Rice and beans. Beans and rice. Rice and beans. Beans and rice...

contrary to what my dad says, my last post was not a hacker. claudia, one of my canadians, helped me write a post to allison and marie-pier, my other canadians. a small joke, nothing more. moving on...

we just spent a lovely weekend in manuel antonio on the central pacific coast of costa rica. we went horseback riding, to the national park, and to some beaches. we saw some monkeys, and some sloths, and some hippies. there are some beaches that are a part of the national park, so we hiked around spotting all sorts of creatures, then hit up the beach. then high tide came, so we left the beach. shout out to allison's first time going to the beach!! we stayed at a really legit hostel, the wide mouthed frog. our room was all of 10 square feet, but we made it our own. swimming in the pouring rain and playing with the many puppies were also highlights.

some of us went horseback riding while the others went zip lining. i rode manchito for a beautiful 2 hour ride into the rain forest to a couple waterfalls where we plummeted 12 feet into the swimming hole. the other waterfall was 350 feet. that one hurt more than the 12 footer. not. we even saw a toucan during the ride! technically, we had a tour guide, but we kind of just did our own thing, which was really fun. most of us galloped on the way back. i don't recommend it if you plan on walking normally the following day.

my first week at school went very well. each day goes smoother and smoother. it took me the entire week to figure out the not-so-scheduled schedule. i am teaching 1st-5th grade and each grade is soooo different! not to be biased, but the girls behave much better than the boys. the younger kids are learning basic things like animals and colors and the older kids are learning simple phrases. it's fun teaching them because they understand the importance of learning english and they love to learn! i'm improving my soccer skills from zero to ok during recess and it's so fun to see all the different grades play together. there are only 55 students in the entire school (1st-6th grade) and the principal is also the 6th grade teacher.

well, i'm about to go eat beans and rice for dinner. hope you are enjoying the pictures! pura vida.

Saperlipopette

Hé les perdants, vous croyiez que je ne pouvais pas parler français mais vous aviez tort. Je savais secrètement tout ce que vous avez dit du début à la fin, et je ne suis pas vraiment heureuse. Par conséquent, je jaillirai du dentifrice partout dans votre lit une nuit quelconque la semaine prochaine. Après le dentifrice, j'aspergerai du riz et des haricots partout dans vos vêtements propre afin que vous ne puissiez porter que vos bracelets. Tout les "ticos" tomberont amoureux avec vous. Donc la prochaine fois que vous parlez français, je suggère que vous y pensez deux fois.

Oui oui, rhan rhan.

"How did you get here?"

i survived my first day at escuela san francisco! its one of the poorest schools in the area of puriscal, but the kids are so excited to learn, are very curious, and behave much better than i expected. i meet with 4 classes, 3rd-6th grade, for about an hour monday-friday. the students are very chatty and have a million questions for me! for example, how did i get to costa rica? no one at the school speaks any english; the teachers even ask me some questions like they're trying to learn, too. they told their students i am there to teach them a very important language- english- and they all screamed with excitement! 

after class was over, kids were coming up to me and hugging me, then they went up to their principal, shook his hand, and said, "goodbye! nice to meet you!" it was soooo adorable. i played soccer with a few of them during recess. the 9-year-olds especially whooped up on me. i was sitting on a bench for a little while and they all crowded around me with questions about anything you can think of. the school is up on a hill and has a gorgeous view of the mountains. my program director said "the kids might not have much, but they're always happy with a smile on their face." i have to speak 99% spanish during the day; the only english i really speak is the word or phrase i'm trying to teach them.

so far in puriscal it dumps rain around 3 or 3:30 for a few hours, but its beautiful the rest of the day and the rain cools down the hottest part of the day. it's funny being in a small town because sometimes the water just shuts off for a few hours without warning. we have a reserve tank at our home, so it's usually not a big deal. but we definately notice it cause there's no water upstairs and the water pressure downstairs goes low. we say we should just go outside and shower in the rain. the power also randomly goes out sometimes. its just not as reliable as in the u.s. but no one cares. pura vida. 

