RCOE International Student Teaching Spring 08

I arrived in Dublin Thursday morning and immediately caught a bus south to be picked up by my family and taken to Delgany and Greystones which is literally right on the water. My family is amazing and I enjoy the conversation we have while traveling or cooking dinner. I took the Dart into Dublin city on Friday where my host family's youngest son, Alexander, his friend, and
I went to see the Book of Kels and Trinity College as well as Dublin Castle and Christ Church Cathedral. Saturday Muriel (my host mother),Alyson (her daughter), and I went to the Irish countryside of County Carlow where I met Muriel's extended family. We spent time on her brother's farm and at his riding stables. I've done a bit of traveling in Europe elsewhere but nothing has been quite so picturesque as the gardens and fields near to Mount Leinster.

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The school I'm working at is one half of the complex of Rathdown School. I will be working with girls in the junior schools from KG1 to P6. Their organization of grade levels are a bit different from what I'm accustomed to. KG1 caters to three and four year olds, KG2 to four and five year olds, and KG3 to five and six year olds. Then there are the P1 through P6 where the oldest children in P6 are eleven and twelve years of age. Rathdown appears to be somewhat different from the other schools where international student teachers are paced. In fact, I'm the first for the school. They're a private school that boards students from around the globe.

As far as their teaching strategies and methods are concerned, the teachers are responsible for one class and teach that specific class every subject. There is a specialist who comes in for music, drama, and P.E. but not for art. The older girls will go to the senior school to take art classes.

The teachers in this school seem to be much tougher on the girls as far as standards for behavior and presentation are concerned. The school not only provides for their education but also seems to be a place where etiquette and proper finishing is important. In the classes I've observed thus far, I've yet to see a girl cry from falling in the school yard, not share or fall back in a chair. I've found American teachers to have a sort of authoritative informality with their students. Here the teachers have a more formal and respectful relationship with their students.

My position in the school will serve as a sort of art liaison for all the teachers as needed, since the teachers are responsible for the art activities in their class. Already I've helped paint King Tut's mask and given suggestions on how to properly paper maché the Nile Delta and the Valley of the Kings. The curriculum is based on a state standard set up by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. I look forward to utilizing my knowledge and standards to learn from and teach to the many ages of girls I'll encounter at Rathdown.

I have now been in Mexico for almost one week, and I still am observing the culture as if it was the first day. We arrived in Acapulco on Thursday, March 27 after quite an adventure through the Mexico City airport. We quickly learned that Acapulco is first a Mexican vacation destination and second has an intense riptide. Once we conquered the taxi and eating on our first night there, we were ready to take on Acapulco, and I was pleasantly surprised when I realized how little they catered to Americans. I am able to use so much Spanish, and I love being in Mexico. Throughout our time in Acapulco, we enjoyed watching the Mexican families interact and observed the differences between American and Mexican families.

After yet another adventure in travel, we arrived at the home of Maria Elena Baeza. We immediately loved our host mother, who is reminiscent of a grandmother. She has taken every measure to ensure our safety and knowledge of Guadalajara, all the way from taking us to Wal-mart and the Plaza Patria (like a mall) to riding with us on a trip to school. She has even told us what hour to set our alarms for, and ensures that we are out the door for school no later than 7:15, so we don´t miss the ¨camion¨.

Today was the first day of school in Guadalajara, and the school is wonderful. Everyone is so friendly, and the school itself is beautiful. There are gardens, soccer fields, a pool, everything you can imagine within the walls of the school. The resources that these students have is amazing as well. Soon, they hope to have every classroom equipped with a projector and screen. My teacher, who is also ¨Miss Sarah¨ is very helpful and it is nice to see a young face in the crowd. She is very patient with me and with my lack of knowledge about the elementary age student (I'm a Spanish major.) and I think that it will be a successful placement.

