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!

Fortuna and Arenal

Arenal and Lake Arenal

Termite nest

This past weekend I went on an excursion with a few of my friends to the town of Fortuna and the Arenal volcano.  We had a beautiful time although we had scorching heat the entire time.  As a group we took the jeep-boat-jeep route to get to Fortuna, the small town near the volcano.  The ride was bumpy for the first hour, because the first hour out of Monteverde is not paved.  Once we were in Fortuna we took a guided hike around the volcano and the guide pointed out plants and animals that were edible and could help for medicine.  He showed us how this one type of ants was a good remedy for arthritis and how termites were a good source of protein and tasted like carrots. 

We got to watch the volcano spew smoke and we heard some rocks roll down the mountainside.  On our way back down we went to a look out to watch the volcano for a little bit more, where our friend Jesse proposed to our other friend Tera.  So this will surely be a weekend they never forget!

Tastes like carrots

After the volcano we went to Baldi, which is a hot water spring resort.  It was very beautiful and the water was very relaxing.  They had a few bars that you could order from while swimming and just pull up to a bar stool.  They also had a few water slides and several artificial waterfalls.  We had a good time, but it kept us up past our bed time because our bus left there at 9pm.

The ants go marching 5 by 5...

On Sunday morning we took a hike around Fortuna and we got to see a lot of plants, a snake and some birds that seemed to be posing for us.  We also saw a line of cutter ants that was quite impressive.  Then we caught a bus and all relaxed on our way home so we could prepare for another week at La Creativa.

The humans go marching 1 by 1

What I like about Monteverde

My new life in Monteverde (the Spanish speaking version of Vermont) is amazing.  I love it here.  Here are a few reasons why

My house and roommates are amazing.  The house feels like a cabin in the woods.  It´s a cute little place that feels like a good mix of modern comforts (oven, stove, hot water in the shower) and old fashioned life.

My new house

My school is amazingly beautiful.  The Cloud Forest School is an amazing place for me to have my first year as a full time teacher!  The school´s Spanish name is Centro de Educación Creativa or La Creativa (The Creative)  We are in the cloud forest (much like a rain forest but higher in elevation so we get more mist than rain, but it rains every afternoon).  Also I have a beautiful view of the Gulf of Nicoya which is part of the Pacific Ocean.  the students in my school take an active role in re-foresting the area.  I believe they said some 50,000 trees have been planted by the school and that each student plants one that is “their tree.”  My co-workers are also very nice, wonderful people who are full of resources and support for me.

My neighborhood

I love getting to walk in the woods everywhere.  Our commute to school is straight up hill.  Whenever we go to our friends´ houses we have to take flashlights, high boots, rain jackets and umbellas because we are walking through the woods and it could start raining at any moment. 

The road to school

Even though I´m not going out for tapas every night, and I spend most of my time either at work or at home, it´s been a great start to the year.  My co-workers and I get to gether very often for potlucks and such.  There´s a group of 6 of us who go on hikes on Sundays and we try to play frisbee and go to the farmer´s market on Saturdays.  This weekend we´re taking a trip to the Arenal volcano not too far from here.  Last weekend we tried to go to the nature reserve, but got distracted along the way by signs for a waterfall.

The waterfall

Costa Rican Bio-Diversity

Las plantas y animales aqui son imprecionante.  No puedo creer la diversidad aquí.  Ya hemos visto un montón de animales y plantas nuevas.  Casí cada día como algo nuevo o veo un animal que no conocí antes.  Aquí os voy a enseñar las fotos de algunas cosas que me llaman la attención.  La primera semana aquí yo ví unos monos, perezosos, aves, nasuas y mucho más.

I cannot believe the plants and animals here in Costa Rica.  The bio-diversity is amazing.  We have already seen a ton of animals and plants that I had never seen or even heard of before.  Almost every day I eat something new or discover a new animal.  Here I will share some pictures of the things that were most interesting for me.

coati

Strangler Fig

Aligator

White faced monkey

First week of school!

Settling into Monteverde

What an eventful week it has been for me!  On Sunday I went with some of my friends to hike through the river.  We found lots of butterflies and a handful of small waterfalls near our houses, which was fun but meant our riverwalk was shorter than anticipated.

Wednesday was our first day of school, and I was pooped at the end of the day.  I only have 12 students in my class.  11 of them have been in bilingual programmes before, and 1 child is starting her first week in a bilingual school so she has a very limited amount of English.  One of my challenges this year will be to teach her the material in a way that she isn´t loosing the math and literacy objectives but is still getting an immersion programme.  

