Back in San Jose
Trip Start
Jun 16, 2005
1
14
46
Trip End
Aug 2006
San Jose,
Costa Rica
Friday, August 19, 2005
Well, Dad and I arrived just fine, and all the baggage got through swimmingly. The only issue had to do with some of the little prizes I've been giving out for worksheets -- customs thought the bouncy balls were fruit. But, when the woman saw what they were, she just said, 'Que lindo!' and sent us on our merry ways.
We received 13 packages yesterday -- 8 mail bags of books and 5 boxes. The customs guy let me through without paying the taxes (!) when I told him what I was doing; Mom, it might be good to hold off on sending packages for a little while, since I'm only allowed to receive $500 worth of stuff every six months, and I have now exceeded that. Another reason to understate the value of things.
We got the beanbag chairs yesterday!!
Dad hanging out with Victor
! Julio was able to talk the guy down from 12,000 colones apiece to 32,000 colones for four. They're pretty good quality, and the kids are already enjoying flopping down in them.Attendance is way down since the thefts, I figure mostly because the kids who had been stealing don't really want to show their faces right now (that will take time) and their friends who aren't involved might not be coming either because they want to be with their friends or because of a loyalty thing. At any rate, I've been getting some quality time with a few kids. I didn't realize it, probably because he's pretty good at math, but I have an 8-year-old who's in first grade and can't read. His brother has a hard time paying attention to things, but is quite smart; the way I figure it, they both need personal tutors. For the time being, it will be good to have fewer students so that I can concentrate on helping these two. On Wednesday, Dad sat with the older one helping him with multiplication, and I helped the other learn to recognize letters.
Well, I have to run because I'm on just one of several errands before I have to be back in an hour and 10 minutes. Dad and I are off to Manuel Antonio for the 'weekend', meaning we'll be back in time for church at Sola Fe on Sunday afternoon.
Peace,
Elizabeth
