The one with the Goodbyes

Never thought it would be possible to get close to so many people that speak a completely different language than me.

This was my last week in Costa Rica. On Monday I felt like this day would never come and it did. Memorable things throughout this week:
-Monday: all three of us (van, carl and I) laying on vanessa and I's twin beds making CD's of songs we have listened to in Costa Rica. We laughed for about 2 hours and had such a fun time together.
-Tuesday: Carley and I had a sleepover in her room
-Wednesday: We went to San Jose to go to a Market that has souvenirs and you bargain with the salesmen. At one cart I got 12 dollars off of something. My aide in the classroom-Silvia- went with us and helped us out too. Then I got to go be with some of my boyfriends family-the Burns- whom I spent Spring Break with. This was my favorite part of the week. I went to Mary Beth's (daughter) band play in the theater in downtown and then spent the night at their house. We woke up had coffee on the porch and german pancakes. I love this family. I cannot say that enough.

Thursday: After school we went to get mani/pedis for a total of $24 dollars and that is expensive in Costa Rica. After that we went to Spoon and had dinner with our teachers! Ms. Ana Pacheco, Ms. Abby Franklin and Ms. Silvia Musmani came and we were laughing and talking for 2 precious hours. After this we went to a dessert goodbye part for us at Meghans. It was so sweet of her to have us over and we ate amazing chocolate layered cake and talked for awhile.

Friday: Its one of the hardest things to do...Saying goodbye to 21 little latino precious faces and friends I have made here. Saying bye to my teacher was the hardest for me. She has been an inspiration to me, encouraged me, pushed me, made me a better teacher, been my friend to talk to about everything, been a joy to my day..I love my teacher! But we felt like we were going to see each other again, therefore we had a peace about it. But saying goodbye to all the friends I made here! That is HARD!! Knowing the chances of seeing them again are slim but possibly hopeful. I teared up all day and then lost it at 3:00 when my kids wouldn't let go of me. They had a surprise party for me during the day and made signs and brought food and gave me a shirt with all their faces on it! They kept asking "Miss Tricia why do you have to go? Why can't you stay here? Are you coming back? I will come visit you in oklaOma". This was a really hard day. I am so thankful Lord that you placed me here. Thank you for putting me here even when I doubted you. I am changed forever from this experience.

Saturday: TODAY! Now that I am all dried up from crying I am ready to come home. I see Travis in 11 hours and that is all I can think about haha. I am ready to have a phone, ready to be with English speakers. I am ready to sleep on a bed with a mattress that you cannot feel wooden planks, I am ready for American food, I am ready for more control of my life, I am ready to drive, ready to be with my best friends, ready to start something new..

I will miss:
-Ms. Pacheco
-My precious 1st B class. I had 21 kids.. 1 from Minnesota, 1 from Virgina, 2 from New York but from Venezuela. 1 from Guatamala, 1 from Mexico but lived in the US. All adorable and full of life.
-My friends that I made here- Milagro Castro(sister), Katherine Seymour(came with us to Saint Teresa from North Carolina), Meghan (from New Jersey came with us to Saint Teresa), Conny (BVS maid that doesn't speak any English but we became close to), Silvia Salas (the aide in our classroom), Momma Elza, Nikki, Gigo, Tracey Waters, Abby Franklin, Esterlena (maid at BVS that rode with us everyday)..it goes on..I am so thankful!
-The challenges that I daily faced that were different than the States
-Traveling
-Being on my own
-The beautiful scenery and mountains.
-Carley and Vanessa
-The chill atmosphere-I think I stressed one time!! Its amazing how laid back it is.
-The list goes on..

Things I am excited about:
-TRAVIS mi amor
-My family
-My friends
-OSU/Theta
-Graduation
-Moving on to a new chapter in my life
-My bed
-Control of where and when I do things..car
-Being with Native Speakers from the States haha
-Sonic drinks
-Feeling Clean
-Carpet
-Seeing houses without bars and gates and barbed wire
-Summer Nights
-Roads that paved and big enough for two cars to pass
-Church
-Starbucks as weird as that sounds cause I am in the Coffee belt
-Bible Belt surrounded by believers
-the list goes on..

Thank you for reading, I will write one more when I get home to talk about the transition. I really appreciate whoever you are keeping up with me!!

Pura Vida one more time.
Tricia

The one with a normal day..

