel in San Jose to stay so I can take a 6am bus to Matapalo tomorrow morning.
Its kind of exciting to take the bus, especially since I have a piece of paper outlining exactly what I need to do:
¨once you get off the first bus, there will be another bus right next to the bus that you just got off. This bus will take you to Matapalo.¨
ha.
So tomorrow I will leave the hostel at 5 am to get to the ¨Mercado la Coca-Cola¨to get on a 6am bus to Quepos, get off at Quepos and get on the bus thats right next to the bus, and go to Matapalo where someone will be waiting for me. So fun.
This hostel is really nice and Im happy to be here. I went and had pesto penne in the restaurant (picture attached, Adina. ha!) and read more about the central pacific coast (where Matapalo is) and listened to some music.
Its pretty crazy actually being alone but kind of liberating too...as many people know, I rarely do things alone so it feels good to break the mold. I also feel very safe and well taken care of by uvolunteer so that helps too.
Here are more pics of me and German Jana (who is hilarious), Margerita, my fabulous host mom, and some pics from the hostel.
graduacion
I just graduated. I passed level one Spanish. Now I can go out onto the street and speak broken Spanish to whoever I see.
Today we took a test, had graduacion (i got a ¨diploma¨and everything) and now Jana and I are going to get food and then I am leaving for Matapalo!
I thought I was leaving on Saturday but uvolunteer called Margerita and told her they were picking me up today. I am so excited! Cant wait to be by the ocean and play with los niños!
I am hoping I will have access to the internets while I´m in Matapalo but not sure how much...
I will post pics of la playa as soon as I can!
Pura Vida.
Here are some pics of me being a great student en la escuela (i am the palest girl in Costa Rica) and my new friend from Texas, Jody.
Today we took a test, had graduacion (i got a ¨diploma¨and everything) and now Jana and I are going to get food and then I am leaving for Matapalo!
I thought I was leaving on Saturday but uvolunteer called Margerita and told her they were picking me up today. I am so excited! Cant wait to be by the ocean and play with los niños!
I am hoping I will have access to the internets while I´m in Matapalo but not sure how much...
I will post pics of la playa as soon as I can!
Pura Vida.
Here are some pics of me being a great student en la escuela (i am the palest girl in Costa Rica) and my new friend from Texas, Jody.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
bailamos
I just got back from clase de baile and I danced my heart out. Enrique the instructor taught me how to salsa and merengue. Enrique is really nice but he wears waaaay too much cologne and after dancing with him for an hour, I think I will be smelling like him for the rest of the day.
It was really fun and he said that I was good and was surprised I had never danced before. I think he tells that to all the gringas...
I have class this afternoon and then I am going out tonite with a bunch of the english teachers and some english students so that should be fun.
Tomorrow is my last day of class and then I leave Saturday morning for Matapalo. woo hoo. La playa is calling my name! I have heard it will be a lot warmer and not as rainy there so that will be muy bueno. No me gusta rain en costa rica. Me gusta mas sol.
Here are some pics of la escuela, me and the German Jana, and mi maestra, Erica, who is very patient and super cute.
Ciao Ciao
It was really fun and he said that I was good and was surprised I had never danced before. I think he tells that to all the gringas...
I have class this afternoon and then I am going out tonite with a bunch of the english teachers and some english students so that should be fun.
Tomorrow is my last day of class and then I leave Saturday morning for Matapalo. woo hoo. La playa is calling my name! I have heard it will be a lot warmer and not as rainy there so that will be muy bueno. No me gusta rain en costa rica. Me gusta mas sol.
Here are some pics of la escuela, me and the German Jana, and mi maestra, Erica, who is very patient and super cute.
Ciao Ciao
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
tu eres pantalones
I just finished my second day of language class and mi cabeza esta cansada.
We only speak Spanish in the class so it´s funny to think about how stupid the other Jana and I must sound. ha. BUT we can get sentences out--just really bad sentences......
I went to the mercado with Jody today and tried my best to communicate with the vendors. I realized you just have to swallow your pride and look like an idiot. I especially have to embrace looking stupid at the homestay. Margerita and her friends speak very little English and it´s best to be fully immersed so I do the best I can.
My dinner last night reminded me of this----
Except no one teases me. They are all SO nice!
After my first class yesterday, I sat in on Jody´s intro English class to see how she teaches and to get some ideas for when I am teaching los niños in Matapalo. It was fun to see how she engaged the class and so interesting to think that her students are going through the same thing as me. But English seems way harder----20 vowel sounds. wtf?
I am having so much fun here and so glad I am taking these classes. I think I might even come back and take another week of Spanish class after my volunteer program is over. We´ll see....
Pura Vida.
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