Traveling with two wheels instead of four.

No car and no money means you've gotta put in some extra leg work to go places.

Biking.

I figured out early on that as much as I like walking (read here to hear about my walking adventures), that wasn't going to cut it. So, I opted for the cheapest and quickest option and haven't looked back since!  

I started with the back roads. Scenic view...slow pace...but uphill the whole way to school. There sure is nothing like showing up sweaty 30 minutes after you just showered!

Although, I know that the mountainous back roads were probably a better work out, I began to build up the courage to conquer the next biking feat: The highway. 

I had seen plenty of cyclists doing it each morning... if they could do it- why couldn't I? So, I built up the courage and pedaled out into 5 lanes of traffic. The first time was pretty scary, but I just followed the cyclists and I'm still here writing this, so I guess I survived! After that, it became much easier. 

I'm no expert, but here are some tips that I can offer to the aspiring leisurely biker:

1. Helmet, helmet, helmet. I had a bit of a spill a few weeks ago and if I didn't believe in them before, I sure as heck do now!

2. Always bring rain gear. I bought a water proof bag for my computer during the rainy season!

3. Even when you think you're safe in the bike lane- watch out for motor bikes and pedestrians. I hit a pedestrian once. That was awkward. 

4. Just do it. If you over think it, you'll think about how you dread the hills and end up calling your neighbor for a ride. If you had just gotten on your bike and gone in the first place, you would have been there already! 

5. No matter how slow you go, you are already lapping everybody on the couch! 

Now, I just need some accessories!

My biking Wish List:

Brazil Meets Costa Rica!

Recently, I attended a Brazilian party right in the heart of downtown San Jose, Costa Rica. 

Normal.

In honor of the recent Carnival celebration in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, all of the Brazilian ex-patriates in San Jose gathered together to create their best Carnival themed party. Fortunately, the P.E. teacher at our school is Brazilian so he brought us along for the ride!

What we found when we arrived: lots of wild costumes, loud music, and a lot of dancing. 

One of my favorite parts of the night was when we had a chance to learn the dances to the popular "Samba music". Samba is a very rhythmic type of music that involves a LOT of drumming. 

We also got to see some Capoeira (Brazilian martial arts)! 

Our school hosts a Capoeira class after hours so I was very excited to ACTUALLY know what these Brazilians were up to! 

Last but not least, we also ran into a group of American guys in town for an international futbol tournament. It was weird to have a taste of home in the midst of this culture overload. They were surprisingly pleased to discover that we spoke English!

Unfortunately, I know that speaking English happens to be pretty common around here- a pretty big reason why I'm not fluent in Spanish yet. 

I promise, I'm working on it!

New item added to the bucket list:

Celebrate the real Carnival in Rio!

The First Day of School.

You may have noticed that it's been a while since I've posted. If you're a teacher, then you probably understand why. School started and we hit the ground running. I haven't had a finished to-do list since Day 1. Here's one of the biggest things that I've learned so far.

The First Day of School:

My traditional "First Day of School Picture"

There is so much hype around how important the first day of the school year is. Throughout my years of teaching experience, I have heard talk of things such as "you never get a second chance to make a first impression" and "day one sets the tone for the whole year"...

A lot of pressure, don't you think?

So of course I was more than just a little nervous. And on top of that, I had a huge (and strange) bug bite on my face and I had just broken out in a rash (possibly acquired from the aforementioned hammock experience?) both of which were making me itch incessantly. Plus, I had developed a cold that was making me lose my voice. Fabulous combo! 

I did the best to ignore these ailments and I kept running things through my head- how do I introduce myself? How do I teach them the rules? How many times will I need to model what to do when they come in in the morning? ARE THEY GOING TO UNDERSTAND MY ENGLISH?

I didn't sleep much the night before, to say the least.

So, I did my best to get through my whole grocery shopping list of things to do. Just to name a few:

• Introduce myself.
• Take attendance and learn how to pronounce their names.
• Have them introduce themselves.
• Introduce and model morning routines. 
• Introduce behavior plan.
• Create a class contract (pictured below).

I definitely didn't do everything on my list and I definitely didn't do everything perfectly. There are also plenty of things that have realized should have been on that list.

But I have discovered that it's ok.
These kids are still young.
They have moldable minds.

Even if I didn't think about making them put a table of contents in the front of their notebooks...
Even if I'm still not happy with planner/homework procedures...
And even if I simply can't look at those fabulous teaching blogs right now because they stress me out too much-- It's ok. 

