Its been too long!

I am so bad about updating this blog!
So... here is an update of the last 2 months.

In February we had my step brother, Aaron, and his girlfriend, Regan, visit. They traveled to the Caribbean but we had to stay home because we were working. They were kind enough to do an "intercambio" with my students so they could practice speaking English with native speakers. It went great!

This semester Jordan has taken on a few classes at school. Its been fun talking about work together!

Then, in March, we had our friends Marilyn, Chris and Grey visit. It was great to have a little Bellingham in Heredia. They also did a dinner-intercambio with my class, which ws really fun. We went to Playa Carrillo, which is just south of Samara. It is a BEAUTIFUL beach! There isn't really a town or anything near the beach, but the beach itself is so amazing that is doesn't matter. We sat at the beach, read and swam. There was also a really great Argentinian retaurant at our hotel and we ate there every night. Yummy steak, potatoes and chicken!
Right after the B-ham crew left, Jordan and I headed out on another border run to Panama. We went to Panama. It was a fun trip. I think I'll make that its own blog...

After Panama, my sister, Julia, visited. She was here for 2 weeks! We had a great time going to Puerto Viejo, hanging out and cooking. She took Spanish class for a week at my school. It was really fun to have her around at school and at home. She even came to my English class a few times and my students loved talking to her and practicing their English.
While my sister was here we had a brief appearance from Glen and Amy, from Bellingham. Glen knows Jordan through his film school in Bellingham and Amy is Glen's girlfriend. They were only here for a day or two on either side of their visits to Arenal and Samara. That sounded like a great trip! It was fun to have them here and Jordan enjoyed discussing film with someone who knows what he's talking about!

A few days after Julia left, Amber and Danny of Bellingham fame, arrived. Amber is the person who introduced Jordan and I and we went to Western together. It was so great to have them here. We spend a relaxing WEEK (Easter Week) at Playa Dominical.

Dominical is a beautiful surfing beach on the south, Pacific side of Costa Rica. It is almost on the Osa Peninsula. The bus ride was long (8 hours) and the roads weren't always paved. The local goverment is puporsefully not paving a stretch of road to discourage large-scale building and tourism. The result is that Dominical is a relaxed beach town without many hotels.

We stayed in a house right on the beach. It was a great house except for the fact that the mattresses had bugs. I got totally eatten alive the first night and looked like I had chicken pox for the rest of the week. During our time we surfed (yes, I surfed and stood up twice!), ran, did yoga, cooked, ate and read a lot. We even had a hammock in the back with a beach view. We also took a day-trip to Quepos and Manuel Antonio and another day we walked down to a little private beach where we spent an afternoon. It was awesome!

Now, we're settling back into our routine. We've been cleaning and doing laundry. My kids class has started again. I will post some pictures of them soon. We are starting our plans to return to southern California. If you know anyone in LA looking for a graphic artist or a special ed teacher, let us know!

Its hard to believe our time is coming to an end. We only have a bout 2 months left! Time sure flies!