Kiki's adventures in Costa Rica - Kristin Kyllo

Surfer's heaven

Kristin Kyllo — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT

So Holly and I just returned from Mal Pais for 5 days--it was our 'vacation'....like we need

one :o) We decided to fly on one of the local airlines to save ourselves hours and hours of travel time and I am sure glad we did...what an experience! It was just a little 12 passanger plane that only took us 25 minutes to get where we would have driven 5-7 hours on the bus, depending on traffic. That is the only bad thing about Costa

Holly, I, and our packing skills--5 days in one backpack each! :o) now that's skill....

Rica, everything is SO close, but there are mountains and lack of roads everywhere! It was a nice treat to get somewhere so quickly.
When we got into the airport in Tambor, Costa Rica, we had to laugh....it was just a

San Jose from the plane

bench with a tin roof above it and a runway. It was pretty Costa Rican if you ask me. We got to Mal Pais to find that our reservation was taken by some guy named Damien who didn't know what he was talking about...comforting right? So, we went walking and decided to go to a hotel called The Place. They didn't have room but we made fast friends with the guy working, Solomon, and the other workers there. They let

Tambor "airport"

us know where was good to go out and even gave us a ride one night to the bar because it was really far away and Costa Ricans are all about helping out everyone.
We really didn't do much the whole time we were there. We actually had a kitchen with our room so we decided to go to the grocery store and buy food to save money....which worked out amazingly well (although it did take the water over an hour to boil to make our noodles one night!). We spent a lot of time hanging out by our pool when it wasn't raining...we had a day and a half of rain--not typical at the beach, even during rainy season. We didn't spend too much time at the beach because Holly and I were seriously the only people in the whole town that didn't surf....not that that would keep us from the beach but the waves sure did! They were incrediable!

Fabiolia, Holly, myself, and Illiana at D & N

We had a lot of fun at the beach but had to make the trip back to reality for work for 4 days before we head back to good ol' Minnesota. I cannot believe my trip has went this fast and I know it's not just me....my mom even said that to me, yes my mom....Mrs. Worry About Kristin While She's Living in Foreign Countries with People Who Don't Speak English. I have a lot to get accomplished this week and that is without the packing, something I am NOT looking forward to. I have done it every weekend thus far though so I guess I should be pretty much a pro! It will be nice to finally be home, sleep in my bed, and see everyone! Hasta pronto!

Walk for a week....

Kristin Kyllo — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

So Thursday is a exteremly important day here in Costa Rica...it is the day of the Virgin. This is when everyone in the country (on the news it said over 2 million people) walk from wherever they live to Cartago--some people walk for a week or more! When they finally arrive, they finish the walk on their knees to the Basillica de Los Angeles (which I have pics of but didn't know I wasn't suppose to be taking them--whoops) where the statute of the Virgin is. They come here offering her many things--farmers will come and bring all that they grow to offer it to her--and also looking for her to perform miracles. If she does give them their miracle, they bring a charm of whatever was ailing them and it is put in these huge glass cases along with all the other miracles that have been given. I am very interested to see how this will all work and plan on taking pictures, but Holly and I are leaving for the beach for our last, long weekend here in Costa Rica.

Anyway, just thought that was interesting and wanted to share! See you in 10 days!! :o)

Make crafts...

Kristin Kyllo — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Montezuma is like an alternate universe...one where it is normal to sit on the same set of stairs with 10 of your friends for 3 days and not move, smoke pot, make crafts, and

Veiw from the ferry

sell them on the street....or to spend your evenings juggling or flame throwing with your friends in the middle of town. Yeah, every where we went was a definite adventure and we never knew what was going to be around the next corner.
To get there we had to take a bus to San Jose, a taxi to the correct bus stop, a bus to Puntarenas,walk to the ferry landing, a ferry across to the peninsula, and a bus to

The ferry

Montezuma so it was definitely a hike. The ferry was really fun--it was big enough for cars to drive on and go across too. We were also big fans of the food and beverages on board...always nice to pass the time.
We spent one afternoon climbing on rocks to get to a waterfall where the sign when you walk in says "Danger. Various people have died here." Again, like everything else in this

The lovely spider in our room

country....definitely not OSHA approved. It was a hard trek back to the falls but it was fun to go swimming in the pool and near the waterfall. We also spent a lot of our time at the beach during the day and having some beers during the evening hours.

