!adios nicoya!

welp, today was officially my last day in nicoya. tomorrow afternoon i am off to san jose to meet up with jherson and the conexión familia. lets be honest: from day one, i was more excited about the last 4 days of my adventure here than the entire student teaching process. i have learned so much about what it is like to teach english abroad, about school systems, and so much more, but my ultimate desire is to see what ministry is like. i have a heart and passion to build relationships with people, and i found that being more of what i was doing than teaching. its just how i was created to be. even keeping in contact with my students at watauga, i totally saw the younglife leader side of me when talking to them.

ok, moving on along. the last few days of being here have been rainy and not too exciting. we had to cancel our last beach day due to the rain, but thats ok, because we got a head start on packing and such. christy and i have just been taking things slow and soaking in a lot of lasts together.

today was an incredible last real morning here. at 530, ricardo came and picked christy and i up for a morning hike. i always knew there was a mountain that people climbed when they came here with a cross as the top, and i had been wanting to climb it the WHOLE time i was here. welp, last morning calls for drastic measures. we called ricardo last night and he said we could tag along. funny how those adventures work out. welp, for starters i guess i learned i shouldnt eat gallo pinto before hiking, but i thought i should eat something. its not as good coming back up. too much information? sorry, just sharing my experience. 2 miles straight uphill as soon as i woke up. not the best. oh well. the view was incredible at the top!

but tomorrow, christy karla and i will go our separate ways. i want to write more, but i literally cant put into words how this experience with them has been for me. absolutely incredible. love karlita and love christy.

but for now, im going to enjoy my last night in the little house, and hopefully the next post will be all about SONRISAS! ahh be praying for me friends :) IM SO EXCITEDDDD!!!!

festival of lights.

saturday in san jose was christy and i's adventure for the weekend, and we were far from disappointed. now this may sound wrong but, here in nicoya, people "hype up" all the wrong things. they tell us, ohh this festival will be awesome, and we see people chopping wood for an hour. oh this place is incredible and so beautiful, and well...you get the point. people make a big deal out of things. but they failed on this one. saturday in san jose was the festival de la luz (aka the festival of lights). no one told us anything about this event, christy just really wanted to go to the city for a day. so i tagged along, because one cannot travel alone for starters, and two we heard there was some festival going on.

we caught a ridiculously early bus saturday morning...another one of those 430 mornings. and well, we didnt exactly have seats on the bus, so on the floor we went for the first two hours. costa ricans are some crazy bus travelers. we started to arrive in the city and literally saw the streets roped off at 9am and people were taking their spots. we thought they were crazy, but yall, this festival was probably the macy's thanksgiving day parade this country. its HUGE!

we did our shopping for the fam and such in the morning and late afternoon. i was surprised i slightly knew my way around this city still since its been two years since i was here last. and lunch/dinner was glorious. subway! we do love a good sub sometimes, and 5 weeks without one, makes subway taste incredible. anywho. we checked into our hostel before we went to the parade festivities. only the polar opposite side of town from where we were after our market shopping. 40 block walk on a crowded street for exercise: check.

the hostel was a low key place, but it was good just to talk to other americans for a little bit. christy loved it, because she literally hasnt spoken to but 5 people her whole time in costa rica. language barriers are hard for her. after checking in, we lightened the loads of our backpacks and headed back on the street to try and find a place. oh man, we got SO lucky. nad by lucky, i do mean we got a front row spot on the most disgusting curb in san jose, but it was a place to sit and wait/ watch the parade. there were lights and floats and santa came too! there had to be at least 1 million people lined on the streets, and the whole thing was broadcasted all over the country. i was rather pleased with our weekend trip this week :)

this morning, we took a slow morning and drank our coffee at the hostel and such. fact: at the greenway house i have a favorite purple mug, kaity knows all about it. and here, at this same hostel, there was a matching blue twin. i loved it. made my coffee experience just that much more joyful this morning. and did i mention our hostel had a bar? well it did. so i did my quiet time with my cup of coffee at the bar this morning. i just thought that was a funny side note.

but now, we are safely back in nicoya, after another crazy bus ride back...we at least hate seats this go round, but peoples butts were standing in christy's face, for a good 2 hours. we just kept singing some bubba sparks to ourselves and were cracking up. i love giggle moods. speaking of, im in one now, because im just exhausted. not much sleep this weekend, and my bed is calling my name. sending some amor and abrazos your way!

for narrrniaaaa!

happy thursday friends! i am back from the cloud forest and ohhh boy i am in for such a rude awakening when i get back to the states. we went to monteverde for a few days and its basically a scary bus ride up the mountain and into the clouds. it was so so so cold to me. but then again, all i had were a few tshirts, shorts, 1 pair of leggings and my chacos. christy and i were super grimmy americans on this trip because we didnt want to tote too much in our backpacks.

anywho, we got their monday afternoon and explored the town, and after about an hour we realized we had booked our hotel for far too many days. but we decided to make the most of it. we checked in at this little hotel that had an incredible view of the gulf of nicoya in the distance (so across the water was nicoya...quite a few km away). a father and son run the business and they were the greatest most helpful people! the dad moved to costa rica, from germany, when he was about 5 years old, so he was expressing to me his curiosity with my name. he saw jaime, which is a spanish guys name, and then saw meier, which he knew was german. and then this crazy american girl walks in, and his face was priceless when i told him who i was checking in. needless to say, a lot of people think im strange for my name. i guess it would be like if i was in the states and introduced myself as george or bill. anywho, the hotel guys were super helpful and free breakfast was SO great!

our first full day there we did a zip line tour above all the trees and clouds. it was great to be around other americans for a while and hear all sorts of older people share their vacations stories of being in costa rica. and they were all jealous that we had 6 weeks here. zipping along is really fun. i was glad we did the one about the trees, where as yesterday we did one more inside, which christy liked a lot more. anywho, we did a night walk and saw lots of bugs, and snakes, a tarantula! and a sloth. the last two were all i wanted to see. i was a happy camper.

