Last week we spent every afternoon teaching practicum which consisted of teaching several 40 minute English classes to two different grade levels. WorldTeach recruited local elementary students to come and receive free English instruction during their summer break so that we could practice our teaching skills and get some feedback from the staff and other volunteers. I worked with 3 other teachers teaching 6th grade and 3rd grade. It was really good experience to realize the difference between traditional teaching and teaching a foreign language. It requires much less talking and lots of demonstrating. I feel really comfortable in a classroom and my past experience has given me a solid base of knowledge on how to plan lessons and handle discipline but it is still going to be a fun and challenging year learning to teach English as a foreign language. Maybe by the end of the year I can get my TEFL certification.
With Spanish in the morning, workshops, lesson planning and teaching (not to mention evening activities and homework) it was a very busy week and lots of us started to feel a bit sick and run down. Thankfully we had a free weekend and the group planned a trip Cahuita, a town on the Caribbean coast. It was AMAZING and I cannot wait to go back (who's coming to visit?!) We took a day trip to Puerto Viejo to go to the beach there and went out dancing to live reggae music at this bar up the street. I was in heaven and other than having some sort of stomach sickness Saturday night (the water there is pretty bad... it's almost impossible to be careful enough to avoid getting a little sick) it was a great weekend. Sunday I spent some time walking through the nature preserve there and hanging on the beach. Looking forward to more traveling exploring this beautiful country.
When I got back Sunday evening I felt so happy to be "home" but this is our last week of orientation and this weekend we will be moving to our sites. I'm feeling a bit nervous and sad about this. I've gotten comfortable with my family here in Orosi and with having the other volunteers around. I'm sad I will have to leave them but I know that I will be able to make a new home in La Violeta with a little time. This is definitely the most challenging part of my trip so far. But as things progress each new challenge is put into perspective. I thought for sure I would have a panic attack on the way here or I would be completely unable to communicate or the food situation would be difficult but I've gotten by and learned ways to deal with each of these things. I know I will do the same with this challenge.
In the meantime I am enjoying the time I have left here. Tonight I was going to make brownies for my family but when I asked about whether there was a pan to cook them in I discovered that despite having two stoves with ovens, neither oven actually works. Luckily Colleen (one of the other volunteers) came up with the bright idea to make rice krispy treats and they were a big hit. They were so baffled/curious when I was making them but the ended up loving them. Tomorrow I plan to go for a walk early in the morning to take some pictures and enjoy the views as the sun rises. As things wind down we have lots of fun events planned. Things are looking good!
1.28.2010
1.16.2010
Directions
So before I tell you about my weekend let me first just explain how "addresses" work here. There isn't really any such thing as an address, just a "direction." For example 175 meters south of the church or 25 meters west and 75 meters north of the old factory. You think I'm kidding, but I'm not. For example, this is the mailing address for one of the houses here in Orosi:
Contiguo del Hotel "Reventazon" casa blanca 2 plantas = Adjacent to the Reventazon Hotel, white house with 2 stories
So in other words get a compass and good sense of distance and the ability to ask people where something is if you want any chance of finding something. And don't send anything in the mail you're not willing to lose or wait a really long time for.
This weekend I made my visit to my permanent site. First time traveling solo in the country. Pretty exciting, interesting and only a little nerve-wrecking. We got directions as a group on how to get to Cartago (thankfully I didn't need to go to San Jose... some people's sites are at least 8 hours away by bus) My directions once in Cartago were to go to the Plaza Iglesia and essentially just ask at least three people where the stop for Frailles is. You have to ask at least three people because Ticos will sometimes tell you something just to be nice even if they don't know. So after asking about 15 people I had 7/8 split between two locations that the bus might arrive. I chose the one that seemed most likely to be north of the Colegio (also part of my original directions) and finally my bus arrived.... in the form of a yellow school bus.
