keys!

Mitch picked me up from school on our new 4-wheeler today! This is such a relief because we don't live in town. We live about 2 miles from Cobano (where I teach) and about 1 mile from Montezuma (where the beach is). Doesn't sound like far, and it's not if you have a bit of time to kill. But it has made things like going to the grocery store a pain. Usually we are able to hitch rides into town, but you can't always rely on that! With our new wheels, we'll be able to zip all over this place.

Actually, we already did some exploring this afternoon. We rode up to some waterfalls that overlook the ocean and spent the afternoon lounging, swimming, and jumping off the rocks.

a sock

One of my favorite things to do in the morning, for several years, has been making coffee. I love everything about it. I love grinding the beans (when I can), scooping the grounds into the maker, listening to it brew, picking out my favorite mug, pouring the coffee, and sitting in peace to drink my coffee. This is a ritual that I look forward to doing every morning.

The process here is a bit more intimate. Our kitchen is just a screened-in porch with bats living on the back screen, and it's pretty scarce of electric appliances. So in order to make coffee, we boil the water and pour it through a strainer (which is a rigged-up sock and hanger).

It's delicious and peaceful just like I can make at home, but I have to say this is the first place I've ever had coffee with monkeys and iguanas!

markers and a spanish guide

In my week of observing my new school, I have not only been watching to see what the teacher does in class, but I've also been watching how the students and different teachers interact. Wow. The school seems to be almost opposite of the way Korean schools are ran, and it is quite different than anything I've ever imagined happening in a school at home. I don't know if it's just this school, or if it is Costa Rican schools (I'm told that it's just in this area), but I get the feeling that school is kind of optional. And if the kids do decide to come to school, class is optional. And if if the kids do decide to come to class, listening to the teacher is optional. So, as you might can imagine, the classroom is almost chaotic. Luckily, it's a private school, so there aren't too many kids. In most classes, there are 4 to 6 students. The small number of students make the chaotic feeling a little easier to control; however, no matter how many or few people you're trying to talk to, it's always frustrating when you have to dance to get their attention every time! It's not that the kids are bad--there are some really cool and sweet kids there; they just have a different idea of what school is I guess. And it doesn't help that "respectar" and "disciplina" aren't commonly used words or thoughts.

The school itself is a pretty neat place: concrete building painted green, no air-conditioning but fans in every room, not too many windows that close, a big open court in the middle that all the kids go play basketball, ping pong and foosball during their breaks. It is exactly how a school in a tropical area should be. Kindergarten through 10th grade attend. Kids from all different backgrounds. It really is a diverse and interesting environment.

baby monkeys

We arrived in Montezuma, Costa Rica yesterday evening. We were picked up by Stephanie (the girl who set me up with the job), and she brought us to our little cabina. We took a dirt road to get here. This morning we walked to the beach, and it took about 15 minutes. It's a quiet beach with a handful of shops and restaurants and bars scattered around. It's a beautiful place...well worth a visit!
Throughout the night, we heard monkeys howling. Actually I didn't believe they were monkeys until this morning when we went outside and saw about 6 of them hanging out in the trees that surround our cabina. As we watched them closely, we could see that several of them have little babies hanging on their bellies and backs!