Thank God for Benadryl!

Before my first day of teaching, I took a moment to think about what sort of teacher I would be. I thought about the most influential teachers in my life and what I believed made them such successful teachers. Some I didn’t like at first, but when I realized how much I was learning, I came to appreciate them more. Some I thought were awesome, but then I realized I wasn’t actually learning anything in their classes. Clearly, I would rather not be liked and be a successful teacher, than be liked and have my students learn nothing. Class can’t just be fun and games. Obviously, it would be great to find a middle ground. I would ideally like to be liked by all my students and create a class which they enjoy attending and learn a lot. I also want to be respected so that I have a manageable classroom. I have to say, after two weeks, I feel pretty good about the classroom environment that I have established. I am strict but friendly. My class is hard but I make sure to do a fun activity with the material. I am not liked by all my students, but by most. I hate to discipline students. My heart drops when a student breaks a classroom rule because I know that I am going to have to put a check next to their name on the sticker board… three checks means no sticker. As much as it kills me to withhold stickers from students, I have been sticking to my guns.  I have successfully targeted all of the troublemakers and hopefully they will get better in the coming weeks. Though, having been a student for many years, I am aware that there is always a class troublemaker. I am prepared to be the bad cop all year if necessary. I have a discipline plan that involves students receiving a sticker at the end of class if they followed all the classroom rules. If each student in the class gets a sticker than the class as a whole gets a letter for the day. My students do not know what their letters will spell out, but I have told them it is something great. At the end of eight days their letters will spell out MOVIE DAY and the next class we will watch a movie. My students are very curious as to what their surprise will be. Unfortunately they aren’t earning letters everyday so they will have to be suspicious a while longer until they start behaving better. If all goes well my students will be watching a movie next Thursday. I am crossing my fingers that they are well behaved because a movie day is basically a day off for me. Yep, I am exhausted and could really use a day of no lesson planning. So here’s hoping that my students are on their best behavior next week. I want to watch Finding Nemo!

Even though I feel pretty good about the structure of my class, I know I have made some mistakes. Sometimes I get frustrated when my students are not grasping the material, or when they can’t remember something we spent thirty minutes on the day before. I need to get better about hiding my frustration. I have to remind myself what it is like for me to learn another language. I struggle daily with new words and there have been many times where I have forgotten a phrase that I just learned. I am not mean when I am frustrated, but I am pretty sure the students can read my frustration all over my face. Thinking back on the teachers I’ve had, I never appreciated the ones that made me feel stupid, so I surely do not want to be that type of teacher. I do not want my students to misinterpret my frustration as me not believing in them. I am positive that each of my students has the ability to tackle any work I throw at them. Ideally I would like to set a goal to not get frustrated anymore, but that just doesn’t seem realistic. So the new goal is to not show my frustration.

I can’t believe I have already completed two weeks. This experience continues to be amazing. I am excited for this weekend, time to relax and spend time with my host family. Tonight the family and I are making mac-and-cheese and watching a movie together. I stocked up on mac-and-cheese in San Jose and brought it back to Pacayitas with me to have when I just need something besides rice and beans. I am excited to break into my stash tonight.

 Also, thanks to Benadryl, I got a full nights sleep last night!

1 week down 40 to go!

My first week flew by. I cannot believe it is already over. It was an amazing week filled with surprises. There were definitely ups and downs, times of frustration, and times of pure joy. I have a feeling the whole year will be a rollercoaster ride. I am sure I will have times where all I will want is to be at home in North Carolina, taking hot showers and eating something besides rice and beans. I am sure there will be times where I won’t ever want to leave this beautiful country. I am challenged everyday. I am constantly pushed out of my comfort zone. Immersing fully into another culture is difficult. I miss comforts that I have always taken for granted, soundproof walls, hot showers, being fortunate enough to afford a variety of foods. I miss my family. I miss my friends. However, I am surrounded by amazing people who genuinely care about me and are grateful for the work I am doing. Feeling appreciated is worth all the uncomfortable moments. There are moments where my Spanish runs out and I have no idea what is going on and all I want to do is scream! Luckily, Ticos are extremely laid back and helpful. They are patient with me and help me understand their culture and their language, so it is only fair that I am patient with them. 

