Thursday

 I understand that Atlanta has been iced over.  Layne thought it would be fun to post a pic on his facebook (which he logs in to only about once every 6 months) of him here in Costa Rica since it's so warm.  This is the pic he posted....

His post said, "To all of my friends in Georgia and Mississippi, I can relate to you. I think it dropped below 80 today. Its freezing! Seriously though stay safe everyone."...That crazy kid.


An update on the earthquake:  The newspaper said this, "A magnitude-4.5 earthquake rocked Costa Rica around 7:40 p.m. Wednesday, according to the University of Costa Rica’s National Seismological Network. UPDATE: The seismological network recorded a magnitude-4.2 aftershock at 9:20 p.m........ Reports showed it was felt throughout the entire country, with the strongest tremors hitting San José and the Central Valley. In San José, it seemed to last at least 10 seconds. No significant damage or any injuries have been reported."

And here's a map of where it was (just so you know, we're in the green area)....

Tomorrow Layne and I are leaving after school to go to Uvita, Costa Rica to visit some friends who have some sort of mission down there.  We brought some things they needed from the U.S. and we're going to help them clean or cut grass or do anything else they need.  I'm nervous about us making it to the bus station and actually getting on the correct bus so say a little prayer for us. We'll keep you posted!

TV

Oh...forgot to say in my last post...I thought I was so clever before I left the States by finding out where I can watch all my shows online.  I don't have many shows that I follow, but there are a few.  "Aha!" I thought, "I out smarted the system!"  Well, little did I know that once I logged in down here, the websites said that the shows weren't available in my region.  I was super sad.  We also can't get Pandora.

Well, today my CT told me about programs you can download so you can still see the shows.  It blocks your IP address so you're "incognito."  I downloaded one called Media Hint and then tested one of my shows....Downton Abbey here I come!!!!

San Jose and other stuff

I've been all over the place emotionally the last few days...One of my fellow student teachers actually has a friend (Sarah) who lives here in Costa Rica.  We were so lucky that she agreed to be our tour guide for today.  It was so nice of her to drive us and show us around.  On Sunday, she came and picked us up and took us to San Jose, which is only about 15 minutes away.  It's like Kennesaw to Atlanta (or for my Louisiana friends: like Denham Springs is to Baton Rouge).  She took us to the National Museum and to walk around and explore.  About half of the population of Costa Rica lives in this city, but you don't see a bunch of skyscrapers like you would see in a big city in the U.S.

It was a cool 80 degrees today...so cool that Layne actually got a little sunburned.  He insisted he didn't need sunscreen since he's got it "in his blood," but I'm gonna make him wear it in the future anyway!  LOL

Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica

 

We went to the National Museum and it was pretty interesting.  The best part was getting to hang out with some of my friends.  Here's me and Arielle "locked in jail."



 

And here's me and Maegan in a beautiful courtyard area....

This next pic is of Layne and I showing you where we are in Costa Rica...

 

San Jose was a fun day, but it was hot and we were all tired.  Sarah (the Tica that took us around) said that Layne even looks like a Tico.  We laughed at that, considering what he said earlier about not needing sunscreen. 



***BREAKING NEWS****  OMG!!!  We just had an earthquake!!!!  My heart is racing and my fingers are trembling....Layne is looking at me like, "what's the big deal?" but I'm freaking out!!!!!  I know some people may think it's no big deal, but I've never felt anything like that before!  I can't believe it!  It was two of them back to back...I guess the locals would call them tremors...but whew....not sure if I'll sleep tonight.  Let me calm down and I'll get to my blogging in a bit.

....Later....

Okay....I'm chill now....whoa, that was so weird.  My landlady says to expect more of them.  Apparently it's pretty common here.  So, back to my story.  After San Jose we went home and relaxed.  Monday was great because I got to see one of my favorite professors from our university.  She came down here and just seeing her gave me a boost of support!  I felt energized by her kind words and encouragement.  Then, Monday night I went to an "Americanized" store where I bought Doritos and Lucky Charms.  Layne was one very happy boy when I brought those groceries home.  Unfortunately, he opened the cereal and then put it back in the cupboard without putting it in a Ziploc.  The next morning it was full of ants.  They have these teeny tiny ants here that are everywhere.  There's really no getting rid of them, so all the food has to be kept in ziplocs or plastic containers.  So, when I found the ants in the cereal and was mumbling about throwing it away, he jumped in and said he was going to eat it anyway!  I thought that was kindof gross, but if that's what he wants to do...so be it!