the next day we woke up and went on a tour of a coffee plantation. i loved this. loved it. did you know that coffee comes from a red berry? neither did i. and did you know my friend victor from the plantation has been making coffee for almost 50 years. hes an all star. and he invited us to his house for coffee and i loved sitting and talking with him. he just laughed at me. what else is new? and outside he had this old toyota truck that he loved, and of course i took a picture of the front of it for you pops, because it looked really similar to the fj.

yesterday afternoon we went on zip line number two. now as you can tell, we booked a lot of things, because we didnt realize monteverde was so small. could have done it in a day, like i said, but we made the most of it. youre only in costa rica once! wellll, maybe twice...anywho. this second zip line was a lot smaller of a company, and christy and i were the only ones with them. the guides were rather funny. i love being hit on by every guide. not. but during this tour, they were filming and taking pictures for company promotions and i do believe i will be on an advertisement. i mean they stopped me on some of the zip lines to pose me for pictures. i was cracking up. which i guess makes me look like im having fun, and more business for them. the guy said he would email me some of the best pictures, so im excited for that. and another guide took nigel for me and documented our trip. it was a grand ole time.

and this morning, we woke up at 3:15 AM to catch the bus out of narnia and then catch another one to nicoya. christy and i have been reading the chronicles of narnia, because they are the english books karla has, and every 5 seconds in monteverde we would yell "for narrrniaaa!" just because we felt like we were there. and any scary thing, we just said it was the white witch catching up to us. dont judge our imaginations. its been great.

but for now, i cant believe im down to under two weeks. actually about 11 days left in costa rica. im excited to say that christy and i had some incredible conversations this week on our trip, and i love getting to talk about jesus with her. she will flat out ask things, like what is it that you do in the mornings when youre up early, i know its religious, but what do you do, how do you know what to read, who's this paul that you talk about? i have shared a lot about my heart with her, and im just being vulnerable. its so funny though, because shes just really superstitious, so im trying to be really respectful towards her, but at the same time, show her that its just not necessary. nothing bad will happen for leaving my shoes turned over, face down. so, yall, just be praying for more open conversations.

ive been learning a lot about mission related things, and have been so confirmed with my time here, that its what im supposed to do with my life. the lord has been such an incredible provider for words and timing to speak. read matthew 10 in the message if you get a chance :) and whats also cool, is this little project of praying for the nations ive been doing. if i know im supposed to be living in another country, but dont know where, i should be praying for them all. so thats what ive been doing. i wrote down every country in central and south america and pray for one each day. and oh my heart has been pulled to a few places. but ill just keep praying through those.

anywho, im going to quite typing all this in here, because i could type for days. misssssing you all, but loving costa rica! le amo y pura vida maes!

donesies.

if i had a favorite student, this would be her. i have never taught laura at eupi, nor will i, because yall know kindergarten is not my age of choice, but shes just great. she lives next door to tio (well, karlas tio, but i claimed his as mine). and i love her because she does things like this and it makes me laugh.

i only thought it would be fun to share her with yall.

anywho. earlier when i was here, karla saw a dress of mine that she really liked, so she decided that we should make dresses. now ive never just taken fabric to a seamstress and asked for a dress. it seems difficult. and that it wouldnt work out right. boy was i wrong. karla, christy and i now all have matching dresses to a dress i got from jcrew this summer. and its an exact replica, even with POCKETS! only my favorite thing. we were triplets today for the last day of school, just for kicks and giggles.

so, needless to say, today we bought more fabric and asked for more dresses. i love dresses. who knew this could be so fun? love it.

but as for today, the students are officially on vacation. their "summer" vacations are in december and january unlike ours. so, today, they are done. and only about halfway through the day did i realize the same was for me as well. today was my last day at the school. my last day of student teaching. so technically, that means today was my last day of college. COLLEGE?! really? yes, this is true. i no longer have the responsibilities of a college student. i done did it! and mommy wow: im a big kid now! okay, not really. you know this. i still need my mom for way too much. but i love her, and pops and am really grateful for them. (fyi: if any of you ROS people read this, will someone puuhlease film dad's skit sunday night)

i just thought id throw out that little fun bit of information. im rather hyper tonight and wasnt quite ready for bed, so i figured a simple blog post would help. as for now, i need to rest up for a mini trip christy and i are taking to another teachers house about 45 minutes outside of nicoya. get ready for those stories to come!

sweet dreaming friends. time for me to settle down :)

all sorts of success.

well this past week was the most wonderful week of all in the states. most people only work 2 days, eat so much food, spend time with the fam and then some of the crazy ones do a little shopping. life in costa rica didnt quite look like that. but christy and i decided we would celebrate anyways. so thanksgiving day it was! minus the turkey, and the stuffing, and most of the good stuff. we did however have chicken, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes and broccoli. best dinner ive had yet. we all sat around the table outside and two of the cousins came to dinner as well. we all shared what we were thankful for and ate wayyyyy to much food. needless to say i felt mighty sick after eating as much as i did. but its was a grand thanksgiving day.

weekend adventures brought us back to samara for a full weekend. now it was a great time, but the longer we were there, the more christy and i realized we were basically at our romantic weekend get away for 2. we named off everything we did and died laughing a lot at how "couple-y" everything was. grand time. but the beach is beautiful. i love being there.

and this weekend i checked a major to-do item off the list. thats right: surfing! now trying to get ready for this adventure christy and i told ourselves we would do push ups, and practice the jumping up, and all sorts of exercises for the week to prepare ourselves. well, that was an epic fail. buttt, its ok. we didnt need them. we took surfing lessons saturday night around sunset because thats when the waves were best for beginners. and sunday we had free rentals and such. we learned different techniques on how to get up, and which foot got the strappy thing around the ankle, how long the strappy thing should be, how to come out of the water, etc. all your basics, plus a few more things. dee-dee air was our instructor. he laughed a lot. but then again, we say a lot of crazy things. christy and i just dont mind talking to anyone and everyone. so about 30 minutes later, we were in the water.

and taaa-daaa:

ya girl got up on her very first try. (now granted this pictures are from the next day, i just wanted to show you that i could do it. first try, standing on the board, lookin like a baller.)

