Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Underground Museum???

I must say, this was my one regret. The day I was
at this museum, it wasn't open and I never made
it back. This museum is 6 stories underground!
How cool is that? The top of the museum is just
part of a patio, but the entire museum is underground! Therefore, I find it only fitting to plan another trip to ensure that I can experience this museum. I'm returning in January! Anyone want to join me?
Pura Vida!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Vecinos







As I have told you before, the entire family, except for one sister, lived in the same little area. This is the main gate where everyone who lived here entered. The gate was electric for those entering with a car. They had something very similar to our garage door openers in their cars that would open the gate. The gate also had a smaller, non-electrical, door to enter without cars. It was kind of like, what we would call, an alley but lead to everyone's home. I lived in the first house to the left. Behind us was Tia, and Mirna's Family, Cesar's Family, and Yehudi's Family as well as two other neighbors not part of the family but joined in with parties and meals! I so loved being so close to everyone. I still remember my first morning, waking up and walking down the way until I found someone home. It turned out that Mirna was home and everyone was eating breakfast at her house. The family loved living so close together, but not together. I found this to be really neat!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Lorena




Lorena and Rosy lived together. Lorena was just too sweet! I enjoyed her terribly and looked forward to seeing her when I returned each evening. I most enjoyed watching Vecinos with Lorena each night. Vecinos was a variety type show, but was funny. I miss hearing her laugh too. Lorena, has recently retired, and is learning to quilt. She can often be found at the kitchen table working on her quilts! We would also go into her bedroom to annoy her too! (I was always snapping pictures!) Besitos Lore!

Homes









































I have to admit, my first day or two in Costa Rica I compared everything to my life and how things look in Indianapolis. This quickly proved to be nonproductive and not helpful as there really is no comparison. Though things are very different, it was just how things were in Costa Rica. I would say, that for us, the homes on the outside were not esthetically desirable. Again, this is just how it was and I quickly accepted and appreciated this as part of the life in C.R. However, the inside of the homes were much like ours here in the states. I would say the one thing that was strikingly different was that most homes had tile floors throughout. (The house I stayed in, which was older that rest in this little neighborhood, had hardwood floors in the bedrooms, but tile everywhere else. )













Thursday, July 9, 2009

Yehudith
















Yehu is one of my now, surrogate sisters. (I like being the little sister of all these guys!) Yehu could always make me laugh! She was crazy, but I loved her! Some of my favorite times with Yehu was we were just sitting and talking at her house! Most days when I returned home, I would make sure I'd go and see Yehu! The day Michael Jackson died, she dressed up in all red and busted in singing, "I'm bad, I'm bad................" Hilarious! (I wish I had taken a picture, but I was laughing hysterically.) Our shopping excursions was fun too! I guess there is a little bit of crazy in me too! Besitos Yehu!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

The Children's Museum







I don't know why, but I thought this was funny. The Children's Museum used to be the penitentiary.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Camera Shy....NOT!
















Yeah! They were NOT camera shy! You could always count on a striking pose when pictures were taken! Gotta love them!

Spanish Immersion???







So, do I think my Spanish has improved now that I have returned from Costa Rica? I would say that my listening and reading comprehension has greatly improved! I had to listen a lot and closely to understand what was being said. I was around very gracious people who were patient and helpful. I could ask them to repeat it, or tell me another way so that I could understand. In general, I would say that my listening and reading comprehension is about 70%. My speaking isn't as far as I would like it to be, but people were able to understand me, and we were able to communicate. You all know that I am very social so communication was important for me. I knew I was doing better when I could use my cynicism in Spanish!






Also, all the big news here in the states was delivered to me in Spanish. All the information I had about Micheal Jackson, especially, was only in Spanish. This, unfortunately, was a great reading comprehension tool for me. Since I wanted to know everything that was going on with this situation particularly, I read the paper every day. It was also interesting to read the other news in Costa Rica to learn about the country and the culture.






This picture, unwillingly taken, is proof that I studied at least once! Also, the news about Micheal Jackson....en espanol!