Currently Reading Lonely Planet Costa Rica Spanish Phrasebook (Phrasebooks) By Thomas Kohnstamm see related

omigosh! i am such a poop!  i had the wrong address i think to send letters to here.  i just used the one they gave me, but someone at the school gave me a new one now, so i'm wondering if the last one was wrong. whoops.  here's the new info:

Brenana Miller

c/o International Christian School
SBO #844
PO Box 025292
Miami FL 33102-5292

or
Breanna Miller

San Miguel de
Santo Domingo de Heredia
Apartado 3512-1000
San José Costa Rica

Currently Listening Faces Down By Sondre Lerche see related

what a weekend!  abigail and i took a trip to the carribean coast this weekend.  this is a completely different culture as far as costa rica goes.  there is definitely a carribean feel to the place.  there is much more british/english influence as well as a jamaican, african influence.  it´s rasta city.  everyone has dreads or listens to bob marley. 

our bus left at 6 in the morning.  we had no idea everyone in the san jose area would have the same idea.  there were no seats left, but being costa rica we were able to purchase tickets de pie (basically, we sat on the floor or stood).  i was really overwhelmed at this idea at first, but i think i´d like to travel this way for the rest of my time here.  we met so many new people on our 4.5 hour ride.  the floor passengers refered to us as the human tetris pieces.  it´s a good way to get to know some new faces. 

these folks became our travel partners for the weekend.  we stayed in a true backpackers hostel.  there were hammocks and tents that you could rent per night.  yes!  doing it the cheap way!  we rented beach cruisers and explored the area and got to know our peace corps volunteer friends.  nothing beats good governmental and religious conversations while sitting in the waves and drinking coconut milk from the shell.  i love this place!

Currently Listening De Viaje By Sin Bandera see related

So, classes started.  This will be an interesting year.  I have 26 ESL students.  Wow!  Hopefully they will get another third grade teacher soon.  I´m not sure how long i will last otherwise. 

Here´s my new address:

Breanna Miller c/o ICS

8150 NW 71st St.

Miami, FL 33166

Currently Listening O By Damien Rice see related

I apologize for my long term absense.  I have been in major transition.  Well, major for me.  I switched families this weekend and started my new job as a third grade teacher.  Classes actually start on Tuesday, but this whole week has been all about preparation and orientation.  I feel so unprepared and well,  unprepared.  Thankfully, i can play the, "I just moved to the country" card.  Everything here is just so much more laid back in general. 

I am team teaching with a woman who does not speak a word of English.  Our students will spend half of the day with me and half of the day with her learning spanish.  Needless to say, it's been very difficult to communicate since our classes have to be very unified.  It's such a great way for me to practice my langage in a new way with different vocabulary.

I am living with a new family in Tibas, Costa Rica.  They don't speak English either.  Abigail is living with my "mom's" daughter (Chris) and her husband (Pe).  So, i guess we're sisters!  ;)  They also have a 25 year old son named Raul and an adopted 16 year old daughter named Tabe.  She is my roommate.  Yeah, it's definitely an adjustment.  The whole tempermant of this family is completely different.  But, i came down here to experience, right.  It's all so new, challenging, and exciting all over again.  It was SOOO hard leaving my old family.  We all stood out on the street crying and hugging.  They threw us a surprise party the day we left with every extended family member there to give us gifts.  Abigail and I taught them how to play spoons.  I think we've changed their lives forever.  Only a little blood was shed. We are going to go back to celebrate Mother's Day with them on Monday before school starts on Tuesday.  I can´t wait!!!

My new phone number here: 001-506-241-7240

My new address:  wait, i have to try and find it.  i'll get it on here soon.

Currently Reading The Princess Bride: S Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure By William Goldman see related

So, last night, as i was trying to fall asleep, i heard this scurrying sound on the wall by my closet.  No big deal. I squinted in the dark and saw an 8 in. long darkish shadow.  Lizard? Bird? What?  The more i watched it, the more it flew until it soared right over my head.  A big bat!  I had the hardest time sleeping.  It was over 80 degrees in my room and I was so nervous it would try to suck my blood.  I couldn´t scream and wake my family.  I was trapped!  Until i peeled myself from bed the next morning and discovered it was only a giant moth.  All that terror for nothing.  :(

The longer I am here, the more i feel like Che.  This is MY journey through Latin America.  I am seeinf what life is really like for real people, both real fortunate, and real unfortunate.   Some people with little hope of change, ever.  However, they are my heroes.  They have changed my perspective.  How did i get the priviledge to have this opportunity?  I will leave Costa Rica a different person, a changed person.  What things willI do after becoming aware of the issues of the world?  These are the questions i ask myself.  This is why I am here. 

I went to my "great aunt´s" house last Tuesday before classes.  She lives in the mountains about an hour from my home here.  After leaving her town, i was heartbroken.  She was married when she was twelve years old  to a man she didn´t love.  Her true amor died when she was 18 in an accident.  But, for 60 years, she has lived with her abusive, alcoholic husband who tricked her into marrying him.  They consumated their marriage before she even understood what sex meant and gave birth to her first child one year later.   He has beaten her into having sex ever since and caused her to have 12 children.  Based on principle she will never leave him and every day, she feebly struggles to tend her garden and keep the little money she has hidden from her liquor-addicted partner and son.  She cooks with a flame over an open fire and wears nothing but brown because it gets dirty less easily. 

My language teacher, Carmen, and her family are from Cuba.  She spent over two hours recounting how she and her family fled the country.  Originally, they attempted to escape illegally.  The story is incredible.  The tears and the way she speaks of the oppression they endured cause me to give thanks for the freedom into which i was born. 

I am also realizing how transcendent (is this the word i am looking for? English is harder for me to figure out than Spanish anymore) God is.  He´s the same everywhere you go.  On Sunday, i visited this new church.  It was so much more passionate and alive than any church i´ve ever visited in the States.  People love Jesus in Costa Rica too.  They study the Word, they understand the gifts of the Spirit, and salvation.  They play good worship music and dance and praise.  It was so reassuring and refreshing to me. 

Huge milestone: I wrote my first two Spanish poems this weekend.  I am so amazing!