I love technology. It makes life so so much easier. Going without it makes you really appreciate how much easier life is with it.
Our washing machine is currently broken. As you may remember, our machine is separated into two compartments, neither one has a rinse cycle. The wash cycle is currently working, but the spin (dry) is not. Therefore, after washing all my clothes in the first compartment, I not only had to rinse each item by hand, but wring as much water out of it as well before hanging it on the line to dry. I'm tired. And I am looking forward to having an automatic, functioning washer and dryer again some day.
In other news, the Bank of America classes are starting on Tuesday. I will be teaching Wednesdays and Thursdays 12-3. I am currently feeling incredibly intimidated by this whole thing. I have only a vague idea of what I'm supposed to be teaching. As of right now I'm feeling like I'm in over my head. I'm sure it will be fine, it's just going to be an intense 6 weeks.
Thursday morning I taught, and then we went to Bank of America in the afternoon to meet with the managers there to talk to them and find out what they are expecting of us. Essentially they have "hired" a group of people to come work their call centers there, but their English isn't where it needs to be. Sooooo we are going to teach them for 27 hours a week for the next 6 weeks to get them from a B1 to a B2 level (the levels are according to the Common European Framework). I have only taught A1s and A2s, so this should be interesting.
Friday I went into work to help put together the books for the BoA class. I had originally intended to be there from 9am to maybe 2pm at the latest. I ended up staying until after 5. We weren't even done. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done for the class before it starts. Hopefully we can pull it together.
After work on Friday Sara, Kerensa and I went to this great little hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant in downtown Heredia. I'm pretty sure it's just a restaurant in someone's backyard. Regardless, it's owned/operated by a couple Italians, so it's delicious. And reasonably priced.
After dinner Kerensa and I came back to my apartment to watch a couple episodes of Flight of the Conchords (thank you cousins Molly and Jim) and drink a little Flor de Cana before going to bed before Saturday morning class.
Saturday after class I went to the gym and ran into Luis who works the front desk at the San Jose campus for the night classes. He's pretty great. It looks like I may have another friend to work out with sometimes at the gym.
After a good run/workout I went to the furniture store that's in front of my bus stop to find out what their schedule was on Sunday. Because they are closed on Sundays, I ended up buying a bed right then. The mattress I bought was on sale and since I paid in cash they delivered to my apartment (and therefore gave me a ride home) for free. It was definitely a good deal. Not to mention they were super nice and helpful and weren't trying to rip me off being Gringa and all.
Somehow I managed to resist the urge to take a nap in my brand new bed and met up with Kerensa to head downtown San Jose to see Sonambulo instead. Sonambulo is a local CR jam band, with members from all over the place. Kerensa tells me their lead singer is Cuban, I think. Regardless, there was a art/culture/music festival going on all week in SJO, and Sonambulo was part of their Saturday night line up in Parque Nacional. This may have been the best people watching experience that I have had since coming to CR. The crowd was full of Costa Rican hippies. Meaning, the dancing was half hippie, half Latino salsa/bachata/etc., depending on what the band was playing. Hilarious. It was like UVM in Costa Rica. Loved it.
Kerensa, her new boyfriend Martin and I headed back to Heredia when the concert wound down. The guy who sat down next to me on the bus wore a Sox hat. Made my heart happy. It was nice to see an MLB hat that not only wasn't the Yankees, but a Chicago team as well. By the time I got home, I was exhausted, and super excited to sleep in my new big comfy bed.
Dad comes to visit on Wednesday! It's kind of a big deal. I'm real excited.
Just in case you were wondering, I did teach my students what a "gold digger" is yesterday. We also had to discuss why you shouldn't call someone "easy," but "easy-going." Ahhh the finer points of the English language.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Blushing.
So after class tonight I walked into the office to return the computer and everything and Johanna, the coordinator for the high school program/co-coordinator for the English program at Politecnico itself told me that one of my students came to class on Monday just to check out the program and wasn't sure that she was going to enroll.
Apparently after class on Monday she called Politecnico and told them that she was so happy with the class and especially with me as a teacher ("super bueniiiiiiissssssima" is what Johanna told me she said) that she is now enrolled and plans on telling everyone she knows to come to Politecnico.
Pretty awesome feeling. :)
Apparently after class on Monday she called Politecnico and told them that she was so happy with the class and especially with me as a teacher ("super bueniiiiiiissssssima" is what Johanna told me she said) that she is now enrolled and plans on telling everyone she knows to come to Politecnico.
Pretty awesome feeling. :)
Productivity
Saturday night I met up with some people from work to celebrate on of our coworkers, Delie, leaving. Though I am sad to see her go - she is a wonderful person and teacher, full of great ideas and always willing to share - I am excited for her. She will definitely be missed. We met at a bar named Kbana in Heredia and had a few drinks and watched some amazing music videos from the 80s and early 90s - hilarious. It was a great night, complete with a ride home from my roommate and Jose Mario.
