Sunday, May 30th

Hopefully, my friends who are science aficionados, will forgive me for saying that I have never really found fascination with the formation and dynamics of volcanoes…until this weekend. WOW! Imagine sitting in the dark (and I mean real darkness where there are no city lights) on a starry, moonlit night and watching red lava tumble down the side of a gigantic volcano in front of you. Absolutely AWESOME! This past weekend, we very fortunate to experience two clear, blue sky days while visiting La Fortuna and Arenal Volcano. On Saturday night, our guide took us to a spot out in the country where all the locals gathered to watch the volcano on a clear night and brought along blankets, foods, coolers, kids—much like us preparing to watch the 4^th of July fireworks. Whenever the volcano percolated and sent forth a few puffs, the ooo’s and chants of “LAVA, LAVA, LAVA” began followed by echoes of “AAAHH’s” Spectacular! Nature provided us an unforgetable Memorial Day weekend.

Along the way to La Fortuna we saw windmills that supply energy to 60,000 people here in Costa Rica. They were quiet and looked spectacular perched atop a mountain.

Our visits to the local public primary school continue to touch our hearts. The children are so responsive to our presence yet so shy about using the English they are learning. We coax them and they coax us along with our Spanish. When we go on our weekend trips, it is amazing to see tiny buildings that are schools, and they look very poor. However, every classroom we have observed is clean and there are textbooks.

My langauage experience with my host family centers primarily around food, extended family, the weather, the tv news, and my homework. It has been a pleasure to meet their two preschool neices who have made me feel succussful at my language attempts. It is much easier to communicate in short simple sentences when beginning a new language.

I have experienced some success practicing my language skills in town. It helps when the town you live in is a tourist town and many merchants are bilingual. Their added support motivates me to use the language because I feel confident they will help me when I ask questions. I understand their motivation is different than the classroom experience, but the support builds confidence.

My classroom experience at learning Spanish is still not a pleasant experience for me. I do not fault the teacher. I am reminded often that the program requires the teacher to make us speak and listen to Spanish all the time. So that is what we do. When a person experiences an allergy, he learns not to repeat the experience that caused the problem. By the same token, when a student does not respond to one method that a teacher utilizes over and over, then why can´t the method be changed to see if a different student response would occur?

My experience as a language arts teacher gives me a few tools to use as I learn Spanish. It helps to understand the parts of speech, plural and singular forms of nouns, first, second, and third person, and subject/verb agreement. There are times where knowing the formula can create the answer without knowing the vocabulary content.

I believe field trips, like our trip to Arenal Volcano, enrich our vocabularies and boost our mojo for learning. Field trips allow one to experience learning in different modalities. All students and schools should be allowed at least one field trip opportunity every year. It may be the one experience that ignites the spark to learn instead of repeated classroom methodology that sometimes builds frustration within that leads to an eruption of tardies, excuses, absences, and withdrawal.

This week experiences of excited adventurers, reluctant learners, and great past ESL students prompted ¨Please Don´t Call On Me¨.

Please Don´t Call On Me

Please don´t call on me in class

because I never pronunciate your language correctly.

Please don´t call on me in class

because my answer will not be the one you expect.

Please don´t call on me in class

because my homewok is not always complete because of my other responsibilities.

Please don´t call on me in class

because the other students will need to practice patience while you correct me over and

over again.

Please don´t call on me in class

because you never give me credit for what is in my head.

Please don´t call on me in class

because there is no room in your class for answers like mine.

Please don´t call on me in class to practice vocabulary about family

because my family is a split family and those words are not on your vocabulary list.

Please do not call on me in class to practice vocabulary about my parents´ professions

because my parents have no jobs.

Please do not call on me in class and ask me what my favorite foods are

because I do not know your foods.

Please do not call on me twice in class

because I have learned that if I nod favorably, quote, ¨Si,¨ and smile pleasantly, you will

pass over me.

Please do not call on me in class

because the sound of the letters in my name are not sounds in your language. I do

not exist in your language.

Please do not call on me in class.

Please let the bell ring

because my head hurts, my heart aches, and I want to go home.

Wednesday, May 26th Week 1 1/2

Wednesday, May 26th

Well here I sit in St. Elena listening to Boney James and appreciating the sound of rain on the rooftop of this unique internet café. Someone has converted an old American amarillo school bus into a very pleasant and cozy café. All the seats have been removed and lighting is provided by somewhat attractive lamps at each computadora station on one side of the aisle. On the other side of the aisle, there are grande comfortable chairs for reading, if one needs to prepare work before paying for internet service. Beside the bus, is a small office with free coffee and a laundry service. They are washing and drying my laundry for a whopping 50 cents per pound. What a great place to be at this moment.

