Los Romeros

(Just a little more Umbrella Culture for you)

Today I have reached single digits in counting down to go home. Can you tell I'm ready?  I feel like I have had a lot going on the last week or so to share with you.
I had my final observation from Educators Abroad/ Hamline. Everything went great, the kids acted a bit different having someone else in the room, they were doing things like screaming randomly etc. It definitely threw me off gaurd, but that is what teaching is all about right?  In the end I received an outstanding job and great work from my observer and am now wrapping up my final steps of Student Teaching.   Hamline has already sent in my licensure papers and submitted my final passing grades, so needless to say I'm feeling pretty good about becoming a teacher.

In Costa Rica I have realized they have a lot of holidays, many holidays are ones surrounding the catholic religion.  Today, August 2nd, Is "Day of the Virgin of the Angels".  This is what I believe to be the largest religous holiday here in Costa Rica, and here is why;  people walk to Cartago, from ALL OVER. People fill the streets, they are called romeros and they walk.  Some say they walk from Panama and from Nicaragua and from all over Costa Rica. It is really quite amazing that someones faith and belief leads them to do this.  The romeros have come in all different sizes, shapes, and ages.  I have been lucky enough to see the main road where everyone walks as it goes directly through Tres Rios.   So everyone walks to this big church, kneels up to the alter and asks the Black Virgin for something.  Then they turn around and I would guess take public transportation back to their homes. This is a huge deal, the schools are closed today, to honor the holiday. 



                                                                                  This last weekend I headed to Jaco beach to try and

 keep myself busy.  It really is the hottest place I have ever been. I don't know why it get's so hot, but it is HOT all the time.  I stayed in a hostel and really enjoyed myself. It was nice to not be running on anyone elses schedule.  I met up with friends who are also part of the program, DJ and Janelle, on Sat. night for a couple of cocktails and a beautiful sunset (the only sunset I have seen while I've been here).  I soacked up a bit of sun, just to make sure I am tan for my return to the states.

I have been continuing with my private Spanish Lessons, working on the subjunctive. It has been going really well, the problem is, the more you learn, the more you realize you don't know. It can get quite frustrating at times.

Five weeks from today is the first day of school, so I am really trying to wrap my head around everything and start preparing.  Soon enough I will be back on Minnesota ground, and am more then excited to get back to my life back in the States, and start the next chapter.

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I have realized that it has been a week since my last post and I know you are all sitting on the edge of your chairs wondering what adventures I have been in to. Well sorry to burst your bubble but not too many. 
Last Tuesday I went to a yoga class in Spanish and survived, I definitely had a hard time understanding what was going on, but was able to get the main Idea, it was good but nothing like the classes I take in the states. While at the yoga studio I saw a poster for a yoga festival in Cartago (a town about 30 min. away) so my friend Maggie and I ventured there on Saturday. There were a lot of people around and the classes were very inexpensive.  We tried Tai Chi, which was quite interesting and I enjoyed it a lot, we then did a yoga class from a studio called Yoga Sol.  Once again at the end of the class I felt great, but during it wasn't my favorite thing. To me I feel like yoga in Spanish has a flowing disconnect but after thinking about it, I am sure it is that I am not grasping all of the words so I am not feeling the same flow as other fluent speakers are.  In the end it was a great experience and made me very happy to see that they are really trying to promote the yoga culture here in Costa Rica. 
 I have been doing some private tutoring to help me with some of my grammar, in the end it has become a subjunctive tense class, which is great but quite difficult!  I went once last week, this week I am able to go twice, and I think I will go four times next week as long as it fit's into my schedule.  He send's homework with me so it gives me a little something extra to do.  
I have been feeling like time has been inching a long as I count the day's to go home. I am definitely ready to be home and start getting things together for next year.  I have less than 3 weeks now so it must be in the home stretch, but someday's it seems like it is so far away.  This Friday we are taking the kids on a field trip to the basilica in Cartago because there is a national holiday here in Costa Rica on the 2nd, so somehow the field trip is corresponding with that.  After the field trip I am hoping to get to the beach to work on my tan one last time before I head home.  
This week I am being observed at the school, I am nervous but I feel that even if it doesn't go well my whole student teaching can't ride on the one observation so everything should be just fine.  I have come to the realization recently that 6 weeks from today is the first day of the new school year, and I am not feeling very prepared, so if anyone is interested in helping me put together a classroom when I return let me know :).
I hope this finds you all well, and happy reading. 
*Oh one last thing, I apologize for any spelling errors in this post, as my computer is being finniky and not letting me use the mouse/curser etc.

