So it's been a while since I have posted. Time sure does fly. Next Thursday is the end of first quarter already and I have been here in Costa Rica for a little over 2 months. I have started Spanish lessons and have seen some improvement on my comprehension, but of course speaking is a whole other thing. It's only once a week for an hour, but it's better than having nothing at all.
On Sept. 15th parts of Latin America celebrated their independence and it was a lot of fun. The kids do a big celebration in the different grade levels. The high school seniors had a dance performance for the rest of the high school where they wore traditional dress and dances traditional dances. We had local Tico fair. Tico is the word people use for native Costa Ricans. Very yummy stuff. I think my favorite is pinto gallo, which is more of a breakfast food even though its rice and beans. Very yummy.
The school also put on a school picnic on Sept. 22. This was fun. There was a petting zoo, a staff v. student soccer game, and the different high school grade levels and elective groups hosted tables selling food to raise money. What's really great is that the kids do everything. Most are motivated and take care of everything without ever needing the teacher's help. This is very awesome and made the transition as an advisor for a group very easy.
I walk to and from school pretty much everyday. It's about 1/2 hr up hill, but it's a nice way to wake up. The weather in the morning is amazing. Sunny, breezy, very comfortable and the views are great. I look up at mountain tops and sometimes there is fog laying over the tops of them. Very serene.
Some women I teach with and myself took a trip to Manuel Antonio, which is a beautiful national park and beach last weekend. It felt like paradise. I saw sloths, monkeys, iguanas all in their natural habitat. The sloths are very cool.  We rented a car and I got to drive for the first time in 2 months. Very liberating! It would be awesome to get a car here, but driving around San Jose is a little aggressive and the roads are not tended well, so flat tires are very common. It's probably better to keep walking everyday.
The weekend before that I went to a local volcano, Poas, and then to the La Paz, a rainforest and waterfall park. They also had lots of animals there, although they were in cages. Birds, monkeys, big cats. One monkey even reached out of the cage to hold hands with some of us.
In all, the people here are very friendly and patient when you try to talk with them and very helpful.