and as for this monday, i have tanlines!! yes, im working on my tan. and i dont know how my stomach is bruised the way it is, but ouch. i think i hurt a bone because it hurts so bad to touch up where the rib cavity or whatever you want to call it. who knows, im not the medical person in the family...thats mom and sister.

lastly, for those of you who dont have facebook, i uploaded about 85 pictures from my trip so far. so you can click here to see!

anywho, i need to relax a little. its rather hot today, and im not feeling so great! but hopefully ill post some more this week!

happy monday friends!

weekend and such.

have you ever thought of funny english words that we say and cant quite really explain? welp, im sitting here in that situation, trying to explain what words mean that i honestly never use. take, for example, the word "baller". now that was a funny conversation. i realized how much slang i use completely jokingly thanks to roommates i have and strange friends. we have our language, and we just get each other. now i know i dont use the word baller on the reg in the us, but it was just a funny comment christy and i made, that turned into a long discussion of what baller actually means. grateful for urban dictionary sometimes, just to help me out when i cant stop laughing.

this past weekend, host mom karla was sickly, so we didnt do too much, however on sunday we all had to get out of the house so we drove to the beach for the day. i stole a tourist hat from karla just for kicks and giggles. and i wore it all day long. dont hate on me.

but we enjoyed some sunshine and lots of rain and scoped out where we would do our surfing. now here thes delima...we dont know if our bodies are physically able to do so. thats where this whole idea of a week of working out has come from. pushups. updowns. crunches. lunges. you name it, christy and i are doing it. we are determined surfers. and this coming up weekend we will be in sámara all weekend (thats right friday-sunday playing at the beach). surfs up, pura vida mae.

school has been quite fun the past few days. the kids are taking exams, so some of our classes are basically done for the year. christy and i are going to teach a few slang classes for our own entertainment. now heres what im thinking... appalachian redneck. "i aint done it and i aint fixina do it." dont worry, ill take some videos.

in other news...i saw the worlds largest flying cricket thingy at school yesterday. im not kdding. it was the size of my hand. my whole hand, not my pinkie finger, my hand. thats HUGE. the pictures of his face make it seem like its under a microscope, but its just on my regular lens on nigel. i poked him with a pen and he flew away. i screamed. and later on the 10th graders asked me what was going on and were laughing at my dramatic self. this i know, i can be slightly dramatic.

but as for now, i dont have anything too over the top and crazy. just living life in costa rica. missing the fam this week since i dont get to be home for thanksgiving. but fam: dont forget, we ARE doing thanksgiving for christmas, because lets be honest, a thanksgiving turkey is way better than a christmas ham. ohh my stomach very much misses america.

ok, hasta luego familia.

enviando todo mi amor.

and so ive almost been here two weeks. only two weeks. my oh my i feel like ive been here for so much longer, but im so excited that i have more time here. this week was a full week of teaching...thats right monday through friday. but i will tell you we got out early 3 days this week. why? national soccer game against spain (the ticos tied 2-2. ballers.) because of some cleaning, and lastly because the principal had to leave early today. just really funny reasons that they get out of school early, at least i think so. i wasnt complaining though. when its 90 degrees at 1130 in the morning, all you want is to go home and take a nap. but lets be honest: i. dont. nap. i only rest a little while watching some tv. karla and christy are the extreme nappers. so that leaves me sitting here on the tile floor, writing my blog, while they are snoozing away.

this week has been roller coasters of rides. sunday night karla came home and told us that her good friend had found some spots on his lungs and did some blood work on them and it wasnt good. his trachea was moved slightly to the right which isnt normal, obviously. and he was going to san jose on monday, basically believing he was going to find out he had lung cancer. and since ricardo is a doctor himself, he did the research, and was beyond depressed, believing that he would only have about 5 more years to live.

now something in me knew this wasnt right. i was hearing the facts but my spirit really couldnt believe that his man had cancer. scripture says that we are healed. ive seen people healed of lifelong problems and diseases before my eyes. thats how awesome our god is. he literally has given us authority to speak to things and they disappear. dont believe me? google any scriptures on healings. they are real. mark 16:18, jeremiah 30:17, mark 11:24...the list goes on., and the testimonies go far beyond that. healing is apart of the finished work of grace. prayer has incredible power. so with little needing to be said, ricardo has no lung cancer, and no spots on his lungs. his lab results that he completed on himself show his old self, but in san jose he saw the finished work. yep, praise party.

i also got to sit and talk about some jesus stuff with the cafeteria lady the other day. she wanted help finding this scripture. sooo, i helped her. karla made sure to tell me that this lady was "like me." and by that i think she meant, she likes jesus and goes to church. i havent had the chance to really sit and talk with her, but its on my list.

fun fact about costa rica: doing laundry on a cloudy afternoon can be a big fail. damp weather basically reverses the process. my clothes smell bad. and enough complaining about that.

and the last thing ill blabber on about, because its amazing, is this new book i started reading. its called "radical" by david platt. talk about wanting to pick up everything and move somewhere, welp this book just further inspires me and speaks so much about the reality of the american church.

ive realized i havent done the best job of sharing events that happen here and am writing more about things im learning. cool things are happening, i just like to talk about what im learning. apologies if its not what youre wanting to read. ill share stories later.

and thats all for now. love yall!

did you know...

well, did you know its perfectly legal to drive a car in costa rica without any special license if you are an america. your us license is valid for up to 3 months here. with that being said, i drove with this crazy latin american drivers this past week. multiple times actually. karla needed a ride to the bus stop so since i told her i could drive a manuel car she said i would drive to and from school for practice, then take her to the bus stop. now let me go ahead and explain the honking policy in nicoya. you honk if you see someone wanting to pull out to say, hey dont come. you honk if you are going to pass, just to give a heads up, you honk if people just do stupid things, and lastly you honk to your friends. now in the us, we do the double toot, just a honk honk, like 2 small taps. here in costa rica, its 3. so when i gave the dance instructor a ride home he kept pointing out his friends walking, so i honked at all of them, and the students walking. karla was crying laughing in the back seat and the dance teacher had no idea what to think of me. so yep, heres a picture of me in the drive way getting ready to leave the house:

karla went to san jose this weekend to see some family, so christy and i have been left on our own. its been rather uneventful, except for yesterday. theres a festival in nicoya called pica [d]e leña, that basically involved a lot of wood chopping and big oxen pulling carts full of wood. theres a long story, that i can explain another time, but christy and i went with some of karlas friends to the top of the mountain to watch people cut wood for a few hours then saw the parade later. we were really excited to go, and kind of disappointed by the end of the day, but its ok. i at least worked on the tan by being outside all day long. my backpack tan lines are almost as bad as the life jacket tan lines i had this summer. #stellar (yes i just trended in my blog.)

