Ants Go Marching Two by Two..

 Here it is June…which means we just finished week 16.  That’s right, 16!  4 more weeks and we’ll be halfway through the year.  Time really goes by quickly when you have to count the weeks.  It goes by even faster when I’m constantly planning the upcoming weeks, for example, this week I’ll be turning in plans for weeks 18 and 19!

Life in Costa...Well,  I experienced my first earthquake.  A big one!  6.0!  One Friday afternoon during a thunderstorm….everything started to shake and rumble.  At first I thought it was very large thunder.  But everything kept shaking, even the house!  I went outside thinking maybe a truck was driving by, but no truck.  Just our porton (gate) shaking!  Is this an earthquake?  Yes!  It was bound to happen considering Costa Rica is in the middle of several tectonic plates!  The epicenter was about 45 km from San Jose I believe.  It lasted about 20 seconds.  Sure enough, our little land-lady rushed over to make sure we were okay!  Luckily there was not much damage throughout the country at all. 

We did act like tourists for a day and went on a tour that I highly recommend...It was CR in a day.  Costa Rica in a day includes a typical breakfast of gallo pinto:), a coffee plantation tour, Volcan Poas, and La Paz Waterfall Gardens.  The waterfall gardens include hiking around waterfalls in the jungle and an outdoor zoo in the jungle where you can see monkeys, toucans, butterflies, jaguars, and much more.  It really was a great day!

Unfortunately for most tourists, only 20% of people can see the crater of the Poas Volcano.  It is nearly always covered by clouds.  But on this particular time and day, there were no clouds.  Also, on this particular day, there was an eruption!  Okay, not like the eruptions you see on movies, but a little bubbling…several times!  So cool!  So 20% of people see the crater, and only 1% are able to see an eruption!!  Yes, we pretty much are famous to have seen both!  And so lucky!

Volcan Poas!

Toucans like to dart through the jungle...so watch your heads!

Pretty Kitty:) but I'm glad it was in a cage...

Jungle!

Waterfalls everywhere!

School update, well, the kids are doing well.  I love teaching in CR because instead of getting apples from students you get mangos!!  It’s great!  Our school had a successful Sport’s Week, which was fun. 

I’ve also been very excited about how much English the little Brazilian girl can speak!  It’s amazing to see such a difference, considering when I met her she didn’t know one English word!  

I am now teaching a couple of 7^th grade grammar classes a week, which has been a lot of fun too!  It’s also a great review of English for me.  The mathematical breakdown of a language is quite interesting.

Well, the humidty has been…an adjustment.  Yes, welcome to the tropics.  I forget that’s where I am sometimes.  With the humidity, brings many creatures.  Rainy season is here...  Most mornings are very sunny and nice, but by 11am, the humidity starts to surround you.  The middle of the school day is the worst time to be so HOT!  It’s like clockwork though, right about the time we finish school, the rain comes! Sometimes light rain, sometimes heavy rain.  I love the 'cooler’ days where everyone is wearing jackets and they talk about how cold it is, but I am thrilled!  It’s kind of funny. 

Oh and the insect stories, as promised…There are too many insects to write about, but don’t worry I’m keeping a running list if you’re interested.  About the first week in May we had a new bug story everyday!  They range from cucarachas, June bugs, ARMIES of ants, glowing-jumping beetles, and my personal favorite ‘the moth of death’.  There are so many stories I don’t know where to begin. 

Here it goes...One stormy night, as Kristin and I were working on our computers, we noticed small ants here and there.  Later as I was making dinner, I noticed several bigger ones.  We started wondering where could they be coming from?  That’s when we decided to look up.  They were coming from our lights.  Out came the 409, Raid, squishing them, any tactic would do…And let me just say, these are not your typical Colorado ants.  These are large, FLYING ants.  EVERYWHERE!  It was disgusting how many there were!  When we started to get itchy, we had to take a couple breathers in our rooms before coming out to the living/kitchen area to kill more!

Then I was standing on a chair with the spray, and Kristin was by the door.  That's when it happened, a HUGE, flying ant was right by her foot.  We of course, both screamed…and killed her.  The queen.  You might ask ‘How did you know it was the queen?’  We knew.  Sure enough, the next day, the troops had moved out of here!

It’s not a great idea, but I seem to have a problem with researching the bugs that we find.  That ends up giving me nightmares.  But apparently it is normal for ants to invade homes.  But we’ve figured out a system, and when we think they are coming we spray and they leave!

The picture doesn't quite do it justice...

My other favorite story is as follows.  7am, we were heading out for school, Kristin was about to open the porton, when I screamed “Watch out!”.  Then Kristin screamed!   It was the BIGGEST moth we’ve EVER seen!  Just imagine each wing being the size of a human hand.  I didn’t know moths could be that large!  Of course, our land-lady came running over; but when she realized why we had screamed…she just laughed  and said “Oh that’s just a Mariposa de Muerte”.  "Moth of Death?!  Oh, okay great!"  

It’s true, I’ve realized one of my biggest fears…insects.  But I am getting better…and braver!  We have a system now:) 

Well, to sum up this blog, all I have to say is that God is teaching me so much! And there's more to come... There are also more fun times ahead; including a BIG whitewater rafting trip down the Pacuare River!  I'm SO excited.  Hasta luego.  Miss you all!