Day 24- Hasta Luego!

I am currently on the plane home back to the United States! I think three weeks was the perfect amount of time to spend immersed in the culture of Costa Rica and looking back, time flew by! We were able to do so much while we were here and learn so much about everything. From plants, insects, animals, education, Spanish, etc. there was so much learning that took place and so many memories created. I am so thankful for this opportunity and it has really opened my eyes to a lot of things. I learned a lot about myself personally, myself as a teacher, and different cultures. I am sad to leave this beautiful and happy country, but I am ready to get back home and get back to reality. It has been such a learning experience, but I had a lot of fun at the same time!

Above are pictures of my host family dropping me off to head to the airport and my little hermano tico (brother) helping me pack!

Day 22- Last Day at CPI

Today was our final day at CPI and taking Spanish classes. We had the morning free to go to the bank to pay our exit tax to leave the country and then had class together to discuss everything that we have learned and experienced on this trip. I have learned so much being here in Costa Rica and it is hard to write it all! Being immersed in the culture was a huge learning experience for me and I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to live with host families. I think I learned the most from conversing with them and seeing the way in which their culture thinks through their eyes. I learned a lot about my future classroom and ways in which I can help not only my ELL learn, but also all the students that enter my class. I have learned to celebrate struggles and how to overcome them with a positive attitude. A lot of the time, we were going to the Elementary schools expecting to teach one lesson, but had to adapt and change right on the spot to what the teacher in the classroom wanted to be done. I loved observing the classrooms and seeing the similarities and differences between the United States and Costa Rican education system. Throughout this experience, I have had the opportunity to put myself in the shoes of an ELL student by coming to the country with little Spanish knowledge and leaving having learned so much. Many times throughout the trip, I became frustrated not begin able to say what I wanted to say to my family because I didn't know enough Spanish. By the end of the trip, I was able to understand almost everything that my mama tica told me, but still had a hard time responding with detail. I learned that it is easier to understand people speaking a different language than to actually speak it. I have grown to appreciate nature and how I can practice different tools that I saw in the schools in my own future classroom. One of the best things that I learned was to have high expectations for all my students. No matter what the background of the student, all students are capable of learning so much and it is not fair to the students who come from "not the typical American family" to have lower expectations from their teacher. These children are our future and it is our job as teachers to provide them with as much experience, knowledge, and resources as possible so they can live a successful live and pass on their knowledge to others.

We had our final Spanish class today and then had a small "graduation ceremony" together and get a certificate for completing the full 60 hours of Spanish instruction. We also were presented with a slideshow of pictures from our entire three weeks here and remember all the memories that we made while being here. Today is CPI's 20th anniversary so there is a fiesta tonight with live music, dancing with everyone that has made CPI such a success. Our host families, staff, groups, and even bus drivers are invited and it will be a great send off to our final day here in Monteverde!

Above are pictures of my spanish class, my graduation certificate, and my host parents at the fiesta!

Day 21- Zip Lining Through the Rainforest

Today we went zip-lining through the rainforest of Costa Rica! This morning we woke up early and were blessed with a beautiful day with lots of sunshine! We drove to the zip lines, got on all of our gear, and with brief instructions and one practice round of how to ride the zip lines, we were headed off in the tram to the very top of the rainforest! I was very nervous to say the least, but I overcame my fears and made it through! After the first zip line, my legs were shaking and felt like jello, but there was no way I was going to miss out on this once in a lifetime experience! There were 9 zip lines in total and it took me until about the 4th one to actually enjoy the view but it was a huge adrenaline rush and a great experience!

We had class when we got back to the CPI, we had a brief class with Dr. Powell before heading to Spanish class. Today's Spanish class was very hard for me because the material we were being taught was very difficult. We were learning 'por' and 'para' which both mean "for" but they you use them for different contexts. Today's class felt like it went on forever, especially after having so much fun this morning, it was hard to sit and learn something really difficult. This reminded me of when students go on field trips for part of the day and come back and have to switch their brains back to learning. It is always hard for the teachers to get the students back on track and pay attention to the material being taught. With this being said, it made me think of things teachers can do when they get back from a field trip and still have material that they need to teach. One of the things that I though of was that they could plan activities that had to do with the field trip they just went on so the students are still able to talk and reflect on their day while learning at the same time. By making the material relevant to what is happening in the students' lives is very important for teachers to do.

By the end of the day, I was exhausted but I stopped and got pizza to bring to my family for dinner. They were very excited about this and seemed to enjoy it a lot because all of the pizza was gone by the end of the night!