Admittedly, I don't always let myself think that way. However, I KNOW that I have to stop telling myself that I'm going to "accidentally mess up their education forever"! and decide that it's a classroom and we're all still learning: even me.

My encouragement: "...let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy." 
Ephesians 4:23-24

Lord, it is my prayer to have renewed thoughts and a renewed attitude. You are working through me powerfully, no matter what my human nature neglects. Help me to put on my new nature and become more like you!

'

"Begin with the End in Mind"

So this is my friend, Suzanne. She's an intern from Holland at our school and she'll be here until June. We both speak English. So of course, we became friends right away.

I've discovered that in Europe, people regularly do interesting things like...stay in hostels. So, it was naturally her duty to introduce me to my first hostel experience the first weekend that we met! So Friday morning, we got up at  4AM, jumped on a bus from San Jose to Puerto Viejo, and suffered leg cramps and neck pains for four hours in the Tico sized bus seats.

Before this trip, my idea of a hostel was not very optimistic. My thoughts were uncomfortable beds, dirty, bland gray rooms, and a little bit sketchy.

Well as it turns out, that's not how they do it in Costa Rica. (Ok maybe it was a little dirty)

See for yourself....

We stayed at Rocking J's.

Where we slept. We paid $7 a night for this hammock luxury.

So, we spent the weekend relaxing at the beach, trying not to get swept away by the red flag waves.
Suzanne tried to teach me how to surf. Unfortunately, I can't really say with a guilt free conscious that I actually surfed...I only made it past my knees a time or two. Maybe next time.

In the evenings, we had the pleasure of meeting a smattering of people from around the globe. I talked to people from Holland (no not just Suzanne!), Sweden, Germany, Canada, Uruguay, and a few a little bit closer to home- Montana & New York. 

The hostel had a kitchen so we gathered a large group of us together and all pitched in for a cheap dinner. Suzanne, our German friend, and I worked together to cook the "best meal" these traveling guys said they had "had in months". I'm glad the we were able to help satisfy a few bellies!

One thing that I discovered through many conversations that weekend was the amount of people who were "trying to find themselves" through traveling and seeing "where life took them". Some of these people had been on the road for months or just at the hostel "chilling" (and drinking...and smoking...) for weeks. I was burdened by the stories of people who were trying to escape disappointment or dissatisfaction with their lives at home. 

Don't get me wrong, I love to travel. That's why I'm in Costa Rica. But I was reminded of the value of having a purpose and vision for your life. It made me reevaluate my life and where I'm headed.

Our school is centered around Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Happy Kids (I'll talk about this more later). But- one of the habits that we've been teaching our kids at school is "begin with the end in mind". As 7 & 8 year olds, my class understood more about setting a purpose and planning ahead than most of those adults did. It is my desire that if those kids decide that they want to be something or go somewhere, they will commit to it and not end up 10-15 years down the road saying to themselves, "how did I end up here?"

That weird feeling like I'm starting college again.

I arrived in Costa Rica just a little less than 2 weeks ago. My parents were kind enough to travel down here with me to help me get set up. [Or maybe they were just smart enough to take advantage of a free place to stay in this popular tropical vacation spot! :)]

In a sense, it took me back to that first day of my freshman year of college... all the way from moving in to my new place [except a little bigger than my dorm room] to hitting the stores to find some needed supplies. We also had a chance to explore the new town and try the get our bearings. 

These were some of our findings:

El Teatro Nacional de Costa Rica

On the bucket list: Before I leave Costa Rica, I will go see a show here.

The Doka Coffee Estate

My collage of the coffee life cycle!

Poas Volcano National Park 

Unfortunately this was the best picture we got. Overcast would be an understatement. Maybe next time we'll see something worth bragging about..

La Paz Waterfall Gardens 

One of those times that you're glad your mom embarrassed you: 

Lets flashback to the airport really quickly. I was standing in the Immigration line with my parents in San Jose, waiting to be officially let into the country. We weren't sure if we had properly filled out our forms so my mom boldly asks the man in front of us to explain the whole process. He responds cordially and gives me his business card in case I need any help while in the country. I stow it away and promptly forget about it.

Just a few days later: Our tour bus takes us up to the La Paz Waterfall and Gardens for the day. When my dad sees the sign, he says "I recognize that name- could it be from that man's business card?" When we return home, I pull out the card only to find that we had met the OWNER of the in the airport line. I need to start making more friends along the way!

La Feria de Santa Ana

Where I will be getting my groceries. 