St. Elena is a tourist town situated in a cloud and it does rain every dei. That slows no one down. We experienced our second earthquake today—just a few tremors. This weekend we will travel to La Fortuna and hopefully visit Arenal Volcano—although lately the rocks surrounding the top of it have become loose and tumbling down. We continue to watch the news to see what will happen next.

Monday we visited a primary school here and will return tomorrow. The school has a small flower garden, a small vegetable garden, and a gorgeous maintained trail through a forest area. They believe in experiential learning when it comes to environmental education.

My host familia is a very warm group of people, but wow do they have lots of people in and out every evening! The fifth grade son is a blessing for me because he speaks English. He asked me if I would cook dinner one night so he could experience some American food. I’ve been trying to offer suggestions of American food that the family might enjoy and am planning to celebrate Memorial Day by preparing and sharing dinner with my new Tico (Costa Rican) friends.

My host Mom would like to learn Ingles because she has a couple of apartments and wants to rent to more tourists. She feels the need to learn Ingles so she often engages in conversation with me and uses my diccionario often. She also loves to cook so we have been talking a lot about food and cooking. Since this family provides more opportunities for talking, my Spanish is slowly coming along at home. In my Spanish class, it is still a challenge to get the pronunciation and accent correct. When we read aloud, my teacher sometimes skips over me or often gives me a shorter passage since I make so many blunders. I know how students must feel when they think the teacher, on occasion, does not have confidence in their attempts at the assignment. In my opinion, it is without doubt, incredibly important to offer encouragement and support when a student is vulnerable in a new learning environment and is challenged by the assignment. Today we were given a one page reading assignment that proved to be difficult for all of us in the class. Our first reaction was to work together and with our combined efforts tackle the piece. However, our instructor would not allow. We are not allowed to use any English and we do this from 1:00-5:00 every week day with one 20 minute break. I am very empathetic to students in any classroom who are feeling challenged and long for some help. Today, I tried to imagine my scenario in a classroom back at home, and I know there have been times when ‘no talking’ has been stressed when students may have wanted to sincerely help one another with an assignment. Cooperative learning has a place in the classroom. I understand the rationale of setting standards so students will rise to the occasion, but today I certainly understood the glazed eyes and exercised daydreaming as a coping technique while longing for the bell to ring. I really do not feel like doing my homework tonight.

C’est la vie and as one famous heroine affirmed, “Tomorrow is another day!” Buenas Noches.

Week One

Week Uno—The Beginning

Hola! Costa Rica is increiblemente bonita with lush verde tropical vegetation and pristine landscapes that wrap around the montanas. Costa Rica is divided into siete provinces, similar to the U.S. being divided into 50 states. My first week is spent in the province of Heredia. At the beginning of my primero week, Living Life Tico Style took me to dos tourists spots where I learned about the rainforest and a popular work environment—a coffee plantation. Driving to and from La PazWaterfall Gardens / Rainforest and Café Britt Coffee Plantation provided opportunities to observe and learn more about life in and around San Joaquin and San Jose both located in the province of Heredia. Aside from learning about Costa Rica, it is also my first week living in the home of a Costa Rican family: Mama Tica, Papa Tico, one eight year old, one high schooler, and one college student. Additionally, this is my first week of Spanish! YIKES!

ENERGY SAVINGS-CARBON EMISSIONS

In Costa Rica, each dia of the week is assigned a different numero. On that dia, if your vehicle license plate ends in that number, then you may drive your vehicle on the roads. Other dias, you may choose to walk, ride a bus, or carpool. If you choose to break the law, la policia will write you a ticket. As you drive away, another policia may write you a ticket when he spots you. As you drive away and another policia spots you, he, too, may write you a ticket. One could collect numerous tickets for the same offense in uno given day. Every morning the streets are busy with walkers, scooters, small cars—no Hummers here. Because we are six degrees north of the equator, the sun is up by five—and the world comes alive—schools start at seite. It is strange for me for it to be pitch dark at 6:00pm! So walkers are usually walking home from work in the dark.

Costa Rica has set a goal to be a carbon free nation in a few years. The United States has been very slow at improving the carbon emissions. Presently, the Senate has introduced The Climate Change Bill that would help to improve carbon emissions, but the goals of our developed nation sorely lag behind the ones of this developing nation in terms of environmental protection and conservation.

