some lovely pictures

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Costa Rica Pt 2







Ok im back...
So since i had uploading the pics and then dragging them to the appropriate location im just gonna post them at the top.
So, the journey continues on with Sunday. On Sunday I had the privilege of spending all morning hovered over a toilet with some type of stomach virus which thank goodness only lasted a few hours. I later joined up with the rest of the group that was doing a carnival for the neighborhood. It was pretty fun to see it all come to play. I had been planning on this carnival for a while and buying a bunch of stuff like bean bags for the bean bag toss and face painting kits. It turned out great and both kids and parents seemed to enjoy themselves. We had about 6 different "booths" of different carnival activities and it was super fun. I dont think many people had ever been a part of anything like that before cause most carnivals in costa rica only take place in bigger cities. We also gave away a bunch of soccer balls and uniforms to the community to have.
That night we just rested with my family and prepared for Mondays adventure of going into the schools.
So, monday morning rolls around and we get to the school around 10:00. We weren't suppose to start the whole event until 11:00 but we got there early to set up and start filling up water balloons that we bought for the kids to play with. Well, that plan didn't turn out so well cause as soon as all the kids saw us they ran out of their classrooms and started stealing water balloons. Now I must say I have beena part of plenty of water balloon fights but to see about 100 kids running around with water ballons throwing them at each other... that was a whole other story. So, after everyone was soaking wet. We decided to officially start the event. We had different craft tables for them to make jewlery and bookmarks and such. We also had the bean bag toss and a mini soccer game going. It was pure orginized chaos. after about an hour of that we sat everyone down and gave away all the school supplies and manipulatives for the teachers. That was truly one of the best parts. Everyones faces were lit up so much you just couldn't help but smile. Afterwards, most kids went home but we escorted about 50 of the students into the cafeteria and gave them each a pair of shoes. They were, according to the teacher, one of the needier students and couldn't afford to buy new shoes. So, once they all left we were officially done with that school, or so we thought. As we were leaving, one of the teachers approached us and asked us if we could fix their basketball court that didn't even look like a court, it looked like nothing. We agreed and picked a time and day to do that. When we got back home we talked and decided on how much extra money we had to buy paint and even a new hoop and such and we happened to have just enough, it was a huge blessing. So, we sent one of my uncles to go and buy everything for us.
The next day we went to another school in the neighboring town and did basically the exact same thing, minus the giant balloon fight. Those students behaved better. haha. Instead we did what we were planning on doing in the first place, a water balloon toss. All the kids had fun and when we were done, the teachers cooked us an amazing meal that consisted of some amazing chicken, beans rice, and homemade tortillas.
Later that night we were asked to go visit this rehab facility and just kind of hang out with the people there and such... so we hesitantly accepted not really knowing what was going to happen. It turned out to be an amazing expereince. We got there and just listened to a lot of these guys stories and talked to them and encouraged them, it was really amazing. The area that they were at was once a bunch of cabins for tourists but they turned it into that center but it was in this really nice area and had a bunch of monkeys, tucans, and parrots all over the place.
We came home really late that night very much looking forward to our free day we were going to have the next day. We had no idea what kind of adventure we were in for though.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Costa Rica

First of all, im so happy to finally be home... I missed everyone tremendously.
So, Costa Rica finally came and went. So much happened so i think Im gonna recap the trip in several parts... you know, keep you all hanging.

First of all the trip was amazing! Like, everything that I have been planning and such all came together so smoothly. We were able to do so many things and so much more.
The first couple of days we stayed in the capitol of Costa Rica (San Jose) and stayed with my cousins. Wednesday we arrived early in the morning, got to the house and basically slept most of the afternoon. When we got up, my cousin took us to see some of the coffee plants that were all around the neighborhood he lived in. That night, we went to a local market place and bought random things that people forgot to pack and some food for the couple of days we were gonna be there. Thursday was our first fun day, we did the canopy tour and got to go zip-lining through the rain forest. It was absolutely glorious and beautiful. I've done it before but this was a new place and it was interesting cause it was raining so the cables were wet which made us go faster... i felt like superman... which made me smile (side note- i wore my SGP shirt that day so SGP soared through the rainforest). I believe there were about 10 different cable plus a few hang bridges that we had to cross to get to other cables.
The next day we went to central San Jose and went to a few historical museums (since i love history and all) and went to the national theater. The national theater is one of my favorite places to visit while at the capitol.
Friday night we took off for our 8 hour drive to Golfito which is where I planned on working with the schools and is where most of my family lives. My cousin's neighbor had this big van and he volunteered to drive us there. Its a beautiful but long drive up a ton of mountains and its also a dangerous road. Well, our driver could not stop drifting the whole time... probably one of the scariest things ever. I'm pretty we almost died at least 4 different times.
But we finally made it to Golfito Saturday morning at like 5:00am.
As soon as we got to Glofito we took a nap, slept, and then headed to the stores to buy shoes and school supplies for the school we were going to be working with that next week.
ok, so im gonna stop there so i dont bore you all too much. I also posted a ton of pictures on flickr if you want to see more.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/costarican_15/

Thursday, May 28, 2009

California

Hey,
So, I am randomly flying down to CA tonight and will be gone until Sunday. Im going to be looking at a few areas and apartments and visiting the school I will be attending in the fall.

So, I just wanted to let everyone know just in case you don't see me online as much in the next couple of days.

that is all.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

My Musical

yes I just posted a vlog like 5 minutes ago but I'll just say that Im making up for like the month that i went without posting anything.
So a couple of days ago, a friend dared me to only communicate in singing for a whole day. I wasn't able to talk just sing. Well I ended up just doing it for like 2 hours while we hung out, not because I couldn't do it, it was just simply because I had some important meeting and work that I couldn't necessarily get done whilst singing.
So, I was a bit upset. I really wanted to try and go a whole day without talking, just singing... because, I have always wanted my life to be a musical. I decided to come up with a playlist for a mini musical of my life.
I came up with a few songs that describe things that happen throughout the day including some conflicting things to make it that much more interesting.
Here is what I came up with. If you guys have any other suggestions please contribute cause I'm gonna pick a day and ind of make a video incorporating all these songs.

I'm Only Sleeping The Beatles
Good Morning Singin' In The Rain (Soundtrack)
I Say A Little Prayer My Best Friend's Wedding
Drive My Car The Beatles
I Have Confidence Julie Andrews
Good Day Sunshine The Beatles
The Office theme song
A Well Respected Man The Kinks
Happy Working Song Amy Adams
Think About It Flight of the Conchords
Lost! Coldplay
Raise It Up August Rush
Been a Long Day Rosi Golan
akuna matata The Lion King
Getting Better The Beatles
Here Comes The Sun The Beatles
Times Like These Foo Fighters
The Nicest Kids In Town Hairspray: Soundtrack
I'm singing in the rain Gene Kelly
A Hard Day's Night The Beatles
11:11 PM The All-American Rejects
So Long, Farewell Sound of Music Soundtrack
Viva La Vida Coldplay

So yes, I think most of these are pretty self explanatory as to when I would sing them but there ya go. Suggestions?
Is it too obvious that I am done with work and have some extra free time?

My accent

hey everyone.
so here is my rendition of this amazing and hilarious story.
my accent is definitely different than when i was little. Before i had more of a Hispanic accent but now as you will hear its changed.
side note- i had literally just gotten back from the gym and work when i did this cause i was so excited to do this so you don't have to look at me, just listen.