Leaving my mark on the world

Well, my time in Costa Rica, unfortunately, had to come to an end. It's been two weeks almost to the hour since I've been back in the States and I can say without a doubt in the world that I had the most awesome, eye-opening, and amazing experience of a lifetime. I have taken away an immense amount from my short time of three and a half weeks abroad; the Costa Rican culture, the educational system, poverty, an understanding for English Language Learners, the country itself and it’s history, and also a deeper understanding of  who I am. This trip couldn't have happened at a more appropriate time in my life. There were several reasons why I even considered studying abroad, but one of those reasons was to come back a changed person and discover myself along the way. I feel that in our society most people,  including myself,  take the things they have for granted. I said in an earlier blog and I'll say it again because I truly believe it, THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE SIMPLE.  Every person I came in contact with didn't own the newest car or have the most extravagant house,  but they had what they needed and they were happy. Not the type of happy that money can buy, but truly happy to be blessed with another day and to have family by their side. With that said, I also came to realize the importance of family. I've always had an unbreakable bond and close-knit relationship with my nuclear family (my parents and my brother) but I now see how important extended family is. Overall, family is family and should always be there to support you. Both of my host families were great, but I felt more comfortable and at peace with my tica family in Monteverde. They welcomed me immediately into their home and I instantly felt as if I was one of them. It was a really tough morning when I had to leave my mama tica and the girls but I've stayed in contact with them since I've been back and will continue to do so! I absolutely cannot wait to go back and visit;  at least I know I have a place to stay!!  :) 

I feel that Costa Rica is my home away from home and my tica family in Monteverde is now considered my second family. This was such a beautiful experience and I am blessed to have had the opportunity that has impacted not only me personally, but how I hope to teach in the future. Every time after I read my blogs, I still feel that words can truly not capture what this trip has done for me and my life; it's one that I will never forget and that will be in my heart forever.

Until next time amigos 

:)

Familia 

sweetest girls in the world <3

my mama tica teaching me to cook! 

National Theater in San Jose

Plaza in San Jose 

As my time comes to an end...

Well, it's my last day in Monteverde and only about a day and a half until we leave to come back home! It sunk in about a week and a half ago that this was no longer a vacation and that I was here to stay. I can honestly say that I would be completely content living with my host family, with the exception of missing everybody from back home like crazy; I genuinely feel as if I am a part of their family and 100% at home. All of my clothes have been put in my dresser and away in the closet, I have my own dirty clothes hamper and even my own bathroom! Unfortunately, I'm leaving all of that in only hours :(

Tuesday: We attended the MonteVerde Cloud Forest School, or also called creativo educacion. This school is AWESOME!!! The school itself stresses environmental education and farming and it's ran largely from donations. They stress an organic curriculum which is rooted within the National Standards. The most interesting thing about this school was that the courses are taught in English, with the exception of Social Studies and obviously...Spanish. Once in high school, or what is known here as "colegio" every course is done in English. I talked a little bit in my previous blog about how this school is considered to be a more prestigious school and that I was curious if social status could affect literacy;I have found the comparison between Santa Elena and this particular school that could serve as an example to a certain extent. Some parents of students have paid to have their students attend the Cloud Forest School but pulled them out because they felt their children's Spanish was suffering and that they were losing a part of their culture. My mama tica's niece and nephew attend this school and from what I've seen of them and talked with them, know a good amount of English. Mariana is 4 and in pre-school while Jualito is 6 and in kindergarten. I've noticed that they already have more English language knowledge than my tica sisters do who are 6 and12. Visiting this school opened my eyes to see the influence I can have on our environment, how I can teach kids and other students ways to have an impact on their surroundings, and also just how important parental involvement with a school can be. The Watson School of Education is working on a program where the last five weeks of internships are done at the MonteVerde Cloud Forest School and I'm really hoping this program can work out! This would be a great opportunity and allow me to come back and be with my familia. 

