change of scenery

after the ups and downs i'd been going through at my other project and 6 weeks of working at the same place, i decided i wanted a change so this week i have been going to a different project with a few of the girls here. the project is at a daycare center and it is in a similar area to where i was working before but there are buses that go there so instead of a taxi, we take a bus into the city of san jose then out to the "ghetto"/"slums" if you will, to the project. some days we're lucky and other days we end up having to wait awhile but when all is said and done, it takes roughly 60-90 minutes to get there each way. this project is a lot different from the soup kitchen where i had been working. the oldest kids there are probably about 7 years old, but the majority of the little ones are between 3-5 years old. so that alone makes it much different---lots of fun and running around, less conversations and attitudes with/from the kids, but also more difficult to do any kind of teaching or activities that require a lot of paying attention. yesterday we attempted to teach them the basics of handwashing, which kind of turned into playing in buckets of water but it was fun and something that we can continue to practice daily. i've enjoyed the past few days though, running around outside with them, coloring, laying in the grass---truly bringing me back to the life of a kid. there are 3 women that work at the daycare. every day, when they see deanna, who has been volunteering here for over a month, they give her a big hug and kisses on the cheek, treating her like a good friend. and even with me coming in as a complete stranger this week, they are very so warm and friendly and they seem truly grateful that we are there to help. the daycare center seems very close-knit and family-oriented... these women take all these children under their wings, as if they were their own children. it's nice to see this because at my other project, the 3 people that worked there seemed to just be there to prepare and serve the food and they didn't really have any connections with the kids besides the small talk conversation that occurs in the "cafeteria" setting. there seems to be more structure here, as many of the kids are here with the women all day and others just come in the afternoon after school. but for the most part, the kids are very loving and well-mannered so it's been a nice change.

on a lighter, more "social" note, my friends here and i decided to treat ourselves last night and finally take advantage of half price wednesdays at the movies. there's always a mix of movies in english with spanish subtitles or movies dubbed in spanish. most of them take at least a month to get here after their release date in the u.s. (i.e. the lovely bones came out mid-january at home and we saw last night that it comes out here march 26th!) but then there are some that come out at the same time so its bizarre and theres no logic to it, as i have come to realize is the case with many things here in costa rica. but anywho, we made it a girls night last night and went and saw "el dia de enamorados" (valentine's day)....and only paid $1000 colones which is a little less than $2!! jealous?! :) the only difference from seeing it at home was that there were spanish subtitles on the bottom of the screen. it was really cute though and we all enjoyed it---i mean, what girl doesn't enjoy a good chick flick every now and then?!

and one more random sidenote that i thought some of you may enjoy----yesterday morning, maria gave us the most bizarre breakfast: little grilled turkey and cheese sandwiches, these thin little sugar cookies and what i believe to be cantelope juice. maria makes all her juices in the blender with fresh or frozen fruit, ice, and water...but juice from cantelopes is a new one! the whole combination was a little odd ...or at least "yo pienso que si!" (i think so!)

...and this brings me to another little story---i hear this phrase "yo pienso que si" on average of 5-10 times daily, usually coming from the mouth of my friend katie. it's funny how little phrases become very helpful, especially when attempting to speak a foreign language. but it's even more enjoyable how we throw these phrases into conversations when we are amongst ourselves, speaking in english. some others are: "a mi tambien" (me too), "no se" (i don't know), "chiste" (a joke), "si, yo entiendo" (yes, i understand), and "es verdad" (that's true). we usually get a good luagh out of our attempts to speak spanish but what's probably equally as funny is for the costa ricans that overhear our conversations with these phrases thrown in at random!

i consider myself very lucky being here when i am...there are 4 girls that i've become good friends with and we hang out a lot during the week and have been traveling together on weekends so it's made my time here not only filled with lots of laughs, but also it's made the time feel like it's flying by! is it really almost march?!