So far it has been a great experience being in Mexico. I can´t really imagine being placed anywhere else. We landed last Thursday in Acapulco and stayed there for a couple of days relaxing before school started. Staying in the youth hostel there was a great idea because it gave us the opportunity to meet a lot of people near our age from various parts of the world. We made some Australian friends and met others from Austria, England, and one from Oregon. It was a very nice break between student teaching experiences! :)

On Sunday night we landed in Guadalajara expecting to find our contact person waiting for us. Somehow there was some lost communication and she did not know that was when we were coming into town so we ended up taking a taxi to our host home. That made our first night a little eventful and interesting, but in the end everything worked out just fine. Our host mom is an older Mexican lady who has an adult daughter that lives with her. She is very hospitable and very funny! She laughs at Sara and me often.

I can understand much of what she says when I am concentrating. I have found that it is exhausting to listen to Spanish all the time. I have to process it and attempt to translate it in my head. It´s also easy to tune out because it takes so much energy! I try to respond as best as I can, but my Spanish is not very strong. I hope it gets better!

We got to eat Special K cereal and toast with this really great jelly here! It is different from the States...much better! So far our house mother is very considerate of what we like and fixes us things that are very good to eat! We live in a nice house. Sara and I share a room and have our own bathroom. We´ve gotten to meet some of her family as well, which has been nice. We are learning our way around our part of town, taking little outings to Wal Mart (yes, they have that here) and the shopping center, just to walk around and see the city. There is also an Internet cafe down the street from our house where we go to check email, Facebook (haha), etc. We are thinking next week we will get a little more adventurous with our outings and head to see some sights we´ve read about in books.

School started today! It was a bit overwhelming (It feels as if Spring Break has lasted forever because we have been doing so much!) to be back in school again and be in a completely new setting. However, the school is beautiful and has so much to offer. I am in a ¨pre-first¨ class which is similar to American first grade. My teacher is very nice and helpful and has made me feel comfortable here already. I am going to start doing more little by little...we are just going to play the next few days by ear and see how they go.

My kids are very cute and welcoming. Some of them speak better English than others, but they all try very hard. I am exicted to get more involved. After student teaching in the States, it is a little difficult to just observe now...I got so used to being in charge! I already see some ideas that my teacher uses in her classroom that I like. I am going to take notes on these and take pictures of them so that I can keep them in mind for my own future classroom.

So far, Mexico has been great! I am slightly exhausted, but it is totally worth it to think about the experience that we are gaining!! More to come...

After traveling around Costa Rica for a couple of days, it was hard to get back into the mind set of teaching again. For the past couple of days, Torrey, Megan, Kendall, Lauren, and I have gone to Arenal, Monteverde, and Mai Pais. On Sunday, we began our adventure to Nicoya and might I add that it was quite the adventure. Let’s just say it was ´team building!´

For the next five weeks, I will be living with Karla. I also have the opportunity to work with her at school. Torrey and I are working with her teaching the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders English. Each grade has about 20 students in it. The first day was a little rough. Even though I have been here for about 5 days, yesterday was the first time that the language barrier really hit. The day was also cut short because the faculty had to meet for a couple of hours. We were only able to meet with the 6th graders.

The four other student teachers and I walked to the center of town and explored. After the second day of school (today), I felt much better. We spend the entire day at school, but we were only able to meet with the 4th and 6th graders because there was an assembly during the time we were supposed to meet with the 5th. The high school English teacher gave me, Torrey, and Kendall Spanish lessons today. I hope to have these each day. I can already tell that it has made a difference!

The school is wonderful. The classrooms are all in buildings, but they are very open. Guess it needs to be since it is so hot! There is a wonderful cafeteria. The cook cooks everything fresh and served hot! Empanadas have become my new favorite food!
I look forward to what the next the five weeks will bring!

**The following pictures are of our travels before coming to Nicoya!

The first week and a half in Costa Rica has been wonderful. When Megan, Lauren and I first arrived at the Liberia airport we were quite overwhelmed, but we have since managed to make our way all around Costa Rica. Before arriving in Nicoya for some actual work we vacationed for a week in various places. We´ve visited the hot springs, ziplined through the rainforest twice, ridden horses, and, my personal favorite, repelled down five waterfalls while in Monteverde. We have been in several different climates from a chilly cloud forest to the beautiful ¨mucho colour¨ beach of Malpais.

