We found a School in Costa Rica!

Hey guys - I just got back from a trip to Costa Rica, and Scott and I had the opportunity to visit 2 schools for the kids. We liked both of them, but there was one that really stuck out to both of us. Without even talking about pros/cons, we just asked each other if we had a gut feeling on either of them. We both said that we liked the Methodist school - and the decision was made. We talked with administration at "Colegio Metodista" for about an hour, and are REALLY excited to enroll the kids for next year. Their website is www.metodista.ed.cr if you want to check it out (it's in spanish, but it has some pictures you might want to see)

Sydney will start their Pre-kindergarten program and Elijah will be in there "preparatoria" program. They both will have school days that start at 7:15AM and end at 12:30PM. The first half of their day will be in Spanish and the second half of their day will be in English. This is the part that we really liked - it's preparing our kids as bi-cultural kids. They will study certain subjects in each language - not just study the language itself. They are a school that goes all the way through high school, if we choose to keep the kids there that long. The "Prepa" area (where our kids are) is separate from the elementary, which is separate from High School.

They also offer extracurricular activities in the afternoon after school, until 2;30PM. They have a soccer program that we will consider putting Elijah in (he's been DYING to play soccer for the past year). They mentioned a ballet class that Sydney would probably like, but we'll have to play it by ear - if she's really old enough to stay at school that long.

Here is a picture of the soccer field and a typical "prepa" classroom.


We also got to check out our future house on the campus of SENDAS in San José, Costa Rica. It's on the seminary campus, so it's RIGHT next door to lots of other missionaries. We've been told we will be in house 39, but with our experience, we aren't banking on it until our stuff is officially moved in. :) We did take advantage of looking inside it while we were on campus - it's not near as big as our house here in Guate (which is good for me - I hate cleaning!), but it is 4 rooms with a decent kitchen/dining room and 2 living room areas. A big plus to the homes there, is that they all have screened in back porches - so that is another area that we can use as "living" area. we also will have a decent backyard - the kids (and me) are already vying for a dog when we move - we'll see what we can work out. Elijah and Sydney are thrilled that there is a playplace right outside our front door - they plan on spending lots of time there. :) The website for SENDAS is www.sendas.ws if you want to see some pictures of the campus (again, it's in Spanish)



Please pray that our residency process moves along. Thanks Connie, for being the messenger in all of the formal applications to the Costa Rican embassy in the States. We'd be sunk without you. Scott comes home on Sunday night - he's been gone since July 9 - the kids are really ready to spend some time with him. Please pray for his safety, as he has a bus ride from Costa Rica to Tegucigalpa, Honduras (about 20 hours) and then has to drive a mini-van from Honduras to Guatemala (another 12 hours). He's going to be exhausted.

Love to you all.