Wow! So much has happened in the last few days. I haven’t updated my blog for a while because I took a trip to the beach (Playa Jaco) with my housemate and her sister. But let me back up even further. Friday I spent the day doing some more unpacking and then went walking around Belen with Leslie and her sister Alisa. Leslie helped me get oriented on which way the streets go, where the busses stop, etc. We also tagged along on a trip to the grocery store with the Befuses (the couple who are directors at the school and live across the lawn from us). The grocery shopping experience wasn’t quite like I had imagined it. For one thing it was raining harder than I’d ever seen before and the parking lots were flooded and we would get splashed by cars driving by. The other thing was that the store we went to was called Price Mart and was almost exactly like Costco (down to the samples and everything) but aside from that I couldn’t believe the prices! Food is so expensive down here! So much for living on a cheaper budget.
Saturday morning I met with Lisa Befus to go down to the Elementary building to look at the classrooms, the materials, and the instructions left for me by Dafne, my new boss. We spent 2 ½ hours looking through the curriculum and trying to figure out where I was supposed to start planning and where each of the classes are at in the curriculum. I was kind of freaking out about how detailed I needed to make the plans and how little time I had to do them so I spent the rest of the day working on them. By about 5, Leslie convinced me to put everything away and take a break. So we grabbed some food and headed to church. The church we went to is an awesome church called La Viña (the vine). The music was great and so was the sermon. I was very excited about being able to understand all but a little bit of the sermon. J After church we went to a party at one of Leslie’s friend’s houses. She was celebrating her birthday so we hung out there for a while enjoying food, drinks, dancing, and fun conversations with some of her friends who were working on their English.
Sunday morning we packed up and took off for the beach. It took two busses, and two taxis, and some hanging out at a sketchy bus station in San Jose but about 5 hours later we arrived in Jaco. We found a cheap little place to stay, dumped our stuff, changed clothes, and headed to the beach. There is something about being on a sandy beach with palm trees and actually being able to swim in the water without freezing. So nice! J We spent that afternoon and evening and the whole next day lounging out on the beach reading, napping, playing card, playing Frisbee. (I am however, sad to say that my Whitworth frisbee was lost at sea when Leslie and I were tossing it around along the shore.) Anyway it was a great couple of days relaxing, enjoying sunshine, meeting new people, visiting some friends of Leslie’s, and I got many opportunities to practice my Spanish.
We got back yesterday afternoon and after a much needed shower I went to work on lesson plans some more. I did take a break and go to church and a concert last night but got right back to work on lesson planning today. I spent way too many hours in front of my computer screen but made good progress. I also did some arranging in my room when the Befuses surprised me with a different bed (softer and nicer than the previous one) and a book shelf so I could clear my desk of all the school books. They also brought down a big wardrobe that will eventually go in my room. They are hoping to take out the shelves in my closet and replace it with the wardrobe which I am really looking forward to because all the shelves (and hopefully not the walls) are infested with termites that leave piles of dust all over my clothing if I put it on the shelves. I’m hoping that that will take care of the problem.
I know this is a super long post and hopefully it won’t bore you to death. I will try and keep the next one from being so lengthy. Well, it’s off to bed for me. Tomorrow is our first day of training and I will need a good night’s sleep to pay attention to 7 hours of training in Spanish. I am excited to meet the other teachers though. Hopefully they will be gracious and not make fun of my Spanish. J
(I wrote this yesterday, July 20, but my internet wasn’t working so I couldn’t post it. My internet is still in and out and right now I’m only able to get it out here on our front porch where I am being attacked by mosquitoes. Got to love technical difficulties)
No comments:
Post a Comment