twinkle, twinkle lucky star

Uncle Danny and me 1985

My Uncle Danny would sing that song to me all the time. He would just sing. It was two years on Oct. 30 since he died, and it still is hard to talk about. He would always give me advice on boys. "Now AP, (my middle initial is P and he never called me Ashley or Ashe....always AP), all you have to do is kiss 'em." He'd always tease me about boys, even up until it took several breaths for him to get anything out. I really need his advice right now though I know what he'd say. And oh was he a chef! He made the best biscuits and gravy you've ever eaten. Thanksgiving really makes me thankful for him and for my entire family on Jamison Road. I honestly don't know what I would do without any of them...even the weird ones.

Halloween was eventful this year. It was the first time I've dressed up since I was in the 6th grade. That year I was a Diet Coke can. Oh yes...you read correctly. I might add that I still have that costume. I'm saving it for that special occasion. This year I was an Indian. I had so much fun dressing up and straightening my hair until it was board straight. Mind you, it took me about 45 minutes to do that. I really did have a marvelous time, but those of you who know me well know that I LOVE to dress up and live vicariously through my costume!

for the times they are a changin'

My sister and I went on a four day excursion to Chicago this past weekend. We missed two days of school for one reason and one reason only: so I could miss two days of school. My job is wearing me out! I haven't exactly warmed up to the teacher idea yet; I'm hoping to by May. Don't think me negative if you ask me if I like it and I say, "I don't know or not right now." I'm never one to make rash decisions, so that's why I'm giving it until May.

So about Chicago, it was marvelous weather! We ate at Giordano's for the best pizza ever. You can feel it slither down your throat and grow inch by quick inch to your hips. We hit up the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium--and yes I, who hate fish, went to see a large mass of fish--and we shopped till we literally dropped. We had to walk everywhere. It was such good exercise, but our feet paid for it. Shopping was good; eating was good. We stayed at the Hotel Allegro, this old hotel that had been renovated to be posh and modern. Great service and they use Aveda products and I LOVE Aveda products. We saw the musical "Wicked." I've never laughed so hard in a play before. It was a wonderful production that I highly recommend to everyone!

The Teacher from the Black Lagoon

hey all you lovable and loathable people. glad you stopped by. so much as been going on...


yay! school finally started. I have been working so diligently on my classroom. There's still a few things that i need to do; they aren't crucial to my teaching though. so Voila! groovy huh? now you can picture me more precisely: writing on the board, sitting at me desk.

we started Wed. Aug 13. the first week went very well. there were no snakes and no one glued my bottom to my chair. are all of them angels no? do they know not to mess with me and that i mean business? yes. the other teachers at school said the students were saying that was i horrible and mean, and that they might one day have fun in my class. another boy thought i was going to hit him with my pointer. i'm not THAT mean. i guess you could say i got my point across! ha ha

the second day of school they loosened up a little because we sang the alphabet song. i truly think it will be a good and weird year. i have already grown so much just in this short time. i can't imagine what will happen by may. it's also weird though because it still feels like i don't belong there-like i'm a substitute teacher and am going back to sell insurance the next day. very strange, out of body experience. i mean, i weird and totally abstract as it is. you honestly can't imagine the non-normalcy going through my cerebellum right now.

ok so while i was getting my room ready, i was also moving into a house! yay for me! i'm still living with jillian, and we got a third roommate, kirstin. super gal. AND i also became a big sister. my little sister's name is ta'keia (very ironic since i have a cousin named tekia), and she's 11. i hope it will be a helpful experience for her as i know it will be for me. so my plate, not my saucer, has been pretty full. i'm not going to lie about it. at least there haven't been any burning barns, right callie?