I also thought I would lose some weight while in the heat of Costa Rica-wrong! The food is the best I´ve ever had. Arroz con camarones, rice with shrimp is awesome! After such a great vacation with my five new friends, we arrived in Nicoya not without a few adventures along the way. Let´s just say all five of us are well known in Nicoya after riding in a police truck to Karla´s house. Not to worry, we were not in trouble!

Monday was our first day at San Ambrosia School. I´m working with 7th, 8th and 9th graders teaching English three days a week, and I work the two other days teaching science. There will also be times when I spend the day working with the National Forestry Service. I´m really excited about working with them.

The students are great at San Ambrosia and my ninth graders speak English very well. The school itself is open air; its great being outside all day. I work with an English teacher named Harold, who is currently working to teach me Spanish.It's coming along well. I´m working with Diego on an environmental project for my students. Diego doesn´t speak any English so much of my time with him is spent in the English-Spanish dictionary. The kids are so helpful in translating things for us!

Marley and I are living with Karla. We are enjoying are experience with her. Once again we´ve had great food and we even have a mango tree in the back yard. I´m looking forward to everything the next four and a half weeks have in store! Pura Vida!

I am in Costa Rica. It took awhile for me to finally realize this! It seems so unreal. I am beyond thrilled! We arrived in Liberia two Saturdays ago and traveled around the country for an entire week before coming to Nicoya. We visited Volcan Arenal where I saw real lava. We did a zipline tour, horseback riding, and a visit to the natural hot springs.

We stayed at an amazing hotel with fabulous views of the volcano and walking trails where we got to see monkeys and relax in hammocks in the shade. Then, we were off to Monteverde where we did another zipline tour and repelled down waterfalls! What an incredible experience! We spent our final vacation day on the beach at beautiful Malpais and realized that we were beginning to learn some of the Tico culture, but we are certainly no experts. This country is so full of life both in nature and in the people´s culture. We were fortunate to meet many wonderful people, who have helped us find our way and experience true Tico experiences.

Now, we are in Nicoya. It was nice to unpack and find my new home here. My family is wonderful. They are such caring and gracious people. They encourage me to speak in Spanish even though they speak English very well. This is probably for the best, but it is very challenging.

I have already tried many new foods, including marañon, the fruit of the cashew. I am beginning to adjust to the differences in lifestyle and culture. I enjoy learning all about this country and its people. San Ambrosia school is a great place with such enthusiastic children. I get abrazos (hugs) and besitos (kisses) everyday, all day long!

Lauren and I are working with Pre-Kindergarten through third grade. It is a busy schedule but it is interesting to work with such diverse age groups. We sing lots of songs in the younger grades. It is inevitable that one of them is stuck in my head by the end of the day, so I will never be able to forget my days of the week, colors, numbers, or body parts! Even with so many grade levels and students, I am starting to learn names. This is a big step for me and I hope I am able to get them soon because I want to make sure all the students know how important they are. I look forward to planning and teaching some of the activities for my students and continuing to learn about this educational system.

Today we went to the university and were welcomed with much kindness and generosity. We met the dean of the college and talked with some of the students. We were given a tour of the campus and learned much about the history of the city of Nicoya. I am excited to continue learning about Costa Rica and especially about Nicoya!

¡Pura Vida!

Okay, I only counted thirty-nine, feel kinda jipped!

After a very rough plan ride/airport experience/customs troubles/missing baggage, my luggage and I finally got here--not at the same time, of course, because that's just too easy!

And I love it. I'm pretty sure I'm moving here when I marry into money!

My host family are the nicest people on the planet. They both teach at Kill o' the Grange(Annabelle is with Mr. Malseed.) so they are quite a good resource for asking about schools. I am also their tenth exchange student so they are quite versed on normal procedures and don't mind me asking one zillion questions whenever they are around.

