Open House

Wednesday night, the Country Day School had Open House from 5:30-7:00. Teachers were expected to be there around 5:00, so Sam and I didn't even bother going home. We spent some time at an organic cafe close to the school. The cafe, Buena Tierra, was delicious! I had my first piece of gluten-free organic chocolate cake and we both had cafe con leche (coffee with milk). I can say that I'm definitely not turning organic or gluten-free, but it was delicious! While enjoying our snack, a boy walked by that turned out to be the same guy that Kristen and I met on the bus ride to Arenal with his parents over Semana Santa! Small world! We all chatted for a little while and it was fun to see him again. He lives alone and is a 6th grade teacher in a super small school in the area. We got started talking in the first place because I saw he was wearing a Bethel University t-shirt, so we had our Midwestern-ness in common.

Speaking of...I met the school's pool director whose parents grew up in Spirit Lake. We checked out a local bed & breakfast, Rainforest Dreams, and found out the owners are from Ames/Clinton/Jefferson. I've been amazed at how many people are from the Midwest here!

Anyways...back to the Open House. The above pictures are some of the things my students did to get ready for the night. The top picture are the diarammas the 2nd graders created about their favorite book series: Strega Nona, by Tomie daPaola. The bottom picture are postcards and armadillos created by the 3rd graders, inspired by their latest book "An Armadillo from Amarillo." You might be asking where the English is, since after all we are an ESL classroom. Don't worry...I asked the same thing.

Sam and I walked back to the school around 4:30pm to check out the book sale. We're both suckers for good children's literature! So many of the books brought back such distinct memories for us. Tikki Tikki Tembo, Corderoy, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, anybody? Around 5, we both headed back to our classrooms and our teachers came around 5:30. Perfect Tico (Costa Rican) timing...

The Open House itself was fine. My teacher didn't introduce me to the parents who came which was frustrating. I introduced myself to some of them and spent a while talking with the students. Mr. Large, our principal, told Sam and I that we didn't have to stay the whole time, which was nice because we were a little bored. Around 6:45, we began attempting to get home. Unlike Spain, it's not very safe to walk around after dark, basically because there are no sidewalks. The roads are pretty tight, so when cars come you have to move off on to the shoulder and wait for them to pass. We asked the school's guard to call us a taxi, but he didn't have access to a phone. We found a phone in the office, but didn't know a number for a taxi. Anyways, we ended up catching a ride with a fellow ESL teacher who is so nice.

I'm really looking forward to being able to drive myself around again. It's amazing how much we all take that for granted at home. Even going to church, I have to taxi. It ends up being about $10 each Sunday, but it's definitely worth it. The church is so uplifting and such a spiritual blessing to me during the week.

I am slowly nearing the end of my stay in Costa Rica. On Thursday, three people from me and Geoff's small group are coming to visit. Paul and Katy stay until Tuesday and Kelsie is staying until Thursday. We are traveling to the coast for a beach-filled weekend. I look forward to sharing the pictures with you soon! Hope all is well at home!

In Christ's Love,

Molly