Umbrella Culture

When I first arrived I didn't understand why Flor would tell me to bring my umbrella when there wasn't a cloud in the sky. But then as I would walk to school in the morning I would notice everyone else had an umbrella in hand; so I thought, they must know what they are doing.  It's true, they did.  It rains, it rains in the afternoon and without warning, but sometimes in the morning. And if it doesn't rain the day before it rain's harder, and when you don't think it can rain any harder it does.  An umbrella protects you from I would say level one rain, the drops, and maybe a little heavier.  Once the rain starts moving sideways, it really only becomes an accessory, it's time to face the facts:  you will get soaked.   An umbrella is part of your accessories, and little did I know it should really match the color of your shoes and handbag and any other accessories you can find to match it.  I have realized umbrellas are quite useful, from using them as a cane to being able to pull the bus "ding" cord with the handle end so you don't have to get up out of your seat. They even have umbrella lockers at the National Theater.  So if you are traveling to Costa Rica make sure you bring your umbrella along with any other accessories that may match it. 




Today is a morning off, with school at noon. Before vacation, I was pretty much teaching full day's but the student's had a lot of other things going on that there was not too much time for lessons.  The next few weeks are a bit more calm and I am excited to really be managing and teaching the whole class.

I have found a yoga studio near the University so I am heading there for a class at 6:15 tonight.  I am very excited! I am not sure what to expect, I think it will be quite interesting as the class is done in Spanish, I have never taken a Spanish spoken Yoga class before. I believe I will understand some of it, as the original terms for poses are Sanskrit.  I think it will be a good experience either way. 

So as I had mentioned I have many pictures from the last two weeks, I will post them little by little so you get an Idea. They are all on Facebook so feel free to browse the album there as well.   here are a few......


Adam and I on our "Planet Dolphin" cruise in Manuel Antonio. The central pacific. We saw only a couple dolphins but it was still a great time!

The storm rolling in in Manuel Antonio

Mom and I caught Blue Tuna unexpectedly on our Ocean/Dolphin/Turtle/Snorkle everything rolled into one cruise in Sámara.  It was quite an experience.  Don't we look so proud and strong!!!

A awesome spider Adam and I saw in Manuel Antonio park, I think it's missing a leg or even two for that matter!

They come and they go...

Well I feel like it has been so long since I have written.  I didn't want to take the time to write a blog when I was with Mom or Adam, so now it has built up.  There are so many things to talk about, but I will not overstimulate you too much. I have the next 26 days (but who's counting) to catch you all up on all the adventures and fun that was had.

This morning I left Adam at the Airport.  I was planning on going in with him and helping him navigate his way through the foreign language mess, but only passengers allowed. We had an abrupt goodbye, which was better for me, so I didn't lose it completely. I went back to our hotel and slept for the rest of the morning
I found over the past two weeks airports are a great place.  I really enjoyed watching all the different facial expresions as everyone tried to find their "other" when walking out of the baggage claim area, and the best part was, when they did. Their whole face would light up, grandparents, children, lovers, mothers, fathers, and friends.  It was a very happy to place to be, in the baggage claim that is.  The whole drop off is another story, goodbyes and sadness seem to go hand in hand, yet somewhere a traveler is normally excited to get to their destination and has a spark of happiness.  So if you are looking for a good people watching spot I would highly suggest the airport! I personally prefer to be in the arrival section, or be the one getting on the plane.
Adam and I had a few adventures while he was here. We went with a tour bus to the Arenal Volcano and the hot springs, it was quite beautiful but a very long trip to do in just one day.  It is a bummer there was no activity with the volcano but I got over it.

The next day we went to Manuel Antonio National Park, we saw many active animals, enjoyed the beaches and just enjoyed being together.  Unfortunately the weather god's were not on our side for the week and we had a fair amount of rain. However when you are in the rain forest, rain seems to happen frequently. 


I have re-numbered my calendar that sits on my wall and I can see today's date as well as the date that I will be at home. That is quite exciting. I have plans for the next 4 weeks to keep me busy so hopefully the time will fly by.
I will hopefully be updating my blog frequently. Look at Facebook for the newest photos from the trip!

rafting and so on...

I just put mom in a cab at Cafe' Mundo and ventured back to my hotel in barrio Aranjuez (part of San Jose).  I knew that it would be hard for me when she left, but I didn't know it would be this hard.  I guess I'm learning lots of those lessons on this trip. 