Unlike the bench seats of a regular school bus this one had an extra wide middle aisle and pairs of 12 inch by 12 inch seats with about 6 inches between the end of the seat and the seat in front of it. Picture me with my freakishly long legs and two huge back packs trying to squeeze into that with about 65 ticos. It wasn't the most comfortable ride but the views were amazing winding up and down mountain sides. At least halfway there I realize it was unclear how I was supposed to know when to get off... it's not like stops are announced or clearly marked. When I did manage to get off at the right stop I realized I didn't remember my host family's names or know what they looked like. Being the only gringa on the bus helped and when I got off a woman came up to me and asked "Es nueva teacher?" I said "si" and figured this must be the right person. She told me to follow her and continued talking away in Spanish. I had no idea what she was saying but was trying to keep up so I kept saying "si." We met a young woman and her two children. We proceeded to approach and enter a car (which I later found out was a pirate taxi) and as I went to put my bags in the trunk I realized I had NO idea if this was my family or not. It struck me as strange but only mildly concerning. I couldn't exactly ask them partly due to my limited Spanish but mostly because I was pretty sure it had already been explained to me and I had agreed to this. I figured if they weren't my family that they would probably take me to them.
Well it turned out they are my family and the house is gorgeous. I live with a husband and wife and their daughter Kimberly who is probably in her late teens/early twenties. The young woman we met is their daughter-in-law who lives with their two grandchildren Daniel and Maria in the next town over. The communication was pretty difficult. They speak a lot faster and with a slightly different accent so I felt pretty frustrated for the first few hours. For the first 5 or 10 minutes (or whenever someone new came over the house) they talked about how tall and white I am. That much I understood. They also talked a lot about last years volunteer (who was clear shorter, darker and better at Spanish since she just left) but I guess it's just something to talk about, nothing against me :)
There was some confusion about which room I wanted. There are two rooms joined by a curtain and they put me in the smaller room. I was unclear if they were asking whether I wanted a door there or a new room all together. My director talked to them and it turns out that the volunteer last year had a bigger bed but they decided to cut it in half for when their grandchildren sleep over and wanted to give me the bigger bed. You read that correctly. They cut a mattress in half. I will investigate further and send picture evidence because this still baffles/amuses me a little.
There are lots of the plants and trees growing around the house not to mention the ubiquitous coffee plants EVERYWHERE on the mountains. They also own about 27 birds. Seven or so small birds in cages in the house, 8 or 10 more in a big cage outside and 10 or 12 chickens and roosters outside as well. In other words I'll be getting up with the sun from now on! I'm also going to be getting TONS of exercise on these "hills." I took a walk to the school in the morning and thought I was having a heart attack! It really is uphill both ways! Despite the newness of it I'm looking forward to going back and getting to know everyone better (and improving my Spanish!) Also can't wait to see my classroom and start teaching!!!
Contiguo del Hotel "Reventazon" casa blanca 2 plantas = Adjacent to the Reventazon Hotel, white house with 2 stories
So in other words get a compass and good sense of distance and the ability to ask people where something is if you want any chance of finding something. And don't send anything in the mail you're not willing to lose or wait a really long time for.
This weekend I made my visit to my permanent site. First time traveling solo in the country. Pretty exciting, interesting and only a little nerve-wrecking. We got directions as a group on how to get to Cartago (thankfully I didn't need to go to San Jose... some people's sites are at least 8 hours away by bus) My directions once in Cartago were to go to the Plaza Iglesia and essentially just ask at least three people where the stop for Frailles is. You have to ask at least three people because Ticos will sometimes tell you something just to be nice even if they don't know. So after asking about 15 people I had 7/8 split between two locations that the bus might arrive. I chose the one that seemed most likely to be north of the Colegio (also part of my original directions) and finally my bus arrived.... in the form of a yellow school bus.
Unlike the bench seats of a regular school bus this one had an extra wide middle aisle and pairs of 12 inch by 12 inch seats with about 6 inches between the end of the seat and the seat in front of it. Picture me with my freakishly long legs and two huge back packs trying to squeeze into that with about 65 ticos. It wasn't the most comfortable ride but the views were amazing winding up and down mountain sides. At least halfway there I realize it was unclear how I was supposed to know when to get off... it's not like stops are announced or clearly marked. When I did manage to get off at the right stop I realized I didn't remember my host family's names or know what they looked like. Being the only gringa on the bus helped and when I got off a woman came up to me and asked "Es nueva teacher?" I said "si" and figured this must be the right person. She told me to follow her and continued talking away in Spanish. I had no idea what she was saying but was trying to keep up so I kept saying "si." We met a young woman and her two children. We proceeded to approach and enter a car (which I later found out was a pirate taxi) and as I went to put my bags in the trunk I realized I had NO idea if this was my family or not. It struck me as strange but only mildly concerning. I couldn't exactly ask them partly due to my limited Spanish but mostly because I was pretty sure it had already been explained to me and I had agreed to this. I figured if they weren't my family that they would probably take me to them.
