Mother's Day was a few weeks ago and is a highly celebrated day here because the mama is the one who really takes care of ya! So at church, all the mothers went up and were prayed for and acknowledged. I also realized they make up the bulk of this church's congregation!

We have started Science Fair Experiments! This one was a lot of fun since they kids got to make noise:). It was also too cute to pass up for a photo-op! So far, we aren't wanting to pull our hair out over these projects, which is saying something I think--I mean, we have six classes of projects, and 8 groups a class....that's a lot of experiments! The kids are excited about doing them though, so right now that's the perfect motivator we need to get them to keep working:).

this experiment was to simulate how a frog gets its food

Of course, we also have the little ones who, no matter how many times you tell them to keep working, they still come up to give you pictures or make faces at you! Then they tell you, "I love you T.!" and give you a hug and you wonder why you can't make them work....;)

a pastor's son...he's actually quite the good worker and quiet and creative!

So for you gardeners, I know weeds are your constant enemy. But how many times do you have to worry about getting weeds out of your driveway or parking lot? Well, as you can see, our parking area is made of these weird concrete things that are like squares paired together...with holes, basically, to help with friction and flooding problems when it rains. On the down side, they are the perfect habitat for weeds! So one of many odd jobs that you won't really see in the states is a man coming in and weeding the parking lot!

Teaching at the school is going well. We've started work on the Science Fair projects, which is no small task this year! I have six classes, six groups per class, of projects to do and have the kids completely ready with them by late September! We'll be running through lessons in the near future, that's for sure! While I have not been in the high school again this semester, I will be meeting with the principle to discuss possibilities for next year. This is also a new development thus far for me: I plan to stay in Costa Rica until July-ish of next year, then within a month or so end up back in Cookson, OK, working with the people in that area, predominately the Cherokee. But until then, I'm very excited about what next year might hold for me! I am also planning on doing some work with the mission teams that come down here, mostly provide help for VBS's and such so I can continue to work in the Colegio in the mornings.

pilgrims to La Negrita

August 1 was the final day of the Catholic's pilgrimage to La Basilica de los Angeles de la Virgen in Cartago, about 1 hr. from my apartment. Some of the pilgrims walked all the way from Guanacaste (a 5 hr. bus ride from San Jose), and started the Sunday before. Over 400 years ago, Mary "appeared" to a little girl as a doll, whose name/image is now known as La Negrita (little black doll) and this Mary is the patron saint of Costa Rica. All Catholic's are "encouraged" to make the pilgrimage to her church each year to ask forgiveness. This year, approximately 2.3 million people--the equivilent of the central valley's population--walked to the Basilica. The reason for so many? Last year's was canceled due to swine flu. (I find this ironic, for some reason.) The Basilica is extremely beautiful, and should the Pope visit, well, you'll know where to find him. However, aside from it's beauty, the building has a strange feeling inside. Not surprising, I suppose, when you see people walking on their knees to La Negrita.

Michelle, Denita, Graziella

A few weeks ago, my tutor (the one with the purple and pink skirt), Graziella, and her dance group performed tipical Costa Rican dances for the community. A group of gringas, dancing like ticas....it was really fun! She put in a lot of effort, and they danced great! The white dress is more common to the more social, city-girl dancer, while the middle dress is common from the country. The bright colors of Graziella's dress are tipical for dancers who put on shows--they are fun and flashy! Each of the dresses in the picture and of the women in the whole groupd are hand made, even the decoration on the blouses. Talk about an act of love! I also hope she can teach me, and that I can get a dress for myself:). Also, she is an extremely talented spanish teacher, and I am very blessed to have her tutoring me 4 hours a week. I can understand quite a bit now! For instance, Sunday I ended up in a drug awareness session for teenagers (long story!) and I understood 80% of the presentation! I'm very excited about that!