Guatemala

A few days after school ended, Jordan and I took a trip to Guatemala. We flew into Guatemala City and stayed there for one night. The next morning we took a shuttle to Lake Atitlan. We stayed in a lakeside village called San Marcos La Laguna which is reachable by boat.




In San Marcos we stayed at a beautiful small hotel right on the water. It had a small beach, good food and a beautiful view. It was a little outside of the village itself, which is divided by a road into the local section and the foreigner section. Closest to the lake is where all the hotels and restaurants are. The town is really nothing more than a series of foot paths winding between buildings and trees. It was hippie heaven with holistic centers (where you could have your aura read or be healed by crystals), vegetarian restaurants and small stores selling local produce.





After a few days of relaxing and reading, we headed back to Panajachel, which is the main town on the lake. We took the chicken buses from Pana to Chichicastenango (Chichi) to go the world-famous market. The chicken buses are the local buses that got their names from the birds people bring onto the bus with them. The buses (we had to take three) were an experience in itself seeing as we loaded from the front and the back (with the door being shut and pushing on my rear end), had interesting seatmates, and got up close and personal with the locals.




After about two hours, we finally arrived in the busy city of Chichi for market day. It was the best market of the year because they were celebrating their local patron saint. There were dancers and musicians everywhere. Sometime during the craziness, Jordan had his wallet stolen. This really sucked because we had talked about precautions before leaving and he had his wallet in his front pocket. Apparently that wasn't enough. Everything is okay, though. They only stole a little cash and a card that was canceled before they tried anything.

The market was beautiful and alive with action and colors. You could by just about anything there including textiles, wood carvings and embroidery.



After Chichi we spent the day in Pana looking at the stores and stands. There was a really cool bookstore where we bought new (used) books to read. We've been reading whatever we can get from my school lately so it was nice to have books that we picked out.

We then moved on to Antigua, which is a beautiful, colonial town like Granada. It is surrounded by three volcanoes, one of which is active. We spent several days just walking around town and seeing everything. There were lots of cool stores and restaurants to see. We met up with friends from Heredia and had a fun night complete with salsa dancing and alcohol smuggling.




In Antigua we also went on a coffee plantation tour. Margarita showed use here coffee farm and processing building. It was an awesome tour and a great way to learn about coffee.



We tried to attend midnight mass on Christmas Eve but it apparently isn't at midnight because everything was all closed up when we go there. We did see all the fireworks in town, though. That was fun!

On Christmas day we took a shuttle back to Guatemala City where we proceeded to spend Christmas day laying on the bed watching cable (which we haven't had for a while) because nothing is open in the city on the 25th. We did get to order a pizza later in the day and we watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas in honor of the holiday. That was about as Christmas-y as it got, though.

Our flight back went though Honduras, which was cool to see. We didn't get off the plane, but the landscape looked a lot like Costa Rica. And now, after 4 loads of laundry, we are back and ready to welcome my mom and Frank tomorrow afternoon.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed the snow, if that applies to you. :)

As Santa said in Antigua, "Jo, jo, jo, Feliiiiiiz Naaaavidaaaad!"

Birthday and Thanksgiving

For my birthday this year the school already had something planned. It was nice to be with all the fellow teachers without all the pressure of the party being for me. We went to a Lebanese restaurant in San Jose with whole staff as a going-away thing. The food was really good and it had good ambiance with tapestry and candles. Good times! I don't have any pictures of that, but I do have a picture of the fabulous carrot cake Jordan made me for my birthday. It was so huge I took some to school to share and it got so much talk it was eventually called "the carrot cake".



Thanksgiving is another US holiday that we shared with our students. Each class discussed Thanksgiving and brought a dish to share for the day. Each teacher also brought a dish. On Thanksgiving day, Jordan and I (well, mostly Jordan) cooked a turkey. The turkey turned out really well! We also heated the rest of the dishes and had it all ready for the dinner that night.
We had quite a spread! Turkey (and chicken), potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, veggies, salad, bread and dessert. Mmm...




It was nice to share the day with other Americans (and a few Canadians and a Brit, too). It didn't really feel like Thanksgiving, though. It was a regular work day and it was sunny so it felt more like a random feast a school that we called Thanksgiving.

In other news, we have moved. We are now living in the house of a fellow English teacher. He, his brother and mother are Colombia and have extra rooms that they rent to people. They often have students who are studying at Intercultura or other teachers. Another Tica and a Panamanian woman live here as well. Its nice to be close, 1/2 block from the school, and not have the mold around anymore. Being in the green and fresh air was nice, but I like it here a lot more.