We've been thinking about taking Spanish lessons and were supposed to meet a guy at his Spanish school on Tuesday afternoon.  When we walked to the place where the classes were held, we couldn't find it.  I was SO frustrated because I kept trying to ask, "Donde esta escuela de espanol?" but I couldn't understand any of the responses so I finally gave up.  I cursed under my breath the whole way home.  Walking there in the heat was a chore, and now walking back without having found the place?  Grrrrr.  As I was expressing my anger by venting to Layne, he reminded me of the culture shock phases that we read about before coming here.  I have such a smart son!  He's so good at helping me think things through and helping me understand my feelings.  Later, the Spanish teacher came to our house and talked with us about the lessons.  however, with them being $300, I'm not sure we'll take them after all.

On the way home from school today, one of my fellow student teachers and I spotted a Pizza Hut right about the same time.  We looked at each other and had the same thought.  Heck yeah!  So, tonight we ordered pizza for delivery! Yayyy!!!  Super happy here (even if I do have to worry about earthquakes)! 

 

Farmer's Market and Frisbee

This morning we decided to head to a local farmer's market at about 10.  I've been seeing so many beautiful, tropical flowers here, so as we walked to the market I took a few pictures of some of them.

 

I had other pics, but they don't want to upload for some reason.  I'm sure you'll see more later. 

 

I was completely overwhelmed at the farmer's market.  There were so many sights, smells, and sounds.  My senses were on overload.  I was able to buy a fair amount of fruit and vegetables, though.  So, at least we'll be able to eat.  Meat here is SO expensive.  Layne and I might be vegetarians by the time we come home.  Seriously, I stopped at a market called Auto Mercado.  It's a really Americanized store that has a lot of the foods we typically eat in the U.S.  I was going to buy spaghetti stuff so I could cook for us.  Well, I did buy sauce and noodles, and even some Italian bread, but when I went to the meat...a small package of just plain ground beef was $12.00!  Shocked, I made the pasta with just tomato sauce. 

 

But, back to the farmer's market...I have learned that I love mango.  And, I've learned that there are several different kinds.  There's a hard mango that has the texture of an apple, and then there's a softer, much sweeter one that has the consistency of a peach.  It's the softer one that I like so much.  I hope I'll be able to find these when I return to the States.  Look at this picture of some of the bananas at the farmer's market...you can see how these were cut directly off the tree....

As cool as the bananas were, though, we were kind of disgusted with the smell of raw chicken.  And right next to that was the sweet smell of fresh orange juice.  So, you can see how our senses were being bombarded.  Of course, we were overwhelmed by the language barrier, too.  It was cool, though, and we'll go back to the farmer's market again, I'm sure.

 

My landlady gave us two pieces of very good advice.  First, never, EVER, think you have the right of way as a pedestrian.  This piece of advice is essential to staying alive.  Seriously!  The traffic laws here are merely suggestions, and the pedestrians have NO rights, even in the cross walks.  We have dodged so many cars and every time we get into a taxi, it's a new adventure.  The second piece of advice she gave us is to always look down as we're walking on the sidewalks.  In the U.S., we just take it for granted that the sidewalks will be even and easy to walk on.  Not here!  Not only are the sidewalks broken up and uneven, but they usually have dog poop on them (people here do not pick up after their animals), and they will have these random holes that a person can fall into.  I'm not even exaggerating here...you really can break a leg if you don't watch where you're going.  Seriously, if you want to look at something, you MUST stop walking to look and then look back down at your feet before resuming your walk.  Here's one of the holes I had to dodge today...

This one was only about 24x24 inches, but some have been 4 ft x 4 ft.  Very dangerous.

 

We went up to our school where they play ultimate Frisbee every Saturday at 2 o'clock.  I had no intentions of playing, but I wanted Layne to maybe meet some people.  He had a really good time, and said it was the first time since we've been here that he's genuinely had fun.  I'd noticed that he'd kindof been funky, so I'm glad he had a good time. We plan to go again next weekend (if we don't head off on another adventure).  That's Layne in the red jersey, fighting over a frisbee....

 

 

Thursday

Yesterday we went to buy Layne a little phone.  Now I feel much better because we can call each other if we need to.  Not that he's going anywhere or anything.  He's been staying at the house doing his online schoolwork while I'm at the school.  I love my school AND the class I'm in.  This school has such a positive vibe to it.  The people are warm and welcoming, and they seem to genuinely want to support and help each other.  It really is an amazing place.  Here is a picture of my room....

I love how the windows and doors are always open.  Even though it's warm here, there is a constant breeze.  If I were using a picture dictionary and looked up the word "Paradise," I would expect to see a picture of this country's beautiful backdrop.  It's so vibrant and colorful.  The greens in the plants are the greenest greens I've ever seen...and the blue in the sky is the most gorgeous blue that a person can get lost in...It is literally the most beautiful place I've ever been.  And the students...wow...just wow.  We have 15 in our class and they are fun and friendly, smart and kind, and just awesome!  So, it's been a good last few days.

