La fiesta, Isla Tortuga, y el accidencito

We´ve been busy in Costa Rica...

La Fiesta
The General Director of Lincoln invited all the student teachers over to his house for dinner last week. There was live music, delicious food, and (most importantly) DANCING!!! Lots of it. Our mentors and adminstration taught us some traditional Latin moves like the cha-cha, salsa, meringue, and some Colombian something-or-other mix that was also muy suave. Yeah, I like it here just fine...





My master teacher and me!


The director and his wife :o)










Isla Tortuga
Last weekend, all the student teachers went to Jacó to go to Isla Tortuga (Turtle Island). It was absolutely gorgeous. We went snorkeling and saw some goofy-looking puffer fish, beautiful iridescent fish, starfish, a sea cucumber, and a water snake. Some guys saw a turtle and an octopus. I, unfortunately, did not. Later, Serena, Deb and I joined a pickup game of beach volleyball, which was TON of fun because we were all joking and yelling in both Spanish and English. Then when we got all sweaty we jumped in the clear, warm ocean. SO nice! Also our tour guide snagged a conch-shell-looking-snail-thing while we were snorkeling and said it was called a churro. I laughed and said "kinda like the food but not really" and he laughed. Later they cooked it and offered me a bite. Honestly, it really wasn't bad.


Isla Tortuga


Yours truly




Our tour guides








El Accidencito
You know, it was such a good day at the beach that we decided it should never end, so we stretched it into a 23 hour day. Actually, what happened was that went our tour guide van dropped us off back home we had a little accident. In Costa Rica, there are ditches between the street and the sidewalk that are about 2' deep and 2 1/2' wide as a drainage system for the rainy season (which is about half the year). The van parked on the edge of the street so when we open our door to get out we practically stepped straight down into the gutter-ditch-guy. My roommate, Courtney, lost her balance and busted her foot on the curb. We called our host parents, who fortunately lived only a couple blocks away, but when we got in their infamous VW bus to go to the hospital, the door fell off. Yep, it fell off. Actually the sharp corner of the door was 6" (max.) from slicing another girl's foot in half. So we took a taxi to the hospital, which itself was a chapter of the adventure as the driver was totally oblivious to the situation and blared Shania Twain like it ain't no thang. Fortunately, the doctor spoke English and gave Courtney the options of either getting a cast or having a screw put in. She really didn't want a cast so she had the surgery and I spent the night with her in the hospital. The next day was also crazy in a more sendentary sense as we discovered the rest of the hospital didn't speak any English (let's pause here to note I'm not usually conscious of stress but I was very much aware of the need for translation competency), we struggled with the metric system (a "teachable moment", if you will), and learned about international insurance policies. The way I see it, it can only get better from here.

Lincoln school and Teacher Mitzi

Yesterday was my first day at Lincoln but by the time I finished writing about the farmers´market and San José I was tired. The school is very, very nice. It´s the oldest International private school in Costa Rica (est. 1944) and is very prestigious. To give you an idea, there is a stone wall around the campus with wires on top. At first I thought it was an electric fence but it´s really a security alarm. And the guard at the front gate carries a gun. Apparently, the parents of these students are like UN ambassadors, political officials, or just very wealthy, so I guess it makes sense. All students who graduate from Lincoln (it´s K-12) go on to attend college, so think intense college prep classes. Ex. My fifth graders take philosophy. How cool is that?!

I met my master teacher today, Teacher Mitzi. I love her! She's hilarious and very straightforward and from her stories it sounds to me like she's an excellent teacher. We spent an hour just trading stories about our backgrounds, families, and teaching. She was born in Costa Rica but moved to East Boston with her family when she was ten. She went to school in Massachusetts and after teaching there for five years, she and her family moved back to Costa Rica where they've lived for the last 20 years. I was honestly a little disappointed when Courtney, Deb, and Heather came to get me to go home.

The ASU kids had to stay longer for a video conference, so the four of us Westmonties shared a taxi. One of the girls said "Someone who speaks Spanish, get in the front and tell him where to go," so I hopped in. I told our driver (who was our age) our destination in Spanish and, looking at my americana self he repeated it back to me in English. After a few minutes of driving I asked about the black Lycra sleeve he was wearing on one arm and again he answered slowly in English, so I figured he wanted to practice English with me as much as I wanted to practice Spanish with him. I gave in and asked about the best local beaches ("Tamarindo") and we had a good little conversation. He's from Colombia and moved here 7 years ago to live with his brother. At the end of the ride he gave me his phone number so we can ask him to be our driver again next time. Before we got out we had a little dilemma trying to figure out the fare exchange but he was very polite about it and laughed with us as we laughed at ourselves. Slightly embarrassing, but mostly just really funny.

Mercado libre y San José

Yesterday Courtney and I got up early to leave the house by 8AM (yeah, that´s 6AM California time) to go to el mercado libre with Mama Tica.










Sí, um...no sé.



After we got back we had a late breakfast/early lunch and went to the capital San José with some friends. Since it was Sunday a lot of stores were closed but it was really fun finding our way around and people watching. Costa Ricans are so beautiful! I'd seen pictures, but I'm still caught off-guard when I look into a tan face and find bright green or blue eyes. We found a park we sat at for awhile and drank pipa (the coconut-looking thing in my picture). Pipa, by the way, is amazing. It's like this mild fruit-water stuff. We also found a beautiful cathedral and el Teatro Nacional. For a big city, it's pretty low-key. Like Alyssa said, you can go to the middle of the city to lay on the grass and read. I like that...

El primer dia

Well, I guess I'm gonna need to figure out how to do accent marks on this thing.

I made it, guys! I'm in Costa Rica! As nervous as Mom and Dad were for me (traveling alone internationally), everything went really smoothly. (Except, guys? If you ever have to spend the night on the floor of an airport terminal, bring warm clothes in your carry-on. Perhaps a nice blanket as well. I think it will improve your quality of life for the night.) After I parted with the nice Minnesotan couple I sat with on the plane and realized I was on my own, I had no qualms throwing some Spanish around to figure things out. I was surprised (and relieved) at how quickly the words came back to me. Since the whole airport experience boosted my confidence a little, I had fun practicing with my taxi driver and now I'm really comfortable communicating in Spanish.

My host family is absolutely fantastic. I'm following with Kendra's tradition from last year by calling them Mama Tica y Papa Tico, and their little Schnauzer Carlita really is precious. I even have a host sister, if you will: Courtney, another Westmont student. We have our own rooms, which is nice, and wireless internet access (which is nicer). The house is beautiful and there's this great little sun room just outside the dining room that I fully plan on taking advantage of. We have like 4 keys just to get into the house, and there's a baby blue security guard stand a couple doors down.

Also. Courtney, the ASU guys, and I walked to this little bar in our neighborhood. While we were there they played Aqua ("Happy Boys and Girls"), Disney ("Beauty and the Beast"), Gloria Estefan, and I'm pretty sure Michael Bolton was involved as well. Talk about culture shock...