I figured that I should give you a brief about a day in Costa Rica. I am going to do the best I can to describe it!

5:45a.m-my eyes open and realize I have 15 minutes left.
6:00 a.m- Its a Brand New Day!!!!!

6-6:45 - Get ready-throw on my cotton skirts and shirt, eat either a)cereal that needs splenda b) waffles with ants and get in the car to go.
*Pick up Esterlena that lives 5 minutes away, she is a head maid at Blue Valley that speaks to us in Spanish and we laugh and smile cause not one of us understands.
On our way to Blue Valley, the sun is already up and its bright outside. We see people walking to work and places opening up for the day.

7:15- arrive at Blue Valley School.
7:20- Check email in the teachers' longue and say Buenos Dias at least 10 times to other employees.
7:45- Sit around talking to ticas or each other or read.

8:00- School starts, teachers walk into their classrooms at this point, not a minute before.
8:30- Assembly. Salut noble bandera, blanco azul y rojo..hamas neengoon son rojo fumancha est splendor (Tricia's phonetic version of Spanish) Salut to the Costa Rican Flag.
Class and Breaks throughout the day. We do not stay in the room while Spanish class is in there, we do not go to specials: art, PE, music, library.. We really leave the class alot. Have a 15 minute but turns into 25 min snack break at 9:45.
-Seek out our tica friends: Milagro Castro, Daniella, Kathrine, and stay away from the administration that scares us.

*Lunch at 11:30 where us gringos choose to sit at a smaller separate table where we speak English instead of trying to follow along with 15 different Spanish conversations at the other table. They all speak at once and somehow all hear each other.
-Look out the windows and see every single boy on a ripstick riding everywhere possible.
-My boy students constantly jumping on me and getting me to say spanish words cause they think its funny how I talk. The girls just love to hug. My teacher and I laugh alot.
-School is out at 3:00! We have to wait till Momma Elza gets off at 4:30, she is the school receptionist
-Therefore, Vanessa and I run! We run over 2 miles everyday with this running program we got going on.. its hard alot of the time but we push each other and do it!
-We used to do lesson plans too after our run, but not anymore!
*Leave at 4:30 with Momma and possibly on Mondays or Tuesdays go to Price Smart (like a Sams) or Hiper Mas (owned by Wal-Mart) or the Supermarket for groceries.
-Get home around 5:00 ish.
*Hang out with the girls, maybe go for a walk in the mountains.
-Lesson plan time too
-Watch Food Network, Lost, or anything else that is in English
-Skype!
-P90X
Eat around 6:30 Rice, Beans, Maybe some kind of chicken.
-Wash dishes and laugh
-Shower and go to bed soon after!
That was the life and day of Tricia Alaback.

Pura Vida.

The one with the plate full of ants

This morning I woke up ready for the day. I popped in my frozen french toast and had it with a nice plate of syrup. After I finished the first toastie I looked carefully into my syrup and saw a little black thing..in my head I said, "Tricia don't over-react until you are for sure..." Then I noticed these black things were covering my toasties and all in my syrup...yup ants. I started gagging and haven't stopped since. I want to go home where there are not bugs everywhere!

The one with the firestation and the Caribbean

Here are some pictures! Our class went to the firestation and loved it! We saw bomberos-firefighters and now all our boys want to be firefighters.

We went to Puerto Viejo this weekend, which is in the caribbean! It was beautiful and we spent the day snorkeling and hiking. We saw: a reef shark, lion fishes, colorful fishes, I swam through a huge school of fish from a dare, sloths, monkeys, poisonous snakes, raccoons and so many more things! I loved snorkeling, I love holding my breath and going deep just to look closer at things under water! It was definitely amazing and I would recommend going there! In Puerto Viejo, its a very chill environment; too chill at times, I got offered brownies with weed and Bob Marley is posted everywhere, there are signs that say "No Smoking Weed in the restuarant." Its so interesting how different a culture can be...and this was completely different than Escazu and many parts of CR. It has more jamaicans and nicaraguans and other cultures mixed.

I am ready to return to the States. I realize that I won't get another chance like this and I am therefore trying to make the best out of the time I have left. Its hard when you can see the end and the things coming and not to be thinking ahead. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here! 10 days left!

Thank you for reading, I am so grateful for you
Tricia

The one with Saint Teresa

I posted pictures below check em out!

