Wow, it's been a while sinc I posted!! It has been a very busy few weeks. First off, the power outages continued until last week when they finally stopped! It's really nice that they're over because you never knew when they'd go out or if you could be on the Internet or study at night, which got pretty frustrating after about a week.
Last weekend I took my first "independent" trip-that is, not sponsored through ISA. We went to Montezuma, which is a beach on the Nicoya Peninsula. It was fun, but different from what we expected! I went with 4 other girls and one guy. It ended up being slightly more expensive than we anticipated, because Montezuma is pretty tourist-oriented. We did stay in a hostel for pretty cheap, which was a new experience!! Before going to bed, I remember thinking that there was a high chance that a cockroach would crawl over me while I was sleeping, but I don't think it happened. If it did, I'm happy not knowing about it. :-) We did have a good time, though, and met some fun people that we ended up eating with and travelling back with. This weekend we went to yet another beach, called Jaco. It's a surf town and definitely has more of a party atmosphere than Montezuma. It was OK, but it rained a little, as the rainy season is just beginning here. It's funny how I took about a gazillion pictures my first couple of weeks here, and I think I took maybe 15 this weekend. I need to get on the ball of that! I guess it's because I've been to the beach the last 3 weekends, and how many pictures of beaches can you take before they all look the same? This weekend I think we're either going to tour a coffee plantation or possibly hike through a rain forest. We're not sure, we just don't want to go to another beach! :-)
Last week I also started volunteering at a daycare that's run through the Salvation Army. It is for underpriveleged kids and I am working with the 5-year-olds. They are really cute! They're a little difficult to understand, so I'm definitely going to get some great practice with my Spanish comprehension. I am also practicing commands ("Don't jump off the table!" "No, stop eating crayons and come sit down") and a different set of vocabulary words with these kids. It has been pretty hectic in the classroom the past couple of times I went, and sometimes the teacher just leaves and I have no idea where she went, when she'll be back, or what to do with the kids. But I'm starting to realize that it is so laid back and kind of doesn't matter, as long as I make sure the kids aren't killing each other or hurting themselves. It's also fun to talk to them and give them positive attention, which they really beg for.
This month a new group of students has come in, so there are a few more people around the ISA office and in our classes. It's really nice, but it stinks because they'll only be here for a month so it's going to be hard to build really great relationships with them. Also, those of us who have already been here and will be here longer have already grown very close. It's more like we're the "mentors" because they always ask us our opinion or what to do. Then again, I don't know everything because I haven't been here that long, and a lot of it is basically what I think and not solid truth about stuff. It's still fun getting to know them and helping them out, though!
That's enough for now-I'll post more picutres as soon as I get some good ones! Maybe of this coming weekend, or maybe I'll take some of my kids at the daycare. ¡Ciao!
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