It´s Monday and I am actually excited to go back to work- The main reason why I decided to pursue social work for three weeks in Costa Rica was so that I could get a taste of the education system in developing countries. I had been forewarned that the discipline we see in American schools is not mirrored in the classrooms of developing countries and this has definitely been my experience so far.
In the school that I work at, each grade has one main teacher (similar to America). Each class has a forty minute period where the English teacher comes in and teaches to the class. This is where I come in. I help the school´s English teacher, Rosemary, with each of her classes. Every morning we go to about 5 classrooms. 5 classrooms, 30 kids each- That means 150 kids in four hours. Indeed the loudness level of each classroom is about 12 out of 10. (Don´t even ask me to measure the chaos at recess) The kids are all extremely loving, smiling and full of hugs but the typical class day is filled with half of them listening and the other half crawling up the walls. I realized recently that I´ve unconsciously nicknamed the school "The Madhouse". Each morning, I have the Eye of the Tiger playing in my head. I tend to have a warrior mentality- I am going to help the kids and work effectively in the chaotic structure. Given the structure of the classrooms, I mainly try to focus on the kids that are a little slower than others.
This past week Rosemary was giving tests all week to the different classrooms. I have to admit that I was nervous to see the results. With all the mayhem and questionable class assignments, I seriously couldn't´t imagine any of the students a) retaining anything b)giving a rat´s a-- if they even had a test.
The results, however, made me eat my words. I graded the tests of one class and found that only three did not pass. In fact, some of the students that were part of the rowdy crowds had some of the best grades. (Now I see why they created GATE- if you don´t challenge those students, then there is potential for them to disrupt the rest of the class out of boredom) I was the MOST surprised however at how much the students cared about having a test! I seriously thought the week was going to be a mild joke. However, all the students were relatively quiet and diligent when trying to answer each question. In fact, once the test was over, they would BEG the teacher to grade the tests right aways to that they could see the results. As I was grading some of the tests, they were swarming me like bees to honey. They cared so much!
This was a valuable lesson for me because it showed how vital cultural understanding is in order to have a successful and sustainable effect on the organizations you work with. This may seem obvious at first but I think you truly get tested when you are in a developing country because the flow of things can be so foreign.
Sure the Costa Rican methods were unconventional but it works in the realm of their culture. Just because the structure is more laid back doesn´t affect the children´s ability - and desire- to learn.
Also- there were a few stories I forgot to mention from my first week at the school. As I mentioned before, the students were able to ask me questions after I introduced myself. There was an adorable little girl who was raising her hand and jumping out of her seat like she was going to burst in 30 seconds if she didn't get to ask her question. Once she was called on, however, she just stood and stared and smiled. Then when the teacher would move on because the little girl wasn´t saying anything, the girl would right away raise her hand vehemently again...then just smile and say nothing. Clearly she was shy and it took about five cycles before she finally asked me the question- which I think it was something to the effect of do you have any siblings? Another little boy raised his hand all excited. His question was "Can you find my twin?" His twin who looked exactly like him was sitting two seats away. I was impressed that even though they have been twins for eight years now the excitement was clearly still there.
Last week, Rosemary asked me to watch the students for 15 minutes after the test. I had terror flashbacks of the week before kind of like a Vietnam war veteran. I was clearly frightened. This time, however, I asked them to draw me items in their notebooks. "Rainbow, tiger, mountain" I knew this would keep them a bit focused and I am so thankful that they did not ask me WHY the hell they were drawing these things. I love first graders.
Today Rosemary had meetings so there was no English class (they dont do subs) so I was able to work at a local orphanage with another volunteer. Many of the the kids are children of prositutes (fyi prostitution is legal here). The children often have the same mom but random dads. And as a Catholic country, many times the women don´t use condoms because the Pope has condemned this (thus buying condoms can often feel shameful so many dont do it).The kids were so sweet to each other. The oldest one was trying to take care of everyone, sometimes a little too agressively but hey it was well intentioned. They were so happy and smiley. The other volunteer said this is just a front and that they are usually terrors.
