Diving Into The Current - A Three Month Review

I have come such a long way since I left Tucson almost 3 months ago.

I.....

left my job of 4 years, took the GRE, sold my car, moved out of my house, said bye to my family and friends, parted with the communities I had been involved in for a long time, and moved myself to Heredia to get my TEFL certification! 

Then, once I finished that... I had a choice to make: stay in the Central Valley and work for a language school or take a risk and move out to the coast with no real plan.  Well, what did I have to loose - I thought.  I had already taken many risks coming this far... why play it safe now?

So, I headed out to the Pacific Coast to a little quirky beach town where I had some connections.  Some familiar people to call a family.  My old host family from last summer took me in and made me feel like I had never left.  I went back to the Spanish school I had attended last summer and they also made me feel welcome.  I even got to teach the teachers there for three weeks while I got myself situated.

I waited and waited for opportunities to appear.  Sometimes it felt like I would be waiting forever and that the uncertainty would swallow me whole.  Nothing was happening, or so it seemed...

I had walked into the TEFL school one day during the second week I was here and gave the receptionist my resume.  She told me that the boss was out of the country with Mono and that I should e-mail her.  I did and she said she would meet with me around the 20th of August.  Well, the 20th came and went... and I did not meet her.  She had, however, forwarded my email to the elementary school that she worked at.  They needed a sub for her position while she was in the US.

One rainy afternoon, I was sitting in the Spanish school listening to Adele (a reggae remix) - because everyone here listens to reggae in the rain... of course... when I opened my email and saw this job offer for the elementary school.  I showed my Spanish-teacher-friend right away and had no idea how this person knew of me.  I was so excited to see this because I had been praying for the opportunity to work with kids.  People here generally work with adults, as public schools don't hire foreigners. 

I met with the girl who was holding down the fort at the elementary school on a Saturday morning to talk about the subbing position.  She told me that if I didn't run for the hills after observing that coming week, I could start subbing as soon as the director visited from San Jose.  Like everything here, that visit didn't happen for a while.  The director got caught up in something in San Jose and didn't come that week.

I went to observe, however, and my first instinct was to never go back.  That day, the girl was the only teacher there and she was covering the pre-k, and 1st through 5th grades.  It was total insanity.  There was so much yelling and chaos and thankfully I didn't have any other opportunities, because I decided to give it a shot.  I mean, it was just a subbing position - right?  Thankfully, like breaking a glass at a Jewish wedding... it has never been  that chaotic again. In fact, it is great fun :]

I even ended up teaching a few classes before the director came.  Once she observed me, I had already gotten used to the class!  Haha... while a bit backwards... that's, again, how things seem to work here.

Well, time passed and the subbing job turned into a permanent position.  I'm still not sure exactly how that happened, but it did.  I guess I was meant to be at this little bilingual elementary school, teaching English to 1st - 5th graders in the mornings.

I knew that one and a half hours a day of teaching was not going to fill my days, so I still needed to be creative in making other things happen.

The director of the elementary school really wanted to help me stay around, so she referred me to a friend of her's that wanted someone to help home school her 17 year old daughter.  They are a family that is from the US, but moved here 11 years ago... so the kids are basically Ticos.  Fitting in with the uncertainty of it all, this woman continually did not respond or get back to me for several weeks while she finished her Nursing degree.  I had given up on this possibility of work - which pushed me to do the scariest thing, yet....

Hang up fliers!!!!!

Yes, it was terrifying.  It sounds silly now, but it felt like a huge stretch outside of my comfort zone.  What if people actually called, what would I do?  What would I teach them?  What would I charge?  How would I set it up?  What if they didn't call?  What if creepy people called?  What if the whole town had my cell phone number and wouldn't stop calling?  The thoughts went on and on. 

Slowly, a few people did call.  At first, they asked the price and then said "thanks" and hung up.  I began do get discouraged.  The barrage of phone calls I had worried about was not happening.  As I walked around town, surveying my fliers, I could see that numbers had been ripped off.... why was nobody calling?  What were they doing with the numbers.... eating them?  Ripping them off for fun?  Even announcing myself at my friend's Zumba class seemed fruitless. 

