Hello Hello! Wow! I have a short time with a computer, so I'm going to spit out just one or two parts of one or two trains of thought.

It wouldn't be entirely true to say that everytime I'm feeling down, something comes along to change my mood. No, it's got a lot more to do with personal initiative. Rarely can I call it a great day when it is spent alone. Leonela is one of my 11th graders, and her house is charming, with a remarkably clean and perfectly appropriate black tile floor. Her dad is very quiet, small with strong features and well defined forearms. He's got eyes that have never passed judgement. I wanted to express more to him than my Spanish would allow. I wanted to know about his life and his work in the coffee fields. He makes 4000 colones a day. That's 8 dollars. Nobody else in the family works, but their house is warm and comfortable. I wanted a conversation with twists and turn, but he wouldn't do it on his own and I just couldn't pull the words out quick enough to keep it flowing. He chopped down a sugar cane for me, and we ate slices as he gently chisled away at the dense arm of the plant. Curiously both he and his wife told me that the sugar cane is good for your teeth. One of us has been getting bad information. They prepared a grand meal, both for lunck and dinner, as I ended up staying at this afternoon "cafecito" for 9 hours. Mom puts cilantro in her rice, and it makes all the difference in the world. I ate eggs from their personal chickens. Leonela made me a glass of milk with salt. As milk, it was awful, but as with all foods here, I found that byt dropping my expectations of what it should taste like and simply accepting whatever flavor enters my mouth as either tasty of despicable, I can find pleasure in almost anything...(more to come in the next few days)...

My biggest lesson in the first half of this trip is to seriously drop all expectations at all times. I need to lose my expectations of how my spanish should be in 5 weeks. It will be better. It already is, if sometimes I would just relax and not feel I should have mastered it already. There have been days when my students have been absolutely uncontrollable, and days when I haven't been able to do anything in the way of discipline to counteract it. As far as discipline goes, the problem is I have a short time here and I want to know my students, not to be their dictator. Is there a balance? Can there be, in this situation? I'm SO underqualified to do every aspect of what I'm doing , yet the amazing thing is I'm doing it and for all intents and purposes, I'm kicking ass at it. I'm occasionally tired of speaking and receiving blank stares back. Some days are better than others. Know that when I'm sad, it's the happiest sadness imaginable. Turns out, I can either pout and listen to the snickering (people don't usually help, they snicker at the Gringo) ( Why do people snicker? Why don't they help?) or I can laugh along with them, because frnakly the fact that I'm here at all is hilarious and wonderful. Pura Vida. Pura Vida. I think it just means calm the **** down.

So sorry, but I've got to run. More soon, I promise!