Mariana and I (my mama tica's niece) 

Library 

This was laying in the art class at the Cloud Forest School. It speaks the truth :)

The Meadow

Wednesday: This day was our second and final service project. The project consisted of volunteering on a farm called Life Monteverde. The main concept of this farm was  sustainability and learning about conservation. The farm has only been opened since the 1990's and is still improving but is on it's way to great success. The farm is family-owned and our tour and volunteer work was done with one of the sons of the owner; William was his name and he was excellent! Hearing him talk about the land and each plant for what they were was inspiring; He had so much knowledge about farming and sustainability and the Costa Rican culture itself. Our volunteer work consisted of putting organic soil on the coffee bean plants and this came with hard work! We had to carry sacks of compost a pretty good distance and then dig the holes where the compost was to be deposited. After about an hour and a half of working with the coffee plants, we had a little break and then hiked a bit of a ways to an open field where we each had the opportunity to plant our own tree. I hope to come back in a few years to see my tree and just how much it has grown :) Overall, this was a great service project to participate in. I felt good knowing that I was helping the environment, as well as helping a local farmer. Pura Vida! 

My tree that I planted! 

Hard work & dirty hands! 

Thursday: OH MY GOODNESS!!! This day was a complete whirlwind of emotions; scared, nervous, happy, energized, exhausted, and even left me with a bit of a sore throat! Located in Monteverde are many different zipline companies but the one that we did was called Sky Trek. We got to Sky Trek around 7:30 and didn't leave until after 10. After we got all geared up, they took us on the "test" line which was scary enough! After the test run, we rode a sky lift 5,700 feet up and then the real fun began. We went down 9 lines in total and each one got more and more intense, whether it was the altitude or the length of the zipline. Our guides were great though and made our experience even better. I've never been too afraid of heights but doing this took height to a whole new level. It's much different being way above the treetops and seeing the countryside for miles and miles and milessssss. I tried not to look down much because it scared me but I couldn't help it sometimes because the landscape is so beautiful. With every look down though came screams...I hope you enjoy! 

Arenal Volcano is located on our right; this was the place we visited last weekend that was four hours away! 

Friday: I'm writing this blog today and it's a bit of a bittersweet day since it's my last one here. I've been pretty busy spending time throughout the town shopping some and trying to finish up this blog but my night will consist of spending time with my tica family! I started to pack up some of my things this morning and my mama tica just stood in my doorway and told me she didn't want me to leave, so I know tomorrow morning saying goodbye is going to be pretty rough. The two weeks that I've spent with my tica family have been absolutely incredible. I couldn't have asked for a better family. I plan on staying in contact with my family. Their going to have a place in my heart forever as I hope I do theirs. Once I'm back in Wilmington, I'll have one more post about my overall experience and what I'm really taking away from this trip so I hope you can continue to stay updated with my blogs! :)

See ya in a couple days! 

La segunda semana

“The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.” – Samuel Johnson

Hey guys!

So I have  realized that I gave you pretty basic information about my family and not very specific things as to what I'm doing and HOW I'm doing. So as far as my tica family goes, my papa tico works as a cheese factory salesman and is actually away on business for a couple of days and my mama tica is a housewife. I never thought being a housewife would be difficult until I saw first hand what she does on a day to day basis. The schooling and education system is a little different than back home so certain students attend class at different times. For example, Valentina goes to school from 7 to 12 and Maria Jose goes to school from 12 to 5. That means my mama tica is up at 6 making breakfast and getting Valentina ready for school and packing her lunch, WALKS her to school which is about ten minutes downhill, walks ten minutes uphill back home, does chores and cleans the house, walks downhill to pick up Valentina and drop off Maria Jose and then at 5, she goes BACK to pick up Maria Jose. Busy huh?! She does make amazing food though :) I've been eating extremely well and have even tried some new things such as mushrooms, avocado, coffee, and papayas. This is totally a new experience for me because I'm usually one of the first to wrinkle my nose and refuse new foods. As far as what the week had in store for me....