I started school Monday at Scoil Mhuire (prounounced "skull wiruh",) a Catholic primary school in a disadvantaged neighborhood just around the corner. I feel very out of place, being secondary education and definitely not Catholic, but I am doing the best I can. I am the first American exchange student that the school has hosted so the teachers and I have decided that I will design a few units based on something distinctly American and I will go around to the upper classes and teach it. I am also going to teach a bit of Spanish and music to my kids.

I very much like their school system. The students start language learning in early primary school and one teacher teaches all subjects, even art, music, physical education, etc. They don't appear to get as in-depth as one might expect with the arts, but it makes for a more interesting and lively school day. Students also begin at age four but have a shorter school day overall.

Anyway, the batteries in my camera have died so pictures will have to wait til I get new batteries.

Word of the day - "pants" (means "underwear", "trousers" means "pants." Very costly mistake.)

til next week -

Cheyenne

Well, it's been a week as of today, and so far it has been wonderful and interesting. The first 4 days here we traveled around and went to Monteverde and Malpais. It was so great to travel together and everything was so beautiful. We met some really interesting people and had some excellent adventures.

We arrived into Nicoya Sunday and continued to have our interesting adventures! I´ll just say that we are familiar with the local police! Don´t worry, we did not do anything illegal, we just needed some directional guidance which resulted in an escort!

I met my family Sunday night and immediately fell it love with them. They are a beautiful and welcoming family. I live with my mom and dad and then a 12 year old sister and my 9 year old brother. They speak very little English and I speak very little Spanish so it has been interesting. It gets better every day, though. I am sharing a room with my sister and becoming completely spoiled by my mom's amazing cooking. My mom teaches the local spin classes, and I have been going to them and she is definitely outdoing me!

It is really hard at times living with strangers that I can barely communicate with. It is a very lonely feeling at times. I do not feel like a stranger, though, and they are absolutely incredible and we actually have a whole lot in common.

As for the school, it is very much like I expected. I am teaching 4th, 5th, and 6th grade. The younger grades are much more wild but all of the students are wonderful. they are so respectful and excited to be in school. That is the biggest difference between them and my American students. We have started to get to know the students and work with them in some fun ways. We are traveling this weekend, and I am really excited for that! Overall, the past week has been intimidating, scary, but wonderful. I am excited to see what happens next.

It has now been a week since we’ve arrived here in Nicoya and so much has happened! It feels like we’ve been here so much longer because I’m used to the daily routine! Working at San Ambrosia is so different from US schools but so exciting. It’s so funny to hear “Teacher,… Teacher” all the time. That is what the students call us. During the lunch period, Torrey and I play basketball with our sixth graders. We started that last Tuesday and will probably keep doing it until we leave. There is a lady who cooks all of the food at San Ambrosia, and it is DELICIOUS!

At the end of last week, the fourth grade class made models of the Solar System. The students were split into five groups and then colored the planets and posted them on poster board. They really seemed to enjoy doing this.

Friday was my favorite day! The whole school had Field Day! It was basically “Track and Field” Day because it was all based around a track meet. The students were really excited about doing this. We, the student teachers, had to do a couple of relays. We won some and lost some! I am glad that we had the chance to take part in this activity.

Karla has a life long friend/ parent at the school/ guy who drives us to school/ big supporter of the English program at San Ambrosia who has a house on Playa Samara. She asked him if we could go there for the weekend and he said yes! So, once Friday afternoon rolled around, we were all headed to the bus station. Karla had to stay in Nicoya until Saturday, but Lauren’s “mom” came with us.

Playa Samara is about an hour bus ride from Nicoya and is a gorgeous beach! Once we arrived there, we walked on the beach to the house. It took us about 30 minutes to find, but once we walked up to the beach, all of our jaws dropped. We were going to be staying literally on the beach! As the weekend went on, we saw lots of horses running on the beach, lots of big waves, and beautiful sunsets. We even saw a couple of bulls running down the beach.

