Back to Pura Vida

My legs dangle off the rails of my surfboard, and I suck in deep breaths of salty air. Ah...so refreshing after a long day at work in the heat and humidity. I have finally made it to the lineup after a few sessions of "paddling practice" - I was so out of shape, that I couldn't paddle through the breakers to actually get to green waves to surf! My arms are tired, but not too much, and I am waiting for the next set to come through. As I wait, bobbing in the calm water, the sun is setting. Just over the translucent-teal wave crests that are rolling through, I can see the sun melting into the ocean that I am sitting in. "This is why I live here," I thought. This is what renews me, what centers me, and what strengthens me.

And this is also how I ended my first week of my new job! Not too shabby I'd say. 

To say the least, it's been quite a hectic month...well few months really. Since I was accepted for my job in California back in the beginning of August, life has been one big transitional phase - From Auburn to Cali, fighting to find some semblance of normalcy, landing a job back in CR, up and leaving Cali all of a sudden, back home, repack, visit Paco, move to Nosara, find a house, start my job....WHOA. Life is still in transition, but at least now, it can begin to mellow out. 

So what's the newest update? Well, I found a place to live that is gorgeous. I share my house with another girl, but I have my own room. We have lots of palm and banana trees and plenty of ginger and hibiscus surrounding our house. The living room is open and airy, and the kitchen is perfect for entertaining. The best part? My room has french doors that open onto my own patio and courtyard! There are three cats that live with us, and my house is a 10 minute walk from the beach and surfbreak (okay, so maybe that's the best part...haha). On a quiet night, you can even hear the waves crashing way off in the distance. 

My room from the doorway and my surfboard!!

The french doors!

My patio and courtyard

Today I also picked up my very first big girl purchase - an ATV!! This is how I will get to work everyday! While others my age are buying houses and brand new cars, I'm over here just zooming around on my quad haha Pretty nice ride so far!

And the big news...I MADE IT THROUGH MY FIRST WEEK OF TEACHING!!! Whooo!! The first day of school was much more nerve-racking than I expected - my stomach was in knots as I watched my students through the window as they gathered outside. In my PreK-K class, which is from 8:30-10:00am, I have 4-5 little ones, mostly kindergarteners, and so far, only one of them is a girl. This makes for an active and straight-forward vibe in the classroom. In my 1st-2nd grade class, which is from 10:30-2:00, I had 6 this week, but that is supposedly going to change - I might be getting two more this week, but I'll lose one. All of the kids are so sweet, and they behave well. Almost too well. It makes me suspicious that they are so nice. Surely this is too good to be true, and I can't let them trick me into thinking they're all angels haha!

Ready for the first day! That desk in the back is mine....

View from my classroom's sliding glass doors

Although my students were so well behaved, the week was somewhat challenging for me. I had to get back in the groove of working with young ones, and it's harder than I thought to plan lessons for student you don't even know! Now that I know them better, I realize I need to kick my lessons up a notch to meet the needs of VERY, VERY diverse learners. I may only have 6 in my 1st-2nd (Macaws) class, but one child is learning what sounds letters make and another is reading chapter books! Looks like I have my hands full preparing differentiated lessons for a small group with limited resources and a tiny classroom....Teacher friends, any lesson ideas or tips would be welcomed! 

Luckily, by Thursday, I was feeling more comfortable. Now that I know my kids, hopefully I can plan better lessons. I am also having to make most of my materials, so that part will have to come in time. I just don't have hours upon hours to do crafts for my room! 

In other news, I bought a surfboard. Let's be honest, I don't have a phone and I just now got transportation, but by gosh I've got myself a board. #Priorities. I went surfing on a Tuesday after work. Mind. Blown.

Hopefully, Paco will be visiting next week (YAY!!), and hopefully I will have a local phone soon too. AND, my internet at my house is pretty shoddy, so much so that I can't do any teacher work from home or even Skype my loved ones, so that has got to change, and soon too. 

Overall, it's so nice to be back in Pura Vida land. It's warm, there's a beautiful ocean with clear water, sunshine, fresh fruit, laid back people, and even monkeys in my trees!

Baby monkey in the tree above my room! 

  Little by little, slowly but surely, it's coming all together. Ahhhh.... :)