My English Class

I have a HUGE ENLGISH CLASS....and I have never taught English before in my life. And I always appreciated the hard work that teachers do, but now I appreciate it a thousand times over. I almost cried last night because....some people just don't get it. I can repeat the same thing 100 times and some students are still confused. And I am not talking about repeating English words, I am talking about repeating directions. I will say in spanish "The first 5 questions are listening questions. Please read over the questions to make sure you understand. Then I will begin reading a paragraph and you have to mark the correct answers to the questions according to what I read." (And yes, I can say all that in Spanish.) OK, so I will repeat that 2 or 3 times. After each time I will ask if their are questions. THEN I WILL READ THE PARAGRAPH...and no one will answer anything. Then I will look at the group and say "Why didn't you mark any answers?" And they will look back at me and say "OH! We were suppose to answer the questions according to what you read?!?!"

THIS IS NOT AN EXAGERATION.

Anyways, I am pretty sure that God did not give me the paitience to EVER be a teacher. But I do hope to continue teaching this english class. The final exam is, Sunday, May 4th and those that pass the course will have the option of continuing on to the next level! Here is a picture of my sisters, Gaudy and Ivania, my cousin Derlis, and our basically brother too, Davis studying for the midterm.

Overcoming Machismo

My cousin Derlis.

The Pijama Party

I have been soooooooooooooo busy lately. And one of the reasons is that we planned a HUGE pajama party for the Chicas Podersosas! And what a success. Once again, I could never have done it without my sister, Gaudy! I also had help from a neighbor who was an amazing help as well, Xindia. That night we learned about CHARACTER. It was really funny, because we played a game the entire night where you had to put other people first! So the girls could NOT serve themselve food, take craft supplies or even lay down to go to sleep until they had helped their friends do the same! It was hilarious! And you should have seen them trying to feed the leaders food to gaim brownie points! They had the BEST time....and needless to say...we BARELY SLEPT!

REAL Chocolate Chip Cookies

I went to the Costa Rican version of wal-mart and I bought REAL chocolate chips and REAL brown sugar and with the REAL backing soda that my mom sent....I made REAL chocolate chip cookies. Please note the outcome!

Happy Birthday Una!

In my previous life, I was a babysitter. I loved being a babysitter and in many ways, I think it really helped prepare me for certain aspects of the Peace Corps! Not to mention that the families I babysat for have been amazingly supportive of me and my work in Costa Rica! So first let me THANK a million times over Eric, Sandi and Una; Dave, Stefanie, and Owen; Adam, Jennifer, Lily, Jake, and Sam; and Wendy, Austin, and Zoe. Thank you so much for continuing to support me! I really appreciate it!

Una, Sandi and Eric chose to support us by using Una's birthday party to donate arts and craft supplies to the girls club, Chicas Poderosas! It such a pleasant surprise for me and the girls to receive a huge box full of crayons, markers, colored pencils, beeds, string, stickers, scissors, glue, felt, pipe cleaners, sewing needles, stain glass windows, foam stickers...and really more arts and crafts supplies that I could have ever bought or obtained on my own!

And so, to celebrate their wonderful generosity, the Chicas Podersosas had a birthday party for Una as well, complete with balloons, games, presents, and even CAKE! The girls went wild when they opened the arts and crafts supplies and already began creating projects that we can do with all the new supplies! It was such a wonderful party! Wonderful to see the girls faces light up and wonderful to take the pressure off me. And now the girls have a wonderful new friend named Una who lives in the United States!

Thanks again Eric, Sandy and Una! And to all the families that I babysat for who have supported me in a million ways since I have been here! I really do appreciate your encouragement!

Girls Club

To raise money for girls club, we MADE doughnuts. My wonderful amazing cousin, Derlis and my wonderful amazing sister, Gaudy, spent their Sunday afternoon to help me make OVER 100 doughnuts. First we had to make the dough...and you have to kneed it for about...30 minutes. Then you have make the shape of the doughnuts and wait about an hour for them to rise. Then we fried the doughnuts (oh so healthy), slathered them in cream cheese icing made from scratch, and used the ever popular sprinkles. We sold each doughnut for 300 colones (about 75 cents)...and made about 50 dollars profit! The girls worked hard to bring the ingredients and sell 92 doughnuts! And I would have DIED if my cousin and sister hadn't helped me for four hours. I was really honored to have such wonderful help...all to raise money for the CHICAS PODEROSAS. Please refer to the amazing pictures!

Thanks Mom!

For sending books for the babies! They love the books and read them regularly...I mean, they look at the pictures regularly! Sometimes when the baby crys, we pout him in the crib and give him the books....

I Caught a Chicken in the Rain...

....and then we ate it for dinner. Yum, yum!

Peace Corps Trainee Visits!

I had the amazing luck to have a Peace Corps trainee visit me and experience that same things I experience. It sounds funny, but very FEW people...if any, will actually understand my Peace Corps experience. Even the other volunteers, right here in Costa Rica, live COMPLETELY different lives. For example, sometimes I talk to other volunteers about how its been raining for three months straight, but in their site, it is beautiful.

Anyways, the point is, it was WONDERFUL to have someone from the United States (and from the south even!) to meet my friends and listen to project ideas and to help out with my English class and to ask questions. I had a wonderful time with Rachel.

Above are the pictures of her trip...the first night my family had a barbecue for Rachel, and Rachel and I taught my friends how to SHAG dance (hahahahahaha), we played cards, and tried to balance our weights on a see-saw, which was totally more fun than you would think! My family did a wonderful job of welcoming her....and it was just a great week-end!

Go Heels!

Hark the sound of Tar Heel voices

Ringing loud and true.

Singing Carolina's praises shouting N-C-U. N-C-U!

Hail to the brightest star of all

Clear its radiance shine

Carolina priceless gem.

Receive all praises thine.

I'm a Tar Heel born

I'm a Tar Heel bred

And when I die

I'm a Tar Heel dead.

So its Rah, Rah, Car'lina-lina

Rah, Rah Car'lina-lina

Rah, Rah Car'lina-lina

(you know this part)

Tar Heels always number 1. Even in Costa Rica.