I finally found a perfect spot to hang my hammock, but it took a toll on my body when I was trying to hang it. I had the opportunity to literally slide down a palm tree trunk while doing so! FYI… it wasn’t a pleasant feeling. Torrey and I have decided that Playa Samara is the best beach to run on! I know that we are all grateful for having the chance to come to this beach house!

It’s Monday morning of our second week here and I am excited to see what week two will bring!

*the following pictures are of this past week...

After a glorious weekend enjoying the sandy beaches of beautiful Playa Samara, our second week of teaching is underway. It was great to get back and see the kids even though the hugs weren´t great for my ridiculous sun burn-- I promise I wore sunscreen.

The language barrier is definitely getting easier. I was able to communicate with my family quite well the past few days and the students also. I am excited because we are getting to know our students and doing some fun activities with them. We are talking about the solar system with two of the classes and then about animal habitats with the other one. I´m learning that a lot of teaching English is about pronunciation, which is funny because that is the hardest part of Spanish for me!

I am excited about Spanish class this week, and we have also been getting a great deal of help from the teachers at the school and Karla.

Nicoya is becoming more familiar to me as well. I think I can find my way home from just about anywhere now! I am excited to see what the rest of the week has in store!

Beautiful Playa Samara-

6th grade girls with their medals from sports days-

There are no words to describe this past week. I love this country and I have already learned so much from in the short time I have been here. Kendall, Megan, and I arrived in Liberia, CR on Saturday, March 22nd without knowing how truly incredible our next week of traveling would be.

From the time we stepped off the time to the time we arrived in Nicoya we experienced adventure. We were lucky enough to visit the Arenal Volcano, the rain forest in Monte Verde and relax on the beach in the beautiful Mal Pais. The language barrier never seemed to be much of problem because the people in CR are more than helpful and are always willing to endure some pretty butchered Spanish.

We met Marley and Torrey in Monte Verde and might I add that we are quite a crew. We were able to explore the rain forest above the trees on a zip line and repel down six waterfalls all in one day. I knew that our adventures had only just begun because we still have five more weeks to be in this beautiful country.

After leaving Mal Pais on Saturday we arrived in Nicoya with our packs and a familiar name. After riding in a Costa Rican police car and exchanging a few names we made it to Carla's house. I was the first to get picked up by my family and I knew I was in for a treat. They have been feeding me the best food, and because they do not speak any English my Spanish skills have been improving daily. Meeting my family made me a little nervous but after the first two nights they have made me feel at home. I live with Anna a former teacher at San Ambrosio, her parents and her two nephews. My family knows how to cook and have a good time and I honestly already feel at home here. They have been so helpful and speak to me very slowly so I can always feel a part of their conversations.

I am teaching English at San Ambrosio to pre-K through 3rd students. I am finding that it is a lot harder than I once thought to teach English but I am enjoying every moment. The children at this school are the most loving kids and not a moment goes by that one is not holding my hand or calling me teacher. I am looking forward to watching these kids grow in the English speaking skills. I have a feeling that I will be learning just as much from them as they are from me.

Here are some other important notes that describe why Costa Rica is so amazing.
-Rice and beans or arroz con pollo
-Milkshakes
-Beautiful people
-Spanish
-The soda or cafeteria at school
-Chikis the most amazing cookies in the world!
-Air Conditioned Internet Cafe´s

Week Dos in Costa Rica!

I can hardly believe it. Nicoya is starting to feel more like home each day. Simple tasks such as ordering food, milkshakes, going to the bank or using the internet cafe are becoming easier. My family is still blowing my mind with the amount of food they make me and how delicious it is. I am feeling more comfortable talking to my family and I can definitely see an improvement in my Spanish speaking skills. I still love this place and I have already decided that I am not going to be able to stay away from CR for long.

Megan and I are still settling in with our cooperating teacher and getting to know our students. We will be starting different projects with our first, second, and third graders to help them with vocabulary and other connections. We have been singing a lot of fun songs and learning to speak slowly so our students can understand us clearly. The children at San Abrosio are so willing to learn making my job quite easy. It is so exciting to hear my students say, "Good Morning, Teacher" to me everyday in English. There are improvements and learning experiences taking place daily at San Ambrosio.