Market and Pupusas

I know I have talked about the market before, but now I have a picture of it! Its our favorite thing to do on Saturday morning. Now, we have discovered a wonderful new market treat- pupusas! They are actually food from El Salvador, but are available here. Pupusas are kind of a pita pocket made of cornmeal with meat and cabbage and salsa inside. They are so yummy!


You can get everything from produce to meat and eggs to clothes, electronics and shoes at the market. It opens really early in the morning, maybe 5 or 6, but we usually go about 9. We're not crazy like that!

Halloween

For Halloween at the school all the teachers dress up and we have a ton of activities for the students. Halloween is not celebrated in Costa Rica so its a good cultural learning day. A lot of students don't know what Halloween is or don't know the customs in the US. So, we read Edgar Allan Poe, played guess the slimy thing in the bag, talked about Halloween vocabulary and danced the Thriller. Each session ended with the hitting of pinata- which was very fun.




Jordan and I were at the door greeting people and helping with the raffle. We dressed up as Dorthy and The Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz.


After the fun at school all the teachers and a bunch of friends headed up to a friend's cabin on the mountain and continued the party. We had a lot of fun celebrating our American holiday together.

Last Sunday Blog

I know this is the third blog of the day, but I wanted to write a little on our daily lives, not just the trips.

The rain has really been coming down lately. It feels like fall, although today it was 77 F, apparently. It has started getting foggy in the afternoon/evenings, as well.

Jordan and I have been cooking up a storm! Today I made squash enchiladas and yesterday we made mole. Yum! Thanks to Dad and Pam for bringing us the sauce! We currently have a big batch of pico de gallo in the fridge to go with our fresh chips from the market. I have made special whole wheat, banana pancakes, veggie enchiladas, minestrone soup, chili, breakfast bars, biscuits, etc, etc... Actually, Jordan makes the chili. Its really good! With all the fresh ingredients we get here most things task really good.

The produce is also really cheap. Take a look at what $20 buys you a the market. That's peppers, onions, jalapenos, tomatoes, potatoes, strawberries, bananas, zucchini, carrots, radishes, cucumber, cilantro, pineapple, lettuce, spinach, celery, apples, corn, avocados and chips. Few!



More good news. I have been running again! I bought new running shoes last month at the Adidas outlet in San Jose that one my students told me about. They are white and pink and make me run fast! Well, not really seeing as there are so many hills up here on the mountain. All my routes include at least 1/3 hills. Its good for my health but my face sure gets more red here than it did running in Washington. I learned that it means my body's cooling mechanism is working correctly by bringing blood to the surface of my skin. Interesting... I am semi-training for a 10K that supposedly happens on December 7 in San Jose. I say semi-training and supposedly becuase I can't find any more information about it than the date so far. I am planning to run it, if there is a race.

We have been bonding with the dogs of the owners of our casita. They are Canela, Milor and Pinto. The neighborhood is gated so when anyone or anything passes along the street all the dogs go the fences and bark. When the dogs are barking up a storm, they sometimes come visit. They will come up to the windows of our dining room area and put their faces up. We will usually let them in to say hi. They stick around for a bit and then go back outside to bark some more. That's Canela in the picture.



We also figured out why our room smelled so much like mold. Last week I was laying in bed and the morning light hit the closet doors differently. I noticed some mold on the edges. I stuck my head in the closet and looked at the insides of the doors. Low and behold, this is what I found. Our landlord graciouslly took them off that day so now our room smells a lot better!


All in all we are doing really well. We like the place we are in right now but we are looking forward to moving closer to town in December. It will help both of our non-existent social lives and give us closer ties to the community.

Just a quick reminder to those who know/love Jordan. His birthday is the 23rd of this month. He is sad to be away from his friends and somewhat depressed about turning 27 (old, I know). So, if you feel so inclined, send him an email to let him know you're thinking about him. If you need his email address, just ask!

Thanks for reading! We miss everyone!

Granada Trip

This post is all about our recent trip to Granada, Nicaragua.

Every 3 months we have to leave the country for at least 72 hours in order to renew our visas. For our first "visa run" we decided on Granada, Nicarauga. It is a beautiful colonial city about 2 hours across the border.

The trip started with a late night expedition to San Jose. Our bus left at 6 am, so we needed to stay in San Jose the night before. That day we were planning to go to the hostel, book our room, and find the bus terminal while it was light out. However, this plan did not take flight. That morning Jordan got very sick (the projectory kind) and so we didn't make our pre-trip to San Jose. That evening he was feeling better so we decided to go anyway.