Dangerous Waterfall

The town was TINY and in the shape of a 'T' so there were two streets, maybe 100 meters long each (yeah I am all metric now). We pretty much felt like we were staying with every single person there because you couldn't help but see the same people over and

Montezuma

over and over...... There was a local guy, who I doubbed at Crazy Legs, who just couldn't leave me alone. He was an interesting character who some how managed to show up whenever we were anywhere in town. He also only spoke Spanish so that made it that much funnier.
We had a GREAT time and Holly and I are looking forward to this weekend--Wednesday to Sunday in Mal Pais-which is located a little past Montezuma. We think we might fly this time but we'll see!

Pura vida!

Annexation of Nicoya

Kristin Kyllo — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Today is a very important day here in Costa Rica--it marks the annexation of Nicoya to the rest of Costa Rica. Today at school all the kids dressed in traditional Costa Rican clothing, did the typical dances, and ate the traditional foods. I think it made me realize that we don't have anything cool or traditional about our culture....how sad.
We had the whole day at school to celebrate and we also have Monday off so people can enjoy the weekend. Looking forward to it!

Just wanted to post some of the pictures of the kiddies--adorable!

Getting ready for their performance

Can you be any cuter?!

Dancing--yes they partner dance at age 5....even younger too!

Tradtional boys outfits

Dancing at the assembly

One of my classes at the assembly

Costa Rican flag, traditional dress, coffee plant, and traditional ox cart

Diego

On top of a mountain....

Kristin Kyllo — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

So this past weekend we spent our time up in the mountains. We debated if we wanted to do it or just go to the beach again, but we decided to check it out. We got there late-ish on Friday, after getting a flat on the bus--but instead of changing it, we just moved all the people who were sitting in that section of the bus and they had to stand.....wait, that was me...of course. So when we got there, we got all of our stuff settled and

Our room at Pension Santa Elena

headed out to eat. After eating, we found the local hot spot and had some drinks. Not too much to report, but it was a fun night.
The next day, we got up and ate some breakfast and went to set up a canopy tour(ziplining). We went had a fun time. They had a 'tarzan swing' which I had been warned to stay away from but after a 4 year old boy did it twice and loved it, I couldn't say no! It really wasn't too bad, after the inital fall and then you knew that the rope wasn't going to snap :o) We made friends with the guys there and they told us to look for them that

Our room--made for 6 but we got the whole thing!

night. We were leaving at 6:30 am the next day but figured drinks were definitely in order.
After an afternoon of napping (it was raining like crazy!), we got up, ate, got our selves ready, and got back to Dos Amigos (the bar). We hung out for a while and then Randall from the tour found us. For the rest of the night it was crazy...we hung out with the canopy workers and also with the people who worked at our hostel as well. It was really fun, but also really chill since we had to be up do darn early in the morning....

Myself and Holly before heading out

And that is all I've got from the mountains. I wish the weather would have been better but aw well. The next two weekends (which are long ones!) will be spent on the beach...very excited!
Other than that, I have started at my new school and am REALLY enjoying it. Kindergartern is so fun and my spanish is getting tested, as they don't know any English really. It's interesting....

I am heading home in about 2 1/2 weeks...very strange but I am kinda getting ready to get back to normal life--not that I won't miss Costa Rica and all my down time, but I just miss everyone at home!
Hope this finds everyone well and hopefully see you at the BBQ at my house on August 11th!

Vacation--week 2

Kristin Kyllo — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

So after I got Justin set and off to the airport I only had a couple of hours before my parents got here. When they first got here they got a great introduction to life in Costa

Tucan Sam and I

Rica--the rent-a-car window was closed because the man decided he wanted to go home. Yup, it's pretty laid back here. So we just took a taxi back to my place. Oh yeah, and my mom also thought that maybe if she spoke English louder that my host mom would understand her.....turns out that doesn't help if she doesn't know any English!

Here are some highlights from the week:
--Spent a couple days in Playa Hermosa (not the one J and I went to but another one--they are not very creative with their names!--the one near Jaco Beach) and met a dad and his son from San Diego. We spent some time hanging out and eating with them. It was a lot of fun but the beach there was for surfing only...which kept us outta the water. It didn't matter too much

Dad and I with some bamboo trees

because it wasn't too nice out.
--I played pool on a team with an 80's porn star, as I came to find out afterwards. You have to ask about that character when I get home. And yes, I have pictures......
--We went to a botanical garden for my mom's birthday. It was interesting because we had to drive 8 km on a crappy gravel road to get there....up the side of part of the mountain. It was cool though and the views were absolutely georgous!
--After a couple days there we went down to Manuel Antonio (me for the second time!).