My host family is incredible. They are constantly going out of their way to make me feel at home and comfortable. My 13-year-old host brother loves helping me make materials for my classroom, which saves me a lot of time. He and I spend a lot of time together. My host sister and I are the same age and we are interested in the same types of movies and music. She is taking a break from university and she spends most of her time helping her mom clean the house or she keeps her grandmother company during the day. My host father is a truck driver. He transports the sugar cane that is produced in my town into the city. He is very quiet, but very sweet. He always has a smile on his face. He enjoys playing cards, which makes me feel at home because my dad and I always play cards. My host mom is amazing. She is constantly bouncing between our house and her mother’s house. She seems to love taking care of people, and she does it so well. If I mention that I have a headache my host mom is immediately on the phone. Five minutes later the town’s “doctor” (medicine man) is at our house in less than five minutes diagnosing me, massaging my joints, and making me drink nasty teas that amazingly do get rid of my headache. When I return from my three mile hike back from school in the afternoon my host mom immediately rubs my shoulders and comments on how she doesn’t know how I walk all that way with the weight of my book bag. In these moments she reminds me of my mother who is always there to massage my shoulders after a long day. I am so thankful to be living with a family that considers me part of the family and takes care of me. Besides the immediate members of my host family, I have the rest of the town, most of who are related in some way to my family, who also go out of their way to make me feel welcome. People are constantly inviting me into their homes for coffee or inviting me to experience their day. “Laura come milk cows with me…” or “Laura come with me to kill the pig for the party this weekend…” I never turn down offers to milk cows, but I have not yet accepted an invitation to watch my dinner die. I am not sure if that is something I will handle well. I love meat too much to have an excuse to become a vegetarian so, for now, I politely decline those invitations. 

My students are really beginning to get the hang of English class. This is the first time the school has ever had a full time English teacher so I was worried it would take a while to sink in. However, I am  very pleased with how quickly my students are grasping words and ideas in English.

I still don't feel as though I am getting enough sleep. I go to bed at 8 and wake up at 5:30. However, in those hours I am awakened by a variety of noises... last night, I swear, every dog in my town was barking for hours... not even the earplugs can save me. 

The lack of sleep is my only complaint. Other than that everything is great!!!

I Need a Nap!

So today was my second day of teaching a full day of classes. I am exhausted. I am not really sure why I am so tired, maybe it is because I am constantly thinking how to translate things to speak correctly in Spanish. Or maybe I am just tired from the three-mile walk I just took back from school… in the pouring rain. Or maybe children are just exhausting. Even though I am super tired, I am still having a great time.

Yesterday was a little stressful but I survived. The day didn’t start so great. My alarm didn’t go off and I woke up 20 minutes late. I had five minutes to eat breakfast and get dressed. After I got ready I ran to brush my teeth quickly. My host brother was in the shower leaving me no sink to spit. With a mouth full of toothpaste I looked at the kitchen sink, which was filled with dirty dishes. To save my host mom from having to wash my toothpaste spit off the dishes I quickly unloaded the sink and spit into the drain. I loaded the dishes back into the sink and then ran out the door hearing my host my yell off the porch “God go with you.” It was raining out, which is weird for this time of year. As I hurried down the dirt road to meet my director mud flew up dirtying the bottom of my pants. Costa Ricans find hygiene to be extremely important and I knew I would be judged for my muddy pants and my hair, which I had thrown back in a messy bun during the hustle of the morning. I met my director at the bus stop. Instead of having her husband drive us to school, the director said we would take the milk truck. At first I was relieved to not have to deal with her husband’s crazy driving. The milk truck driver’s daughter sat in the bed of the truck and Georgie and I sat in the front with him. Georgie and I squeezed onto the bench seat and the driver had to come shut the door. He then asked me to hold it because, well, it doesn’t really shut and could come open at any minute. I pulled it tight, fearing I was going to tumble out of the truck into the muddy street. Water poured onto me from the cracked roof and the door window that didn’t fully close. A screw stuck out from the side of the door and jabbed me in my leg every turn we took. I was super frustrated by the time we arrived in Mollejones. The milk truck dropped us off at the bottom of a large hill to walk the rest of the way to school. I arrived, already tired and looking far from put together. Time for the day to begin…

My students are great, but their energy level is something I am going to have to get used to. My first graders can’t sit still. I really think it is impossible for them. At one point one of my first graders was literally sitting upside down in his chair. His legs were thrown over the back of the chair and his head was hanging by the floor. I just shook my head and laughed as I turned him around in his seat. First graders also refuse to keep their hands to themselves. They are constantly touching each other, hugging or shoving, or kissing each other on the cheek (it is super precious). I finally had to make them sit on their hands. This is the first grade’s first year of formal class so none of them know how to read or write in Spanish yet so my class with them is completely oral. It is somewhat unfortunate because only one of my first grader’s can write their name. However, it is also convenient because I can have them sit on their hands because they aren’t using them to write. I think first grade is going to be my biggest challenge this year. They take a long time to absorb information. I can only do two, maybe three, vocabulary words a day. I hope that I have enough patience to last me a year.