Picture this: Heaven
Now think about a slice of Heaven on earth...what you are picturing is Saint Teresa. Saint Teresa is on the Northwest peninsula of Costa Rica. This trip was a Blue Valley girls teacher trip! :) Carley, Vanessa, Kathrine (3rd grade North Carolina teacher) and Megan (prep NJ teacher) went on a long but worth it trip starting 6 am Saturday morning. The night before we had a Blue Valley girl Teacher pasta night at one of the women's house. They told us that normally teachers don't hang out with the student teachers from OSU and we are the first ones they wanted to hang out with! We all spent the night at Kathrines Friday night and woke up 4:30 Saturday morning to start the morning off in Coca Cola Station San Jose...who wouldnt want to wake up to the most dangerous part of the province? We were fine and went on a 2 hour bus ride (air conditioned!) to Punteranas then jumped on a ferry for an hour. The ferry ride was breathtaking: rocky islands around, blue clear water, perfect temperature with a cool breeze.. We got off the ferry and took 2 more ours of a bus ride to get to our destination. Saint Teresa is a quieter beach that everyone says if you cant go to the Caribbean go to this beach. My friends-Bekah, Emmy and Luke- went there and suggested it to us.

We laid out on the beach and then Van and I came up with a cool game: throwing rocks. Side note: the waves were HUGE, so big that if you went ankle deep, the undertoe would be so strong that it knocks you down. I got knocked down and I fell on the sea shell sand and cut my leg! Worth it. Anyways Van and I threw rocks in a hole for awhile and had competitions who could throw the farthest. We took a long walk on the beach to go to a surfing competition. It was so cool watching people surf almost as a profession.

We watched the sunset and it was absolutely incredible. The most beautiful view; Always makes me stand in awe of God seeing a different painting in the sky!

Funny Story: We went to this empty place to eat dinner and before we sat down we asked if they had a credit card machine and they didn't. The guy then turns to us and goes "do any of you have a license?" Us "um no..??" Guy"ok I will have him drive you to the ATM" (pointing to a U.S worker) so the guy drove 2 of the girls to the ATM which was 6 kilometers away! I just couldn't believe that he was going to let us (strangers) drive his car 6 kilometers away where we didn't know where the ATM was..

We came back today on the 6am bus and are exhausted.
20 days left and counting!
Staying strong and running the race!
Patricia

The one where Saint Teresa really is beautiful

Saint Teresa!

Explanation of the sand in my hand: the one where its full of sand-God fills us up with love, strength, joy..
One where the sand is falling: Its our job to pour this love and joy to others...this is my thoughts about me being in Costa Rica. As Travis has told me, "my students might not see Christ's love" therefore I have/need/want to pour out onto them.

The one with Semana Santa

Pictures: Vanessa and I on Easter! The Dinner we made on Friday night (read on!) Mary Beth Burns and I outside a church made from Tin! and an old man, not made from tin!

Started off Holy Week by forgetting my passport accidently went to Houston with Vanessa, and to my knowledge I was going to have a terrible week starting that lonely Friday night. The LORD knows the best plans for us, even though through our tunnel narrow, self centered eyes we cannot see it, we always have to TRUST that He knows what He is doing!!

I hung out with Elza and Nikki all day Saturday and went shopping with them. That night I went to a huge arts festival with my brother Gigo and his girlfriend Andrea and their married friends. Ha I think I spoke 6 english words the whole night, but the guy that sung was really good...in spanish.

Sunday- went to a Catholic spanish church with Nikki and Elza. At the beginning of the service, we stood outside in the street watching "Roman Guards" beat drums in their outfits and saw 12 disciples and two real oxen carrying "Jesus" on a cart. It was really cool! The whole service was in Spanish though, so I understood some but mostly looked around at the completely overflowing church. I was the only blonde-score. The bulletins cost a little less than a dollar to use, and the preacher joked about bringing cake and cookies to pay for the sins..was a little thrown off by that.

