"I wish you could have been there"

You have no idea how strange it feels not to think in Spanish almost every second of the day anymore, and I kind of miss it at times.  Some of the phrases and words are just so fun to say, and it's a little work out for your brain.  

I surprised myself- I didn't even cry at all as I left Costa Rica.  Not during my surprise going away parties with the fourth or fifth grade class, not during my last fancy ceviche dinner or arepas and coffee breakfast with Flor, not even in our taxi ride as we held hands the whole way to the airport.  Yes I was sad to be leaving all my new friends, students, and beautiful second home, and no, I do no like saying goodbye.  I especially do not like saying goodbye to a classroom full of amazing kids clinging to me and begging me to stay. - ones who are determined to come visit me and promise to write to me and ones who were my biggest challenge but forced me to grow.  I did it tear-free.  Even as I received beautiful gifts of flowers, notes, jewelry, and coffee beans (!) from other teachers in the school and my host family, as we hugged good bye and promised to keep in touch (we better).

I promise I'm not a heartless person, it's just that my body knew that I didn't have a reason to cry when I learned as much as I did, after I accomplished so much.

Why should I be sad when I've taken back so much with me? - so many pieces of a country, a culture, and friendships that will never escape me - and hopefully left just as much behind for them. 

As Brian Andreas says so beautifully:

 "I wish you could have been there 

for the sun & the rain & the long, hard hills.  

For the sound of the people laughing & crying & remembering at the end. 

 But, mainly, I wish you could have been there."

Now that I can courageously drink black coffee (if it's good coffee) and discipline a room full of monkeys (and love them at the same time) - now that I am capable of having conversations in another language and actually understand a lot of the lyrics in my Latin music - now that I have seen some of the most breath-taking coasts, mountains, exotic flowers and some entertaining creatures, typical dances, and intricately painted carts - now that I've danced the Salsa and Merengue with the Ticos and learned how to make some Tican meals - after all of this, I know why I had to go there in the first place.

But my bones feel so comfortable and nice back home for awhile (without my umbrella and rain boots).

The Ticklish Teacher in Ridiculous Rain Boots

If I don't make it as a teacher, it's possible I could have a career in acting as plan B. Not saying that this is going to happen, but I think my students are truly entertained by my acting skills during various lessons. So far, my favorite was when I pretended to be Angelina Jolie (it was for Oral English and the theme was being yourself). As much as I'm sure they would love to have Angelina Jolie as their teacher, it was obvious that they were getting a little intimidated when I every now and then busted out a "stunt".. and of course they missed the real me :-) Tuesday's reading lesson was a fun way to put my acting into play again, though, because it was about traveling to the moon (I've always wanted to be an astronaut, too). It was interesting because I really wanted them to read in groups or pairs depending on their reading level, but that's still a work in progress here. Since the comprehension isn't that strong with the story being in English. So I stop every now and then to explain/act - the best part was pretending to eat in space when my food kept floating away from me.. some of them were trying it, too. Not only does it help them understand the story better, but it also keeps their attention.

I'm so proud at how much more my students are putting their creativity into more of their classwork. At first, writing class was such a struggle for them to get ideas about topics and descriptions, so I started using more starter sentences, examples, and pictures to get them inspired. Their work is improving so much and I can tell they are proud to share them with me and each other (we have an Author's Chair for them to read to the class). On Monday I knew they would love the topic because the topic was "comic strips". (Sebastian actually already had created his own comic series in Spanish and English - they are soo impressive, I couldn't believe it.) A lot of the students have apparently been previously making up their own comics actually, so this was an area of high interest and they were very excited.

I took copies of easy Scooby Doo stories that I found randomly, just used the pictures and pasted some of the dialogue on each picture. Then, they had to read the dialogue and use the picture clues to put them in order. I also did an example of creating a cartoon character. I told them that I like mysteries and monkeys, so I was going to have a monkey who solved easy and silly crimes. I took some of their suggestions (like naming him after one of the kids in class, so he ended up being called Dennis the Monkey). They also helped me decide what he should say whenever he solved a crime... "Banana!" It doesn't sound that great, but they loved it, and it really motivated them.

Last Friday some of the students who were completely anticipating getting their reward for not having lost any stars through out the week came up to me at the end of the day. Not only did they laugh at me as I changed into my black rain boots with white polka dots, but they wouldn't stop asking what their reward was. So, without really thinking it over, I told them that since they were laughing at me their lucky reward was going to be... TICKLES! I did the trick that my dad does to me, where you move your fingers around in front of the person and only pretend to tickle - it worked because they were laughing without actually being tickled. Well, baddd move, because this sparked their curiosity... and they all started actually tickling me. I was stuck in the corner laughing uncontrollably as the rest of the class stopped getting ready for the end of the day to watch me, completely helpless.

Yet another lesson learned: Don't show your vulnerability to your students, especially if you're ticklish. (It's not very professional).

*Not proving anything to anyone - just showing up with a pure heart*

It was a pretty movie-worthy last weekend in Costa Rica. Alison and I met up for dinner in San Jose where we ate at "our place", the National Theater. It's gorgeous and has an elegant little restaurant inside with new displays of artwork each week and our table is right in front of a window that looks out at a little garden. We both had pumpkin soup to make it feel more like fall for us in the constant spring/summer-like weather here with winter-ish decorations already welcoming in Christmas (seriously, Costa Rica is all set for the holidays with fake snowmen and all). We stayed the night at her house, worrying the whole time that her roommates' class pet that she decided to bring home for the weekend would escape. The class pet, by the way, is a lobster who already escaped his cage once, and to make everything more reassuring for us, his name is Flash.. Luckily he stayed put for the night. We left early in the morning for Play Hermosa because it's not very far and it's secluded from a lot of touristy-ness... and there's gorgeous teal colored waves and black sand :-) We found a hotel right away right next to the beach where I accomplished my goals of having a completely relaxing and sun-filled (absolutely no rain) weekend. There was a live band playing at the place we went to for some ceviche where we ended up making friends with a young married couple from Colorado and their Australian friend. They do not ride kangaroos to school in Australia, in case you, too, were wondering. On Sunday I couldn't make myself realize that it was the last time I was going to be on the Costa Rican coast (for awhile anyway). It was scorching hot and burned my feet to walk the short distance from my towel to the tides washing up on the shore, but I took my time letting every little moment sink in so that I can always remember it. Being there is a step out of reality - it's almost too beautiful to take it all in - it's hard to believe that miles and miles away the leaves are changing colors and falling to the ground. I decided that I love both places equally as much - each place has its own kind of beauty, but the most beautiful part of each place, are the people I'm there with. That must be why I have more than one soul mate, assuming soul mates can be places. Costa Rica has made itself one of my soul mates, wether its along the coast or in my home and school in Tres Rios: because the people I've gotten a chance to meet, travel with, work with, or teach have all offered me something genuine that has helped to fill in the four months of my life here. Maybe it's a blessing that I attach myself so strongly to the places I go to and the people I meet - it's happened in back home in Eau Claire/Lake Wissota, and it's happened in Mexico on my mission trip; it's happened in North Carolina each time I go and clearly in Winona, as well - and now here. It's a blessing because now I have more than one place I can call home and more than five people who I can call family. It's actually kind of fitting that the reading lesson - my last reading lesson - that I have to teach my fourth graders here is about a boy who has found Japan and the U.S. to be home for him. I'm scared that I might start to cry on Tuesday when we read the last line of the story when he says,

"The funny thing is, no matter what country I'm in, I'm always homesick for the other."

