Nunca lo mejor para después. Usted no sabe lo que el mañana tiene.

It’s approaching 6AM here (and it's quite light out). Why am I up so early? I can honestly admit that this is the earliest I’ve been up in a bit. Maybe it’s because I am excited to go to Puerto Viejo today or it might have something to do with going to bed around 9PM preceding some wine with dinner. 

I can’t exactly see the sun rise where I am currently living in Escazu, which is about 30 minutes southwest of San Jose. But, I have absolutely gorgeous scenery that I am so lucky to have. Emily and I ended up here after many things fell through in San Pedro de San Jose. The very small apartment we were supposed to take (without actually viewing or containing any amenities like a stove or a refrigerator) ended up being only one bedroom. We found this out two days before we were moving out of our TESOL training accommodations via email by the landlord who is related to Riccardo, the program director’s relative. Also, the job at Centro Cultural I interviewed for didn’t offer me a position. But, it’s kind of beyond wild how things worked out. So, Emily and I tried to figure out our living situation by discussing our options at our favorite bar in Coronado, “Santa Rita”. It’s our favorite because the beers are generally cheap, they empty the cenesara every five minutes, and it kind of reminds you of home with that “hole in the wall” comfort. We sat in the bar with our usual, “Imperial para me y Pilsen para vos”. We counted the reliable or even friends we had in Costa Rica on one hand, not without getting complimented by the bar owner spouting "Que linda/ Que gupa" from his drunken breathe and glossy eyes. We decided that we would have to contact Erin, Emily’s friend from her first job from College at “Explorica”. 

Erin was more than happy to have us stay. She was very inviting and beyond our saving grace. Erin has been in Costa Rica for about two years so I think that may have something to do with why she is incredibly understanding and helpful. As irony turns out her place is amazing. Also, she is leaving Escazu for a month to do yoga training in Honduras. She is coming back to Costa Rica in August to get her cats and then is moving back to the United States with her boyfriend in Wyoming. So, gratefully we have this amazing home in a little gated community type area in a safe part of Costa Rica with some pre-introduced friends! I am being reminded everyday of how to be patient and expect the unexpected here in CR (Costa Rica).  I’m finding that you really can’t plan to far in advance sometimes things are just meant to happen as they have already been determined. 

The house is literally a little home and has a driveway area in the front that is adjacent next to the little brook and beautifully arranged vegetation. The house is meant to be a studio, but is actually a pretty large casita. The entire house makes use of the daylight with many windows and skylights. Also, there is bright colored and intricately detailed tiles scattered through-out the house. It’s a tad rustic, which is part of the charm of CR, but it also just needs a little tender loving care. The bedroom is pretty big and has 4 windows which extend from the floor to about the ceiling. The walls are covered with wood-paneling, but not that cheesy 1970’s style, it’s more like a ski lodge in Colorado. The “catch” is what will be my room. It’s not exactly meant for sleeping quarters. OK, it’s a storage room, but a large storage room that can certainly be transformed. And the ceiling- doesn’t exactly attach to the roof. At the very top there are large windows that don’t extend to actually be viewed from height level. So, there are tightly bound what I’m guessing to be bamboo sticks that touch the roof from the walls. But, the roof is terracotta- metal style. What I’m leading to is that some of it is exposure to the outside world which is pretty amazing and definitely scary at the same time. Once you’ve been here for a bit you become pretty familiar with the house bugs. This room might make me really one with nature. (Pictures to come)

We’ve been in Esaczu for about four days now and already things have turned for the positive. We began interviewing for Inlingua. It’s a pretty reputable language school that is world-wide. They have a unique approach to teaching and rotate teachers every 3-4 weeks. They say it’s good for the students to get different learning styles and become used to the language with different accents. I think that’s a great approach. So, we start “training/interviewing” next week. We were supposed to “shadow” someone from the school yesterday, but it seems the classes were testing so it wouldn’t be such a valuable experience. Also, they have a location in Santa Ana which is very close to Escazu.