sunday i did something i havent exactly done before. not even in the states. i randomly went to a church without anyone with me, nor knowing anyone there. i wasnt meeting up with someone. i just walked in the doors, and started talking to someone. the pastor came right up to me and greeted me, and introduced me to almost everyone. there were about 20 or 30 people at the church, and i think i kissed everyone on the cheek. cheek kissing is cultural. dont go run and tell scott im going around kissing everyone. not true. ANYWHO. i love how the lord can speak to me in other languages. they did a prayer at the beginning of the service that seemed just like prayer at summit. people were walking around, lifting hands, and speaking all about the holy spirit. now yall, this was a methodist church. just found it a little different for them, but i LOVED it. i hadnt had a hug in over a week, and church came at just the right time. this one old lady came up to me multiple times and spoke with me and hugged me, and was the most genuine person. i want to know more about her. but one of the most exciting things was that, i understood almost the entire message. it was about carrying your cross daily, regardless or ages, and seeing how the lord can bless people at all ages of life. simple, and great, and oh i love spanish church.

and to end this blog i thought id finish by telling a few fun facts that go along with the title.

so, in costa rica, DID YOU KNOW...

- you can buy milk at the liquor store. i thought it was a long shot when we walked in there, but they had it

- a rooster can jump nearly 9ft in the air to hop on the roof after they accidentally fall into your patio

- trucks randomly decide to do parades for no reason at all...and by parade i mean tractor trailers, weaving in the streets, blowing their horns, thats all.

- cowboys can ride their horse right up to the bar and get a beer.

and now im having thinking problems, so ill quit for now, and leave you with two more pictures. one is of my morning alarm clock, and the other is of my afternoon cup of joy.

ciao mi familia.

cant stop telling.

no school today, so im sitting outside with my coffee, bible, journal, and the infamous blue book. i may be scratching a thousand bug bites, but its been the best morning so far. i love how the lord speaks to me to sweetly and faithfully when i am so far from everything familiar. and well, i read some things today that i just really wanted to share. so today was about the "ordinary". but heres a quote to start this blog off (which might be long, what else is new though).

"you enter the extraordinary by way of the ordinary. something you have seen a thousand times you suddenly see as if for the first time"

so now, go ahead and grab a bible. sure why not. or use the internet. but read these two things: 2 corinthians 4:7-18, then acts 4:1-22.

"we now have this light shinning in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. this makes it clear that our great power is from god, not from ourselves." ive always heard, you have a light that the lord uses to shine to others, we all do as believers, but what a sweet way the lord chooses to reveal himself to others. he uses us as ordinary as we may come, to hold the greatest treasure (him) within us to show the world. we get to show the nations who the lord is! but the part that i love the most is that we are told to have the same faith of a psalmist who simply said: i believed in god, so i spoke. if we believe, then speaking should be am instinct. there are so many words of truth that the world needs to hear, so why wouldnt we speak. theyre true, we know they are, and words proclaim so much power. jesus simply spoke, and diseases were healed, people walked, bread was broken to feed thousands. words have power and authority. we are renewed each and everyday, so why wouldnt we use all that we have to go and speak. its so simple.

so after reading this in corinthians i read in acts about peter and john being taken in front of the sadducees (aka haters in the new testament). basically they are being told that what they were preaching was not okay, but the sadducees couldnt deny the healing of a man who was unable to walk for 40 years. so they tried to tell pete and john, hey we cant deny what happened, but just dont speak to anyone about jesus again. and they said "yea right". not quite, but really, "do you think god wants us to obey you rather than him? we cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard." i picture two guys so filled with joy that they are basically laughing in the council's face and not caring, because they know what they believe is the truth. such a joy and boldness that they could care less what other people think only that they come to know this powerful and mighty god. they spoke, and people listened.

so reading these things just really got me excited. i know the truth. i know the power the lord has, the joy he provides, and the light within me. im a 22 year old college student who probably hasnt experienced half the things the people here in costa rica have experienced. but i have it: the light, the ability, the love. and today i decided that i cant stop telling. nope. cant. there are people here that need to know the lord is here, right in this town. and i want to be used to tell them. and if the bible is true, which is is, words can be spoken from the lord to people, and their lives can be completely changed. now im not saying im going to go and speak crazy things over people, but i simply want to speak truths into their lives in ways that click. i want them to get it.

something great about my time here is theres a lot of freedom. im done with school around 130 everyday, and the rest of my afternoons are free. no lesson planning, no grading, nothing but time. i need to make friends and be intentional. so heres what im asking for: prayer. pray that there would be no language barriers, pray against spirits of inadequacy and laziness. pray for people to really see and be aware of a difference with in me. pray that i would love them in the ways they need it. just that this time would be fruitful, not that i need to see it, but that at least some seeds would be planted. im believing it.

once again, sorry this is long. i just wanted to share it with someone. but do be praying for me por favor. love you all.

just because.

anddd i just laughed out loud really hard at this. the last on is my favorite. incase you need a mid-week pick me up. enjoy.

mom and dad ate all the halloween candy.

first day of school! first day of school!

so. here i am, sitting on the kitchen floor after my first day at the school. why? because the floor is cool and the air is too hot, and because i kind of collapsed here. ive got country music playing in the headphones and im chillin in what i like to call my "sweat" outfit. mainly i dont see a point in sweating through lots of outfits, so i just come home and put on this stellar yellow tank ive got and some nike shorts. life is great. because, lets be honest, im in costa rica. pura vida.

