Arenal (take 3)

So I went to the volcano again this past weekend with my friends from the intensive Spanish course. It was a lot of fun, but the weather was terrible. It rained the whole weekend, so we didn't see any of the volcano. I was bummed for those that are only here for the month and didn't get to see it. It's crazy...I've been 3 times and I've only seen it once. We did hike the waterfalls and this time I actually went swimming. It was absolutely freezing!! And the water was rushing because of all the rain, so I got beat up out there. I was exhausted and shivering...but dying laughing. That night we went to the hot springs and got all warm, but that wears you out too, so by the time I got into bed that night...I was a disaster :). The next morning we just got up and hung out waiting for the clouds to clear...which they didn't, so we decided to pack up and hit another sight on our way home. Unfortunately our bus broke down on the way back...so we sat on the side of the road for 2 hours waiting for another one to come. We finally got on our way and this new driver was insane...so we all were insanely car sick. We finally arrived home and just laughed at the randomness. Now I'm into my last week of classes. We don't have our students this week because all CR schools are closed to prevent the spreading of the swine flu...so our staff is cleaning and painting the school. LOL. But I do finish up the intensive course this week and then I come home on Saturday!! Hooray! I'm really excited! And that is all for now...time to go study.

Paint fumes :)

This week nothing super exciting happened, but I did get a lot finished. My friend Jared and I are painting my special ed classroom, so that's been really fun. The paint fumes have been getting to us a little bit, but there is nothing like bonding over a deep breath of oil-based paint. We learned a new word in Spanish in these regards as well: pigiada (which means "to be high" in English). Lol. So that was good (not getting high of course, but getting my room painted, lol). We've been having so much fun though. We've made some really good friends here in the intensive course and we're said that there is only two weeks left. I am excited, however, that I will be home in two weeks. Until then, we're hoping to take a beach trip and finish up our courses. We've been studying a lot, and it's paying off. I went to church today and in a 2 1/2 hour service, I only didn't understand like 20 words. And that's just vocab. What a relief and a blessing. We'll see how it goes tonight when I go watch Ice Age 3 with my family in Spanish. lol got to love the voice overs. Bueno, that's all for now. Sorry it's not too exciting. God bless!

Cloud forest

Well, this week has been a good one. I started my intensive course in Spanish at ILE this week and it's going wonderful. I was place in the most advanced classes and I'm so excited. I say that not to brag but to say gloria a Dios because He has brought me this far. I just think back about my first couple of months and how impossible learning Spanish seemed. He has provided me with great teachers and a family to teach me and I am so thankful. Thank you for those that have prayed for my progress in language. The course is definitely intesive, we have a lot of homework and a lot of studying to do. I love it. I'm also working on setting up our special education program and so far, that's going really well. I've also made a lot of new friends thanks to the classes and I'm really thankful for that. Some of us went to hike the cloud forest yesterday. A cloud forest is a rain forest that has clouds descend on it to keep everything moist. It was beautiful. The only problem was that I went with two guys from here and we met up with two of their friends from another institute. When we all met up by the forest, I found out that the other two hadn't made plans nor could they really speak Spanish. lol I'm glad I brought my CR travel book and that I've learned how to get around and speak or we would have been stuck! LOL It was crazy. We finally made it and we hiked for hours.

Now I can barely walk today I'm so sore. It was really fun though. It was freezing, but being in the middle of clouds was awesome. The forest reminded me of something you would see in Jurassic park. Here is a volcanic crater lake we saw...it was a little eerie.

It was really fun and a good workout but next time I'm making sure the "planners" of the trip actually make plans!! It's always an adventure...okay, off to study!

Family's visit :)

So my parents and my sister came to visit and it was such a blast. We had a great time! I'm so glad that they were able to come and get a better idea of my life here. I think they enjoyed it but I think they walked away a little apprehensive. Thankfully God has given them a little peace. Well anyway, I'll give you a litte rundown of everything. They came down on Sunday and we had a little party with my family and some friends in CR for Father's Day. It was so fun to see my dad on Father's Day! We spent the night at a hotel and then early in the morning left for Arenal, an active volcano in CR. It was awesome! On the way there we stopped at a beautiful church...

And at a restaurant that had 100's of huge iguanas just crawling around....

And got some great views of the city and valley from the mountains....