Well, that’s OK because we can get back to that next week. In the meantime it’s time to visit the beach. And not just any beach! This is Puerto Viejo! It is in the northeast of Costa Rica on the Caribbean side. It should take about 5 hours or so to get there. I'm sure at this rate there will some siesta taking place on the bus. People come from all over the world to visit this beach. I’ve also heard a lot of stories recently about people who come to visit there and end up falling in love with Puerto Viejo and doing whatever it takes to stay. Needless to say, I’m pretty excited. We will be staying at a highly recommended hostile called “Rockin’ J’s”, I kid you not. (Please refer to website- http://rockingjs.com/) There is a wide variety of accommodation, but hammocks seem to be the most popular for only $4 a night. Though I think a hammock will get old after a few nights. Regardless, I am thrilled to be beach bound especially on the Caribbean side. This is half of the point of being in Costa Rica- to see the amazing beaches (among countless other things)! 

It’s just funny how quick life is constantly changing. It’s all a bit rough, but everything is good (“Todo bien”). We have just finished student teaching and TESOL last week, now we’re living in Escazu and going to Puerto Viejo. Me gusta mi vida.

El principio del fin

We only arrived in Costa Rica about three weeks ago. And in those three weeks we have been slightly introduced to a new culture much different than our own. Besides that we have been taught something we had never learned in school- How to teach your native language to those who do not speak it. It is kind of a wild concept. But, now that I understand it a bit better I do not think it is so crazy and I am actually excited to become a teacher. I think what I want mostly in this world is to touch the lives of others or leave the world better than when I came into it. I know that teaching doesn't always have such a dramatic effect, but based upon my previous jobs I would say that this is the closest I have been to reaching positive change. Individual people do have the power to influence society and the world for the better.

This weekend was a pretty eventful and good one for me. On Saturday I met with Rocio from Centro Canadiense where she is a teacher. We met in Coronado and took the bus to San Jose. She was scheduled to teach her group of adolescents from 2-5. But, we arrived in San Jose before 11 AM. So, she showed me around the center and asked if there was anything in particular I would like to do. At this point I knew I needed a cell phone and having a native Spanish-speaking Costa Rican with me was my best bet! I absolutely could not have obtained a cell phone without her help. As a foreigner, you need your passport with you to get a cell phone. I only had a copy so Rocio had to sign for it. This does not put her at a liability though because my phone is pre-paid. Apparently, I got a 5,000 colones discount and a land line. Rocio said it was because I am a "macha" (aka blondie) and it was a man who waited on us. After you obtain the cell phone, you go upstairs and wait about 2 hours to get it activted. In Costa Rica is it typical to wait for everything. The motto is more or less- "What's the rush?".