Jordan came to my school at 9pm and we headed to find a taxi. We had to make one crucial stop first- the pharmacy. Not for Jordan, but for me. I had developed pink eye! Great timing! So we go my medicine and found a taxi.



We went to the hostel in San Jose and hung out in our room until we were tired enough to sleep. The bed was not so comfortable. It sunk in in the middle so I kept rolling into Jordan. It was not fun, but we were only there for 5 hours anyway.

We got up and headed to the bus stop at 5am. The bus ride took about 4 hours to the border. At the border we got off and stood in line to get our passports stamped. This part took about an hour and then we got on the bus again. "That was really easy," we were thinking. Not so much... That was just the Costa Rican side. The stamps we got were to say we left Costa Rica. We then rode the bus the Nicaraugan side and they collected our passports. We got off the bus with all our luggage and played "red light-green light". You press the button- if you get green you are good to go, if you get red they search your bag. Of course I got red! I was the only one in our little group. So I went into the building and the official looking guy looked at me, touched the side of my bag and said, "Have a nice day." Man! I should have brought some illegal stuff if that's their idea of security!

We made it to Granada at about 1 pm and found our hostel. Two teachers from my school, Tausha and Jodi, were also doing the same border run. We ate (breakfast in the middle of the afternoon) and then explored around the city a bit. It has beautifully restored colonial buildings. The colors and details are lovely.



The next day we spent the day exploring the city. We found a really nice convent-turned- museum and explored around there for a while. It had an amazing courtyard that let a nice breeze come through. We sat in some rocking chairs and enjoyed that for a while because it was so hot. There were a lot of pre-Hispanic artifacts, like huge statues with strange faces.



On Saturday we went to Laguna de Apoyo. It was the highlight of the trip! Our hostel had a shuttle that took us to the hostel on the laguna. Its in the middle of no where. The lake was created in the crater of an old volcano. It was so beautiful! The rain forest came right down to the water. We got to swim in the lake, eat lunch, take out kayaks and have massages from a blind man. It was so amazing! We wish we would have stayed overnight, which we might do next time! The lake was a perfect temperature and the staff was very helpful. And the hammocks! There were hammocks at Laguna and our hostel in Granada. Jordan and I spent so much time enjoying the hammocks and good books!





On Sunday we went on a guided tour to Volcan Mombacho. We took a car to the national park then a huge old army vehicle to the top of the volcano. We stopped at a coffee plantation and had an amazing view of most of Nicaragua. We then hiked through the rain forest and saw the crater. The crater has been inactive for a long time so all the vegetation has grown over it. We also stopped at a viewpoint that allowed us to see both lakes in Nicaragua, Laguna de Apoyo and a lot of the countryside. It was so amazing!







On Monday we headed home the same way we came. It's very weird to be seperated from your passport and then see the guy walking to the bus with 40 or so passports and no protection. It made me wonder how much my passport is worth on the black market. Hmm...

This trip had a longer buffer time and I didn't have to go back to work until Tuesday, which was nice. The bus on the way home didn't have air conditioning so we were sticky and stinky and hungry.

We haven't decided where we will go next. Maybe the beach in Nicaragua or Panama.

Manuel Antonio Trip

Today is Sunday and Jordan is at a fiends house watching NFL, so I have time to sit down and update my blog! The first thing is our trip to Manuel Antonio and a visit from Dad and Pam.

On September 11 Jordan and I got to play hosts for the first time here in Costa Rica. It felt surreal to have people from our old lives in our new lives. Having them here was really nice- it was good to talk to people who already know us. We didn't have to explain everything!

They stayed with us for a few days and then we headed to Manuel Antonio/Quepos for 3 days. Manuel Antonio is one of the big tourist destinations here. The closest town is Quepos and then there is a winding road strung with hotels and restaurants leading to Manuel Antonio National Park. It was about a 6 hour drive on the way there because a bridge was under construction and there was traffic.





We stayed at a nice hotel on the beach. It had a small pool and a path to the beach. The first day we were there we headed to the National Park. We hiked up through the rain forest and saw a few sloths. We ended up at a small beach. We played in the water and enjoyed the scenery. We then went to another beach that is better for swimming and spent some time there. It was a beautiful day and the water was wonderful!



The next day we went to the beach in front of our hotel and hung out there. It was very relaxing! This beach was great and there was a soda nearby that brought us food on our beach chairs! I had a really good burrito. MMM...

Each night we ate really good dinners. I enjoyed enchiladas and fish. It was a nice change from the usual food we eat in Heredia!