PS, If you're curious how umbrella #4 is holding up - the handle somehow broke off, which makes it uncomfortable to hold, and a lot of times I get the feeling that it's not water-proof.. but other than that, I think it will survive for the next few days!!

Teaching Shoes / Nicaragua in a Seashell

I must really love my students - in Costa Rica you're allowed to bring in homemade food to share at school, and so as a reward for my "star students" who didn't lose any stars during the week (last week), I decided to bake cookies for them. Luckily I gave myself two days in advance to prepare myself for this event because, as many friends and family know- especially Sarah- whenever I attempt to bake a dessert, the outcome is always more of an abstract piece of art. The first time around, when I decided to pour in some oatmeal so they would be a little healthier, and when I decided to pour it all into a cake pan because I was too tired to wait for batches of cookies, I don't think the presentation would have quite cut it. I just don't think many people typically enjoy being handed a bag of cookie-brownie crumbs that took an hour to be scraped out of a pan. A second attempt was thankfully all it took (even though it took a lot of time and effort) and I successfully baked regular old chocolate chip cookies wrapped up in little bags with yarn. Much better - pretty cute actually. I think I may have spent way too long with my whole baking process, but my students said I passed the test with bringing them homemade cookies (maybe they don't get homemade cookies very often). Unfortunately for them, I'm thinking that I'm done with sharing my baking-works-of-art for my last few weeks here, as much as I love them. Instead I'll most likely end up spending way too much time on a different sort of prize - but they deserve it after all.

Before, I wrote that basically all of my students are my favorites in different ways, but I think I have a secret absolute favorite in my fourth grade class. It must be because he never demands much attention; he's friends with the group of boys my dad calls "the Romeos" who are almost always causing a stir in the classroom; when the Romeos start to get way too rowdy and loud, he backs out and sits there quietly with an innocent and apologetic expression on his face, and he is often the one to call out to the class "Silencio!!!" (silence!!); he's also friends with a girl who's very independent and basically an outcast as far as everyone else is concerned; even though he's a quiet student, every now and then he will answer a question, and I can tell he's a smart kid from his homework, when he tries. But the thing that especially made me favor him (okay his name is Sebastian, which only makes him cooler in my book), is that he's a true blue little poet! I was checking everyone's notebooks (the Teacher Allison notebooks that were sent from a church back in Eau Claire) to make sure everyone did the writing assignment. Underneath his assignment, he also wrote a little poem... at least I think it's his own writing. I read it and wanted to cry and smile at the same time. I gave him an extra sticker (woo! must have been his lucky day) and wrote him a message encouraging him to keep writing poems because he's got talent. So now I present to you Sebastian's poem:

Because a family is

a family when

there is love in

the air

maybe a dozen

or maybe a pair

A family is

where (there are) 12 or

two, we could be a

family just me

and you

I don't know how anyone could not love these kids. Even more so when they say things like, "Hey T... do you have masking (tape)? It's cuz... (sigh) I'm in love with Maria Jose" - haha - I'm blessed to have such an awesome, challenging, and a lot of times strange, experience here. I can practically feel myself growing into my teaching shoes every day.

Today (Wednesday) I didn't have any lessons to teach but I was kept busy all day with grading exams, getting report cards ready, and making sure our class was in order when my cooperating teacher was teaching - all that fun stuff :-) I was SO unbelievably happy when she realized that we needed to give them a new seating chart because otherwise she just lets all the kids just sit where ever they want, which is the source of most of our problems in my opinion. I was so relieved and jumped up to help her choose where each kid should sit - I had been thinking about this for awhile so I basically had it all sorted out in my head already. She took most of my suggestions, but not all, which is okay, it's progress. It was weird though, because I think she wanted to give into their complaining about their new seats just to eliminate their whining. She told me, "aww, look at J.J.'s face" - you have no idea, Jose Javier has THE most innocent puppy dog eyes I've EVER seen (whenever he's supposed to be in trouble, it's hard to keep your heart from melting the second he looks at you). I couldn't look at J.J. or I would have gave in, so I immediately told the class that the more they complained the longer they would have to sit in their new seats. A miracle happened: they were silent.

Even with their new seats a couple boys raised their hands to give the same exact answer one right after another about how at camp they were "boring" so they "made a party". The teacher just listened, even as they began to quarrel about who copied who. Normally I would have let her handle this since she was teaching the lesson, but I couldn't help it and without thinking I corrected them. I told them that they probably mean that either they were "bored" or that "camp was boring" and went on to explain this further. I almost felt bad as they just sat there embarrassed at their mistake, so I added "just so you know... and also, it doesn't matter who copied who, just do your own work next time". I love the power of a smile, because after I tell them things like this, I just give them a little smile and then merrily go about my work as though nothing happened - and they just sit there totally bewildered.

I felt like I had total and complete power over the discipline in the classroom today and I'm still on a high from it. The star - reward system seems to really be working, and it's even better when my cooperating teacher uses it with them, too. After lunch today I was sitting at the teachers' table working on some things, when all of a sudden the other teachers, classes, and I all heard a fiesta going on in the fourth grade classroom upstairs. A teacher came down and told me that my class didn't have a teacher in the room (their social studies teacher was no where to be found at the time for who even knows why). So I walked upstairs where one of the kids was standing outside of the classroom... as soon as he saw me, he ran into the classroom and quickly tried to close the door behind him as he ran to his seat. When I walked into the classroom, I purposely left the door open because I'm sure everyone outside was listening to hear what was going to happen. I wasn't angry with them - Instead I just looked at them with a "are you kidding me?" expression and that may have surprised them, I don't know... but they all guiltily (and quietly) sat in their seats. With a curious look on my face, my head cocked to the side and a hand on my hip I asked, "Did you know... that the WHOLE school could hear you just a couple minutes ago?... and that's not a good thing" (blank stares). I patiently told them that just because they didn't have a teacher in the room with them didn't mean they had to act like animals in a zoo - as I said it I had a smile on my face and they all just kind of giggled quietly. I told them that I know they're capable (then I had to simplify that by saying "I know you all are able...") to be an amazing and smart class, and that they should prove that to everyone more often. I couldn't believe it - a few more minutes passed until their social studies teacher came in the room, and they were still behaving and quiet. I believe my teaching shoes just grew 10 times bigger today!

Nicaragua in a Seashell: Nick and Steve (two of the other student teachers) went with me on a border hop to Nicaragua, which took us about seven hours each way. From the second we got into our taxi at 3:30 am to the second we arrived at the border where we excitedly got our passports stamped and where a Nicaraguan lady selling hammocks told me she'd remember my face for when I returned on Sunday to the second we arrived at our hostile in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, it was a total and complete adventure. For as lost and confused as we felt most of the time, we did an excellent job acting like we knew exactly what we were doing. Our saying the whole time kept us in check, too: "Gettin' Freaky in Nici" - such as while we played soccer with limes up and down the beach - I mean, how much freakier can you get??

Let me just say that Nicaragua is, as was expected, much, much poorer than Costa Rica. We had to be careful where ever we walked down the street because most of them were flooding with backed up sewers. People sat with the doors open to their houses because it was so hot constantly, even when it rained. The people generally looked sad - except for the barefoot boys on the street banging on some things calling out "ONE DOLLAR!" as we passed by, they were having a good time. Actually, most of the children seemed to be totally content. It was awesome seeing them play on the beach either playing intense soccer or volleyball games all day long (I don't think they ever stopped) or just rolling around in the sand as the waves washed up onto the shore where they were just loving life.

