Last Week!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012 Our last week in Costa Rica is halfway over! I can't believe how time has flown! This week in Spanish classes we are talking 100% of the time. We didn't even crack open the book in the past two days. We're building vocabulary and grammar, but most importantly for me is the confidence to speak aloud. Classes have eased my communication worries for the weeks to come.  In engineering we are continuing our machine lectures where we talking about common problems and testing of various equipment, but laboratories have turned from skill-based electronics stuff to useful training on how to act and what to do when we reach our hospital, which now that I think about it is good timing! We should definitely be thinking about it as close to the end as we are.  Yesterday we decided was Roller Disco night. We (most of the program) went roller skating for $5 at the rink between home and the school and had an absolute blast! We had a range of skill levels and a range of confidence levels, and the two didn't always go hand in hand. Needless to say there were too many hilarious moments to count. I will obtain pictures, I promise! Today the girls and I got out early and returned home early and beat the traffic. The result was that Virginia and I got to play with the kids for an hour and a half! We made paper airplanes and colored and then they got ahold of my cameras and took crazy pictures of themselves; they did my job for me! They are -  Thursday, June 21, 2012 Jonathan invaded my room and jumped on the bed yesterday while I was writing, so understandably I didn't finish. Arielle was writing a Spanish essay for homework and Jonathan was able to help!  We went to the karaoke bar, and I sang A Whole New World (because it's now a tradition) and Let It Be. It was Nathan's birthday! I'm glad he had fun. It's too bad a few of the girls weren't feeling heir best. We're not sure what they ate.  Today a woman from Duke Engage came to observe us. She sat in on the advanced classes and talked with four of us girls for a very long time during lab. She's quite the worldly traveler. She speaks Spanish fluently and is very keen on the international service scene. It was interesting listening to her stories, but in the end her biggest impact was confirming my decision to steer clear of social initiatives. I'm not the right kind of person to walk into the third world and tell them how I think things should be done. Tomorrow we're visiting the children's hospital in San Jose, the second best children's hospital in Central America. For the weekend we'll be headed to the Caribbean coast: Puerto Viejo and Cahuita. Our Spanish teacher tells us it's a whole different culture out there, many more black people who speak a language that's mostly English and a sprinkling of African languages and French. We'll need to be especially mindful of the thieves. Nothing new there. Black sand beaches here I come! Last night was a late night, so it looks like I'll be turning in early. I finished Ender's Game, one of the books I put on my iPod, last night after I got back; one of the best books I have read in a long, long time! I'm still digesting it. It blew me away. I have the next 7 books in the saga, so I think I'll have to start it...