Saturday, May 1st, 2010

Hiii everyone! It's now the beginning of May and I've been here for four months. Sometimes it seems like time has flown by, other times I can´t believe that I still have eight months left.... This is definitely a very interesting experience full of ups and downs and lots of challenges. At the end of March, Jen, Kurt, and Robby came to visit me for Semana Santa, which is the week before Easter. I went to San José on Monday and met them at the airport Tuesday afternoon. I actually woke up in the middle of the night on Monday with really bad stomach aches, and then woke up in the morning with a fever and body aches, so I ended up sleeping the whole day trying to feel better before they got in! Luckily after sleeping most of the day, I did feel better and caught the bus to the airport with another volunteer whose family was also getting in that same night. It was GREAT to see my sister and Kurt and Robby! That first night we stayed up and talked for a while, and then Wednesday morning took a van to Manuel Antonio, a popular tourist town on the Pacific coast. We spent most of our days trying to stay cool--I have never been so hot in my life!! I literally spent a few hours the last day in the sun, but besides that couldn't stand being in the sun for any length of time. We did a canopy ziplining tour one day, and hiked through the Manuel Antonio National Park another. We went down to the beach one day, too, but were there for about an hour before deciding we couldn't stand the heat. Even the ocean water was warm! And the Pacific can be pretty rough. We had some wonderful dinners at night. We stayed in Manuel Antonio from Wed-Sun, and then headed to Cartago for Sunday night. Unfortunately Saturday night we had a great Italian dinner, but all of us ended up with food poisoning the next day. We all took an antibiotic Sunday morning, but for some reason Jen and Kurt continued feeling sick until Monday afternoon. So needless to say, Sunday we drove back to Cartago and just stayed in the hotel.

Monday morning we all went to Palo Verde so that they could meet my students and my family. The school had an "acto civico"--school assembly--where they sang the national anthem and school song for us, and then I helped the kids ask Jen, Kurt, and Robby questions in English. Luckily they had brought a bag of chocolates to use as an incentive, because the kids were all really shy until they had a little more motivation to ask questions. After the school assembly, we headed to my house to eat "arroz con pollo" that my mom had made for us. My 5-yr-old sister Abi, who is the most talkative child I have ever met, said almost nothing the entire time! We have since decided that she was a little scared by Kurt and Robby, lol. So unfortunately they didn't get to know Abi as well as they could have. Then around noon we headed to Orosi for the night, where I had done my orientation. Since we didn´t have much time and Jen and Kurt still weren't feeling great, we just kind of walked around and then got dinner. On Tuesday morning, we headed to San José because I had a meeting I had to go to for WorldTeach, and then Jen, Kurt, and Robby headed out Wednesday morning. It was hard to say goodbye, but it was so great seeing them and we had a wonderful time!

I was a little nervous about readjusting to life in my town, but it wasn't too bad. I think knowing that my parents were coming in a week and a half helped a lot. I was sooo excited to see my parents! On Friday, April 16th I headed to San José to meet them at the airport. We then went to the car rental place to pick up our SUV, aka the death mobile, and then drove to Orosi to spend Friday and Saturday night. We got dinner at a typical Costa Rican restaurant Friday night, and then headed to bed early as we had all gotten up early that morning. On Saturday we ate breakfast at the hotel and then walked around a little before heading up to my Orosi host family's farmhouse in the mountains. Although we had planned on driving there, after seeing the dirt road that goes straight up the mountain, my parents decided taking a cab who is experienced in driving up extremely steep roads would be a better choice. That decision probably avoided massive heart attacks for both my parents. ;) We had also planned on spending only a couple of hours at the farm, but ended up staying there until around 10:00 at night. After being there for the day, my parents saw how wonderfully generous and kind Costa Ricans can be, but how hard it is to say NO to them as well! At times it can be very overwhelming. It was a great day though, and we had both lunch and dinner at the farm with my Orosi family and some extended family.

