Escazu

Last Decemeber our friends Bob and Barbara Nesbitt spent a few weeks living in a little casita on the other side of San Jose in an area called Escazu.  They invited us to come out for dinner and we had a lovely time enjoying the fresh air at their house and our hike up a hill overlooking the central valley.  The road in the photos is actually used by vehicles and a man we met there said an 80 year old woman lived at the top of the hill and drives up it regularly.  

On a completely different note, the girls were invited to perform at the Escazu Country Day School, which is a US style private school.  Their violin teacher, Mercedes Rodriguez, teaches lessons there and wanted the girls to perform half of the first movement of the Bach Double Violin Concerto.  She also asked me to speak to the parents about our experience with the Suzuki method. The concert was at the end of February and it was a success.

If you want to see pictures, check the Escazu album at the internet address below. Unfortunately, we are having problems inserting a link here, so until we figure that out you'll have to paste the address into your browser manually.
http://lafamiliamacy.shutterfly.com

Second Trimester

Its hard to believe that we are more than half-way finished our second trimester, and therefore more than half-way finished our year in Costa Rica! This trimester we each have two classes - a 2 hour grammar class and a 2 hour language/conversation class.  In our language class we have a weekly theme for which we have to do Bible studies, interviews with people in the community, various cultural activities, as well as general discussions around the theme.  The themes have included sicknesses & home remedies, fiestas, hobbies, and work life in Costa Rica.

The girls have had some changes in school.  The second grade was split into two classes so Abigail has a new teacher and a smaller class. She still misses being in class with all of her friends, but she seems to be enjoying herself. Arianna's class has several new girls whose parents also attend the language school, which has enabled her to make quite a few new friendships.  Her teacher continues to be the school's favorite teacher, as well as the basketball, track, and cheerleading coach.  We are very excited about their progress in spanish, as they seem to be comprehending quite a bit and also able to communicate more in spanish as the weeks go by.

Dead computer

The last time we tried to update our blog our computer died right in the middle of our efforts. That was 3 weeks ago!  It has been hard to access a computer with enough time to sit down and work on a blog. This weekend some of our fellow students are at the beach and were gracious enough to lend us their computer.  So, we have a computer to use for the entire weekend!  We'll try to work on a few more weblog entries to update everyone on the last couple of months while we still have the computer this weekend.

We have ordered a new computer, but that won't arrive for another couple of weeks. We're sorry that we've been out of touch with so many of you, but once our new computer arrives we'll try to do a better job of keeping you up-to-date.