This weekend the five of us, Karla and my mom Anna traveled to Playa Samara. We stayed at a beach house right on the water. The was unlike anything I have ever seen before. The water was beautiful and town was fabulous. Although it was quaint, I believe this was the best way to unwind after a busy first week. I am sure there will be more adventures to come!

Another note about why CR is amazing.
Empanadas! Period.

This picture was taken in Dun Laoghire (pronounced Dun Leary). Lindsay and I occasionally pop into this town after school. They have a little ice cream shop there called Teddy's. We've been told by the locals that they serve the best ice cream in Ireland. It's pretty amazing.

Life at Kill O' the Grange is wonderful. I am currently working in the 4th class and the students are fantastic. I will be incorporating a book I've just read, called "In Deep Dark Wood"into their English lessons throughout the rest of the week. This book is written by an Irish author, so I will be excited at the prospect of using it either at home or in class in the furture. I will be in the 5th class starting next week. They have me moving around quite a bit, but it's great. I am excited about working with all the different teachers and students.

I've also been able to spend some time at Trinity College. I saw a film there last night and I've met several college students who attend the university. That is where this picture was taken.

Overall, things are wonderful and I'm looking forward to the next four weeks.

This week has been great! I have learned so much from all the children. I love this school and all the children. The schools are much different here than they are in America.

The children have art, computer lab, library, and drama weekly but the teacher takes them to the designated rooms and teaches them in those areas. When the students go to physical education and music the teacher goes with them to help the physical education and music teacher. The school also includes religion in their curriculum. I am with a relatively new teacher, which is nice because I can relate to her very well.

I have realized that words and sayings I use have different meanings to the people here in Ireland. I can tell when the children give me a blank look that they don't understand. I know that this is a language barrier so I try to say things in a different way so they will understand it.

I have come to realize how hard it could be for a student to come into a country where they don’t know how to speak the language. I speak the same language as they do here and different meanings and accents can still be confusing.

One of my friends from home came to see me this weekend. It was a great surprise! We toured Dublin on Friday after school and all day Saturday. I learned a great deal about the history and culture of the city through the guided tours that we took.

On Sunday we went to the Wicklow Mountains which are close to where I live. We took a guided tour there. The mountains were beautiful! I learned a lot about the country side and the farmers on this tour. On the tour we had a great traditional Irish meal. I am learning more than I could have imagined about a different place and different culture!

Part two from Costa Rica.

After a tiring, yet wonderful first week of school we spend the weekend playing on the beautiful beaches in Samara. Samara was quaint little town about an hour from Nicoya. We rode horses to a sea turtle reservation in Bueno Vista- it was really a neat thing to experience.

School at San Ambrosia has gone over without a hitch so far. It does take some adjusting from the strict schedule back in The States to feeling productive in the oh-so-relaxed environment we are currently teaching in.

I have a different experience from everyone else, considering I´m working with three different teachers/park personnel. Usually three days a week I´m teaching English with Harold to 7th, 8th and 9th graders. This was a little difficult for me at first, because I´m used to teaching science, which is in no fashion related to how to teach English to native Spanish speakers.

The students seem to enjoy it more when I teach English, as they teach me Spanish. The students typically work from a book and proceed through the units as they are planned out through the book. At first it was really odd not to be teaching to meet objectives from a North Carolina Standard Course of Study.

I´m also working on a school environment project with Diego, who is a science/environmental teacher at San Ambrosia. This has been difficult in that he doesn´t speak English and I´m not quite there yet with Spanish. Hopefully, we can establish some type of recycle program for the school--we´ll see! He currently has a gardening and composting project in place, and I will assist with these.

Today was my first day working with the National Park Service. Anna and Andres are the people I will be working with. It all started with a walk to town at 6:00AM, where they picked me up. We drove through the country picking up students at three small schools outside of Nicoya. We took them to Palo Verde, which is on the Tempisque River.

