You are not late; Only the time is late

I thought that this was an interesting thing about the Spanish Language. As we were learning about how to say the time correctly in Spanish, the teacher explained that people can not be late. Only time can be late. People can be in a hurry because the time is late or because you woke up late, but it is not correct to say: Kathryn is late today. So next time you are in a hurry, relax. You are not late only the time is late.

On Saturdays, a friend of mine named Chelsea, helps at a ministry in a poor city in San Jose. This town is mostly gang members and their family. Most of the houses are squatter houses. Meaning they build their houses out of material like tin and scrap metal. The ministry has two Bible studies for the children in the neighborhood.. There is a older children Bible study (the children can read and write) and a younger children Bible study  (they are not able to read or write). For the last two weeks I have had the opportunity to join her and work with the younger children. I have a lot of fun and it is also a great way to practice my Spanish. Little children are usually very patient with people that are learning the language. Here are some pictures of my time there. You will notice in the pictures the different ages of the children. The "older children" in the group are there because they are still not able to read or write at a level that would allow them to participate in the other class.

The little boy in the red shirt is named Wayner. It took me 6 times to understand  his name
and I still could not spell it correctly until someone wrote it out for me.

Nicole is definitely meant to be a leader! She is very sweet and loves to
hug the teachers constantly.

Mark is a student with me at the Language School.
The children were enjoying putting crayons in his beard.

Coloring with the children!

The lady holding the little boy in the back of the picture is the owner of
this house. The ministry is working with her to improve her house so that the rats can not
get under her floor boards and the roof will not leak. It is coming along little by little.

As I was taking pictures, Jeffery asked to take a picture with me. He still was not so
sure that he wanted  to  stand to close me.

Grown men playing jump rope with kids. It's a beautiful thing.

The neighborhood where the children live.

A Photo Is Worth A Thousand Words

So since a photo is worth a thousand words, I thought this blog I would show a lot of pictures instead of a lot of words :) To catch you up, I am back in Costa Rica learning Spanish. I started class on January 10 and it is going very well so far. Enjoy the pictures!

My new friend Chelsea and I on our way to the small supermarket

This is the bus that I take to get downtown and it also goes right by my house

My friend Lisamarie, Chelsea, and I at the park

My friend Sara and I at the park. This is a park by the school where I do all of my studying

This is the view of the mountains from my house

This is the guard and the guard house across the street from my house

Doing homework at the park!

Hard at work!

If I need a break from studying, I can watch the watch the boys falling off their skateboards

Traffic on the way to the small supermarket

Jumbo - the small supermarket