monday, literally right after i blogged, i experienced something for the very first time. we (christy and karla and i) were watching greys anatomy on the computer. where? on the floor. weve been over this already. and all of the sudden.... i know, im great at buildin the suspense. so we were watching greys, and i was laying on my tummy, and i knew it wasnt growling in hunger, but man i was moving for a split second. thats right friends: earthquake! nicoya, the town im in, is near the nicaraguan border and there was a 5.9 earthquake there and we felt a tremor for a few seconds. we ran to the door frame. and ill shamefully admit the only reason i knew to go to the doorframe was form the hilary duff movie: a cinderella story. but hey: it was right. so that was something fun and exciting that happened monday.

tuesday there was supposed to be the civics national exam but it was cancelled for some reason. so after a relaxing morning at the pool, thats all i have to tell about tuesday. onto today: the first day of school (at least for me)! in general, the classes that i will teach will be different every day, sometimes longer classes, others very short, sometimes even multiple times a day. but my general classes are 7th, 9th and 10th graders (since the 11th graders are finished). today i remember why i loved middle schoolers so much. definitely my favorites of the day and the best students. teacher here is really different than my first 10 weeks of the semester in the united states. i pick up the book and simply start from where we left off, where as in the us, my teacher and i there made lessons plans, and thorough lesson plans at that, each and every day. but since the resources here are so slim, they use what they have. but whats fascinating is that the students can speak english, where as my kids were no where close to spanish at watauga.

so with only one day under my belt, i can say that teaching here, at least i believe, will be a lot more simple. you go, you teach, and thats about it. but if students are not understanding something, they get left in the dust pretty quick. i hope to be able to see those students not doing so well in english classes really succeed. i was grateful that i knew the spanish i did today. karla tried to only teach in english, which is the best way to teach a foreign language, but today i was perfectly able to explain grammar in spanish. yall, teaching grammar in another language is really hard, buttt it came really easy today. huge praise.

as for the school itself, ill add some pictures another time. to me, the costa rica schools are something ive seen before, so nothing caught me off guard. but if you have never seen them, theres not much to show. the grades stay within their own classes, they have very old wooden desk and maybe a whiteboard in the room. nothing else is really needed. no projectors or smart boards. so, i honestly love it, because technology sometimes takes so much away from the content the students are to learn.

learning the students' names will be my biggest challenge. it was hard to learn 100 kids names at watauga, but here will be twice as hard. the names just are not familiar names to me and when they all grease their hairs, i cant tell them apart. ohh the challenges. they rarely pay attention, so im learning more and more about the little word patience.

other than that, i love being here. i love working on my tan in november. and i love teaching at this school and being in this community. it brings such joy to my heart to be here. but as for now, i type way to much as it is, so ill just stop.

but real quick: shout out to grandma meier. there is something in the kitchen of my host mom's house that makes me feel like im at your house. its a smell that i cant describe, but oh boy it reminds me of good ole knox, pa!

love yall!

equipped.

yesterday i got sunburnt, today im sweating gallons of water, and you know, im 100% okay with that. costa rica is going to be quite the adventure. i am excited that i am here and very excited to share with you all what i am learning. for starters i suppose i should tell yall about my crazy little flight:

i sat right behind the pilots, and basically watched everything they did. dad would be so proud of me. took some pictures, but one of my favorites is that i saw the landing strip, and watched the whole process or landing the plane. how cool is that?! i feel like i could do it all by myself. okay, maybe not, but you get the gest

anywho, my first two days at the school are teacher workdays, because the 11th graders are taking national exams, so basically we are just relaxing, which is kind of nice since everyday in the us was packed. and i also found out that summer break begins after the last week of november, aka the kids are out of school, well there is no school. kind of a blessing, but i have no idea what those days will look like. im hoping to learn a lot over these next few weeks of how teaching here works, so it will be interesting. i dont know what to think about getting done early, but i know i shouldnt complain :)

with it being summer time, yo would think the sun would go down later and rise later. false. let me go ahead and say how false that is. sun is up around 5am, and goes down around 530pm. so i am quite the early riser and early to bed kid here. and by early i mean, i naturally wake up around 6 and go to bed around 8 or 830. grandma status, this i know. but let me explain how mornings/nights work: first of all, neighbor is a relative term. they really live through the thin wall, meaning you hear everything, even phones ringing. the animals are quite the prowlers making all sort of noises, not because they are loud, but because what the choose to jump on is VERY loud. the roosters are the morning alarms, and then the man selling tortillas rides his bike yelling "tortillas" starting around 5 and comes by at least 5 times. i think im early, but to costa ricans, im quite the late sleeper i suppose.

fellowships is one of those things i knew i was leaving behind the second i stepped on the airplane. what a blessing it has been to live in boone since i was a freshmen, and the relationships i have built are beyond incredible. but what i sweet thing it is to know that there is no distance in prayer. none whatsoever. so although i am physically separated from them, their prayers jump all sorts of boarders bringing me such encouragement. and encouragement on skype is just a small something i needed today.

one of the things i wanted out of my experience here was to be observant with completely new eyes to see where the needs are for the people, and how they can be met. there are so many physical needs here in this country, and a lot of those need can be met at the same time as sharing who jesus is, but we have to know the needs. so today, as i sat and observed the lifestyle of the school, i noticed those simple acts of kindness were completely missing. no real love was being shared. everyone was present and knew each other, but the love was just gone.

and i know im not going to be here very long, but i know that if ive been called, then im supposed to be here. and if im called, then i am equipped to share this love. i am equipped to be a light to this community. i am equipped to just live as christ did. just as the bible says. thanks sweet friend for reminding me of simple truths. love people, and love them well.

but as for this hot afternoon, i am going to sit in the breeze and read a book i found on the shelf in karla's room. im expanding my spanish reading skills, so yall go ahead and take a guess. chapter one is "el niño que vivió."

walking on down 4 privet drive in harry potter numero uno.

wish me luck. i dont know many magic words in spanish.

love yall!

second time around.