The hostile we stayed at was really a lot better than I originally expected - even though the power went out a few times each day (but that was planned for the whole city) and sometimes there wasn't any running water. It was a lot of fun though making almost all of our meals ourselves in the shared kitchen - we made some amazing (and creative, thanks to me) meals. For example, I found this awesome dark pinkish purple exotic looking fruit at the market and made a really sweet refresco with it. We used the leftovers of the fruit that wouldn't strain completely and mixed it in our pancake batter the next morning - DELICIOUS. Some of the people that stayed there who we became friends with were from Australia, Israel, and Minnesota - pretty random. It's crazy how many people travel alone all across the world. These people just go from country to country for months at a time, without no real plan in mind.

Since we had two full days there, we went in a taxi-bus to the only beach we could get to (since the other roads were flooded to the other better beaches). It was a secluded area with huts to sit under and tables outside of it, which was good because I didn't feel like sprawling out on the rocky beach. It was a relaxing day talking to new people, reading in a hammock, eating ceviche, and watching the surfers.

The next day the three of us went on a hiking adventure. We got stuck within the first few minutes because we had to cross over a gross river. We started out trying to make a bridge, but it wasn't going to make it, so instead we each paid 20 cents to a guy who was taking 10 second trips back and forth in his falling apart canoe. The hike up the streets along the bluff and up to the very top wasn't too terribly strenuous, but it was extremely hot - so we just kept reminding ourselves that we were getting freaky in Nici and enjoyed the view at the top.

Another thing, that has nothing much to do with Nicaragua, but in the hostel we thought we were so lucky to be the only ones in the room the first night because we each got a bed on the bottom of the bunk beds. NOT a good idea for me. In the middle of the night I was half asleep and sat up way too fast, banging my head on the board above me - I vaguely remember just being in total shock, covering my forehead with both hands, falling back onto my pillow and passing out. The next morning I woke up with a bad headache and realized I got a case of the bottom-bunk-bump on my forehead. That was almost too freaky for me, I had to settle down after that.

Anyway, Nicaragua in a seashell - we enjoyed the little area that we were in, buying a few things because they were cheap (banana sundaes were a dollar!), and wandering around trying not to look too touristy, which didn't work I'm sure. It's hard not to stop and take out your camera for a picture of huge pigs tied up with a leash or a lonely horse standing on the side of the rode waiting in front of a building with "for sale" painted on it in Spanish, but I did hold myself back from taking a picture of one of the thousands of stray dogs that looked like half dog / half cow because of its "utters". I don't know, but it was an interesting experience traveling to a place where people walk around carrying things on their heads and blaring Spanish polka music out into the streets. However, we were very happy to make it back "home" to Costa Rica safely.

Oh and by the way, the Nicaraguan hammock lady really did remember me on Sunday when we arrived back at the boarder. In fact, she was waiting right where our bus let us out and reached out her hand to help me up the steps. Her little girl was so excited to hand the hammock to me (which was five dollars!). Good old Nici, but now that we're back, we're going to be "getting freaky, deaky in Costa Rici" according to Nick. Who really wanted me to "sign out" of this post as "Sharp Eyes Allie Cat saying WOAH! ..until next time".... buuut.. I'm not going to.

PS thank you everyone for the comments! I love reading them. Also, since I'm flying home on Halloween, what does everyone think I should dress up as on my plane ride? (note: a terrorist costume is NOT a good idea).

My Princess in the Sky

 "The only tears you should cry, cry laughing" 

~Laugh So You Don't Cry by Andy Davis

Esta es la vida - That's life ... I knew I would lose my princess while I was in Costa Rica; I just had this sad feeling of the cold truth in my heart that she was getting old and having such a hard time walking.  I was scared that when I was leaving and saying goodbye that it would be our final goodbye, and sure enough, she ended up being the one leaving me.  I agree, dogs are man's best friend, because my Holly was my little baby girl pup since I was nine.  I was always convinced that if she were a human, she would have been a prissy and dainty girl - she loved being cozy, curled up and asleep near a fireplace or sprawled out in the sun.  She would have made a great model because she especially loved posing for pictures, or so I believed - she was a natural.  I would know, I have more pictures of her than probably anyone or anything else in the world. She was such a doll, and now she's a star in the sky like my mom said, looking down over us.  So I don't get to return to her like I had hoped, and so it goes, that's life.. princesses all have to leave us at one time or another, they've got bigger and better places to go where they can be eternally beautiful. 

"I finally got out 

I looked at the world to see

In your eyes I figured it out 

what took you away from me

I know daisies never bloom inside of a room

There's nothing left for me to do

I'm free like you

Six feet under"

~6 ft Under by the Woods

"But I don't think my heart's ever let me down

And I still cry because I can't always have it my way, 

And sometimes crying can help you out. 

Sing it aloud, sing it aloud, 

and scream, shred your lungs I need to hear you louder now, 

and sing, as if you'll never sing again. 

And when the morning comes and your throat is sore, 

You'll face the day like you did before, 

With a smile on in the end." 

***********************

I'm convinced that no matter what's going on in my life, I always have a soundtrack that I live by and it is constantly changing each day.  Sometimes I can't really tell, though, if I put songs to what's going on around me and how I'm feeling, or if I adapt how I'm feeling and how I respond to what's going on around me based on the music I'm listening to.  It depends, I suppose.  Supposedly Travis and Nick, two of the other student teachers here, are putting together a soundtrack of Costa Rica based on their memories here - what a good idea.  Music is probably one of the best ways to capture and keep memories alive, aside from photographs. If there's one thing I need in life, it's music - it's my healer for when I don't feel well; it's my dance partner whether I'm alone or not; it's my epiphany-generator and outlet for expression; it wakes me up in the morning and puts me to bed at night... it does so many things that I can't possibly list them all. Anyway, thank you music for being so amazing, I don't know what I'd do without ya (I suppose a giant "thank you" to everyone who makes music, would be appropriate, too.. especially my dad who not only makes music, but keeps it alive by passing it on to his students and everyone around him). 

Another thank you!!! to Lisa K. for all of the new music you have shared with me - music is the best gift :)

Yesterday I don't think I could have asked for a better half-birthday celebration.  1.) I got to celebrate it in Costa Rica ... which is the main reason I decided to celebrate it actually, just so I could say that... 2.) I got to sleep in, work out in the gorgeous weather, go to my favorite cafe, go to an art museum, have a picnic outside and watch little kids chase birds around, go to a movie (even though it ended horribly), and I went out dancing with friends ... okay that's more than 2 things but I didn't feel like putting all those numbers in there.  It doesn't matter how many things I did, it just matters that it was an excellent day.. even though I'm not officially 22 1/2 until Monday, but still.  And by the way, yes, I realize that I sound very childish saying that I'm 22 1/2, but I'm pretty proud of it and I generally just like coming up with reasons to celebrate.  