Wednesday: We went on a tour of El Traphice which is considered to be a traditional Costa Rican farm. Throughout the tour and walking through the farm, our guide George, explained the process for extracting juice from sugar cane and we visited the coffee plantation to see the four steps coffee goes through to become able to be shipped away or packaged; It was very interesting! We got to ride in an ox cart at the end and then even made our own fudge from scratch! I even saw my first VERY UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL snake! My first reaction was to grab Aly and I didn't realize it but it took me about five minutes to let go of her arm. OOPS! :) Also, I have a few friends that keep me up at night!! Any guesses?? Well, one is multiple roosters that start crowing around 4 am and the other is a rat that lives in the wall! It's just great! I'm hoping you can sense the sarcasm :) 

Making some fudge! 

The aftermath :)

Thursday: Just as we did on Tuesday, we attended Santa Elena primary school again and had the opportunity to observe a class and then teach another lesson on the rain forest to a group of sixth graders. Myself along with a few of the other girls observed a second grade English class. The teacher was still speaking quite a bit of Spanish but explained the main objective and what they were going to be doing in English. The topic of the day was "The House". Each student was provided with construction paper, scissors, and glue and were to make their own house with these materials and label each part of the house. For example: window, door, roof, etc. Most of the kids were using Spanish when conversing but they were at least saying "scissors" and "glue" in English. When we taught our lesson to the sixth graders, our goal was to have the students incorporate and practice how to say the animals in English. We did this by playing this really fun game with squish balls. Luckily for us, they had already been learning about animals so they were quite familiar and they enjoyed the game a lot. Oh, and we found the rat!! He escaped from the wall and is now gone from our household :)

 6th grade lesson on animals in the rain forest 

My "little sister" (pink bow)and her cousins

This is what a teacher drove and parked inside the school. Four-wheelers and dirtbikes are the main means of transportation. 

Friday: We went on a hike of the Santa Elena Reserve. It was about a two hour to two and a half hour hike that included seeing insects, monkeys, plants, and many many unique and rare birds. After the hike, we attended our regular three hours of Spanish and after Spanish, I got a very nice and special surprise. I sat down while we were talking about what time we needed to be ready and what to bring over the weekend when a box was placed on my lap that was sent from home. It was a care package that my parents had sent me!! It couldn't have come at a better time and I couldn't have asked for better parents :) This was also a very special day because it was my sweet yorkie puppy's very first birthday! 

I just happened to spot this leaf walking through the rainforest! 

 I have such great parents and pup! 

Happy birthday sweet princess!! 

Saturday/Sunday: And finally came the weekend! We departed for Arenal Volcano around 7:30 Saturday morning and arrived around lunchtime. On the way there, we stopped on the side of the road to see a sloth, howler monkeys (which sound like very big dogs!) and a toucan. It's mind-blowing to be driving down a road and be able to stop and see such wildlife. The car ride to Arenal was a little miserable because half of the trip was on a gravel road with huge and intense ditches. Not to mention, it was a pretty narrow road and we are in a fairly big van but the landscape and view along the way was incredible. Once we arrived in Arenal, we enjoyed a nice lunch and then the relaxation began! The resort we stayed at was beautiful. After a nice and calm afternoon, we had dinner at the resort and crashed afterwards! The best part of the weekend was having NO alarm set for Sunday morning. I've got in the habit of waking up around 5:30-6 so my sleeping in was only until 7:30 :( I'm hoping this isn't so routine that I wake up this early back home because that will not be okay! After spending Sunday morning in the springs and soaking up some sun, we packed all of our things, had lunch in the town of Arenal and then headed back to Monteverde in the four hour car ride! 

On the way to Arenal

Toucan

 Only one of the five hot springs at our resort 

 Arenal Volcano 

Our little friend we came across by the hot springs; he was enjoying his reflection :) This lizard is actually called a Jesus Christ lizard because of his ability to walk, or run on water. 

