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/

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.

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.

appreciating some west coast history

what a random but fun day...
so today was my dad's birthday and we spent most of the day trying to figure out what we wanted to do. Well we finally figured it out, we went down to the historical part of Vancouver and walked along the columbian river (end of the oregon trail). I discovered some amazing historical things about my state, it was quite exciting. If you didn't already know, I LOVE history and have always been fascinated by the east coast and all the history over there but never really took the time to appreciate the history here on this side of the states.
It was so nice today and there were so many beautiful sites... i was upset i didn't have my camera. I did however have me cell phone so i was able to take some pics.
Here are a few, the rest are on flickr.

a successful night

Well hey everyone!

So, what a long day, heck i should say what a long week. I've never had to prepare, plan, an organize something like this before and i have to say... it was pretty insane. But, i believe it was a success. We had about 80 people show up and make about $1,000 so i can't complain. The guy who came and sang did a really good job as well. He got everyone involved and taught people a few phrases in spanish, it was pretty funny. I spoke a few times and attempted to throw in a few funny lines, i think i got some sympathy laughs... haha.
But i made a little video of tonight if y'all want to see. Thank you thank you thank you for al the support and prayers. I really could not have done it without you and i know that the kids and school that we work with down in costa rica will appreciate it as well.

-Raquel

last leg of the race...

so... i haven't done a blog in a ridiculously long time so i thought i would give a little update. I feel like I'm finishing up this last leg of the race that I've been heavily running and its slowly coming to an end soon. Of course, a new race will start soon after but there are a few things that I'm excited about.

first of all, i only have less than 2 weeks left at work! I'm so excited! As much as I have enjoyed the experiences from the past 2 years, I am ready to start this new chapter of my life down in L.A.

Second of all, this friday I am having a big fundraiser dinner for my missions trip to costa rica. I'm really hoping that everything goes well and we'll be able to raise enough money to help buy extra shoes for the kids down there.

thirdly, orchestra has been going really well. Yes that may sound geeky but I don't even care. I have loved the experience of being in orchestra and improving myself in music reading. I'm excited about the couple of songs that I play cause i get to do some fun things on the snare drum oand tom toms.

so yeah, those are the big things happening right now. I hope you are all doing well.

Stay Classy SGP family.