My Spanish-teacher-friend knew I was getting discouraged and talked to some of her friends - trying to drum up some business for me.  None of her friends called, but somehow....

I got a call from a woman who was looking for classes for her 16 year old daughter.  Her daughter had been taking classes at a local place but got discouraged when new students were added that were way below her level.  She had quit the class earlier that week.

 I didn't know how this woman found me, until I talked to my friend the next day.  I was so excited that I got a student, that I told her.  She asked the name of the woman and we realized that it was because of her that I got this student!  She had told her taxi driver friend that I was teaching classes.  Then, when this girl quit her class, her mom asked the taxi driver (who is the woman's brother) if he knew of anything - which, still to this day, does not make sense to me... but there you go.  I had my first student.

Man, was I nervous.  I didn't know how to prepare, because when people say their kid is good at English it can mean anything from they don't even know the alphabet to they can have a conversation.  I'm serious.  So, I put together a sketchy list of ideas, got picked up by the taxi-brother on that Saturday morning, and hoped for the best. 

I survived.  Not only did I survive, but it was fun!  It went well!  I was able to use my skills and knowledge and creativity to make an on-the-spot English lesson that helped assess what she needed and we went from there.  She is still my favorite student - we're practicing past tense and having a lot of conversations.

Whew... once that was over, I got another student.  This woman saw my flier at the local elementary school and called me; she wanted to meet me out front when she picked up her daughter.  She is eight and is suuuuper beginner.  We're still working on colors and how to say things like "I don't understand."  She has, however, almost mastered the alphabet and is able to do a lot of commands that I give her... (I was thankful for thinking of using the TPR approach to language learning that I had a brief interaction with when working at my old middle school in Tucson).  This is the student who's mom assured me that she was very good at English.  I guess being good at English means that she gets 100% in her class at school where they copy what the teacher writes on the board.  :[

Anyways, I was beginning to build my schedule.  I had gone from volunteer teaching at the Spanish school, wondering if anything would ever happen, to having a permanent position at the elementary school and having two private students!  I kept thinking the students would cancel or not be there like the previous student I taught once - from the ice cream shop.  But, they didn't.  They have been reliable and have paid me every time.

Then, something finally happened with the home school family.  Now I have a job, three regular students, one 17 year old to whom I am teaching art history and AP lit test prep... (I won't even go into how random that is right now), and I am making just enough to pay my rent. 

All of this was set into motion by giving my resume to the TEFL school that I don't even work at.  Now, that is a story. 
______________________________________________________________________________
“Making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
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Here I am, about to go on my first Visa run to Panama... signifying that I have hit the marker of my first three months. 

The past two days, I had been feeling down... unsure of my choices...questioning what I am doing.

After writing all of this, however, I am able to see just how much I have to be proud of. 

Weirdness of the Week - Episode II

1.  The microwave at the school I work at is rigged so that it has three external buttons that work.  One sets the time for 2:50, one starts it cooking for 2:50, and the third button clears the time.  Apparently it had broken a few years ago and a Tico said they could fix it for the school.  This was the result. 

2.  Schools here don't have copy machines.  Each school copies everything at the local copy store.  I can't imagine doing that in the US. 

3.  We can cancel school to have a teacher's meeting.  I wish we could have done that in the US.

4.  A samba band practices in the bank parking lot outside of my house - when it's raining. 

5.  Advertisements in this country... and other Latin American countries that I've been to... are shared with the world starting at 7am.  The venue for these advertisements is a car driving through all the neighborhoods with a speaker attached to the top, blasting the announcement with bumpin music as the underscore.  

Rainy Day Pura Vida... for one day it felt like fall.

Weirdness of the Week

Welcome to the series, "Weirdness of the Week" (weird things I see or experience in my day to day life).

1.  Last night I was walking home and walked by a man who was just peeing on the side of the road near my house.  That wouldn't be so weird (I have seen homeless people doing this or drunk people...) but this man was wearing nice clothing and looked like your average citizen.  He looked at me, paid no mind, and continued peeing.  I crossed to the other side of the street and tried to pretend I didn't see.  Then, when he finished, he simply continued his errand of visiting the ATM at Banco Popular.

2.  My host mom distributes Avon.  I thought she just ordered it, but I keep having to sign for packages when she's not home.  Now the Avon distributors know my name and know me as the Gringa who signs for packages.

