Bienvenidos

¡Hola amigos!

This summer I'll be studying Spanish in Turrialba, Costa Rica, thanks to a generous grant from the Brookline Education Foundation. I'll be posting photos, stories, and fun activities just for you while I'm there. Come explore Central America along with me by following this blog!

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Wednesday, July 23, 2014

¿Qué tiempo hace en Costa Rica?

¡Hola amigos!

I have been in Costa Rica for five days now, and I really like it. ¡Me encanta! 

Last Friday our airplane landed in San José, the capital city of Costa Rica. After that, I rented a car to drive out into the country to see a real, active volcano: Volcán Poás.

This volcano has a large, steamy crater that you can look into when you get to the top. The day we were there, though, this is all we could see:


Most of the time, it is very foggy and cloudy at the top of the volcano, and we couldn't see very far into the crater. This climate is known as a cloud forest because it is almost always cloudy and drizzly. It is different from a rain forest, though, because the temperature is always cool instead of hot. This is what the plants of a cloud forest look like: 


One plant is especially useful in the cloud forest. It is called a sombrilla de pobres, or the Poor Man's Umbrella. Can you guess why?



My daughter Tiegan and my son Jonas are showing you how people use this plant to stay dry when it rains in the cloud forest.

It wasn't always rainy while we were at the volcano, though. Here is a video I made for you of the weather at the lodge where we stayed while visiting the volcano: 


Did you sing along? 

Finally, many of the words I used in the video are in the coloring page below. After you print it out and color it in, see how many things you can point to and name on your own.


¡Hasta luego!

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Some Facts About Costa Rica

¡Hola amigos!

I hope you are having a wonderful summer. I know I am!   I am still here at home in Massachusetts, but in just three days I will be in Costa Rica! 

Before we go, I made you a video to teach you some things about the country of Costa Rica. The video below will show you some maps of Costa Rica and its flag.

Watch closely and see if you can answer the questions at the end! 



I hope you liked the video. Now I have an art project for you:



To color in the flag of Costa Rica, click on the picture of it and print it out. You can check your work with the picture below:



¡Adiós, amigos!