Museo de Ninos =)

Children's Museum!
The floor shook like an earthquake.

Dancing Lights

Spaceship!? Creo que siiii!

It has been another busy week in Costa Rica. Some of my beginning classes are wrapping up, so I've been working hard on my final papers. This doesn't mean we couldn't have a little bit of fun, though... For my Conversation class, our topic of discussion for the day was "childhood"... and where better to focus on childhood than at the Children's Museum!? That's right, a group of 18 Gringos showed up at the Children's Museum... and enjoyed the exhibits more than the kids! All in all, it was a lot of fun... and I actually found some quality ideas for my future classroom. =)

On Thursday we also visited the Hunger Strike against the building of the mines. Only 2 men remain because the other ones became so ill from not eating that they had to be rushed to the hospital. On Thursday, the poor guys had not eaten anything for 21 days (Can you imagine!?). We had gone to see them about 2 weeks ago... and they looked quite a bit more pale and tired. They feel very strongly for their cause, and my whole ACM group is supporting them. On Tuesday, my music class is all going to put on a concert for them and to raise more support. Look it up and "Like" them on Facebook!

Tonight is going to be an interesting night, for sure. We are all going to a Halloween party at one of the local clubs. There are prizes for the best costumes... hope someone in my group wins! I will be dressing up as Barbie (which is easy because I'm one of the only blondes in Costa Rica, haha). The only light-haired guy in my ACM group has red hair, but he is going to be Ken anyway. We also have Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, a pineapple, and a pirate in the group. We will see what the others come up with today. I'll be sure to post plenty of pictures.

I can't believe how quickly my time in Costa Rica has flown by. There are so many things I still want to do and see here, but I only have 34 days left! I have a feeling I am going to be really busy and have a lot to fill this blog up with in the next 34 days. Until next time... =)

Life Back in San Jose

Well, my return trip back to San Jose went really well. It was nice to come back and have internet access, running water, not sleep with a mosquito net, hear English, and eat healthier food. At the same time, I ended up getting pretty sick. I've been in and out of the hospital over the past 2 weeks because I have an infection caused from the pollution and contamination in the city air. =( It has been the hardest two weeks since I have been to Costa Rica because I just want to go home, lay in my bed, and have my loved ones care for me! The medical system is really good here... and I also haven't had to pay for anything because we got really great insurance for the trip. Anyways, I apologize for slacking on the whole writing thing, but I haven't been feeling really up to it.

In other news, we visited Cahuita this weekend for a study of the influence of African culture and calypso music. Cahuita is only about 45 minutes from where I did my rural stay in Cocles... but is completely different. The people speak Creole music, the black population is much more prevalent, the food is slightly different, and the beaches are of white sand. It was a beautiful and amazing opportunity. We had a calypso band come and do a little concert for us, we stayed in the goddess sweet, we enjoyed caribbean food, we spent a lot of time swimming and relaxing at Cahuita National Park, and we had a bonfire under the moonlight on the beach. It was an amazing experience and I really grew closer to some of my classmates.

Finishing up in Cocles

Here are some pictures of my classes in Cocles. The pictures speak a thousand words about what I had to deal with on a daily basis during my classes! =)

4th grade

One of the classrooms

1st-2nd grade
3rd grade

View of the schoolyard

7-8th graders

I can't believe I am finishing up my time in Cocles. It has definitely been an interesting experience. I have learned some delicious recipes, taught more than 100 crazy kids some basic English, spent a ton of time at the beach, and improved my Spanish a lot! I can't believe it is my 8th week in Costa Rica- the halfway point! Some days it feels like I have been away from home forever and I miss so many important people from home, but at the same time I cannot believe how fast time seems to be going. I have mixed emotions because I cannot wait to get home in December and spend time with all my favorite people, but I don't want this amazing experience to end. I have grown a lot as a person in my time in Costa Rica... and especially during my time in Cocles. Because I am basically excluded from other "gringos," I have basically been forced to improve my Spanish and get by on my own. Although I feared this greatly, I can see now why it was so important for me to do so.

For example, teaching English in Escuela Rio Negro was an absolutely overwhelming task. The students are, to put it nicely, out of control. How can anyone teach more than 100 students English when you only have about 9 days with each class... and only about 1 hour with each class. All the English you need to know in 9 hours... I think not. In spite of this, I had a lot of fun working with the students. Plus, if I can handle these kids in another language, I think teaching will be a lot easier in the U.S.! Working in the school also helped me improve my Spanish a lot because I had to deal with screaming, flirting, fighting, and every other aspect of elementary school you can imagine in Spanish. What an experience.

In other news, today is one of the coolest days that I have experienced in Cocles. I would consider it about 75 with a slight breeze. When I woke up this morning, my mom was in the kitchen making apple tea because it is "so cold" and she didn't want me waking up to the cold. I then explained to her that this is basically a warm and/or hot day in Chicago. She proceeded to explain that I need to move to Central America to maintain my health... apparently "cold" weather is not good for you. All of my students were wearing jackets during class and could not believe that I was not cold in a tshirt and a skirt. I would like to see them during a Chicago winter!

On Saturday morning at 7am, I catch my 5 hour busride back to San Jose. It will be nice to return to a bed with a real mattress, get away from the mosquitos, stop eating ants with every meal, not sweat through my clothes everyday, and spend some time with my friends. The actual internet access and ability to Skype with everyone will be awesome too!

Pictures of Cocles

Que linda.

My two main bros- Aritz and Marquez.

My home from the outside...

Basically the entire inside.

My bedroom in all of its glory.

This beach is my backyard... no big deal.