Sunday I was supposed to go to Cartago with Kerensa and her new boyfriend, but I overslept, tired from Saturday night. Instead I spent the day walking around, cleaning the apartment and grocery shopping. It's probably a good thing I didn't go. I was fairly productive and still have yet to catch that cold that everyone has here. Sleeping in does a body good.
Monday was back to business as usual, class in the morning, gym in the afternoon and class in San Jose at night. I have a new group for my SJO class. I'm reteaching the same lessons, which is awesome, but I have a big group (13-15 students) who seem like they are going to be a good group. I've definitely got some talkers and most of them seem to have a good base, which is a good sign. We also got money for cab fare from the SJO campus to our bus stops, which will save us some time/anxiety walking late at night.
Yesterday I had class in the morning, which started off slow, but it ended up alright after I had some coffee during the break. I love my Diplomado (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday morning group) class - they are really laid back and don't seem to care much when I'm not totally on top of my game. They bring a really good energy to the classroom and are generally good students. I decided not to go to the gym during my break in between class and tutoring at night in order to get some much needed grading and planning done. It was definitely a good decision as far as my classes go, but I feel like I'm a lazy bum when I don't work out. I'll get back to a normal work out schedule soon.
Last night was a bit of a mess at school. A bunch of new Instituto classes were starting, so I didn't have a room to have tutoring, and there were placement tests going on in the conference room which is the fall back location. Luckily, no one came for tutoring, but if this keeps happening they are going to cancel the session and I will be short 3 hours. Yikes. Here's hoping people show up next week!
Tonight I have class in San Jose again, and tomorrow afternoon (after my morning Diplomado class) we are heading to Bank of America to work out the details for the classes that are starting next week. They will be 6 hour classes, which is going to be brutal, but there is a possibility that we will break them up into two 3 hour blocks a couple days a week. We'll see.
My dad is coming to visit a week from today! I managed to find someone to cover my Saturday class (even though we are super understaffed) so he and I can actually do something outside of the city while he's here. Yay!
Furthermore, they are officially making me full time! The request has been put in, so I should be working full time within about a week.
I booked a flight home for my brother Dave's wedding in June. I somehow managed to find a flight for $380. Amazing. So far it's been a good day.
Sunday I was supposed to go to Cartago with Kerensa and her new boyfriend, but I overslept, tired from Saturday night. Instead I spent the day walking around, cleaning the apartment and grocery shopping. It's probably a good thing I didn't go. I was fairly productive and still have yet to catch that cold that everyone has here. Sleeping in does a body good.
Monday was back to business as usual, class in the morning, gym in the afternoon and class in San Jose at night. I have a new group for my SJO class. I'm reteaching the same lessons, which is awesome, but I have a big group (13-15 students) who seem like they are going to be a good group. I've definitely got some talkers and most of them seem to have a good base, which is a good sign. We also got money for cab fare from the SJO campus to our bus stops, which will save us some time/anxiety walking late at night.
Yesterday I had class in the morning, which started off slow, but it ended up alright after I had some coffee during the break. I love my Diplomado (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday morning group) class - they are really laid back and don't seem to care much when I'm not totally on top of my game. They bring a really good energy to the classroom and are generally good students. I decided not to go to the gym during my break in between class and tutoring at night in order to get some much needed grading and planning done. It was definitely a good decision as far as my classes go, but I feel like I'm a lazy bum when I don't work out. I'll get back to a normal work out schedule soon.
Last night was a bit of a mess at school. A bunch of new Instituto classes were starting, so I didn't have a room to have tutoring, and there were placement tests going on in the conference room which is the fall back location. Luckily, no one came for tutoring, but if this keeps happening they are going to cancel the session and I will be short 3 hours. Yikes. Here's hoping people show up next week!
Tonight I have class in San Jose again, and tomorrow afternoon (after my morning Diplomado class) we are heading to Bank of America to work out the details for the classes that are starting next week. They will be 6 hour classes, which is going to be brutal, but there is a possibility that we will break them up into two 3 hour blocks a couple days a week. We'll see.
My dad is coming to visit a week from today! I managed to find someone to cover my Saturday class (even though we are super understaffed) so he and I can actually do something outside of the city while he's here. Yay!
Furthermore, they are officially making me full time! The request has been put in, so I should be working full time within about a week.
I booked a flight home for my brother Dave's wedding in June. I somehow managed to find a flight for $380. Amazing. So far it's been a good day.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Moving and Skype and Such
We are all moved in!
