MASH

So this week has not been all that eventful, but I actually have a little bit of free time on the computer, which is rare, so I thought I'd write something. :-)

So, I'm teaching English at this boarding school for girls, and on Tuesday I had a pretty good lesson planned for the eighth graders. I cut out some pictures from a magazine and the girls were going to have to talk about what the people were wearing and what they looked like (okay, maybe it wasn't that good). Anyway, the music teacher came right before I was about to go teach, and she stayed until about 20 minutes before my last class ended. Although I did not get to teach my super awesome lesson, I did get a chance to learn some awesome praise and worship music in Spanish! For some reason, the music teacher thought I was a student, so she made me sit with the sopranos (I could have told her otherwise, but I kind of wanted to sing). Now, other than 8th grade chorus, I really don't have much experience with singing, but I enjoy doing it when nobody else is around. Well, after putting me with the sopranos and giving me a sheet of paper with the lyrics (no music to read), she then decided it would be a good idea to try to make me harmonize. So there I am, attempting to harmonize to a song I've never heard before without having any music to read, and suddenly, the teacher decided it would be a fabulous idea to shove the MICROPHONE in my face so that everyone could hear. Haha, it was very awkward, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

So far this week, I taught some of the girls how to play MASH (Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House), which they thoroughly enjoyed, and I also sang a little Celine Dion and Bryan Adams for them. All in all, I'd say it was a successful week.

Tomorrow I have a day off from the daycare so that I can be a chaperone for the girls at the amusement park! I'm pretty excited about that, and also scared that the girls I am in charge of will run away. Wish me luck!

There's a rainbow around the sun?

So this entry is mainly to put some pictures up of the house I'm living in, the people I'm living with, some of the kids that I work with, and some of the stuff that I've been doing. They are backwards...but I don't know how to fix it, so it's better if you start from the bottom and go up! Enjoy!! :-)

We went over to Martha, Paul, and Charlie's house (friends of Liz's boss) to watch the big Costa Rica game. I think they were playing El Salvador?

Yeah. That's a rainbow. In a circle. Around the sun.

I couldn't even get the whole thing in a picture.

I love this place!

Michelle. On my first day, she asked me, "Por que habla asi?" ("Why do you talk like that?") Haha, my Spanish is AWESOME.

Allen. He is always smiling at me for no apparent reason.

Taira? Not sure how to spell/say her name yet. She's so freaking cute though.

Dorian. He's my favorite...is that bad?

And again. Look at that face!

Hector. He causes sooo many problems. One time I turned around to find him punching a 1 year old girl in the back repeatedly. But he is very cute.

Moises. Always asking me, "que es eso?" ("What is that?") He's a very worried kid.

This is our prayer room. There were beautiful flowers waiting for us when we arrived.

Our lovely kitchen.

My bathroom here is a LITTLE bigger than my bathroom in Guatemala. I don't have to turn sideways to sit on the toilet, so that's always a plus.

Gabriel and Juan hanging out in their new room.

Juancho and his favorite pose in Kinzie's and my room.

We're here!

Wait, I live here?

A perfect picture of Brother Jim, or JimBro, as Russell likes to call him.

Liz, Eli, Elizabeth...whatever you want to call her...in her own room on the first day back in Costa Rica. This is her second year here.

Juancho, or John posing just like his dad. We made him a cake for his birthday (9/21) and went over to the friary to celebrate.

Kinzie...she should definitely go on ANTM, don't you think?

This is supposed to be Gabriel's "sexy face"....

This is all of FrancisCorps 11 plus some nuns. The six of them that are not pictured above are in Syracuse, NY. Before coming to Costa Rica, we all had about 2 weeks together in Syracuse, and we miss them a lot!

I'm here!

Well, I decided it might be time to start a blog....which is strange, because I'm not much of a blogger, but I'm also not much for the keeping in touch with people...not a good quality. I thought this way people can read about my life and send me emails if they feel so called or leave me messages on here...hopefully this will help me to stay in touch with all you fine people.

Anyway...for those of you who don't know....here I am in Moravia, Costa Rica - a suburb of San Jose. I'm here with 4 other volunteers from the United States with a program called FrancisCorps. It's a great program, and my housemates are fabulous. We got here a little less than a month ago, and I've just been adjusting to my new surroundings and getting settled in my new job. I'm working at a place called Casa Maria, both in a boarding school for girls (teaching English and mentoring) and at a daycare for children from 1-5 years old. It's taking a lot of getting used to, and I think I finally am figuring out what the heck I'm doing at both of those places. My biggest challenge so far has actually been my Spanish....it turns out that I am quite out of practice. I am improving quickly, but I also am frustrated that I cannot communicate nearly as well as I hoped I would be able to.

Well, that's all for my first entry....I am getting ready to go to some dance classes soon. That should be interesting for everyone involved....wish me luck!