Monday-Wednesday- I got to be with Travis' family! Travis' cousin Brooke Burns and her husband Doug have two kids-Mary Beth and Austin and they live down here only 30 minutes away from me! They have been missionaries here for about 4 years and are leaving back to the States in June. We made fudge, homemade pizza, and amazing pancakes. We had wonderful times at: Starchi (furniture city), coffee times on the porch, getting hooked on the tv show called The Unit, dressing up in weird clothes with Mary Beth, ROLLER BLADING-thats right I got back on rollers after my accident, painted, went to a cool tile design place and made crafts, drank about 1 gallon of cold milk because my family buys the milk that stays in the cuboard, and had wonderful conversation. This was exactly what I needed and I loved it more than Panama could ever offer. The Lord is so amazing.

Wednesday-Thursday- stayed with Tracy Waters. She is a teacher at Blue Valley and her husband is in the States. We hung out watched movies and traveled around Escazu. We picked up my girls on Thursday!

I hope you enjoy this part of the story:
Thursday- I surprised the girls with their favorite drinks-Monster for Carl and Diet Pepsi for Van- and chips, queso (actually impossible to find here)and beans. Friday Morning woke up and they ate cookies and waffles all day because literally there is no food at our house because our family was at the farm. We watched greys anatomy most of the day. I got some really good time in the word that day-read Genesis-amazing. Found out Charlotte our huge spider has a twin-Spidey-not anymore cause we killed it. For dinner, we had to go to a pulperia near by (this is a place usually owned by chinese people and they stuff the store with absolutely everything imaginable, but it smells horrible) we ate noodles for dinner along with corn, beans, guacomole, and a sauce made from: ketchup, mayonaisse, salts, lemon..so random, explains the picture above. All slept on a king sized bed together that night :)

Saturday- woke up and waited for the taxi we called the night before and they never came so we walked awhile into Escazu (its a hike) and found a taxi and were late for our bus with the other OSU students to a beach called Punternas or something. We got to the beach and layed out on it for awhile. It was pretty busy! We layed out by this pool with some connections the rest of the day. That night we ate more noodles and beans haha.

Easter Sunday!! We didn't have any way to get to church today so we made our own! We set up Carls computer and watched her church live! We all were dressed up and would sing along and read along in our Bibles. We read from Luke together and prayed together and it was such a beautiful morning with the Lord and in sweet friendship. We had the OSU students over to make Easter lunch. We cooked for awhile and inhaled in a short time everything we cooked. Then Carl Van and I went on a walk up in the mountains. My favorite part in Costa Rica is this green mountain that has a wooden cross at the top-standing bodly overlooking San Jose province. I look to it with HOPE. We got a really good view of it from the height we were at, I want to hike to it, but I heard people get killed hiking up there...hmm

That brings me to now. Thank you for reading and I am so thankful for you. Also, 4 weeks left. 3 weekends left to plan. 3 weeks of teaching-2 weeks left to plan...More memories to come!

The Joy of the LORD is my STRENGTH
Tricia Marie

The one with the mistake

Note to self and everyone out there: be careful where you put your passport, it might accidentally end up in a book and sent home with your roomate that went back to the states for a weekend. Yes, my passport is in Houston, Texas and I was supposed to go to Panama tonight. I am home..with Momma Elza and everyone else is on a 13 hour bus ride to Panama. Don't feel sorry for me, it was my stupidity. I am trying to figure out what to do for my Holy Week here. I might go to the farm with Momma Elza and Grandma haha! I wish I could be home with my family during Easter :( The Lord has a plan and even though I don't like it right now, I trust Him and know He knows what is best.

Story: I am sick with the virus going around school. I have a pharmacist best friend cause I have been to her several times; anyways, I go up to her today asking about a certain shot that alot of teachers recommended and she gave it to me. The thing about this story I want to get across: You can get basically any kind of medicine without being diagnosed or seeing a doctor. She gave me two shots that hurt like no other! I feel SO much better. Not fully, but BETTER!!! Getting medicine is interesting here in Costa Rica.

Pura Vida everyone and Live it up
Tricia

Picture Post explaining previous post!

Check out my previous post to know the stories behind the pics :)

The one where I am jumping is at the farm! We ran on this road, it was gorgeous

The one with the peacock, its mating season, therefore we saw alot of feathers

The one with the house, is the farm house! Its like a resort!!

The one with the spider= charolette

The factory is on the farm for the sugar production!

There is a lagoon/swamp at the farm and that is why some of the pics are really green!

My beautiful friends came and visited me! The pictures of us at night with the lights in the background is the place we ate at! So beautiful!!

The one with Carley and I in the pool, we can make some good homemade margaritas!

