¡No Habla Español!


After studying Spanish for two weeks at CPI, I have learned a lot about the language. On the other hand, it has made me realize how much more I need to learn to really know the language and be able to hold a substantial conversation. I quickly realized that is going to take more than the three and one half weeks I am here in Costa Rica. After thinking about this week and last week, I really understand how it feels to be a learner in a place that does not speak my language. I realized this after talking at dinner how I feel like my Tico family either thinks I am stupid or rude because sometimes I just have no idea what they are saying. It makes me frustrated sometimes because I want to say something so bad but I just cannot form the words in their language.


CPI in Heredia

 Since the class I am taking is only a Spanish class, I am not in a Spanish social studies or a Spanish mathematics class. If I think the Spanish teacher speaking in Spanish is difficult to understand when he is teaching only the language, I cannot fathom how difficult it would be to comprehend a lesson about algebraic word problems or what happened in the Korean war in a foreign language. This experience has really opened up something that I have never actually experienced first hand. I feel like I give so much more credit to the students in my high school that were not fluent in English but were taking all the same classes as me and passing them. Looking back, I know exactly how they feel when they might have put their head on the table or skipped a day in class every now and again because listening to a foreign language for hours at a time is exhausting! I have never felt as tired as I have on this trip! The beautiful hikes and the local shopping are not the activities that have made me as tired as I am; it is the Spanish classes and going home to an (almost) entirely Spanish speaking household. I just want to communicate and sometimes the only word I can get out is "sí." I have gotten better but there are times where I want to say much more than I do and I simply cannot.

Teaching at Santa Elena Elementary School

I cannot describe how this has changed my view on ESL students. I have always thought it must be tough to not be able to speak English in an English speaking classroom, but experiencing it is totally different. I never want to be the teacher that gives up trying to teach something to the students of the classroom that do not understand English. Especially after going into the schools here in Costa Rica not being able to speak their language well, I realize how much I can teach if I really try to make them understand. By teaching such hands on lessons with objects they already knew, they were much more interested than if I was to only speak to them.

La Carpio


This public Costa Rican school was not the fanciest school nor was it the highest tech school I had ever seen but when we visited La Carpio, Costa Rica, the school in San Joaquin looked like heaven in a school form. When when the bus pulled up to La Carpio, the change of the neighborhood was apparent. The normal houses in Costa Rica are not huge and they are usually connected to the house next door but they are made with cinderblocks or other “normal” housing materials. La Carpio, however, looked more like a shanty town neighborhood. The smell of garbage was everywhere including the Montessori school we went into. The children were so happy one would never suspect they probably came from such poor living conditions. Of course they melted all of our hearts when each student was told to pick an “amigo.” The little girl that chose me had a head full of black ringlets and she had the brightest smile. We played a guessing game, dressed paper dolls and afterward, she “cooked” me lunch. A little boy would wonder around and after only a few seconds it was obvious he was a special needs student. He constantly wanted to be holding someone’s hand.

           

 In both schools we went into, it was interesting to compare their method for teaching the special needs students. In San Joaquin, the special needs students were not integrated into the regular classrooms but they also were not separated by need or by grade. All students with a special needs were integrated together. In La Carpio, the special needs students were integrated into the regular classroom. Even though neither of these situations was probably chosen, it is fascinating to see how the children react. Students from both schools handled the situation well, and while I was there, I didn’t notice any frustration or distraction towards the special needs students. I think this has a lot to do with the culture of this country. The people here are generally not selfish and they are willing to help each other out. A fellow student made a good point when she said that none of the students, when cleaning up, thought about whether they had made the mess they were cleaning up, they just cleaned it. It is so community oriented that most students, unlike a lot of students from the United States, do not even consider not cleaning up something because they didn’t make the mess. When I have my own classroom, I want to incorporate the community that a lot of the Costa Rican schools have. It makes the classroom a more pleasant environment and also saves a lot of time when students are not arguing about who is going to clean up what.

Going to La Carpio really gave me a firsthand account of something I have heard about on the radio, seen on television and even discussed in my education classes. Seeing a town/neighborhood as impoverished as this one gave me something that no classroom discussion could ever give me. With a teacher perspective in mind, I wonder how any of the children coming from a community like this can ever focus on something as trivial as homework or how would they remember they have a quiz the next day when they are worried about getting food for their baby brother or sister. It really blew my mind. I really saw how much I take for granted living in the United States when I saw the living conditions of the people of La Carpio. At the same time I believe this, I also see that these children are extremely capable. These children were doing things that every typical child does. Pity should not be given to these children, but instead, high expectations. These are the children that need the expectations the most so they will have the motivation to change themselves for the better.

           

Gail, the women in charge and the leader of the Montessori school was probably the most courageous person I have ever seen. Her faith in education and making people’s lives better was unbelievable and her story was so amazing I don’t think words could do it justice. I loved how her heart went out to the people of this area but she did not baby these people. She wanted to help them and she is definitely turning things around. She was a great model for a teacher teaching to studnets in lower economic statuses. Her expectations were not low but she was realistic on what could and should be done. I want to get to know my future studnets to know where they come from so I can give what I can to better the students' education and life to the best of my ability.