Something I've learned, and advise others to do: Make friends with the person sitting next to you on the bus.  (Of course you can apply this to other places, too, like if you're in a long line or something).  Or at least just say hi.  That seems so blatantly obvious, but anyone who knows me knows that I can be shy especially when I first meet someone - put me in a situation where I am sitting next to a complete stranger for a long bus ride, then add the fact that this person speaks a language I'm still practicing, then it only adds to my shyness... it also makes for some awkward moments, which I actually kind of find amusing now.  So when a Tican girl about my age sat down next to me on the bus home from Puerto Viejo I probably would have been fine to come up with something to say now that I'm feeling more confident speaking in Spanish... except that there's one more thing: I literally thought I was going to die of thirst.  I have never been so thirsty in my life.  I left a day earlier than the guys and came straight from the beach, just in time to make it to my bus, but not enough time to buy more water.  I felt so awkward sitting there staring out the window trying to think of how I was going to last 4 hours longer with no water when I realized I could just ask the girl sitting next to me.  I didn't want to be rude and have that be the first thing I said to her, I had to become her friend first, and then ask her for water... did she even have water? So I tried not to make it obvious, but I kept sneaking glances to see if she did.  Maybe I would have just started talking to her first in other circumstances, but I couldn't think because I was just that thirsty.  I thought that if I could just get some water, then I would be able to properly communicate with this girl, but wait, in order to possibly get my water, I'd have to talk to her first... what a vicious little circle.  You have no idea how awkward this was sitting next to a girl I didn't know for probably about half an hour without saying a single word and no eye contact, nothing, just sitting there right next to each other. Finally we had a moment where we almost looked at each other at the same time, but then we both looked away, and then I decided that it was really lame of us, I'm just going to get it over with or this is going to be an extremely long ride.  So I faced my tired and dizzy head right at her (probably looking like I was drunk) and literally just said a big, "Hola".  That was it, it was all I could come up with at the time.. how original.  She looked at me and giggled an "hola" back, which made me smile and ask (stupidly) if she was from Costa Rica to which she giggled a "si".  And that was that.  I turned my head and continued to stare out the window thinking of how lame I was but glad that I at least broke the ice... mmm ice.. I was still dying of thirst and obviously still felt bad for asking her for water after that weird, initial hola.  After a few minutes she thought of a couple other get-to-know-you questions.  It went on like that for probably another half an hour, saying a couple sentences, and then looking out the window, repeat.  At one point she listened to her i-pod for a little bit and I was enjoying her music, and then told her so after she put it away.. but I think she was embarrassed that she was playing it loud enough for me to hear.  And I still couldn't ask her for the water.  Finally, the bus stopped at a rest stop; she asked if I needed to get out of the bus and I ran off the bus, never more excited to buy a bottle of water.  When I sat back down next to her, I tried to savor my water and drink it casually... I think it was gone in under three minutes. A little bit later it was too dark to read or stare out the window, but then this girl (her name was Estezi), got out her i-pod again... and she asked if I wanted to listen with her.  The shy me didn't know if I should accept or not, but if I didn't, then she'd probably think I was mocking her earlier when I said I liked her music... and I really did want to listen anyway.  So I mustered out an "ok" and put the earphone in and there we sat for about the rest of the way home.  No words were needed, we just snuggled up to this Spanish music playing in our ears.  I had an epiphany (remember, music makes that happen) and I thought that we could have spent the whole bus ride in complete silence, feeling too shy or too cool to say hi to each other... but really, that was all it took: hola.  Two girls who had just met randomly on the bus sharing headphones blaring out these Spanish love songs, probably both of us thinking about the guys in our lives who made us feel the same. I felt like I was sitting there curled up with Sarah or Gussy, two of my amazing friends.  So I guess there's just one more reason why I love music so much... and that's probably reason enough to love it.

For a complete change of subject, I just want to throw it out there that I'm on umbrella number 4 - that's four umbrellas in the course of two and a half months.  It's absolutely crucial to have an umbrella in CR, which is why I spent so much time picking out the perfect umbrella before I came here.  It was lime green with light blue polka dots - I wanted to be different and bring some color on rainy days.  Well, it got stolen after four days of being here.. which is what I get for spending too much time on picking it out.  So then my Aunt Kathy let me keep hers since she was with me when it got stolen and she was leaving the country anyway.  It was a nice dark green umbrella, no problem.  And it got left somewhere in Manuel Antonio. Okayyy so then my dad gave me his lovely umbrella, but by lovely, I mean very cheap (haha its okay dad) but yes, it lasted a few weeks, and then decided it didn't like its job anymore.  I finally purchased an umbrella after a couple days of trying to tough it out in the rain - not a bright idea by the way.  I made sure not to spend toooo much time on picking it out, (unfortunately I didn't see a brightly colored one, just dark blue with some kinda pattern on it) but I had to make sure it wasn't overly priced and would at least be durable enough to last 6 weeks for me.  Wish my umbrella and me luck, we'll probably need it :)   

One more thing for now: I've always thought and told my mom that she is one of my best friends - and it remains true; I have a good amount of wonderful friends but my mom is just one of the best of the best.  It's funny though, because at the same time I identify myself as a Daddy's Girl.  As I'm reading this book he gave me to read, I can't help but acknowledge how lucky I am - he's right, he HAD to have written this book, because he is almost identical to the author (Randy Pausch - The Last Lecture).. except that I'm fortunate to have him in my life longer than Randy's children got to have him in their lives.  I'm getting towards the end of this book and Randy, who is dying of cancer writes that he wants his 18 month old daughter to know that he was the first man to ever fall in love with her.  My dad highlighted this part (as I told him to highlight parts in the book that he especially liked) and wrote a note to me saying that he has always felt the same way.  I've gotten so good at keeping my emotions at check and I hardly ever cry, no matter how choked up I am - but he got me.  I think all girls need to hear this from their dads because as guys come in and out of our lives, we wait and wait for the right guy to become head over heels in love with us; a guy who not only promises to always love us, but who actually proves it with his actions.. we wait, but really, this guy has been there all along.  Clearly it's a different kind of love, but I think the waiting for the other guy becomes a little bit easier when you know how much love you already have.  

It's written in the sand

Shell from Melania

What a sweetheart! I received a "detail" from one of my students.  She didn't know this, but I have been trying to collect seashells or other memorable pieces from the places I visit.  I've been a little sad because everyone says that some of the prettiest beaches are in Guanacaste, but I don't think I'll make it there because it's so far away from where I'm staying in Tres Rios.  Melania, one of the fourth graders, raised her hand in science class today, so I went over to see what her question was.  Instead of asking me a question, she gave me a very distinct and beautiful seashell from a beach in Guanacaste.  Did you know that a seashell can make a person's day? Because it did :) That, and the pictures my parents sent me of my princess and prince - Holly and Buddy, my puppies.

Star students

Spicing things up a bit with the fourth graders because the discipline system, well, hardly exists really.  I thought up another idea based from something my mentor, Kim, did with her first graders.  I've been trying a reward system, but it needs more structure.  I decided and got approved by my cooperating teacher, is called Star Students.  I made a big poster that has this title at the top, and then each of the 25 students' names.  Each student will get 3 stars at the beginning of each day, but if they misbehave, they get a star taken down.  If at the end of the day they have no more stars left, I think they should have to talk to the director (which is a big deal around here, but honestly, some of these kids need a reality check).  The next day they will get a fresh start.  By the end of the week, if they managed to keep at least 10 stars, they get a reward (maybe something different each week).  The students who kept all 15 of their stars throughout the week will get an extra reward or privilege.  Today I hung up this poster, without the stars yet, but there was a stir in the classroom - yep, a little spice and hopefully resulting in something very nice. 

