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)!