if only yall could see where i am sitting right now, waiting for my last flight. a little shack, where the doors are wide open to the world, called the sansa regional airport, right next to the sjo airport. i have arrived in costa rica and im waiting for my next flight. its sure to be an adventure seeing that i am one of two passengers on this plane. no idea what the plane looks like, but im slightly nervous. landing in san jose felt like i was just returning to a second home. i had the biggest smile on my face and in my mind i kept hearing, "welcome back." i saw a restaurant as i was landing that i ate at last time i was here. i knew i remembered being really close to the airport and there it was, right on the side of the runway. flying down was a breeze, which is always a blessing. my feet are crazy swollen. i sat next to these two youth pastors both taking different groups for mission trips in san jose. its always funny who i sit next to on airplanes. love it.

so, like my title says, im here...second time around. it was funny walking with one of the airport guys who took me to the smaller shack airport and talking about my last time here. i had a full spanish conversation the second i stepped off the plane, and what a blessing it was to hear him say my spanish actually sounded really good. im so excited to practice and really have full conversations with people.

so since im here, and have an abundance amount of time until my next flight, i might as well mention my goals for this trip. scott and i had dinner last night and its funny to me that he asked this question before i went to spain, so i knew it was coming for costa rica. so we made my goals list again and welp here it is:

1. spanish spanish spanish. necesito hablar más español.

2. try new foods, and eat more fruit that i really should

3. prepare fun lessons for my students and really encourage them in learning english

4. surfing lessons. it might sound crazy, but why not when im in one of the best places in the world to surf. yes ill be careful. no i wont swim in rip tides. mom: dont worry.

5. be observant. eyes opened. heart opened. and ready to receive.

6. make local friends. i want to be able to go to a fruit stand in the mornings and stand and have conversations with the vendors and get to know them

7. share jesus. always.

8. finish !gracias! and read the book radical. might as well add writing so much that i get to the second journal i brought

9. learn more about hinduism, and simply be a light to the hindu roommate i have.

10. skype or video message my watauga kids. miss those guys.

11. help in the conexión christmas projects (obvi going to be the best part of the trip)

12. give conrado THE biggest hug possible

13. walk in fullness of love and joy. each day.

this, my friends, its going to be one of my biggest adventures yet. i know i will be stretched, but i also know im going to be learning and growing in deeper ways. if youve talked to me about my future in the past year or so, you know its been put on my heart to teach abroad. i love that i was born and raised in the us, and i love all that it has to offer, but there is so much more in the world, so much that people need to hear and receive, and i want to share it. i think these next six weeks are going to be the biggest test trial i could imagine. i want to really soak in my time here to see if this is real, if this is what the lord has called me to. spanish ministry and latin america just have a special place in my heart and chances are, its one of the first few things you learn about me. soo it will be interesting.

but for now, this has been long enough. im just entertaining myself in the shack. ill let yall go.

besos.

what else is new?

something in me really want to start this blog post with the lyrics of christmas vacation..."its that time..." but i didnt. but the reality is that itssss that timee! yall know i cant stay in the country for too long. so im headed back to costa rica again! i will be teaching english for 5 weeks at a bilingual school in nicoya, cr. its closer to the pacific side of the country in the nicoya peninsula. just google it :). the last week i am there i will be back in san josé con mi familia de conexión that i was with in last summer. i will be helping with their christmas projects which are kind of similar to samaritan's purse's operation christmas child. i am beyond excited to be reunited with mis abuelitos conrado y mamá.

student teaching these past 10 weeks at watuaga have been such an adventure. my kids were hilarious and i know i will miss seeing them everyday. they were pumped to be able to add me on facebook. funny lives.

anywho. tonight i am leaving boone and saturday morning at the crack of dawn i am flying out. it will basically be summer there, so its been difficult to pack (seeing that i have had to scrap icey frost off my windows the past few days and have seen snow twice now). but i am very excited to get my tan back while everyone will be nice and pale when i get back in december. you see heres my plan: ill go to costa rica and get nice and tan. then in december/january when im applying for jobs, they will see that i was a spanish major, and notice that in the middle of winter im tan. so they will think im spanish, naturally, and hire me for anything and everything i apply for. not true. but its a well thought out plan, you know.

but for now, i have lots to get done, but ill post again before i leave. just thought id let friends know: im leaving again! but im sure you already knew that :)

besos.

el fin.

today is my last official day in madrid! i cannot believe how quickly this month has gone by. we had our finals yesterday and went and saw a flamenco dance as our last class adventure. yall, i want to learn how to do that. coolest thing to see. they stomp their feet so quick and the clicker things (i have no idea what else to call them) are really great. so glad i got to do that. our teach came out to dinner with everyone last night and thats always a good time.

today im doing some last minute shopping (really i need an extra small bag to take home with me...heavy presents. whoopsies). and spending the night out and about with amigos!

so since its my last day i figure i would do an update on the goals list, because who doesnt love lists?

1. make a new best friend: welp thats a definite check. i have loved everyone i met and my host mom has been incredible. love these besties.

2. go to a professional soccer game: fail. but the bull fight took the place here.

3. stick my toesies in the mediterranean sea: CHECKKK!!

4. learn spanish better: más o menos.

5. read these 2 books that 2 dear friends gave me: check. both were so great. thanks guys :)

6. meet a bulgarian (simply because its a fun word to say): fail. but i did meet the dutch, spanish (obvi) french and plenty of others.

7. try a a new food item at least 4 times a week: yes, yes i did. i may not have liked it all, but i ate way too much here.

8. learn to dress like those sassy spaniards: coming back with sas.

9. real talk pillow talk with roomie: me and rooms had real talk, but since she stayed out until 6 in the morning most nights, the pillow talk wasnt quite there.

10. take cool pictures: ive got a little over 2000 in an album, check.

11. blog about the adventures: obvi.

12. use the metro without fear: professional metro rider.

13. find a cross for the collection: check.