For about four hours we identified different birds, including the Jabiru, a stork that is on the brink of extinction. It´s actually one of the largest storks in the world. Anna and Andres were very excited to see four juveniles considering it takes almost an entire year for offspring to develop to the point they can leave the nest (nido in Spanish). Andres also told me in broken English that this was a minor miracle to have four offspring from one nest.

We observed other wildlife including crocodiles, hogs, lizards, fish not to mention a massive amounts of bugs. And, I got to see my third monkey on the way home. The students were all very interested and engaged throughout the trip. I wish students back home could have these experiences, which would, without a doubt, help to promote science and environmental awareness as well appreciation for nature as it we know it today. I´m really, really excited about more opportunities to work the Costa Rica Park Service.

Picture from the top of a mountain in Palo Verde from my day with the Park Service.

Crocodile in Palo Verde!

It is now the middle of week two, and I am beginning to learn the routine of the classrooms. Lauren and I have started to work with the students on activities that our cooperating teacher, Edith, has given us, as well as some projects that we have created ourselves.

We are now working with only first, second, and third graders. I´m looking forward to being able to focus more time and attention to these students. I didn´t realize what a challenge it is to have so many different classes, since I´m used to having just one class all day long! I am very excited to feel that I am having an impact on the lives of these kids. They are amazing and so much fun; they are constantly smiling and always happy (or at least most of the time; they are still kids of course).

They have started to realize that if they want me to understand what they are saying, they must speak very slowly, and I am actually beginning to be able to understand them. This is a huge accomplishment for me! And, by the way, the food in the cafeteria is absolutely incredible. I never knew I could love rice and beans so much or that it could be made in so many different ways!

I am also adjusting well to family life. My parents are very supportive and care very much about my well being. They are always asking to make sure I am okay. It´s nice to know that I have such wonderful people to fall back on. I went to English class with my mom on Monday night and met her teacher and friends at the university. It was a very interesting experience to see my language being taught in that environment. My mom and everyone there spoke very good English. I was amazed and a little embarrassed at the small amount of Spanish that I speak in comparison. We went to Burger King for dinner afterwards and while eating we watched Seinfeld in English with Spanish subtitles, a night in tribute to the United States!

My only little, tiny complaint is the heat. It is hot! But, somehow I feel like I´m actually getting used to it. I never thought I would be able to say that! I think I might even miss it when I go back to the U.S. because then I won´t have a good excuse for ice cream anymore!

Okay, I posted this entire blog but somehow it vanished, so here goes again...

I am on my second week here, and I find it just as gorgeous as I did the first. Lindsay, Annabelle and I went into Dublin City today, and really, the town couldnt be more wonderful or the people more awesome. They are so ridiculously nice here.

I am also in my second week at the school, which is interesting. I am teaching a unit to the upper classes on the wild west, which they are really enjoying. I am also doing a music lesson and a drama lesson tomorrow so that'll be neat too. Scoil Mhuire has never hosted an American student so I am quite the rockstar, and it`s very flattering. They all want me to talk "like a cowgirl" (Should have sent Lindsay there; they would have LOVED her.)

This weekend we are going on two paddywagon tours--one to Belfast and one to the Giants Causeway. It should a full and exhausting couple of days. I hope to bring back excellent news and stories. Now I`m gonna see if I can upload a few pictures.

My second week in Mexico has definitley been different--from following a routine to getting used to working with the second grade.

It is an interesting feeling working in a foreign country because with the small amount of international travel and living I have experienced, it never ceases to amaze me how hard it is to balance the feelings of responsibility and vacation. We are here in Mexico to learn and to do our student teaching in such an exciting environment, yet when you walk home from the bus it is hard to not look around and stop to enjoy the moment of living in a different country.

The time here is flying by, yet it is taking time for me to get used to working at the elementary level. Having come from an inner city high school, it is so different working with students who have everything and anything that they need and want, not to mention the differences in maturity levels and cultural norms. Recently, a widespread topic at the American School has been how "chatty" the students here are. It is the truth. And, it is interesting to see that it is a school wide issue, not just a classroom issue. These conversations are definitley a huge help to me in terms of working with my own patience and classroom management techniques to find that happy balance in the classroom.