3.  I don't think people here like to clap.  I don't know if it is specific to Quepos, to the parade itself, or to CR as a whole... but they don't seem to clap to show enjoyment.  At the Independence Day parades this weekend, the MC would say, "Let's give that band a 'strong applause!'"  This was met with the weakest applause I have ever heard for that massive a group of people.  My old class of 28 would have been louder.  The weird thing is, though, the people seemed very appreciative and to be enjoying themselves. 

4.  This one is just a good idea that I think I will remember for the future.  In the parade this weekend, I realized that the band had an assistant that was passing out bags of water to the players.  Imagine when you buy a fish from the pet store and they tie the bag full of water with the fish inside - yep, like that.  All you do is bite a small hole in the bottom corner and suck out the water.  You can do that hands free!!! Then when you're done, you simply stuff the bag in your pocket and there is nothing to carry.  Wow, REI.... now, that is some high tech sport gear.  Sometimes it really amazes me how utilizing the simplest things can be so amazing and intelligent.  The people here are really good at this. 

5. Today, I was walking home from the elementary school... which is always exciting in itself because I get to say hello to all the chickens that walk down the street with me.... when I passed by an old man relaxing in the hammock outside of his house.  This is normal, you might think.  The weird part, though, is what he was listening to as his choice of music.  The stereo on the table next to him was blasting "Live it Up" by J-Lo and Pitbull as if he was a 21 year old throwing a massive dance party. If you want more of the experience, listen to the song here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMf74f4po3M and imagine an old man relaxing in a hammock while you listen.  Perhaps you will laugh out loud like I did. 

¡¡¡Mas Desfiles!!!!

Hot

Today is one of those days were I don't know how long I can continue being hot.  Thinking of how fall is approaching in the US, even back home in Tucson where it is still hot, makes me think of how the heat here never ends.  In fact, since it is winter now - it will probably just get hotter.  There is something about no end in sight that makes it harder to deal with.  I don't know why that just hit me today.  It's not any hotter or less hot than any other day.....

Ok, thanks for listening to me complain. 

Acto Civico

The schools do an "Acto Civio" on the major holidays to pass on the history of the country.  These include traditional dancing, singing, and of course - gallo pinto :] 

Los Faroles

Costa Rica just celebrated its independence along with the rest of Central America.

The passing of the torch is so cool! read more about the independence celebrations here. http://www.ticotimes.net/More-news/News-Briefs/Costa-Rica-gears-up-to-celebrate-192-years-of-Independence-on-Sunday_Thursday-September-12-2013

After much research, I figured it out. The torch starts in Guatemala on the 11th and is passed hand to hand by student runners until it reaches Cartago, CR at 6:00 pm on the 14th. That's when the anthem is sung and the lantern parades begin. What a cool symbol!

I was lucky to be able to participate in the lantern parade on Saturday night with my elementary school.  All of the children make Faroles to represent the torch that brought the news of the independence (at least I think that is the reason).   

 

Milestone

I have an announcement: 

 *Drum Roll................*



This week, I made enough money to pay for my rent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had at least one student every day, along with my mornings at the elementary school. 

It is working.  I am building a place for myself here.  Slow, and steady (with lots of ups and downs). 

I even have $12 left over after I pay rent ;]  haha.  Like they say here, "poco a poco." 

Leche

I walk out the front door on a Saturday morning to see what the weather is like (why, I don't know... it is always the same - hot and humid) and I see the prostitute who lives under the bridge drinking milk with my host dad.  They are sitting on the front step talking, and she is drinking milk out of the carton.  Confused, I return inside.

You see... I learned last summer that she was a prostitute and that she lived under the bridge by my house.  One night, even, when my friend and I were walking home... she began to crawl out and it really scared us.

You can imagine my surprise, then, when I saw here hanging out at my house on a Saturday morning.

Later in the day, I asked my host dad if she was his friend.  He told me that she had gone to school with my host mom and that she has had a really hard life.  He told me that she lives under the bridge.

I guess they look out for her.  That really struck me.

Even though she has had a hard life and is the town's "lives under the bridge lady," people still treat her like a part of the community.  At least my host family does...

and that is something.  