La PAZ WATERFALLS-RAINFOREST: LOVE, FAITH, HOPE

Love
La Paz Waterfall Gardens is a bonita rainforest with increiblemente waterfalls. It is a tourist attraction that educates one about the inhabitants of the rainforest. Who lives in the rainforest? Toucans, Parrots, Parakeets, Vipers, hummingbirds, monkeys, jaguars, cougars, sloths, butterflies, frogs, and one of the most beautiful birds of all, the Scarlet Macaw. The tall (85-90cm tall and 900-1100 gm weight) rojo headed bird with its magnificent yellow and azul wings is a site to behold. They are monogamous birds—true to each other for as long as they live. Imagine their sadness when they are separated…usually because of human intervention. I believe they are on the endangered list of birds. Love was all around as they paid careful attention to one another and patiently posed for a photo. Just as I was about to click my camera uno of the birds from a second pair joined the happy couple.

Faith

Last year a earthquake that measured 6.2 on the Richter scale devastated a portion of this park. Recovery efforts included aid for the wildlife, replacing buildings, and rebuilding roads. Throughout the park, there was new growth where trees and plants had been broken and damaged. It is interesting to observe the destructive forces of nature and the resiliency of life in the aftermath. If you take a look at the fotografia, you’ll see new plants growing on and through a piece of limestone that was part of the earthquake aftermath... a true personification of faith and perseverance nurturing life.

Hope

As it turns out, an Americano owns this 80-90 acre natural paraiso. Uno may hope that an inspiration and opportunity will become the owner or a visitor to re'create this natural parasio and share the valuable lessons in other countries just as it is Costa Rica.

BRITT CAFE PLANTATION A LIVELIHOOD

In Costa Rica, the major livelihoods are cafe, bananas, pineapple (Dole has a major presence) and ecotourism. We learned that coffee grows well in volcanic soil because of the rich minerals, and it grows well in high altitudes. Knowing this, explains the small cafe bean farms along steep hillsides and the small homes scattered like dots on the maps of montanas. There are two types: robust and abacus. The robust is grown here. Cafe bean skins are mixed with chicken manure to create an organic compost. Cafe bean peels are mixed with banana peels to create papel. However, just as it is in the U.S., many manual jobs are left to immigrants because locals do not want to endure the physical labor, long horas, and little pay. Immigrants from Nicaragua and Panama typically make the workforce of the larger coffee plantations. The photo shows a basket worn by a cafe bean (cafe cherry) picker. The basket holds 25 lbs of beans which equals four bags of coffee. On a good day, one might pick 19 baskets of cafe cherries in eight hours and earn $3.00 an hora. Why do they use people instead of machinery? Cafe cherries do not all ripen at the same time. A picker recognizes and picks the ripe berries and leaves the unripen ones to mature.

Sadly, it seems that Costa Rica, like the U.S., appears to spend energy and investments to create extraordinary benefits from waste products yet the energy to create solutions for displaced humans, who may possess extraordinary benefits to society, appears to be minimal at best.

La CARPIO HOME

Near San Jose there is an area known as La Carpio. It is the home of 34,000 Nicaraguan immigrants situated within 20 square miles. Many left Nicaragua during the earthquake several years ago, many left because of the oppression and abuse they felt. It is a heartbreaking site to see rows and rows of closet space homes and shanties when you know an improved homestyle. At one end of one long, paved road there is a landfill. The garbage business, owned by a Canadian company, negotiated a deal—electricity and water in some parts of the Carpio in exchange for no more protests of the landfill…otherwise, immigration officials would be called.

Our service project included volunteering at a Montessori school and also building bunk beds to be delivered to families who had children. What innocence and joy filled the faces of little children singing “Itsy Bitsy Spider” in Spanish and English. What cooperative youngsters as they completed art projects on numeros before moving to the puzzle centers. (Elementary puzzles of people and their clothes are a great tool for learning Spanish! Who knew a toddler would be mi profesor for the day!) Appreciative mothers thanked us for beds. Women in co-ops presented us their handmade items to earn dinero for food and living expenses. While my reaction was to feel sorrow, it was clear that the ones who lived here daily appreciated that their lives were improved from where they came. It reminded me of a eastern quote that goes somewhat like this, “While there is a hole in my rooftop, I am able to see the moon and stars at night.”

LIFE AS A SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNER: Studying Espanol, UsingEspanol

LEARNING ESPANOL AND LIVING WITH AN FAMILIA ESPANOL

The “list poema” is a poema where the title and the list together create poetry. It is a fun stratgy for delivering many thoughts in a shorter text. This week has provided several opportunities for me to create a few list poemas.