Monday: Yesterday afternoon and today were a little rough on me because I've been feeling a bit under the weather. We had a free morning this morning so it was nice to be able to relax for a bit and then head to CPI for class with Dr. Crawford and Mrs. Bramley. Today didn't hold much but tomorrow will be interesting; we are going to observe a private school here in Monteverde called the Cloud Forest school. I'm excited to see how this private school compares to the other primary schools that we have attended in Heredia and here in Monteverde. We've been told that this school is considered to be more a "prestigious" school because the amount parents pay for their kids to go there. I'm hoping to see just if social status plays a part in literacy development. 

Inquiry Project on Adolescent Literacy: I've talked in a previous blog about while I'm here, that I plan on researching adolescent literacy and using data and information collected from my home stays as some of my research. Part of this course requires us to proceed through the Kath Murdoch 5 phases of inquiry that serve as a "framework for developing understandings about the world". The main purpose of this process and cycle is for me to record and reflect upon the information and research that I find throughout my time here in Costa Rica. I've completed the first few steps of the process and will continue to work in completing the last four phases this last week in Monteverde and when I get back to the states. After identifying my topic (adolescent literacy), the first phase is titled Tuning In. The "tuning in" phase establishes the prior understandings, misconceptions, and experiences, determining goals for learning and revealing dispositions or feelings regarding the topic or issue. Since I've never been abroad or never been forced to be immersed into another culture, the literacy in this culture has never really crossed my mind and I have very few misconceptions or knowledge about the subject. I've seen English language learners in classrooms back in Wilmington and seen and even felt the struggles and tribulations they can go through on an every day basis. Since I didn't know a lot about adolescent literacy, I was excited to see just what information this project could bring me! I do have quite a few questions though that have driven my research. Some of these questions include: How does the community affect literacy and reading? How can the home environment affect language, literacy, and reading? How much English is taught inside the schools? Is English and reading/literacy being integrated within other subjects? How can poverty affect literacy? How will the schools in Heredia compare to Monteverde in terms of literacy and reading? Why do students take English? Having these questions took me directly into Phase 2, Finding Out. "Finding Out" is when you gather the information from a range of sources but continuing to raise questions and investigating. Some of the guiding questions under this phase include the type of resources that can help me to answer my questions, how do I know the information I find is trustworthy and my thoughts at this point in time during my research. As far as resources go, I plan on interviewing my mama tica and my little sister, Maria Jose who is 12. Maria Jose has told me that she takes English class and I have even had to help her and one her friends with a presentation they were doing for English. The presentation consisted of the two girls acting out the role of a doctor and the other one was sick with the chicken pox. Maria Jose, who played the doctor, had to explain what the chicken pox was and medications she could get to get rid of them. I think this was the first time it really opened my eyes to see the struggles that I've been facing with the language barrier for the past two and a half weeks. Maria Jose had a lot of difficulty in saying simple words and she could understand what her friend was saying to her but struggled in responding. It's the same with me...I can understand what I hear all day long but it's a matter of getting out what I have to say. In addition to talking to my mama tica and Maria Jose, I also plan on speaking with Jonle who works with CPI and a Professor at CPI who has three children. Finally, I hope to have the chance to interview a teacher at Monteverde Cloud Forest School which is a private school here locally. At this point in my research, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed because we don't spend much time in the schools and when we have observed, they haven't been English classes and they have been adolescent classes, they have been elementary classes. It's difficult enough trying to communicate with the language barrier but not being in the schools to collect my data makes it even harder. Since I can't use just the information I'm getting from people, I've been using Google Scholar to look up articles and journals about adolescent literacy. 

I will probably only post once or twice more this week and then it's back to United States I come!!!! 

Mi segunda familia

Hola mis amores!