On Sunday we then headed to Palo Verde. We had rented a house there for the week. When I originally saw the house, I knew it was nothing amazing but I was pretty impressed--it was painted, it had beds, there was apparently warm water in the shower, and it looked pretty clean. Well I had overlooked a few details, like any form of dishes to cook with, towels, toilet paper, sheets, blankets, soap, etc. that usually are provided when you rent a house. My host mom did convince the owner to leave a few dishes and blankets, but nothing else. So needless to say, we borrowed sheets from my host family and went to Cartago to buy soap and toilet paper for the house on Monday. The house also had a wooden ceiling, which I have learned is warmer than a tin roof and therefore very attractive for bugs such as cockroaches.... So yes we also bought a big bottle of Raid and moved our beds away from the wall, much to my mom's disgust. I also discovered that my "mattress" was definitely not a mattress at all, but some old dirty pieces of foam that were layed on top of some wooden planks. So that was also interesting. I can definitely say we were not sad to say goodbye to that house when we left.

Sunday night we ate dinner with my host family and gave them the presents my parents had brought--a puzzle for each of the kids (which they have now each done at least 15times), bakugans for Justin, a Barbie for Abi (which yes, thank you mom, I now get to play Barbies after dinner every night :)), and a pressure cooker for my mom so that she can make beans (her wood-burning stove broke and it takes several hours on the normal stove without a pressure cooker). My host mom made a really good soup with meatballs for my parents. We stayed for several hours and then went back to our humble abode to sleep.

On Monday I woke up and got ready for school to teach for the day, leaving my parents to do whatever they wanted until around 1:30 when I'd get home. It's kind of hard to explain this part, but once I got to school, I was so mad and sad and frustrated that I was there teaching while my parents, who I was not going to see for several months, were a few minutes away in the house. So I started bawling uncontrollably to the cook, and she told me to talk to my director and ask him to give me the day or the week off. For some reason it is soooo hard for me to ask for time off. I feel like I need an extremely good reason to ask for any time off, even though I'm a volunteer here.... So eventually he came to talk to me and I just bawled and liteally could not stop, quite embarassingly, so he told me to go home and if I needed more time off I just had to ask. Of course even then, I still couldnt get myself ask for time off. So I left two hours after I had arrived at the school, still bawling, to find my parents sitting in the front lawn of the house. They were surprised to see me, lol, but happy that we now had the day to spend together. We headed to Cartago to buy a few things, and then Monday night went to a neighbor's house to eat dinner. She made "olla de carne," which is like a stew with lots of veggies and a really good cut of meat. It was a very special and expensive meal for them and very generous of her. We again had a very hard time getting away, but eventually had to say goodbye for the night.

On Tuesday I figured I'd be fine to go to school and teach, and then ask my director for Wednesday afternoon and Thursday off. Wrong. I got to school and right away the Kinder teacher and my host mom asked me how I was, if I was feeling better, why I wasn't with my parents, etc, so I of course started bawling uncontrollable again and the director just flat out told me to go home, again. So once again, my parents were surprised to see me at the house a few minutes after I left. I had not expected to be so emotional while my parents were there, and I hadn't felt so emotional the entire time I've been here. The best way I can explain it is I've been reasonably strong here these past few months because I had to be--there was no one to lean on, nothing comforting, just me. I also am almost always playing the role of "teacher" in my town, rarely just relaxing to be myself. Then once my parents were there, it was like I had someone to kind of depend on again and just be myself with, and that really understood me and how I've been feeling with the whole experience so far, that I just kid of broke down. Even though it was hard having them here, though, it was sooo nice to see them and it helps a lot now knowing that they can picture where I am and got a really good look into my experience here. And although it's been a little tough to adjust again, I know that I'll be just fine and need to remember to appreciate every moment and experience I can here, both good and bad.