Dad, myself, Hugh, and Alan zip lining through the rain forest

It was very busy but still just as beautiful. We met up with Alan and Hugh (that J and I met in Playa Hermosa) and spent a LOT of time with them. Dad, Hugh, Alan, and I went on a canopy tour, which is a bunch of zip lines throughout the jungle.....it was AWESOME!
--On the night before we headed back to the city, the president of Costa Rica (Don Oscar) was staying at our hotel. We were very interested at how laid back everything was and I

Me and the president of Costa Rica, Don Oscar

decided that I was going to get a picture with him. Well, it happened right when he got there before his dinner. Then, after he got done with dinner and was heading up to his room he stopped and asked me out.......seriously. You can ask my mom, she saw the whole thing. It was hilarious!
--We went to Manuel Antonion National Park and spent some time checking out the local wildlife. We saw lots of whiteface monkeys, slothes, poision tree frogs, a snake (mom did WONDERFUL!) and lots of other animals.
--The week that we spent traveling, we got a car to drive. That in itself was an

Monkey at Manuel Antonio National Park

adventure! We had to try manage ourselves in a country with no addressess, street names, and almost nonexistent street signs! We only got lost twice--once on the way and once on the way back--so I think we did very well. Oh and I was driving....good thing too because it was through the mountains for 70% and also on a "road" (which was more like they cut down the trees and threw huge rocks on it) which took us an hour and a half to go 20 miles. There were potholes on the road that our car could have disappeared into forever if we would have hit them (seriously holes with a diameter of 7-8 feet)!!!

I know that there are more and I am sure you will all hear them over and over in the next

Mom with some cool flowers

couple months--so get excited! I only have 3 weeks and 3 days left (I get home late on August 10th) which is very weird to think about, but also exciting. I miss everyone a lot, especially after having a taste of home here with me. I have lots of pictures and lots of stories so if you're interested, you know where to find me.........

Vacation--week 1

Kristin Kyllo — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

So a lot happened in the week we spent at Playa Hermosa--we met 3 new friends that we spent a lot of time with, went snorkeling, fishing, and had a LOT of laughs and fun. We'll go with the new friends first.

Our crew in Playa Hermosa--Marc, myself, Alan, Hugh, and Justin

We met Marc (from San Francisco) who was traveling alone. He was between jobs and had a couple weeks so his wife told him to take a couple weeks and travel. Our other friends are Hugh and Alan (from Palm Springs) who are on their third trip here. They are both in the food industry and it is their slow time so what better time to vacation! We spent a lot of time (over lots of food and drinks) with these three but also balanced it out so we had time to have our own adventures as well. It was great!

Now on to snorkeling. We had gone out the night before in a nearby beach called Playas del Coco. We went with John (another friend we met while there who is an ex-Marine and

Marc, myself, John, and Justin in Playas del Coco

was great to have around because he is a wealth of knowledge) and Marc. Well Justin and I thought it would be a great idea to stay until 2:30 am or so and then head back. After we got our new Tico bartender friend slapped so hard he got knocked down, we got home extremely late with not a lot of time to sleep before heading out on the boat. So needless to say, I wasn't feeling 100%.......so we get out on the boat and are all hopping into the water when we realize that all we have are flipper, masks, and the little tube thingy to breathe out of....no life jackets. I don't know about you, but if I am out in the middle of the ocean swimming around, I'm thinking a life jacket is a pretty good idea. So we get in anyway and try to get used to the whole breathing through a

A fish our guide brought to the boat for us

little tube deal. It was going okay and we saw some cool fish until we came to a wall of jellyfish. Alan and our guide were already through them(they were just little yellow ones but we weren't sure if swimming through them would be okay or not) so Justin and I started to freak out. We were becoming surrounded by all these jellyfish and were pretty far from our boat so panic set in. We split second decided to haul our butts back to the boat as fast as we could. We yelled to Hugh and off we went. Let me tell you that that was the longest swim of my life. Once we got back on the boat, there was no getting us off, unless it was on land. After all the commotion, I got sick....which made it even more ridiculous. The driver dropped us off at the beach and took Alan back out since he was the only one even doing it. The guide did being up fish and I guess was diving down and grabbing stuff outta holes in the coral....Alan said he was just nuts but a blast to snorkel with. So that was snorkeling.....