En la Escuela!


The past few days we finally got to go into the schools in San Joaquin. I was really nervous because I know only a little Spanish and the children in the schools know only a little English. I was worried the lesson plans we had prepared were not going to make sense to the students, mainly because of the language barrier. To my surprise, the children received the lessons very well. They were more attentive to any other students I have tutored and some of the groups I had, had six students in them. It could have been because we were something new they were not used to and they felt like they had to listen but the way they acted seemed like they genuinely were interested in learning.

The first day we went into a school, we had prepared a lesson involving leaves and were planning on using them for categorization, detailed observation and as an English lesson. The other lesson plan was a letter writing activity. We had letters from the United States to give to the students and we had planned on teaching them the parts of a letter so they could construct their own letters to send back to their new pen pals. When we arrived at the school, we were told the plans had been changed and we were to go into a preschool-kindergarten aged class where we would be only interacting with the students without our lesson plans. While one group did that, the other group would be in a special needs classroom. We swapped after about forty minutes. This sudden change in our plans demonstrated how a teacher should always have a backup plan and be able to think quick in order to adapt to the changes that are inevitable in a school, no matter the country the school is in.


The second day we were in the school, we got to utilize the lessons we had created. One classroom did the leaf activity where every “student teacher” had their own group of about six or seven and would talk about the similarities and differences in the leaves using Spanish and English. Some students knew some words in English and others knew none. This proved to be difficult at the beginning because I had to think how I could help the ones who knew no English while at the same time challenging those that did know what I was saying. That is where the English-Spanish dictionary comes in handy! Overall, the lesson went really well, thanks to the awesome students we had that stayed engaged throughout the entire lesson.


When we swapped classes again, we did the letter writing activity. Instead of small groups, we did a classroom lesson and the five of us college students would walk around and help those in need of assistance. Their English was not very good, but it was obvious they wanted to learn. Some of the sentences they constructed were a little bit broken but they only get about forty minutes of English a day.

The parents of the students found out we were coming into the school to help teach English and some of the mothers made baked goods for us as a snack and a thank you. It was interesting to see the Costa Rican culture’s influence on the school and how it differed from United State’s schools. One day we had homemade tortillas and a soft cheese and the next day the mother’s made us some kind of sweet bread and cass juice to drink.

Waterfalls, Hummingbirds and Earthquakes


Our first full day here in Heredia was pretty unbelievable. When we first arrived yesterday, we got to experience our first earthquake, which wasn't very noticeable, but we saw the effects when we traved to the waterfall garden today. Our guide, Javier, pointed out that what was green vegetation the day before was replaced by red dirt from the earthquake on the side of the roads. When we arrived at the gardens everything was muy bonita. Some of the plants we saw were "poor man's umbrella," orchids, Queen of the Night and so much more I could not keep up with all the different names.




My favorite, the orchid!


I was so excited when we stepped into the bird section that housed all the toucans. They were so colorful and would dive down at our heads every now and then. Other birds I saw were hummingbirds feeding out of their feeders and buzzing by us. Monkeys were next to greet us and our guide informed us they weren't very friendly. The animal I was anticipating the most wasn't the big cats like the jaguar or pumas or even the boa constrictors or other snakes, but instead, it was the sloth. They were so cute I wanted to pet them but they were snoozing.

Me holding a newly hatched butterfly!


Everyone I have seen here has been so happy and friendly to me that I am pretty excited about meeting my host family tommorrow. Trying to speak the little amount of Spanish I know has proven to be difficult but it is really entertaining. Yesterday in the farmers market, me and another girl were almost playing charades to the coconut venders when we tried to ask them a question. Every Tico around tried to get involved with our "game" to help us out. It even introduced a wonderful photograph experience with an elderly but fiesty old man. The bakery we went to next smelled like heaven. I have never seen doughnuts as huge as the doughnuts in this bakery. They were about double the size of Krispy Kreme or Dunkin Donuts.


Farmer's Market (May 13)


I can't really think of any words to bring justice to what the waterfalls looked like in La Paz. The closest word is breathtaking. I am in love with this land. The vegetation is so green and beautiful that every aspect of the entire hike was picture worthy!


Muy Bonita!


Tommorrow we will be going to the volcano Poas to peer inside it from the top. I can already tell the next few weeks I am here are going to be packed full and long, but the experiences I have already gotten in only one and a half days are worth the early mornings. After all, Costa Rican coffee is world famous. =)

Still in the United States

Sitting in the airport before the flight to Costa Rica, I feel so excited and a little anxious for what is to come. I have never stayed with a host family and I look forward to it! On this trip I am hoping to get the experience of what it is like for ESL students in classrooms and a culture that they are not familiar with. Along with this, I am hoping to learn as much Spanish as I can! I am also ready to eat the food and experience the Costa Rican culture. I have only ever heard positive things about this country and that makes me even more eager to arrive. One thing I have also never done is worked on a coffee plantation or peered down into a volcano from the top! The service project we will be involved in is sure to really open my eyes to everything that I take for granted. This entire trip is going to be a new experience for me because even though I have traveled out of the country, I have never been on a trip like this. I cannot wait to get started.