The one where I am holding a fruit..This is where cashews come from! It is on the top and you cut it open and dry it. We tasted the fruit at the supermarket once, and it literally pulls out all the saliva possible in your mouth, throat, tongue anything. It dries it up and you can't swallow. The ticos thought it was hilarious watching us gag at the market.
Gods Love and Mine!

The one with the perfect run on the sweet farm

Hello! Let me tell you about the amazing weekend I had!

We went to our family's farm! The farms history and facts:
-Its a sugarcane farm (tons of acres!) and the sweet aroma of sugar filled the air!
-There is a factory on the farm that started from Elza's Dad and two brothers and cuban men in 1962
-After their sugar is made, it is sent to another place that combines two other sugar farms sugars and makes Dona Maria a sugar that supplies to the U.S. and Costa Rica!
-They profit from however much they sell

Carley and I went with Nikki and Elza and oh Cha Cha (Nikkis friend who doesn't speak any english and just laughed at Carley and I the whole time for some reason)
We pulled into the farm and were surrounded by mountains, one way dirt road, sweet smells, iguanas, crocodiles, peacocks, horses, a beautiful pool, resort like house and all under the sun!

Carley and I went for a run on Saturday morning. On our way our to the dirt road, we ran past 15 huge iguanas. I think her words after the first one was " I hope they dont get any bigger!" They got at least 3x bigger! They were huge and so gross! Thought about taking one back for a new roomate. Oh, by the way, Stuart won't stop inviting people over..we now have Charlotte..huge spider that Momma Elza tried to hold instead of kill.

It was such a perfect weekend though! The best part was yet to come though :) My friends Bekah Blume and Emmy Wortham and Luke Zsiga came to visit me! Sunday night we hung out at the Multiplaza and then they came to my school on Monday! The first thing they said about my kids in the classroom "Your kids are crazy." And they really are!! I turned around and Jose Maria was holding a chair over Felipe and the peg was going into his eye! Oh wow. That night, Carley and I took them to a famous costa rican place that has the best view of costa rica. It was a stormy night, but we could see all the lights and the lightening in the distance. It was so awesome seeing my friends and such a blessing and it gave me so much joy.

I am almost teaching every subject, except for writing. I am sick-again- a virus is going around. Its really frustrating, it makes me want to be back in the States and feel normal again.

Tonight we are going to this event called FIA. Its at a huge park in San Jose that offers concerts, art festivals, crafts, and sellers.

I will upload pictures later!
Thank you for reading!
Trish

The one where Stuart invites a friend..

Picture: Some of us gringos that teach at blue valley! The girl between van and carl is Megan, she is an aide here from NJ, The tall one with the pink tank top, her name is Abby Franklin. She is married to a tico and is a like our big sister here. We love her and she is coming with us to Panama for spring break. She is Vanessa's teacher. Tracy Waters is in the blue shirt, her and her husband just moved here and she is awesome too. Random fact, she said no 5 times to her husband (now) when he proposed! The other girl, I don't know her name, but she is nice :) This was at the beginning of the 5k race at blue valley!
Story: Last night it was us 3 at the house alone and we made some cookies and were sitting down to watch a movie. As I was about to sit, a thing launched itself from my seat to the floor in a matter of seconds. Turns out we have geicos now. Scared me to death and all three of us were immediately on the highest part of the couches and couple minutes later Stuart runs across the ground and hides under a rug; again on the highest point of the couches..yes there was screaming. Picture this: three girls holding boxes arguing who moves the rug with the umbrella to then catch stuart when he runs with our boxes. Finally moved the rug and Stuart ran into the kitchen through a crack in the door. Again, Stuart wins. The rest of the night all three of us were looking all around and dreamed about lizards, mice and other things.

Speaking of dreams..you know what is annoying? Dreaming about lesson plans, objectives, materials and activities. I wake up stressed over the lesson in my dream. Not cool.

We had Family Day at Blue Valley Saturday! We were there from 8-3, it was a long day. They had so much food and water slides, inflatables, runs, games.. so much fun. I loved it.