Day 20- Education Importance

Today has been a vary productive day and we have done a lot! We started off our day visiting a local coffee co-op in which we learned a lot about how the farm is run and the products that the farm grew. The man who owns part of the farm came to introduce to us all about his farm and the thought that goes into developing a successful operation. He was very excited that all of us in the group were aspiring teachers and gave us a short lecture on the importance of education in Costa Rica. In this country, there is no military, but instead, they gave all the money that they would spend on military to the education system. Education is so important to their culture and is one of the top four things that they focus on the most. He showed us a map of the farm and where everything is planted on their land. He was asking us questions as to why certain areas were used for growing different crops and the importance of having pastures along with the growing areas. When he was asking us questions like why they grew certain crops and not others, we all gave him economic answers like how it would make more money and produce more goods. It was interesting to see his reaction to our answers because the reason for growing crops in certain areas was not solely based on money like our American brains are trained to think. There are more reasons like the cows walk on the land in a certain area so the soil is more compact making it hard for water to get further into the ground. It was very interesting to see his way of thinking and the way of thinking of most Costa Ricans. We then went and collected white avocado seeds that come from a certain tree in their land that we can replant to reforest the area. We picked the seeds and planted them in little bags so they can grow and be replanted into the land. We then took some of the plants that had been growing for awhile and planted them in an area that they were about to change from pasture to crop area. We all got to plant our own personal tree and put our name next to it! This was a great experience and I loved the educational talk that he gave to us because it provided me with a new way of looking at things and how everything does not always have to be about money.

From the farm, we had lunch at a local restaurant while discussing how difficult it is to teach language. This was a very interesting conversation in which we discussed the difficulties of how to pronounce words and decode words. Dr. Powell told us that there are 11 different ways to pronounce the 'sh' sound in our English language and how each different part of the United States has their own dialect that is taught in schools. This made me realize the difficulties that all students face with learning languages and how we as teachers need to help our students learn by multiple examples and uses throughout the day.

Day 19- Escuela Creativa

Today we were fortunate enough to visit the Cloud Forest School in Monteverde or the "escuela creativa" (creative school). This is a special school very different than any other school I've ever been to. This is a private school where students attend from Pre-K until 11th grade. There are 180 students in the entire school with each class size not exceeding 20 students. There is only one class per grade level and the most unique thing about this campus is that they have 106 acres of land! They are literally located in the middle of the rainforest with trails through the forest right behind their classrooms. The school is pushing to be a bilingual school, with most of the teachers teaching instruction in English. Many of the teachers are from the United States and usually only stay about 1-2 years at the school. There is a high turnover rate which has its pluses and minuses. The school relies a lot on volunteers and various groups to help them keep their community growing. Almost all students have financial aid, so not many students have to pay the full price for this private school.

One of the unique things about this school is their high focus on environmental education. With the amount of land that their school has, they are able to do a lot outside of the classroom to further apply their learning and make it more meaningful. In one section of the school, they have a school garden in which every class has a row of fruits and vegetables that they plant and then once they grow, they are able to bring them home to their families so their families can also have a little extra form of food source. One of the school's focuses is reforestation and allowing the forest to not be depleted. The students are constantly planting trees, vegetables, fruits, and many other plants to help the rainforest grow. Next to each plant that they plant, they put their name next to it so they can go back and see the progress. This allows the students to take ownership of their learning and actually see real results. The teachers incorporate all subject areas into the environment and the students really make a huge effort to take care of their land. On our tour of the school, it was so neat to hear how proud the students are of their school and the amount of care they provide to the land.

For me personally, I think this way of learning is certainly beneficial for all ages of students. When students are able to apply what they learn in class into the real world, it makes learning so much more personal and engaging. The students are having fun while learning and able to take ownership for what they are learning. I can apply what I learned from this school into my own classroom by making a little garden outside in a courtyard or back of the school. Here, students can physically see plants growing, measure the plants, study them, and do many other various activities with the garden. I also loved the emphasis on volunteers and groups that come to the Cloud Forest School. Before I start a unit in my classroom, I can send home a letter to my students' parents explaining what we will be learning and ask if they have any outside resources that could contribute to our learning. Guest speakers and other artifacts that I can bring into my classroom will make learning so much more engaging and real to my students. The "escuela creativa" is very big on allowing students to make innovations and be creative thinkers. Allowing my students to make their own discoveries will be more beneficial in my classroom and students will be more willing to learn when coming to school. I definitely am excited that I had the opportunity to visit this school and I will be using some of the things I gained on the tour of the school in my classroom.

Day 17- Reflections So Far

It is 5 a.m. and here I sit, outside my little cottage looking at this gorgeous and huge volcano placed right in front of my eyes. I can hear birds singing, frogs croaking, and a faint wind blowing. Here, I am reminded of all of the countless blessings I have been given from God. There is no way you couldn't be happy when you are sitting at the base of a volcano. This morning, I am given the chance to reflect on everything that I have learned, seen, and witnessed while I have been here.