I was thinking I might lose some weight while I'm here since I'm doing an awful lot of walking and an whole lot less eating.  However, today I found a cookie that I love!  I bought them at the Wal-Mart when I went to get Layne's phone.  I just thought they'd be your basic cheap sandwich cookie, but they are so yummy!  I can't read a word on the ingredient list, but I don't care what's in them.  So much for losing weight because I'll def be buying some more of these....

Tuesday

I've been working at my school for the past two days getting ready for the kids.  They start tomorrow and I'm super excited to meet them all!  My CT is amazing!  She's full of ideas and overflowing with knowledge.  I am so glad to have been placed with her and expect that I'll be able to learn a great deal from her.

I had a scary moment today...I texted Layne from school telling him to meet me at a particular restaurant (that we had already been to) at 5:30.  He was to take some cash and the written directions to our house in Spanish just in case he got lost and needed to grab a taxi back to the house.  I arrived at the restaurant at 5:30 and met the other student teachers there.  I was a nervous wreck by about 6:30 when he hadn't shown up.  A previous student teacher had left a little "go-phone" type thing for me to use to make local calls so I had that in my hand, knowing that Layne had the number, but not sure how he would call it.  Eventually, he called me from our house...saying he waited at the restaurant for 30 minutes and then came back to the house.  I felt so bad...we were in the restaurant.  He just didn't know to look around at all the tables for us :-(

That being said, I'm going to buy him a local pre-paid phone tomorrow so that kind of thing doesn't happen again.  My landlady said they're about $35 at Wal-Mart so I'm just going to get it.  In the long run, I think it will keep me sane.  I was so worried about him...thinking he was lost in a country where he couldn't speak the language and [possibly] didn't know how to tell a taxi driver how to get back to our house.

In other news...Mark bought his ticket today to come visit us!!!  Yayyyy!  He'll be here from February 21 - March 3.  I can't wait to see him.  I'm so glad I have Layne with me...it's keeping me from getting too terribly homesick.  I know you guys are thinking...man, she hasn't even been gone a week yet and she's talking about being homesick?  But you have to understand, so much has changed in my life in just a few days that it feels like weeks since I've seen or talked to anyone familiar.  So, having Layne here to hug is keeping me happy :-)

Heading to bed...have to get some rest to handle all of those sweet 5th graders tomorrow!  Toodles!

Getting Acclimated 2

Yes, folks, we have a Wal-Mart!  It's within walking distance from our house and will probably be where we get our groceries on a regular basis.

 

 

Inside, though, they all tend to look the same (there's Layne in the pink shirt).  Oh, and just to mention, in Wal-Mart here they give samples.  I'm sure you've seen that in your own local Wal-Mart.  However, have you ever seen them give samples of liquor?  Yep, that's what they were doing today in this Wal-Mart.  We were surprised to see that.

 

 

And look at this....I was thinking about buying some rice and this is the brand I found...

 

 

Walking home...we saw some pretty sights...a little stream and then the way the clouds hung around at the top of this mountain...was really pretty

For dinner, our landlady told us about a "house restaurant" that is just 6 houses down from us.  I wasn't sure what that was, but it ends up being just what it sounds like.  A lady opens her home for dinners.  You go ring the doorbell, say you've come for dinner, and you eat whatever she serves you.  We were served a Shitake soup (I didn't like it...not a mushroom fan, but Layne...boy oh boy did Layne LOVE it!) and then...the entrée was a bit bizarre.  It was one dish (like a casserole) but had mac and cheese on the bottom, topped with bacon, then with mixed greens, and then with cheese puffs.  Yes, I said cheese puffs.  It looked very unusual but it tasted wonderful!  She actually has a few tables set up like a really small restaurant.  And it was only $6 for each of us.  We'll definitely be doing that again!  (I took a couple of pics of that but couldn't get them to load for some reason...maybe next time.)  Tomorrow is my first day at the school...I am super excited to start student teaching!!!

Getting acclimated

Well, I slept like a dead person last night.  I woke up this morning feeling refreshed.  Here are a few pictures of where we are.....this is our room.  As you can see, Layne has already set up his "station" and is ready to do his schoolwork online (ha...nope...that's Minecraft he's playing...LOL).  We'll be in this room for about a month and then we're moving to a bigger room.

 

No, the walls aren't pink...it's just the reflection off of the sheets. 

 

Here's a pic of the house and two pics of looking left and then right down the street in front of the house....