Well it turned out they are my family and the house is gorgeous. I live with a husband and wife and their daughter Kimberly who is probably in her late teens/early twenties. The young woman we met is their daughter-in-law who lives with their two grandchildren Daniel and Maria in the next town over. The communication was pretty difficult. They speak a lot faster and with a slightly different accent so I felt pretty frustrated for the first few hours. For the first 5 or 10 minutes (or whenever someone new came over the house) they talked about how tall and white I am. That much I understood. They also talked a lot about last years volunteer (who was clear shorter, darker and better at Spanish since she just left) but I guess it's just something to talk about, nothing against me :)
There was some confusion about which room I wanted. There are two rooms joined by a curtain and they put me in the smaller room. I was unclear if they were asking whether I wanted a door there or a new room all together. My director talked to them and it turns out that the volunteer last year had a bigger bed but they decided to cut it in half for when their grandchildren sleep over and wanted to give me the bigger bed. You read that correctly. They cut a mattress in half. I will investigate further and send picture evidence because this still baffles/amuses me a little.
There are lots of the plants and trees growing around the house not to mention the ubiquitous coffee plants EVERYWHERE on the mountains. They also own about 27 birds. Seven or so small birds in cages in the house, 8 or 10 more in a big cage outside and 10 or 12 chickens and roosters outside as well. In other words I'll be getting up with the sun from now on! I'm also going to be getting TONS of exercise on these "hills." I took a walk to the school in the morning and thought I was having a heart attack! It really is uphill both ways! Despite the newness of it I'm looking forward to going back and getting to know everyone better (and improving my Spanish!) Also can't wait to see my classroom and start teaching!!!
1.15.2010
TGIF
The sun is finally out after a "cold" (70s) rainy week. Today we went for a walk to a local flower farm during Spanish class to interview un hombre who works there. Pictures to follow. I might try to use a picture website like picassa/flikr/photobucket or something to share pics since not everyone is on Facebook.
We've been super busy all day every day... here's what our schedule looks like
8-11: spanish lessons
11-11:15 cafecito (coffee break)
11:15-1:15 charla (talk)
1:15-2:30 lunch
2:30 - 3:30/4:00 charla
Sometimes we also have activities in the evening. This week we had dinner with our "buddy" (a teacher at another site who we'll visit and who can help us with our teaching). My buddy, Liz, came to my house one night and I went to her house last night.
During the charlas we are learning lots of different things: safety issues, site visits, teacher training etc. Its a lot of information but I'm feeling really calm and confident about teaching. We start practicum next week where we'll practice teaching to small classes of students here in Orosi. A lot of people are really nervous though. On the other hand Spanish is more of a struggle but it is progressing quickly and I'm finding it harder to think and speak English at times! I'm picking up so much vocabulary and I'm really happy with my host family because my mother talks with me a lot! We have had some really interesting conversations despite my limited Spanish.
During orientation we eat breakfast (desayuno) and dinner (cena) with our families and then have lunch at different restaurants around town. We also eat at this little cafe that is part of the school where we take Spanish and have our charlas. The food has been good but definitely different. Rice with every meal. Macaroni and cheese and rice. Potatoes and rice. Rice and rice. Beans and rice. Even for breakfast we have something called "gallo pinto" sometimes which is like fried beans and rice with a scrambled egg. Hard to describe but really good. Been trying to sneaking fruit and non-starch vegetables here and there, take my vitamins and stay active. So far I've been staying healthy :)
It definitely has been exhausting and overwhelming at times this week but I've been able to find some time to relax in my room and eat chocolate and that made me feel better :) Can't wait to visit my site this weekend and meet my permanent host family (though I will be sad to leave Magaly and Orosi).
Would love to hear from you all, especially any questions you might have!
We've been super busy all day every day... here's what our schedule looks like
8-11: spanish lessons
11-11:15 cafecito (coffee break)
11:15-1:15 charla (talk)
1:15-2:30 lunch
2:30 - 3:30/4:00 charla
Sometimes we also have activities in the evening. This week we had dinner with our "buddy" (a teacher at another site who we'll visit and who can help us with our teaching). My buddy, Liz, came to my house one night and I went to her house last night.
