Montezuma

Peace and Love Costa Rican flag out in front of the hotel

View from the Hotel Luna Llena

In honor of Costa Rican Independence Day we got Friday September 17th off.  So, 14 of the teachers from the school took off to Montezuma for the weekend.  Six of us stayed at Luna Llena (Full Moon) which is owned by the mother of one of the 11th graders.  It was a beautiful weekend.  It didn´t really rain at all, which was a change from what we are used to in Monteverde, where it rains daily, and lately it has rained almost non-stop.  Some of the highlights of our trip was the animals we go to see.  I got some great pictures of the white faced monkeys when they came to visit us at our hotel.

White faced Monkey

We also were visited by an iguana who was sun bathing on the roof outside our hotel room one morning

Sunbathing

But, without a doubt the best part of the weekend was the hiking.  We found some rivers, springs and waterfalls that were absolutely beautiful.  One of the interns and I hiked up to a spring we had been told about.  It was a very fun hike up stream through a few small waterfalls and lots of rocks.  We hiked up and back without a problem.  Then we started to walk back along the beach towards our hotel when we ran into a couple of our co-workers.

The Montezuma Coast

We decided to show them where we went because we knew that they would enjoy it.  We hid our belongings under a bush by the beach and hiked back up.  Again we trekked through the terrain without problem.  Then however, when we came back as we reached the beach I fell.  Beverly, the 2nd grade teacher was apparently convinced that I had died, until I jumped back up and ran into the water to wash myself off.  The 3 of them wanted to take pictures because I bruised immediately and as they thought that "my kidney was going to jump out of my body," and handed me the box of wine to ease the pain.  I walked back, bought some bandages and had a friend bandage me up.  Then I laid down because I was feeling lightheaded and started to black out.  But once I had a few minutes rest I was better.

The following morning a group of us went hiking up to a waterfall.  It was beautiful.  There were several layers of waterfalls.  From the first one Steve (the 6th grade intern) and I jumped from some of the larger rocks and then went behind the waterfall.  We later climbed up higher to see another 2 levels of waterfalls.  We also ran into a group of german students we had met a few weeks earlier at the volcano.  All in all, it was a great weekend and I would repeat it even if I knew I´d fall and get hurt again.

September 15th and Semana Cívica

Traditional ox cart

La Semana Cívica or Civic week is a very important week in Costa Rica.  This week represents the patriotism and unity of this small socialist nation.  Before Semana Cívica my school celebrated for a week.  Each morning started with an all-school assembly where we each presented un acto cívico.  Un acto cívico includes the greeting of the national pabellón (flag with crest) and school flag.  Then the school sang a few patriotic anthems (El himno de Costa Rica, Himno a la bandera, Himno al 15 de septiembre, ¡Oh Costa Rica! and the Himno patriotica).  After a few of these songs were sung we then saw presentations by the students on the history of the flag, history of Costa Rica, National symbols and heritage.  

Then during the actual Semana Cívica on Tuesday the 14th at 6pm people gather in the town halls in each of the towns in Costa Rica to sing the national anthem.  In theory the entire country is singing at that moment.  It was really fun to be a part of this because most people in the staff learned the words to the various anthems from our month of practicing with the students.  Some of us even realized we know more Costa Rican songs than we do for the US!  (I commented on how I sing the Andalucian anthem and the Costa Rican anthem much more often than I would sing the Star Spangled Banner)

After the anthem was sung there was a parade of lanterns in honour of the light that was brought to announce their independence from Spain 189 years ago.  Every year a torch is run (much like the Olympic torch) through Central America to re-enact the independence from Spain.  Most of the students in town as well as some of the teachers made their own lanterns out of patriotic symbols and paraded them around the main triangle in downtown (also known as the only block downtown, but more on that at a later date)

Patriotic lantern for the Sept 14th parade

Then on the morning of Wednesday the 15th (Independence Day) the whole town (well, more or less) gathered back in the gymnasium to celebrate independence day.  We witnessed another Acto Cívico which included the presentation by our 1st,2nd and 11th graders.  It was a fun, bilingual presentation.   The village was also visited by a representative of the MEP (Ministry of Education) as well as a few other speakers from town.

Crowd for the Acto Cívico on September 15th

After the Acto Cívico on Wednesday there was a parade of school bands and bastoneras (baton twirlers) that took a large loop around most of the town.

Parade on September 15th.  Featuring students from the Creativa

A normal week in Monteverde...