After the cell phone acquisition we had a short lunch before class at "Spoon" in the same building as Centro Canadiense. Rocio had a carne wrap that looked more like a grilled paninni. I had "sopa negro" which was black bean soup accompanied with white rice, avocado, hard boiled egg, and tortilla chips. It was delicious, but around 3,600 colones most likely my salary per hour. After a delicious lunch we headed to Rocio's classroom. Her students entered shortly after with a laid-back and non-serious mentality. I don't think most of them took the course seriously, but I think a factor was primarily their ages. In Costa Rica not all students are expected to go to college. A primary reason why many people learn English is for jobs because of all the companies that have moved here from other countries most likely for cost-advantage. Her students have a project coming up that entails them to create their own businesses in groups, much like many projects I have completed in college and post-graduate. Some had ideas on making a company selling all different brands of shoes- something common in the U.S. and I believe Costa Rica. Others had ideas of making "feminine product containers" for ladies’ purses. I cannot stereotype all her students as "lazy" because some were very serious. After they brainstormed for their products they had an exam. The test consisted of listening and speaking exercises. I was able to help Rocio with this by individually listening to the half of the students read an excerpt. Then I was to evaulte the students on their reading comprehension. I noticed some common errors that most of them had made. The words of difficulty included "behave, discipline, and embarrassed". It was good to sit in on a different class other than Centro Agricola where all our student teaching and observation had taken place. After class, Rocio and I grabbed a coffee and split a desert. She told me more personal things about her life, family, and friends. She told me that she will be my friend and to come to her if I ever need anything. In a country where you hardly know more then two-handfuls of people this means a universe.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet with an indirect friend. To be exact- my mother's best friend's counsin's good friend, Soltir. I had met a wonderful person at more or less, my (indirect) sister's wedding. Her name is Bonnie. She is a middle-aged woman with an equally amazing husband who has a home near the Volcan Arenal volcano. She also lives in the United States. I sent her an email a few weeks after arriving in Costa Rica letting her know I was here and that I would like to see her the next time she comes here. She let me know that she wouldn't be back until Novemember, but she had two very close friends who live outside of San Jose. She gave me his email. He has been so kind and considerate since the first email I received. Ironically, he works for Centro Cultural, a great school in San Pedro, Heredia, and Cartago. He was kind enough to assist me and my friend, Emily with interviews this Wednesday. Yesterday we met him by the church in Guadalupe (Costa Rica rarely has addresses- they find things by landmarks making for a confused Gringa). He took us to his home to meet his family. He has a great partner, Tommy, loving and close mother, and is now the grandpaw of three new Chihuahuas. He and Tommy are vegetarians. So, for lunch they made a delicious vegetable soup kind of like the soup I ate the day before. It came with potatoes, corn, cabbage, zuchinni, etc. Then we added the accompaniments of soy protein and rice. It was one of the best home-made meals I have had yet in Costa Rica. Brownies with walnuts were for desert. After eating, Soltir projected Google earth on his white blank wall and virtually showed us around Costa Rica. He advised where we go on short trips and longer ones. He also showed us around Costa Rica which is a small country and also told us where we should never visit. I showed his some pictures of my dog back home and trips that I have been on from my facebook page. Afterwards, we played with the new-born pups whom we witnessed taking their first steps. It was such a lovely day and great again to meet some new people who are caring enough to not know us well, but take the time out to help us get adjusted to this new country.

I am looking forward to this week ending. I would like the interview processes to be over. Also, if we (fingers crossed) get these jobs we would have a break before we start teaching and start working. In that 5-6 day span, it is time to actually start traveling. Time to see the country and experience Pura Vida for ourselves.

Finalmente comienza enseñar!

After two intensive weeks of learning, studying, and observing it was now our turn to have a trial run with teaching. Our practicum was to be 30 minutes, conducted in a language other than English or Spanish, and focused on having the students speak the new language or vocabulary words (at least six new words). For my practicum I ended up going with feelings/emotions and the language I chose was Italian. I chose Italian for several reasons, but primarily I chose it because I thought it would be easier for me to understand and speak. Also, this would prove to be easiest for my students to speak and understand because most of them are native Spanish speakers. 

My friend Emily went first. She had lived in France for a year and is fluent. Needless to say, her practicum was conducted in French on weather. She began her practicum with the normals and most comprehensible "Hello, How are you?, What is your name?". She then introduced her new vocabulary words which included the sun, rain, wind, etc. She made a lucid transition with her newly learned vocabulary words into a map of the world and made the students identify the new vocabulary words with a corresponding place on the map. We reviewed the words together. She even helped some students who needed that extra assistance with pronunciation (As most of us know the French guttural sounds can be pretty hard to speak, particularly to a native English or Spanish speaker). She used her time wisely and in my opinion (and our teachers, too), she did a great job.


Then, it was my turn to take our classroom knowledge and put it into effect. Firstly, I showed a clip from the TV show, "Friends" from the 1990's. It shows Rachael being swooned by Paolo. Ross and Chancellor are in the back-ground and Ross is mocking the words Paolo is saying. I thought it was a funny 30 second clip to show. But, the volume wasn't loud enough. I made everyone stand up to see which I could tell didn't allow for some people to see (Lessons learned, strike 1). I began like we had been taught and just like my friend, Emily with "Hello, How are you?, What is your name?". I do not know Italian fluently though I used to think that one day I would. I guess I haven't had the exposure nor the stamina. In fact, including the new words I just learned from this I probably can count on my hands and toes how many words/phrases I know in Italian though sometimes I let this part of my nationality take most of the credit though all my nationalities are equal. I introduced my new vocabulary words regarding feelings and emotions with physical displays through flash cards and through acting it out myself. I tried to drill these words into my students because I wanted them to remember and gain something from my lesson. I weaved through the class at random and in a predictable order to make each student memorize the new words. Also, it wouldn't be too hard since some words were so closely related to Spanish, i.e. feliz and felice. I reviewed what we had just learned by going through the cards again and asking the students to identify which feeling/emotion this was displaying. I followed up with some tasks that included Charades where each student picked a card and had to act out the feeling and have the other students guess the feeling. In hindsight I should have conducted some of my back up activities because I had been a bit nervous and think I went quickly through my lesson. But, I had ended everything with a quiz that I drew with my greatest of artistic ability. It was a quiz of faces and vocabulary words that were to be identified by the students. Then I reviewed what everyone had done. It seemed that everyone did well in my beginner "trial-run" class. I felt more like an actress than a teacher, but I think it may have had to do something with my subject which could have been taught to any beginner class anywhere in the world. 