So mom and I have had quite the adventure, yesterday on our way back to San Jose we stopped and did rafting on the tenorio river in the Gunacaste region of Costa Rica.  It was definitely a rush...  Between mom smacking the paddles so hard against the ground to scare away the snakes, and me falling out of the boat we were quite the crew.  The photos are priceless; well not so much as the tour company does charge for them. If you have not looked on facebook and seen them yet I would highly recommend it.  I will try to post a few on this blog as well.

Adam comes in in about 4 hours so I am eagerly waiting at the hotel to pass the time. 

Sámara and Playa Carillo

It has been a busy few days and I have been putting off writing a blog!  But I have decided to sit down because if I don´t start writing about it now, when I return from this two week adventure I, nor you may not have the attention span for it. 

Mom and I have been having a great time, she stayed with me at Flor´s house and experienced all the in´s and out´s of my busy (not busy) life here in Costa Rica.  Last Wednesday we headed to the famous church here in Cartago, Costa Rica. It is the church of the black virgin, it is very beautiful, it is the church which many from all around the country walk to on August 2nd.  When August roll´s around (not too far away) I will post pictures of that. 

Friday we ventured into San Jose (by taxi).As much as I think public transportation is great, it is incredibly easier to stick with taxi´s and shuttles, it really makes life less stressful and just easier all around.  We stayed at a great little hotel, which I will be frequenting in the next couple of weeks still with Adam here. We had a yummy dinner and ventured to Sámara beach on Saturday morning.  We have been pretty busy here between, beach, coffee, wine, and massage we have barely found time for yoga.

Yesterday we went on a boat tour and saw dolphins, a turtle, marlin, and mom went snorkeling.  The two men that were leading the tour, had both put a fishing line in the water and when it came time for the fish to bite they quickly handed us the fishing poles and told us to reel in the fish. It was so difficult my arm muscle must have grown from how much work it was, I thought I was getting a 200 lb fish.  I didn´t. But we both caught (blue tuna about the size of my lower leg) it was quite an unexpected adrenaline rush. One of the best part´s about the tour was that it was just mom and I and the two guides.  It seemed they were happy to get any business during the low season.  Yesterday afternoon we found a massage school and relaxed with a very inexpensive massage. We finished off the evening with a game of cribbage (which I won of course) and a CSI.  

Today and tomorrow we are taking a few Spanish lessons at a language school here in Sámara then we head back to San Jose  Thurs. afternoon.  All in all the trip has been great and of course great to be spending time with mom.  Adam will be here Friday and we head to another beach on Sunday, I will try to post again before the trip is over.  Happy 4th everyone!

Mom!!!

Mom will be here in mere hours, so as I am sitting on my bed working on passing the slow moving time. I've once again decided to jot down my thoughts. Unfortunately nothing extremely exciting has happened in the last few days to tell you about but hopefully my writing will still be interesting enough to keep your attention for a short amount of time.

I still have yet to set foot into a yoga studio, but I have seen one, so now it's figuring out getting off the bus at the correct stop to be able to make it to the studio, I am quite happy about this. 

Sunday was a very interesting day. Flor had asked me if I would be willing to help one of my house mates friends with speaking English because he had an interview in English or something along those lines.  I thought, why not, so my assumption was: he would come over, have me ask him some interview questions or something, we would chat for an hour or so and he would leave. Oh no, that was not the case. I am not sure if something was lost in translation, language or cultural, but apparently I was going on a bind date.  Well that's what it felt like, they all know that I'm married and weren't setting me up but WOW was it awkward. (It is okay for you all to start laughing now)
(Imagine a 40 year old man, maybe older, chemical engineer, really liking to talk about dynamite and books that had talking animals, needless to say not my cup of tea. )
He wanted to take me all over San Jose.  We went to the children's museum (children's museum.. wierd right), the zoo, and then had lunch. After lunch he wanted to go have coffee, I said I had to lesson plan. Yes it was nice to get out of the house, but, with a random 40 year old man, not so much! It was so awkward because we had to find random things to talk about, now I know when they ask me to practice English with someone, I will have other plans.  Maybe that's what dates would feel like if I would have tried eharmony.com or  hotornot.com. (No offense to those who use it)

In other news, I still love my school. Maybe it's my special ed background or the fact that I have come to the conclusion that we are all on the Autism spectrum, but, I have found new ASD friend's within almost every class.  It's hard for me not to jump back into my Special Ed para position and start trying to find every way to get the one student to have success.  There is something about the student's who need extra love; sometimes I find it so easy to give it to them, but sometimes, so hard. 
And lastly, I still miss Adam a lot. He really is my favorite person ever.  I can't wait to see him in 10 days.

Until next time! (I'm so boring I don't even have any pictures for you, soon enough my friends, soon enough!)