La llegada y mi familia tica

¡Hola a todos! I made it to Costa Rica safely and I'm currently safely in my house for the next month. I only slept about an hour last night so tonight's rest will be welcome. I had a connecting flight in Atlanta where I met up with my house mate, Jessica. She's the fellow NSE scholarship winner I happened to meet at an AP conference last year. The Lord continues to amaze me. 

After waiting at the San Jose airport for about 2.5 hours our bus took us to meet our host families. Our "madre tica" picked us up and made us feel comfortable in her home. We each have our own bedroom as bathroom and she and he daughters live on the second floor. (FYI: "Tico/a" is a common way to refer to the locals.) We had chicken, rice, black beans, carrots, potatoes, plantains and juice for lunch. Dinner was homemade empanadas and aguadulce (a mixture of sugar cane and milk and water, I believe). I'm posting a picture of the juice mainly because I had never heard of this fruit before. It's called a "cas" and it's supposedly a health food powerhouse. And some of you know how much that excites me! :) It tastes like a light citrus drink...muy sabroso. I'm writing this quickly so I apologize for errors. Editing will have to wait! Hasta pronto...

Summertime is here!

Summer is here (has barely started), but I have already been working to prepare for the fall! Even so, I can't help but think of a few highlights to share. 

1) While I am in Costa Rica this summer, one of my Spanish 4 students will be studying abroad in Spain. I can't wait to hear about his experience there.

2) I found out on Honors Day that I received the  Rosalind A. and James M. Cain Faculty Fellowship Award to cover some of the expenses of my trip. 

3) Today I received a message from one of my Spanish 3 students. She is a fantastic student, but she was struggling a bit with the decision to take Spanish 4. I was so happy to read that she is "excited" about the class in the fall. 

Messages like this one make the planning and extra hours and mountains of emails worth it. 

4) I know someone else going on the trip!...well sort of. We met last summer at an AP Summer Institute. Jessica is a southern girl as well, and she teaches in Georgia. I'm thankful that I have someone to plan my trip with!

This summer is PACKED with plans already, and I came across Psalm 37 this past week. I can't help but be reminded of how true it is. 

Psalm 37:3 Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness.

I look forward to posting about the trip!

I am so excited to announce that I have been chosen as a scholarship recipient to study in Costa Rica this summer! I've missed being a student, and now I not only get to take classes, but I get to take classes IN COSTA RICA! I am so grateful for this opportunity, and I would like to thank the NSE (National Spanish Examinations) for its generosity. ¡Muchísimas gracias!

I am a middle school and upper school Spanish teacher completing my second year at Tuscaloosa Academy, where I am currently teaching one section each of Spanish 1A, 1B, 1, 2, 3, 4 and AP. This year I have 68 students in my classes at TA. I also teach an online Spanish 2 course through ACCESS Distance Learning. I have 21 students in my online class. All 68 students in my face-to-face classes are taking the National Spanish Exam this year. 

The picture above is of my Spanish 2 class. We are using mini whiteboards to practice a new concept.

Introduction Video

My name is Hannah Sullivan, and I am a finalist for the National Spanish Exam Teacher Study Abroad Scholarship in Costa Rica.