One of the biggest things that I will take away from this trip is the language barrier that presents itself every single day that I have been here. From the time we flew into Costa Rica, until now, everyday has been such a challenge learning and speaking Spanish. When I decided to come on this trip, I thought that I knew enough Spanish to at least get me around while I was here, but from the moment we hit customs, I knew that I was not as equipped as I thought I was. The first few days, we did more tourist-y type of things so I did not need to use Spanish too much, but once we arrived at CPI (our school where we are taught Spanish), I needed to switch on my brain to Spanish mode. I remember the first day of Spanish class and after about 1 hour of instruction, my brain completely shut off and I became very frustrated learning from a teacher who hardly knew any English. This instantly made a connection in my mind to the ESL students who come to school in the United States and are expected to sit though school all day not having a clue as to what the teacher is saying. I understand now why these students pull their hoods up over their head and lay their head on their desk and shut down for the rest of the day. Learning another language is very hard work and it takes a very special teacher to realize the difficulty of the situation and spend quality time working with the ESL students. As the week of Spanish instruction went on, I became less frustrated because our instructor made the material very engaging and we began learning through games and conversation of our everyday lives. It also helped that our teacher would ask us how to say a few words in English too so it made us feel proud that she was attempting to show interest in our language too. It was very hard for me to be interested at all in class when I was sick this past week. My head was already pounding and the last thing I wanted to do was sit in class and try to learn something that was very difficult for me. I quickly came to realize that I need to teach my students that it is okay to struggle and not everything in life is going to come easy. We, as teachers, need to celebrate those struggles and help our students get through them. I finally had a breakthrough one night with my family when I was at home talking to my mama tica and I was able to put about 5 sentences together quickly without hardly thinking about it too much and she was able to understand everything that I was saying! I know that I was not grammatically correct on everything, but for me to spit out 5 detailed sentences was awesome for me! If I only take one thing away from this experience, it would be how I can relate and help any ESL student that comes into my future classroom. By not pushing them to the side to work on something else while the rest of the students are learning, I will be able help them through their struggles and have just as high expectations for them as I do with my other students. I think a lot of times, people have lower expectations for students who come from a lower socio-economic status, but in my opinion and from what we have discussed in our classes here, it should almost be the opposite and we should show the lower SES (socio-economic status) that they can do just as much with what they have as the students who come from a higher socio-economic status. Money does not hinder learning and that is one thing that I have really gained from this experience. Many people living in Costa Rica are not as well off as the United States, but that does not mean on any level that they are not as smart or they can't learn the same things that the students in the United States are learning.

I am so grateful for this experience I have had so far being here. I have learned a lot about myself and students in classrooms. It has opened my eyes to thing that I had never thought about before and because of that, I think that it will make me a more effective teacher. We still have one more week left and still a lot of learning to do! I am looking forward to what is to come in this next week and then applying my learning to the classrooms when I get back!

Day 16- Volcano and Hot Springs

I started off my day today by having a bologna sandwich with lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, ketchup, and mayonnaise for breakfast that my mama tica made for me. The breakfast was topped off with carrot, radish, and lime juice (all mixed together). I was kind of glad this morning that I couldn't taste very well since I am still sick. This is not a typical breakfast you would eat at 6 in the morning in the United States, but here, it was either that or nothing at all! Today we headed towards La Fortuna, which is about 4 hours away from where our homes are. We stopped for a little shopping and lunch before heading to our hotel. When we got to the hotel, our rooms were actually like little cottages with a view of the huge Arenal Volcano right outside our window! It was a little cloudy so we couldn't see much of the top, but it is a gorgeous view and takes your breath away! We had some free time at the pool which is 100% natural and heated by the volcano. The water is between 93-104 degrees Fahrenheit. It was pretty much like swimming in a hot tub the size of a pool! We then were able to relax some more by going to the Eco-Termales Hot Water Springs for a few hours which was awesome! We had dinner there as well and just relaxed for the rest of the night. It was a much needed break from working so hard for two weeks. It also was nice to be somewhere where everyone spoke English and my brain didn't have to think as hard! Sometimes we all need those mental breaks!

Day 15- Letters to Amigos

Today we were given the opportunity to observe a first and second grade english classroom. In the first grade, the english teacher was teaching about nuclear families and the names of each family members. She focused primarily on the mom, dad, brother, sister, grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, me, and dog. It was really interesting for me to view a different country's teaching style and notice the similarities and differences between the United States and Costa Rica. The first thing that I noticed right away was that there is absolutely no behavior management at all throughout the whole school. Even at recess, all the kids are outside without any adult supervision. The teacher spent a lot of time drawing the face of each family member on the board, and while she was doing that, the kids were completely off task and not paying attention at all. Once the teacher had drawn every family member, the students were to draw and write the exact same thing in their own notebook as notes for later. It was interesting to see that the teacher did not expand upon any family member or say anything about the words. She just had the students repeat after her about ten times and then they spend the rest of their class time drawing the same pictures in their notebooks. The classes that we observed at this particular school were only about 30 minutes long and by the time the teacher had changed classrooms (the teachers change classrooms and the students stay in the same classroom all day), students calmed down, and the teacher started teaching, they only had about 25 minutes left. Then there was another 5 minutes wasted for students to pack up their materials. This left about 20 minutes of instruction, which is very difficult to learn something in only 20 minutes. I am not criticizing this type of instruction by any means, but these were just some of the differences that I noticed while at the school. We then went into a second grade classroom where the English teacher taught family trees again, but with a few more members added in. She added cousins, son, and daughter to the tree and it seemed like the students didn't really have much of a clue what they were writing down, they were just copying what the teacher wrote on the board.

