While I was waiting for that call, Tina asked if I wanted to tutor a 10 year old young man who is fairly advanced in his English studies. "Of course" I wanted to do it. For the next two hours, we went talked. We used one of his English language workbooks. That was not very interesting so we just started to talk about his interests. That was so much better for both of us. He is very bright and loved telling about his future plans, his family and what he did on vacation in the USA. Only a couple of times did we need Tina to explain a new word concept in Spanish. I had a great time and he seemed to enjoy the change. The time went by really fast too. At last, I felt productive here. It was a good feeling.
Now more than ever, I am truly looking forward to working with the teenagers. I am a glutton for punishment anyway.... Hannia will take me to the high school tomorrow morning at 9:30 AM to meet their English teacher.
While I was waiting , Tina called and made a reservation for Karina and I to go to an organic coffee farm nearby. It is a highly rated tour by Tripadvisor and also by several local people. Here is a link to their blog:
http://cafeateniense.blogspot.com/
After the lesson, I walked over to a cafe Karina introduced me to yesterday. It is a pleasant place to enjoy the view from the second floor open air cafe. I had plenty of time before I was to meet two sister s who recently moved here from Oregon. There was only one other person there. He said "hello" and was an American who has lived off shore for over 15 years. His name was Paul (seemed familiar for some reason...lol.) People here are so easy to talk to. I joined him at his table and soon another German man, George, joined us too. It was quite an interesting conversation as they have fairly checkered pasts (and present too I imagine.) I was not afraid in any way but enjoyed the new experience. I finished my lemon cake and water and we all parted ways. Once I arrived at Kay's, she told me this man was somewhat well known in the ex-pat community and was considered to be a little bit odd. He teaches gun classes here in CR and also arranges for motorcycle tours. He even offered to teach me while I am here. Ha! No thanks! I don't like guns or motorcycles but I never told him that. Anyway, I did make a couple of photos from the balcony of El Balcon de Cafe.
This photo I found on a webpage.
Today I met two sisters who recently moved here from Oregon. They have a blog called http://sistersintransition.blogspot.com. Roxi, Judy, Karina and I had a really fun afternoon. They took us on their Pathfinder (aptly named Dora the explorer) to a large restaurant on the north end of town. I had some of the best fried chicken anywhere and as always a huge portion. Thank you to both Judy and Roxi.
As you can see, this trip is not all work. Every day I am learning new Spanish phrase sand feeling more comfortable here. It s very satisfying to be able to communicate fairly well even if part of it is my charades. Flexibility......
Yesterday and today the humidity has almost disappeared. No rain today either.
Tonight Anita and I watched the news. There were many more pictures and stories from Samara and the earthquake epicenter. Lots of houses, buildings, schools, hospitals etc. have fairly substantial cracks in them. Many are closed and considered to be unsafe. It looks like many families are just collecting what they can and moving away. There are still aftershocks in that area. This morning on my way to Su Espacio, two men were out collecting funds for the earthquake victims. I wonder how they will repair those buildings or if they will have to tear many down and begin again. It is still very much a topic of conversation here.
Please remember these hardworking people as you ask for God's blessings.
Pura vida!!!
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