So, it has been 10 days that I have been down here. Things are going great. Instead of trying to organize everything in a couple of paragraphs, I think I will make a top 10 list of cool or interesting experiences so far.

10) At Austin's birthday party, there were about 25 people and they had a pinata. I thought this was so awesome because you think of having pinatas at hispanic birthday parties, but I never really thought they actually did it. apparently they do! It was cool because it was as authentic as it gets.

9) Being able to sit on the upstairs porch and read comfortable at anytime of the day. Cartago is in a valley surrounded by mountains, at a high altitude so the weather is not too hot. I would say it is about 75 to 80 in the day and 65 to 70 at night. I have never been hot or uncomfortable inside any house, and none have airconditioning. The doors are always open and the air in the shade is the perfect temperature. also, there are no bugs somehow. The house is built with a courtyard in the middle, which goes up 2 stories. It is decorated beautifully with a fountain and plants. The whole house is extremely nice, it was built 4 years ago I think.

8) Going to the orphange with Mark, Danny, Paige and Mrs. Blanco. We went to an orphange that Mrs. Blanco frequently visits. We played with the kids for a while. Some played soccer, I did some back flips for them and we tossed the frisbee. One little girl was super bad though... when we go there, Paide and I found here in a room and she was crying frantically. Paige realized she had some type of gel all over her head that I guess the other kdis put on her. I aksed her in Spanish if she had a new shirt and she did and Paige helped her out. That same girl would NOT leave me alone the rest of the time. She loved to spit on me for some reason. And she knew how to swing a broom stick surprisingly hard. Also, she managed to bite two holes in my shirt. It was still a good time

7) going around san jose at night with Guillermo Enrique, Mark's cousin that lives next door and also whom I work with. He took us kids out one night. We drove all around stopping at many shady looking placces while Danny or someone else told him no, we didnt want to go in there lol. We ended up eating at this restaurnat and talking for a while. it was nice and he paid!

6) getting to know Nachito and Steven at my work. They are my age and are in school, but also work full time 48 hours per week. This is the norm down here, every young person I have met is in school at night and works during the day. These two guys are really nice and funny. They teach me things in spanish and I teach them some english. they are funny and like to get up and tlak when were supposed to be working. I am afraid I am going to get in trouble!

5) going to Arenal volcano. there were 13 of us that took a bus Mrs.Blanco rented out for the week that was big enough fro 25 people. All of us first went to Arenal. The whole area was beautiful. Standing outside of our cabin, looking at the volcano and being able to see actual red lave for a few seconds was a crazy experience. I had seen a picture of Arenal and arenal lake in my spanish book and, sure enough, our cabin was right next to both with an incredible view. It awesome to sit there and look out at everything and realize how much God is doing for me to let me be there. cool times !

4)going to this waterfall close to Arenal and almost getting killed. We went and while we were there, it was raining really hard. we put our shoes on one bank then went around to get closer to the 150 foot waterfall. it was growing fast ! the other people came back and told MArk and I that our shoes were gone, the water had risen the 3 feet to cover them. just about the we heard whistles and the costa ricans were screamign for us to get back up. when we crossed the bridge we had crossed to get there, it was almost covered with water and mist ! it was soooo cool. I was scared for a minute

3) when we got to Montezuma after going to Mal Pais, we were hungry and went to a place to eat which was pretty much some ladys very small house. She did not have enough food or chairs for all of us to eat so we literally bought all the soup she had which was 3 bowls and the 13 of shared it before going to the beach to swim.

2) sitting outside reading at Arenal, listening to the rocks falling from the Volcano but not being able to see it at all.

1) The hot springs we went to after the waterfall ! they were rediculous. there were probably 15 different pools that all hard waterfall type thing to sit under. they started really hot at the top of the mountian and went down to the coolest pool at the bottom that had a slide and was about the temperature of a normal hot tub.


I did get a job, I work for Pathway services international. It is a company that surveys roards using vans equiped with a lot of camers and sensors. My job is to watch the videos on a computer and amrk where there are bridges, construction zones, detours, and somtimes I look for mile markers ! how exciting, I know. The work is a little borring but it is so cool to be working side by side with costa ricans abnd communicating with them in spanish and really living their lifestyle. Once we return from Limon on saturday, I will be working from 730 am to 530 pm mon through friday.

