The first week of May, i went to Costa Rica for a week to renew my 90 day visa. i spent my time in the capital, San Jose where i passed most of the time eating a variety of Costa Rican, Indian, Thai, and Lebanese food, oh ya and playing lots of capoeira. I found a group called, Herança Angola. It was such a nice experience to be in a real class environment again. Since i have been in El Salvador, i have only been training informally with a few other people who know how to play. But at this school, we practiced music, movements and combinations. It was a refreshing and inspiring time overall in the country, unfortunately i didnt venture to far out of the capital, simply because i wanted to practice capoeria every day there. In the photo, i am standing in front of an ox drawn cart. It is customary for the people there to design the wheels and other parts with very detailed and intricate designs, which fascinated me.

I came across a lot of amazing public art in the capital of San Jose. It was great to see that such talented artists had made thier mark all over the walls of the city. I took a lot of time to just walk around with my camera, shooting the art that caught my eye. I particularly like how this artist or group handled the woman´s hair.

Another great piece that covered an entire wall of a building. This was only part of a much larger collaborative mural completed by many talented grafiti artists from various places in the world.

I stayed in a cool hotel which had a great back yard. i felt like i was in a small jungle, especially when i would pass by the little jungle beasts (like this guy!) who lived there. If any of you go to Costa Rica, i highly suggest you stay here, its called Hotel Aranjuez.

Another cool mural that was pretty close to my hotel. There was a quote that was written on it that i forgot but related to the fact that we as humans come in many forms, but all possess its own form of beauty.

Back home in El Salvador, i now work at an art center in a town called Suchitoto. I teach a creativity class where every day i give the kids a new project with a new set of materials. The goal is to get them thinking about how they can make art in any given moment with anything they might be able to get their hands on. In the end, i hope that they will continue to make art outside of class. The kids have never taken art classes before and it is incredible to see what they have made so far. i am convinced that all of these kids have the talent within them already, its only a matter of time and a little bit of encouragement that will really evoke their inner artist.

They come from various communities near the main town that i live in. They range from the ages of 10 to 15. Both boys and girls participate and we have 2 hour classes. This is a picture of a paper collage project i assigned to them. i often give them homework as encouragement for them to continue making art. Some of the kids have exceeded my expectations by consistently bringing in the assignements i give them. Although it can be hard and frustrating teaching in spanish, its a great and rewarding experience working with them, and now i am beginning to realize why teachers like to teach.

At the center there is a great dog named Barack, who is only eleven months old but is a beast! i dont think he knows how big he is, and i often find myself on the ground when he jumps on me. Here he is taking his usual drink of water from the faucet, one of the many activities that makes him happy.

I am having both of my classes work on murals right now. It is a great project for them because it teaches them how to work together to come to consensus of what images and compositions they want to create. I also like the idea that they work on a larger scale to make them feel more bold about the art they make, that there are no boundaries to what or where they make it. i will post picture of the final projects when they are finished. i think that i may want to continue playing the role of teacher as i progress in my life. Its a way to continue to learn about a subject while allowing one to implement thier own interpretations of the various elements that surround the topic.