While in Costa Rica, I have had many opportunities to practice my Spanish (which was little-to-nonexistent before coming here) within the community and in other parts of the country. When I am sitting in on a conversation at the dinner table or watching the news, I find myself being able to understand a lot more than I thought would be possible! I have learned a ton in the month that I've been here,
As I mentioned in my last post, I have learned a lot about communication and the power in it while here in Costa Rica. I have found it to be one of the most valuable things a person can possibly master. I say this for many reasons: language barriers suck, but are easy to overcome; wifi and cell phones can be helpful, but can also be insanely harmful; and people are awesome, no matter who they are, how old they are, what they do, what the've done, what they want to do--they are just awesome.
While in Costa Rica, I have had many opportunities to practice my Spanish (which was little-to-nonexistent before coming here) within the community and in other parts of the country. When I am sitting in on a conversation at the dinner table or watching the news, I find myself being able to understand a lot more than I thought would be possible! I have learned a ton in the month that I've been here,
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This post, as you can probably guess, is all about the connections I've made while in Costa Rica--with people, places, animals I don't like, all the things. I've made far too many to name in one post, so I'm going to highlight a few in sharing with you my adventures from this past weekend and my week so far.
Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to go rock climbing; not the kind of rock climbing we've all done at summer camp where we climb up a 30 ft. rock wall with the colorful little rocks screwed on there, but the kind in which you are 50 feet off the ground, gripping the side of a mountain, using muscles you didn't even know your fingers and toes had, hoping to God that the single person holding your rope will catch you if you fall (my hands are getting all sweaty just thinking about it). The place we climbed is called Escalada Cachi. There, they had this huge rock wall, trails to hike, rivers and natural pools to swim in, zip-lining, This post marks the "One Week Left" period for me in Copey. A week from now, Xavier and I, along with Angela, Celeste, and Noelia, will travel to San Jose to spend the night in order to catch our early flight back to the States Saturday (6/4) morning. Even though we are leaving at the same time the other two volunteers we have been working with--Markki and Marguerite--are leaving, I know the Center will be in good hands with the two new volunteers taking their place, Joe and Solana. Joe is a volunteer through Peace Corps working in the community on sustainable tourism practices and has graciously volunteered to teach while the Center continues their search for another volunteer. Solana, on the other hand, has just signed up to teach for three months (hopefully longer!) at the Center!
Joe and Solana have brought with them new stories to tell, knowledge to share, and adventures to begin. Xavier and I decided to accompany them on a little walk This weekend, Xavier and I travelled to Quepos (pronounced Kaypos, emphasis on the "kay"--I was saying it wrong the majority of the trip..) this weekend for a mini vacation at the beach in Manuel Antonio National Park! It took us one taxi and three bus rides, but we made there and back with plenty of time to enjoy our stay.
Today, I got to teach again--hurray!--but this time, to reinforce our last lesson on the seven continents, we made crafts!
After a weekend full of fotos, fútbol, and fun (Spanglish is my new best friend), I was ready to start teaching. Today was my first day of solo teaching. My first class had two students in it--two 8-year-old girls named Pamela and Nathaly. I was given the task of teaching them, and each of the other classes at the Copey Learning Center (the Center), a bit of geography and culture. Throughout this process, I have learned many things, many of which I am going to share with you at some point in future posts. For today's post, though, there are only two that are necessary to know and understand:
I am no local, but I will say I am starting to feel like one more and more each day I'm here. I am learning new things, partaking in old traditions, and having a ton of fun. In two of my past posts, I shared a few "Tico tips," which are what I'm calling the little tidbits of information I've learned so far since being in Copey. Because it's Friday and I'm finishing up my observation and planning period, I thought it'd be appropriate to share a little bit about what I've observed while experiencing Costa Rican culture. You may have already seen the first two, but I've included them here in case you haven't. Enjoy!
As promised, I will tell the end of the joke I was told that I mentioned in my last post ("Casey in Copey"). So, ¿qué hace un pez cuando se aburrió? ¡Nada! Hahaha! Don't get it? Don't understand? That's okay. That basically sums up my first day in Copey. There was a lot of stuff I didn't quite understand when hearing it for the first time. Or the second. Or the third. Or the fourth. Going from being able to understand every part of a conversation to only being able to make out one word, and then learning later that the one word you thought you knew to mean "goodbye" is actually a form of saying "hello" in this area...yea, that can be really frustrating at times (Tico tip: In Copey--and maybe in other parts of Costa Rica, I We have arrived and survived our first full day! Yay!! Because I was so tired yesterday, I didn't have a chance to write up a quick little something about our arrival. Rather than jumping into talking about my first day at the Copey Learning Center, I chose to retell them events of yesterday. Tomorrow I will try to write up something on today and tomorrow combined. For now, enjoy reading about my travels, Tico tips*, and realizations: Yesterday morning, around 3:30 am (EST), my mom and I left our house for the airport. When we got there, I checked in right before 5 am, met up with Xavier shortly after, and together we went through security, until we found our gate. After making a quick stop to grab some breakfast, we sat waiting for our flight to board. We were the third group to board a full flight headed to Atlanta. Only two hours later, we landed and had to run (and by run I mean walk to the shuttle) to our second flight that was already boarding. We made it just in time, boarded the plane, found our seats, and prepared for the departure. That's when we heard the words, "This is your captain speaking." I am confident. Those are three words I never thought I'd ever be writing down, let alone hear come out of my mouth. However, along with the words "excited" and "nervous," I've been saying it a lot these past few days. Walking across campus, in the grocery store, at my home church, via Facebook, these posts--I have said "I am confident..." more in the last week than I probably have my entire life. I've had a lot of people talk to me about my trip in the last week, too. Everyone has been so nice, saying they are confident in me. Fancy that! I wanted to take a minute to say thank you to all of the people who have been so wonderful to both Xavier and I. Thank you all for the love and support we have received during our preparation for our departure! It is because of all of you that I feel so confident! Xavier and I will have a wonderful trip--I am sure of it. It is already off to a great start! We came up to our respective homes in the northern parts of Virginia to be with our families for a day before leaving. We are less than 10 hours away from departing from Washington Dulles International Airport. Our flight will depart at 7:15 am, arriving almost 2 hours later in Atlanta, where we will board our final flight to San Jose, Costa Rica less than an hour later. We should be arriving in Costa Rica just before noon, their time. I believe they are two hours behind those of us on the east coast, so it |
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