Sunday, July 27, 2008


A nice rainbow.
Hi friends,
Welcome to my blog. I can’t figure out how to get more than one picture to fit side by side so you’ll have to do some scrolling. Also, I’m attaching part of the first e-mail I sent out so if you have already read it you can move on.
I’m living in a small downstairs apartment with another teacher, Heidi, living upstairs. Our place is like a rustic cabin and although it was supposed to come furnished it’s definitely lacking some things. I have one knife and fork, three spoons, two plates, two pots and a cutting board. I have a mini fridge and a propane stove. Everything in the cabin has been built by the owner Adrian. It has a lot of character, but some things are not very practical, like the “closet” in my bedroom. It’s more of a cupboard with a shelf, which means I have to get used to folding every article of clothing and try to keep the stacks from falling out. There is a pro and a con of where our house is located. The pro is that we are surrounded by jungle and the view is awesome (especially with my new binoculars!) The owner has a huge garden, a compost hole, and space for us to plant veggies. The con is that it’s quite a trek to school. My house and the school are both up steep dirt roads, which means I get to say that I have to walk up hill in both directions J It’s about a 25 minute walk if I keep a good pace.
Some things to get used to….
· bugs-you better love them, because they are all around. Along with the numerous cockroaches and moths, I have come across two scorpions! (luckily they’re not deadly-more like a bee sting)
· a friendly slug that likes my sink
· a shower that is heated by a coil and only becomes warm when the water pressure is super low (in other words, cold showers)
· howler monkeys outside my window that have become my alarm clock at 5:30 or 6
· you can’t throw the toilet paper in the toilets here in Costa Rica…there are small garbage cans next to every toilet (kindof gross)
· you never know what the weather will do…it literally changes every minute. You can wake up with sun and by the time I’m ready for school it’s pouring. A rainjacket, boots, and a backpack cover are always with me.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

This is a view of the house I'm living in.

Entrance to the school's rainforest property

This is the outside of my new classroom :)