 



I'm sure you notice that the house is like Fort Knox.  Most of the homes around here are like that...and they're all connected.  There is no space between houses like we have in the suburbs in the US.  And, they all are locked up like fortresses with wooden gates or metal bars like the one on our house.  I asked our landlady about the reasons why and she said it's really just overreaction.  She said that in the 1980s there was an economic downturn here and that a politician proclaimed that all the poor people would start stealing from the rich people, so all the people who could afford to started securing their homes like this.  Then, as drugs began to move through from Colombia toward the US, there were some robberies, but not many.  As a result, people here just got scared and went overboard with protecting themselves.  She said it's really safe, because the people take security very serious.  In fact, here are a couple of pics of some people....I wondered who they were and just thought it was odd.  When I asked my landlady, she said the guys that we see on bikes are guards.  People pay them to ride around the block and protect them. There are also guards on the corners and "lurking about."  In case your wondering, we have guards at this house, too.  They also serve as our drivers so my landlady told me not to be alarmed if I see them around just watching things.  I'll have to post some pics later of the garden area and the kitty cats.  Super friendly cats and Layne is feeling his lonliness for Leo by hanging out with them.

Here's a couple of guards I saw outside our bedroom window....

Oh, and birds are singing EVERYWHERE!  I feel like I'm in the middle of the bird section at the zoo.  For real, they sing beautiful songs.  There are exotic flowers all over (of course I'll take pics!) and it is a beautiful 75 degrees.  It's hot and humid and I feel like I'm in south Louisiana all over again.  I'm thinking ponytail might become my go-to hairstyle.

Heading to explore a little more....will share more later.

Day of arrival

We left Atlanta this morning about 9:45 Eastern time and arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica at 12:45 Central time.  I couldn't believe the flight was only 4 hours long.  It was a very easy process and the international flight was very smooth.  Here is a picture of my first view of Costa Rica....look how GREEN it is!!!

Once we landed, our driver brought us to the house where we're staying.  It's a "bed and breakfast" type of place and is very comfortable.  We rested for a bit after we unpacked and then we took off to find a grocery store.  Layne was our navigator and we got lost a couple of times...we had to stop and ask for directions in Spanish...and of course we couldn't understand the directions, but eventually we found the store.  After buying a few groceries (which included paying $6.92 for a 16 pack of sandwich cheese and $1.47 for ONE stick of butter) we made our way back to the house.  It's now 8:20 in the evening and I am completely exhausted. 

Tomorrow will be a recuperation and exploration day before I start at the school on Monday.  I'll try to take a few pictures of our house and community and post them tomorrow.  Now...it's pillow time...zzzzzzz

Freaking out a little bit...

So, Layne and I are all packed.  We've checked in for our flight and are just watching the clock tick away as time nears for us to leave.  Tonight we're going out for a nice dinner so we can celebrate the Valentine's and birthday that we'll miss here, and then we're heading to the airport very early tomorrow morning.  I'm just taking a wild guess here...but I'm not expecting to sleep very much tonight.  My stomach is in knots and my mind is racing a thousand miles a minute.  Keep us in your prayers and we'll update the blog as soon as we get there and have access to Wi-Fi.

Contact Information

You can always comment on one of these posts if you'd like to reach us, but there are other options, too.

Our cell service will be suspended while we're out of the country.  If you have my number, you can add a free app to your smart phone to call or text me internationally.  This works via Wi-Fi and I won't have to use cell service to send/receive messages from you.  The main app we're going to use is called Line, but the others that we have on our phones are Viber, WhatsApp, and of course Skype.  If you don't have either of our numbers, just email me and I'll send it to you.  (I figure that's better than posting it on the web).

If you don't want to use any of these apps, email will be the best way to contact us.

Only 2 weeks to go

I'm really starting to get nervous about our trip.  Today I got a little teary eyed when thinking about how much I'll miss Mark and the rest of my friends and family.  I don't know, it could just be me getting emotional in my old age.  Mark is planning to come down twice during the 3 1/2 months we're there, so at least I've got that to look forward to.

Layne has completed the orientation for his online classes.  He'll begin working on those next week.  I'm thankful that we'll have a couple of weeks for him to get settled into his school routine before we leave.  I think that will make his transition a little easier.

I've bought a lot of supplies to take with us...toiletries and school supplies.  Not to mention socks, bug spray, sunscreen, hats, and new tennis shoes.  From what I understand we'll be walking just about everywhere so new shoes are a must.  I'm hoping all that walking will help get me into better shape, too.  We'll actually start packing our bags next week.  One of the girls who completed her student teaching in Costa Rica last semester advised me to only pack lightweight clothing, even though it's January.  I checked the weather and today it was 81 degrees in Escazu, so I'm really going to try to go with that advice.