Día del Maestro Part 2 of 3: Games and Birthdays

After a long delay of about 5 months here is part 2 of el Día del Maestro: Games and Birthdays. Below are photos of various teachers enjoying the many games from the day.

Matt riding the bull!

José riding the bull, do not let his weight fool you, he rode the bull for a very long time!

Robert after reaching the top of the totem pole.

Mariela trying to reach the top of the totem pole - her facial expression is priceless!

Another one of the workers who reached the top of the pole too.

Mauricio close, but no cigar!

While we were celebrating the teacher's we also got the chance to celebrate three birthdays.  We did not plan this, so our individual birthday cakes were smiley face made from nuts clusters for the eyes and fried plantains for the mouth. I had to work with what I had.

Marie Isabel, Mateo, AnaBelle blowing out their candle!

After receiving their cakes, they had to through a coin into the pool and make a wish.  Here is Maria Isabel making here wish.

Día del Maestro Part 1 of 3: The Day

On Friday, November 19, 2010 the professors and staff celebrated Día del Maestro by going to a place called La Tertulia for a day of food, fun, dancing, games, and sports.

Here is the breakfast line, the lunch line was great too, but I was too busy eating to take a photo.

Here is a photo of the pool, small, but wonderful.

The day had a ton of games, so here are photos of some of them, obviously I did not take the photos in which I am seen, but Mariela did.

I never got past this point!

All fo games present are shown except the bull that you could lasso.

A group of the professors looking on at the games from the sidelines.

Above you can see a photo of people playing volleyball.  I did not play volleyball but I did attempt to play soccer. Below is a photo of the pool being used.

After lunch began the dancing.

A photo of the musicians.

A group of the professors looking on at the dancing from the sidelines.

The next two photos are of the late-night stayers of the day.

Adventures at the Beach 4 of 4 - The Nature

Here is a set of photos of the nature and uses of nature!

A blue tailed lizard found near the pool

Small birds looking for lunch

Tree branches ready for a fire.

An outdoor patio built by the gifts of God's earth by the hands of God's creatures.

An image of the ocean as it slowly pushes branches on the shore.

A huge part of a tree that was pushed onto the shore.

A myriad of shells that lies under the waves of the ocean.

A close-up of the shells.  I collected a bunch of them and gave them to the teachers of the English department.

Adventures at the Beach 3 of 4 - The Sand

Now here are photos and stories about the sand at the beach. Here is the sand, which is black and very fine.  It was absolutely lovely to experience the beach in Costa Rica.

Here is I am after being buried in the sand by Toño and before this I buried him, but forgot to take a photo. After his is a photo of the pit I was buried in.

Above and below are photos of my cleaning off the sand that was all over me.

And here is a photo of me - so fresh and so clean clean!

Below is a photo of all of the trash and garbage that is brought up on the beach by the waves.  

As a joke I searched through all of the trash and found "Christmas" gifts for my family.  For my father I found beer and a vacuum hose. For my mother I found a sieve. For my sister I found a shoe. For my brother I found fabric to use in one his projects. For Pete I found beer and Lizano Salsa.  And last but not least for Sophia I found a basketball (Go Villanova!), a wheel for her bike, a Croc, and legos.

Also Toño did some searching as well and found these gifts for Sophia: a Christmas ornament, a number puzzle, and a stuffed bear and Daffy Duck. 

Adventures at the Beach 2 of 4 - The House

Finally we made it Playa Tivives, it was way past sunset, but Toño and I walked on the beach.  It was great to have sand through my toes and water brushing up against me feet.

But before we get to the beach photos were are some of Casa Malinche.  Interestingly, this house used to belong to the Dobles Family (Jorge's Family) and was previous owned by Jorge's dad. It has 5 bedrooms, 3 full bathrooms, two balconies, a kitchen, a small living room with a TV, a pool, and to top it all of it is right on the beach.

The view of the beach right outside of the friary

My feet in the sand and the water!

Me sporting my beard for "No Shave November"