The apartment is great, I'm super happy here already. It's so much nicer than the old place.
Thursday night I went and met up with Zach L. from work. He had a friend visiting for the week/end. After hanging out at their apartment for a little while, after getting the run down on why Zach is in love with Snookie from the Jersey Shore and Hugh Grant (because why wouldn't you be?), we went over to the Bulevar bar in downtown Heredia. Zach manages to make friends, meaning that he strikes up conversations with perfect strangers, everywhere he goes. While it isn't exactly the best way to remain anonymous as foreigners, it certainly makes for an entertaining evening.
Friday I accomplished almost nothing, aside from going to the gym and packing up the majority of my things. Okay, I guess that's slightly more productive than I thought, but it certainly didn't feel like it at the time.
Saturday morning I taught, and after class I ran home to help move. Saray, Laura, two movers and I moved everything from our apartment on the third floor in a relatively short amount of time. We got to the apartment and Jose Mario, Felix, Gary and Alvaro came to help move everything in to the new place, set it all up and help us clean. Seriously, have I mentioned how great these people are? Because they are just wonderful. Because of their help, the move was pretty easy considering how much stuff we have. Thankfully the rain held off until we had all of our stuff inside. We all hung out for a while and got all the big things situated. Saturday night I unpacked and worked on getting the apartment slightly more settled and crashed early.
Since then, life has been relatively uneventful. Sunday I ran some errands, most importantly figuring out the bus by my house (every 15 minutes until 10:30pm - awesome: no more taxis after class!). Monday I bought a bookcase in between my classes, Tuesday I renewed my gym membership, and Wednesday Kerensa and I went mattress shopping before I had to be at class for final oral exams. We found reasonably priced mattresses in downtown Heredia and then wandered around San Jose for a while. It was a great afternoon with one of my favorites. Our schedules are such that we haven't as much time to hang out recently, so it was great to spend Wednesday hang out with her.
Wednesday night after class I came home and got to skype with my mom [happy birthday Mom!]. This afternoon, after class and the gym, I came home and hung out with the dog (who so far is a sweetheart and super well-behaved), skyped with my dad who is coming to visit (!!!) and then my brother/Kelly/Lily. All in all a great couple of days.
I will take some pictures of the new place tomorrow and post them on Facebook, since I still can't seem to get the picture feature to work on the blog.
Happy Thursday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc9xq-TVyHI
The apartment is great, I'm super happy here already. It's so much nicer than the old place.
Thursday night I went and met up with Zach L. from work. He had a friend visiting for the week/end. After hanging out at their apartment for a little while, after getting the run down on why Zach is in love with Snookie from the Jersey Shore and Hugh Grant (because why wouldn't you be?), we went over to the Bulevar bar in downtown Heredia. Zach manages to make friends, meaning that he strikes up conversations with perfect strangers, everywhere he goes. While it isn't exactly the best way to remain anonymous as foreigners, it certainly makes for an entertaining evening.
Friday I accomplished almost nothing, aside from going to the gym and packing up the majority of my things. Okay, I guess that's slightly more productive than I thought, but it certainly didn't feel like it at the time.
Saturday morning I taught, and after class I ran home to help move. Saray, Laura, two movers and I moved everything from our apartment on the third floor in a relatively short amount of time. We got to the apartment and Jose Mario, Felix, Gary and Alvaro came to help move everything in to the new place, set it all up and help us clean. Seriously, have I mentioned how great these people are? Because they are just wonderful. Because of their help, the move was pretty easy considering how much stuff we have. Thankfully the rain held off until we had all of our stuff inside. We all hung out for a while and got all the big things situated. Saturday night I unpacked and worked on getting the apartment slightly more settled and crashed early.
Since then, life has been relatively uneventful. Sunday I ran some errands, most importantly figuring out the bus by my house (every 15 minutes until 10:30pm - awesome: no more taxis after class!). Monday I bought a bookcase in between my classes, Tuesday I renewed my gym membership, and Wednesday Kerensa and I went mattress shopping before I had to be at class for final oral exams. We found reasonably priced mattresses in downtown Heredia and then wandered around San Jose for a while. It was a great afternoon with one of my favorites. Our schedules are such that we haven't as much time to hang out recently, so it was great to spend Wednesday hang out with her.
Wednesday night after class I came home and got to skype with my mom [happy birthday Mom!]. This afternoon, after class and the gym, I came home and hung out with the dog (who so far is a sweetheart and super well-behaved), skyped with my dad who is coming to visit (!!!) and then my brother/Kelly/Lily. All in all a great couple of days.
I will take some pictures of the new place tomorrow and post them on Facebook, since I still can't seem to get the picture feature to work on the blog.
Happy Thursday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc9xq-TVyHI
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