Orientation Comes to an End

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!