Funny Lying Story: Today on the bus this guy sits by us and speaks fluent english and our conversation went like this:
-Where are you from?
*Oklahoma
-I studied in Austin Texas for 4 years at UT in architecture. I am an architect and studied architecture at UT. Do you have names? Isn't Oklahoma in the Midwest? (At this point I am thinking, ok moron if you spent 4 years at UT and didn't know Oklahoma was above you then what the heck did you learn?)
*Yes, Emma Grace and Vanessa.
-Where do you live and why are you here?
*We live in Santa Ana (lie) and are working.
-Where in Santa Ana? Do you have a phone number where I can reach you to practice my English and you can practice spanish?
* Nope.
Thoughts: Oklahoma is right above Texas, You did not study architecture at UT because you are riding the bus and live with your mom, you told us a million times you love the US and were in Texas, you speak fluent english and want to practice it...Wow. People are ridiculous.

Other thoughts while I am here:
-I have the best boyfriend, there is no comparison
-I am starting to get homesick, but love it that I am here
-Aunt B, there is a woman here that reminds me so much of you! Youre the best though! :)
-I wish I understood Spanish, I am still translating in French
-My friends are coming into town this week!! I AM SOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a wonderful week and thank you for reading!!!!
Trishhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

The one with the new roommate

Story: I was minding my own business and using the restroom in Vanessa and I's bathroom and all of a sudden a black furball runs across my feet and goes behind the toilet in a hole in the wall. Its our new roomate: Stuart Little. Awesome. I don't think its going to talk to us or make boats with us and win races.

Vanessa left this weekend to be with her family that flew down, so Carley and I had a date weekend. We went to get my first sushi on Friday night... I would say I loved them cause 16 rolls later I was satisfied(side note: the waiter brought us the wrong order so we got 8 free ones). 24 rolls in all this weekend..woops! Friday night, Carley and I woke up to a 4.4 earthquake. Elza and Nicky ran to our rooms making sure we were ok, they said that was a very strong earthquake for two reasons 1. it lasted several seconds and earthquakes are not usually that strong here 2. The epicenter was in San Pedro*very close to Escazu!

Went back to stinky San Jose to buy tickets to go to Panama for Spring Break! Bring on the Canal!

We went to church at the International Baptist Church today. The pastor was from Gutherie... small world right? The song leader sang at an incredibly high and awful note, and I was surrounded by men on one side..I didn't know how to sing! But that usually isn't abnormal.

*Dotter, you would love the black beans and coffee here. You would be in heaven every day! I sure am!

Just to show you how much traveling has affected me: In my dream last night, it was my wedding and I chose one of my friends to be a bridesmaid..well turns out I realized after the ceremony that she couldn't be one of my bridesmaids because "they" wouldn't let her cause she didn't have a passport and another form of identification with her. WOW! So turns out my little 1st grader took her place..oh dreams.

Thank you for reading, I am officially half way done after this week! Then I graduate! Woop!

Tricia

The one where Carley and I run..

When you run in your state do you typically:
-See cows that are surrounded by no fence?
-roosters everywhere
-the sweet aroma of sewage everywhere
-guys yelling at you every second
-not wear an ipod in fear of getting mugged
-jump over sewage
-have to run on gravel
-see beautiful mountains around you and still have a breeze with warm sunshine
-get nervous that cars will get as close to you instead of giving you plenty of safe space
Just some thoughts and views of what its like to run in Costa Rica :)

At the supermarket the guy that was behind the counter working asked Elza in spanish, "Who are these beautiful girls with you ?" Elza answered without cracking a smile "They are my daughters" and we walked off. Made us feel so special. I made a joke to Elza right after saying "I wonder how many states men he thinks you have been married to, to get girls looking as different as us!" ha I think I am funny.

This weekend we are chilling!! HURRAY!! Things we are possibly going to do:
-Fresh Fruit Market Saturday Morning at 5 am (cheap and freshest fruit there is!)
-My teacher Mrs Pacheco is having her birthday party at this really fancy place in the mountains on Friday night. Carley and I are dressing up and going!
-Sunday- I am really excited about this, we are going to an International Baptist Church that supposedly has mostly gringos and its in ENGLISH! yay!

Teaching:
-I am taking over slowly, took over Science subject (my favorite)
-Kids are literally so crazy here. While my teacher was lecturing, I looked over and the boys are playing red rover in the classroom!!! No wonder I am exhausted every day.
-I am more strict with these kids than I have been with any other class or group of kids I have ever had. I can't let them play red rover when I am teaching!
-I got my first kid present today! I was so excited! The girls made my some post its that I had on my desk with my handwriting on them and glued flowers and grass around them hahaha. Loved this.