Lastly, Diego conducted his practicum in Thai on the body parts. Let me fist explain that Diego has taken this course in January in Canada. He is already TESOL certified, but I suppose wanted this experience of taking it in Costa Rica. He said that in Canada it was easier because it was just done in front of your peers. He is also fluent in Spanish so at that time he did it in Spanish on breakfast. This time he was more challenged, especially picking a language like Thai. But, I also believe because he was challenged he was forced to get more creative. He began just like Emily and I. But, made everyone stand upon greeting. He gave each person a head-band as a prop to get us more into our Thai roles. He introduced the six body parts he wanted us to remember. But, to get us more involved we made body movements each time a certain part of the body was said. For example, when he said "Thao" we kicked our foot. The most creative aspect of his presentation was his "Scuba Steve", his wet-suit filled with pillows and blankets to simulate a real person. Each student identified a body part of "Scuba Steve" to review the new terminology. His presentation was definitely the most exciting. 

From everything I learned this week through school, teaching, and observation is that you can never fully predict how things will go.  It is really important to be excited and learn from your mistakes and others. I do know how things will go and that is something I will never be able to predict. I think its dire to have fun and to have your energy rub off on your students. In essence you are teaching them so that they can advance in careers, personal growth, etc. And if I can positively influence one person then I think I have done the best job that I can to help make this world a better place for everyone in it.

Clase, amigos, y otras cosas...

So ends our first week of TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages). Cheers! The classes are initially scheduled for about 4 hours a day, but typically run later (and thus we have our first experiences of “Tico time” interrupted loosely). Our first week of classes included homework, readings, lesson plans, two quizzes, and some serious consideration given to our final practicum. Our final practicum is supposed to be a thirty minute lesson given in a language other than English or Spanish (since we will be presenting this to some actual students whose first language is such). The lesson should be conducted in a dramatic way so that we, the teachers are doing about 20% of the talking while influencing the students to speak the other 80%. We learned about Rassias, a man who changed the way ESL is taught to ELLs (English language learners). He teaches at Dartmouth and had many opportunities to teach his method abroad, particularly in Asia.  Currently, I am planning on doing my practicum in Italian. I think my topic will be cleaning. Cleaning is a universal action and I am also cheap and think that I can use many objects found in my atrium abode so I don’t go completely over budget. Those of you that know me only know how accurate this is.

We finally ventured into San Jose from Coronado on Friday afternoon. Paul, one of our teachers "in-training" helped us take a bus which took about thirty minutes. Diego, one of our classmates came too. He was meeting a friend in San Jose to later go hiking to the volcano. Paul escorted us around the area and made sure we knew precisely how far we were away from the bus back to Coronado. In fact, he made us count the blocks though he hadn’t any idea the names of the streets. He suggested we get some drinks and watch the pedestrians walk from a bar on the second floor. The streets reminded me of an underdeveloped 3^rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, CA- only pedestrians and store after store after store for blocks and blocks. So, Diego, Emily, Paul, and I had drinks and go to know each other. It was one of my best moments so far. It’s such a pleasure to get to know people when you don’t know anyone and when you’re unable to use a lifeline to phone a friend. Paul eventually left to meet up with a former student whom he had brought back to meet us. She is from Toronto and will have had been here a year in July which is when she will be returning home to work. It was nice to meet her and gain insight into teaching, but she presented many challenges to us. She said that many times students are late, use their cell phone during class, and apparently don’t care at all to be there. That’s very discouraging news to hear and I know that I will struggle with these circumstances when it’s my turn. But, I hope I can be a good teacher. I know I will not be the best, but I hope to try my best and include the passion that is somewhere beneath my skin. One by one all of our new friends left. In San Jose you don’t stay out too late especially when the last bus to your home leaves between 9 and 10PM. We arrived at the bus station and it seemed like someone had let it know exactly when it should anticipate our arrival. Within five minutes of us stepping foot on the bus it had departed. We sat right behind the bus driver for fear of it being late and us being Gringas. I’m excited to get more settled into this culture. I didn’t feel like I stuck out as much in San Jose as I do here. In Coronado, I’m pretty sure I am the only blonde girl, perhaps that even some people have ever seen (and no, that’s not intended to be flattery).