I'll give you all an update of what's going on with me and what the present and future holds for me while here in Costa Rica. On Sunday, we left Herdia and traveled up in the mountains into Monteverde, which is a completely beautiful and breathtaking town. Once we got into the small and very rural area, we were dropped off with our second host families. I could not have asked for a better home stay! I was greeted with hugs and kisses by my mama tica (Xenia) and my two sisters (Valentina and Maria Jose). Valentina is in the first grade and is six years old, while Maria Jose is 12 and in 5th grade. Their house is up a HUGE and exhausting hill that I have had to walk up on numerous occasions already but their home is so warm, loving, and cozy. Atleast I'll be coming back with great legs from the hikes ;) I have a VERY comfortable bed, my own bathroom, and WI-FI so needless to say...i'm content for the next little over a week and half :) The first week went by really slow but this past weekend and last two days have flown by! I'm ready to be at home with my loved ones but I'm also sad to leave here because it has become my home away from home. So, I met my family Sunday night and got a full ten hours of sleep which was awesomeeee!! Monday morning I walked and met with the group to get a brief tour of Monteverde from our guide, Joe, and then we came to our school, CPI. After a tour of the campus and discussing what the rest of the week was to look like, we had Latin cooking classes which was interesting. We made chicken fajitas and I was in charge of cutting up lettuce for our salad, cilantro, and making the tortillas. The recipe was actually fairly simple and something I can hopefully just as easily whip up back home. Today (Tuesday) we went to Santa Elena which is a local primary school here in town. We observed one 40 minute session of class and taught one 40 minute session to the sweetest pre-schoolers. After teaching at Santa Elena, we debriefed on how the lesson went and what we are going to teach on Thursday when we go back to the same school. As of right now, we have been teaching the students about the importance of the rainforest and different animals of the rainforest. Next week, we hope to teach about water and the ocean, which will be perfect for us since we come from Wilmington and the beautiful beach there :) I've been surprised as to how different our North American Schools and the Costan Rican schools differ. The teaching strategies and instruction are much more different and the atmospheres are completely different. The Costa Rican culture is a very laid back culture and most parents feel they should let their children learn from their mistakes and most parents believe that children will suffer the consequences for their mistakes. Basically, it's an either sink or swim philosophy. In the classroom that I observed, there were NO hands on or engaging activities with the kids, there were no books around the classroom and it was a very dull place to be. From what I could tell, the students were learning about the scientific method and were to draw a picture about it, although I couldn't make out what most of the pictures were. The instruction was more of a lecture and answer format and finally, not only am I interested to see but the entire group is interested in seeing if these students have standards or goals that they have to meet by the end of the year like our students in North Carolina. I'm wanting to know if they do have standards, are they broad or more specific. Also, part of studying abroad of course comes the courses you take while abroad. I'm taking a literature class for the middle grades so my research for my final project will be on literacy. I've already completed some of my research by making guiding questions and questions that I wanted to find out. I'll talk later about this in another blog though! Finally, the rest of the week will be pretty busy for us. Tomorrow (Wednesday) we have a tour of the Trapiche coffee plantation with three hours of Spanish classes following and then our group is going to get dinner together, Thursday we are going to be in the schools during the morning, Spanish classes during the day and then LATIN DANCING CLASSES THAT NIGHT!!! Obviously I am quite excited about that and finally on Friday, we are going on a tour of the Monteverde CloudForest Reserve which will be super fun too! I'm going to attempt to post a little bit each day but we will see how that works out.


Hasta Luego! 

Finally, an American meal! With our silly guide Javier in the background :) 

My HUGE hotel bed this past weekend in Manuel Antonio  

Manuel Antonio National Park 

Sweet Valentina! :))

Cooking it up ;)

Santa Elena Pre-Schoolers 

The best things in life are simple

Education is a companion which no misfortune can depress, no crime can destroy, no enemy can alienate,no despotism can enslave. At home, a friend, abroad, an introduction, in solitude a solace and in society an ornament.It chastens vice, it guides virtue, it gives at once grace and government to genius. Without it, what is man? A splendid slave, a reasoning savage.

-Joseph Addison 

Never in my life have I felt the way I did today. Never in my life have I seen the things that I saw today. Never in my life will I forget the experience I had today. It’s Friday night and I’m typing this in a word document since there’s no wi-fi so you won’t be seeing this posted until later in the week. Today, or on Friday, our group traveled to La Carpio which is considered to be Nicarguan shanty-town. Now, I have heard the word shanty-towns throughout numerous Social Studies classes but simply talking about a shanty-town did not do what I saw justice. As we came over a hill, all we could see for miles was trash on the side of the roads, in the roads, houses with no walls and hardly no roofs, children walking the streets with no shoes on and covered in dirt. When we received our “orientation” we came to learn that what we were seeing has actually improved from what it was years and years ago.

