San Jose....

Yesterday I went and visited the school where I will be teaching.  It is called La Cima. The directora is very kinda and open to helping everyone learn she really cares about what she does and the children. The kids were very enamorated with me and ran up to me to talk to me when I went into their classroom. I will be teaching in First grade.  The co-operating teacher has worked with other students in the past and is happy to have me working with her.  The school is about a 10 mile bus ride up the mountain. Then a small hike up a very steep hill. The school is small with probably around 10 classrooms or so. Even though it's small all the kids have a very big heart it seems.  I will be teaching mon, wed, fri in the mornings from 7-12 and tues, thurs from 12-5. I am definitely a fan of this schedule as it still gives me free time as well as days to sleep in.  Tomorrow is my first real day there observing and being there the full time. 



Today there was no school, so Maggie (another student who is here) and I went into San Jose. I really enjoyed getting to know how to get to San Jose and really thought the city was quite nice.  It was nice because Maggie is also very intent on speaking spanish so even though we are both native English speakers we were able to speak Spanish all day.  

This weekend I am heading to Punta Leona with Flora and her family. Then next week the census is happening her so there is no school.  When the census happens here the teachers from the public schools need to go door to door to get the census information, so the schools are closed.  I think i will be in a public school for one or two days and than will be traveling to another beach, hoping to try surfing and other various adventures.
Enjoy the photos!

                       Parque Central

                                                             San Jose

                             View from the school

                      La Cima (the school)

¡Pura Vida!

Ahhh.. I made it.  After 3 flights, running through the Dallas airport with a very heavy backpack, pushing people out of my way, I finally made it to Tres Rios.  Flor and Rafa (her son) were at the airport to greet me with a beautiful sign as well as a birds of paradise flower.  Our flight arrived 1 ½ hours late and of course my unorganized self realized I had zero contact numbers. I was definitely counting on Flor and Rafa to be there.   I arrived to my new home greeted by Katerine (Flor’s neice) and delicious fresh home made ceviche . 

            Since I arrived late last night Emilia (the woman who works with educators abroad) had already called Flor and they decided I should take the day off to rest instead of going to the school. This morning I did six sun salutations, awoke to fresh mango, banana and a fruit that I have never seen.  The coffee was amazing and put a spring in my step for the day.  I have been able to take a walk today around the neighborhood taking a few picures.  This afternoon after lunch Flor and I will be going into Tres Rios, I haven’t figrued out what we are going to do but I am going to follow.

            I am able to get my dog fix in as she has a little poodle like dog named Lucas, they call him a Doberman as you can clearly see he’s not.   The view from outside the house are beautiful mountains I will be attaching pictures. 

            It is warm. I have already decided that I will not feel completely dry the whole trip.  It is very humid and is said to rain every afternoon.  The sun is hot even if it is behind the clouds, so believe it or not I’m even wearing a little bit of sun screen.

            This morning Flor invited me to go with her family this weekend to a beach and a resort outside of San Jose about 1 ½ hours. There will be 6 of us total including her grandson, I think we will be renting a car, but it is out of my control.   I’m very excited to start getting my beach fix in.  Check out the pictures, there will be more to come.

1st week done!

ahhhhh....  I have officially made it through my first week of student teaching.  I am amazed at how much work it can be, it is however definitely worth it.  I am teaching in a first grade classroom, where the students already know me so it has been a pretty easy transition into teaching.  I have an amazing co-operating teacher so that makes it all so much easier.  There are of course the little ones that drive me up the wall, but in the end, I still love them all! 
      I have been packing away little by little, but I am really hoping to hit it hard this afternoon.  I will be leaving in 8 days and feel like I'm not yet ready nor organized.  Sunday the 22nd we will be having an afternoon get-together at our house so feel free to stop by and say Good Bye! 3:00 pm, byob and a dish to share. I hope this finds everyone happy and healthy.

why 108?

Here I am,  three weeks away from departure to Costa Rica.  I have been little by little packing my bags and un-packing my bags as I can still not decide what is needed, what is wanted, and what is a little bit of both.  I've decided I needed to write another post as since I started the blog 3 weeks ago I have only written one post. We are working on getting Adam power of attorney for my finances so he can access my bank accounts and such while I am gone. I still need to make an apt. at the travel clinic, but am not in too much of a rush to be poked in the arm and injected with various vaccines to prevent me from illness. Plus I'm under the impression that I received most of the vaccines when traveling to Venezuela in 2007. 

I have one more week left as a special ed para and a nanny, I am very ready to be done with both of these jobs and fully focus on student teaching. I feel like I am ending one chapter of my life and taking the stairs to the next, and I have been stuck in this chapter for what seems like oh so long.  I meet Monday with my student teacher supervisor and my co-operating teacher to really get everything in order. After that I will start writing most of my lesson plans so I am ready to go the next week without too much stress.
My schedule is beginning to fully fill before I head out.  Between Twins games, trying to get in time to see all of my friends, and of course not neglect Adam the time seems to be getting shorter and shorter. 
My family is getting together the day before I leave for a small send of party, which should be fun to see everyone before I head out.  
I also wanted to let people know the history behind the name of my blog.
108 sun salutations. (from yoga journal) 108 has long been considered a sacred number in Hinduism and yoga. Traditionally, malas, or garlands of prayer beads, come as a string of 108 beads 
Renowned mathematicians of Vedic culture viewed 108 as a number of the wholeness of existence. This number also connects the Sun, Moon, and Earth: The average distance of the Sun and the Moon to Earth is 108 times their respective diameters. Such phenomena have given rise to many examples of ritual significance.
According to yogic tradition, there are 108 pithas, or sacred sites, throughout India. And there are also 108 Upanishads and 108 marma points, or sacred places of the body. 

So with the 108 being a good number, I have decided that for the 86 days that I am gone, I will do a sun salutation each day, with adding an additional one each day. Somedays adding more than one, so by the end of the trip, I will be doing 108 sun salutations.  I will keep everyone updated how it goes, and hopefully all can hold me accountable.
That's all for now, I hope this finds everyone well!