Justin and his HUGE AmberJack he caught

Now fishing was a blast. It was Marc, John, Justin, and I on a boat with our guide and his son. They got us pretty much set up and we started catching our bait fish. That took longer than expected but as soon as we got out to the deeper water, Marc and Justin both got bites. It was really exciting, but took a while to get the fish in the boats. Marc got his first and it was pretty big. But after 25 minutes of fighting the darn thing, Justin pulled his in. HOLY CRAP. It is the biggest fish I have ever seen in person, besides sharks in aquariums. We didn't catch anything after those two besides little bait fish, but this trip was much more productive and enjoyable over all. We actually wished we would have done it instead of snorkeling and then could have maybe gone out again before we had to leave.

Me and my baby

tired now but more later....

Justin's here!

Kristin Kyllo — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

So it has been an exciting couple of days. I had my last day at school (which was really sad) and Justin arrived on Friday! He got here with NO problems...luckly...and we made it to Playa Hermosa--but not without his first food experience in Costa Rica being Denny's....yes, Denny's. I know, not realy authentic, but it was close and easy so gimme a break. Playa Hermosa is on the Northern Pacific side of Costa Rica, so I am not sure why it is showing a completely different place but oh well!

We got here last night and just hung out and checked out our hotel (Hotel El Velero) and the little bar across the street (Pescado Loco....Crazy Fish in English). It was pretty chill and Justin was pretty tired, but he hung in there for a bit at least!

Today we woke up to lots of clouds so I was not very happy. We decided to talk a walk and check out the area, get some cash, and get our shuttle lined up for the way home. The cash machine didn't work with either of our cards so I am not sure what is going on, but hopefully we'll make it through the week on what we have. Also, we can just put everything we get here at our hotel on our room charge which is great and awful at the same time! The day was fun, met a lot of Americans...they are older than my parents but very nice people non-the-least. Justin isn't feeling too well tonight so I am just catching up on this and getting things situated for when we head back into the city.

We are hoping for a bit more sun tomorrow(although it did clear up and I believe that I did get a little burnt today...shocker), but more adventures to come in the week ahead!

St. Clare field Trip

Kristin Kyllo — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Today I got to go on a Field trip with my kids. We went on a tour of Cartago, which used to be the captial city of Costa Rica. We went to a bunch of really old churches and saw some amazing views. Just thought I'd share some photos from it.......

Some of my kids on our field trip--6/26/07

Me and Pamela on the field trip--6/26/07

Ana Laura, myself and Paula on field trip--6/26/07

Oh yeah, and here is my new room....I ended up moving into the room inside the house about a week ago. Check it out...

My new room

my new room again

Weekend around home

Kristin Kyllo — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

This weekend was really fun. We just stuck around home and explored. Friday we went out to Pepe's (one of our usual places) and had some drinks. Not too much to report from that but on Saturday morning Holly and I went with my teacher Ericka and her husband José to Irazú Volcano and Sanciario Nacional. It was awesome. The volcano was a bit

Myself and Holly at Irazú Volcano

anticlimatic though, seeing as it looks like a little puddle at the bottom of a Crater with bubbling green water. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was pretty sweet to be standing at the top of a volcano looking at the place where lava come spewing out of the Earth, but it was a little less exciting than I expected. That really didn't matter

Me by sombrella de pobre.....''umbrella of the poor''

though because we had so much fun. It was nice to be with people who live here and know what is going on--also to be in a car was heaven. We stopped at the Sanciario Nacional on the way home, which was also very cool. It is the oldest church in Costa Rica, I believe. It was really cool on the inside as well--we just walked around and Ericka and José explained about everything that was there. Then Saturday night we went out with Sylivia (a Tica), Amanda, Holly, Steve, and myself. We went down by the

Basillica de Los Angeles

University of Costa Rica, so that was definitely a little different than I am used too....completely packed, drunk Ticos, and dancing. We did not dance and pretty much just stayed to ourselves, but it was interesting to people watch, that's for sure. Sunday brought adventures as well. Holly and I decided to go walk around and find a place to go to lunch. We were successful in that, and also found a new place to go! We got there and ordered food and realized that the US vs. Mexico game was on (soccer), the championship for the Gold Cup. We decided to stay, have a few beers, and cheer on our team. We had a lot of fun and so did the Ticos...they were cheering for the US as well, but only because they didn't want Mexico to win :-) After there was a bit of shopping and then relaxing was in order. Not too exciting (in comparision to our traveling weekends) but it was really nice to have a little calm before the storm....the next two weeks I have off and Justin is coming the first week in July, my parents the second. Let the adventures continue.....!