A new week is approaching. One week down. Three more weeks to go. I want them to fly by. I want them to stay forever. I can’t wait to have an apartment. I am apprehensive on actually teaching. And I will be sad to leave this most beautiful view. I am so lucky to be surrounded by so much nature and beauty maybe more than I have ever had the opportunity to live with in my life.

Soy Aqui!

My friend Emily and I arrived in San Jose at about 12:15 AM (Costa Rica time= 2 hours behind East Coast North America time) on Sunday, May 29, 2011. By the time we went through a very easy custom experience, got picked up by our program director, Andre, and his girlfriend, and headed to our new home it was about 2:00 AM.  In a haze, we drove through San Jose for about 45 minutes until we reached our new home. This oasis is atop a gigantic hill which appears (to me at least) in the middle of a rainforest canopy. Since it was early morning we couldn’t actually see what our surroundings were. Even though the night sky couldn’t depict our exact surroundings it has a beautiful view of the nearby mountains and breath-taking view of the lights of San Jose.

The building itself is a brand new sustainable living structure. The front of the building is all glass which makes the neighboring nature feel like it is part of you. It has two floors with rooms for the students to occupy. Emily and I live in the last two rooms on the left side of the building. The private rooms we each have far surpass my expectations. They are modernized with dark wood doors and furniture to put all the necessities brought from the United States away. There is even a private bathroom off each of the rooms with a glass shower. Ironically, it is the most beautiful bathroom I have ever had the pleasure of calling my own if for only a short time. Since it was so late when we arrived we didn’t get a chance to put all of our things away before it was time to call it a night. Emily and I each went to our separate rooms to rest, but due to the silence of living in the middle of a fern plantation I decided to sleep in Emily’s room this night. I feel like I haven’t been able to grasp the time since I arrived in Costa Rica.

No one really seems to know and our ipods, computers, etc. confuse us since we didn’t have internet for a few days and were unclear if they were on east coast time or Central American time. We slept in the next day, Sunday. Having free time, we called our parents to ensure them that we arrived safe. We practiced Bikram yoga atop the gorgeous views from our hill and even got a bit sun-kissed by the foreign rays. And perhaps no surpise, we have befriended some of the local stray dogs. Oso, most frequently visits. He appears to be a Chihuahua/Huskey mix and to be a puppy since he is always trying to nip at my feet and shoes. Eventually, we decided it time to venture out and get some dinner. We found a bar restaurant a few blocks away. We ordered nachos, a queso taco, and some Imperials, the local Costa Rican beer. The food was excellent fatty deep-fried authentic food. We made the best of friends that we could with our limited Spanish conversational skills with the bar patrons and bar tenders. The bar tenders were even nice enough to give us a ride home.

 The next day we began our TESOL classes after breakfast- eggs, fruit, cereal, breads, and orange juice. It was clear from the start of our classes that this is no joke. We have a lot of work, testing, and real life experience ahead of us. If you are looking for a quick easy escape to another country I do not recommend this. It is only Wednesday and we have already had our first quiz and have a lesson plan due on Friday, not to mention all the required reading about a subject I have previously known nothing about. This all seems quick, but has made my transition fairly easy since I don’t have that much time to miss home. Though, it is hard not to always miss my dog, Chloe. I do not know what is in store, but I can say that I expect the unexpected. Que sera sera!