Christmas Season

I have been super busy these past few weeks. My Christmas "break" ended up being splendidly hectic. I will put up some photos to go with this narrative ASAP.

Habitat paseo

I went with about 15 Habitat employees on paseo (a little end of the year trip). We went to Aguas Termales, in la Fortuna. It was volcanic hot springs, and it was really fun. The hot springs were gorgeous, and felt great since it was a kind of rainy day. Plus, it was free, so it doesnt' get a shole lit better than that. I got back to Cartago at like 10 pm, exhausted, but it was way worth it.

Tamales

in Costa Rica, as in Mexico, it is a Christmas tradition to make ridiculous numbers of tamales. every family makes a bunch, and then they take them to their neighbors and friends and family as Christmas gifts. I was excited to be involved in the process, and am proud to say that actually making 300+ tamales didn't diminish how much I like to eat them. Here, the tamales are different than what I am used to in the Southwest. they are made from Maza, but also have mashed potatoes mixed in (which make them softer). Then, inside there is pork, carrot, green bean, rice, and a little bit of bell pepper. We wrapped them in plantain leaves, and then boiled them iver huge firepits for like 4 hours. On Christmas day I ate nothing but tamales, as a personal challenge (which wasn't that much of a hardship, really).

6th Grade graduation

My 6th graders graduated from elementary school on December 20th, and most will now be going to high school. Some have decided to end their educations at this point, and go work in the fields instead. For a country with a 97% literacy rate, it amazes me how many people don't finish, or even go to, school past the 7th grade. Regardless, it wsa still nice to be able to see them graduate and hand out certificates or completion in my English class. I really hope that I have better prepared them for the English classes that they'll be taking in the colegio.

Relocated Camping Trip

My friends and I had been planning a camping trip on December 20th for like a month, and were really psyched about it. However, a combination of events led us to cancel the trip, or, rather, relocate it to my living room. 1- The weather in Santa Rosa was super cold that week, and no one wanted to freeze to death. 2- A few people had to get up early the next morning for a soccer game. C- Saprissa and La Liga were playing in the last game of the national soccer championship, and noone wanted to miss it. So, Carita brought his TV over to my house, we hooked it up, grilled outside and had a barbeque while we watched Saprissa (my team) dominate la Liga 3-0. It was a fun night, and way warmer than we would have been outside.