The rest of the grades are a bit easier. I teach second and third grade together for 80 minutes. I teach fourth grade for forty minutes. Finally I have fifth and sixth grades for 80 minutes. We are supposed to teach each grade for forty minutes every day. My director combined classes because there are so few students in them (I have a total of 26 students). So I am required to teach the combined classes 80 minutes. It is difficult to hold students attention for 80 minutes but after two days I feel fairly comfortable with it. My forty-minute classes seem to fly by. Maybe it is because it takes Costa Rican students FOREVER to copy things down. What I think will only take three to five minutes takes about ten. The students color code EVERYTHING! Every other word is a different color. Everything has to look perfect. If they mess up they use white out, wait for it to dry, and then continue on. It is quite a process. For the most part, yesterday was a success. I only had one student cry and only because he tripped over a desk while running to show me that he had completed his work. Only his ego was hurt, and he cried out of embarrassment. At the end of yesterday one of my fourth graders gave me a shirt that she bought for me. It is spandex, covered in red roses and has silver thread… I won’t be caught dead in it. But, I suppose it is the thought that counts. Today was much smoother than yesterday. I knew what to expect and felt more comfortable. Despite being frustrated with my no Spanish rule, I think my students are enjoying my class. I don’t have any major discipline problems. I bribe my students with stickers every day and that seems to keep them in check. Man, kids love stickers! I am exhausted and I definitely need a nap. I might be tired, but it is totally worth it. I love my job!

First Blog... First day of school!

            I promised many people back home that I would write a blog throughout my year here in Costa Rica. Here it goes….

I have been here for a little over a month. I met the other volunteers in the Miami airport on January 6^th and we took off for San Jose, Costa Rica. For four weeks we had training to prepare us for a year in rural Costa Rica. We had Spanish classes in the morning and lots of charlas (talks) in the afternoon. The charalas covered all the information we would need to know about living in rural Costa Rica and teaching in rural escuelas (elementary schools). I am part of a great group of volunteers. I am excited to have such an amazing support system. As exciting as orientation was, I decided to wait to start blogging until today, my first day of teaching in the elementary school in Mollejones, Costa Rica.

Situated in the mountains outside of Turrialba, Mollejones is a small rural town. I live with a host family in the town three miles away, Pacayitas. Most of the people in Pacayitas are involved in the sugar cane business. I am not as familiar with Mollejones but I expect that most people there are also involved in the production of sugar cane and possibly coffee. 

So… Day 1...

