Getting back to writing the blog

Well, we're still working on our website upgrade and it's taking much longer than I had anticipated. We worked the whole weekend, but I guess it takes time to upload all the pictures, wait for them to save, and so forth. So, I've decided to update the blog as I normally do, on a daily basis, and continue to backfill the rest of the entries as soon as possible. I've cut and pasted up to the end of December and I'm now tackling my January posts. I know I have quite a few pictures for last month, so I'm guessing I won't be done until this coming weekend. But once it's all done, I can just move forward. 

Kevin has been also working on uploading pictures to our different galleries. Although I tend to share some of the pictures here on the blog, these galleries are more comprehensive, for those who are interested in a more detailed look. We also added a Guestbook tab, where you can read what guests have written about their experience at the lodge. Check it out!

While we've been working on upgrading our website, we've hosted guests on Monday night, and I've been in all-day training with the other English teacher volunteers, who have come to help with the Copey Learning Center. Although I will continue teaching my adult class, these other volunteers will be teaching the elementary and high-school students. The volunteers arrived last week so Seidy, Gloria (Seidy's niece) and I have been busy with orientation sessions, making sure they have what they need and are feeling comfortable. It's been a busy week. And since I've been away from the farm nearly every day, Kevin has been stuck home alone doing all the farm chores working on all our unfinished projects. Now that all the training is done, I'm committed to getting back into sharing the workload with Kevin. It's no fun doing it alone.

I've developed three separate projects for my English class students. I want to challenge them to stretch their English speaking practice, so I've given them projects that will last approximately three months, they have to work in teams and each project pertains to building the tourism industry in the region. The Copey Learning Center focused on English as a second language, but also on tourism and I thought it would be a great way to get the students excited about building their community. So, one project is to research and develop a tour between Copey and Rio Blanco. They will have to research what type of tour they want to present i.e., hiking, bird watching, etc. Then they will have to learn about the features of this region and write a script. At the end of the project, they will give the whole class a tour in English. Another project is to create a brochure and poster to promote the region and the third project is to develop typical Tico recipes and to research 4 international recipes and share with the class... in English of course. I can't wait to see what they all come up with!

We just received two Facebook messages. One is of a travel agent who is interested in recommending our place to her clients. Sounds good to us! And another just a few minutes ago, who would like to pitch a tent. Unfortunately, at the moment, we don't have any facilities to accommodate tenters, but maybe in the future. So many different paths we can take. It's all good food for thought.

That's about it for today... for my ardent readers, sorry I've not been around... but consider me back! And thanks for reading, it continues to inspire me to write.