El Fin

Friday was the kids' last day of school before their summer vacation and also my last day with them. Before our van even stopped outside the school, the kids were running from their classroom to meet us. They had each made thank you cards for us, but they don't know how to spell yet, so every card was basically a drawing of houses and flowers. I really wanted to cry because it was just the sweetest thing. And I kinda felt like I hadn't done a lot to make a difference with them, but it just shows that every little thing you do matters. One of the moms also made us bags to take back home with us. I wish I could capture my feelings that day with them because I remember thinking, This is love. Everything in this room is love.

 Maria Jose with the bag I received.

My favorite boy, Danielito. 

Angelica (another volunteer) and I with the whole class and their teacher.

Also on Friday, I went to a chocolate plantation that was in another rainforest. Once you've seen one rainforest, they're really all the same, it gets exhausting!! :) But they showed us how they make chocolate, which is not at all what you would think. The cacao bean is inside this fruit-like thing, and the bean is actually really squishy. Then we walked through the rainforest on a suspension bridge that went over a river. It was only scary when you looked down and realized that there was nothing between you and falling into the river but a piece of metal (and I guess some suspension ropes). I don't know when I became so adventurous, but I'm having a lot of fun.

Friday was also my last day in Costa Rica. I had such a fabulous time - meeting new friends, seeing all these amazing things, teaching the kids, speaking Spanish. I needed this trip at this exact time. I'm usually all peace, love & happiness, but I had become a little cynical over the past few months and needed to break that cycle. I don't advocate running from problems, but sometimes you just need to be out of your regular routine to gain perspective on life. I definitely accomplished that here. And all my injuries are pretty much healed, so let's call that a success.

Flying home last night, I watched at least 20 fireworks shows from the sky. It's good to be back home.

Costa Rica Oddities

Today was another beautiful day. This morning, we made bugs out of paper plates at school, and the kids loved it, though they don't exactly have cutting down to a science yet. This afternoon, the whole group went to hot springs in a tropical rainforest. I went to hot springs over the weekend in La Fortuna, but that place was more like a water park and not so natural. This was in the depths of the rainforest and was all natural hot springs. It was really beautiful and incredibly relaxing. And it rained a lot while we were there, which was a nice contrast to the really hot water. Rain in the rainforest... who would have thought?? I had to stop myself several times while I was there and let it sink in that I was in a rainforest, swimming in a rainforest. Definitely another once in a lifetime experience.

Since I don't have a ton of daily happenings to share, I'd thought I'd share one of my favorite things about traveling, which is seeing all the different cultural things that people do in other countries. Costa Rica is full of oddities. Here are some:

• There are dogs everywhere. I don't mean like people walking their dogs like pets. I mean dogs running through the streets, laying in the streets, begging outside of stores. The only thing I can compare it to in America is squirrels. Seriously, there are that many. I don't even know why they have pet stores. If you want a dog, just take one off the street. 
• They eat rice and beans with every meal here, even breakfast. You would think they would get sick of it, but they're just more simple people than Americans.
• There are no laws to protect pedestrians. You cross the street at your own risk entirely.
• ... which brings me to driving. Stop signs are really just a suggestion. You can pass anyone on any road at any time. You may stop your car on the street to say hi to someone, and the traffic behind you will not blow their horns or scream at you. They'll just politely wait. Dogs come so dangerously close to cars, but never get hit.
• In my city, it is often necessary to turn off the water to fix a pipe, for example. The city officials then turn off the water for the whole city without any warning. It may last one hour or all day. You just deal with it. This has happened 3 times since I've been here. 
• Their money is in thousands, which is so funny. A bottle of water may cost 2 thousand colones. My ATM receipt said that I had something like 147,000 in my checking account, which was surreal and awesome. 
• Pineapple is their main export and their second favorite food, behind rice & beans. I've come to eagerly anticipate pineapple with lunch and dinner. It's so fresh and sweet here; I'm definitely going to miss that.
• There is a huge insect problem. Costa Ricans apparently don't believe in exterminating, or maybe there's no point. Either way, there's bugs everywhere. I've seen a cockroach in my room, and one of my roommates had some big bug in her bed the other night. I have a handful of bug bites on my legs. Bug spray is definitely your best friend here. I won't miss that.
• Costa Ricans wear American brands like it's their jobs. There's so much Aeropostale, American Eagle & Hollister, it's like middle school all over again.
• In Spanish, when you want to describe something as little, you add "-ito" onto the end of a word. For example, a small dog (perro) would be "perrito". Costa Ricans overuse it. My teacher calls one small student named Daniel, "Danielito". (She also calls a chubby student "Gordito," but that's another story....)
• Diet Coke is called Coke Lite.
• Many people keep cows in their front yards. 
• With all the dogs running rampant, I've only seen 2 cats.

