Slideshow

This is a video the youth group in Monteverde (specifically, Isaac) made for me right before I left Costa Rica. They played it in church and I cried the whole time. Leaving all my friends, students, and adopted families was one of the hardest things I've ever done.
If you have been wanting to see a highlight of my year, take a look. =]

The end

This is it. I'm no longer in Monteverde. I'm in San Jose with my long time family friends. My flight leaves a 3 pm, which means I need to be at the airport by 1 pm. For breakfast, there will be Gallo Pinto for the last time...

These last few days have been really hard. I had to say my goodbyes, pack, give tests and I managed to get sick. Luckily I didn't get really sick until yesterday so I got to enjoy my time with friends.

I'm going to miss everyone. EVERYONE! I already miss my students. Many tears were shed saying goodbye to my family. The hardest part was saying goodbye to Sofia. I had her in my arms and we were just hugging. She started crying and I could feel her little body shudder with each sob. That's what really did me in. I hope Kindria gets skype soon!

Thanks to all who read my blog and prayed for me!!! It really meant a lot to me.

I hope to see you soon. In under 24 hours, I'll be on American soil!!!

Paz, amor y pura vida!

Que pereza

One of the most common phrases used by my students is "que pereza" which means "how boring" or "I'm tired of this." As frustrating as this can be to hear when you're a teacher, I totally relate right now. I wish I didn't, but I do.
I'm finding it hard to find the balance between getting ready to go home and still be present here at school. I've lost a bit of my focus. It's not even that I'm bored or tired of this exactly, I'm just tired. Whatever the case, I refuse to let it diminish my quality of work even if my pereza (laziness) forces me to stay up all night to finish the review sheets that are oh so vital to the students' success in the exams we will have next week. Even though I'm tired and ready to see my family and friends back home, I'm going to kick myself until I finish. I will not let my laziness be an enabler of a bad test grade.

Johnson & Johnson

This is an actual conversation I had last week (in Spanish, but I'm translating it for your convenience).


"Your last name is Johnson? Johnson, like shampoo?"
'Well, yes, but no.'
"Oh. Ok Andrea Obama."

Uh...I'm not sure how we got from shampoo to Obama...but God Bless America! 
I suppose I should have seen it coming. There is something fundamentally "American" about the last name, Johnson. 
Whatever the case, it made me laugh.

Ginger-Garlic-Lemon Kick!

I'm not exactly sure what to call this concoction, so we'll just call it witch's brew. It's amazing. It's surprisingly tasty! It can probably cure anything you have that is respiratory related. I was inspired by my wonderful friend Jacinta, who has cured innumerable people through the use of her own version of this drink. I'm not exactly sure how she makes hers, because she only made it for me once, but I know the ingredients she uses so I went from there. I decided to make mine more like a tea. I like tea a bunch and I thought that it'd be nice to have something I could drink throughout the day. Here's my recipe:

Witch's Brew

Ingredients:

3-4 cups water
1 inch section of fresh ginger
2 cloves of garlic
1-2 teaspoons of crushed cayenne pepper (not powder, unless you wanna die)
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons honey

Process:

1. Dump water into a cauldron and turn up the heat.

2. While water is coming to a boil, grate the ginger and garlic into the water.

3. Bring water and ginger to a boil and then let it simmer 3-5 minutes (by simmer I mean gently boil)

4. Bring water, garlic, and ginger back up to a happy boil and throw in the cayenne.

5. Bring down the heat and let it all simmer for 3-5 minutes.

6. Take the concoction off the heat and dump in the lemon juice and honey.

7. Stir and strain into a thermos or whatever.

8. Drink and enjoy better health.