After observing, we went into a fourth grade classroom and taught them how to write a letter to a friend. Our professor, Dr. Powell, had brought letters that students had written in the United States and the hope is for the students to become pen pals eventually! We had them write their sentences in English, so we had to teach them how to spell, read, and write in English. It was pretty difficult for them, so it required a lot of one on one attention to help them complete the letter. Our primary goal for the lesson was to allow the students to make connections and be more engaged rather than just sitting in their desk copying what was written on the board. The letters were meaningful to them because they know that they will get a response from a student in the United States. I think this type of learning is very powerful for students because they need to be able to make connections and have learning be authentic. I learned a lot through this lesson that I can take back with me in my future classroom.

Day 14- Sick again

Today when I woke up, I was feeling worse than I was the day before, but I decided to tough it out and go on our hike through the rainforest. On our hike, we learned about a lot of birds, saw a sloth, a kuati, and many insects. We saw a huge tarantula which was cool and scary at the same time! By the end of our hike, I could hardly open my eyes because my head was pounding so hard but I thought maybe a little lunch with some food in my stomach would help me feel a little better. I was wrong. After lunch, I had to cut my day short and go home to bed. I couldn't go to Spanish class, or our Salsa dancing lesson that we were supposed to have this evening. I was so upset being sick in a different country, not being able to call my real mom to tell her I was sick, hardly being able to speak the language to my tico family to tell them that I was sick, and I just wanted some American food to make me feel better. I walked home from lunch and went straight to sleep when I got there. When I woke up, I needed to go out and get some fresh air and plus, I was out of kleenex's, so I walked to the supermarket to by some crackers, kleenex's and I also had to get some chocolate chip cookies because chocolate cures everything! I also stopped by the ice cream store and got some ice cream to make my throat feel better and also my soul too!

I was able to skype my real parents and sister for awhile this afternoon and it was so great to be able to see them and talk to them in English! There is no greater love than the love of family! I think my mama tica knew that I was struggling a bit, so she made some soup for dinner and after dinner, I played with Mathias a little bit (I didn't want him to get sick too, but she told me that I didn't have to stay in my room for the rest of the night!), and then she began talking about her family and love of birds to me. She got out 3 big photo albums and told me story after story (in Spanish) about her different family members and I pulled out the pictures I brought of my family too! We talked for a few hours and then she got on her computer and showed me all her favorite bird pictures that she has taken over the years. She was so passionate about them and after seeing some awesome pictures, we were both really tired and now it is time for bed. I'm hoping the antibiotics will kick in soon so I will feel better tomorrow!

Day 13- Tours and Clinic

Today for breakfast, I had a cheese quesadilla for breakfast along with some pineapple and watermelon. It is interesting to see the different styles of meals here because I've had some pretty different things, especially for breakfast, that I would never have thought of eating for breakfast in the United States. We then were on our way to the Trapache Farm. Here, we were given a tour by one of the family members through the sugar cane plants, coffee plants, and banana trees. We were able to see the whole coffee process all the way from planting the seeds, picking the seeds, drying the seeds, peeling the seeds, drying them again, peeling them again, sorting the different grades of seeds, and finally roasting the seeds. It was really neat and engaging to learn how coffee is made and the hard labor that is needed in order to get a cup of coffee for breakfast! We also learned the process of getting sugar from the sugar canes growing in the field. We ended our tour by having lunch made for us by the ladies who live on the farm, which was delicious!

We had a little freetime when we got back to our school before Spanish class in which I started feeling really sick. There were about five people in our group that did not feel well so we had some down time for everyone to rest up before sitting through Spanish class. During class, I could not concentrate at all because my head was pounding so hard, had a fever, and my through was swollen. Our professor, Dr. Powell, decided not to risk anything while we were in a different country, so she told three of us that we needed to go to the nearest clinic ASAP. There are no hospitals in Monteverde, the closest one is 4 hours away so we went to a little clinic, where luckily there was an English speaking doctor. He told me that I had a tonsil infection and prescribed me some medicine to go pick up at the pharmacy. Dr. Powell insisted that we go right home to bed and she would go pick up our medicine and bring it to our house. My mama tica made me some lemon tea (I think that's what it was) and off to bed I go! Today was quite the adventure, and with a little rest, I'm sure I'll be better in no time!

