Monday through Wednesday:)

My first Mama Tica, Maria

We got to San Joaquin, and this is after an earthquake, volcano seeing and waterfall seeing, and I kept thinking.. WHAT is next?! I really love the place that our school is at (CPI). It is so green and filled with trees, and has a hammock for me to relax on (when I actually have time to relax). I met my mama-tica on Sunday, and she is so amazing! She doesn't speak any English at all, but every night that I have been home we have been talking, talking, and talking. Sometimes she will give me the confused look, but that is when I respond with "No importa".. in English meaning "Nevermind". I really enjoy the weather here, except the fact that we have to walk through it and by the time I get to class, I feel like I jumped into a pool. Being here really helps me to appreciate the schooling that we have. The schools here are very small, and they have blocked scheduling for school. Sometimes there are three shifts of students that come in at three different times. Normally there is two shifts, kids in the morning, and kids in the afternoon. The schools are open with no air conditioning just fans to keep it a bit cool inside. I worked with two young boys today and it was such an awesome experience. They didn't know much if any English at all. I spoke to them in Spanish, and helped them to match colors with pictures. I taught them all the colors in English. After that activity the boys took me on a tour of the school, and i would point to a color and ask them what it was in English. They struggled a bit, but it was exciting to hear them get it correctly. Back to my mama tica. She makes the best food ever. She has breakfast ready for me in the morning, containing banana, pineapple, mango, melon, and along with fruits my favorite, Eggs and Onions, what a good combo! It was also exciting to know that the mango I was eating came from here back yard.  Every night I get home Mama Tica has Dinner ready for me too, which is also a different type of dinner. First night I had the best penne past with beef, rice, beans, and ensalada. Which here is called a "Casada", meaning "marriage" or Together. The second night I had green beans topped with eggs side dishes of rice and beans. Thank goodness I love rice! My hermana tica is my age, and luckily speaks fluent English so last night we went out to conversate and have a bite to eat. Now... My spanish classes. Alot of Spanish speaking. Sometimes I catch myself talking in Spanish to my English friends here. Its four hours a day of Spanish. I have been learning though that students that are ESL students get frustrated. I got frustrated trying to learn because I was not grasping it, or not saying things correctly. It is very hard to stay positive when you can't communicate or can't speak correctly. I know the feeling that students feel when they come to America with little or no English experience. I am very excited because Friday my Mama Tica is taking Megan and Me to dance on Friday.  So I am for sure going so I can learn the proper Spanish way of dancing. It should be great way of immersing myself in the Spanish Culture. So far I am having the best time, and learning so much about the life here in Costa Rica. I have 20 more days, much more Spanish to learn and much more to see. Very excited and fortunate to have an opportunity like this!