We all dressed up in green at the language school for St. Patrick's Day! It was kind of weird walking into class and seeing so much green:)

Our worship team is leading chapel again tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to it. The music is fun, and I am really enjoying playing with the musicians as well.

I went with Beth and Bryan and Drew to a fairly close church Saturday to help a team out. It was a lot of fun! The program was for the kids whose parents are in prison. We met the women who head up the whole program for those kids, and the Tatum's are hoping to keep in contact with them and do work with them through the orphanage once their house is complete and they have kids, which should be by the end of this year!

Summer is drawing to a close slowly but surely here. The trees and bushes and everything else that was blooming is slowly fading away back to the solid green. Some of the most beautiful ones are the "Fuego del bosque" trees. Their blooms are a bright orange and really seem to light the area up:) Some other trees have had some rather pretty soft pink blooms in bushels. And the bougainvilleas! The different colors are amazing and they're breathtaking!

And unfortunately, I have homework to do....:)

It is very nice to be back in the Colegio Metodista again. The kids are so precious! I'm working mainly with the first and second grade science classes and tutoring after school for an hour. It's so awesome to see the understanding in a child's face as he or she finally catches on to an English concept! And the little ones always greet you with hugs and think you're the coolest person in the whole school:)

Language school is going well. My grammer class has begun working on the material in the second trimester, which is good for me since I'm only doing one trimester. I am looking for a tutor, though, and have some possibilities:)

There was a small-ish earthquake a few weeks ago around 11pm. Let me tell you, that is not cool to wake up to! There I was, asleep in my bed, enjoying the unconscioius knowledge that I could sleep in the next morning, and suddenly I'm wrenched awake by the whole building shaking, making a noise like a small bomb had gone off! It only lasted about 10 seconds or so, and I woke up half-way through it, but I was still calculating what my chance of survival would be best! Thankfully, those measures were not necessary:) It was only a 4.4 magnitude, but there are now a few more new cracks in our walls:) However, while we are experiencing the little quakes, there is less chance of having a large one. Also, since the country is prone to them, buildings are built with that in mind and they do something inside the walls to help withstand the shaking, unlike in Haiti, but just like in Chili. So no worries about that yet!:)

We have seen some beautiful sunsets lately! The only downside is all the smog and haze in the Central Valley right now. Sometimes, it's so bad we can't even see the sun set! Meredith and I are very ready for the rainy season to start so that the air will get cleaned out. I'm tired of breathing so much smog:) And the smell is a little old, too, but then again it is a city! The rain will also cool things off. It's been rather hot lately. Thankfully yesterday was OK since we were in La Carpio again.

I have finally received a key to a room with a piano at the colegio so I can practice whenever I want! It's so nice to have that again:) I have really missed it! Plus, I need to practice for Lauren's wedding;) Can't let her down!

Semana Santa is the week after next, and the whole country shuts down for it. So a group of us from the language school are heading to Granada, Nicaragua a week from tomorrow (Saturday)! I'm really excited to be going somewhere new!

We have received the furniture Meredith's church deemed hers, and it is absolutely WONDERFUL! I love being able to lay on the couch and watch a movie:) It finally feels like a real home to us now. It's also nice to have a place for company to sit:) The Tatum boys asked if they could use the couch the colegio provided us, and we said sure! It didn't fit with all the other stuff we got, so we helped them get it up to the third floor, from the first, and then up into their loft. I'm still not sure how we managed it, but I do know this: It's never coming down!:) Beth and Bryan say that the boys love having it, and Drew has already slept on it several times....but I can't imagine how on earth he does that.

Now I think I shall watch a movie....