Mark and I have continued subbing quite a bit which is nice as it has allowed us to be a part of the school and to get to know the students, teachers and other parents (as Mark states, we are the “power couple” of the subbing world!) It also helps us keep tabs on both Ray and John! I was able to sub for John’s 4th grade class last week which was a lot of fun. John has a range of students in his classroom that hail from all parts of the globe including Canada, Iceland, France, Costa Rica, Israel, and the U.S. (lots of Texans!) The students in his room are very kind and well behaved; even with the distractions of parents being in the hall hanging up Halloween door decorations! Check out the lovely “body bag” that is outside of John’s classroom door. The joke of the day was that it was Ms. Becky their 4th grade teacher (which is why I had to sub for the day)!
House Event:
One aspect of the boys’ school that we have enjoyed is the fact that the school builds a “community” with their students K-12 by having 4 “houses” represented in the school. These “houses”compete in school-wide events every month and get “points” for their teams. Great pride is taken in trying to win these events! Siblings are put into the same house and Ray and John are part of the “Toucan” house; the other houses are the Scorpians, Sharks, and Jaguars. All of the students are given a house shirt to wear on the day of the events; you can see that the Toucans are red.
Most of the time the Primary students and Secondary students run their house events at separate times, but their combined “points” still add together for their house. This past week Ray had his House Event which included all sorts of interesting relay races. Another bonus is that students get out of their 1st period class in order to participate in the event. Mark and I were both subbing last week when this event took place which is why we were able to get so many pictures!
Farmers Market/Feria:
There are a few “ferias” or Farmers Markets in the area that we enjoy going to to support the local businesses. At these markets you can find organic foods and drinks, coffee, breads, handmade jewelry, soaps, spices, art, and fish. There is always a lot of fruit, but the vegetables in the area are quite limited (and expensive). We cannot get good corn, carrots, broccoli, or califlower; the soil here is just not right for farming these types of vegetables (at least in this area of the country). We have had corn, but it is pretty much what we would consider “feed corn” in Wisconsin-not good.
Other interesting notes:
- Ray found this huge sand dollar on Tamarindo Beach. We found out the World Record for the largest sand dollar is 14.8 cm at the smallest point to 16 cm at the largest. This one is 12.5 cm, but still pretty big!
- Ray and John have had the opportunity to scimmage against each other in soccer (or on the same team with mixed ages). They seem to enjoy it, although Ray is quite bossy! I love that they are able to play shirts and skins in October!
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Until next week, Pura Vida!
- Janet, Mark, Ray and John
Beilman's Trip to Costa Rica 