A Little Glimpse into my Everyday

Because last week was our first more "normal" week, I wanted to give a little glimpse into my everydays here in the beautiful and welcoming Costa Rica.  Since I love pictures, especially when I read blogs, this post will include a lot of pictures :)  

During the week, Tuesday through Friday, we have classes up at campus.  I have a wonderful breakfast every morning with my host mom.  Coffee is always in abundance!  Then, to the bus we go, up the hill to campus.  I love my classes, especially since they are so small with a lot of professor interactions.  My professors here- Lindy and Dinorah Scott- definitely feel more like friends/mentors more than professors.  Here's a picture of the always animated and challenging Lindy Scott teaching.

Then, here's a picture of us about to start a 3 hour afternoon class.  Sometimes we all get a little stir crazy after 3 hours of classes, no matter interesting they are. 

 

 After classes, we take the bus back down and walk to our houses.  Here's a coffee field along my walk home from the bus.

My house (my family's house) is a little up from the small city San Rafael de Heredia at the base of Monte de la Cruz.  This is a picture from the bus of a random street in San Rafael.   In the back, you can just see the top of the church in the Parque Central of the city.  I LOVE this church.  It's pretty easy to spot, so I know we're getting close when I see the top of the church :)

We live off a semi-dirt road.  Here's some pictures of the outside and inside of my house to give some visual :)  In this picture, my house is the more colorful one on the left.  They rent out the apartment above to a really sweet family.  My neighbor Josh in this picture lives in the house behind the gray gate to the right. 

Now, here is a picture of the dear dog Peter.  For all you with whom I've skyped, you know this is not a dear dog to me!  He barks constantly, especially at night it always seems.  It's crazy how a little dog can make so much noise!  Maybe one day I'll warm up to him or appreciate him...but not right now

This is the kitchen with the table we eat (and take all of our cafecitos) at toward the back.

  This is my room right beside the kitchen :)

Usually, I am greeted by my host mom and dad, and we talk about our days for a while in the kitchen.  Sometimes they teach me new vocabulary words or Costa Rican phrases.  Other times, they just laugh about some of my stories about getting lost.  I enjoy the daily debrief with them.  Here's us with our sunglasses trying to look oh so cool.

Then, we have dinner.  Usually another family (relatives or friends) comes over for dinner too.  My host mom fixes some good dinners!  We talk around the table or watch whatever weird show is on the TV.  Then, we watch soccer games, play fooseball, talk, or just do our own things, like homework or getting on the computer. 

Well, that's a little glimpse into my Tuesday-Friday weekdays!  I sure can't complain :)