We then drove to San Gerardo de Dota Tuesday afternoon, which is supposed to be like a little paradise in the mountains. It's a valley 9 km down from the highway with a couple of hotels and restaurants and it's absolutely beautiful. There is also a very rare bird there, the Quetzal (believed to be a God by the Aztecs and Mayans, I think), and we were lucky enough to have seen both a male and female while we were there. The male has a bright green/turquoise back and head, a bright red belly, and two really long beautiful tail feathers. Absolutely beautiful. We then had lunch at a restaurant there and then headed back to Palo Verde. Our dinner that night consisted of crackers and peanut butter, and for me, wine--at times very necessary. Wednesday morning my parents came to the school to meet my students. Each of the kids introduced themselves to my parents in English, and then asked them questions, some of which they had prepared in advance as homework. It was, as they would say here, "beautiful." From the school, we headed to Manuel Antonio to spend a few days on the beach. Our hotel was very nice, and we spent the majority of our time sitting by the pool, which we often had to ourselves. It was definitely the most relaxed I've been the entire time I've been here.

One thing I struggle with a lot here is the fact that, for example, we spent way more money on one night in a hotel room, which wasn't an extremely expensive hotel by our standards--about $150--than my host family spends on groceries for an entire month. There is a woman in my town that just lost half of her house and is now forced to cook outside. Her family is extremely poor, and she has three young kids--a 7th grader, a 4th grader who is special needs and not receiving any of the help he needs, and a 2-yr-old who is dying for attention that her mom is too exhausted to give her. We could probably have built her a new kitchen for the money we spent on the hotel for a few nights. There are lots of examples like this in the area, but then again, there are people that are a lot worse off than them as well. Just something to think about. I don´t know what the answer is and probably never will. One thing that is very certain though is that we are EXTREMELY lucky.

On Monday, we drove back to Palo Verde and my parents dropped me off, and then they headed to San José and stayed in a hotel near the airport, as their flight left early Tuesday morning. Saying goodbye was really hard. We have for sure decided though that I will come home during our two-week break in July. I'll probably get home around July 3rd, so hopefully I can see most of you!!

So I just finished my first week back of teaching since my parents left. It went alright, and I jumped right back into my normal routine. My students are extremely behind academically, so I struggle with that everyday. Sarah Garske and I just started doing penpals over the internet with my 11 3rd-6th graders and her 22 4th graders, which I think is going to be a really great experience for the kids and the're really excited about it. I learned, though, that they have NO clue how to use a computer, which is clearly going to put them at a huge disadvantage later in life, so I'm now considering using one of my class periods a week to teach typing skills. We'll see, I need to prioritize.

We also had a parent meeting on Thursday afternoon. One of my neighbors/friend/mom of one of my students came to the school to talk to/yell at my director. She later told me that she had told him that I'm very unhappy here, which she then listed several reasons as to why (some of which I had privately told my host mom, apparently not-so-privately, just to vent to someone), including I don't have a classroom, one of my 6th graders is extremely disrespectful, I have nowhere to put my things, etc. She then told him that if he didnt to something about it, I was going to leave. She told me she told him this so that he would get off his butt and do something. I understand that her heart was in the right place, but I was pretty upset that she went to my director saying that I'm extremely unhappy. I have never told them that I'm unhappy here, and while there are lots of challenges, I am not unhappy, and I have commited to be here for a year and I'm not leaving. The parent meeting then continued with parents literally yelling at each other over building me a classroom, while I sat feeling confused and helpless and trying to understand what they were screaming about. The next day, the 1st-3rd grade teacher pulled me aside to ask me if I was unhappy, and I told her definitely not and while there are difficulties and some days I am very frustrated, I do not need a classroom NOW, if ever, and I am not leaving. She told me I need to be very careful with what I say to people in my town, as they are very gossipy. There is apparently a rumer going around right now that I'm unhappy and not coming back after our 2-week break in July. I told the teacher that that was absolutely not true, and also pulled aside one of the moms to tell her the same. Apparently I need to be much more careful about what I say to people. There is a reason people don't live AND work in a small town.

Anyways, that pretty much catches you all up on my life here right now. Hopefully I don't come across too negative. It's been a little tough at times but I really am enjoying the experience and learning a lot. I have never regretted my decision to do this and never wished to be somewhere else. I miss you all TONS though and can't wait to see you again in July! And THANK YOU to everyone who has donated material to my school!! The kids LOVE it and it's extremely helpful to me, as well, so thank you for your generosity! You are all amazing! Hopefully we are making a small difference in their lives.