This evening I decided to take a walk because very unusually, it was not raining. In fact, it was one of those really beautiful evenings where there was seemingly no temperature change between indoors and outdoors. So off I went in the direction of "the projects." There's always a lot going on over there-kids riding bikes, neighbors chatting on stoops, random dogs trotting about-so that's where I headed. I also wanted to catch up with a woman regarding our proposed project to fix up the playground, so armed with that excuse, my entrance into "la urba" was made legit.

Before I even reached the first row of houses, I was met by Christian, one of the cutest boys in the school from one of the cutest families. "Hi Lindsay!" he said. "Let's go to the playground!!" So he abandoned his friend he had been playing with and we headed toward the playground. On the way we encountered his younger brother, Calep (the only boy cuter than Christian), who was walking home from school. Barf. Out of nowhere Calep leaned over and puked. That's why I don't eat the chicken in the lunchroom.

Fortunately we were close to their house and after one frozen ice pop, he was feeling better. So, the plan remained to go to the playground to swing, play jacks, the ush when we passed a house with four 4th grade girls inside dancing and singing. "Lindsay!! Lindsay! Come in and watch-we're practicing for the lip sync contest!!!" (the lip sync contest is in 3 weeks) I was so touched that I went inside completely disregarding the fact that I'm the head judge.

That moment made it worth giving all the other presentations to the kids who interrupted me to say how stupid the contest was and that they'd never participate. Those girls are the ones that matter. I'm taking it to the bank!!

So often people ask me, "what's a typical day like for you?" And I immediately sigh and come up short... because really there's no such thing. I can definitively say that every day is different and usually I'm not sure what's going to happen much more than 10-15 minutes before hand. But, in an attempt to NOT come up short, I decided to pluck a day out of my life (today) and tell you about it!

I woke up this morning around 7:30, and decided that although it IS the weekend, I have a ton of laundry to do and I need to take advantage of the hot and sunny morning. So up I went and began the washing...


Which was quite the arduous task because I had to include my sheets and blankets in that process... very unfortunately (read: disgustingly) I picked up scabies while staying at a dodgey hotel after the all volunteer dinner.


After that was out on the newly strung (packer colors) line, I did a little house cleaning, picked up some money I was owed from a neighbor 15 min away, then started breakfast!!





As far as the rest of the day goes... come what may. Fortunately everything has dried so I won't be held hostage to the inevitable afternoon rain. I'll probably head into town to pick up some more householdish items-stools, dishes, lightbulbs. And speaking of lightbulbs...

The second night after moving in, I had a bit of an incident with a lightbulb. I had just finished eating dinner and was enjoying a pineapple/orange yogurt cup on the sofa when suddenly the kitchen light when out. Almost as a reflex, I turned around to look at it when there was a loud POP! and a shower of sparks. Outside it was down pouring so I figured some water had leaked it and it had short circuited. Suddenly the shower of sparks turned into a series of flames and the fixture was on fire. I jumped up, turned the switch off and immediately turned to the breaker box expecting an explosion. Frantically I filled a coffee mug with water as the flames reached higher and higher toward my plywood ceiling. Fortunately, all it took was 2 mugs full of water and the fire was out.

Very typical of costa rican homes, there are no smoke detectors, bars on the windows, and no home addresses in the event you'd need to call the fire dept. Oh well...I lived to tell the story.

Both events-the book fair & Earth Day-went very well! Sure there were some hiccups, teachers not keeping track of raffle tickets for their 7 yr old students, classes not showing up at the last minute for their activities, etc but none of that was unexpected.

As a school, we had a goal of 50 books in "good condition" to get the library started. At the end of the week, the final tally was 285! It was an overwhelming success. The next step is organizing our books in the teeny tiny space that I commandeered, and forming a "club" of 3rd-6th graders who will be a direct part of the project. Remember pizza hut's book-it program? Something similar may be coming down the pike...

All grades preschool-6th seemed to enjoy the time out of class to celebrate Earth Day. 4th-6th participated in a "community clean-up" while the other grades imitated their favorite part about nature and presented their drawings. The drawing contest was a ton of fun as well- the final winners came from preschool, 1st, and 5th grade. They were chosen for the message that was portrayed not just aesthetics.

I've added pictures from both of these events, the school assembly I organized (eeks!) to celebrate them both, and photos from "National Indigenous Person" Day where the preschoolers dressed up. I helped get my host nephew into costume... he took the role pretty seriously and didn't smile once during their presentation.

On a different note, I've officially moved into my own place! Visitors are welcome!! (my address has not changed)