A hodge-podge post

Wow, time is flying by, here!  Not sure how I feel about that seeing as how things have actually been pretty slow-paced the past week or so.  Goodness, how much faster will the time go when things start to pick up? Oh boy, I guess it’s time to buckle down because it’s about to get crazy!

 

This week, goodness, lots of things happened.  On Monday, I went to another LAM/UWM missionary, Suzanne’s, house to watch her recently-turned-twelve year-old son Edwin while she had to go to work.  Edwin is homeschooled now, due largely in part to his affliction of FASD.  As Wikipedia so cleanly puts it: “Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) is an umbrella term which describes a continuum of permanent birth defects caused by maternal consumption of alcohol during pregnancy.”  Edwin was adopted by Suzanne at a young age and has been with her ever since.  Due to his condition, his brain works differently from the “average” child and makes things like learning in the traditional classroom setting incredibly difficult, if not impossible.  My task, then, is to basically hang out with him while his mom is out at the office, to create learning opportunities where possible, to assist with homework when it comes up, basically to supervise and entertain as the needs arise.

 

As I mentioned, this past Monday was my first time hanging out with him—as kind of trial run, you might say—and it went super well.  Not only was I able to take the right bus (albeit to the wrong stop—I got off too soon) on the first try, but I also had a great time getting to know both Suzanne and Edwin better.  After getting the tour of the house and a run-down of what my responsibilities would be, Suzanne headed off to work and Edwin and I headed outside to play some baseball.  Yeah, two people, playing baseball.  It’s not that it’s unheard of, it’s just….it’s a lot of running.  Like, a LOT! Plus, Costa Rica is naturally about a mile above sea-level, and well…I was basically winded the whole time.  But Edwin was gracious and allowed breaks between innings where we could sit on the swings and chat.

 

One of the awesome things about Suzanne’s house is the great quantity of pets they have.  They have two little dogs, two parakeets, a hedgehog, and a kitten.  Like, 8 week old, runt-of-the-litter kitten---HE’S SO CUTE!!!  I’ll be sure to take picturesnext Monday (I didn’t have my camera with me that day) so show you just how cute this little guy is!  Anyway, Edwin and I had a great time playing baseball, playing with the kitten, checking his email, and looking through his Pokémon Cards (yeah, he has Pokémon cards!). 

 

Some, ah, charming, highlights of my day there: he thought I was sixteen and was astounded to learn I was 22, almost 23 (and then, upon finding out my birthday was approaching, said he’d be more than happy to come to any birthday festivities I might be holding…so…maybe I should hold some festivities?), he followed that up with an explanation that I’m more like a kid than an adult because I like playing with him (his mom later informed me that his previous two “caretakers” had been elderly and couldn’t quite be as active as he’d have wanted), and he asked me if I’d had plastic surgery done (still not sure what to do with that one). 

 

All in all, we had a fun time and by the end of the afternoon he didn’t want me to go (which was kind of endearing).  I’m looking forward to going back next Monday, as well as several other times throughout the month.  If any more noteworthy stories come up, I’ll be sure to let you know.

 

Yesterday, Thursday, I had the opportunity to go with Cecilia, Herbert, their daughter Priscilla, and their housekeeper/friend Maribel to Alajuela (a bit north of San José) and we visited some lovely viveros.  No idea what the English term is, but it’s where you can buy flowers and other plants (as well as garden decorations) and the flowers were simply beautiful, as you can see. 

Marigolds

Just look at those colors!

Deep Purple and Bright Pink. Whaaat?

It was a lovely afternoon out, and I’m so glad I got to go. (Adding a caption to one of the pictures made the format go crazy, but Cecilia is the one in the blue, and behind her is Maribel, the housekeeper) 

 

Another opportunity to go out with Cecilia and Priscilla is on Sunday.  Now, Sunday is Election Day.  I’ve heard that elections in the U.S. are incredibly calm and somewhat dull compared to those of Costa Rica, and so on Sunday Cecilia and Priscilla invited me to go downtown with them to experience it.  I’m super excited for that as well, they’re definitely building it up as something special!

 

One of the things that baffles me about Costa Rica is how tiny it is.  I mean, the whole COUNTRY is just a bit smaller than the state of West Virginia!  And a vast majority of the population lives in San Jose (or the surrounding area).  This means, the chances of  knowing people greatly increases.  What I mean by that is, a local TV anchor used to be the teacher of Cecilia’s daughter.  One of the candidates running for president is a professor at one of the few Universities in the Capital—peopleknow him.  It’s just…so weird.  They say there are six degrees of separation between you and any other person, I believe that here in San Jose it’s cut down to three.  It’s crazy how small this place is.  It makes the U.S. seem way more imposing and ginormous than I’ve ever thought it to be before.

 

Anyway, this is a bit of a hodge-podge of a post, but that’s kind of what life has been like so far.  But next week classes start up again at Rahab, and so it should be no time at all before I get into the swing of things again.  Oh, and apparently on Monday (though I won’t be at Rahab to experience it) my American co-teacher gets in.  So that’ll be exciting to get to know her (starting Tuesday) and start planning out our class! Yay! Also, Tuesday is my birthday. Yay!

 

Well, this is me, signing off now.  Hope you enjoyed reading my scatter-brained update! J

 

Peace and Blessings,

Kiki