Beachy Weekend

This weekend we went back to the beach, but this time in Manuel Antonio. It was a great place however we did not go into the national park where I hear it is even more beautiful. But we have plans to go hopefully go back another weekend. It was a very nice relaxing weekend where we just hung out and played on the beach. We got asked to play soccer or futbol with some people visiting and true Costa Ricans. It ended up being a blast even though we pretty much looked like idiots compared to them. I hate to admit it but I have a lost a little skill since my soccer days in sixth grade. Saturday night I thought we had found a really cool restaurant to eat at but it ended up being a bust where no one ended up liking their food, at least the view was nice overlooking the ocean. Sunday morning we slept in until about 7:30, (yes you read right, slept in, we are use to waking up at 5:30) and hit the beach one last time before going back home. After a few hours we packed our things and were headed back to San Jose. Luckily we made it after some sickness on the bus and babies throwing up. It was probably one of the worst bus trips I have been on. We made it out alive from San Jose and were very happy to come home to our "moms" cooking us homemade meals.

Three weeks have already gone by and I can't believe how fast the time is flying especially on the weekends. Well, I hope everyone has a wonderful week! Miss you!

Field Trip Friday

Today at school we went on a field trip to a place called BioPark. It was actually pretty neat because the park simulated all the different climates of Costa Rica and we got to see some different animals and such. Here are some pictures of the kids that were in my group for the scavenger hunt we went on. It was a nice break from the classroom. I must say that these weeks at school sure are tiring, I find myself exhausted by 9:30 every night. I guess this is what the real world will be like shortly when I graduate. (yikes) It's funny too because lately a lot of people have asked me what I am doing after I graduate and I hope to find a teaching job somewhere in Oklahoma or Texas, (hopefully Texas though) but I also have no clue if that will happen. It's weird having no idea what is in store for the next few months ahead. I can't say that I like not knowing, but I pray something will work out that I will love. However, I am having a lot of fun getting to know the kids and spending time with all the faculty at school. Middle school kids are definitely my favorite because everyday I find myself laughing at their little comments and they impress me everyday with how smart they are.

I have begun the process of fully taking over the class with lesson plans and things of that nature. Since I have seventh through ninth graders it is quite overwhelming preparing 3 lesson plans for different classes. But thankfully, my teacher is very helpful with everything. And yes, we are still matching every Friday. We even matched yesterday without even planning it and got made fun of the whole day. It is finally Friday and I couldn't be happier to be going to the beach tomorrow!

Tica, Tica

Another week has flown by, and here are some pictures from this weekend. Friday night we left for Monteverde and after a long bumpy drive on gravel road and a lot of medicine, we arrived. Saturday morning we ran in a 10K across Monteverde and it was one of the hardest runs I have ever done. I was thinking it was probably harder than any half marathon I have ever run. Not only were we running on hills, but we were also running on mountains. Add that with the altitude, heat and gravel roads. But we all finished and were pretty worn out! Since we were in the rain forest we had to go on a canopy zip line tour. It might have been one of the coolest things I have ever done in my life. There were 15 ziplines, a tarzan swing and a superman zipline. The Tarzan swing is where you are strapped to a rope and you fall about 10 feet and just swing. After I was strapped in, the guys working just pushed me right off without telling me. That was probably the scariest part of the whole tour. The superman zipline was the best part, we were strapped in by our backs and feet and literally flew like Superman. After hiking and running we all woke up on Sunday morning very sore, but it was well worth it. Sunday we rode back to Santa Ana exhausted and not ready for another week at school, but we all made it this morning! It was a great weekend and one that I will never forget! And thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes on Sunday, I really appreciated it because I truly missed celebrating my birthday with all my friends and family.

Just Another Day

This was the first week with kids and I had a blast with them. I have 7th, 8th and 9th graders. For the most part they are all good, but the 9th graders are a little bit of a challenge. The kids make fun of me when I say y'all and that I am from Texas. In the schools the kids just call all the teachers Miss. I think it is really funny and I am glad I can go by Miss or Miss Kristen because I think Miss Richards sounds too old. (sorry mom) The schools here are very different than in the states, for example at lunch none of the kids eat in the cafeteria they are just all over the campus with really no supervision. They are just a lot more laid back, but that is also the culture. Also, all the students in the school are really wealthy and in my classes almost every student has a laptop. In my class the teacher speaks english but when the kids have to do projects they talk in spanish to one another. It really isn't that big of a deal, but today a boy realized that I could not understand them and so he decided to give me lessons. He said "Do you know what hola means?" And I just smiled and said yes. He said "good, that is all you need to know." Luckily, I do know more than that and am slowly learning more. Right now I am observing and helping out Floria for the first 2 weeks then I will take over. Floria and I have a lot of fun together, she cracks me up and every Friday we plan on matching. Tomorrow we are wearing pink for Valentines Day just in case you were wondering. I know it has only been two weeks, but I must say I am in love with Costa Rica. Some days we run after school and as I am running I just look at the beautiful mountains we are surrounded by and I cannot believe I am here. It really seems unreal that I am in a completely different country.