During the charlas we are learning lots of different things: safety issues, site visits, teacher training etc. Its a lot of information but I'm feeling really calm and confident about teaching. We start practicum next week where we'll practice teaching to small classes of students here in Orosi. A lot of people are really nervous though. On the other hand Spanish is more of a struggle but it is progressing quickly and I'm finding it harder to think and speak English at times! I'm picking up so much vocabulary and I'm really happy with my host family because my mother talks with me a lot! We have had some really interesting conversations despite my limited Spanish.
During orientation we eat breakfast (desayuno) and dinner (cena) with our families and then have lunch at different restaurants around town. We also eat at this little cafe that is part of the school where we take Spanish and have our charlas. The food has been good but definitely different. Rice with every meal. Macaroni and cheese and rice. Potatoes and rice. Rice and rice. Beans and rice. Even for breakfast we have something called "gallo pinto" sometimes which is like fried beans and rice with a scrambled egg. Hard to describe but really good. Been trying to sneaking fruit and non-starch vegetables here and there, take my vitamins and stay active. So far I've been staying healthy :)
It definitely has been exhausting and overwhelming at times this week but I've been able to find some time to relax in my room and eat chocolate and that made me feel better :) Can't wait to visit my site this weekend and meet my permanent host family (though I will be sad to leave Magaly and Orosi).
Would love to hear from you all, especially any questions you might have!
1.12.2010
Picture Post #1
Me and my 75+ lbs of luggage
Me and Kerry on the bus to Orosi
Beautiful, auspicious rainbow on the way to Orosi!
Me and my host family... we had to take silly pics with our families for a scavenger hunt :)
View from my house of the mountains
1.10.2010
Free trip to Nicaragua!
After a brief visit to Minagua, Nicaragua we have arrived safely in Costa Rica. Upon meeting the group in Dallas I was promptly told that a volcano had erupted and was handed face masks to use upon arrival. I of course responded with skepticism, "You're joking, right?" figuring we'd all have a good laugh at this hazing ritual. But in reality a volcano (Turrialba) near one of the teaching sites had erupted that day and it was still spewing ash so the masks were a legitimate precaution (though we haven't had to use them).
The next bit of unexpected adventure came when high winds prevented our landing in San Jose. After an extremely choppy (read: nauseating) descent we were a few feet from the ground when the plane suddenly took off again! Imagine our surprise to find out we would be flying to and landing in Minagua, Nicaragua. It wasn't long after landing that we were informed we would be staying the night. Honestly though the whole thing was pretty exciting to me: free trip to Nicaragua and a cool story! Plus once my stomach landed and was no longer in my throat I was happy to know I would be spending sometime earthbound. We stayed in this awesome little hotel across the street from the airport that had open air corridors. Imagine walking down the "hall" to your room and seeing gardens and trees on either side of you and the humid Nicaraguan night air passing around you. Once we finally found our rooms and straightened out the key problems we slept like the dead and woke up early to a complimentary buffet breakfast with tons of fruit, beans, eggs, and fried plantains. I think they had fruit loops and cocoa puffs but kinda hard to get excited about that when you can drink passion fruit juice!
So finally the next morning around 10:00 we arrive in San Jose and begin the process of gathering our many bags and going through immigration and then traveling by school bus around the city to visit the hospital and the US Embassy to receive talks on various threats/concerns/issues etc. Some of the advice I received Clinica Biblica (the hospital in San Jose) and the US Embassy:
-Pedestrians will be killed. (Motorist DO NOT stop or even slow down for pedestrians)
-Do not get eaten by crocodiles. (Reintroduction of crocs for ecological purposes has resulted in an increase in humans being feasted upon in rivers)
-Don't burn your foot off in a mud pit. (There are various hot springs and natural mud baths but NOTHING has signs/cones/warnings/tape etc. so you might be walking along and fall into an open manhole or mud pit if you're not careful.)
-Look don't touch. Especially look out for blue spiky things. (Apparently some former patient had touched a weird blue spiky thing and almost lost an arm.)
-Look out for pirate taxis. (Legit taxis have a meter but in some remote areas only pirate taxis are available.)
-Check your clothes, shoes, bedding, showers, towels etc. before entering for various "creatures."
-You can go to the public hospital if you need to.... "You won't die, but it's not the greatest."
-Expect earthquakes.
-Try not to let mosquitoes bite.
