So busy! No time to write!

Well, it has officially been A Long Time since I wrote on this blog. So today I will list as many interesting developments as possible:

1) Michael saw a spider monkey up close yesterday. It jumped down from a tree and landed at his feet.
2) I saw a coral snake when walking home from work.
3) I walked home from a long run on Friday after the sun had set...this may not seem like news, but when the sun sets here, it is DARK. No streetlights. Ordinarily I would bring a flashlight, however, I was running and did not have one. So I stumbled for a good mile in the dark. It was scary. Luckily i did NOT stumble upon the coral snake a second time. That would have been bad timing. The hardest part in the dark is walking up the 100 steps to our house (100 stair steps, that is). Without a light, you can't see where one step ends and the other begins. So you have to kick your feet around wildly looking for the next step. Must look pretty silly.
4) This weekend I went to the Las Juntas hot springs and hotel with Erica, Tim, and May. It was great. Relaxing and a lovely setting. It is very much a local place, unlike the fancy schmanzy places at Arenal. Las Juntas caters to a mostly Tico crowd.
5) I gave a presentation to the parents of my students for the upcoming year in Spanish! I was presenting to the parents of next years 9th and 10th graders whom I will be teaching in earth science. It was exciting to actually be able to present information and answer questions without too much hesitation. I still have far, FAR to go with my Spanish, but it' s coming along.
6) Last week Tricia brought BAGELS for our snack at staff meeting. I thought i was going to pass out with joy. Michael said later that "It's just bread." It is so much more than bread. It is a little round thing of heaven.
7) Our Mission to Mars launch is this Friday. That is why I am so crazy busy. I've attached a picture here of the astronauts practicing in the "spacecraft" that we built.
8) We have a new house! yay! It is much, much simplier and smaller and less nice than our current house, but that's okay. Our current house is one of the nicest homes in Monteverde. We feel okay about moving into a more simple abode. At least we got to spend one year in this glorious castle overlooking the Gulf of Nicoya, with the monkeys in our back yard. Our house next year is a two room house- one bedroom and a living room/kitchen area (also a bathroom). It has a woodburning stove and an actual hot water heater! It is made of dark wood with a tin roof, of course (every house has a metal roof!). It is right down the road from my friend Gina's house. It is still a bit of a walk from school and town, but not quite so steep of one.

My play Arizona opens in Los Angeles on the 30th of May!