Hola from Costa Rica (28/11/06 - 7/12/06)

Hola! from Costa Rica. Eventually we've got this blog up and running and hopefully we can keep it updated. We are staying on the campus of International Teams just outside the capital of San Jose. 'San' by the way means 'Saint', practically all the towns in Latin America seem to start with this. San Jose is Saint Joseph, nearby is San Pablo (St.Paul) and we're staying in 'San Isidro'. At a wild stab we're thinking this probably means Saint Ian (although we can't be sure).
As you can see we're surrounded by beautiful mountains. For nearly our whole time here, there are clouds that cover the mountain tops which look amazing.






The campus grounds are really nice with loads of different plants, trees and wildlife. We have al ot of fruit trees like lemon, orange, lime and bannana trees,which we can pick off and eat or cook with. The grounds also has a cheeky little football pitch, a volley ball net and swimming pool, although no one seems to go in it because it's so cold. There are also a load of dogs which roam around, mainly for security, which follow you when you go places which we've got used to now. We've stayed in various places since being here and are all good.

Our Spanish teacher Ana is fantastico. She doesn't speak English much which actually really helps us to learn quicker. She is very motherly and funny. We are doing 3 hrs a day with her and then studying for another 3 - 4 in the afternoon. She is very keen to give us Cultural experience aswell as language so we've already made Costa Ricas typical dish known as 'Gallo Pinto' which is bascially rice, beans, vegtables with a fried omlette (a breakfast favourite apparently). She wants to take us to the musuem this week and has invited us to a big fiesta (party) next weekend in San Jose. She's also asked if we want to spend Christmas with her family. The main celebration is Christmas eve here. We try to speak as much Spanish as we can around the campus, but because most of the people here are American it tends to end up in English.