As a whole the students seem ready for the year.  Half the students are very talkative and the other half have started out the year by showing me their shy side.  One of the students translates most of what I say, which is great that he´s learning English so well, but this could prove a huge obstacle for me because all of the other students need to learn English as well, and not to just rely on their classmate.

So far we´ve had 2 full days of classes and our half-day on Friday.  Every Friday is a half-day for the kids, but we stay til 4 o´clock for staff meetings and professional development.  Friday mornings I think will go by extra quickly because we start off the day with a “school sing” which is basically a big sing along to get the kids from pre-K to 6th grade together to sing and enjoy the school.  This is a lot of fun and the kids love it.  My mentor, Jesse (the 6th grade teacher) lead the School Sing this week and sang a song about things you appreciate and how hard it would be to imagine life without it.  When he opened it up to the students the first suggestion was “I can´t imagine life without Fishy,” which obviously made me blush because it was my 3rd day there, but I take it as a sign that I´m building a good reputation among the students already.

Another interesting thing about the school is that for PE Jesse and I are able to merge our classes and give them 2 options.  So Friday morning I took about half of the 5th and 6th graders on a hike to the top of campus.

(View of Monteverde from the Upper Kiosk on campus)

On Friday we also started our “Community Partners” project where my 5th graders will spend time mentoring the kinder kids (which are confusingly the pre-K students).  We also found a scorpion in class on Friday!

----

Even though I have been exhausted from school every day and usually want to go to bed by 8pm I have been able to get out and explore Monteverde, Santa Elena and Cerro Plano (the 3 neighborhoods here) a little bit.  On Saturday I got to play Ultimate with Amy, Jesse and a few others.  Later on Saturday some of my friends hosted a party for a bunch of the teachers at the hotel they live in, and for the first time in a week we all stayed awake past 10PM!  Well, all of us except for 6 year old Logan.  

I am off to get ready for tomorrow.  PEACE and KEEP DREAMING!

PS, OH YEAH, I made brownies today, I do believe it´s the first thing I´ve ever baked.

PPS, We also went out for Pizza at this great place downtown on Friday night

First week in Monteverde

So I´ve been in Monteverde for about a week now and I am exhausted.  I am thoroughly enjoying my time here, but I´m beat.  Every morning we hike up the steep incline to school before 8, and on Wednesday we´ll have to start getting there by 730.  But luckily waking up isn´t an issue as sunrise seems to be some time around 6am, so we wake up then without alarms.  We´ve been staying at school until about 4pm everyday and then we walk home in the rain.  We come home make and eat dinner and I hang out with my roommates (Paulina teaches 1st grade and Amy teaches Environmental Ed) and then we work a little bit more and fall asleep.  

On our first night here we were visited by a sloth, so in my first week in Costa Rica I saw a sloth and some monkeys, the two animals I most wanted to see here in Costa Rica!  Wednesday morning we woke up bright and early and went to school.  We took a self-guided tour of the campus in pairs.  The campus is beautiful.  I constantly feel as though I am at summer camp here.  At the school´s kiosk I saw this beautiful butterfly.Wednesday afternoon we took a tour of the town, and yes it does make Cobleskill and Winooski look like major metropolises.  On Friday night many of our co-workers came here after dinner.  Saturday mornings from 6 - noon there is a farmers market that has the best produce in town, or at least that´s what I´m told.  We didn´t get out of the house in time so we went the the grocery store in the early afternoon and then went to Beverly´s (the 2nd grade teacher) house for dinner before seeing the community production of Oliver at an outdoor theatre.  

Sunday early afternoon our friends Tera (the kinder or pre-school teacher), Jesse (Tera´s partner), Logan (their monkey child) and Sarah (the 3rd grade teacher) came to visit and ask if we wanted to go hiking in the river, so Paulina and I threw on our outside clothes and went on a little adventure.  In the evening I got to go to dinner with some people who are here for a couple of weeks with their class from a college in NYC.  Today was rather uneventful, we just went to work at 8, came home at 4 and ate dinner and I´m about to fall asleep at 730pm.  School starts Wednesday and I´m feeling excited and overwhelmed.

                                        Paulina, Sarah, Tera, Logan and Jesse

Sorry there is not any Spanish or ASL in this post,  I´ve been so exhausted.  Espero que os vaya bien!