Lunes en Costa Rica

Another bus ride to Maximo Nivel to drop off my laptop and pick up my passport to grab a few colones. Instead of having lots of money on me..I go to the bank a few times a week to trade dollars for colones.  I'm finding that even though prices in Costa Rica aren't "cheap"...I don't have need for lots of cash.

I am leaving a bit earlier this morning than usual...as I want to try to log in to the Pepperdine session...the internet connection has been very sporadic since my arrival.

My day begins with breakfast in the hotel..usually the garden (as the weather is usually quite nice).  No cost, as the traditional breakfast is part of the cost of staying in the hotel ($107.00 per night + 13% taxes and 10% server fee for all meals and drinks).  I eat a tuna kit (shown earlier) for lunch -- no cost, as I packed these before heading out of the states.  Dinner is the most expensive part of my day.  If I'm hungry, I'll ask for the special...as long as there's no meat in it....Since, I've been here, I've tried the specials a few times.  As I blogged about earlier...the meat tastes off...so I try to stick with meatless dishes.  If the special for the day is chicken, meat, or fish I'll stick with my favorite soupa de frijol nego.

Even though this doesn't look that great...it's really quite tasty...the spices make it (but I could do without the 1/2 of boiled egg floating in it.

Nothing special to report today...another long day working with very grateful children, happy to learn English and get filling meals.

Once the children wash and dry their hands on the red towel (in the background), they can get in line to get their food.  My job was to make sure that all of the youngsters washed their hands before getting in line.

After washing their hands...and drying them on the same red towel...the children stand in line to patiently await their meal.  They usually have the traditional breakfast of fruit, rice and beans with juice or milk.  For lunch, they usually have rice and beans and mashed potatoes with some type of meat, either pork sausage or chicken.  Before they leave, they are usually given cold cereal and milk, a cookie, or fruit snack.  Most of these children live with both parents and a host of siblings.

This is the house next door to La casa de los ninos - where I volunteer

The serving area is as clean as it can be...but as you can see is very old

Esmeralda washes her hand and wiping them on the same red towel while the volunteers in the background are washing dishes from the students who had already eaten..

I couldn't even send my lesson plan to Paula to copy for me...as I kept getting booted off the site.   Hopefully, the connection will be better at the Maximo Nivel office...

 Pura Vida!