Day 12-Sing and Dance

Today was a big learning day for me! I started off my day eating pancakes and always fruit from my mama tica and off we went to the Elementary School located in Santa Elena. We were greeted at the school by the principal who gave us a tour around his school. We saw their school garden, complete with cucumbers, peppers, and spices. We then saw their classrooms, offices, lunch room where I think the hardest workers are! The cooks for this school not only have to make lunch for every student in the school, but they only have one class set of plates so every time a class is finished eating lunch, they have to quickly wash them before the next class arrives a few minutes later. At this school, there is a building where teachers can live, along with a soccer field and and another garden that the United States helped fund through partnerships. We then arrived in the classroom we were going to be teaching in. We broke up into small groups, with each of us taking 2-3 students to teach to. I worked with Jessica and Steven, who were so engaged and seemed to be really happy to be learning both English and Spanish. Our lesson for the day was about leaves and we had brought leaves from around their town to look at and describe. We put the leaves in order from biggest to smallest, talked about their colors and size, measured them, and felt the different textures. After my lesson, I still had about 20 minutes to spare, so we began learning the colors in English. Jessica ran to her desk and brought back a pack of crayons that were in English so they could see the color and the spelling right on it. After mastering the colors, I taught them how to sing head, shoulders, knees, and toes in both Spanish and English! They didn't know the tune in Spanish so we worked on what was most comfortable for them, Spanish, before moving on to English. I know I always learn best through songs and movement, so I hope this helped them learn in a different way in which they were used to. By the end of the class, I had about 10 students in a circle all learning the song and motions! It was awesome to see such attentive learners and students so willing to learn.

Day 11-New Tico Family

I am already having a very different experience with my new family I am staying with in Monteverde. My Tico family here consists of my mama tica, papa tico, and a little baby hermano tico (baby brother). The little boy is one and a half years old and the cutest little kid you could ever meet. Right when I arrived on Sunday night, it only took him about ten minutes to warm up to me before we played together for a couple of hours. He cannot speak many words so the language barrier between him and I is not a huge problem. It makes me realize the connections you can make with people even if they cannot speak or speak a different language than you. Mathias is his name and he loves birds. This also made me remember the importance of getting to know all your students and their interests so you can make learning relatable to them and more engaging by using examples of things they are interested in. My mama tica is very nice used to be a guide at the butterfly reserve, so she knows a little English from different tour groups that have come to her work. She also speaks slowly and annunciates her words a lot so I am able to understand what she is saying. It also really helps when she uses actions to go along with her story in case I get a little confused, I am able to use clues from her actions to understand what she is telling me. Sometimes I get a little frustrated because I can understand her whole 5 minute story she is telling me in Spanish, but I can't come up with the words to respond to keep the conversation going, so I end up just saying "Si" or "Yes". My papa tico works as a cashier of a restaurant so he knows a lot of food names in English when I ask what is on my plate for dinner.

Today in school, we made chalupas as a group! It was really fun and they tasted delicious at the end! It was quite the "typical" day that we having been having on this trip with Spanish class, where we met our new teacher for the week, Carlos Luis, left to go back home, hang out with my family, eat dinner and go to bed! I am quite exhausted at the end of today from all of our new schedule and routine in Monteverde! Buenos Noches!

Weekend Adventures

This weekend we traveled from our home stay in Heredia towards our next home stay in Monteverde. We left early Saturday morning saying goodbye to our families that we had been living with and off we were headed West towards the coast and the mountains. As we were traveling, we stopped a few times for "surprises" that our tour guide had planned for us. Our first stop was to get out of our bus and walk along the bridge of the Tarcoles River. At this spot, many crocodiles gather together and lay in the sun or the water. We saw about 20 crocodiles and they were very big! I was so impressed and in awe at the size of these animals! Our next "surprise" was something that I never thought that I would ever do in my life. We pulled up next to a sign that said Crocodile Safari Boat Tours! I couldn't believe that we were actually going to get in a boat in the same river that many crocodiles lived. We all pilled on the boat and within the first ten minutes, we spotted our first big crocodile. It was a female about 10 or 11 feet long and the driver of our boat pulled over to the nearest bank, grabbed some fish he had in the back of the boat and began slapping the water with the fish. The crocodile turned around and started heading towards us! The driver was on the bank alone with a huge crocodile right in front of him. He fed one fish to the crocodile and had one more left in his bucket. He put the fish in his mouth and the crocodile came within inches to his face before snatching it right from his mouth! It was the craziest thing I've ever seen and was so neat to see it right in front of my face! We then saw numerous other crocodiles and learned a lot about them. It really made me realize the importance of field trips and other things that I can do in my classroom to keep my students engaged. During the whole safari, I was definitely engaged and hardly realized that I was learning all about insects, crocodiles, plants, crabs, birds and all sorts of other information.

The next day, we woke up early to go on a hike through the Manuel Antonio National Park. We saw sloths, monkeys, bats, and many other interesting insects, trees, and plants. We had a little more beach time before heading up the mountains to Monteverde where we are staying for two weeks. The ride up was so scary and being in the dark did not help my fears at all! We were literally inches from the cliff and heading up into the clouds. When I looked out the front window, I could hardly see more than a foot in front of the bus. Good thing that we have an awesome driver, Roy, who always gets us to where we need to be safely! We met our new families when we got off the bus...I will tell more about my family the next blog!

