March, already??

Sorry for the lack of updates! The internet is expensive here and I am lazy.

Due to lack of funds, the restaurant has still not opened. Por eso, I have been spending my time working at the three-classroom community school. The semester started last month and the students had to take diagnostic exams. I have spent the last few weeks grading and organizing los examenes de ciencias, estudios sociales, español y matemáticas. I also had to proctor some of the exams and make sure the kids sat in their seats and didn't copy off each other! If I can play teacher in a Spanish-speaking classroom, I think I will be able to teach Spanish in the U.S. just fine.

Unfortunately, something in the environment here has been setting off my allergies for the past several weeks and it is just unbearable. Maybe it is all of my new four-legged friends Cha-Cha, Luna, Tango and Shakira but it is causing my skin to flare up in red bumps and upraised rashes. The other day my face swelled up so bad that I could hardly move it and I couldn't feel it. I decided that this was my tipping point- I sucked it up and went to the clínica. My tica amiga Jenny (who lives and works at the music school where I am staying) took me to the clinic and graciously waited with me the whole time. I was so proud, though, because I told her I did not need her help translating and I did it all by myself! I figured out the insurance, the payment, the prescriptions and I described my symptoms to the doctor! They gave me an injection, some Prednisone, some Hydrocortisone and Rose creme. I cleared up after a day! I felt like a new person! My skin was normal! My eyes were open all the way! I hadn't felt this good in months! It only lasted a week. I am back to being miserable so I decided I need to leave Pochote early. I will return to the warmth and comfort of Cecilia and Carlos' home in San Jose as soon as all the arrangements are made.

Some observations... You know you aren't in Suburbia when:
-You see a gigantic lady with her midriff showing chopping down a bunch of bananas with a machete.
-Your dog follows you to class and sits with you the whole day and no one bats an eye. (I never knew I would appreciate a dog's companionship so much as I do now. Tango is my buddy.)
-While walking through town you see a lady harvesting some strange fruit off her tree with a harvesting implemented made of a cut gallon-bottle fashioned to a broomstick.
-Students call the teacher by her first name, or just call her Mamí or Mamá.
-The head teacher is also the principal, the secretary, the counselor, the janitor, the curriculum designer, and the recess supervisor.
-Tiny little kids can wield gigantic knives at school to cut up their fruit.
-The lunch room consists of a two tables with a couple of benchs and one lady serving homemade food from two big pots on the stove and then cleaning all the dishes herself.
-Tang is served with the school lunch out of a giant bucket that has a "Corrosivo" sign on it.
-Somehow you and your friend end up having a jam session with nature-instruments with some crazy 70-year-old Coloradan and as he hands you a sturdy bamboo shoot with a stick he exclaims "This thing is a fucking gas to play!"
-You hike a trail to a hidden beach and howling monkeys surround you and start making so much noise that you almost pee your pants.
-A puffer fish and a pelican were the last two dead animals you saw.
-You watch the sunset while jogging on the beach with your favorite perros.

Newest plan: Stay in San Jose for a couple weeks, working on social projects there, then travel with Jimmy for a week!!! Yayyyyyyyyyy