 |
|
Costa Rica Day 1:
I made it!! The flight coming over was way easier than I expected. I sat by a college student from PU in Theta on the flight to Philadelphia and by the most entertaining, but also kind, group of adults from Noblesville and Southern Indiana on my way to San Jose. What a smalll world after all! So thankful for their guidance and company. The hardest part was waiting 30 minutes for my ride with the other students because so many taxi drivers kept asking me if I wanted a ride and many people kept asking if I needed help and if I would want to go with them etc. I could not have been happier to see Dian, Ashley, and to meet the other ESL students who are already planning our trips for the weekend. Arenal, zip-lining through the rainforest, Manuel Antonio, waterfalls, hiking, bungee-jumping, and all sorts of fun things are already in the mix! I was very nervous and anxious to meet my host family but they are AMAZING!! I have THREE sisters- not two- and they have been so sweet and patient with me. Tonight I had an excellant dinner, and we did kareoke after. I'm not good but my host dad is and it definitely helped break the ice with everyone. I sang "You're Still the One" and they taught me some Spanish songs. My host mom is an excellant dancer, and she is going to teach me how to dance (or at least attempt too-she has no idea my dance moves are even worse than my Spanish....haha sad but true). I wish my Spanish was better...I"ve been nervous spacing out and stuttering through words/phrases that I do know, but I will say by the end of the day it definitely improved from the early afternoon. Well, it will only improve from here :) Adios amigos <3
CR Day 2:
I had gallo pinto, eggs, bread, and carne for breakfast and it was delicious!! I didn't think I would like gallo pinto, but the rice here is NOT like the rice in the U.S...there is SO much flavor! I also had coffee BLACK and it was INCREDIBLE!! My host mom said they kind she had for me isn't even the best- it's only average. I couldn't believe that. After breakfast, we all went to church and it was amazing and surprisingly so much like church back home. Except, the worship here is even better because everyone dances and people do not seem to care about what those around them are doing. Also, I loved worship because they had all of the words to the songs on a screen; I was able to sing too! And the songs tend to be slower than the speed at which people talk so I could understand them. It is sooo encouraging to be with a family who loves Jesus, and I have truly felt God's presence with me since the moment I left. This afternoon we went to a torpe in the center of Alajuela. It is similar to a parade in the United States, but it is a parade of people riding horses. It was very exciting, but it was the first day in a car here..and let me just say I will never drive in this country! Buses and cars came and there were so many close moments of people and animals getting ran over...Thank God no one did. We went to fast food for dinner, and when asked if I wanted a taco or hamburger I leaned toward the taco more. My host mom was worried because she didn't know if I liked it because their tacos are VERY different than the tacos in the U.S....there was a tortilla with meat, ketchup, fries, lettuce, cheese, some type of dressing, and other ingredients I'm not sure about. But, it was DELICIOUS! All of the food here is, sorry to say but I really don't miss American food. When we came home I watched American Idol with my sisters! I have three younger sisters here- Vale who is 14, Maria who is 8, and Fiorella (Fio) who is 3. They are such pretty and sweet girls. They are so patient with my attempt to speak Spanish. It has surprised me how similar the music and television shows are here...seriously everything that is tremendously popular in the U.S. is popular here also!! Tomorrow is my first day of school, so I should probably try to get some sleep. Buenos noche :)
Days 3 & 4 in Costa Rica:Monday was my first day of school! I was very nervous, but that eased when I arrived and saw Tiffany, the other teacher who is here from IU. We had a very easy-going day of getting a tour of the school, meeting all of the teachers/students, and making a bulletin board for St. Patrick's Day. The school is much smaller than what we are used to- only about 100 students for grades preschool-12th! This is good news because it means our class sizes are also smaller. I will be teaching first, second, and third grade. The largest class I have is about 15 students. Lucky for me, Tiffany is a super companero because her Spanish is superb from studying abroad a semester in Spain. During lunch, we saw an iguana only a couple of feet away! The school is so open and mostly outside. I love the fun, carefree atmosphere (there are three recesses per day and every Friday ends after lunch) and the relational aspect of it- students will calll me by my first name. After school, I swam in the pool with my younger sisters. The pool is beautiful and has a waterfall, but when I first saw it I thought it might be a hot tub because it is about three times the size of mine at home. It was so refreshing to swim after the hot day!