By the way, yesterday was my first Sunday in town. I noticed there was no one on the streets except for a few young couples. I knew that most people were likely in Church and thus the streets were quiet. I also remembered how our program director mentioned that Sunday was the most popular day in which condoms are sold. Since most Ticos live with their parents until they are married, Sunday they tell their parents that they are going to "church". Oh, but they are not.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
What did I just do?
With the help of the public bus and a completely illegitimate "taxi", Mary and I arrived at La Fortuna last night after two hours of travel last night. The transportation is only supposed to take one hour but Mary and I are both new at this whole traveling in a developing country thing so two hours is actually really good for us. (Last weekend, "only a two hour trip!” took us six...we are improving). If you know me well, you will know that I HATE getting lost. I consider myself a laid back person but the minute I realize I’m lost, my stress level accelerates from 0 to 60 in one minute. (My brother can definitely attest to this! lol I thank navigators for improving my relationships with loved ones) Anyway, Mary was a good sport about it and just watched like an innocent bystander while I freaked out and then, like Dr. Jekyll and Mrs. Hyde, became as smiley as a nun once we finally reached La Fortuna. Now that we are here' The feel of La Fortuna is vastly different from the town I live in. Hearing English and seeing gringos with their huge backpacks is a common theme here. I’m currently in an "internet cafe" which is really two computers in someone’s living room...and the family is watching tv right now.. kind of awkward. There are also a few other tourists waiting to use the comp so Ill keep it simple. (ha)
Mary and I went rappelling today in the rainforest. We repelled down a 200 FOOT waterfall. I never in my life thought I would or could do this...it was frightening but amazing at the same time. Our tour guides were hilarious. At one point, we had to repel down a waterfall then jump into this huge scary pool in a cave type area. Mary was nervous and our guide "Marvin" offered some words of wisdom "If you feel too scared to jump, then............JUST JUMP" and then he proceeded to laugh his head off. Disclaimer: People really like weed in La Fortuna and I’m pretty sure our tour guides picked us up and one of them, named Marvin, was definitely high. He kept calling Mary -- Mary Jane. He later put these huge leaves in his hair, clay on his face and kept saying "HOW" like a Native American. There was also a photographer named "Danny Boy" who took pictures of us during the trek. If we ever began slipping or missed a step and got an inch closer to death, they would jus say "We got proof! We got proof!" Proof of what? Me about to die? then they’d just laugh some more. It was oddly comforting. I kind of felt like I was in college again- where you feel invincible and you always think, no matter what ridiculous circumstance that you are in, that everything is going to be just fine.
I wish I remembered more stories but I bought the CD filled with our pictures so hopefully that will help me remember more stuff. I know some of you SR ladies have taken up the sport of rock-climbing, I am so down to do that with you guys!
Having conquered repelling, Mary and I were on a high. Another popular activity? Bungee Jumping. We went to go check out the bungee jump place. After watching one guy do the bungee and negotiating a price, I agreed to do it. After all, the guy who was telling me about it looked like a sweet man who couldn’t hurt a fly. I felt comfortable and trusted him. Sure sweet-faced man, I’ll do as you say. Another one of the workers looked like a Yahoo! employee I worked with (who in turn reminded me of Kian) so I instantly felt comfortable. I tend to see extremely strange resemblances and it definitely deceived me in this case. Side note: I’m pretty sure he was high too because he was just smiling and laughing at nothing even though we were about 200 feet in the air. I cant lie that at that point I also figured- Hey, I did repelling, I can totally handle another extreme thrill activity.
Oh god, I was so wrong. HOLY HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have never been so scared in MY ENTIRE LIFE. I was totally fine on the way up. Even as they were getting the gear on me, I completely cleared my mind and didn’t allow myself to think negative thoughts. Volcano Arenal was right in front of me and I focused on its beauty. Thats it. I’m fine. I tried to block out the cars that pulled over to watch me jump. Families with their kids. Oh god, how am I going to die in front of these kids? Then, they warned me that I need to jump when they are counting down. If I dont do it then, Ill never do it. Still fine. Ok, then I realize that this is nothing like repelling and I literally feel like I am jumping without any safety gear. I cannot tell you how FRIGHTENED I was when they were counting down. All of a sudden, all the fear that I withheld moments before was now hitting me. I DID NOT WANT TO JUMP But at that moment I knew they were right, if I didn’t do it then, then it would be soooooooooo much worse. So I finally jumped and oh my god I’m pretty sure my stomach came out of my mouth. Luckily it didn’t but I have never felt like that in my life. AAAAAAAAAHHHHH I get freaked out just thinking of it.