Preservation Station

it's peach season once again my fair friends! and what better peaches than good ol' Jamison peaches!

in my travels back and forth to Nashvegas (that's Nashville, AR) this past week, i sweetly asked my uncle bob to pick me a bushel of peaches. he loves to pick them, and he loves me. one can't find a more awesome combination of loves! so i decided that with so many peaches, i would make preserves. whoever said making jam wasn't fun should be kicked. now, mind you, i was a bit rusty. that last time i made jelly (which is way more difficult than jam) i was 9 and in 4-H. it was so easy though! and my mom helped me. mother-daughter bonding time for sure.

anyone who would like to visit the preservation station is more than welcome!

Yay for peaches! Red globes are my favorite.

I'm mashing the boiling the peaches.

My mom and I taking a picture break.

My 2 almost 3 year old (Sept) cousin Adelaide. Yes Callie, this is Adelaide Vashti. She came over to play while we made peaches. She's so dramatic! At dinner, she kept saying, "I have to throw up." My dad told her to throw up on her plate. She said that she could only throw up in the potty. She runs to the potty. I follow her, but she doesn't know I'm there. She giggles and pats the toilet. She runs back to the dinner table and says the vomit thing over and over. We just kept laughing because she's totally lying and being dramatic. She really is my protege!

She's my partner in crime. My mom said she acts just like I did at that age. When she got to my house, she opened the door and said, "I'm here! I'm here everyone!" She's something else.

My Dad and Addie. In this picture, she looks identical to me when I was that age. I'll have to find the picture. It's eerie.

Realia

there were horses everywhere--just roaming. isn't that amazing? they were so beautiful and tranquil despite being wild. also, their horses are so much smaller than the ones here. they must be a different breed. no se.


the monkeys are not as nice as they appear though the mother and baby are quite cute. they were everywhere. they would throw things (including their caca or poop) at you. one guy even got his passport ripped to shreds. pobrecito!


this is playa (beach) samara. this is where i wandered for 2 very short, profitable but beautiful weeks.

this will give you an idea of what class was like everyday. this was one of my teachers, Nelsy. she was awesome.

this was the more mountainous areas of Guanacaste (the region we were in). everything is so beautiful and lush. i could look at it all day! i love the random house...

the queen of the zip line. yeah baby! i can honestly say i've never felt more liberated and seen more of God's wonder. it's breathtaking in every possible way!


the rainforest was awesome. we were in the area by the volcano. listen to how loud all the critters were. also, listen for the monkeys. so cool.

so the black shiny stuff? that's the lava that has cooled off. we were that close!

read it closely. they try really hard to write in english. que bueno!

my mama tica putting heat to my foot where the sting ray got me. she said heat is the only thing that can extract the venom, and she was right.

mi hermana tica, Maria y yo cantamos las canciones latinas. que divertida! (my costa rican sister, Maria and y sang latin songs. What fun!) i'm horrible because i don't know all the words. it's fun to watch her though. she thought the ipod was the coolest thing ever!

the sting of the century

leave it to me to get stung my ocean life. i mean, really? i was swimming away, not very far out, when OUCH! i couldn't see what it was but i knew that my foot was burning like crazy. i get out, show my roommate Kate, and we book it home. luckily we were close to our house. my mama tica said that i got stung by a miniature manta ray. eek! it was bleeding and by the time i got home, the burning/numbing sensation was all the way up my right side. by the way, it stung me on the right foot.

the treatment? to burn the poison out. mama tica lit a candle and held it on the wound. i was lying on my stomach writhing in anguish. isn't this just awful? i know i know. ok so back to the fire. she held the flame on the wound and asked me if i felt it. i said no. she said that if i started feeling the heat then the venom was leaving my body. about 20 minutes later, i started feeling heat. amazing huh? i'm so thankful she knew what to do because there isn't a hospital for hours.

i was surely the talk of the school. manta ray stings only happen about once a year--i just happen to be the lucky person! ha ha Other than that, everything is swell. i have gained so so much weight. the food here is the bomb dot com. i'm definitely going to miss it. just wait for my next adventure--horseback riding en la playa. ¡divertido, no?