We realized that our 1-100 Spanish number education doesn't help very much when the lowest bill in Costa Rica is 1 Mil (or 1,000 colones). Perhaps I'll be able to negotiate better deals once I know my numbers in Spanish better!

Our produce from the day.

Drinking refreshing coconut water from an Agua de Pipa!

Jaco Beach

A beautiful way to end the week with mis padres.

And as their week here ended, my new life here was just beginning. 

I remember that when I started college at UGA, Athens, GA felt like such a big town. It felt impossible to get my mind around where things were in relation to one another. Isn't it crazy how fast a town can shrink? I can't wait to discover the ins and outs of Santa Ana and watch it shrink before my eyes. 

Most of all, more than anything, I remember how hard that first month of college was. Searching for my place in that town made time crawl like molasses. But once that month was under my belt, college disappeared in a blink of an eye. Something gives me the feeling that this experience is going to be quite similar. Two weeks has felt twice as long. I feel like home is a lifetime away. But I have to be careful and not wish this away. Pretty soon I'll wake up and it'll be December- it always seems to happen that way. 

Mi Casa Nueva!

For the first and last time in my life, I’m living alone.

Well, kind of. My apartment is at the back of some business offices owned by my school’s director & family. So Monday-Friday 8AM-5PM, I have some welcome company- including dos perros and some elusive gatos.

I am determined to make these two felines my friend, whether they want to be or not.

Some things that will take some getting used to:

-Queen sized bed: oh wait, I’m already thoroughly enjoying this royal luxury

-Outdoor kitchen: learning to follow the “clean before you cook” motto

-Outdoor sink: if the wind blows my hair into my mouth while i'm brushing my teeth one more time...

-All toilet paper is disposed in the trashcans: sometimes you just forget. What they don’t know will never hurt anyone, right?

-Washer, no dryer: clothesline will be my best friend.

-No dishwasher: working on those soft hands.

-The room that never gets used: Every place has one.

-Tall walls around the premise: safe but a little too secluded.

-Sketchy Internet: maybe this will encourage me to start reading more.

-Creepy noises at night: Like I said, I’ve never lived alone before.

Added bonuses:

-Queen sized bed: refer to section above.

-Hammock: too comfortable to do actual work in.

-Coffee Machine at the office up front: hourly lattes

-The room that never gets used: Plenty of room for visitors! Any takers?

-Hot water shower with strong water pressure: a commodity in Costa Rica.

-Mango Trees: scheduled to be ripe in a few months.

My parents left this morning and it hit me like a ton of bricks as they were driving away: this isn't just a nice hotel that we were staying in on vacay. This is my home. Just me. For a whole year. I'm in for the long haul. 

So how’d this happen anyway?

Somehow I got a job as an Elementary School Teacher in Costa Rica without a degree, without knowing Spanish, and without even applying. Sounds like divine intervention to me, don’t you think?

And as after obstacle after obstacle turned into open doors and green lights, I ended up here in Santa Ana, San Jose, Costa Rica ready for the adventure of a lifetime. 

This year, I will be working in a Tri-lingual International School that teaches English, Spanish, and Mandarin. My position will be as a 2nd and 3rd grade teacher teaching English, Math, & Science. I don't officially have a degree yet but I finished the Early Childhood Education Program at the University of Georgia December of 2012 and will be completing my Teaching English as a Second Language minor via online classes this 2013 Spring semester.

Packing seemed like a monstrous challenge at the time but now it seems like a molehill that pales in comparison to my tasks in my teaching job & assimilating to the local culture.

Things that I made sure to include:

--My MacBook, obviously

--My Mountain smith bag

--Chacos (tan lines are cool)

--My new quick dry pants for the rainy season

--A large supply of contact lenses and way too many other toiletries

Things that didn’t make the cut:

--Art supplies (I may be regretting this)

-- My favorite red pea coat, my new sweater dress, and a pile of other cozy winter clothes

--French Press & coffee grinder (big error)

Things that I forgot:

--Retainers (hello, buck teeth)

--Nalgene Water bottle (I’ve been dehydrated ever since!)

--Spanish book (looks like I’m winging this one)
--And more that I haven't even realized yet..

And, after a literal race to gate to make our 6AM flight (not advised), we made it on the plane and on our way.

In just a few short days here, I’ve been reacquainted with the Costa Rican culture and managed to see a little bit of my new community. My parents came along to help out the first week and I know they’ve enjoyed the experience as well. But lets be honest, nobody actually reads a blog post that’s more than a few paragraphs- so I’ll catch you up on that next time.

Pura Vida!