Excitement of the World Cup

It's pretty cool that we are living in Costa Rica right now with all the activity of the World Cup.  They love soccer (futbol) here, which isn't surprising.  Basically you could combine the passion that U.S. fans have for football, basketball, and baseball and it would be close to how they feel about soccer.

We don't watch or follow soccer very much at all, but it's so different when you live in a country that loves it so much.  You can't help but get interested.

When Costa Rica played Italy a couple weeks ago, their second game of the tournament, we watched it at school instead of having class.  The Academic Director gave the teachers and students permission to do so.  All but one of the teachers is female and they are so passionate about soccer, it was fun to watch them watch the game.

Costa Rica played Greece yesterday (June 29) and won in exciting fashion - on penalty kicks.  The country went crazy!  After the game we walked around outside and sat down near a very busy intersection and just watched and laughed at all the excitement.  There was so much noise - car horns, plastic horns, cymbals, yelling, singing, and cheering - it was fun to be a part of.

Some video evidence, which doesn't do it justice (I apologize but the video is not very good quality, especially if you make it full screen.  For some reason when I uploaded it to the blog it affected it):

We got a kick out of watching this girl jump and cheer:

 Later on Hannah got a picture with her...it made her day.

The next game for Costa Rica is this Saturday (July 5) against Holland/Netherlands...vamos Ticos!!!

Even more comments about Costa Rica

Here are more comments about our life here in Costa Rica:

The people here are called "Ticos".  An Asian person is called a "Chino" (Chinese), no matter if they're from China, Japan, Korea, etc., and any white person is called a "gringo", no matter if they're from U.S., Europe, Australia, etc.  From their perspective those are not insults.  An egg roll here is called a "taco Chino" (Chinese taco).    Also, we are not "Americans", we are "North Americans".  They consider anyone from North America, Central America, or South America an American.

The currency here is "colones", named after Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus).  The exchange rate is about 500 colones to 1 dollar.  They use coins and bills just like in the U.S.  The coins have denominations of 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, and 500 colones.  The bills have denominations of 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, and 50,000 colones.

Paying bills here is different than the states.  Instead of paying the company directly through online banking or mailing a check, you pay at a pharmacy, grocery store, or bank.  And you're not guaranteed to even get a bill each month, but even if you don't get a bill you still need to pay or the service will cancel. Last month we went to the bank and paid our bills; I told the teller our account numbers and he looked it up and told us what we needed to pay.  Our landlady told us the day of the month that we need to pay each bill (water, phone, and electric) and she gave us the account numbers so we can go to the bank and pay with or without the bill. 

As crazy as the traffic is here, and as much as they disregard traffic laws, it is surprising that motorcycle drivers wear a helmet and a reflective vest.  I can only think of one time that I saw a motorcycle driver without a helmet.  

Almost all technology words are not translated to Spanish, they just keep the English name.  For example, internet, modem, mouse, iPad.  The other day we were taking a taxi and I pointed to the GPS that was suctioned to the windshield and asked the driver what the name of it was in Spanish...and he said "GPS"!  If only it was all that easy.

The Spanish Language Institute - Instituto de Lengua Espanola (ILE)

We are really enjoying the language school - the teachers, staff, and other students are all great.  Here are some pictures so you can have a visual of where we go to school.

  

This is the front gate of the school where we enter every day.  There is also another entrance at the "bottom" of the school.  Many students use the other entrance, but we don't need to because of where we live and the direction we walk to school.

 

This is the Administration building.  Many of the offices for the staff are in this building, the library and computer lab are also here.

Another view of the Administration building.

This is the Chapel building.  Chapel is held on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Attendance is not required but we go most of the time.  The Chapel services are organized by student leaders.

A view down the walkway of the school.  The school sits on a slope - the entrance of the school is the high point and it goes down from there.  These two buildings are where we have our classes.  And if you keep walking down the path, you will get to the Sojourn Academy (K-12); many of the adult missionaries in language school enroll their children in the school.   Some of the teachers at the language school enroll their children at the school, and children from the community also attend.

This is a better view of the 2-story classroom building that is visible in the previous picture.

This is the hallway in the lower level of the building.

This is the other classroom building, it is one story.

This is the hallway of the second building.

This is an important building. It is called "Cosas R Us", but we call it Cosas (Things) for short.  Here we can buy snacks, drinks, and candy during our breaks.  They also serve lunch everyday - they have several menu items that you can order any day, and they also have a "Plato del Dia" (meal of the day).  This is also the place where we get our mail - in the back room there are shelves that are divided by letters of the alphabet, representing the last names of students.  We check the "S" shelf everyday!

This is the Terraza - you can see "Cosas" in the background.  During breaks or lunch this area is occupied by students.

Our typical school day...

School starts at 7:30 AM.  We leave our apartment at 7:10 or 7:15 and walk there.  Hannah has Gramatica (Grammar) class from 7:30 to 9:15, with a 5 minute break halfway through.  I do not have class at that time and I go to the library to do homework and study.

From 9:15 - 10:20 there is a break and there are no classes.  We do different things depending on the day.  On Tuesday and Thursday we generally attend the Chapel service.  On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we generally go to the Terraza and have a snack and talk with friends.

At 10:20, I go to Gramatica class (a higher level than Hannah) until 12:05, with a 5 minute break halfway through.  Hannah goes to Lenguaje (speech & language) class from 10:20 to 11:10, then she goes to Fonetica (Phonetics) class from 11:15 to 12:05.

At this point Hannah is done with her classes for the day, but I have a one-on-one Lenguaje class for an hour starting at 1:30.  My Lenguaje class is mostly me talking to my teacher about different topics.  For example, one time I was asked to share several Bible verses and why they were important to me.  Another time I shared a Bible study with the theme of "Why is it important to study the Bible".

We usually come back to our apartment for lunch.  After lunch Hannah stays at the apartment and I walk back to school for class.

We have homework assignments most days.  Hannah has a workbook/textbook for each class, and I have one for Gramatica.  For Gramatica our assignments are to complete some practice exercises in the workbook.  My Lenguaje homework is usually to prepare to share about an assigned topic.  Hannah generally has workbook assignments in Lenguaje and Fonetica, but sometimes has to prepare a presentation as well.