14. love people and love them well: they can be the judge of that.

but in all honesty, i have loved getting to know a completely different group of people, and learning so much about them. small talk turns into real talk, and simply loving people where they are at right now can change things in the future. i have no idea what part ive played in their lives, but im so excited that these friendships are coming home with me. its not over yet :)

tomorrow i hope to sleep most of the flight to try and get myself on american time pronto when i get back. going straight from the airport to a cookout with way too much family, so hopefully i can last until 5am spain time (aka 11pm)

ill send another link to pictures when i get the last of them up.

but for now, happy wednesday fam (yall know its always my fav day of the week).

besos y mucho amor.

león.

so this past weekend we had not only field trip friday, but field trip weekend. we took a 4 hour bus ride friday morning into the mountains and ohh how glorious that was. madrid has been in the 90s for the past week (97 today!) and with no air conditioning, its just freaking HOT!

anywho: field trip included a weekend stay in the providence of león. we visited monasteries, and a vineyard on friday! yall, the vineyard was so incredible fun. it was in a beautiful location, we got to try 3 different kinds and have bread and cheese. loved it.

saturday we went on a crazy hike from the town we were staying in. the camino de santiago (google it) runs through the town we were staying in so we hiked a bit of that. our professor said it was going to be super easy and not bad: lies. it was crazy. but so beautiful the entire way there. afterwards however: my knees hated me for 2 days straight, like couldnt walk normal because they were so achy. whoops.

but after the hike we went to las medulas which are these old gold mines from the romans that they flushed out with water. we got to go through one of the caves too. they make you wear a hilarious hair net under the hard hats and then give you a flashlight to go have fun.

after the caves we went to a lake then back to the hostels for pizza. the next morning we did the usual travel, see a cathedral, something old, then headed back for the longest trip into madrid. it just seemed to take forever to get home. 6 hours including the metro ride. just a tad bit longer than any of us wanted. but this weekend was incredible and beautiful and totally worth it!

what i loved is that we got to go on this trip as a class and it was so great to really get to know people that i didnt normally go on adventures with during the week. and although conversations were not "deep" nor crazy real talk, they were real, and opened doors, and it was just really rewarding to see the lord do these things. im pumped that most of these friendships are going to continue when i get back to boone which means its not over thursday when i fly back home. (yes, i fly back to the states on thursday, and yes i am VERY EXCITED!) He's faithful, thats for sure.

as for this happy monday, we went to class, take two of the reina sofia (modern art museum) then hit to pool since its the only cool place we could go. and now its time for cena!

pictures.

and for all you non-facebookers out there: here is a link to view some of the pictures i have taken so far. and by some i mean 200 out of the 1200 on my computer :)

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1903740958589.2095378.1393680174&l=95a7ffa743

enjoy!

alicante.

i think this past weekend was my favorite so far! i took a train to alicante down towards the south east side of spain, right on the mediterranean sea. um, can you say most beautiful place? yes, yes it was. i got there thursday night and caitlin and i went and got dinner, sat in a park and had real talk, and then gelato! yall, gelato is bangarang. just saying.

and that night i got to check off sticking my toesies in the mediterranean. i dont know about you, but i think thats super cool.

friday we had an interesting day. one of the girls caitlin knew was planning a "spa" day out on the beach. so she found all these online recipes for facials and hair stuff and loads more. i thought it was hilarious. but i did get my first "facial" if you call oatmeal, yogurt and some other stuff a facial. but it had the cucumbers, so you know its legit. but we enjoyed the day on the beach, then headed back to have dinner on the pier area.

that night caitlins roommate, margaret (latvia's finest) was having a going away party since she was leaving the nest morning. she says she has a tradition of burning her class notes and things from the classes she hated most each semester. so what did we do, we burned her stuff. and someone played the laud while we walked everywhere and i have not laughed that much in a long time. quite the adventure.

but i got to meet people form spain, lativa, russia, france and the netherlands that night. i LOVE accents. and i kept asking funny questions to find out new words. dutch is my new fav language. i think i would like to learn it.

anywho. saturday we took margaret to the airport then caitlin and i were ready for a nap. we took lunch on the beach and were lazy for most of the day. then we hiked up the castle (alicante's biggest attraction) and got to see the town from the highest point. i love being up high and being able to see for miles and miles.

sunday was a fun flea market excursion where we found really awesome spanish antique items. i may or may not have gotten the adventures of tom sawyer book in spanish. after spending the rest of the afternoon together, we said out sweet goodbye at the train station and i headed back to madrid.

LOVEDDD seeing caitlin and it was such a blessing to have a dear friend in the same country as me. loved real talk. loved seeing where she has been living for the past 5 months. and love even more that she will be back in the big US of A the same day i get back :) caitlin: youre seriously the best most beautiful thing!

reunited!

reunited with miss caitlin sheffield and its incredible! happy weekend from alicante :)

happy wednesday!

welp friends, in the past 2 days or so fun things have gone done. for starters im a sick cookie across the big pond. currently on my medicine right now, which is making me a little loopy, but then again its also after midnight and we all know i dont handle late nights well. went to the doctor for the first time over seas, and that was a simple easy process. got antibiotics since im going out of town this weekend and i hopefully those will kick in. i call mom every time i get sick multiple times when im in boone, so its funny that with this google phone thing i can still call and complain just as much :) she loves me.

anywho, another reason why i probs have not improved health wise is because i sat outside in the rain all evening last night. why? well for starters i was under an awning, but because i had to go see THE cultural thing to see when in spain: a BULLFIGHT! im only going to show yall 2 pictures because, if you have a queasy tummy, you couldnt handle more. about 8 of us sat through 6 very confusing rounds, and by the end of the night we saw 6 dead bulls. fact: they kill the bull everytime. i didnt exactly know that. so it was gross, but interesting to say the least. i really dont know how else to describe it.

but today i went to the doc. all good and clear and ready for my weekend in alicante with caitlin! and to start off the weekend, why not do something crazy after spending an hour in the doctors office. so about 6 of us headed here after class today. going crazy in spainnnn!

i love hearing what people guess i did. but in fact, im not that much of a rebel. only got a little purple strand put in my hair. just for fun. why not?

grandma, dont freak out. it can be hidden very easily. promise.

but for now, its time for bed for this kid. os amo. yea thats right, using that unheard of vosotros form we never use in america. be proud spanish friends...and for all the others, just saying love yall :)

fun facts.

yes i know i just blogged yesterday, but i thought i would take this rainy afternoon to tell you random fun things from spain. sure why not. and lets be honest, we all know i love lists.