The weather was so clear and we could see the whole volcano (often you can't see the top). The best part and probably our favorite part of the trip was going close at night and actually seeing (and hearing) the volcano throw lava rocks out and have them run down the side. So it's like red orange lava looking stuff going down the mountain. It was awesome. I couldn't get any pictures of that, however, there are pictures of us there. We got the hotel for a great price and it was seriously really nice. We went hiking, went ziplining through the forest, and saw a beautiful waterfall. That part of our trip was awesome. Then we traveled through the mountains, farmlands, and rainforests to get to our next stop Manuel Antonio, a beach on the Pacific Coast. We did have great weather. The hotel was back in the rainforest, so it was beautiful. Here is mom with a Toucan...There were monkeys everwhere running through the trees, howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys and white face monkeys. They were really loud. Howler monkeys actually howl and it is such a creepy sound. OK, best story of the week. So one night, I'm sleeping and I hear someone whispering "Trish...Trish." I look over at mom and she says the electric went out. I asked her how she knew and she said the AC went off. Power outages are nothing new, so I wasn't concerned, I told her it was normal and fell back asleep. Two hours later around 4 a.m. I hear again, "Trish, Trish." What??? "The electric is out and the emergency lights went out too...it is absolutely pitch black. And listen..." Then I hear the horrible sound of Howler monkeys. Normally it's fun, but in the absolute pitch black darkness, when you can't even see your hand in front of your face and listening to these loud, extremely close, howling monkeys...you have to admit sounds a little creepy. lol so of course we all freaked each other out. Hannah told us all to shutup. Then mom asks me if I think Jesus is coming back (like the whole thief in the night thing...i mean it was pitch black and the animals were going crazy). She asks me if I'm ready for Jesus to come back. lol so hear I am in the pitch black, with eerie howling monkeys, thinking about Jesus coming back and if I'm ready and then we hear a gun shot. I'm sure that it was someone scaring off the monkeys, but seriously. I finally fell asleep and the next morning we found out that a tree had fallen on a pole which made the electric go out for 24 hours...but seriously, it was hysterical. Here's another random photo of alligator river...they were everywhere just hanging out...The next day we went on a hike in the rainforest and dad spotted two sloths. Here's dad in hunter mode...We didn't really get good pictures of them though. The rest of it we just slept and ate, played games and laid on the beach. It was great. We then came back, went to eat some pizza, I showed them around school, we went downtown, took my family out for dinner and then came today when they left. I was sad, but I'm so thankful for them being able to come down. It was so much fun. The only scare was when I put them in cab to go to the hotel and the driver told me he knew where he was going (but didn't look sure). Then I saw him drive down the street with them in the opposite direction. I was dying laughing because I didn't know what to do. So I grab a taxi and go to my house with Kate. I try calling their hotel because I'm a little worried. I don't get through for 45 minutes and I start getting a little worried. I have the front desk check, no sign of them. By now it's not really funny anymore. My Tico mom and I decide to drive to the hotel and I go to find them. They're not in their room and I start to panic a little bit. Even if the taxi got lost, they would have been their within an hour. I started thinking the worse that he held them up for their money or something else (yes, that can happen). I'm checking the pool, the restaurant, everwhere and I can't find them. By now I'm thinking that I just need to wait in pray. I mean, their pretty much helpless. Hannah can get around in Spanish, but she doens't know the area. Finally I'm in the lobby and I hear my Tico mom beep in the car as my family walks past in workout clothes. I was furious! They went to work out in the gym area at 10:00 at night when they got home from eating. They said they did get lost a little, but that they got home and went to workout. Who does that??? ugh. All that worry for nothing, but I was glad they were safe. All in all everything went well and we had so much fun. That's all for now...I have a lot of homework for my intensive spanish course I'm taking now! Crazy stuff! And to finish, here's a nice view of the rainforest:

I made it!

So yesterday was our last day of school! I made it through my first year of teaching and I couldn't be more excited. I am so thankful that God has brought me through. There were times that I truly didn't think that I was going to make it...especially those first couple of months. It's hard to believe that I've lived here for that long. It was a wonderful feeling to say goodbye to the last student and realize that we made it!!! Thank you Jesus. It was a great year and I learned so much. Thank you so much for your prayers, encouragement and support...I really appreciate it! Today we went to the ferria to buy all kinds of fruits and vegetables for tomorrow's fiesta and then went to a Costa Rican wedding (see pic of me and mama and my tico grandma). I'm preparing for my family to come in tomorrow! I'm so excited about them coming. We're going to have a little Father's Day party and then go for a trip around the country. I'm going to bed so it comes faster! Good night!

Leaf Juice

So a bunch of us have gotten hit with some kind of flu bug here...me definitely not as bad as others here. Kate wound up in the emergency room on Saturday night due to the excessive vomitando. Yuck. Anyway, so I've felt not so great and asked my family if I could make soup for dinner. We did and then my mom said she was going to make this "remedy" juice for me. lol she disappears and comes back with part of a bush in our front "yard" (more like a small square of grass and a couple of plants). She mushes it up and mixes the greenish brownish leaves with water. LOL I was thinking Oh great. At one point she comments that she needs to get all the little thorns out. Finally the final product was mixed with sugar and I drank it. It tasted like a leaf...just as I suspected. :) It wasn't all that bad but I just loved how she went out to the front, got some bush, and made juice. I'm not miraculously healed or anything...but it hasn't had adverse effects either :). Oh the adventures.

P.s. saying goodbye in my last post meant saying goodbye to friends who are leaving. I'm not leaving anytime soon. I'm going to be living here for quite some time.

Saying goodbye :)

Well, this last week was a good one. We had track and field day with the kids...which I'm still hoarse from...and a read-a-thon day. Starting tomorrow we only have 5 days left! I can't believe I've almost made it though my first year of teaching! Thank you Jesus! This should be a fun week. It might be a little crazy...and I might be a little sad. I mean, I've grown pretty attached to those kids. Hanging out with them for 7 hours a day for 180 days...that's a lot of time. You really come to love them :) We're also saying goodbye to Kim V., Kim L., and our friend Corrie. That's going to be a tough time. We've all had so much fun together, it's truly been a blessing. The one redeeming factor for all of this is that no more lesson plans for a couple of months, starting Spanish language classes, and best of all, my family is coming!!! I absolutely cannot wait :). I've been missing them like crazy. I've really been missing my friends a lot too! I was looking at pictures last night...and borderline feeling sorry for myself being so far away. Well, God took care of that one this morning at church. A Tico missionary to Spain was discussing his work with Muslims and was talking about Muslim converts and their sacrifice they make for Christ. He talked about how becoming a Christian and preaching Christ may and usually means losing your family, friends, home and sometimes your life. Putting that in perspective...I think I can "suffer" in Costa Rica just a little bit. Nothing like a good reality check. All that being said, all is well and I'm looking forward to this week!