After being officially scared to death to go anywhere or do anything, we arrived in Orosi on Friday evening and I spent a pleasant first night with my host family despite my limited Spanish. My host mother is SUPER nice and even said that my Spanish is good (I'm not sure about that though). Been doing better than I thought. I'm not as anxious as I thought I would be about trying to talk though my grammar is horrible I'm able to have conversations. The miscommunications are hilarious and the other volunteers and I share stories on a daily basis ("I think I'm going to see some bulls later... I'm not really sure") It definitely gets frustrating at times when you have NO idea what someone is saying and they talk for 5 minutes and then just look at you. I have a little host sister who is the same age as my sister Erika (11) but she's pretty shy. We have two dogs, Oso (who is older and calmer) and Tomi (who is young and rambunctious) and a bunch of random birds (at least two parrots and a pheasant). All the extended family live in houses next door with a communal yard in the middle. OH and we have avocado in our backyard. This is definitely sweet life. The town is gorgeous... surrounded by lush green mountains. Can't wait to share some pictures.
Please comment with any questions or things you're curious about :)
Hasta luego!
The next bit of unexpected adventure came when high winds prevented our landing in San Jose. After an extremely choppy (read: nauseating) descent we were a few feet from the ground when the plane suddenly took off again! Imagine our surprise to find out we would be flying to and landing in Minagua, Nicaragua. It wasn't long after landing that we were informed we would be staying the night. Honestly though the whole thing was pretty exciting to me: free trip to Nicaragua and a cool story! Plus once my stomach landed and was no longer in my throat I was happy to know I would be spending sometime earthbound. We stayed in this awesome little hotel across the street from the airport that had open air corridors. Imagine walking down the "hall" to your room and seeing gardens and trees on either side of you and the humid Nicaraguan night air passing around you. Once we finally found our rooms and straightened out the key problems we slept like the dead and woke up early to a complimentary buffet breakfast with tons of fruit, beans, eggs, and fried plantains. I think they had fruit loops and cocoa puffs but kinda hard to get excited about that when you can drink passion fruit juice!
So finally the next morning around 10:00 we arrive in San Jose and begin the process of gathering our many bags and going through immigration and then traveling by school bus around the city to visit the hospital and the US Embassy to receive talks on various threats/concerns/issues etc. Some of the advice I received Clinica Biblica (the hospital in San Jose) and the US Embassy:
-Pedestrians will be killed. (Motorist DO NOT stop or even slow down for pedestrians)
-Do not get eaten by crocodiles. (Reintroduction of crocs for ecological purposes has resulted in an increase in humans being feasted upon in rivers)
-Don't burn your foot off in a mud pit. (There are various hot springs and natural mud baths but NOTHING has signs/cones/warnings/tape etc. so you might be walking along and fall into an open manhole or mud pit if you're not careful.)
-Look don't touch. Especially look out for blue spiky things. (Apparently some former patient had touched a weird blue spiky thing and almost lost an arm.)
-Look out for pirate taxis. (Legit taxis have a meter but in some remote areas only pirate taxis are available.)
-Check your clothes, shoes, bedding, showers, towels etc. before entering for various "creatures."
-You can go to the public hospital if you need to.... "You won't die, but it's not the greatest."
-Expect earthquakes.
-Try not to let mosquitoes bite.
After being officially scared to death to go anywhere or do anything, we arrived in Orosi on Friday evening and I spent a pleasant first night with my host family despite my limited Spanish. My host mother is SUPER nice and even said that my Spanish is good (I'm not sure about that though). Been doing better than I thought. I'm not as anxious as I thought I would be about trying to talk though my grammar is horrible I'm able to have conversations. The miscommunications are hilarious and the other volunteers and I share stories on a daily basis ("I think I'm going to see some bulls later... I'm not really sure") It definitely gets frustrating at times when you have NO idea what someone is saying and they talk for 5 minutes and then just look at you. I have a little host sister who is the same age as my sister Erika (11) but she's pretty shy. We have two dogs, Oso (who is older and calmer) and Tomi (who is young and rambunctious) and a bunch of random birds (at least two parrots and a pheasant). All the extended family live in houses next door with a communal yard in the middle. OH and we have avocado in our backyard. This is definitely sweet life. The town is gorgeous... surrounded by lush green mountains. Can't wait to share some pictures.
Please comment with any questions or things you're curious about :)
Hasta luego!
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