Top Ten Experiences As A Second Language Learner to Remember When Teaching English As a Second Lanuage

1. Placement tests create anxieties and scores deflate self-esteem.

2. Accompanying pictures are needed to understand text.

3. Slow speaking Spanish instructors should be required for slow speaking, slow

translating Southerners.
4. Learning a second language is energy sapping. It should be the only required
activity of the dei.
5. Memorizing vocabulary and learning grammar rules in uno fell swoop can be a
bit overwhelming. Have mercy (compasion)!
6. Did I overlook a prerequiste course ¨How to be Rid of One´s Twang and How
To Develop le Acentio Espanol?
7. Too many-mucho-tasks create overload. One begins to shut down.
8. In spite of all good intentions, time at the end of the dei, does not always allow time to study the second language. 9. Interactive games for learning the new language decrease stress and anxiety.
Passive learning promotes boredom. 10.Small classes provide prompt teacher feedback and a safe place for taking
risks with pronunciacion.

Things That Are the Same in Costa Rican & U. S. Elementary Schools

Girls with ponytails
Winnie-the-Pooh Stickers
Cinderella Pencil Cases
Helpful Secretaries
Friendly Cafeteria Staff
Multi-tasking Teachers
Curious kids
Shy kids
Kids wearing glasses
Beautiful girls wearing beautiful earrings
Gregarious ten year old boys
Wilson and Jansport backpacks
Chalk nubs
Not enough class time
Rambunctious boys
Resilient kids
Kids with braces
Kids with bruises
Reading, Writing & Rithmetic

Writing pen pal letters, sharing books in English then reading the same story in Espanol, predicting and graphing matematicas with jelly frijols were some of the highlights this semana. As our new Costa Rican teacher amigo said, "You cannot erase this from the memory."

If I had to choose one word to describe my initial deis with mi familia, I would choose Alienated--to cause to become withdrawn or unresponsive. The two older children spoke some Ingles, but they were never home when I was spending time with mi familia. Therefore, mi best amigo was mi diccionario. Mama Tica and Papa Tico knew no Inglais. It was MUCHO frustrating. It took MUCHO effort to carry on a short conversacion. Some deis I would go to mi room early because I was exhausted by the efforts. BUT...by the end of the semana, we were more relaxed with each other and laughed more at the gestures and pantomimes.

Things I Miss

Hot showers
Front porches without 6 foot metal bars
Walking on the beach
Laughing with relatives and friends
Lawns without gated enclosures and barbed wire

Things Not to Pack For Costa Rica

American Expectations
Needs for long hot showers
Need for American schedules
Expectations for traffic laws
Expectations for guard rails on curvy mountain roads at 5400 feet
Appreciation for thick, absorbent napkins
Expectations for American toilet customs
Needs for quiet moments alone

Preparing, Packing, Imagining

Short sleeves, long sleeves? sweaters, layers? shorts, capris, or pants? Sandals, raingear, boots--it is the rainy season...I hate being cold and wet, and I hate being hot and clammy...I can't remember ever being so confused about which clothes to pack--cool and wet in the mountains and hot on the beach; professional wear for the schools, work clothes for service projects. I am not fussy about clothes, but I do enjoy being comfortable. I think once I get my clothes dilemma resolved, I will feel more relaxed.

This semester has been very busy so I have not had much time to daydream and imagine the adventure that is about to unfold. This week has provided some time to read over travel books and meet with some friends who have visited Costa Rica. Now I am able to imagine a few adventures. I have always wanted to visit a rainforest, and now that will happen in a couple of weeks--WOOHOO!! :)

I am looking forward to 'Life Tico Style' because I prefer a slower pace of life instead of a hectic style often found in large cities. I enjoy families and casual lifestyles. I am looking forward to meeting my host family, but right now I am experiencing some concern. After studying Spanish all day, I am wondering how tired I will be. I know I will want to socialize with my family, but I also know I will want to rest some. At the same time, I 'm sure their days will be busy, too, and they may feel a little apprehensive about my presence and feeling obligated to entertain me. It will be interesting to see how we create a happy balance for the family and for me. I love the idea of staying with a family in order to learn about the culture first hand instead of reading about it online or in a book. It will really motivate me to learn Spanish!

I have been thinking about my former ESL students. They would really enjoy the fact that I am traveling to a Spanish speaking country and trying to learn the language. Each of them would be very encouraging. They were always appreciative and positive in their relationships with me. I hope I can maintain that same perspective while I am a student in a foreign land where I do not know the language or the native customs and protocol.

If I had to choose two countries to visit to forward my next career move, Costa Rica would be one of them. I am very interested in environmental education so this trip is the perfect choice of places to visit and learn. I am centering my action research on this topic.

The next time I write, I will be immersed in the Tico style of living:) Adios!