Girls Gone Wild In Costa Rica

Well my last couple days have been pretty exciting! Since I was told I write a lot, I'll try not to write too much, but if you want more details, e-mail me and I'll let you know more!

Sunday Kari and I helped out at El Comedor (the Dining Room) which a lady from the Alliance church close to where I live started which feeds children from poorer families. Sunday was their last day before Christmas so they had a pretty fun party with lots of food, games, and gifts! There were a couple hundred kids that came, so it was a bit on the crazy side. We fed them lunch and dinner. A group came that played games with them, and there was a pinata! It was a pretty relaxed way to get to know some of the kids, since after Christmas I will be going there weekly with Kari.

This took up most of the day and by the time we went home, we were really tired, so we just rested.

Then Monday I had my first tutoring session with Ligia, the Pastor's wife of the local Alliance church. She is a very nice lady who is very patient. Ligia did most of the talking while I listened, trying to understand. I think I did a pretty good job understanding... Later on Monday, after lunch, Kari and I took a trip to the big shopping center in San Jose and their "Central Ave" to find a book for the English class on Tuesday. We didn't find a book, but we had a fun time.

Monday night Kari, Vicki (the daughter of the missionary who owns the house I live in), and I started Christmas decorating and Christmas cookie making (this is were the title of this entry comes in...). After locating the tree and pulling it out of its storage spot, we had to assemble and wash - it was VERY dusty. Then we started making sugar cookies. Our music selection started out with good Christmas music (Go Fish with the Grinch), but eventually moved to country. So this was offically my first Christmas decorating listening to country music... The night ended with a dance party in the kitchen. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!

As you can see we had no fun whatsoever on our Monday night Christmas decorating party!!

Tuesday Kari and I, along with 2 guys from Ohio went to the Rainforest in Sarapique where they are teaching English. It was a long bus ride, and for some reason I got a little car sick which is unusual for me, but God got me through it! When we got to the Pastor's house/church (they're attached), I thought it was the most beautiful place I've been to so far in Costa Rica. It was so green and lush. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera so I can't show you any pictures, at least not yet. I had fun, I only really observed since it was my first time. Kari taught 4/5 people (the pastor's son started with us, but eventually left, he's only about 8 years old). Normally, it's about 1 1/2hours of teaching with a break in the middle, but since this is our last time until January, we had a small Christmas celebration incorporating both CR and Ameican traditions. They provided tomales (which is a Tico Christmas tradition) and we brought out sugar cookies to decorate. I think it fun was had by all!

For dinner one of the missionary families who is studying Spanish here (the one I babysat for on Friday) had Kari and I over for dinner. It was a lot of fun! (I'll add pictures of this family another time.)

Then it was back home for more Christmas decorating! We decorated the left over sugar cookies then moved on to the tree. Again we listened to country music (which is actually a fun tradition). We not only decorated the tree and other parts of the house, but we decorated ourselves as well as the 2 dogs and 1 of the 2 cats that live at the house!! Again, I'll let the pictures do the talking!