The second half of the school year has begun! After my two weeks off, I am back in Pacayitas/Mollejones ready to take on these final months.
I had a long trip back from the States on Saturday. A woman on my flight from Dallas to Costa Rica had a heart attack so our plane had to emergency land in Belize. It was quite the ordeal. Obviously, it was extremely depressing to see a woman sprawled out on the airplane floor, not responding to CPR or any of the medications being administered. And the poor man, who I am assuming is her husband, looking lost and confused as if his consciousness hadn’t or couldn’t grasp what was happening. The flight attendants were frantic, as a doctor/passenger administrated CPR for the forty minutes it took for us to land in Belize. The ambulance that was supposed to be waiting hadn’t yet arrived and whispers such as, “remind me never to go to the hospital in Belize” were passed throughout the cabin. Finally the ambulance arrived, though I am assuming there was nothing they could do. She had been unresponsive for at least 50 minutes. They brought in a stretcher and removed her from the plane, I watched from my window as her husband climbed into the ambulance after her. The rest of us sat quietly, waiting for the flight attendants to collect themselves and tell us what would happen next. In tears, the flight attendants gathered together, hugging and consoling one another. The captain came on the speakers telling all of us to sit tight for further instruction. After about 45 minutes of sitting on the plane they told us to get off the plane and wait in the terminal. We waited for another hour in the terminal and then they told us to get back on the plane. Once on the plane the captain told us they were finishing up the “pre takeoff tests” and waiting for authorities to approve us flying with limited medical supply, since they had used most of it up on the woman. We waited… and waited some more. The flight attendants put on a movie. Cabin fever began to spread throughout the passengers. Mostly because no one was giving us updates and we weren’t sure if we were going to be getting to Costa Rica that night or not. The captain came back on the speaker saying that the door to the wheels was jammed and they brought a truck out to fix the problem. So after another hour and forty-five minutes of waiting on the runway we were ready for takeoff. The flight attendant said that she would have to interrupt the movie to play the safety video, which caused one frustrated passenger to yell, “I know how to put a f****** seat belt on!” That comment got a few laughs and a few evil stares from families traveling with young children. Finally we were up in the air and arrived in Costa Rica around 12 am. Of course landing that late meant that only two people would be running the customs desks… more waiting. Then there was more waiting for baggage. My eyes welled up as I saw bag after bag come off the carousel, none of which were mine. I thought to myself, “if after all this my bags are lost, I am going to burst into tears.” Finally one of my bags came, and minutes later my other bag, and then the carousel turned off. My bag was the second to last off. I got in a cab and headed to the closest hotel. (I had originally planned to stay in the city in a hostel with my friends but didn’t feel comfortable taking a cab that far into the city alone so late at night) I got to the hotel around 1:45 am, which was 3:45 am eastern time. I collapsed on the bed, so happy to be back in Costa Rica!
So after the exhausting trip back, I am back in my town and back to teaching. My students seemed to be ready to come back to school. Yesterday was a little tough because I was still so exhausted and my energy level was not where it needed to be. However, today I am feeling much better. My energy was through the roof when I taught the kindergarten class this morning, and I am still going strong. Hopefully the energy will stick around for when I have my first graders, as I am pretty positive that their goal everyday is to exhaust me.
I have set some goals for the second half of the year. To spend more time improving my Spanish skills, spend more time with people in the town, and to take on some sort of community project. I haven’t quite decided what I am going to do yet. I am going to ask around and see what people in the town want. I have five and a half months left and I want to make the most of it! I’ll never have another experience quite like this one so I want to really take it in and squeeze every last bit of greatness out of it… That is, if my first graders don’t squeeze every last bit of energy out of me…