Thank you for reading!
I have been really focusing on what it means to "Walk In Love" as our Savior would put it. Everything that I react to, respond to or do...am I walking in Love?

MEISS TrEshEa (phonetically here)

The one where we reversed on the on ramp..

First before I start here is my mail address:
669-1250 Escazu
San Jose, Costa Rica

This past weekend the OSU crew took a trip to Arenal. Arenal consists of an active volcano that is surrounded by a chilly rainforest! My favorite thing we did this weekend was going to the hot springs. Basically, it comes down to this: the most beautiful swimming pools and scenery that you could ever imagine is this but instead of chlorine and tap water this is natural springs! There is different temperatures in each pool surrounded by waterfalls. The highest degree was 153 F! The one we loved that felt like perfect bathwater was 95 F.

I also got a 70 minute antistress AMAZING massage for $30...beat that U.S!

We went on a lava tour that night, but the volcano was covered in clouds so we didn't get to see any red hot goo.

Um, STILL sick with throat infection..think this is week 4. Pray for healing, this is frustrating.

I posted the pictures! Gosh, I wish they did anything I saw justice. I love it here!

Oh, about the title. On our way home we are in San Jose and our van driver is merging on the highway and decides half way on the highway lane he doesn't want to get on this highway. Of course the logical, safest and easiest way is to reverse.. (hmmm) So we did. We reversed very far back and got honked at the entire way down. I turned around to watch just in case we got hit, at least I could brace myself. We made it thankfully. I wonder how much a ticket would cost in the States if someone did that?

Oh! One of my favorite parts of the weekend.. I met this adorable old couple from Montreal at the springs and they spoke french and english. I practiced my french and they basically adopted me as their daughter. I loved being able to speak and somewhat understand a different language.
Thank you for reading and pura vida
Trish

The one with the changes

All my teachers and professors have told us, "Don't hang out in the teachers lounge, too much gossip, negativity.." My question is: Does this apply when I don't understand a word they are saying, because its in Spanish?

Somethings I have been thinking about:
-When I come home, I will either a) forget how to drive b) be a crazy lunatic driver like the people here c) be extra careful
-I graduate the week I come back
-I am wanting to sleep in a bed that I cant feel wooden planks on my back :)
-I wonder if my guard is being let down or if I was over cautious at first, because I am feeling comfortable here, even though I still stick out
-I am not in the bible belt, I am in the Catholic belt now.
-Blue Valley is unlike any school I have ever seen, its so different than anything I was taught.. I can't say much about this environment on my blog though.
-My teacher and I are so much alike, she is so amazing and I am learning ALOT from her
-I have 19 students..12 of them have learning disabilities..talk about frustration to extra patience, God is good.
-The Lord is showing me how to rely on his STRENGTH and not my own. I have been praying that my heart breaks when His does, that I see the world through His eyes, and that He uses me to spread His light with my actions and words.
-I love Costa Rican Coffee.
-Everyone has maids here. Its common for everyone to have one that: cooks for them, cleans their dishes, cleans their house, and even watches their kids. Its sad to me, because I see how lazy people can get and have less connection with their kids because instead of the mom or dad carrying their baby around, the maid does...any thoughts??
-Throwing your toliet paper in the trash can is one of the nastiest things, the pipes in CR are too little for toliet paper
-We are not the only Americans, we are from the States, people are Americans here too!
-My blonde hair and green eyes is obvious to the world down here. Our taxi cab guy looked at me and goes "Oh your beautiful hair and light green eyes, you must have a boyfriend.." all in spanish and then I said What?! and He goes "I am crazy, Crazy Carlos" wow.

-Well thats all, I hope everyone is doing well, thank you for reading if anybody is haha.
-Mr. and Mrs. Armour I am praying for you today and I love you both so much as my other family.

Tricia

Picture Post!

Not in Order:
Carley and I at Manuel Antonio

My kids on our field trip!!

Carley and I's beautiful handstands on beautiful Manuel Antonio

This is the COSTA RICA NEW PRESIDENT!! Laura!! We met her at the game, it was so awesome!!!!

The coconut, this guy was selling them on the beach for a dollar. you stick a straw through the thin layer and drink the milk! So good, refreshing!