Scraping the bottom

I just had a nice three day weekend, and today, my first day back at school again, I'm already so exhausted. I've been working so hard that at times I'm scraping the bottom.  Today was supposed to be a somewhat easier week because the students are reviewing for their exams, which are next week.  In other words, I'm putting myself to use by coming up with review activities.  Today I came up with a "Hurricane and Tornado Search", front to back - a lot of information, but I added little drawings and things to make it more interesting.  The students were working on them in small groups today and it was awesome to see them thinking so hard.  I taught them how to become experts at searching for key words to help fill in the missing information.  I loved seeing their faces light up when they learned the art of skimming and finding the answers.  Some of the kids even made guesses based on the drawings, which means two things: they're making sense of the information... and, I'm an excellent artist - ha. They've been wanting to do another science experiment for awhile now, but I haven't been teaching science lately - however, I brought up the idea to Viviana and it's a go for Friday! I told her what I needed and she pointed to four big buckets above their lockers in the classroom and said to look in there for the materials... She said she didn't know what was even in there because she hasn't looked. Here's where I have to pull a Dane Cook and say, "UMMM HELLO?? UM, HIIII??" I didn't know that all of those science materials were there!!!! I found so much in there, Friday is going to be dedicated to experiments in science. If my kids don't love me now, they're going to love me by the end of the week, for sure.  Anyway, I made a math review today too, which is for tomorrow, and I'm still working on some more activities.. I definitely make more work for myself, I make myself so exhausted that I'm in bed as soon as I can at night.  I feel like I'm close to being a work-aholic, but at the same time, I love it.  It's tiring, but I can hardly call it work; it's more of a passion, more of a dedication to my students.

Typical new kid story

Felipe is a new boy at school.  The first couple of days, he was like a new toy to the students.  They all wanted to see what he was all about and he got so much attention.  Slowly, and now a few weeks later, it's as though he's hardly even in the classroom.  He's shy, knows very little English, and isn't very athletic... and he's not a spoiled brat, he's the exact opposite.  The poor kid was in tears last week and trying to sit in class without anyone else seeing, even though I hardly think anyone else noticed.  I didn't want to bring too much attention to him, but this was one of those moments where I had a flashback of being a kid myself.  I remember noticing kids who felt sad, left out, or hurt, and I remember feeling too shy most of the times to do anything to make them feel better.  I thought, "How can the teacher not see this? Why can't the teacher, who has all this power, do something to make it all better?"  Too often kids get left behind (no pun intended there) and they go under the radar, academically and socially speaking.  This is why kids might feel like failures, give up, or feel they need to get revenge.  As a kid, I had the power to help out those kinds of kids, but I was too scared most of the time.  As a teacher, I have even more power to help those kinds of kids and I promise not to look past it, I promise to do something about it, I promise to make the other kids aware of it.  I'm not trying to make myself sound like such a big super hero, but I went over and talked to Felipe for a bit, gave him a couple pieces of get-better candy and of course gave him an understanding smile.  Wow, big deal, right?  A couple seconds later I was back to working on something at the teacher's desk, when he called across the room, "Hey teacher... thank you" and he was all smiles.  Some of the students, I noticed, looked a little guilty, and some, maybe even felt relieved that their teacher did something about it - that's fine, but next time hopefully they will realize it can be their turn to do something about it. 

Happy Independence Day Costa Rica!  

I bet you're wondering what I did - I went to Puerto Viejo! My first time on the Caribbean side, and it was gorgeous to say the very least.  I went with three of the other student teachers here right now.  As the only girl, I have to say I did a good job of being pretty motherly; but also, as the only girl, they did a good job being like big brothers to me.  So that sounds messed up, but it wasn't, it was very fun.  I got my own cute little room right below their room at this hotel with a huge garden inside of it.  Just for the record, whenever we were getting ready to leave the hotel, I was always the one outside the boys' door waiting for them... interestingggg.  Anyway, we hiked on the trail that was in between the beach and the road; and of course, we spent as much time as possible on the beach.  The boys were surfing and I was taking pictures because these currents are very strong, it's even hard to just swim here at times.  Call me crazy for not taking this opportunity to learn how to surf, but I was perfectly content watching this time around.  Actually, you can call me something else, because I have another new nickname.. believe it.

 Saturday night, one of the places we stopped at had a live band.  So we sat down and listened, and we had this random guy sit down with us.  None of us realized that he was going to stay the whole time with us.  He kept talking about how he doesn't like to talk a lot... ironic?  The other thing is, he kept looking at me and saying, "you have sharp eyes, your eyes are so sharp".  So I officially have another new nickname - "Sharp Eyes"... which I guess automatically gives me a super power of being able to cut people with my sharp eyes.  Don't worry, I won't use it unless it's for self-defense.

Beauty in the Ugly

You know when people say that there is beauty in the ugly?  (It's similar to when some of my friends and I say that a shirt or something is so ugly it's cute). Well anyway, it sounds like it doesn't really make sense, but here, it makes sense to me.  This country is not very rich in terms of materials, such as fancy, big houses or really nice, expensive cars... however, they are so wealthy with landscapes.  Every day when I walk outside to school or look out the window of the bus, it's so interesting to see the contrast of poor homes and rich nature.  The homes that are put together with scraps and look like they're falling apart, are so sad that it's almost beautiful thinking of the work that went into building it and thinking of the people who must live there - living so simply. Not everyone's house is like this of course, but most of them are not exactly mansions by any means, yet they are elaborately decorated with the prettiest gardens or brightly colored paint.  Even the people are beautiful here with their generosity; so many of them are so giving and kind - I can tell this just by passing them by on the street when they say greet me or each other.  The saddest thing is seeing the people who really have nothing to give because they don't possess anything besides a coat as a blanket and a place to lay on the sidewalk.  Some people would turn their heads in disgust, but you have to wonder how they ended up there.  What's their story? What happened with their family? Are they hateful or resentful? Are they full of fear or sadness?  Are they hopeful and faithful? It's easy for me to say that it's unfortunate for them, but then again, maybe they have more than meets the eye.  Maybe all they have in this world is faith, and faith alone. To me, this is beauty in what would otherwise be thought of as ugly. 

The ocean is filled with stories as each wave carries an unspoken tale.  I, too, scrawl messages in the sand, only to be swept away by the sea. These words are left behind, secrets known only to the ocean and me.

Me Llame "Fiesta" (Call Me "Party")

Zip-lining in the jungle with monkey, lizard, mosquito and my dad:

These were not actual animals by the way, they were the nicknames of the guys who instructed my dad and I on this canopy tour.  My dad and I went to Manuel Antonio for four days and it was my best weekend in Costa Rica yet.  Besides zip-lining, we went white water rafting with intense rapids in Rio Naranja (even tho the river was more brown than orange) and I had a close call because I almost fell out of the raft, but luckily my feet were wedged into the raft enough, and I was right by the guide who yanked me up as soon as he saw it happen.  We also went to a Latin jazz club where we danced all night with some people from our hotel; we hiked through the National Park where we saw some animals and interesting plants - I even got to pet a little deer; we went to a small, yet one of the prettiest beaches ever, inside the park - Playa Espadilla; we ate at an actual airplane which was shot down in Nicaragua by the Sandanista government and brought to Costa Rica where it was turned into a very nice restaurant; we played with squirrel monkeys and a snake right outside of our hotel room; we met so many interesting people such as a couple families from England and a doctor from Canada; and we relaxed on Manuel Antonio Beach whenever we had free time.

I have to say, teaching a bunch of fourth graders while your dad is watching can be a little nerve-racking, but for me it was also pretty enjoyable - my students would say the same also, even though it was a little crazy, but that's nothing new.  They loved my dad, especially a few boys he taught how to play the baseball game 500. They were all asking where he was the next day and sad when I told him he had to go back to the states... what an influential guy my dad is :) We both agreed that we had the trip of a life time that not many people get to have with their dad or daughter.  Hopefully there will be plenty more to come.