Goodbye. Hello.

well, laura is leaving in the morning and i will have orientation for my program tomorrow. i'm sad she's leaving, but we have had the best time! i got my work placement the other day and i will be helping a new school develop an english as a second language program for their students and teaching. it's a perfect fit for me and i am so excited to get started on monday!

we got to san jose today after about 3 or so days in playa jaco. oh, playa jaco. you were so much fun that i will forgive you for all your prositutes and humidity. it was a great way to end such an adventurous week. lots of pool and beach time. lots of fun bars and restaurants. jaco is known for surfing, so every other store was a surf shop with lots of "dudes" with damaged hair and freckle-y shoulders.

san jose has left us stranded in our hotel. let's just say being a young american girl in the center of downtown san jose does NOT go unnoticed... glad we are only here one night. just your typical (or should i say tipycal?) big city capital. but it is neat to have a different change of pace. mom and i are going to go to some museums before our flight out, so i'm sure i will get a different feel for san jose.

i hope you all are doing well! i miss everyone.

rhett: thanks for getting on gchat for me. i love you.
jackson and murphy: try not to take up too much of the bed and be good. i miss you. you would have lots of fun with all the doggies down here.
jessica: it's not as easy to fall asleep at night without some winnelberry. i've still got my bracelet on.
lebar: don't let bentley grow up too fast. the four of us will go to the park as soon as i get back!
harris: hey bud. i miss you lots and lots.
jefferson: i'm getting some great new ideas for recipies and i'm going to bring us home some awesome salsas.
b: happy graduation! enjoy that you have school in the fall! seriously.
jo ho: live the dream, girlfriend. i love yo ass.
jules: the news anchors down here wear formal gowns. stick to the local stations. :)
whit: stay out of trouble, but have some good stories for me when i get back!
family: i love you and i can't wait for todd's graduation weekend with everyone!
todd: so proud of ya! we're going to have so much fun celebrating!
my WH listserv girls: you y'all light up my life and my inbox. i love hearing from y'all and miss everyone being together!
jama: am i still going to be your little one come october? you can say no. i still love you :)
lawrence: playa jaco = playa del carmen. you know what i mean.
alliman: oh the places we'll go...

will someone please have an STP for me? thanks a bunch.

take care, everyone! talk to you soon.

Gone to Montezuma... yeah, yeah, yeah

hello again! greetings from montezuma, costa rica. laura and i have been here for about 3 days and are heading to jaco beach soon. since i last blogged, we have gone zip lining, hiking, swimming in the waterfalls and cliff jumping. that's just what you do when you're in costa rica. at night we grab a table on the beach and eat shrimp and drink mojitos. 

we finally saw monkeys! we've heard them all night, every night, but they are as adorable as they sound. especially the little guys, except when they don't quite clear the jump and fall down a few branches. but they're troopers. we saw lots of them when we went zip lining. we strapped on to a cable in the rain forest and zipped from one platform to the next (about 9 times or so). some short, some you can't see where you're going to end, but you know the end of the cable is attached to something. 

we ignored advice and hiked to the waterfalls in rainbows. no real damage, but i did manage to get a minor twisted ankle the next day wearing new balances. such is my luck. we made our way through the howling monkeys and rivers to the falls and did a little swimming and a little jumping and a little swinging from the rope swing.

our next stop is jaco beach- costa rica's rendition of spring break. we're pretty excited to have some beach time and wander around some more. we've been very active, something our muscles are making clear now. we can't lift our bags very high before the excruciating soreness kicks in, but it's been worth it. plus it gives us an excuse to eat whatever we want and i've got a sweet bruise the size of a banana. well, i'd love to spend some more time on the computer, but not really. 

hasta pronto!

¡Pura Vida!

hello friends. look at me blog! i figured if you care enough to check this out, you might care what i´m up to in costa rica. let me start out by saying this: you need to come to costa rica. it is one of those places you can´t die without seeing or you´re missing out. it is absolutely incredible. for those of you that don´t know, here is my story:

laura and i are traveling about costa rica may 7-may 17. then she is leaving and i am going to be working at a school (escula san francisco) teaching english to 4th graders in santiago de puriscal for a month. my mom is coming down june 13 and we will be traveling until june 22. the end.

i have been here for almost three days now and i am so in love with this country. and people. and food. and prices. yesterday we went to the tabacon hot springs... heaven on earth. the springs are made up of waterfalls, rivers, and lagoons that are heated by the lava from the arenal volcano. the most picture perfect place i have ever seen. we stayed most of the day and ended with a good amount of tequila at the swim up bar, but that is a different story.

today we went canyoning: hiking through the rainforest and rappelling down waterfalls. awesome. just the epitome of tropical beauty. not scary at all either, although i should´ve been. we rappelled down four waterfalls, two smaller rocky ones and two bigger ones: 150 feet and 200 feet. the rainforest was at the base of the volcano. by the way, no major erruptions (although there is a hotel here called ¨hotel erruptions¨).

obviously i will post pictures on facebook (i´ll try to email you, mom and dad) when i bring the necessary equipment to the internet cafe. until then, my friends and family, i am going to go enjoy myself with one of my best friends in one of the best countries in the world.

¡Pura Vida!