Thursday, May 19, 2011

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

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