Mi familia Tica

Last night was my fourth night with mi familia tica and I have grown so attached to them. Me, Kathia, Karol, and Beatriz had somewhat of a “girls night” last night and watched the Lady Gaga concert on T.V. (I was ecstatic). It’s always exciting when we can understand each other so we were happy to talk about how strange she was (ella es mas extrano si? AY!). Karol (10 years old) helps me with my homework every night. I partly think it’s because she wants me to finish quickly so we can play UNO or a Disney princess computer game together.  I brought them UNO thinking I would have to struggle to teach them how to play, but of course Karol knew the game from school and beat me every time. I also didn’t think to connect that uno means one in Spanish (oops).

            Our evenings are usually very similar each night. I get home from CPI (Centro Panamericana de Idiomas), try to greet mi familia in Spanish, do my Spanish homework with Karol, eat dinner, try to communicate, watch T.V. with the familia, and then go to bed! The activity of choice seems to be watching T.V. Karol and I play games for a little while after dinner, so of course every thing we do varies. Observing family dynamics and comparing them to those of the other girls (and Ryan) in the group has been interesting. Since I have kids in my family, we eat dinner together every night. The setting is relaxed, and there is always a schedule that is being strictly followed to accommodate all family members. Just like in the U.S., each family has a different dynamic and schedule.

            I love how my familia tica reminds me of my own, 2 daughters, a father, a mother, and a perrito (Nina). This has been very comforting. They do everything together during down time, they take mini vacations, etc. The other night I observed Gustavo giving the girls a “responsibility talk” about taking care of a puppy because Nina had had a little accident on the living room floor. They play Barbies, My Little Pony, LOVE Hello Kitty (shout out to my Alpha Gams), and joke around in the same manner my family does. We are supposed to be observing how different everything is here in every aspect, but all I can see are similarities. It is comforting and now, after spending four nights with my Costa Rican family, I don’t want to leave them. I am going to take advantage of spending time with them these next two nights, and am bringing back a giant pizza for dinner on Friday! I hope I have been able to be as polite to them as they have been generous and warm to me. 

First day/weekend overview!

After two flights and an anxiety attack later, we made it to San Jose! As I walked in to the airport we were greeted with a giant sign that read “Welcome to Costa Rica, the happiest country in the world.” I couldn’t help but smile and it stayed on my face all day. We first went to the bank to exchange our money for Colones. We met Roy, our driver, at the aeropuerto and made it to the bank in about 2 seconds. As we drove in to San Joaquin, Heredia, I couldn’t help but notice how impoverished everything looked, yet everyone I observed on the streets seemed so genuinely happy. This continued throughout the first day, everyone I spoke to was more than happy to try and communicate with me, especially at the Feria de Agricultor (one of our stops after lunch where we could shop around a giant market for any kind of fruit of vegetable we wanted, and everything was SO fresh). La pura vida, si? I love everything about this place; everywhere we drive I can’t stop staring out the window. Sabado, we hiked through La Paz while learning about Costa Rica’s amazing biodiversity. If I had never been here before, I wouldn’t believe that Costa Rica has more biodiversity than any other country in the world, as it is the size of West Virginia. It is what makes the country so beautiful, and I learned from Javier (our wonderful and VERY knowledgeable guide) how seriously Ticos take the preservation of the agriculture. It is definitely something we could learn from them. So we hiked through La Paz to the waterfalls (los cateratas) and had a great day/almuerzo (of course all I think about is food here, but what else is new). The first weekend was a nice slow transition into the week, but not the most accurate portrayal of how our weekdays were to would be spent! While being in Spanish class for cuatro horas a lunes, I found myself wishing we were back on the tour bus with Javier and Roy, listening to Aventura, and driving through the hills to a new exciting place. Communication was never an issue. I found yesterday, when I met mi familia tica, that Dr. Powell wasn’t kidding when she said that we were going to feel uncomfortable at times. Don’t get me wrong, mi familia tica was VERY welcoming and warm to me, but the language barrier is stronger than I anticipated. I am finally in the shoes of an ELL (English language learner) and the feeling is very overwhelming, somewhat frustrating, and very difficult. This is a feeling many people do not get to experience and I am so lucky I will able to take what I am learning here and applying it to my classroom in the states. After this experience I will be able to understand how my ELL’s in the general classroom are feeling, and hopefully will be able to make the environment more comfortable and less frustrating and exhausting for them. Every single thing we have done here so far has related back to our teaching strategies. I am so glad and fortunate to be here doing this. Pura Vida J

Pura Vida in 2 days!

In 3 days I will be boarding a plane to leave the country for the first time! Am I nervous? YES, but mostly excited, excited to be living la pura vida with supposedly the happiest people on earth! Friends and family keep asking me what I am nervous about. I am about to have an experience of a lifetime, so what is there to be nervous for? While I listen to Spanish music on a daily basis and have been dying to take Salsa lessons, the main source of my nerves comes from this language barrier that I have never had to experience in my life. I don't do well with awkward silences, however it is a challenge I am ready to face! Through this whole preparation process Dr. Powell cannot say enough wonderful things about the families who will be hosting us, so I am eager to meet familia Quesada Artavia y familia Marin Anchia. Familia Quesada Artavia is the first family I will be staying with while we are in San Joaquin for a week. Kathia (my Mama Tica), Gustavo (padre), Beatriz (17 anos), and Karol (10 anos) I can already tell are going to help me feel comfortable. Lets just hope I’ll be able to contribute to dinner conversations! I am so excited to get to know each of them. Maria (Mama Tica), Marcos (padre), Jose Carlos (9 anos), and Luis Alejandro (3 anos) make up familia Marin Anchia, who I will be staying with for 2 weeks in Monte Verde.

I am excited that I am finally getting a taste of the reason I wanted to be an elementary education major in the first place, to teach abroad! I am eager to get in the classroom and meet the kids. Over the course of the 3 ½ weeks I am required to pick a topic to research, and I have decided to research and observe how the schools and teachers incorporate environmental education in their every day lessons. I am going to compare what I find in Costa Rica to what I have experienced in North Carolina. Any one of my friends will tell you that I’m a freak about recycling, so I thought this topic was appropriate :). I feel like I could learn so much about how I can incorporate environmental education into my own classroom so I think this will prove to be a very valuable tool for me. After all, one of President Laura Chinchilla’s main goals for her term is to make the country more “green.”

Wish me luck! :)