My Best Teaching Head-Fakes Yet: The whole head-fake thing is from a book my dad and I were reading together called, The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.  He says that head-fakes can be used for more than just football because they can also be used to teach something without people realizing they're learning. So far, I've already put this to use with my students since we read that part in the book. The first I thought of beforehand when I gave my dad a homework assignment: bring letters from his students for my fourth graders.  My students got extremely excited and got to work right away on their responses to their new pen pals from Wisconsin, including putting in photos,stickers, drawings, and other little gifts.  It's definitely a great way to motivate them to practice writing.  Other head-fakes include making a video about the fifth grader's role models in oral english class; also in fourth grade math I did a magic trick where I made the zeroes "disappear" when they were multiplying multiples of 10, 100, and 1,000 and then re-appear for the final end product.  We've also had some math centers and games to make the concepts more relevant to them.  Since I teach math to the fourth and fifth graders, it gets to be a lot, so it's one more reason I have to make it interesting... including making up stories to get the kids into the lesson.  I'm still not living one of them down... I made up such a bad story/joke for the 5th graders in a math lesson about how I was in a market and kept hearing this guy call out "decimal! decimal!" but then I realized that he was actually holding a piece of bad (mal) fruit saying "es mal! es mal!"  ..... yeah, it was the best I could do to get their attention one day, and that was about three weeks ago.. at least a million times every day my students come up and whisper in my ear or call from the other end of the school "DECIMAL! DECIMAL!" I don't think they're ever going to forget that one. It's worth it though, because I receive some very sweet compliments from my students about how they like my lessons since they're fun.. one student even requested for me to stay after I'm done student teaching to teach them math - but I think I have to turn that offer down since I miss everyone from the states too much.

Pat on the Back of the Month: It's not my intention to brag about all these good things that I have experienced or accomplished, because there are certainly things that are not so good at times - which is to be expected with anyone, of course.  It's just that I try to pay more attention to the positive things, which is why I need to share my huge "pat on the back" from the owner of this school.  I get nervous that I need to conform to how my cooperating teacher does her lessons, and I get worried that I'm spending too much time doing what I think is best for my students' learning instead of making sure every single workbook page is filled out. So  when I was told that the owner of the school wanted to speak with me last week, immediately my stomach turned upside down,thinking I must be in trouble for being too outrageous when I teach or something and they're going to make me switch schools or not be allowed to even teach in Costa Rica at all.  But it fortunately was not this bad as she asked how things were going for me and other questions about the students, and then told me how happy she was to have me at the school and to keep up what I'm doing because the students have told her good things about me.  BIG sigh of relief.  Needless to say, I left school that day with a huge smile on my face rather than my normal "I need the longest nap ever and maybe 20 cups of coffee" expression.  Even though teaching here continues to be one of the very hardest challenges I've ever had, I feel like I'm making at least some sort of positive impact on these kids, and I'm definitely growing as a teacher.. and another thing, I'm so ready for my own classroom. POR FAvor.

The Gift of a New Boyfriend: I guess when students get tired of giving their teachers candies or fruit or other small gifts, they decide to give them a boyfriend.  Well, today the girls in my fifth grade class gave me a new boyfriend because he's the same age as me apparently, and his name is Kevin - maybe you know him? He's the oldest Jonas Brother.... haha I have yet to meet this famous boy band singer, but hey, tomorrow they're bringing me a picture of him.  Yikes.

"More Time" by Needtobreathe: So now that I'm in my 10th week here, I have 7 weeks left - I feel like it's going to go by so fast because there's so much I need to do here still - things I want to do with my classes and places I want to see in CR.  It's so strange to think about all my friends back home either starting up classes again or starting new jobs.  I want to wish all of them "GOOD LUCK!" ... and honestly, keep in touch :) Also, incase you're wondering why you should call me Fiesta - it's because I received a name tag with this written on it from a waiter at a restaurant I went to one day for coffee.. random, but after you wear a name tag all day, whatever the name is on it just kind of sticks I suppose.. At least it's not a bad name, it's a lot better than Big Tuna or something.

The Secret Admirer and Best Paths

I have the most grandisimo cappuccino in the world right now and it is sooo delicious.  I love sitting at this place in the mall, it's sheltered but on one side it's completely open with fountains, beautiful plants, and the mountains (hey, that rhymes).  And this little coffee place is RIGHT here, it's perfect :) Today was another good day at school - my kids were so well-behaved!  I don't know if it was just because we only had a few classes together today or what, maybe it was my mood?  Maybe it's because I have a little system down for how to teach them, or maybe I am beginning to accept the fact that they will always have a lot of questions no matter how well I explain something, especially because they always want to double check that their answers are right.  Or maybe we're all just getting used to how we all work together, I don't know, but I will not complain.  

Katherine (Flor's niece) and I have started to go on a walk every morning at 5:30 before everything else we have to do during the day.  It's amazing how much better the day feels after this.  She is such a sweetheart too, and reminds me a lot of Flor with all of her wisdom and optimistic views.  Speaking of Flor, I think I can almost count on having a new little surprise in my room every day - one day it was a new bathroom rug, one day it was a coin purse and a Costa Rican bag, another day it was some more pillows, once it was a lamp, I even came home to a tv in my room, and today it was a desk!  It makes me laugh because it's not like I reallyyy need any of these things, but she just always thinks of something else.  She's wonderful, and at the same time, she makes me miss my real mom.

I realized that I have some favorite faculty members at my school.  You're not supposed to have a favorite student, but that's okay, because I have about 20 favorite students, the other ones I just don't know as well yet.  So as far as faculty members, my cooperating teacher is wonderful, but besides her I absolutely love the cleaning lady! I think her name is Hydu? She's so funny, only speaks in Spanish, but she calls me "the girl with green eyes" even though they're blue.  She's always striking up a little conversation with me or giving me a silly look because she knows I'll laugh.  There's also another teacher assistant about my age and she is just awesome.  

Then there are two other teachers who sometimes seem kind of intimidating, but they're actually really laid back people who are almost always laughing.  Today I was talking to them, when one of them goes, "does she know about the secret admirer?" The other one said, "Oh I don't think she does.."  So they reminded me about how on Monday the school announced the winners of a poetry contest, one from each grade.  The winners read their poems to the school, and it was adorable when my fourth and fifth grade student winners read theirs.  The fifth grade boy had written a love poem and even though it was in Spanish, I could tell it was very lovey dovey.  Everyone was giggling and clapped so much at the end, girls even screamed for him.  I was sitting there looking around wondering, who could this lucky little girl be who he wrote the poem for?  Is it one of my students, how cute! So anyway, they said, "well, you know that love poem that J.P. wrote?... It was about you!" HAHAHAHA HOW embarrassing!! The whole day I couldn't stop myself from randomly laughing out loud, and it didn't help that I accidentally ran right into the poor kid at the end of the day.  Wow, teaching tomorrow will be interesting but I think I can just pretend like I don't know.  

Anyway, an overall very good day - It's been a month teaching at this school and I already have about a million and two stories about my students - and I'm already very attached to them.  One of the fourth graders, Matias, is just hilarious and adorable.  He was telling me about how he has his own office at his mom's work where she's a psychiatrist. Then he even said, "Come to my office on umm on Monday, yes, that's a good day, I can give you a gratis, I mean free, a free consultation".  So my kids really do think I'm crazy.  They also think I'm a good soccer player, haha, this is because they were getting ready for recess and one of the kids got his soccer ball out and kicked it across the room.  I was upset that he would do this, and out of instinct I stopped the ball with my foot (wearing my cute lacy flats..) and did a pass to myself that I learned awhile back when I played.  Their eyes widened and their jaws dropped. Okay, it wasn't even that cool or anything, but they weren't expecting it and were for some reason really impressed.  "Teacher, you play futbol??" haha, we'll let them think I'm a star "futbol" player. 