Agarrense de las Manos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=N-fb2UC3KUQ

This is the song that Costa Rica plays when it wins.  Today, CR got into the World Cup and this song is playing everywhere!

San Jose is insane... I can see it on TV.  Quepos has its own version of insanity:

I  just saw a 4 car parade go by my house. The truck was the leader filled with people singing and waving flags. The second two were just beeping and yelling out the window; the last car was blasting its alarm as a way of participating. Oh, Quepos.

Uneasy

Tonight I feel very restless and uneasy.  I am looking at google images of other countries, thinking I want to move to a different one.  Why is that?  Is it just because I've been here for over two months now?  Is it because things feel difficult and the grass is always greener on the other side of google images?  Is it because I'm scared I made a "wrong choice" coming back to Costa Rica instead of trying something new? 

I have already started building a small network here... I have small jobs... I even have two private students.  Why do I feel this way?  Is this normal?  What am I looking for?

More Weird Sightings in Quepos

Tonight when I was walking around town drinking a batido (a smoothie) I saw some of the weirdest things. 

1.  I walked by the gym where people were boxing in a boxing ring... The people were all boxing and there was a baby sitting in the middle of the ring. 

2.  I walked by the bank where there is a revolving sign on top of a pole.  Some boys were climbing the pole like it was a coconut tree. They were higher up than the second story of a building...

3.  I noticed that roofs are where people keep their cleaning products like brooms and mops.  I guess rooftops are a good storage space. 

Children's Day at the Elemntary School

"El Dia de los Niños"

Costa Rica has a holiday called "Dia de los niños" to celebrate the children. Happy Children's Day! Let's appreciate the spirit of the child and what they contribute to the world!

Something very Tico

I wished I had had a camera yesterday when I was walking home from the bus stop.  I didn't, so I will have to describe the scene for you instead:

There is a river on the right side of the street.  The family that lives on the side of the street opposite the river has decided that this part of the river bank is their garage.  Whether or not it is part of their property, I don't know... but somehow I doubt it.  They have been parking a quad there some days and other days, they sit in rocking chairs watching people go by on the street. 

As I walk by, there are four of them sitting in their little area - chatting, having a good time.  Across the street, where their house is, two young boys (maybe 7 and 9) are playing a soccer video game on a large HD flat screen TV that is sitting on a little table in the middle of the sidewalk.  The TV has a cord that leads all the way up through the upstairs window.  The street has literally become their living room. 

Feild Trip, English Class, and Improv - oh my! (oh yeah... and Costa Rica beat US in soccer)

So much has happened since Thursday and I am so grateful.  I have so much to say that I feel like this post might take hours.

On Friday, I woke up at  5:30 am to be at the school by 6:45.  We went on a field trip to a national park near Jaco.  It was so much fun to hang out with the kids and ride in the van with them.  They were crazy, of course, but also really well behaved.  On the way home, we stopped at Pizza Hut in Jaco; you can not imagine how exciting this was for them.

Jaco (an hour away) has the only pizza hut, movie theatre, etc.  Some of them have only been to a movie once in their life.  Imagine it is like going to Disney Land and you can imagine the excitement.  They decided that the van driver was going to be my new boyfriend so that I would stay in Costa Rica forever.  They gave me a piece of pizza to give to him because they said that that would win his heart... then they made me sit in the front to talk with him.  They spent the whole ride home whispering and making the "we're watching you" face at me with the fingers pointing from their eyes to me.  It was hilarious.  I'm just thankful they didn't see me give him my card with my number on it - for English lessons of course!  Oh, also on the way home we saw Scarlet Macaws - about 20 of them - flying from a tree.  The driver told me that they pair up for life and if one dies, they continue on alone for the rest of their lives.  It was really cool to see them flying together.

Then, I got to hang out with my friends in Quepos as we pretended to watch the sun set... even though it was raining. "If you can't think of 25 reasons why you're sad... You have to laugh for one minute instead." Gracias, amiga tiene razon.

"Goooooooaaaaaaal!!!!!!!!!!!!" Next adventure, the Costa Rica vs. US game.  What an experience.  This was definitely the first time I had ever watched an entire soccer game and also the most fun.  The bar was packed, the energy was electric.  I wished I had had a CR jersey, though, because after the game the people on the street kept saying "sorry for your country."  I had to say several times, that I was for CR!  haha.   