If any of you are interested, here is the website of the school I have been working at:
www.saintclarecr.com

Interesting facts about Costa Rica

Kristin Kyllo — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

House in Puerto Viejo

Here are some things that I have not included yet that I think you might find quite interesting:

·In Costa Rica, they do not have addresses. They give directions such as the following to get to places: Go straight until you see the big mango tree, then take a left. Go 50

Just chillin
meters and turn left at the green house (even though the green house was painted two years ago to a completely different color). Yeah, it is always fun, especially in Español. Also when they are taking about a place that is farther away, they will use a landmark and say St. Clare School, 50 meters west of HyperMás(which is their WalMart). A little difficult.

·When you use a bathroom in Costa Rica, you cannot flush the toilet paper down the

Un chicitito taking a dip

toilet....their systems cannot take the paper. Where do you put the use toilet paper you may ask? Well, you put it in the garbage in the bathroom silly! Yes, that is correct....you put USED toilet paper in the garbage in the bathroom and it just sit there until it get full enough to empty.

·They do not use clothes dryers (or an actual washing machine at my house--all done by hand). So all of the clothes we buy that are used to getting shrunk back into shape in the dryer are just kinda loose and not fitting so well at this point.

·To cut the lawn, you may think a lawn mower woudl be a quick fix, but in Costa Rica they get down on all fours and chop the grass with a machete. Their lawns are definitely small enough to do this but it is just a curious site to see someone chopping grass with a huge knife, then picking it up and putting it into a garbage bag.

That is all I can think of for now. I know there are more, but those are the major ones. More to come though I am sure......

Heaven on Earth

Kristin Kyllo — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

I think I have now found the closest thing to heaven on Earth....Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. This weekend was amazing, but of course not without some mania along the way!

We got into San Jose to get tickets for the bus to Manuel Antonio at 6 but when we got there the ticket window was closed. I guess that they can just close whenever they feel like it, and unluckily for us it was before we got there. So we found the bus and tried to figure out what to do next. The way it´s done I guess is that you wait until everyone gets on the bus and then they see if they have room. So we waited, freaked out because it was the last bus of the day. Well we got on BUT we had to stand the entire way.....4 hours. Yes, that's right....we stood in the aisle of a bus speeding through the mountains, in the dark for 4 hours. Ahhh, nothing is ever easy but it seems to all work out in the end. And am I glad that it did.......

View from the top after a hike

We had a bit of trouble finding a place to stay, as we got there after 10 pm so most everything was closed. We finally found a hotel (with A.C.!!) which was a little more expensive than we wanted but it did the job. On Friday we went out with some people we had met on the bus. We went to two bars that were the closest to our hotel, which ended up being pretty fun. The first one was pretty chill and the second one was a dance place. The night was a lot of fun.

One of the beaches in the National Park

On Saturday we woke up at about 8:30 am and went to have breakfast. After eating we went to Manuel Antonio National Park (at which Holly had to take a minute and puke at the enterance). The park was BEAUTIFUL. There were multipule beaches in the park, as well as monkeys, sloths, iguanas, and spectacular views. After spending time hiking and hanging at the beach we decided that we needed to head back to make sure we had tickets for the bus the next day. We grabbed snow cones and shopped our way back to our hotel. After getting our tickets, we took the opportunity to take naps to prepare for the evening. Holly still wasn't feeling well so I headed out with Steve and Carson. We went to the first bar we went to on Friday because we made friends with the bartender (Layne) and the waitress (Alexa). We asked where we should go and they took it upon themselves to take us to a house party after they got off work. I was a little nervous going in but once I entered, it was like I was in the U.S....it was all the Americans that have moved here. We only stayed for a beer but it was interesting seening all of these people I could actually communiate with having a good old time. After we went to one of the bars, had some drinks, danced a bit, and went home......at 4 am. yeah, the next morning was very interesting getting to the beach.