Dark & Light

Today was a really fun day. I volunteered at a shelter for girls ages 10-16 who had been physically or sexually abused at home. In America, it would be like a foster home, except there were 10 girls living in a dorm-like house. They have a full-time psychologist, and they go to school like other girls their age. We had the best day with them. We painted our fingernails, played Uno, played Angry Birds, and listened to some of their favorite music - Justin Beiber, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, and Michael Jackson. I was surprised at how open and sweet the girls were. I expected them to be a little more shy and closed-off, but they were very talkative. They weren't as clingy as my kindergarteners, but those kids are on a whole different level when it comes to affection. It's important for the girls to have positive female role models because, as one of our supervisors said, they often repeat the violence when they have children. So it's essential that they have a role model to show them a different way. I wish I was there everyday with them, but they were only home today since the schools were closed.

I think it's great to treat the girls because obviously they probably have some issues to deal with. But what frustrates me, and what frustrates me in the U.S. also, is that we are treating the symptoms and not the disease. It's too late when a girl gets sexually abused. She can get psychological help, but those scars will always be there. Why are we not treating the problem? Why are we not teaching men how to treat women and children? (I'm generalizing with men here. I know women can be abusers too, but it is predominantly men.) The only way to truly make a change is to change the culture of people, change their mindset. It's too late when kids are in foster homes.

On a lighter note, six of us went to see X-Men tonight at the movie theater. It was $4 for the movie, and $4 for popcorn and a drink... ridiculous. The movie was in English with Spanish sub-titles, which was fun. But about fifteen minutes into the movie, we all got yelled at to get our feet off the chairs. Come on!

Kids are the same in every language

Today you get a special treat: pictures of my kindergarteners!

We read a story about butterflies in English & in Spanish today, then we made butterflies, which is what you see there. These kids are super clingy and very affectionate, always hugging and hanging on me and jumping on me. It's really sweet, but kinda exhausting! Isaac, the boy in the bottom picture, is especially loving towards me. He is constantly tellling me, "Te amo" and "Te quiero" (which also means "I love you" when used towards a person, not "I want you"... get your mind out of the gutter!). I feel more comfortable everyday speaking Spanish with them. Some days I feel like a real Spanish speaker, and then I forget past tense in my verbs, and I remember why I'm an English teacher. Their school is pretty big, as far as land, but very primitive in resources. The teacher does a lot of things that I would never do, like leaving the kids alone or talking on her phone while the kids are in the room. I try not to judge because it's not right or wrong, it's just a different way of life.

Today was an especially lazy day because it rained, and we're all still tired from the weekend. At dinner tonight, four of us sat and talked for an hour & a half about international issues, like genocide and sex trafficking. These are things I read about a lot and am very interested in, but I don't often find many people who care about these issues enough to discuss them. Call me silly, but I would much rather discuss the oppression of women in Asian and African countries than weddings or shopping, for instance. It's nice to be around other people who are interested in those things too. Don't get me wrong, I love celebrity gossip and other trashy things, so I'm not trying to get on a soapbox here.

Tomorrow, the teachers are going on strike because they don't like the new, year-round schedule that the education department proposed. So my school will be closed tomorrow, which means I need somewhere to go. I initially thought I would just go to someone else's placement, but I was assigned to a new site altogether: a homeless shelter for girls ages 10-16 who have been sexually abused. I am so, so, so excited about this! I wish this had been my placement for this whole trip.