All around it was a great trip. After Manuel Antonio, Dad and Pam went to Volcano Arenal for a few days. We met up with them for a last dinner and then they headed back to the US.

It was really hard adjusting back to working. I went from semi-resident to tourist to semi-resident again in 3 days. It wasn't long before I was back in the swing of things again, though.

Food and September

Hello internet land!
I know this will be hard to believe, but its actually sunny today! We were just sitting outside reading and I had to come in because I was too hot! We have all the windows open in a futile attempt to air out the apartment. The mold is taking over. The wall in the kitchen is covered with mold because I think the windows are leaking. Well, we know they're leaking because we see it, but I think that's why its moldy. Our allergies are going crazy! The bedroom is especially bad because our closet is against the garage. Anything I take out of there of the moldy dresser are damp and I often times change my clothes. Jordan get itchy when he wears anything from his dresser. My backpack is so covered with mold that I can't decide whether to save it or toss it.

Jordan and I have been watching the food network a lot. Its one of the only English channel we get. This is torturous because we can't get a lot of the ingredients here. We get cheap produce, which is great. I've been eating a lot of bananas, guayabas and pineapple... mmmm....However, things like soup, peanut butter and chocolate chips are incredibly overpriced because they have to be imported. We've had to be creative to cook within our budget. I make a lot of beans and Jordan likes to make chili and chicken. He has also taught himself to bake bread- so yummy! He's quite the housewife!

It is September, in case you haven't been following the dates. It feels weird to be here the tropics while all my friends and old students head back to school! I've been thinking about them a lot these past few weeks. I feel very lucky to be here with relatively no stress. What am I going to do when I get back to teaching? It seems impossible to imagine right now even though I was in the middle of it just 3 months ago!
So... Happy New School Year to those to whom it applies! Come to Costa Rica when you need a break!
Love you all!

Life

We've been here for over a month now and we're settling in, although I do learn new things all the time.
Its definitely the "green season". It rains every day. Usually by 2 it will be raining so we try to get our errands done early and avoid the downpour.
Yesterday we went to the outdoor market. We bought tons of fruits and vegetables for this week so we should be set. Last week we went too late (noon) and all the booths were being torn down so this week we went at 9. Ticos are early risers- and not quiet about it! Yelling, construction and loud music are all common by 6 am. I think I'm actually getting used to it because I've been sleeping later than 6 the past few weeks.
Last week I had my first clothes-drying experience outside. I put them all on the line and then the dark clouds were on the horizon. I was trying to get things done around the house but it was hard because I was watching the clothes so often. I needed to be ready to run outside and take them down quickly when it started raining. The rain comes on very quickly and in a monsoon fashion, so I was prepared. It all turned out fine because it didn't start raining until I had already left the house.
The last few days its actually been raining all day. Being from Washington, I thought I would be prepared for rain. But this is a different species. It comes on with no warning and then its all over. Your shoes are soaked, your legs have rivers running down and one side of your body is wet because your umbrella sucks and isn't big enough to cover all of you. Word to the wise- buy an umbrella before coming. Don't think that just because you're in a WalMart-owned store that the umbrellas you buy there will hold up for very long. You will end up walking down the road at 9:30 pm in the monsoon with an umbrella that only opens on one side while the other soaked, limp side smacks you in the face
(like me.)
Anyway, overall I'm enjoying my time. My classes are fun and my students are great. I have a couple big classes (9 students), a few smaller (5) and some private students. I'm still shocked at how much time I don't spend working on school stuff. I think back to teaching in the states and I am appalled at how much effort teachers put into their jobs. I don't know if I can do it again!
It already looks like its going to rain soon (its 8:20) so I'm going to go on my walk around the neighborhood.
Have a great day!

A Job and a Home

Yes, I now have both.

Last week I was offered a full-time teaching position at Intercultura, a language school in Heredia. I´m very excited about teaching there. They have a great reputation and I like the people I have met so far.

My classes will be between 4-9 students. They are mostly Costa Ricans and many are taking English classes to supplement high school and university. I will probably teach several week nights and Saturdays. That means I can take free Spanish classes at the school in the mornings (a perk of teaching English there). I will make enough to pay rent, buy food and pay other bills.

As for the home portion of the news- this was a little harder to find. We have been here 1 1/2 weeks now and everyday we have been on the internet looking for places. We also asked around, looked in the newspapers and walked around town looking for signs. One problem is that most places aren´t furnished. So, we started looking farther out of town and found a cute casita about 15 minutes by bus from downtown. We are going to rent from the couple who owns the house and the casita on their property. They live in the main house and have beautiful garden areas around the property. The casita has one bedroom, a bath with a bathtub (vary rare here) and a beautiful kitchen. Its not very typical Costa Rican living, but we´re excited because its beautiful and quiet. We learned the other day its just down the hill from a national park, so we´ll be checking that out too.

