WOW! I cannot believe that I have already been in Costa Rica for 30 DAYS!!!! Time has definitely been flying by! I will admit that sometimes I wish that time would speed up, but most of the time I wish that it would slow down.
Last week I was sick, and didn't do much, which is why I haven't posted anything. No body cares about my adventures being "infermo y en mi cama" (sick and in my bed.) Luckily it didn't last too long, and I was back at it again this week! My "mom" and "brother" were also sick, along with one of my co-teachers. Each of them had a different type of sickness, so I know it wasn't me who was passing it around haha. I'm pretty sure mine was just a "bug" from eating something (I suspect the eggs…it is not normal to refrigerate eggs here) and I also hurt my knee when I tripped in a hole. If you don't look down everywhere you go, you are destined to fall in a hole.
Monday my teacher was out and asked me to lead class alone because she didn't want the students to miss out on valuable "speaking time." Anytime the students are at INA they are encouraged to speak English, so regardless of what we are doing, they are still practicing their English. I let the students work on their presentations with their partners for an hour or so, then I went over how to write a resume. This class is my Advanced Business class, so creating a resume is very important to them because most of them are in the process of looking for a job. After that there wasn't anything else I needed to teach them, but a small group of them wanted to stay and practice Spanish with me! We had lunch and played ping-pong for about 3 hours. When I wasn't dominating all of them at ping-pong, they were huddled around me teaching me the Spanish alphabet and other important words and phrases. It was a really good day, probably the best I have had so far at INA!
Today I was there by myself again and we worked on proper phone etiquette when taking a message for a boss or a coworker. I had them do a role play where they sat back to back and "talked on the phone" to each other as if they were an employee and a customer. It was a pretty good exercise and it got them to improv and think on the spot! After that I had them do a "One Word" activity where there were two groups (one group as the employee and the other as the caller) and they had to create a dialogue on the board as a class, but each person could only write one word at a time. It was a really exciting activity and I had a lot of students tell me that they loved it and wanted to do it again! (Thanks Cody for the awesome idea!) After that I dismissed the class and of course, a group stayed to practice with me. We played pictionary in Spanish and I learned a lot more vocabulary.
This Thursday is "Student's Day" at INA where there is no class and the students go out to the field next door and play games and just hang out. Kind of like a Field Day for elementary schools. It should be interesting, I am looking forward to it. Also, this weekend a few of my students want to take me to the Volcano that is nearby. Hopefully we get to go, and I will definitely take lots of pictures!
Below are a few random pictures from the last few weeks and not in any particular order, sorry! I don't take many pictures because they say that walking around with your phone out (especially and iPhone) is not very safe and people might steal it. I take most of my pictures from the bus on my trips to and from work each day, unless I am in my neighborhood where it's safe.
This is my neighborhood, the houses are built right next to each other, nobody has a yard.
A "park" at the end of my street. I'm pretty sure this swing set isn't used anymore, but I thought it as a pretty cool picture to take.
A student told me that these trees were the most popular type of trees here, I don't remember the name though.
Not the best picture of me, but this is Karla, my sister. We were out celebrating her 20th birthday!
At night it gets pretty chilly, and it rains Every. Single. Day.
Casado con Pollo I had at the Mercado Central (I had already started eating, but wanted to take a picture because I was proud that I went alone and ordered in Spanish and actually communicated a little with the waitress!)
My dog-ter is famous!! There was practically an entire floor of this store dedicated to Barbie things, and of course I had to take a picture. The lady walking by probably thought I was crazy.
Speaking of Barbie! Her Tia Jessie sends me snap chats frequently that I am oh so grateful for!
Pizza Hut!! I was really missing home one day and I was tired of eating beans and rice (J.Morgan, you weren't kidding when you said I would have beans and rice every day!)
These little "convenient stores" are located on literally every corner. Some of them sell candy and chips, some sell sunglasses and other accessories, some of them sell fruit. And of course they all sell "kolbi, Movistar, and Claro recargar" (minutes for your cell phone)
"Internet Cafe"…I came here hoping to drink coffee and do some planning. No coffee in sight, just these computers and some bicycles for sale. Luckily I had my iPad with me and they had wifi!
I told you the sidewalks were crazy. Thats a rock covering a hole next to where that person is walking. Not where I tripped, but I pass this every single day when I get off the bus, I had to share.
The Catholic Church in Coronado. I took this picture mainly for my grandma, but I thought it was too pretty not to share.
Another picture for my grandma, but too pretty not to share!
Pilar and I in Coronado at her housewarming party! She was my boss in Houston for 3 years and her and her husband moved to Costa Rica a year ago after retiring so they could be with his family. I'm so glad she is here!
Eggs, not refrigerated. Once they open them, my family puts them in the fridge, but at the stores they just sit on the shelf.
At the Advanced English graduation a few weeks ago!
