Phhhew. I now have five lessons under my belt. Teaching five out of the past six school days has been a lot of work and a surprising amount of stress. My schedule wasn't originally created to be so hectic but one guy dropped out leaving some classes that needed to be covered. Maybe I am crazy but I volunteered for one additional class thinking the more experience and feedback I get during this course the more value I will get from my tuition. Plus I wanted to help out my very kind and helpful teachers who were stressing about filling the slots. Now I only have one more lesson to teach and a final exam to create before I graduate with my certificate. Wa-hooo! *throws up fists*
The days have left me exhausted, but in the end I feel great having created original, fun, interactive, and most importantly, successful lessons for a variety of different levels in a variety of locations (including the lobby of an emergency room and a hair salon).
Tomorrow is completely free of lessons and teaching. Assa! I'm planning to sleep in, spend the day at the beach or meandering as I please. Jealous?
I haven't done very well describing Costa Rica for you all. My apologies. I'll start by describing the small, beach city that I've been living in the last 3 weeks. Quepos. The city is nothing special really. There's a few banks, some clothings shops, a fairly large supermarket (Pali, owned by stupid Walmart....*grrrr*), a not so impressive beach, and a LOT of small hotels and restuarants/bars. At night it's pretty scary. Nothing like San Jose scary but I definitely get nervous when I have to walk home from school after the sun goes down. Luckily I've befriended a very nice Tico boy (and local scuba dive master) who just happens to live near me and who always agrees to escort me to and fro my home in the late evening hours.
Drug usage is an obvious problem here (and I'm talking hard drugs like LSD and cocaine). It's not unusual to see ridiculously skinny and sad souls tweeking out on the street corners late at night nor is it unusual to have a night out with a group of classmates without being approached to buy drugs at least a few times.
Up a long, windy, and very steep hill from Quepos is Manuel Antonio. Just a 20 minute bus ride from Quepos, Manuel Antonio is home to numerous beautiful beaches, a national park and many tourists. It's just being "discovered" as a tourist destination so new, expensive hotels/resorts seem to be popping up everywhere in that area. It's a bit cleaner than Quepos but definitely still as shady and drug invested after the sun goes down.
Living with a host family has exposed me to a typical Tico diet. The most common Costa Rican dish is called a casado. A casado consists of either beef, chicken, or fish served with white rice, beans, and a small salad that is generally all stirred together and eaten. At first my withdrawl from Korean food was leaving me dissatisfied with all food here but now I've come to really like the casados and other dishes. One morning for breakfast my host mom made me banana pancakes from scratch. I almost cried. I tried to explain to her that I haven't had a banana pancake in over a year. I'm not sure I communicated it correct since I was busy stuffing my face. Oh well. They tasted amazing.
Ticos are right up there with Italian men when it comes to whistling and harassing women passing on the street. It's a tad amusing but mainly obnoxious. Married women here generally stay at home to do the cooking, cleaning, and raising of the children. Women have babies at such young ages too. One of the students in one of the beginner classes at TEFL works at a small clothing store on my way to school. It's become a habit to stop in each day and have a short language exchange as she makes me refresh my Spanish and I answer her questions about English. Come to find out we are the exact same age, born just nine days apart! When we discovered this she immediately followed by asking if I had any children. I kind of chuckled and quickly said no. Then to my surprise she tells me that she has a six year old son and a four year old daughter. Wow. Raising them by herself. Double wow. Apparently a common story.
The trademark of the Ticos is their "Pura vida!" slogan. Literally it means pure life but they say it as hello, goodbye, your welcome, no problem, have a good night, enjoy....everything. I love it. I will continue to use it all my life.
I have just one more week left in this land of paradise. I hope to squeeze in a trip to Jaco this weekend with some classmates and a few more afternoons on the beach so I can impress you all with a tan (it could happen!) when I return to Iowa.
See you soon!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
Ccccheck....one week of class complete! At times the days in the classroom seem long, but what I am learning is so valuable that it keeps my attention and focus. Besides that it's a bit relaxing to be the learner once again rather than up in front doing the teaching. I was told before I left Korea by a few that the TEFL/TESOL course would be a waste of my time since I completed a year of teaching already.
FALSE.
I'm learning tons! Actually, I think it's an even better situation that I'm taking this class after a year of teaching rather than if I had taken before I left for Korea. While sitting and discussing methods, activities, etc, I can picture exactly how they can be adapted or fit into my classes for next year. The ones in the course who have no previous ESL teaching experience seem to lose focus quickly, perhaps having trouble seeing the 'big picture' of it all.
My classmates are a great mix of people. A few from England and the rest representing all the regions in the U.S. We spend all day together and most nights choose to hang out with each other as well...a good sign I'd say. I have a feeling by the end of our course we're going to be a tightknit group.
Despite my muy mal español skills, I am having a lovely experience living with a host family. They are such kind, jolly people! My host mom is a lil prankster. She told the other student and I we were eating iguana the other night for dinner. She had us both going until she let out a good, hearty chuckle, finally telling us it was pollo (chicken). Cute. :)
The beauty surrounding me each morning when I wake up is still surreal. Just a short bus ride away is the most goregous beach....straight out of a romance novel. Titi monkeys run around right outside the windows at my school. Gekos crawl on the walls as I eat dinner. I have yet to see a sloth but that is most definitely the goal of the weekend as I plan to hit up the national park.