The funny thing is that the guy who did this right before me was throwing a thumbs up, smiling, posing for pictures. Uh, Mary showed me the film of me jumping and I looked like a dead corpse.
I’m definitely glad I did it and I definitely hugged all the employees once I reached the bottom. They probably thought I was crazy. Actually they kept asking us if we wanted to go dancing. Buddy, I just survived a bungee fall I cant think of anything else right now.
Mary and I went rappelling today in the rainforest. We repelled down a 200 FOOT waterfall. I never in my life thought I would or could do this...it was frightening but amazing at the same time. Our tour guides were hilarious. At one point, we had to repel down a waterfall then jump into this huge scary pool in a cave type area. Mary was nervous and our guide "Marvin" offered some words of wisdom "If you feel too scared to jump, then............JUST JUMP" and then he proceeded to laugh his head off. Disclaimer: People really like weed in La Fortuna and I’m pretty sure our tour guides picked us up and one of them, named Marvin, was definitely high. He kept calling Mary -- Mary Jane. He later put these huge leaves in his hair, clay on his face and kept saying "HOW" like a Native American. There was also a photographer named "Danny Boy" who took pictures of us during the trek. If we ever began slipping or missed a step and got an inch closer to death, they would jus say "We got proof! We got proof!" Proof of what? Me about to die? then they’d just laugh some more. It was oddly comforting. I kind of felt like I was in college again- where you feel invincible and you always think, no matter what ridiculous circumstance that you are in, that everything is going to be just fine.
I wish I remembered more stories but I bought the CD filled with our pictures so hopefully that will help me remember more stuff. I know some of you SR ladies have taken up the sport of rock-climbing, I am so down to do that with you guys!
Having conquered repelling, Mary and I were on a high. Another popular activity? Bungee Jumping. We went to go check out the bungee jump place. After watching one guy do the bungee and negotiating a price, I agreed to do it. After all, the guy who was telling me about it looked like a sweet man who couldn’t hurt a fly. I felt comfortable and trusted him. Sure sweet-faced man, I’ll do as you say. Another one of the workers looked like a Yahoo! employee I worked with (who in turn reminded me of Kian) so I instantly felt comfortable. I tend to see extremely strange resemblances and it definitely deceived me in this case. Side note: I’m pretty sure he was high too because he was just smiling and laughing at nothing even though we were about 200 feet in the air. I cant lie that at that point I also figured- Hey, I did repelling, I can totally handle another extreme thrill activity.
Oh god, I was so wrong. HOLY HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have never been so scared in MY ENTIRE LIFE. I was totally fine on the way up. Even as they were getting the gear on me, I completely cleared my mind and didn’t allow myself to think negative thoughts. Volcano Arenal was right in front of me and I focused on its beauty. Thats it. I’m fine. I tried to block out the cars that pulled over to watch me jump. Families with their kids. Oh god, how am I going to die in front of these kids? Then, they warned me that I need to jump when they are counting down. If I dont do it then, Ill never do it. Still fine. Ok, then I realize that this is nothing like repelling and I literally feel like I am jumping without any safety gear. I cannot tell you how FRIGHTENED I was when they were counting down. All of a sudden, all the fear that I withheld moments before was now hitting me. I DID NOT WANT TO JUMP But at that moment I knew they were right, if I didn’t do it then, then it would be soooooooooo much worse. So I finally jumped and oh my god I’m pretty sure my stomach came out of my mouth. Luckily it didn’t but I have never felt like that in my life. AAAAAAAAAHHHHH I get freaked out just thinking of it.
The funny thing is that the guy who did this right before me was throwing a thumbs up, smiling, posing for pictures. Uh, Mary showed me the film of me jumping and I looked like a dead corpse.