Go to this link to watch the crocodile video!! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSRXYAdiws4

Day 8-La Carpio

Today has been one of those days that just tugs on your heart strings. We began our day by taking a bus to La Carpio. La Carpio is a community outside of the city living in severe poverty. Many of the families that live in this community are immigrants from Nicaragua who came here to live a better life. From the photos above, you would think that these people do not have a good life while living on almost nothing. Actually, this community is all about hope. La Carpio was started by a women named Gail Nystrom who saw many people living on the street who needed an education and a place to live. This woman worked very hard to build this community to give families, mothers, children, and anyone else a chance of hope.

Today we were able to visit a Montessori school in the community that was started by Gail to give children a place to get education. We had "circle time" with the students who were ages of about 2-7 where we sang songs. They taught us some Spanish songs and we taught them some English songs. After, we each worked with one or two kids coloring and then center time. In most schools that I have observed in Wilmington, do not have the same center time that we witnessed. Here, the kids were able to wander around the room and play with any sort of manipulative that they found. It was so interesting to see how organized the class was and what each student did with the different manipulatives. I worked with a six year old girl named Raquel. She reminded me of myself a lot. We began by putting a math puzzle together while she quizzed me on my addition skills in Spanish. We then played a matching game, matching the Spanish word to the English word to the picture. After, we played with colored popsicle sticks for almost an hour. First we built a tower, then sorted them, then made patterns, then built more towers based on colors. During this, I was amazed to see how you do not need much to learn things. Also, by letting the students explore things on their own, they are able to make their own discoveries and think of things that maybe the teacher would have never thought of.

We then received a short tour of the community and walked by many of the houses. Many of the families have only one or two beds in their house for four or five people. Walking through the community made me feel so grateful for what I have been given in my life and to see people living out of a small tin house full of hope made me feel so blessed. I can't put in words the emotions that were running through me the entire time we were there. These people who live in this community are living with close to nothing, but hoping for a better future for their kids. In the words of the painting on one of the houses: Ninos de la esperanza...Nuestro futuro! (The kids of hope...Our future!)

Day 6-Spanglish

Today has been another awesome day in Costa Rica! My mama tica had already left when I woke up and she left me some papaya and pineapple, bread and coffee for breakfast and off I went to school! We had a short class meeting and then we headed to Calle Viquez Primary school where we had planned a short letter writing lesson to teach to the students. Dr. Powell had brought letters that a class in Wilmington had written to the students in Costa Rica. We planned to give the students the American letters so they could become pen pals! We got to the school and we found out that plans had changed for the day. We were very flexible and ended up splitting our group up into two groups of six with half of us in a special needs class and the other half in a Kindergarten class. I was in the special needs class and each of us took one or two students and read books to them. We had brought english books that we translated into spanish for the students. I read with a little boy who was in second grade, but he wasn't able to keep his hands to himself, so he got in a little trouble and the teacher had him sit in a special chair by himself. I then was able to work with a little girl named Yoselyn. She was one of the happiest girls I have ever met and I talked in as much spanish as I could with her since she did not understand english at all. It was neat to see how effective one on one instruction is and how much more engaged the students are when they are working in small groups. We had a snack with them and then headed back to our school (CPI). Tomorrow we are going to be at the same school, but we have a different lesson plan. It should be a fun lesson, but we have to remember to stay flexible because things change at all schools at the drop of a hat!

Day 5-Picadillo de papas

Today has been an awesome day! I began my day eating avocados, beans and rice for breakfast. Not your typical american breakfast but it was tasty! We had a class meeting led by Dr. Powell where we discussed Brian Cambourne's conditions of learning. It was very interesting to apply this to what we have seen so far and what we can do as teachers to help our students learn better. At our school where we have been learning spanish, we we able to make our own Latino lunch which was called Picadillo de papa. This consisted of papas (potatoes), culantro (cilantro), red pepper, onion, and many other typical spanish ingredients. We also made our own tortillas and everything was so great! We then had spanish class which was filled with lots of laughs and learning! I am getting a little bit better at my spanish! Our teacher, Lucy, is a great teacher who uses a lot of conversation to help us practice our spanish. This way of teaching helps a lot and makes conversations with my mama tica a lot easier!

When I got home from school, my mama tica had dinner ready for me on the table. I ate by myself (in my particular family, they don't sit down and eat together very often). When I was finished with dinner, my mama tica showed me all of the art that she paints. She has so much talent and paints clay houses, indian dolls, and many other things. Her art work is hung all over her house, her mama's house, and her sisters house. She took out what she was working on and told me that she would teach me how to paint like her! I was so excited even though art is most definitely not one of my strengths at all, but I was excited to give it a try! We painted until we were tired and she said we would hopefully finish it on Thursday night after dinner!

