hello heredia!

This is week two of six for me here in Heredia...my group of tween-age boys continues to impress, being super tranqulios and enjoying soccer during thier morning break. Tomorrow and Wednesday they have a few tours without me, but I think it will be a nice breather and hopefully I can get some other office work out of the way.

Today in the afternoon we went to La Carpio. We painted houses and re-touched one in a local neighborhood, and then came back to our meeting point for a final presenation given by the women of the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation and then we took off back towards San Joaquin de Flores, with the rain right on our heels and a traffic jam in the works as we escaped the San José area...! Below a photo.

I got to talk with my Mama Tica and we are hoping to make a pumpkin pie sometime this week...! All we have to do is get the filling. I am going to go to an upscale supermarket tonight with a compañero and look for it...! 

During the weekend I had a chance to go home and it was great! E and I were able to relax at home Saturday and it was a great chance to recharge my batteries. Not that my group is really stressful...but this is definately a crazy week here in CPI Grupos! And I need all my wits about me. Speaking of wits...time to collect them and head back to the little chaperone apartment and make myself some tea. 

PURA VIDA!!!

working through the weekend

Today I get a new group...they will be arriving at the airport in the next hour, and I am feeling the giddiness and anxiety of meeting new people and establishing a whole new dynamic for the next 2 weeks. Ironically my last group was all 13 year old girls, and this new group is all boys. I am not sure about the ages though, but there are only 5 of them, and I hope they aren't too rowdy. Sometimes 2 weeks can go by slow as molasses...!

This weekend the apartment is packed!!! And it feels like a college dorm it is so messy!!! Being such a neat freak I spent some of this morning freaking out...! With our schedules I was the only one there come 9am, and I took the time to clean a little bit and enjoy having the bathroom to myself. This evening we will be packed like sardines again, as another one of my compañeras will be arriving from Flamingo. I will do my best to get everyone to shape up, because the disorder and mess just drive me nuts!

I called home  this morning and was happy to speak to my Dad for a while, but unhappy to hear that my Mom is in the midst of some more medical complications. I continue to pray for her full recovery, and am even more anxious to see her in August when I go back to visit the USA.

For now...be flexible, hold down the fort and power through!

Pura Vida

home-made pizza, ginger ale & rum

Last night was a very successful pizza night with some friends from the office.
I have to comment first about my doubts concerning the making of said pizza...my friend who hosted at her house just has a small toaster oven, not the big apparatus that takes up a whole quarter of the kitchen and has the capacity for a Thanksgiving turkey. This is typical in Costa Rica, that not al homes have the big stoves we are used to in the USA, and if there is one in the home it may be electric and slightly smaller. I have not had the best of experiences with these small electric stoves, and I have to admit that I sorely miss having a big oven with baking capability. But I have learned a lot about how to make things work on a smaller scale with my little toaster oven, and I would not trade it for the world...!  That established, I was in doubt about how good the pizza would turn out.

(Side note: I have the exact same toaster oven at my little casita!)

The dough was made around lunch time to let it rise, and it was perfect. I got tomato sauce and a few other choice toppings (chile dulce, mushrooms and olives, YUM!) and we spent the evening rolling out dough and seasoning with garlic, basil and Italian seasoning and even tried a version with BBQ sauce mixed in with the tomato sauce! On the whole it was delicious success, and I am inspired to try and make some pizza at home when I have the chance. I really like making home-made pizza, and I was thinking I could do garlic rolls or something similar very easily as well!!! Bet that E would love it, and I bet he would also be impressed : )

Another discovery: ginger ale and rum. My friend suggested this combination and she reallyl ikes it, and I was surprised at how good it was!

Today I am going down the mountain so my bags are packed here and I leave sometime around mid-day...the only question is, where will I sleep tonight? The little chaperone apartment in Heredia is full, so I think a compañera and I might have to share the pull out couch...but, as long as I have a place to sleep, I am good. Just gotta be flexible...!

Pura Vida

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY

Thia last week I have been up on the mountain in the Groups office, doing what I can. I will say that it has been frustrating to say the least, as there is only so much I can do. But it has been nice not having a group and this week I have spent quality time with my room-mate and co-workers, and it has been great to renew friendships and have girl time.
On Sunday I met with a girl who came three years ago as a high school student in a group...! She is now in college and doing a seven week study abroad program in Costa Rica, and contacted me and wanted to touch base. How amazing to see her again, how touching that she remembered me and wanted to see me again! It was a really good visit and we had fun.
Tonight is pizza  night with some chicas from the office...this week I know I have gained at least 5 lbs with all the good food and being in the office instead of running around with a group!
The only downer this week has been the rain and cold weather every day.

It looks like I will be in Heredia for the next couple weeks helping out the other chaperones and helping to hold down the fort in some small way. I am definately looking forward to getting of the mountain, especially since it has been so cold and chilly lately, like winter is really settling in. Today the sun is up (at least for now,) so I am sitting in the window trying to soak up as much as I can...!!! I would really just like to go back to my casita and relax there with E for a few days, but no such luck! I'm busy working and he is enjoying his last few days on la Isla del Coco.

Looking forward to August when I can slow down and be with family and friends back in the US of A...until then, soldier on!

Pura Vida

oceans and mountains

This past weekend was a blast! The group has two days of beach loving in Tamarindo, where they did surf and snorkel. The group loved it, and I got a good strong dose of sunshine after being in the office for a week.

Since then we have been in Monteverde, and the climate and weather has been an adjustment for the profesoras of the group. Here we do not always have internet, or it may be affected by wind or rain. The streets are often unpaved and teh taxis are more expensive, and they are finding it difficult to maintain the same level of contact with parents that they did last week in Heredia. So far there has also been another sick girl and I dealt with a bout of crying the other day, and I think that on the whole this group of girls, while all very sweet, are delicadas and it is probably better that they bring a group j
ust for one week next year...!! The profesoras are both taking notes and have learned alot about what they hope for in a future program, so I hope that this group will return, espcially since this is the first year and that thier experience with me at this moment is forming an opinion of what may happen next year and affect thier decision to study with CPI again. Oh the pressure of first time groups...!!

Since yesterday I have not been feeling my best. I have a tickle in my throat and I am trying to rest as much as I can and not fall into sick mode, especially not with the attention this group needs!! Hoping for a day or two of rest next week.

For now enjoying the mountain views and seeing old friends in the office again!

Pura Vida...here hanging around in the cloudforest!