On another note, I'm very concerned about my right arm today. I injured it ziplining, and it hurt all weekend, but today, I'm really noticing it. I cannot straighten it or lift it above my head. I know it's not broken, and I think it's just a muscle strain or something, but it sure is uncomfortable. I decided I'm going to wait it out until Wednesday, then if it still hurts, I'll see a doctor. So here's hoping!

What do you do when you get kicked by a horse?

This weekend was amazing. I felt like I was truly in Costa Rica this weekend. I went to La Fortuna, which is a city about an hour from my home base. It's a major tourist attraction because there's a volcano, rainforest, and waterfall all in one area. So I went there for the weekend with 16 other volunteers. Let me break it down for you in days:

Friday: We arrived in La Fortuna at about 3 p.m. and immediately decided to go ziplining, which of course is what everyone thinks of when they think of Costa Rica. If I had thought about it more, I probably would have been scared and nervous, but I didn't think; I just went with it. I was actually incredibly bad at it initially. You have to hold the zipline with your right hand (in a glove) and kinda let it slide. Well I panicked when I was going too fast and pulled down too hard on the first 3 zip lines. On one, a guide had to come out and pull me back in. I got yelled at a little bit there... But after about the 5th zip line, I got the hang of it and was able to look down at the rainforest below me. There are no words to describe it... just perfection, pure unaltered beauty. Then we did the Tarzan Swing, which is basically bungee jumping, but you hold onto the rope like a swing. I was initially excited, then really scared, then I just took the plunge! You literally have to step off a platform and just trust the rope. It was, in a word, AWESOME. I would totally do that again. And then they gave us a free beer at the end :)

Saturday: The whole group went horseback riding to the waterfall. I cannot remember the last time I went horseback riding, or if I ever have been horseback riding to be honest. I was a little nervous at first, but I got the hang of it quickly and was very relaxed. It was nice to just trot through the mountains and farms. Then things turned ugly. Oh about halfway up the mountain, our horses were in a small stream area. The horse in front of me suddenly became spooked or upset or something and reared its back leg and kicked me right in the shin! My first reaction was, wtf just happened? Then I screamed, "HOLY SHIT!" Then everyone in the group stopped and started to ask if I was ok, and I couldn't get any words out because I was in so much pain. The guide immediately rode his horse up from the back of the group to help me out, and by then I was a blubbering mess. He felt so bad. Luckily, I had made a game time decision that morning to change out of shorts and into jeans, so there was no horseshoe to skin contact. This reminds me of Zoolander: Derek's Dad: "Derek, what do we do when we fall off a horse?" Zoolander: "Fall off a horse....?" Dad: "We get back on!!!" So I got back on the horse. The guide kept telling me I was so brave to keep riding, but I really didn't see another option - I mean, I was already halfway up a mountain!


After that drama, we made it to the waterfall, which was, in another word, breathtaking. There are some moments in my life that stand out to me as moments where I felt truly alive. They are, in no order: the Sydney Opera House, Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, being with the prison kids in Peru. And now, seeing this waterfall in Costa Rica. The pictures truly don't do it justice. It's just so beautiful. We went swimming at the base of the waterfall, which was really cold, but awesome.

Saturday night, we went to hot springs, which were not natural, but were actually a bunch of hot pools with swim-up bars. Not a bad Saturday night.

Sunday: Today five of us went on a safari. Like a real, actual animal safari. We went in hoping to see a sloth and monkeys, but not really expecting anything. Our guide was awesome. We drove 2 hours to get to the river, and on the way, we stopped a bunch of times to look at things. We would be driving, and he would be like, "Sloth! In the tree!" Then we would pull over. He was like a vulture or something, seeing everything! On the river, we saw monkeys within about 10 minutes. Seriously. Monkeys in their natural habitats, swinging from trees and everything! It was unreal. We actually saw so many monkeys on the safari that it became normal by the end of the trip. We also saw a couple sloths, iguanas, crocodiles, the Jesus Christ lizard, toucans, and lots of other birds. It was so, so cool. It felt like I wasn't living my life, like I was in someone else's magical life.

