More about November

So I got back from Monteverde Tuesday morning and did pretty much nothing that afternoon. Maybe I did some laundry? Who knows.

I worked the rest of the week, and it was pretty uneventful. However, Thursday did begin a bit of a change at work: my boss, Bernal, managed to get some paid planning time out of the owner. He divided up the staff in to four groups one for each level of English classes we teach - A1, A2, B1 & B2) and assigned a "team leader" to each group. I, for some crazy reason, was assigned as the team leader for the A1 team. Anyway, our goal was to develop some activities and resources for us teachers to be able to use when we are planning our classes, as well as write a standardized midterm exam. We met for the first time that Thursday, and got off to a pretty good start. Not great, but things got better quick and it ended up going really well.

That Saturday night I was going to meet up with my Californian friends, but it didn't work out so we met at the farmer's market (la feria) in San Rafael de Heredia the next day, which happens to be where my friend Kerensa lives. After the boys left, Kerensa and I wandered around the market for a little while until it started pouring. Kerensa left the next morning to do her visa run in Nicaragua, and I relaxed the rest of the weekend to plan classes and get ready for my mom coming to visit again. :)

Mom arrived Wednesday afternoon, and unfortunately I was in school all day and didn't get to see her until after classes ended at 9:30. The next morning we woke up late-ish, and had breakfast at the hotel. We then went back to my apartment to drop off what she lugged down here for me, and so that I could pack up some things for the next few days. We then hopped the bus to go over to InBioParque (where I went with Will when he came to visit). Apparently they don't get many English speaking visitors because the guide definitely remembered me. We ended the day with some chicken breast and cheese and crackers. Not exactly the most authentic Thanksgiving dinner, but it was tasty nonetheless. Regardless, it was a good Thanksgiving, and my mom seemed to enjoy it, so I was happy.

Friday during the day Mom and I woke up early to do another tour. This time we went to Braulio Carrillo park to check out the rainforest tram. The van picked us up and took us to the park, where we stopped at a hanging bridge along the way. I love hanging bridges, they are pretty awesome. Our guide then took us to watch a video and then to breakfast. There was enough food to feed a small country. It was delicious. We then rode the aerial tram to the top and got off and hiked around a little and then came back down for another mini hike and then even more food. The whole thing was pretty great. The views were beautiful and our guide was great. My mom was particularly happy to get to see a whole bunch of birds whose names I can't remember but I am sure she can tell you.

Friday night and Saturday morning I had to work, but after class on Saturday my mom and I decided to go see Harry Potter. Cultural, I know. The show we wanted to see was sold out, so we had dinner at this great Peruvian restaurant in the mall. I had the chicken stuffed with something and wrapped in bacon. Me choose the only thing on the menu with bacon on it? Shocking, I know. After dinner we ran over to get in line for the movie. Thankfully they have options of seeing the movie dubbed or with subtitles. Unfortunately it seems as though most of the people who choose to see the movie with subtitles do so so that they can talk the whole time. Kind of a bummer, but loved the movie anyway.

Saturday night I said bye to my mom and headed back to my apartment. She had an early flight (7am) and the hotel insisted on taking her to the airport 2 and a half hours early. Therefore, I opted to go home and sleep in before I took off to Panama later that afternoon (which I will leave for another entry).

While I wish I had gotten to spend more time with her (stupid job...), I'm glad my mom came. She's great. If you don't know her, you should.