Cinnanbon

Today I made a trip to the mall. While at the mall I saw a Cinnanbon restaurant. So I splurged and I brought Cinnanbon cinammon rolls home for the Costa Rican family who I'm living with. This is a picture of the mom, daughter and daughter's boyfriend enjoying them.

Taking a break from orientation

These are two new students, Karen and Tiffany, taking a break from orientation at the school.

More pictures around the school

Carol at school

Here's a picture of Carol at the Spanish language institute.

Taco Bell

I had a great meal tonight. You are probably expecting to hear about some exotic Costa Rican food or beans and rice or something like that. Well, it was a Crunchy Cheese Wrap from Taco Bell. The other night at dinner the 14 year old daughter of the family here at the house was telling me about different places to eat. She was naming restaurants and she said Taco Bell. My eyes lit up when she said that because that is one of my favorite places.

I asked her more about it and she told me where it was. So this afternoon I went with 3 of my friends to the mall where it is located and we enjoyed going to the movies and then eating at Taco Bell.

For those of you in a really remote place like Mozambique, I just want you to know that I enjoyed it for you and I really do wish I could share it with you!

Thats okay she is 40 years old...

I laughed today when the mom here at the house told me the story about how I ended up in her house to live. The person from the language institute first called and said we have someone to stay at your house. Then they called back and said how old is your son? The mom said that he is 19 years old. The person from the institute said oh the student can't stay there because it is a single female.

The next day the mom received a call and said the female student can stay there because she is 40 years old....I had to laugh. I knew what they meant that it wouldn't be good for a single female in her early 20's to be here with the son but once they found out I was 40 years old; everything was okay!

From the airplane

These are pictures which I took from the plane as we made our way into San Jose, Costa Rica.

Airport waiting

This is Cindi, Kim and me at the Greensboro airport last Sunday morning as I was waiting to leave at the early hour of 5:30 am.

The dog..

There is a cute cocker spaniel dog at the house. She wanted to join the artist party but she had to stay at the door and enjoy it from there. Her dog area is behind her outside on the little patio area.

The Artists corner

For those who don't know, I'm living with a Tico family during my time here in language school. The mom is an artist. She likes to paint, make cards, do flower arranging and other things like that. Yesterday-Tuesday she had a group of ladies who came to the house to work on their art projects. And for those who know me and my lack of craftiness, I just watched and took a few pictures. I thought I would share the pictures with you.

Showers

I found out an interesting cultural thing today. If you don't take a shower in the morning then the Costa Ricans think you aren't clean.

Speaking of showers, having hot water in the shower is not a common thing. At my house I have what is called a "widowmaker". As you can see in the picture it is a device which attaches directly to the shower head. It uses electricty to heat the water as it goes through the device.

The devices have wires which are exposed in the shower. Sometimes if you touch the device while the water is running then you receive an electrical shock. Thus the term "widowmaker" came about.

Orientation Day

Today was the first day of orientation at the Spanish language school. My class is the largest class that has started at the school in a number of years. For those who know my history, you know that I have both Spanish and Portuguese knowledge in my brain. As I was having an interview in Spanish today I said I'm confused, sometimes a word comes out and I don't know which language it is. The lady doing the interview just laughed. She probably thought that is why this strange language is coming out of her.

Orientation continues tomorrow, Friday and Monday. Classes begin at 7:30 am on Tuesday morning.

First class all the way!

I had a special treat today in my travels. I was upgraded to first class for the trip from NC to Costa Rica. I was as excited as a little kid about being upgraded.

Thankfully I arrived in Costa Rica around 2 pm. Costa Rica is two hours behind EST time.

I was amazed as we were traveling in San Jose. I saw a McDonalds, Wendys, Hampton Inn, Dennys and lots of other places. Now if I can just figure out how to get back to some of the places.

But figuring it out will be a problem for another day. Right now I'm going to bed.

Thanks for your prayers for safe travels!

It's almost time....

It is Saturday evening. I leave in the morning for my flight to Costa Rica. Lord willing I should be there by early afternoon. I've had a good time here in North Carolina in the months that I've been here. I've had a great time enjoying American life, visiting with family and friends, and doing lots of fun things.

Its been good to see alot of you during this time at home. I thank you for your prayers, support and encouragement.

Check back soon for more updates after my arrival in Costa Rica.