My boss who is Mrs. Blanco sister in law is very nice and is letting me get off for things that come up like projects with the missionaries or going to these beaches and stuff. I talked with the missionaries last night at another birthday party and got some info about what they do here. I hope to figure out more and plan some stuff with them soon. well, I am going biking at 530 tomorrow moring with the 2 girls, marks cousins, that live here and next door so I am going to go to bed. oooo, I got a new skype name so you can and should add me, drewallencunningham

first full day

well I made it here yesterday on time with no troubles at the airport or anything. We were picked up at the airport by Guijermo, 'Mark's uncle and next door neighbor. I was shown around the house which is amazing. it is very nice! Lavone introduced me to the whole family and I got a ton of spanish practice just meeting everyone and trying to tell them who I am and why I am here. We had a great lunch yesterday that Guijermo made. I ate 2 bowls of soup thinking it was the whole meal. After I was finished, they brought out some potatoes, a huge plate of meat, and some salad and I ate some more. It was all very good. Then we had ice cream! The whole family is extremely nice and close. MArk's family's house is conected to his uncles house and on the other side to his uncle's parent's house. Guijermo took me over to his parents house last night and I met them. His father showed me around his house and showed off his recuerdos from his trips to europe. he was very proud, he took me to his study and showed me his stereo and play some celine Deon! all this was yesterday, my first day.

Today I woke up and then went to buy flowers with Lavonne and Paige, danny's girlfriend. Danny is MArk's brother. we went to this little flower shop where lavone knows the lady who owns it. Lavone brought 2 pairs of "tummy tuck" jeans to this lady just as a gift because she is really nice. Lavonne has brought gifts to 3 families so far that I know of, she is very generous. At the flower shop, I had a conversation with the owner's husband in spanish and he told me abotu the nearby volcanoes. apparently there are a lot of them and also a lot of earthquakes too. He was very nice and it was pretty neat to communicate with him in spanish.

Later today we went and picked up Austin and Lynna, Mark's adopted brother and sister, from their school. their school was pretty neat with tons of little kids running around playing soccer. After we picked them up, we went and got som chicken at this little place and brought it over to MArk's grnadmas house for lunch. after lunch we came home and played uno for a while. We then left and went to a friend of thier familys house, Eduardo. Eduardo is, no surprise, very nice also. He took us out to the mall which was surprisingly nice and Eduardo bought our movie tickets. We then went and ate at this italian resturant. then we bought presents for Austin who turns 9 tomorrow. After we watched x men, eduardo took us home. WE have plans to go get sushi with him tomorrow.

Big news, Lavone told me today that I am going to be able to work! Her family's company, pathway services, has an office down here. it is a company that makes vancs with equipmetn to record video and radar of the roads to see where there needs to be repair work done. She said Vidia, Guijermo's wife who works at the office, siad she could use me there for about a month doing something. I talked to Natalya, Vidia's daughter who also works there and she said I will be working on the computers and tha it is very easy. I am sooo happy to get this opportunity to work while i am here. Lavonne even siad I would get paid, very little, but I am exstatic to even be able to get to work at all with them. I would be happy to work for free. The missionaires I was planning on working with is still in the works but Lavone siad they usually only go out on the weekends. I think tomorrow Lavone is taking me to an orphanage so that will be good too.

Also, Eduardo took us to his coffe shop tonight. it is super modern and nice. Nicer than the coffee shops I go to in Fayetteville to study. There were like 3 guards we passed in the shoppin center parking lot that it is in. While at the mall I was talking with Eduardo and told him that I would definately be willing to work at his coffe shop, doing anything at all, for free if he ever needed any help. I told him I could wait until my spanish get better so I could communicate with the customers better. He liked this idea and said " yes, yes, you can work with me anytime like on fridays, and saturdays... you can work the register.... i would pay you" SO this is very cool too. I am not getting my hopes up for all these paying jobs becuase it is just my second day here and I just met eduardo, but he seems extremely nice and is a great friend of the Blanco family. I am just happy that there are some great opportunities opening up already and am excited to see what end up happening in the future. I will for sure go the office of Pathwya servcices on wednesday to learn what I will be doing.

Thursday, Lavone has our vacation planned. it is a family vacation with 13 people going. There is a bus chartered just for us that will take us all the places were going. We are going to a volcano, Arenal, then to a beach called Mal Pais which is on the PAcific side of Costa Rica. Once we get back from that, we are planning on going to the Atlantic side to Limon. WOO HOO, what a trip. I am blessed. after all this vacationing, Mark, Paide, and Danny will leave and it will be time for me to start what the rest of my trip will be like.

day before leaving

I leave for Tulsa today around 4 or 5 pm.  My flight to Houston leaves Tulsa at 6:20 am, and then from Houston to San Jose.  I am traveling with Mark Blanco and his Mom Lavonne, and brother Danny. 

I know there is internet at the Blanco's house which I will be staying at, but I don't know how often I will be able to access it.  I will try to update this page frequently, but I make no promises. I have never had a blog before so we'll see how it goes.  I am looking forward to my trip and will write more soon! 

my email is dcunning@uark.edu  if you would like to write me an email.