I’m definitely glad I did it and I definitely hugged all the employees once I reached the bottom. They probably thought I was crazy. Actually they kept asking us if we wanted to go dancing. Buddy, I just survived a bungee fall I cant think of anything else right now.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Livin the Tico Life
Hi All!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don´t know how to start this blog without being a bag of cliches but I will try my best. First of all, a blog sounded like a great idea when I was at work in front of a computer for about eight hours a day. Now that I am in Costa Rica the last thing that I want to do is go to the internet cafe, especially to try to encapsulate my experience thus far in just a few paragrahs. I will try my best because I know how much I appreciated it when my fellow friends would keep me updated on their travels! (Thanks Kimbo, Jenevieve)
My program has been incredible so far. It is exactly what I was looking for in that it¨s main objective is for you to understand the culture. I live with three other volunteers in the CCS house which is in the middle of San Carlos, a city with the population of about 35,000 people. The area produces 80% of the country´s dairy. On the way from the airport, we took a very windy 2 hour roadtrip to our house. We passed acres of gorgeous green land, Tico neighboorhoods, and lots of cows! I loved it. I noticed lots of people sitting outside on their front porches staring out at the streets. They didnt have a book and many times they were by themselves. I have learned that it is very sympolic of a culture that is very laid back. When was the last time any of us sat on our front porch for hours, let alone without a book, ipod, or laptop? This is a whole different discussion!
At our house, we have two cooks who make delicious Costa Rican meals. Lots of beans, rice, and exotic fruits. Rosita is our cook for dinner and she is always smiling, singing, and dancing. We also have a program director, intern assistant, driver, security guard, housekeeper, and house manager- All are Costa Rica natives. Basially our house is easily outnumbered with Ticos and so it has helped a lot in adding to the cultural experience. When I lived in Spain, sightseeing to be honest didnt satisfy me very much. Park Guell was nice but what stook with me more was living with the host family, having Barca friends, and learning about their lifestyles. This focus on culture is very much the objective of the program. We have Spanish lessons twice a week, cooking lessons, field trips (today was the coffee plantation, THATS a whole different discussion) and dancing lessons where we learned about merengue, salsa, and CUUUUUMBIA. Our dance teacher es de Columbia and does not speak a lick of English. We work at our volunteer placements everyday and have the weekend to take trips around the country. You are NOT allowed to miss anywork for trips- sightseeing is very much secondary to your volunteer service and enculturation.
I havent even gotten into my placements at the elementary schools and community college and Ive already writte a novel! Some fun facts- all the kids ask me if i have swine flu since I´m coming from the US! When I introduce myself in the classrooms for the kids, their main questions are about my cats (tienes gatos?? que calores son tus gatos??), if I´m married (tiene un esposo??), and about my brother (tiene hermanos??!). So I definitely spend sometime talking about Panda, Bella, Matt and my brother. I tend to speak more about living in Los Angeles since its close to hollywood and the actors from High School Musical and Drake and Josh!!!!!!! AHHH!! jk They just get very excited about that. One little girl told me she has 14 brothers and sisters but her mom died and now they all have to work on the streets. I knew she was only giving me this crap because Im a gringa volunteer so I told her that she is full of it and to give me the names of all of her brothers and sisters. She couldnt give me more than two names. Another special moment- the teacher had to leave the classroom because she forgot some papers so she had me teach everyone how to fill out a work sheet on colors and body parts. I told them the english words then spanish and I´m thinking ¨"this is going great for just my first day! i could teach english on my own." Then as the teacher came back she asked the students how they are doing and asked in spanish "Do you all understand?" and they SCREAMED with a collective "No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Awesome. It was a little disheartening but the community college the next day was much easier. The students were older, eager to learn, and very very nice. I gave them all English names because I remember when Mr. Cepeda gave all you SR girls spanish names and everyone loved that.
I will hopefully be going to the rainforests tomorrow!!!! It will be my first time out of San Carlos. I am very excited and I hope it doesn´t rain toooo much.
Ok I have to go now. Send me questions or let me know if there is something I didnt touch upon so I can include it next time! I have been taking lots of pictures and writing in my journal everyday so that I can remember the fun/interesting observations of my trip.