So now it is Sunday night, and I'm paying for this weekend. Of course, I have a gash on my leg from the horse attack. I also have rope burn on my arm from ziplining. And my right arm is soooooo sore from pulling down too hard on the zipline. I think I strained a muscle, that's how much it hurts. I can barely lift things. Basically my body is one big mess of injuries right now. But it was all worth it for this fantastic weekend :)

Coffee & Volcanoes

Hola! These past few days have been fun and very busy. At my volunteer school, the kids get done with school before we get picked up by our bus, so, like the snobby American I am, I brought my iPad so I could read my book. No sooner had I pulled it out then all 20 kids playing in the yard immediately ran over to see what I had. I showed them how I was reading a book on it, but of course that was uninteresting, so I clicked over to Angry Birds. And with that little click, I discovered how to bridge cultural gaps. They loved it and caught on so quickly! I brought it back today and showed them the Garage Band app and iDoodle. I'm basically the coolest person in the school now. Although one mean boy did call me "feo" (ugly) today.... his classmates immediately stuck up for me and said I was "bonita" (pretty). This was after I took all the scissors away from him. I'm beginning to like the little kids more and more. I used to work with little kids at the YMCA all through college and in grad school, so it's not entirely new. Little kids are my kinda people: simple, fun, take daily naps, always want to play games, laugh at dumb jokes. I get it.

The countryside of Costa Rica is really beautiful, green and fertile. The city I'm in is not as pretty, kinda like every other city. Ohioans, remember when we had like 50 straight days of rain in April-May? Yeah, that's nothing compared to here. It rains everyday, without fail. It's usually the same time everyday, around noon & then in the evening. It's a little annoying. The people definitely dress like Americans. Costa Rica is more American-ized than Peru was last year. Today we went on a tour of a coffee plantation. It's one of the places where Starbucks gets its coffee from. It was really cool to see the fields and the process that beans go through. The downside is that they harvest from November-February, so there wasn't a lot in the fiels that we could see. My new obsession is chocolate-covered coffee beans though.

Living in a house with 30 other people is getting to me a little bit. It's fun to have someone to talk to and go places with all the time, but that also means that you don't get a lot of alone time. I like everyone a lot though. People who go on these sort of trips are generally really friendly, interesting, open people, and that's what I've found here.

On the way to the school today, oh ya know, we passed a volcano. Just a normal day here. This weekend, I'm going to hike up the volcano, visit hot springs, zipline, and go on a safari. What are you doing this weekend?

Volunteering Day 1

Today was my first day teaching kindergartners. I have one word for teaching kindergarten: Chaos. Well, to be fair, they were very loving and adorable and happy. They immediately hugged me and held my hand within .5 seconds of entering the room. But then the chaos began. They do know a little English - numbers, colors, introductions. And they have 2 favorite songs: Head Shoulders Knees & Toes and the Hokey Pokey, which we repeated about 5 times each. Then the kids had a snack and then playtime. One boy told me that he was Simba, and I was Nala, and his other friend was Mufasa (though Mufasa did not like that because Mufasa dies). That was charming. We then had coloring & nap time, which was really lay on your blanket and talk and/or fight. Then the kids went home.................... at 11 a.m. Not a bad life, eh? I especially liked that we could communicate easily. The kids and I have about the same vocabulary, so that made life easy. But yeah, there is a reason I don't teach little kids - too much energy! Sit still! Listen! Ahh!

This afternoon, we went to a cultural arts festival at a high school in the area. It was nuts - like 300-400 people in the audience. It was basically a display of local dance and music put on by the children. Towards the end, the organizers decided that it was a great idea to bring los Americanos on stage and introduce us individually. The audience's applause was based entirely on our looks, namely things that they don't see very often, like blondes and black people. With brown hair and brown eyes, I got ordinary applause. A couple girls asked to take a picture of one very tall guy in our group (Spanish people are short).

During the night last night, I woke up to screams from the bunk above me at 4 a.m. It was my roommate, and I immediately thought she was falling off the bed, so in my sleepy state, I kinda just watched for her to fall. But then she yelled that something was in her bed and to turn the light on. There was a gecko in her sheets! They're pretty harmless, so I think that's better than a big bug in your bed. If it was me, I'd still be freaking out.

So tomorrow, we're going to attempt to teach the kids the American alphabet... this should be fun! :)