Megan and I went on a great rafting trip with 11 of the other teachers from school. It was an exhilarating trip during rainy season here in Costa Rica. The river Paquare is supposedly classified as class 3 and 4 rapids with 5 being the highest on the scale. I am have no idea if the rapids were that big but they were definitely big enough for us. We stopped half way and had lunch and then finished dog-tired ready to collapse and go to bed early. The section of river we ran was quite remote and wildlife was plentiful. We saw a number of toucans flying overhead and heard lots of monkeys in the trees. I will let the photos do the talking and leave a strong recommendation for all interested to try this yourself. ... read more

Posted by John It has been so long since we have posted. Megan and I have just been caught up with teaching and the day-to-day aspects of living here. We have adjusted quite well. It feels now almost like living anywhere else really. We work, pay bills, grocery shop, clean house and all of the other things we would be doing in the States. Now we just have to do them in another language. Needless to say, Megan pretty much has the language thing in the bag. I, on the other hand am still in the dumb gringo category stumbling along using lots of gestures and communicating in verbs and nouns almost exclusively. Ticos (or Costa Ricans) are extremely helpful if not just a little bit fast with their Spanish tips. I am lucky if I ... read more

Road Trip! Posted by John The last days in Samara diminished quickly as many of our fellow TEFL students moved away to their respective jobs, peppered all over Costa Rica. There were four of us left, each interested in traveling to Heredia near the capital of San Jose. Two of us have jobs waiting, one of us is going there to look and the other is flying home to visit family. We decided to leave early so we would be able to take a road trip, take our time and see some more of this beautiful country. We left Samara on Tuesday with plans to spend a day or two in Mal pais on the tip of the Nicoya Peninsula for some internationally famous waves. We rented a 4WD for the drive because shortly after leaving ... read more

Posted by Megan 12/27 Well, Christmas has come and gone but supposedly the party is just starting. The festival starts today. It looks very interesting... they've been setting up rides and getting ready for this for days. It lasts until January I think. They are going to have a big parade on horses all around Samara - like 30 or so caballeros. Then on the last day of the festival, they are going to ride not only around Samara but supposedly three other nearby towns as well. It should be interesting. Christmas day was pretty relaxed around here. Everything was open... nothing was shut down. It was just like any other day. John and I and the friends we live with that were in the TEFL class with us went to the beach and surfed. Then ... read more

Posted by Megan 12/22 Well, we are officially done with classes. We both passed with an A. And we got moved to the new place... which happens to be a much better place!!! That was the quickest move I've ever lived through. We packed all our stuff up and got it moved over to the new house in a grand total of maybe 2 hours. The new place is on a farm on the outskirts of town. It is such a beautiful place. There are chickens running around everywhere, and there are cows, horses, iguanas, and a huge cage of really big, green parrots that talk and whistle back to you when you talk or whistle at them. The showers are way better here at the new place (still cold), the fan works better, there is ... read more

(posted by Megan, 12/17) Well, class is almost over! We have been so busy the past two weeks with homework, creating lesson plans, creating our portfolios and resumes, and just being in class 9 hours a day. But I taught for the last time last night (it went pretty well I think) and John teaches for the last time tonight. All we have left after that is our final exam and to finish our portfolios. We think we are going to be working for Intercultura Language School starting in January. It is not official yet, but we're pretty sure that's where we're going to go. They are a very reputable school and they offer a lot of support and structure (no more making lesson plans from scratch!). Also, they offer free Spanish lessons to their teachers ... read more