Day 4-Tico Familias

Hola mis amigos y mi familia!! Today has been a lot of spanish speaking so pardon me if I type in spanglish! I'll begin by introducing my host family experience yesterday. Yesterday was the first day in which we met and stayed with our host family. Our professor has told us all about what we should expect in our home stays and how the mama tica's are so nice and loving and really make you feel part of their family when you arrive. I didn't quite have that experience but I did learn a lot of things in the midst of everything! I was picked up at the school by one other student in my class' papa tica. He dropped me off at my house, walked inside with me and showed me my room. I was expecting my mama tica to be waiting for me with open arms, but I found her sleeping in her bed. The man woke her up to tell her that I was here and she just opened her eyes and said "hola" and closed them again. My papa tica was still at work so I was left alone in the house not knowing what to do. Luckily in Costa Rica, many of the families are very close and usually live right next door or at least very close to their extended family. A girl named Bardin, who is in my class had a mama tica who lived right next door and was actually the mom of my mama tica (sorry if this is kind of confusing). The man told me I could go over to her house so I could let my mama tica sleep. Bardin's mama tica welcomed me and made me dinner and we all talked for most of the night. Her whole family are neighbors so many people stopped by to say hi and chat with us. We had some funny conversations because no one in the entire extended family speaks english and I know very little spanish, so communication was very difficult! After talking for awhile, I went back to my house and my mama tica just had woken up. She showed me where the towels were, where the kitchen was, and my bedroom. She then said that she was going back to bed. I felt a little disappointed but I kept remembering those students who come to school on their first day of school not knowing english and feeling very unwelcome. In the morning, she had breakfast ready for me when I woke up and as soon as I got to the table to eat it, the entire family got up and left me to eat by myself. I am not sure if this is a culture thing or not. The same papa tica who brought me to my house, picked me up to walk me and a few other students to school. Throughout this experience, I learned the importance of family and the culture that many Costa Ricans have.

Today I had four hours of spanish instruction. There are four students in each class with one teacher. The classes are very conversationally based so there is no hiding behind your books! I was exhausted at the end of four hours where we spoke a total of about 10 english words. I can now understand why so many ESL students start putting their heads on their desks at about 10 am when they are just sick of hearing english and having to translate every single word into spanish when the teacher is talking.

After school, I walked back to my house in the rain nervous to go back since I didn't have a lot of conversation the day before with my family. I got there and my mama tica saw that I was wet from the rain. She told me to go put on some dry clothes and she would have dinner ready once I changed! Today I had dinner with my papa tica and my hermana tica (sister). To be honest, I have no idea what I ate today. I didn't recognize anything besides rice, beans, and potatoes. There were about four other things on my plate that I just ate and they actually weren't too bad! I am learning so much here about myself, about ESL students, trying to brush up on my spanish skills, and so much more! I am so thankful for this experience...it's definitely one of a kind! Buenas noches!

Day 3-Volcanoes and Tico Families

Today has been another long day and its only 4:30! We have done so much today already and we still have a lot left to do! We began our day by eating breakfast and packing up our stuff very early in the morning to get to the Poas Volcano before the clouds moved in! We made it just in time to see the amazing site of an active volcano and within about 10 minutes of being there, the clouds set in and we could hardly see it anymore. We then hiked about a mile to a lagoon which was also such an amazing site. We had a little time to rest there and take in the beauty that God has created for us here on the earth! Coming down from the lagoon, the volcano started erupting, but unfortunately I wasn't able to see it. Some of the people in our group saw it and described it as a big puff of black stuff coming out from the center! From there we ate lunch and headed to our school that we will be taking spanish classes at called CPI.

When we got to CPI, I became so overwhelmed with everything and I honestly felt like an ESL (english as a second language) student who comes to an American school for the first time. We were greeted by one of the workers who explained everything that we would be doing in spanish and to my surprise, I almost understood everything that she said! We walked into a room as a group and there sitting on our tables were our placement exams for what level of classes we will be placed in the next three weeks. The test was 4 pages long and half of the questions I didn't even know what it was asking, much like a student who doesn't know english feels when they are taking an exam. It is hard to answer the question if you don't even know what the question is asking! We then had a conversation test with one of the workers here who asked us questions verbally and we had to respond using as much spanish and grammar that we could. I was almost embarrassed when I walked about because I knew that nothing I said probably made no sense at all. We find out tomorrow where we are placed!

After our tests, we played a telephone using spanish words which was hilarious because we could never even get half of the sentences correct and we played another game where we learned the body parts. It was interesting to see how effective using interactive games are to learn things instead of just lectures. We then sat down and got an orientation of the CPI school and what we should expect in our host families. We have some free time right now and in about 1 hour we will all be meeting our new Tico friends (host families)! I am really excited and nervous at the same time to meet my family! I'm sure dinner tonight with my new family will be quite an experience! I am so thankful for this experience I am having and I am definitely learning A LOT!!! God bless!!