I woke up this morning at 5:45. Anyone who knows me well knows that I am not a morning person. Luckily, I have the help of many alarm clocks to ensure I get up in time to get ready for school. Around five the roosters start their wake up calls. My house is constructed completely of wood and has an “open air” concept. The walls do not meet the ceilings so to say that nothing is sound proof is an understatement. For example, last night my host sister, Carol, kept me awake because I could hear her cell phone vibrating in the next room over. Anyway, if I happen to sleep through the roosters, I have the sound of the sugar cane trucks and tractors cranking up at around 5:30. If the noise doesn’t bother me, the smell of exhaust that floats up through the floor and through the walls is always successful in burning my nostrils. By the time my watch beeps at 5:45 signaling for me to wake up, I am wide-awake. Let the day begin! I could already hear my host mom bouncing around the kitchen preparing my breakfast, gallo pinto. Gallo pinto is the traditional Costa Rican breakfast. It is rice and beans mixed together in a frying pan with salsa lizano (the greatest sauce in the world), onions, cilantro, and sometimes peppers and tomatoes. After I finished my gallo pinto and café (coffee), I got dressed and packed my things for school. I looked down at my watch, 6:18; I had twelve minutes until I had to be at the director of the school’s house. I had taken this walk two days ago and it took me twenty minutes, but I was walking with Ticos (Costa Ricans) who are quite possibly the slowest walkers in the world. I figured the walk wouldn’t take me more than 10 minutes. I said goodbye to my host mom, who said a quick prayer over me and kissed me on the cheek. I waved goodbye to my host father outside who made a joke about hoping I survived the children and I was off. I arrived at my director’s house ten minutes later. My director’s name is Florinda, but like a typical Tica she has a nickname that I have no idea how to spell but it is pronounced like Georgie. When I arrived at her house I yelled out “Upe!” (oooopppay), which is the typical Costa Rican way of announcing your presence. No answer. Crap. I wondered if my terrible Spanish had failed me once again and if I had misunderstood what time I should be there. I creepily placed my ear against the door, hoping to hear something happening inside. I heard footsteps. Unlike most houses in Pacayitas, Georgie’s house is not open air. The walls actually meet the ceilings making it almost impossible to know what is going on inside. In my house, I am able to have conversations with people outside while I am sitting on my bed. It could be very possible that Georgie didn’t hear me announce myself. So I yelled out again, “Upe!” No answer. I knocked on the door… no response. However, I still heard people moving about in the house. Being creepy again, I peered through the window, but I couldn’t see anyone. I realized the footsteps I was hearing were coming from upstairs. It had been five minutes so I took a step out from underneath the balcony and looked up and announced myself one more time,  “UUUUPPPPEEEE!” Finally the door up on the balcony swung up and Georgie looked down at me. I was so relieved to know my Spanish hadn’t failed me and that I wasn’t late. She told me to put my things in the car and that she would be right down. Her husband came outside with her things and loaded them into the car. Five minutes later he was driving Georgie and I up the mountain to the next town. I was super excited to have a ride. I don’t mind walking the three miles home in the afternoon because it is mostly down hill, but I am not really up to a three-mile hike at 6:30 in the morning everyday. However, I was not expecting the ride I got. Georgie’s husband’s driving was terrifying. He drove his 1980 Isuzu Trooper as if it were a sports car, whipping it around corners. Sounds fun? It isn’t. Why? Because the roads here are unpaved, rocky, and line the side of the mountain. There are no shoulders around the corners nor are there any guard rails to keep the Isuzu Trooper from flying off the mountain. I have been in cars many times here, but I have never been in one going over 15 miles per hour. I looked over the seat to the speedometer; it read 30 miles per hour. Georgie’s husband must have caught a glimpse of the look of fear that I was surely sporting in the rear view mirror because he slowed down a bit for the last few minutes of the ride. 

We arrived safely at the school where the children were anxiously waiting to start their first day. Georgie introduced me to the students and parents. We had a flag ceremony, sang the Costa Rican national anthem, said a prayer, and then the parents left.I was told that we would only have a half-day today and tomorrow, to slowly get the students back into school mode. However, my nerves had kicked in. My heart was pounding. I never thought that 30 children could intimidate me so much. We walked into the classroom and Georgie had every student introduce themselves to me in Spanish and tell me their favorite sport. Afterwards, Georgie told me to take the children outside and play a game with them. First we stood in a big circle and passed a ball around introducing ourselves in English. Next we played an exciting game of duck, duck, goose, which turned into a really intense game of tag. Then we played a game where we couldn’t let the beach ball touch the ground. We ended the morning games with a fun game of “Red rover, red rover.”  Georgie called us back up to the classroom to have cake in celebration of a student’s birthday. While I was sitting eating my cake one of my first graders crawled into my lap and rested her head on my shoulder. My heart melted, the butterflies in my stomach disappeared, and I was the happiest I have been in a long time. After cake we took a tour of the town. On this tour I realized that I need more arms, as students fought over who got to hold my hand as we walked. Some students linked their fingers into my belt loops, others held onto my arms. We walked up the the Catholic church, students pointed out their houses, their grandparents’ houses, their aunt’s and uncle’s houses. They asked me if was married, if I had a boyfriend, if I lived in the United States, if I liked Costa Rica, if I had dogs, if I had brothers and sisters, if I would come to their house after school… I fielded one question after the other and when I couldn’t understand what they were asking I would just smile and admit, “no entiendo.” After the tour of the town, our half day was over and parents came to pick up their children. I received countless abrazos (hugs), and besitos (kisses on the cheek). Three students even decided they wanted to walk the three miles back to Pacayitas with me and then turn around and walk three miles back home. Clearly these students want A’s! The three mile walk back to Pacayitas was fun. My students stopped and picked fruits off trees for me. After my students turned around and left me to walk to the last ten minutes home alone, some cows got loose and ran in my direction. Thanks to my Southern Women’s Writing class last semester I was reminded of one of Flannery O’Connor’s short stories “Greenleaf” which has a main character conveniently named Mrs. May who gets impaled by a bull’s horns. Not the greatest image to have running through my mind as horned cows run in my direction. Luckily some men herded the cows back to their pin and I was not impaled by any horns. Today was amazing, I haven’t stopped smiling and I cannot wait until tomorrow!