tuanis

tuanis means ¨the pure life¨which is the slogan of costa rica. cool huh. i´m so a surfer chic its killing me. about 15 other students and i went on a little excursion this weekend. we left friday afternoon for a city called Monteverde. it's known for it's rain forest and cloud forest. we ziplined through the jungle. it was pretty much the most exhilarating thing i've EVER done. it's the largest zip line in costa rica. at the end we did this tarzan swing where you hang on to a rope and jump. that totally made the trip for me. then we left a city called la fortuna where the Arenal Volcano and the natural hot springs are. we went to a resort and soaked in the hot springs. they were so nice. in the states, i'd never be able to even afford to go into the resort to look. it was a really nice setup. however, this is a different country. yes.....today we are going to hike the volcano and hopefully see some lava. it usually has eruptions at night but maybe we can see one during the day. ok all for now. oh and i'm learning swiss too. so fabulous.

pura vida

that's the slogan of my little community where i live. it means the pure life. fun huh? i had class this morning at 8 and sat on the beach and read until about 5:30. it really is quite nice. don't be jealous or anything. i do miss hot showers though. one thing i'm not going to do while i'm here is shave my legs. i'm so serious. the water is so cold and would be shaving off skin. so there. one secret out.

oh did i tell you that the night i got here this really cute tico (that's what costa ricans are called) helped me out of my taxi and carried in my luggage. well ok so i thought¨yes i'm going to get a tico husband.¨ operation: tico husband FAILED. i fell down the steps. he laughs and says, in spanish, watch out. talk about humiliation station. so that's one. it looks like it may not happen after all.

there's a salsa class right now, but as most of you know, i have NO rhythm and would much rather prefer to watch and make fun of people that think they know what they are doing. so i'm off to do that. que dios le bendiga (may God me with you).

Life in my land far, far away

I AM ALIVE! my trip here was anything but safe. my plane rides were great, arriving on time. The taxi driver at the airport at san jose took me to the bus station as i had asked him to. we were driving through san jose. it was great yay yay yay until we started driving in the slums. Then he pulled up to this warehouse and said that we were at the bus station. ok, that's fine. i walk in and every eye is on me. mind you, i didn't have on nice clothes, no makeup, my hair was all over the place. I was no movie star, but you could have heard a pin drop. I slowly took off my designer sunglasses and slipped them in my purse. eek I could tell very few americans, especially solo women, rode the bus. I buy my plane ticket for $6 (i know! very cheap) and hop on. I barely made that bus. It was a very nice bus, like our chartered buses, and was very clean and smelt nice. That's a plus. Did i tell you i saved $174 dollars by taking the bus? well now you know.

The people at the school informed me the bus ride was 2 hours to Nicoya, when there I would catch the bus to my town, Samara. 2 hours past, 3 then 4. I finally ask the guy sitting beside me"Dude, what's going on? Did I miss the stop?" He said that we had 1 more hour. A 5 HOUR BUS RIDE! Through the many hours on the bus, I was at attention. I had my backpack between my legs, squeezing it and my purse in my lap, wrapped around my arm. I've never been terrified in another country until now. Someone could totally have kidnapped me and no one would have known. But none the less, I made it to Nicoya and from there took a $30 taxi to Samara. YAY!

My family is great! the house is so nice especially compared to my house in guate. school is great. we have to speak the whole time so it's helping me. the beach....aaaaahhhhh. it's all beach. it takes me 3 min to walk from my house to the beach. i'm about to go play for 3 or so hours until my class at 1. well that's all for now. oh and guess what? i bought the biggest pineapple ever ever for $1! i'm going to eat one everyday! jejejeje

Hi Blog World

sup...this is so much fun! Although I am not the best bloggist, I will fulfill my duties to the best of my abilities. I want to be in the BlogStars. The presidents of the BlogStars club, Jillian and Callie, have helped me create this lovely posty thing. Exciting huh? There will be more to come, so please stick around. Yay!