We spent the whole morning before we left laying on the beach and playing in the water. It was wonerful, but I now look a little pink OR as my kids called me today 'cara

Buying a Sno Cone in Manuel Antonio

rosada'...pink face. yeah, they thought it was pretty funny. aw well, I think I will survive!
The weekend was perfect and was exactly what I expected Costa Rica to be like--beautiful in every way and super fun.
It's hard to believe I have been here for a little over three weeks. It feels like I just got here, but also so long ago that Justin dropped me off at the airport. Which also reminds me, I only have the rest of the week and next before my two week vacation--and that means Justin, Mom and Dad! Should be interesting trying to adventure our way around a country I don't know too much about but I guess that is part of the adventure! Hope things are as well at home as they are here! Hasta luego!

15 minutes of fame....

Kristin Kyllo — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Us talking to the students at Juan M. Monge Cedeno School

Today we went to a school out in the country to just experience some more schools. It was AMAZING. There were a total of 55 students in the whole school and 3 classrooms, with multipule grade students in them. The entire school pretty much didn't have class because we were there and we played games and they got to ask us questions. We taught them how to play Red Light, Green Light and they taught us how to play some games as well. (p.s. don't ever try to play 'telephone' in Spanish!)

Us with Kindergarteners at Juan M. Monge Cedeno School

After we hung out with the kids, we got to eat lunch at the school. After eating, we learned how to make homemade tortillas and actually made some. It was very interesting and they were really good. Oh, and we also spent probably an hour signing autographs because these kids thought we were famous or something....seriously. It was cute, but also a little strange.

Us with the 6th graders at Juan M. Monge Cedeno School

So on Thursdays for the next 3 weeks I will be going to different schools for the experience of seeing how different all the schools here can be. I am very excited and could only hope that it will be as fun as today.

YAY, we survived!

Kristin Kyllo — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Beach at Puerto Viejo

So this weekend was our first attempt at traveling around this crazy country AND it was just that! We had to leave Saturday morning (due to schedule issues) but we thought it'd be a good idea to go out for drinks on Friday anyway. Well, turns out, that was a BAD idea. I slept through my alarm (that was set for 4:45 a.m.) and didn't wake up until 5:41. Steve and I were supposed to meet Holly at the corner to catch the bus to San Jose at 5:15 a.m. so we were a bit behind. Our bus was leaving San Jose at 6:30 so we hopped into a taxi in hopes we'd make it.....who knew we'd get the only slow cab driver in the whole country?!?! Yeah, so we got to the bus station with 3 minutes to spare so we ran in to get our tickets, only to find out that the stupid bus left at 6 a.m. BOOOOO! So, being the resourceful people that we are, we took out our travel guides and found and alterate route to take to get our butts to the beach! We got there only about a half hour later than we had planned so we were very happy!

Myself and Holly at our hostel in Puerto Viejo

Puerto Viejo is a EXTREMELY laid back rasta-carribean town. People there seemed not to have a care in the world (and definitely not a demanding schedule!). There were a lot of Americans there and pretty much everyone spoke English...which was nice but definitely not a help to practicing my Spanish skills! We pretty much just hung out on the beach all day--walked up and down checking out the beach and the little shops and stands. For dinner, we went to one of the restrurant right on the beach and watched the beginning of the Costa Rica vs. Haiti soccer game. It was fun but we were so tired that we decided to skip the bars and just get some sleep. (Although it was almost impossible for me because I have some weird rash on my arms and legs, and have for days now, that kept me awake. Oh yeah, and last night was my first night sleeping under a misquito net....it was funny but also a bit bothersome. This morning we woke up, had a fabulous breakfast, and just hung out at the beach again until we had to catch the bus back. It was a shorter trip than I would have liked to have taken there but we had a really good time. The beach was beautiful, the sun was shining and I had nothing to worry about.......sounds perfect to me!

Tomorrow is back to work though....sometimes I forget I am here to be working! I am going to start teaching more this week so that will hopefully make the day go by faster....it's hard for me to just sit and watch someone else teach so this should keep me busy. Not sure where next weekend will take us but I'm very excited for it! Hope you all had great weekends as well!!

Good news all around!!

Kristin Kyllo — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

So I have recieved very exciting news--I passed all of my licensing tests and when I get home I will be a real live teacher!! YAY! I was very excited to hear that I passed and will not have to take them over again...that´d be such a pain! I even am being recognized for how well I did on one of them--a certificate of excellence and everything. I was very excited about that and what make it even better for me is that it is the one where they gave me case studies and I had to use everything I have learned and say what I would do in the situation...practical use and I did well! YAY for me!