Day 2-La Paz

It is the end of my second day in Costa Rica and I am exhausted! Today we started off having a great breakfast at the hotel with a vast amount of fruit (I tried a passion fruit and papaya for the first time!), eggs, potatoes, rice and beans, bread and of course, coffee. I am not much of a coffee drinker at all but it was so delicious! After breakfast we began our journey to La Paz Waterfalls.

La Paz is such a beautiful place full of tons of animals and great natural scenery. We began our tour looking at birds such as toucans and hummingbirds. They were so beautiful and at times, too close for comfort!! We then learned about a lot of the plants that grow in Costa Rica and made our way towards the monkeys. From there, we saw butterflies, frogs, snakes, flowers, and big cats (jaguars, panthers, and pumas). We then stopped along the way for a bite to eat before continuing on our journey to the waterfalls. I was amazed at the beauty of the waterfalls and we were able to get very close to them and take lots of pictures! It rained a bit while we were looking at the waterfalls but nothing that a rain jacket or poncho couldn't take! The scariest part of today was our bus ride back from the waterfalls. We took a bus that drove right along the edge of a cliff and we were literally about 2 feet away from the edge going very fast! We ate dinner at a local pizza place which was delicious and now we are back at the hotel packing up to leave for tomorrow!

Today was more of a tourist day where we were just able to enjoy the scenery and we didn't have to use a lot of spanish to get around. It was nice to have a break from constantly translating everything in spanish to english because I know tomorrow will be a lot of spanish! Tomorrow we are heading to a volcano in the morning before getting to the school where we will be taking our spanish classes and our spanish placement test. Tomorrow evening we are also meeting our host families and they will take us from the school home with them for the week! I am very excited and nervous at the same time to meet them! I am curious to see how far my spanish will get my in my conversations with them! Pura Vida!

Day 1-Arrive in Costa Rica

Today has been a very long day! I've been up since 2am Costa Rica time and it is now 10pm here. The flights went very smoothly and we landed in San Jose, Costa Rica around 2pm ready to start our day! We were greeted by our guide, Maggie, who will be with us for most of our stay. We immediately got on a very small bus, packed all of our stuff in and headed to the bank to exchange our money. This was the first culture shock for me as I was standing in line with my American dollars not knowing how I was going to communicate with the bank teller that I needed the Costa Rican currency, colonas. Luckily, he seemed to know what I needed and was very helpful.

From there, we went to lunch and then the market where they sold all sorts of fresh fruits and vegetables. This was my favorite part of the day. Mangoes are the fruit in season right now here and they are delicious! I had to get one so I could eat it later, but it was quite the struggle buying something from someone who knows absolutely no English. Costa Rican's (or ticos as they call themselves here) are some of the nicest people I've ever met. They are so patient and wanted to know all about where we were from. Me and two other girls in my group put our heads together to try to form sentences to have a conversation with the man selling us mangoes. He laughed at us quite a bit but it was a fun experience!

The coolest part of today was that we experienced a small earthquake! As we were getting on the bus from the market, the ground started shaking and the fences started clanging. I looked at Maggie, our guide and she said that we were experiencing an earthquake. Small earthquakes are very common here, so no one made a big deal about it at all and after a few seconds when it stopped, everyone just went back to what they were doing.

We walked by a school today and I saw six boys playing soccer with a crushed plastic soda bottle as their soccer ball and their backpacks as goals. It was so neat to see today what the Costa Rican culture is like. It was a very overwhelming day with the language barriers, but I made it through and I am ready to take on tomorrow! We are going to La Paz, which is a beautiful waterfall so I am really looking forward to that! God bless!

Ready for take off!

In about 13 hours I will be boarding my flight to head to Costa Rica for almost a month. I currently have everything laid out on my bed besides my clothes because I have no idea what kind of clothes to pack. I will be leaving Wilmington at 4:00 in the morning and Bradley will be dropping me off at the Myrtle Beach airport and away I will go!

I am feeling nervous, excited and anxious for my trip. I am excited to get there see the scenery because I am sure it is very different from the United States. I am a bit nervous to stay with my host family only because I am not quite confident in my spanish speaking skills and I wonder how well we will be able to communicate. I am also quite nervous for the amount of bugs, snakes, and spiders that I fear to encounter! I have packed pictures of my friends and family so they will be able to see a glimpse of what life is like back in the United States. I am really excited to see the way in which they live and how different their culture is from ours. I am excited to try new foods, new experiences, and get to know a new language. I have taken 7 years of spanish classes, which seems like a lot, but I do not use it on regular basis so I hope that it all comes back to me when I start hearing people talk!

Tomorrow is approaching very fast and I hope I remember to pack everything that I will need while I am there! Please pray for me to have a safe and exciting experience! I will do my best to update this as much as possible, although I am not sure how much internet access I will get when I am there.