 

Even though the school doesn't have a lot of classroom materials, I figured out that most of their money goes into all of their text books and work books, which are all really nice.  I love the reading books, and I think my cooperating teacher realized this because, well I'm always looking through them... so she's been having me teaching reading lately. YAY :) This is a poem from the book that I like and can relate to:

The Best Paths

The best paths

are whispers

in the grass

a bent twig

a token, a hint

easily missed

The best paths

hide themselves

until the right

someone

comes along

The best paths

lead you

to where

you didn't know

you wanted to go

Las Detalles - The Details:

*A box of chocolates "just because" from a new friend

*Coming home to a note and a flower in my room from my tica mom

*Getting a phone call from my parents & best friend

*A hug and smile from my students when they see me

*Hot Costa Rican coffee after school

All little things, little details that make life beautiful <3

Tomorrow two of the other student teachers here are leaving, which is bitter sweet... bitter because they're the people I've been talking to and hanging out with the most, but sweet because I'm so happy to have had the chance to meet these girls.  They are both about six years older than me and very sweet.  Jess and I hung out a lot because she lived close, so we would have coffee with Flor, have Latino dance lessons, or go on little get-aways within Costa Rica together.  Rachel was teaching at the same school with me so we talked a lot there and shared all of our classroom/teaching stories.  They both gave me some teaching materials and some books that they don't want to take back with them, which I am overwhelmingly gracious for!  

One of the books was from Jess, and it's one of the best children's books ever: The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.  All of these little mishaps through out this kid's day make him so upset and grumpy that he keeps wishing he was in Australia. It's adorable.  Some days when I'm teaching here I feel a little like this poor kid - I think, poor me because I just want to be able to teach how I'm used to, but it's not the way these kids learn.  

Today was a pretty good day, though.  I only taught one lesson and it was extra difficult to keep the kids on task because they were constantly taking turns leaving the room to try on their outfits for their talent show this weekend (I secretly can't wait for this talent show to just be over with already!).  The trick to it is keeping a positive attitude, being firm with out of control students, and giving extra attention to the well-behaving students.  It's such a challenge for my students to be motivated reading in their expensive, beautiful and colorful reading books - why? because it's in English. So I stop every now and then and try to explain what's going on in very simple terms and lots of actions.  I think they think I'm a little crazy.

As mean as I feel like I'm being to them, especially when I give them pages to work on in their workbooks (yes, written in English) during class, I keep reminding myself: this is how they're used to learning... and at least I smile at my students and still try to make learning fun for them, which is more than I personally think some of the other teachers can say.  I don't want to be friends with my students, and it's not the end of the world if they don't like me for disciplining them, but I do want them to know I care about them.  At the end of the day, students aren't going over in their heads everything they learned at school, instead, they're thinking of all the things that made them happy through out the day - and years later they aren't going to necessarily remember everything they learned in fourth or fifth grade, but hopefully they will have good memories with me as their teacher.    

Other things I've been up to lately: I went to a dance club where there was a live Latino band; I sometimes get to have Latino dance classes in our living room because there is a guy who lives in my house who is a dance teacher!; go on weekend and even day trips to the beach (Jess and I went to playa hermosa a few weeks ago and last Sunday we went to playa herradura for the day); going to a really nice pool in Orosi where the water comes from the springs of a volcano; going to the ferria, it's a long street full of stands with all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables sold really cheap; learning how to cook some delicious CR meals a la Flor, such as ceviche (YUM); going to a cool movie theatre where the movies are in English with Spanish subtitles and where you can drink things like beer or coffee or you can eat caramel corn; walking two and a half hours to the Basilica in Cartago for the remembrance of the African American angel "La Negrita"; lots of girls nights where we drink wine, dance, do our nails, and yesterday  Jess even gave me a little haircut; celebrating Flor's birthday about three times and mother's day...it was cute because all of the students' moms came to school for some fun activities and then they left school early; going on little trips to the capital, San Jose, to go to the Central Market (it's insane there with all the different things they sell) and going to my new favorite little coffee place here called Cafe Latino with new kinds of artwork displayed every week.

I'm excited because my dad is visiting me next week! How awesome that I get a chance to travel this country with him. Hmm, I wonder if he'll recognize me... for the first time since my birthday in March, I finally feel like I'm actually 22.  Partly because I feel like an actual teacher, partly because I'm pretty much on my own in a different country, and also partly because I've already learned a lot here about myself and the way I want to live.  I've taken a lot for granted back home, and being away from home, you realize things that are so incredibly important - detalles that are hard to miss, even though they were huge and right in front of your face all along.  

I know I'm already off on my biggest adventure yet, but I can't help but plan even more adventures.... except these will be with mi mejor amiga y hermana a corazon (my best friend and sister at heart), Sarah.  The details for this will be determined later but they have to do with backpacking in Europe and seeing what California is all about. 

Anyway, right now I need to figure out how to make this movie with my students about their role models - I dream big, what can I say?... 

that's Teacher Allison to you

I would first just like to say that I'm getting so good at holding an umbrella it's not even funny - yeah it looks easy, and I'm sure you've tried it before when it rains, but it's nothing like Costa Rican rain.  I've got some good methods now for when the wind blows in certain ways like you wouldn't believe.  But my favorite method is when it's raining so hard that you can hardly see where you're walking, I've come up with this great technique: put your umbrella back down into it's compact little state because you're just going to get completely drenched anyway. I might as well pack some shampoo with me at all times, too.

So my first week of teaching - I was so excited because I could tell from the outside that it was going to be a nice school, it's even right next to a coffee plantation ;) And sure enough when I first walked in I was in awe.  Seriously, there are murals, beautiful murals on the walls, painted by the high schoolers. Everything is so open with gates and windows and sky lights letting in so much natural light.  There are separate buildings for the high school, elementary, and pre-primary grades, a building with a little (sad) library and computer room, one for the office, and one for the cafeteria so the students can run right outside when they're done eating.  All these buildings are connected by sidewalks with roofs over the top for when it, obviously, rains.  Even the stairway to go up to my classrooms is open, which is necessary for when its nice, and it usually is nice most of the day. Okay, yes, I did say classrooms - plural - I teach mostly fourth grade (24 students), but a little in fifth grade also (28 students). 

My students were so welcoming - they call every teacher "Teacher" and then their first name, and since Allison is easier for them to say, I am Teacher Allison.  That's only one of the things that took some getting used to.  One of my first thoughts after my first day of being at this school was "I'm so glad I had three wonderful, amazing learning experiences in an American public school" because if I didn't, I probably would have been so lost.  (This is definitely a learning experience, too, no doubt). My mentor, Kim, back home is to thank for the majority of my teaching style - I learned so many good ideas and techniques from her which are definitely coming into use here! My cooperating teacher at this school, Viviana is extremely nice and welcoming - she made it a point to introduce me to all the other faculty.  However, she is new and has only taught preschoolers... so we are helping each other quite a bit, which is actually kind of awesome for me to voice more opinions.  My second day at the school I actually found out 45 minutes before class started that I was going to teach the lesson... about the book I didn't even read, and with no lesson prepared... but it actually went really well after I quickly skimmed through the book and made up a little story map activity - not the best by any means, but it worked considering the circumstance.