It's rainy season. Meaning each morning starts out hot with clear, bright blue skies. As the day progresses, in comes the rain. Most afternoons the rain is off and on into the still hot and humid (it is the jungle) evenings. So is the life of a Tica, I s'pose.
I miss Korea.
I miss Iowa, too.
FALSE.
I'm learning tons! Actually, I think it's an even better situation that I'm taking this class after a year of teaching rather than if I had taken before I left for Korea. While sitting and discussing methods, activities, etc, I can picture exactly how they can be adapted or fit into my classes for next year. The ones in the course who have no previous ESL teaching experience seem to lose focus quickly, perhaps having trouble seeing the 'big picture' of it all.
My classmates are a great mix of people. A few from England and the rest representing all the regions in the U.S. We spend all day together and most nights choose to hang out with each other as well...a good sign I'd say. I have a feeling by the end of our course we're going to be a tightknit group.
Despite my muy mal español skills, I am having a lovely experience living with a host family. They are such kind, jolly people! My host mom is a lil prankster. She told the other student and I we were eating iguana the other night for dinner. She had us both going until she let out a good, hearty chuckle, finally telling us it was pollo (chicken). Cute. :)
The beauty surrounding me each morning when I wake up is still surreal. Just a short bus ride away is the most goregous beach....straight out of a romance novel. Titi monkeys run around right outside the windows at my school. Gekos crawl on the walls as I eat dinner. I have yet to see a sloth but that is most definitely the goal of the weekend as I plan to hit up the national park.
It's rainy season. Meaning each morning starts out hot with clear, bright blue skies. As the day progresses, in comes the rain. Most afternoons the rain is off and on into the still hot and humid (it is the jungle) evenings. So is the life of a Tica, I s'pose.
I miss Korea.
I miss Iowa, too.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Hola amigos~~~
Estoy super en Costa Rica! I've made it to my home for the next 4 weeks...Quepos, Costa Rica. But not without some typical traveling frustrations that always seem to haunt me. My 30+ hour flight landed me in San Jose without my luggage, lots of paperwork to fill out as a result, and without the shuttle bus to my hostel. Nevertheless, I met some great people on my flights. One being a surfer representing the U.S. in the World Surf competition. Pathetic brush with pathetic greatness? I think so Nell and Kate!
I waited around in San Jose for 3 days until my luggage arrived (all in tact) and found it to be a pretty dirty, scary city. Not the best place a 'solo', American girl wants to find herself in for a long period of time anyway. Getting the bus ticket to Quepos was another frustration but thankfully my taxi driver turned out to be an angel.
The bus ride was absolutely beautiful....words cannot describe properly. My head never left the window the entire 3 1/2 hour ride. It was a bit rainy/misty, giving the lush, green countryside its proper jungle look.
Here are a few of my observation thus far:
-I've left a land where curves are found disgusting, where bare shoulders are a "no-no", to enter a land of many curves...curves that have no shame and bare all. This is probably an appropriate transition before going home as most people here are not fat, just chubby. :)
-Costa Ricans, called Ticos, are generally friendly, smiley and helpful.
-Hot showers do not exist.
-I don't remember near as much Spanish as I thought I would. (Molly study hard!)
-I'm as pale and white as they come. No longer a sign of beauty like in Korea but more probably a sign of weakness.
-My body cannot handle average amounts of cheese anymore, nor do I find it all that appealing.
As I was typing this I met two girls who will be doing the TESOL course with me starting Monday, one who just happens to be living with the same host family! Bright and early tomorrow I'll be on a rafting excursion with some other people from my hostel. I'm ready to get out into the exotic nature that surrounds me!
Out of battery power, I'll try to update in a few days!
xoxoxo
Estoy super en Costa Rica! I've made it to my home for the next 4 weeks...Quepos, Costa Rica. But not without some typical traveling frustrations that always seem to haunt me. My 30+ hour flight landed me in San Jose without my luggage, lots of paperwork to fill out as a result, and without the shuttle bus to my hostel. Nevertheless, I met some great people on my flights. One being a surfer representing the U.S. in the World Surf competition. Pathetic brush with pathetic greatness? I think so Nell and Kate!
I waited around in San Jose for 3 days until my luggage arrived (all in tact) and found it to be a pretty dirty, scary city. Not the best place a 'solo', American girl wants to find herself in for a long period of time anyway. Getting the bus ticket to Quepos was another frustration but thankfully my taxi driver turned out to be an angel.
The bus ride was absolutely beautiful....words cannot describe properly. My head never left the window the entire 3 1/2 hour ride. It was a bit rainy/misty, giving the lush, green countryside its proper jungle look.
Here are a few of my observation thus far:
-I've left a land where curves are found disgusting, where bare shoulders are a "no-no", to enter a land of many curves...curves that have no shame and bare all. This is probably an appropriate transition before going home as most people here are not fat, just chubby. :)
-Costa Ricans, called Ticos, are generally friendly, smiley and helpful.
-Hot showers do not exist.
-I don't remember near as much Spanish as I thought I would. (Molly study hard!)
-I'm as pale and white as they come. No longer a sign of beauty like in Korea but more probably a sign of weakness.
-My body cannot handle average amounts of cheese anymore, nor do I find it all that appealing.
As I was typing this I met two girls who will be doing the TESOL course with me starting Monday, one who just happens to be living with the same host family! Bright and early tomorrow I'll be on a rafting excursion with some other people from my hostel. I'm ready to get out into the exotic nature that surrounds me!
Out of battery power, I'll try to update in a few days!
xoxoxo
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