I see beautiful plants like the Ave de Paraíso, Strangler Figs and many others whose names I don´t yet know

Birds of Paradise

I see lots of animals including birds (motmots, hummingbirds...) mammals (sloth, coati, my students) and lots of bugs, but mostly dragonflies, mosquitos and spiders.

A wolf spider on our kitchen cabinet

5th and 6th grade building and hummingbird garden

On a typical school week...Monday thru Thursday are normal school days for us, so we wake up around 6, get ready for school and hike up the hill to La Creativa by 730.  Classes start at 8 and the monkey children go home around 3 o´clock on the bus.  On Monday´s the beginners English and Spanish classes meet after school for teachers.  On Tuesday´s it´s the upper level class.  So Tuesday afternoon I convert back into a student!  Wednesday afternoon we have staff meetings and on Thursdays I teach a Sign Language class to my colleagues.  Fridays are an interesting day for us because the students go home at 1230 every Friday and usually we put celebrations on Friday.  We´ve already celebrated Family Day and Día del Niño y Joven.  But even on a normal Friday the students schedule is different.  We have a school sing presentation from one of the primary classes every Friday morning.  Then my students and I do a brief activity outside or for community building.  Then the kids have snack and PE with the 6th grade teacher and me.  PE so far this year has been the students´ choice between a hike with a teacher and ultimate frisbee.  Then the kids go to Spanish class and finally we do a community building activity with our 3-5 year old friends in the Kinder classroom.

5th and 6th grade building

One night a week is quickly becoming a staff yoga lessons at Rio Shanti, where 2 of my co-workers give massages.  On the weekends we have been hosting pot lucks a lot with my co-workers and a couple of the students.  

Saturdays though, are my favourite days of the week.  I sleep in and wake up around 7am.  Then when my roommates are awake we walk downtown to the Feria (Farmer´s market) and we buy most of our groceries.  After the farmers market we check out the 2 grocery stores for anything we´re missing and return home.  There is a yoga class at ten on Saturdays, but I have not been yet. And shortly after noon we go to play frisbee at the Friends School with people from the community.

Sundays are usually our days for hikes, relaxing, movies and planning the next week´s lesson plans.

Saturday Hike with my Creativa Familia

Un domingo más raro

El domingo pasado a las 4 de la madrugada me desperté porque había un sonido muy extraño en mi casa.  Yo pensé que era una tormenta fuertísima, pero era agua del cuarto baño que debe ir al water saliendo hasta el salón.  Así que yo la desperté a mi compañera de casa, Amy y ella al dueño que vive a lado.  Él le arregló y después fregamos y limpiamos hasta las 5 de la mañana y fuimos a dormir de nuevo.

Last Sunday at 4am I was awoken because there was a very strange sound in our house.  I thought it was a strong storm, but it turned out to be a plumbing problem.  The pipe that is supposed to feed water into the toilet was sending the water into the living room.  So I had to wake up my roommate Amy, who told me it´s not the first time this has happened.  She went and got the land lord who quickly fixed it and helped us sweep the water outside until 5am when we all returned to our beds.

A las 10 de la mañana salí con mi otra compañera, Paulina y fuimos a la Reserva Scientífica Monteverde y fue lindísima.  Saquemos unos fotos del sendero.  Y conocimos a unos españoles de las Canarías.

At 10am, my other roommate, Paulina, and I finally made it to the Monteverde Reserve after 4 weekends of trying and getting distracted by something else along the way.  We had an amazing time but both forgot our letters stating we live here  (and there for get in free instead of paying $15 each).  But they believed us when we mentioned the school by the local nickname and let us in for free!!!  It was beautiful.  Below are a few pictures from the Reserve.  For more pictures please visit my Picasa page.

MMMM. Costus, delicioso

Bromeliad

Spiderweb in the Reserve   Tela de araña en la reserva

Y por la noche jugamos scabble en español e ingles y bananagrams también con unos maestros de nuestra escuela.

That night we played Spanish scrabble, English story scrabble and Bananagrams with friends from work.

La comida tica

¡Me encanta la comida tica!  Espero añadir fotos de la comida tica cuando pueda.  Pero los mejors son...

Gallo pinto con plátanos

Arroz con pollo, guyabas, mamón chinos, plátanos con queso y por supuesto, el casado

I love Costa Rican food!

People who know me well will be surprised to find out that I made the Gallo pinto above as well as pancakes, brownies and cookies!


PS More fotos to come!