Tuesday was my second day of school...I had tortillas con queso para el desayuno- que delicioso! I am becoming more comfortable speaking (and trying to speak) Spanish. At school, I helped teach the whole day. It is interesting because my little sister Maria Paula is my student in the third grade! She is very intelligent and speaks very good English. She is also beautiful (a model) and can play guitar and sing. I honestly think one day she will be famous. During class we were writing about places in our community, and she came up to me to ask me a question. Afterword, she said "I have a secret..".. I asked, "What is it!?" She exclaimed, "I love you!" It absolutely made my day and is my only example to express how sweet she really is. All of the students are so excited to learn English and have me here. I sat with my second graders at lunch, and the school has generously offered to give us teachers from the United States free lunches (which are very good). Well, when you finish your meal you get desert and one of my students was so worried that I hadn't gotten it that he expressed this to lunch ladies and got it for me when I was in the bathroom. Tiffany and I were talking about how Ticos treat others as if they are in their family in Costa Rica. They truly do, and it is changing and opening my heart each day. I think the way that people treat others here is how God intended for us to treat each other. After school, I went to exercise class with all of the girls in my family. It was outside next door, and it was a mix of aerobics and kickboxing. I struggled through it, but it was fun, and I am excited to keep going three times a week with everyone. Hopefully it will get me in swimsuit shape! I kept thinking about how my mom back home would have loved it... Afterward, Vale and I stayed to hang out with her best friends. We talked, listened to music, and ate mangos. I didn't realize they were mangos because they were green! They got them right off of the tree, and we added some salt. They were really good, but definitely different than what I was expecting. When I expressed this, the girls told me there are different types of mangos (Who knew!). As we walked home, through the tropical trees, literally perfect weather (warm with a slight breeze), bright cloudless blue sky, and bright colors of flowers and life around me, I felt like my life was a dream (a very, very good one)...
Days 5 & 6 (WOW! ALMOST A FULL WEEK!)
The food just keeps getting better and better! I've tried platones (mis favoritas), arroz con leche, and even MCDONALDS HERE (it's exactly the same- well at least the hamburgers and fries!). My students at school are so sweet and funny. We celebrated Saint Patrick's Day today, and they got SO into it! We had an all school celebration with green suckers, green drinks, and Tiffany and I made a toast for it...we exclaimed, "For the Irish, for goodluck, and for a Happy St. Patrick's Day!".....The students decorated shirts for it the day before at school. We explained that in the U.S. we dont' even really celebrate it that much in school...I love how excited everyone was for it and how they wanted to learn about it. Also, it was so refreshing not to have time constraints on the celebration. We didn't celebrate for 20 or 45 minutes, we literally celebrated the WHOLE day! I painted the kids' faces with shamrocks. Also, at the very end of the day the students had their special classes (which are like clubs- but it is part of the school day once a week). I went to the girls' hairstyles/headband making class! It was so fun! Tonight, I went to biblestudy with Vale and her friend. There was one other girl there who is abroad from New Zealand in High School...she came up to me saying Oh You Speak English too! She was so excited, and meeting her made my night. Also, everyone was really welcoming, and even though I couldn't understand them all of the time, I felt so comfortable there. This weekend we (the students from IU) are traveling to the beach - JACO- together. I am so excited to see all of them, hang out with people my age, and explore Costa Rica! Para ahora, Buenos Noches.
MY FIRST FULL WEEKEND- A LA PLAYA EN JACO:
School days on Fridays end at 12:00 (how nice it is to start the weekend so early!) After school, Tiffany and I went to Alajuela to meet up with the other girls from IU. It was so fun to walk around the Central Park, go shopping, explore the city, and get to see them. I spent the night at Ashley's and Tiffany spent the night at Liz's after going out in their town. We had an extremely early morning because Jaco is two hours away if you take the bus (which we did!)...After getting up very early, eating a huge breakfast, and running to our bus because we almost missed it-- we were finally on...well, we didn't realize we wouldn't have seats for 2 hours, and the mountainous roads and crazy driving made my stomach hurt SOO bad...I thought I was going to get sick right there on the bus....I know I looked like it too because a really nice grandma offered me her seat and gave me a plastic bag just in case. It really helped sitting and being by the window, and I could not have been more happy to GET OFF THAT BUS! Definitely my worst moment being here thus far...
But getting there, was SO WORTH IT! Ashley's host sister Fernanda came along with us and was such a great help! We stayed at a nice little hotel with a pool on the beach, and we spent the whole day at both. We met a nice Grandpa from the Midwest who happened to own the extremely nice hotel next to us and gave us free wristbands to use their incredible pool (Scoreeee!)..and he also happens to own two schools in C.R. and gave Ashley and I the hook up on job opportunities (don't worry Mom, it's really for Ashley- I think he could tell my heart's not set on teaching here FOREVERRR at the moment..) Hurray for finally getting tan!
We went to a really cute place for dinner by a hostel....wow what an incredible place! Definitely our favorite- we had the best dinner, the best waitor, amazing food for a good price, and met the most diverse and fun people our age who were staying at the hostel whom we made friends with and ended up going out with that night....It was so cool to hear all about their lives and different stories...a guy from Australia who is basically just traveling the world, a nice group of college seniors from Hawaii/California on Spring Break, many Canadians, a few from Europe who are studying abroad, a Jamaiccan woman from Limon just living day to day, of course some lovely Ticos & Ticas, and even a few fellow kids from the States who are also. We stayed out soo late and danced the night away! (Well the other girls did- Ashley tried to teach me but like I told you it is going to take much longer than one night hahaha she believes me now! can't say I didn't warn yah)... I had much more fun getting to talk to all of the interesting people......there's about 1,000 hilarious, awkward, crazy details that I'm leaving out; but, let me just say it was QUITE THE AVENTURIA! And I finally heard the phrase I've been waiting for since Day 1 and truly know the meaning of it now--- PURA VIDA!