1. yesterday, while walking down the street, i was hit in the foot by a water balloon. not a clue where it came from, but i laughed really hard.

2. i filled my memory card already...that means ive taken over 700 pictures in 2 weeks. whoops.

3. whenever i see a movie in another country, it makes me feel like im at home and can walk outside, jump in the car and drive home. jokes on me, the rain was waiting, and the metro was my ride.

4. i officially know how to tell if people are american or not. for example, on the metro today, there was a guy, and i told zoey he was american by how baggy his pants were. she didnt believe me until he started talking to a friend that got on a few stops later.

5. everywhere you look people are playing music for money. i think i want to go to retiro and do gymnastics and see if i can make a few euros. it might be added to the list of goals. why? because it would be hilarious, and to see if they would give to me. if bad guitar players make money, why couldnt i?

6. a little person (aka midget) stuck his tongue out at me on the metro for no reason.

7. there are these pants that everyone wears. and i think they all look like pirates. no worries friends, i wont come home dressing like that. not sassy, just strange.

8. all i want is for my stomach to get used to the eating time differences. dont think its going to happen.

9. whenever santiago talks super fast i just to a little bledjkhku to him, since thats what it sounds like to me, and today he told me to stick out my tongue and he grabbed the butcher knife. then thought he, himself was hilarious. thats why we get along so well. we both crack up at ourselves.

10. not feeling well away from home = no bueno.

11. there are hardly any tall people in spain, so you know i fit in just fine.

12. my spanish mom and sis think im ridiculously crazy. i just embrace it.

13. pops: every car is a manuel. glad to know i could drive the getaway car here, if necessary.

14. overall: spain is incredible. 2 weeks in, 2 and a half to go!

toledo y más

welp, just finished my last official weekend in madrid (the last 2 will be out of town adventures) and it was just wonderful. friday we had field trip friday, as i like to call it, to toledo. no not ohio, but spain still, about an hour south of madrid. i love our field trip days because we always go to these smaller towns that when you think of spain, this is what you think of. it was a beautiful day and we did lots of exploring in old things (you know, churches, synagogues, peoples houses, etc).

emily and i decided we would take "jumping" pictures everywhere we went together, so here is out successful jump.

and im not sure if ive officially introduced yall to zoey: but this is my rooms!

she is seriously wonderful. i lot of people have asked how it has been living with her and really, its been great. shes sleeping right now while im typing away, but shes great. one of my goals has been to have real talk with her, and the lord totally revealed some things today for us to talk about. so time for me to be a little bold and chat it up. its been incredible to see her notice simple acts of love and ahh i just really genuinely do love her. just be praying for our relationship friends :)

saturday was the most fun! we were a little worn out from history things, and looked in the kids section of the book for our play day. 2 girls that also live in the house and i went to this place called faunia. think mini zoo but you can touch almost everything. no there were no elephants nor giraffes, but i loved what i saw, and was so excited to be there.

first things first, they dont let things like this happen in the us. there would be more fences and more rules. thats why places like this are awesome in spain. this one show let and animal straight up run across our laps. hilarious. here he is: not a clue what he is.

and funniest part. you forget sometimes that being in our countries, things that are familiar to us, are strange and fascinating to spaniards. one animal brought out in the show was, none other than, a raccoon. i laughed really hard at it. my fav was this guy: as ugly as he was. he just wanted to be loved.

sunday i had church in the living room again. went to el rastro (the biggest flee market) then spent the afternoon in park near my house for some alone time reading and journaling and such. everyone needs alone time, and its super difficult here, so i did the best i could, and got quite a bit of sunshine on the skin.

sorry that i dont know how to write short amounts here. but time for sleepy.

shout out to the "four families" to end tonight. saw these guys at the faunia too. happy trails.

metro and comida.

first and foremost i would like to share that i officially have a metro pass for the month of june. a picture and everything! i feel so official. heres the fun part. you just take a picture in the photo booth at one of the metro stops then take it to the "estanco" aka tobacco shop to get an official pass. so im here for a month. who cares what the picture looks like right? thats right. so this is my metro picture...showing my initial thoughts of the metro system.

yep thats real life right there. this weeks adventures have been more just scoping out local things. tuesday i went and did a little shipping with the rooms. yall, shes rubbing off on me. sassy wedges. i will no longer be "chin" height, as we like to refer to it as, but someone embraced my sassy word and told me that the us better watch out when i return with my sassy shoes. i made the purchase and hope i have somewhere fun to wear them to for the summer :)

yesterday we had a class field trip to an art museum, and we had a guide. saw pieces by picasso and van gogh, in person, which i feel like is cool. these are some of the most famous artists in the world, and i saw stuff that they literally painted, not just the photo copy. maybe thats weird, but i think its really cool. fun fact: van gogh's works literally have so much paint on them. chunks of paint. just kind of fun. but no pictures allowed because the flash, even us breathing in the room, "damages" the pieces. understandable. some of the stuff was from the 600s. old.

wednesday night we (just smaller group) found our spot. we decided every wednesday we would come here because, check this, everything is 1 euro on wednesdays! all food, all drinks, yep. todo. thats awesome. and its like that only on wednesdays, hence it being the wednesday hangout spot. and i found my drink of spain. i dont do alcohol very much, so if i find something i like, im a happy camper. this was tinto de verano. basically a sangria, but this was wine and sprite. yum. and the sandwiches there are always fun, because i dont necessarily know every food word in spanish, so i just guess and hope what i get i like.

today has been quite a restful afternoon. i havent taken an afternoon off from exploring since ive been here, and my feeties needed a little rest, so the group i always go with decided to wait and do churros tonight after dinner. but here was my fun afternoon dessert. concha freshly made milk chocolate...aka melted dark chocolate and added milk, but it was so good, to add to strawberries. jealous? yep, it was incredible.

tomorrow is field trip friday to toledo!

thats all for now friends :)

mucho amor from españa!