Love you all!! Wish you were all here with me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PURA VIDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
P
I don´t know how to start this blog without being a bag of cliches but I will try my best. First of all, a blog sounded like a great idea when I was at work in front of a computer for about eight hours a day. Now that I am in Costa Rica the last thing that I want to do is go to the internet cafe, especially to try to encapsulate my experience thus far in just a few paragrahs. I will try my best because I know how much I appreciated it when my fellow friends would keep me updated on their travels! (Thanks Kimbo, Jenevieve)
My program has been incredible so far. It is exactly what I was looking for in that it¨s main objective is for you to understand the culture. I live with three other volunteers in the CCS house which is in the middle of San Carlos, a city with the population of about 35,000 people. The area produces 80% of the country´s dairy. On the way from the airport, we took a very windy 2 hour roadtrip to our house. We passed acres of gorgeous green land, Tico neighboorhoods, and lots of cows! I loved it. I noticed lots of people sitting outside on their front porches staring out at the streets. They didnt have a book and many times they were by themselves. I have learned that it is very sympolic of a culture that is very laid back. When was the last time any of us sat on our front porch for hours, let alone without a book, ipod, or laptop? This is a whole different discussion!
At our house, we have two cooks who make delicious Costa Rican meals. Lots of beans, rice, and exotic fruits. Rosita is our cook for dinner and she is always smiling, singing, and dancing. We also have a program director, intern assistant, driver, security guard, housekeeper, and house manager- All are Costa Rica natives. Basially our house is easily outnumbered with Ticos and so it has helped a lot in adding to the cultural experience. When I lived in Spain, sightseeing to be honest didnt satisfy me very much. Park Guell was nice but what stook with me more was living with the host family, having Barca friends, and learning about their lifestyles. This focus on culture is very much the objective of the program. We have Spanish lessons twice a week, cooking lessons, field trips (today was the coffee plantation, THATS a whole different discussion) and dancing lessons where we learned about merengue, salsa, and CUUUUUMBIA. Our dance teacher es de Columbia and does not speak a lick of English. We work at our volunteer placements everyday and have the weekend to take trips around the country. You are NOT allowed to miss anywork for trips- sightseeing is very much secondary to your volunteer service and enculturation.
I havent even gotten into my placements at the elementary schools and community college and Ive already writte a novel! Some fun facts- all the kids ask me if i have swine flu since I´m coming from the US! When I introduce myself in the classrooms for the kids, their main questions are about my cats (tienes gatos?? que calores son tus gatos??), if I´m married (tiene un esposo??), and about my brother (tiene hermanos??!). So I definitely spend sometime talking about Panda, Bella, Matt and my brother. I tend to speak more about living in Los Angeles since its close to hollywood and the actors from High School Musical and Drake and Josh!!!!!!! AHHH!! jk They just get very excited about that. One little girl told me she has 14 brothers and sisters but her mom died and now they all have to work on the streets. I knew she was only giving me this crap because Im a gringa volunteer so I told her that she is full of it and to give me the names of all of her brothers and sisters. She couldnt give me more than two names. Another special moment- the teacher had to leave the classroom because she forgot some papers so she had me teach everyone how to fill out a work sheet on colors and body parts. I told them the english words then spanish and I´m thinking ¨"this is going great for just my first day! i could teach english on my own." Then as the teacher came back she asked the students how they are doing and asked in spanish "Do you all understand?" and they SCREAMED with a collective "No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Awesome. It was a little disheartening but the community college the next day was much easier. The students were older, eager to learn, and very very nice. I gave them all English names because I remember when Mr. Cepeda gave all you SR girls spanish names and everyone loved that.
I will hopefully be going to the rainforests tomorrow!!!! It will be my first time out of San Carlos. I am very excited and I hope it doesn´t rain toooo much.
Ok I have to go now. Send me questions or let me know if there is something I didnt touch upon so I can include it next time! I have been taking lots of pictures and writing in my journal everyday so that I can remember the fun/interesting observations of my trip.
Love you all!! Wish you were all here with me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PURA VIDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
P
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