In other happy news, I talked to Barb (the coordinator from the U.S, who is here right now observing some of the other students) and she said that since I don´t work on Thursdays, I can visit other schools to see how they differ from the school I am working in. I am excited for the experience but that is not the only thing I am excited about--it also means that I will be home a week early (August 11th)! I figured that if I am here I might as well be efficent with my time, instead of wasting my Thursdays, and get done a bit early! How that for some excitement!

My house

School is going well and the living situation is wonderful still. Heather and Emily are leaving at the end of this week/beginning of next week so I may be moving into one of their rooms because they are on the main floor...which would put me closer to everyone in the house and would just make things easier. Other than that, not too much to report. Today we are having coffee with Barb at the mall near here to just talk and relax. It will be nice to speak English for an extended period of time. :-) Holly and I are also going to figure out where we will be traveling this weekend...which I am looking forward to very much--our first cross country bus experience while we are here.

Hope all is well at home! Keep the comments and emails coming. More pictures when I get a block of time on the computer (they take FOREVER to upload here)!

Feliz Cumpelanos a Emilia!

Kristin Kyllo — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

My first weekend in Costa Rica was pretty relaxing. Friday night, Holly, Steve and I went out for drink to test out the waters here. It was very fun, but I realized just how happy I am to have Holly here because her Spanish is excellent....makes me a little less nervous! It was pretty standard but fun to scope out places since we are just beginning our trip. We already found some good wings so I am pretty set (although there is no ranch!).

On Saturday, we woke up early (which happens every here, 7:30 a.m. is late) and went with Emilia to the farmer´s market. It was very interesting to go and compare it to the ones at home. It was much bigger and they had all sorts of interesting things.

Last night, Emilia´s children threw a huge surprise birthday party for her (about 90 people)--she turns 55 on Monday. It was seriously like a wedding--at a hotel, there was a band, photographer...it was amazing. We had no idea what was going on half of the

Heather, Emily, and I at Emilia's birthday pachunga

time because they speak in Spanish so fast but we danced and had a BLAST! Of course they were playing some silly games and Emily, Heather, and I had to tie pantyhose around all three of us with a lime in one of the legs, and use that to knock a coke can on it´s side and roll it all the way across the dance floor through Emilia´s legs. Yes, it was very weird but hilarious and very fun. We won of course so that was even funnier. It was a late night, but very fun to get to meet all of the important people in Emilia´s life and more of her family. They are so fun and I am glad to be with her family.

Today is my Dad´s birthday (Feliz Cumpleanos Dad!) so I am sad that I will miss out on a BBQ and time in the boat. It will probably just be a relaxing day today, going to Hiper Más (like Wal Mart) to get some stuff because we are cooking supper on Monday so Emilia doesn´t have to cook on her birthday. It should be very interesting, as I am not even sure what we are going to make and if we can find the stuff to make anything we know how to....aw well, another adventure. Also, we are going to start figuring out where we are going next weekend, as traveling to the beach every weekend will start then. Emily and Heather, who have been here for 2 months, have been giving us advice on places to go and things to see so at least we have that to go from!

I hope everyone had a great weekend, especially Sadie and Ryan, who got married yesterday...sad I couldn´t be there! Well back to work tomorrow, but I am very excited and looking forward to spending more time with my kids and my cooperating teachers.

beers in the movie theater?!?!

Kristin Kyllo — Wed, 30 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Today was a good day. I went to school and got my schedule---I´m loving it. I don´t work Thursdays at all and the most I work on the other days is 5 hours. It is very nice and the teachers I work with are wonderful. For those of you who care here is the detailed schedule:
Monday--9:35-3
Tuesday--9:35-1:40
Wednesday--7:30-1:05
Thursday--NO WORK!!
Friday--8:45-1:05
I can´t complain....

I took the bus alone again after work. It turns out that it doesn´t always stop at the same stops, so I missed mine and had to walk twice as far home from the bus stop. Oh and did I mention that it was a HUGE thunderstorm? By the time I got home, I was drenched and laughing very hard. All the people were staring at me from the little shops and from their house windows like I was crazy to be walking in the pouring rain. I´ll just chalk up another point for myself.....