Today has been my favorite day of all so far. One of the reasons I came on this trip was to get away and to find myself and be able to come back to the states a new and better person for the things that I had experienced while here in Costa Rica. Today is a prime example. I have never felt more blessed and touched than I have today. Some people say that teaching is a calling…well, I heard loud and clear today! The children that I read to and played with and helped were absolutely beautiful. It was such a humbling experience to see the smiles spread across their faces. The best things in life truly are simple. Having the newest cell phone or the most expensive car could never replace the feeling I was left with and the love, smiles and hugs that came along with it. 

 The best hug in the world

Sweet boy 

One world 

Nothing but smiles! 

Pura Vida!

I'm finally getting the opportunity to update my blog so here ya go :) The last few days have been insanely busy!  In between four hours of spanish a day, to visiting the ecovillas, to visiting the elementary schools today, it's been go go go! I actually had the opportunity in sitting in on a special education class today which was completely and utterly heart-warming. The school is actually right across from my tica home; the kids were welcoming and loved seeing our faces. We taught about the rainforest to fifth and sixth graders, IN SPANISH! They only had to correct me just a few times :)    


On Sunday, we went to Poas Volcano. I posted a picture below of the volcano but it was amazing. We walked  about ten minutes up the mountain and were 100% immersed in clouds and could see nothing. Literally two minutes later, the wind pushed the clouds away and the entire crater of the volcano appeared. Our tour guide told us he did his lucky volcano dance so it obviously worked! That's all for today but I will continue blogging later in the week.

Mi familia

Hola amigos! Well, the past two days have been very intense to say the least. I met my beautiful tico host family yesterday. I have my mama tica named Miriam, her daughter named Rocio, Rocio’s husband named Roberto, and their two children Jimenia and Robert. Jimenia is only three years old and Robert is nine. This experience has already been a wake-up call to me and made me realize how much I take for granted and how little it takes to really be happy; they are considered to one of the happiest countries in the world. I can honestly say that I have yet to feel uncomfortable with my tica family. I was extremely nervous meeting them and seeing their home but once I got in and settled, I felt as if I was one of them. Roberto, Robert, and I played volleyball for a while last night and I also played with Jimenia in her casita (play house). My family knows no English so it was quite difficult trying to tell her I wanted a bath and what time I wanted to get up in the morning but I feel I did fairly well for the first night. For the most part, I can understand most everything that is being said to me, but it’s just a matter of responding. I was so exhausted last night that I went to bed around 8 and woke up willingly at 5:30 AM!!! My mama tica made me breakfast and then I met the rest of the group to walk to school this morning. Our school being CPI which stands for Centro Panamericano de Idiomas. My group had class and discussed what we would be teaching inside the elementary school that we are visiting on Thursday and we’re teaching about the rainforest. I thought this was a very neat subject and perfect for being in Heredia. After that class, we had a bit of a break and then had four hours of Spanish. Spanish class was mostly a review and it definitely refreshed my memory from years ago in high school. I’ve been having a great time so far but being so far away from home in a home that is unfamiliar is taking a bit of a toll on me. I have times where I have my ups and downs, mostly ups, but it’s nice hearing a familiar voice every once in a while! I have absolutely NO wi-fi in my home so I’m not able to get on the computer often unless I’m at CPI.  Tomorrow we are visiting an ecovilla and then having Latin cooking classes! That should be quite the experience J I haven’t found out yet how to post pictures but as soon as I do, their yours to see! Missing everybody back home!!

Iron Man in Wal-Mart

Longhorn Steakhouse Karoke

Coffee Plantation

Poas Volcano Tour 

PURA VIDA! 

I’m having to collect my blogs in word and submit them once we get to CPI since my family doesn’t have Wi-Fi so there’s a reason you might see multiple postings a day!