Here is the ad for it: http://costarica.es.craigslist.org/apa/747040805.html


So... we move in tomorrow and and I start training for my job Monday of next week. Right now, we´re doing great!

We have arrived safely in Heredia. We have a 2 bedroom apartement at the hotel. Its a nice little place. We have a kitchen and a little living room area.
The flights went well. Both of our neck pillows deflated during our first leg so we didn´t sleep well. Then the 2nd flight was longer than we thought- 3 1-2 hours. I got to watch a movie because we had -literally- the worst seats on the plane. We were in the middle section in the very last row. We couldn´t see out the window, so we watched all the things they had on the TV.
Customs and immigration were simple. They didn´t even ask us about why we were here. After our nap yesterday we went to dinner and then went back to the hotel and went to sleep.
Today we got up and had empenadas for breakfast in town. We found lots of things like the main plaza, the school I want to work at, stores and finally the HyperMas. HypeMas is owned by Walmart and looks like the latin-american version. We bought groceries for 2 dinners and breakfasts.
Its not about 5 pm. We just ate dinner and we walked to the internet cafe a few blocks down the hill. It has rained both afternoons into the evening. Today we bought umbrellas because we got very wet last night walking back from dinner. It´s not too hot, but very sticky. Tomorrow I am going to talk to someone at the school I want to work at. I don´t know what we will do in the afternoon, but we will see!

I will post pictures soon!

West Coast Trip

We're now in Morro Bay, CA staying with my mom, step-dad and grandma. It is warm here and we're starting to get some sun. Here is a recap of our tour down the west coast.

June 18th- We left Bellingham and drove to the Seattle area. We stayed with friends, visited family, barbecued, swam and went into downtown. We also got to meet Jordan's brand new niece, Hannah Madelyn.



June 21st- We left Seattle for Olympia. In Olympia we stayed with my dad and step-mom. There we had a couple of birthday/welcome home/bon voyage parties. My step sister Hannah came home from a year in Europe a few days before we left. I also saw some friends and hung out with my sister and her boyfriend, Andrew.



June 25th- We left to go further south. Somewhere in southern Washington we lost he front bike tire off my road bike. The bikes have been a huge pain! We drove all the way to southern Oregon (Brookings) with a stop in Eugene at the U of O for lunch. The campsite at Harrison Beach State Park was lovely and we went for a nice walk on the beach before roasting marshmallows and going to sleep.



June 26th- We left early that morning, crossed the Oregon/California state border and go our brand new California State driver's licenses in Cresent City. The wild fires were not visible from the highway we were on, but we saw a lot of smoke. We stopped several times to admire the trees and ocean on our way to Santa Rosa, just north of San Francisco. There we stayed with my grandmother. We saw my Aunt and Uncle, swam every day, ate lots of good food, went to Napa Valley and saw the Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic. It was an early morning, but well worth it to see the balloons!





July 2- We drove to Morro Bay, CA where my mom and step-dad live. We drove around San Fran but we couldn't get out of the car for very long because we had everything we own in the car and the 1 1/2 bikes on the back.



We had a fun fourth of July with my family, my aunt uncle and cousins and my grandma. There was lots of food and a fireworks show in the back. We are now running our last errands and finalizing our packing for our trip. We leave the country at 11:55 on Tuesday, so you can think of us then! If anyone needs our phone number or other information, just email me and we will send it out.

Here we go!

We're Gone!

After a ton of packing, cleaning, frustration and rearranging, we have finally left Bellingham. We are currently staying with Jordan's friend Ryan in South Seattle. Its very nice here. We can hear the planes flying overhead to Seatac, which makes me think of our trip. Good times!

Today we're going to Auburn to see Jordan's friends and family. We will be in the area until Saturday, when we go to Olympia.

Thank you to all of you who helped us clean, pack, move and store our stuff! We couldn't have done it without you! We love you all!

Leaving Soon!

My friend Nicole and her husband left last week for Chile. Her first blog entry was travel quotes. For those of you who know me- I love quotes! So, to copy her... here are some of my favorite travel quotes.


“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” - St. Augustine

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” - Henry Miller

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” - Miriam Beard

“Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less traveled by.” - Robert Frost




Here is Jordan and my motto for our trip:

“I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” - Mark Twain




10 days left in Bellingham.