Tonight we went to Pirates of the Carribean 3. It was in English with Spanish subtitles. The theater was great...we went to the most expensive one ($4 tonight because it was student night) which has large reclining seats (with foot rests!) and waiters that serve you anything.....popcorn, food, even beer! So needless to say I had a beer and watch a movie that I have not seen the two pervious ones, but it was fun all and all.

The weather here is very rainy because it is their winter (which they call their rainy season). It rains almost everyday in the afternoon and sometimes continues through the night. It is only one more month until it starts getting nice....I can´t wait!

Thanks for the emails and updates....it helps me feel in the loop!

and the adventure continutes........

Kristin Kyllo — Tue, 29 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT

So my first full day here was yesterday.....and what a day it was!
I didn´t have to work because of the problems getting here so I was home alone. Before Emilia left for her class, she told me to NOT let the dog out because it would run away....or so I thought---more on that later!

Holly (who is in the same program as me at Hamline) and I went for a walking tour with her host mom. It was really fun, even though I don´t understand what is going on half of the time. We went to some stores and picked up things that I needed. When we got back to Flor´s house (Holly´s host mom) for lunch, my legs and arms started swelling up with huge bite marks....I´m talking enormous. Flor was very nervous so she decided we should go to the hospital, which is in San Jose--the capital of Costa Rica.

Flor and I at the hospital

So Holly and I came back to my house to get my insurance info and walked into a mess. Apparently I was NOT supposed to leave the dog in the house because she would get into the trash and go to the bathroom in the house. WHOOPS! Also, this was the first time I met Erick, Emilia´s youngest son. He was VERY angry and wasn´t the nicest. He had just gotten home from working to 2 days so I understood why he was annoyed, but I was a little scared. Back to the hospital story...we got all the way to the hospital and my bites had gone back down. Flor still insisted that I be seen so we went. It was pretty funny because I just sat there and had Holly and Flor do all the talking. I got some pill and some cream to put on it in case it happens again. Last night, Erick apologized and told me that he was just tired so I don´t feel so awful anymore!
It was an eventful day.

Today was my first day of work. It takes 30 minutes to walk there and by the time we arrived, I had rubbed all the skin off the back of my heels. It was terrible. Everything else at school was wonderful--I work with all the third graders at the school....around 90 students.

my 3rd graders

They were all so cute and excited for me to be there. They all wanted to know about the snow and what it felt like. They couldn´t believe that it snows so much in Minnesota....I told them to come visit :-) So after school I decided to take the bus by myself. I was worried a little, but it went off without a hitch....until I got off the bus. I thought I knew where my house was from the stop, but to no surprise, I didn´t. It was raining, my heels were bleeding like crazy, and I was lost. I finally just

my 3rd graders

walked up to a lady and told her I was lost. I asked her if she knew Emilia and she did (everyone knows each other in this area and many people throughout the country...it´s very small). She got me to where I knew where I was and I finally made it home. Now we are having afternoon drinks (smoothies, coffee, tea, etc.) and a little something to eat so I should go. I´m realy getting used to the Spanish and will definitely be using it a lot at school. I can´t wait. I miss you all and can check my email a lot, so please write and keep me update with what is going on at home!!! Hasta luego!

Holy trip.....

Kristin Kyllo — Sun, 27 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Well hopefully that plane ride is not an indication of how my trip is going to go....let me fill you in:

We left MPS right on time and got to Atlanta with no problem. It was the flight from Atlanta to San Jose, Costa Rica that caused some problems. We arrived after the 3 and a half hour flight to find a thunderstorm over the San Jose airport. The captian decided

Holly and I in Panama for a couple hours

that we should just go into a holding pattern to try and wait it out. Well, we did that for the next two hours.....until we were about to run out of gas. Then we had to go to Lyberia, Costa Rica to refuel, which also took us two hours. After refueling it was 12:45 a.m.....4 hours after we were supposed to land. Then it was decided that we should try again because it had cleared up. By the time we flew back to San Jose, the storm was back. We went into a holding pattern again.....for another two hours.

The pool in Panama

Yup, we even tried to land once but the captain had zero visibility so that was a no go. It ended up that we had to go to Panama and stay over there until the next afternoon. By the time we got to the hotel, it was 5:30 in the morning and I had been up for 24 hours. NOT FUN.

Alas, I made it here and am trying to get settled into this crazy life. The Spanish is a little hard to get used to hearing 100% of the time, but I think that will pass. I really like the family I am with and the other students here are great. I will write more later when I have more time and sleep.........

my bedroom

the view from my balony