This weekend we are going to Monteverde which is in the middle of the Rainforest and about 3 hours away from our homes. I am really excited and I cannot wait! Hopefully I will take some good pictures and tell y'all all about it. And I have heard and seen all the snow and cold weather that has hit so I thought I would just let you know that it was 80 and sunny today. Another reason why I love Costa Rica. Well that is all for now, enjoy the weekend!

First Weekend

This was our first weekend in Costa Rica and it was amazing after a long orientation weekend at school. Saturday we drove a little over an hour to Playa Hermosa which was by far the best beach I have ever been to in my life. It had black sand and the most amazing views I have ever seen. Since I am not a photographer my pictures do not give this place justice. The beach is on the Pacific Ocean and had some great waves where we spent hours in the water. After the day was over most of us were sunburned and exhausted. I believe I ended up going to bed at 9:45 on a Saturday night. Crazy night, of course.
Sunday we decided to go to San Jose and go to the Mercado Central, but unfortunately we got there and it was closed, so we decided to just walk around. Bad idea, I have never been in a nastier city than San Jose. Luckily, we survived and we have never been happier to get back on the bus to Santa Ana with everyone was exclaiming "get me the heck out of here". Hopefully, we will not have to take many more trips back to San Jose. Today was also election day in Costa Rica and they have been saying that the first woman president could get elected. Santa Ana has been crazy lately with loud cars driving around for their parties with their flags and honking 24/7, so I am pretty ready for the election to be over with. However, it has been interesting to experience because it has been very different than the US.

It was a great weekend, but unfortunately it is over and we have to go back to school tomorrow. Tomorrow is the last day of orientation and then the kids finally come on Tuesday! Our professors left today so now we are all on our own!

Pictures of my Home in Costa Rica

Here are some pictures of my home here in Costa Rica. I don't have much to write today but I will after this weekend is over!

Hump Day

The days just keep getting better and better here in Costa Rica! Today we went to school and had more teacher orientation. I helped my teacher clean and set up her classroom. Thankfully the days are not full of meetings in spanish anymore. Everyone at Pan America is super nice and very helpful to all of us.
This afternoon we were able to meet up with the other girls at Blue Valley, the other school. We met at the mall and saw the movie Up In the Air or Amor Sin Escalas, it was in english with spanish subtitles. It was two for one night so the movie cost about 1500 colones a person or $2.50. Quite the steal compared to home. Also, we ate dinner at the food court and I got Quiznos and got TCBY for dessert, the mall had a lot of American stores. When I ordered my food the guy at Quiznos laughed at me because I speak terrible spanish, but at least I got the right thing! The mall was one of the nicest malls I have ever been in and connected to it was a super market so we stopped and bought peanut butter and jelly for lunches at school. I don't think I can eat the mystery meat anymore at school.
I think we have mastered the bus system here. The drivers in Costa Rica are absolutely crazy and I get nervous every time I have to cross the street. Today on our way home from the mall we got stuck in traffic on the off ramp of the highway so the bus driver literally put the bus in reverse and backed up onto the highway. The bus is always an adventure!

I think that is all for now, tomorrow I will try to remember to take and put up pictures of my house here.

First Full Day in Costa Rica

Today I began my first full day in Costa Rica! I woke up to the roosters crowing at 5:30 and caught the bus at 6:15, it was rough to say the least. I got to meet the teacher that I will be student teaching with and she is awesome. We all had to introduce ourselves in front of the staff and she yelled for me when I stood up. Thank goodness she is really nice because I was really worried about it. I will be teaching World History to 7-9th graders, not what I originally thought but I think I am going to like it. The students have not come yet because they are still on summer break, but this week will be a teacher inservice week. It was filled with meetings all in spanish so needless to say I had no idea what was going on. At lunch there was a large bug in my food so I lost my appetite pretty quickly. The view at lunch was amazing though, I sat outside and in the background were green mountains.

Mi familia is super nice at my home stay. It is a lady, Maricruz her mother and her teenage daughter. Today I came home from school with the clothes I wore yesterday neatly folded and clean on my bed, I could definitely get use to that! I have my own room which is nice, it is just really hot with no air conditioning. Colby and I are roomates which I am so thankful for because I have someone to talk to in english.

It was a great day today, and I am exhausted I guess I will just have to get use to waking up at 5:30!