Beautiful time, beautiful people

Hello! Well, here I am taking a break from homework, and I thought I'd share some pictures and stories from this past week - it was a wonderful weekend!

This week was a little stressful, too much school work, but I like being busy and I'm doing well in my classes. Just two more weeks of my first intensive Spanish class! 4 hours, 5 days a week gets long, but it has been better and I'm enjoying some of the people in my class.

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In the mornings I've started reading through the gospels, starting in Matthew. I'm enjoying getting to know Jesus better. It's amazing how even though I'm so familiar with His story, there are still so many things that I've either missed, or not given much thought!

Speaking of Biblical matters... On Friday night I went to Bible study for the first time! I was the only "gringa" there, which at first felt a little awkward but I loved it! It's a great group of people, all in their 20's, and we read 1 Corinthians 13, discussed it, (all of this in Spanish of course), and then we went to Taco Bell together. haha. It's great how even in another country with a completely different culture, people still love to go get fast food late at night. But yes, there are definitely some kindred spirits in that Bible study, and I'm so excited to have that in my week!

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On Saturday we just hung around the house, got some school work done, and I went to the Multiplaza (a mall nearby) to have lunch and get some Valentines Day cards with my friend Margie. Today being Valentines Day, (or in Spanish, El día del amor y la amistad or El día de San Valentín), we gave out cards and candy to our friends and family. It was quite enjoyable:) Although I usually have a pessimistic outlook towards Single Awareness Day, I really enjoyed it this year!! I'm so blessed.

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On Sunday, we got up at the lovely hour of 5am, got on a bus, and went to the beach for the day! It was a beautiful day and we had a wonderful time! Margie brought her waterproof camera, super cool, so here are some pictures! .......

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I love them.

Alrighty, that's about it for now! Back to the books. I have 3 exams this week....woohoo!

Abrazos,

-Courtney

(World Traveler in Training)

And the time continues to fly...

I am currently sitting in my new room, (but in the same house as before), listening to the wind cool off the now sun-baked trees. What a musical way to finish my mountain of homework!

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The room is kind of the library/office of the house, and there is also a little balcony outside!! It has a beautiful view and lots of sunshine. I love it! The only downside to our new room is that we have to go downstairs to get to our closet and our bathroom that we share with the other two new girls, Chae'le and Hannah. That has really worked out well though! I don't mind it at all and I love my new little nook here.

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The time has flown so far, I don't know where to start... school is going okay, it's a lot and I get overwhelmed, but I'm trying to remember to take it one day at a time and just do my best.

This past weekend we were just here in San Jose, but it was one of my favorite weekends that I've spent here in Costa Rica! On Saturday we went to a park called La Sabana, where the new soccer stadium is, a small lake, lots of places to walk and picnic, and we also found a group of guys from Nicaragua playing baseball! The next field over was empty, so we went over to it, and of course - there was a baseball, and a bat. Yes. So we played baseball! "We" being Andres, Margie, Meagan, Jose Mario, and me! What a beautiful day.

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On Sunday Meagan and I went to a little town called Pacayas with Jose Mario and Andres. The guys had to take pictures of the buildings there for an architecture project, and we tagged along to take pictures and just spend time with them. It was really fun! And Pacayas was beautiful.

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Now, it's back to my week days - running at 6:00 A.M., class from 8-12, and then studying!!

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-Courtney

(World Traveler in Training)