Alright, so I realized that teaching here is like teaching a whole class full of English as Second Language learners - talk about veryyyy good practice.  All of the students are native Spanish speakers, clearly, well except maybe like 3 of my students but they primarily speak Spanish.... BUT in this school, they learn every subject in English (except of course Spanish and French classes).  I think this is a unique idea, except that some of the students know very, very little English, if any I'm beginning to realize.  Also, they are used to copying notes from the board for pretty much everything, so I had to gradually start implementing my more hands-on approach - but I don't get to use it nearly as much as I would like.  This is for 2 reasons: 1. there are very little teaching materials (mostly just paper.. and everything else I have to bring), and 2. some of my ideas are too abstract for them, as it would be for anyone learning in a different language.  I have found out that my students LOVE acting and dancing (perfect match?) so I try to let them act out scenarios in most subjects and to incorporate their favorite things when ever I can.  It's so adorable how my students try so hard to talk to me in English, but sometimes I even get to practice my Spanish with them - especially with the ones who don't exactly know English.  It makes me feel like I'm actually helping them, like when cute little J.J. had a question on his test, I said it in Spanish and suddenly he understood it (go figure, right?).  My first week I thought my students would hate me because I expect them to be quiet when I talk so I don't have to yell, which I don't think they're exactly used to.  I told them I don't want to feel like I have to scream over their voices, and my voice sounds a lot nicer when I'm not yelling.  Also, I push them so hard to think and to question rather than just try to get points for copying something down; I take away minutes of their lunch if they take away our teaching/learning time because they're out of their seats goofing around; I call on students to answer questions if they weren't listening (ooo that's the worst); I do all these things that are sometimes pushing the boundaries for me, but I am actually a firm teacher, I have to be. At the same time, when they're good, I try to be extra nice, I always try to be caring, and sometimes I'm a little silly in my teaching.  I definitely got some laughs when I pretended to be Queen Elizabeth this week, but hey, it got their attention and now they know where she lives and hopefully some other things about the United Kingdom.  

Honestly, after my first two weeks teaching here I had some doubts in myself, especially when my students claimed they at times they didn't understand me.  I have to talk so clear, and slow, use simple terms a lot, even though sometimes I think they understand more than they say. Already, midway through my third week, I feel like I am gaining more respect from them, because I also try to use Spanish translations when I can and I show interest in knowing how to say something in Spanish. It's definitely a challenge teaching in this kind of environment, but I have 12 weeks left to make these kids mine and to get them a million times more motivated about learning because right now I'm just having a hard time seeing it.  Trust me, it WILL be there by the time I leave.

TODAY:  A couple days ago I asked Viviana what she thought about us having "finish early activities" for when the students are done with their work to keep them quiet and basically just preventing the chaos whenever they get a chance - to which she agreed was a good idea.  So I made these four folders (I got the idea from Teaching Esme) that say "If... you... finish... early" and then right below it translated "Si... usted... termina... temprano" and hung them up on the wall.  I was hoping to use them right away on Monday, but of course things never go as planned with schedule changes and all sorts of things constantly, so they've been hanging there.  Ever since I put them up, the kids had been asking me "Teacher Allison, the folders? What for?" It's adorable how they are so intrigued by this new little addition.  I kept telling them that if they are good listeners and we get our lessons done I can explain what they are and fill them.  Well, two days passed and we didn't get to them, but I told them it wasn't my fault and I got a big "BUT TEACHERRRRR!" Haha I wanted to laugh but that might have been mean.  So today (Wednesday) I FINALLY just took a little time before the lesson to show them all the different kinds of QUIET at YOUR DESK activities they can do whenever they are done with their work instead of getting up and talking to their friends.  Today they didn't get to use them yet because we had to cut the lessons short to practice for their talent show, but at least now hopefully it will motivate them and keep them quiet.  

Pura Vida in Costa Rica

If I were to explain culture shock, I would define it as simply as overwhelming sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and all sorts of feelings. For example, this computer I am using in an internet cafe is extremely different, I dont know how to use most of the punctuation on this keyboard, not even an exclamation point. Also, Spanish words are constantly floating around in my head and in my ears and trying to escape from my mouth. I never realized how much I took for granted communicating whenever I wanted or needed to... but culture shock isnt necessarily a bad thing, just very different. I really cant complain tho... Costa Rica is absolutely amazing. Everywhere I look no matter where I am outside here, there are mountains and exotic plants and markets full of fresh fruits and vegetables.
So far I have traveled around the little town I live in, Tres Rios, with a friend, Jenny who leaves next Monday. I have taken so many buses to a couple other cities, like San Jose, San Pedro, and Cartago to see other markets, shops, and people. Last week I went to Pueblito with my aunt Kathy. It consists of 18 houses all put together like a little community for children without parents, or parents who can afford to take care of them. We played soccer and basketball, jump roped, played cards and they taught me some dance moves... really they just need affection and friendship. They dont have a lot, but they have the biggest hearts. I will be going back there quite frequently I hope. When I left, a lot of them gave me little presents, like one of their stuffed animals or a bracelet they made, but my favorite things are their hugs.. and when they call me allison, because its easier to pronounce than allie... but when they say my name it sounds like allie-sown.. haha i love it.
Over the weekend, Jenny and I took an adventure to Montezuma, which is on the peninusla. We took a few buses and a ferry, eight hours later we arrived and decided to stay in a hotel right on the beach of this small town. I cant really think of anyone else i know, besides maybe my brothers, who would want to stay in that hotel, but it was awesome, no matter how small and kinda dirty. So there we were, hanging out in the hut outside and attached to our hotel on the beach, drinking a costa rican beer Imperial, listening to Bob Marley music while a guy in a hammock played the bongos. It was raining, one of the things I love about it here is that it is usually sunny in the mornings and rains later on in the day or night. It was so relaxing being there. Jenny and I made a lot of friends there and ended up playing cards the whole night and walked on the beach. The next day we went to this girls really nice hotel where we went swimming in the pool where only a few yards away were mango trees with monkeys swinging from them and throwing the mangos down to the ground... it basically made my day, possibly trip in CR to see those monkeys!! (hey i figured out the exclamation points!)
The ride home was much better because we got to take a jet boat with some of the girls we made friends with there... don{t worry, I took a short video of it if anyone wants to see it!
Okay, on request, I will tell you about my host mom and her house. Her name is Flor, shes my tica mother.

• Tranquila is her way of life, which means relax and go with the flow.
• She loves to dance and has taught me the salsa and the merengue! Shes a riot.
• Her food is very healthy and sooo good, it reminds me of being home. All her foods are made from fresh fruits and vegetables.. I highly recommend making a watermelon batido, or smoothie. Also, she loves coffee just as much as my mom and me.
• She has herbal remedies.. did you know that old coffee grounds and eggshells blended with water is nutritious for plants? haha, yep. Also, she took care of my irritated eyes by making tea nice and hot, then chilling it and dropping it into my eyes.. then I had to rest, and felt all better when I woke up.
• Finally, she is always giving advice and words of wisdom, along with interesting lessons during dinner with lit candles for a romantica atmosphere!

Her house, like most houses here, has a garage with a barred door where you enter. Right when you walk in, there is a seating area and to the left is her 30 year old sons room. In this room there are her some of her babies.. aka, plants. In her kitchen, there are things you would find in any other kitchen, but her best cooking appliance is oddly enough, her blender. There is a little back patio where she hangs clothes to dry and where there is a hammock to take naps in and also, more flowers. My room is actually very nice, with a big bed, and my window overlooks the patio, but when Jenny leaves, Ill have her room, and with that is my own bathroom. There are 2 other bedrooms, Flors and her nieces, and then a living room and one other bathroom. I guess Ill have to put up pictures at some point because its hard to describe it all.

Anyway, next week I will begin student teaching.. this week I am helping out at a different foster home where there are 37, yes 37, children.. its muy locisimo, or crazy, if youre muy rusty in spanish like my dad, haha. Hasta luego, Until Later!