Today started off great with a real English class!!!!! Yes, a real class to an intermediate student.  The way that this class came to be is a pretty cool story.  My friend here in Quepos has been telling her friends about me in hopes that I can find more work and stay here.  One of her friends' sister has a daughter who was taking English classes from an institute here and didn't like it after the teacher added two new students that were at a much more basic level.   She quit that on Wednesday.  Her mom called the brother who is a taxi driver and asked him if he knew of any English teachers.  He did.... me!  Isn't that quite a roundabout story?  I guess that just goes to show that networking and word of mouth can be more effective than hanging up flyers.  

I spent an hour at the house talking to the mother after the lesson ended today.  She told me that she wanted me to stay in Quepos forever and that she will find me a boyfriend here :]  Oh, all the boyfriend finding help I have.  I think this student sounds promising as a once a week student!  They also seem very responsible and not flaky at all.  For this I am very grateful.

The other huge accomplishment of the day was being a part of an improv group in Spanish!!!!!!!!!!! I am so proud of myself; this was one of those things that I had dreamed of being able to do since I started being passionate about learning Spanish, but also something that felt so far away from being possible.  Today, it became not only possible - but a reality.   Oh, and they played "un, dos, tres, bop" instead of "bibity bibity bop," pass the sound/movement and everything! They even did big booty- "ooohhh tracero!" Haha. Word association was the hardest, because I didn't know the words so mine were super random but I could do my part of the story telling.... I was super proud. Also, the leader talked about gift giving and saying yes and reacting to things in the moment! I was so excited; it felt like home. It was like reading a book that I had already read so I had a framework to understand what was happening.  The group was made up of one guy, his two roommates, and his friend visiting from San Jose... so who knows if it will continue, but I am happy I at least got to have that experience.  Also, the leader from San Jose invited me to attend a festival in San Jose in two weeks where troupes will be gathered from all over Latin America.  

One of my favorite parts of the whole experience was seeing that things like improv games and skills can travel and have traveled all around the world; they've even read the same books as me about improv.  It's kind of like Darwin's Theory of Evolution.  The ideas travel and then begin to evolve and change in their own separate environments.  Eventually you can have very distinct styles and forms.  He and I talked about this after the meeting and I hope to be able to attend the festival to see more of what improv in Latin America is like. 

So, to wrap up... I am super tired from concentrating so hard all day.  I think I used up all my brain power in following the improv instruction and playing the games.  That is one more life goal that I have accomplished and I hope to use that experience and develop it more in the near future. 

New Year.... New Start

So, I had been feeling pretty down the past few days.  I got a cold and didn't have the energy needed to accomplish daily life tasks such as talking to people and hanging up flyers.  I became frustrated with the lack of commitment people have been displaying; Is it bad that I have gotten to the point that I now expect everyone to cancel any appointment they made and if they don't I am surprised...?  Well, that part about keeping an appt. hasn't actually happened yet.  I'll keep my fingers crossed.  

I often ask myself if I will be able to build anything here of if I am just treading water in a whirlpool.   Sometimes I feel like I get glimmers of hope in a connection or a conversation I have with someone.  Some moments I feel like, "Yes!  I can do this!  I need to stay here and keep building."  Just an hour later I feel like "Wow.  This is a lost cause."

Well, today I decided to get up and go for a run;  I felt like it was a new year's resolution.  Then, I remembered that today was the Jewish New Year!!! Perfect!!!!! :]  I love having a new start halfway through the other one. It's another chance to change your attitude and start again.  What better place to do that than at the ocean before anyone else is around. 

Another positive is that I have gotten a few calls about my flyers.  The hard part is that:
1. Ticos don't leave messages (even when they call from private numbers that you can't call back).
2. When I do call a number back, they talk super fast and sometimes the phone cuts out as they're giving me their number.
3.  Often times $4 has been too much for an hour lesson and they thank me and hang up.
4.  When they tell me where they live I have no idea how to get there :]

Tomorrow I am going on a field trip with my elementary school to a national park near Jaco.  It should be fun!!!