The students here are teaching me more than I ever could have imagined, not only from being in front of them, but also with my Spanish! Everyday students teach me new words, and I will never get tired of the question "Miss Sara, how to you say __________ in English?" simply because it is a challenge to me as well as a challenge to them.

After a long week at the American School, Elyse and I are heading to Lake Chapala this weekend. It is a local lake that is filled with upscale Mexican homes and American retiree homes. It will be nice to get away from the busy city for the weekend and just relax. Soon enough, it will be Monday again, and time to start the week over!

School is going well thus far. My school doesn't have an art program so I've found my self spending a lot of time planning art activities for the few minutes a day that each class does "arts and crafts."

I got in contact with the senior school next door and met the art teachers there. So two or three times a week I go to the senior school, where they're doing ceramics, which is my specialty, and work in those classes. I'm planning a mural in the 'hall' of the junior school which is basically the cafeteria. It is a spring scene and each class will contribute to some aspect of the mural. The P2s have made butterflies with tissue paper and the KG2s have made birds with feathery wings. Today I'm participating in the faculty vs P6 netball game which brings back flashbacks of the faculty basketball game I played, or attempted to, at Ashe County Middle School.

All the ASU girls, plus two girls from other universities, went to Belfast and the Giant's Causeway this weekend. It was absolutely amazing.

One of the many famous murals in Belfast depicting 'the troubles'

In the botanical gardens of Queen's University

The Carrick-a-rede rope bridge

The Giant's Causeway

Sign entering "Free Derry" where the people claimed they were free from British rule

I finished my work with the 4th class on Friday and then headed off to Northern Ireland for the weekend. It was a very educational trip. We stayed in Belfast for only one day and then visited the Giant's Causeway on the second day. I learned about an Irish Giant by the name of Finn Maccoul. Apparently he's responsible for the basalt formations, not volcanic activity, at the causeway. I'll be sure to tell that story to my science students back home!

I also learned about the Troubles. I will admit that you can read a hundred books about this, but there's nothing quite like being there to see things for yourself. I had heard and read about the Troubles, but when I was actually in Belfast and Derry, I really got a feel for what actually happend there, and to a much lesser extent, still appears to happen today.

I am now working in 5th class and have much to prepare for the rest of the week. Things at the school are fabulous. I love it here. I will be reading another novel to use in the 5th class called "Duck and Swan", and I'll be doing a few demonstrations regarding heat and friction for the science class.

This week was just great! I have been teaching English and science in my classroom.

In my class when I was student teaching in the states I had the children write letters to the children in Ireland. By doing this they could have a pen pal. I told my class in Ireland about this and they loved the idea. Both of the classes were really excited! First, I had each student read the letter they got to the class. Then, I taught them how to write a letter. Next, the students began writing. Hopefully, by the end of this week the children will be finished with the letters, and I can mail them back to the students in the States!

This weekend was wonderful! I went with three girls from Appalachian and two other girls from the U. S., who are also teaching in Dublin, to Belfast, Derry, and the Giants Causeway. The Giants Causeway is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and I got to see it on a beautiful sunny day.

I learned a great deal about the history of Belfast and Derry. And also, I learned about things that are happening today in those cities. Derry and Belfast are full of history!! The Giants Causeway, as the Irish would say, was "absolutely gorgeous"!!

Another exciting week in Dublin has flown by. I am learning and experiencing more than I ever thought about this country and its culture!!!

Mexico is still great! Sara and I had quite the adventure getting to Lake Chapala this weekend. After staying in an "interesting" hotel, walking down the highway, and eating breakfast in the supermarket, we found our way to Ajijic. It is a quaint little town with lots of American retirees. I have to admit it was nice to see some people who are more like us! We had a really relaxing time there hanging out at the pool and watching the sunset from the Ajijic Pier. The bus ride home was eventful and a little stressful, as usual, but I've come not to expect it any other way in Mexico.

School is going well although sometimes I struggle with the classroom management part. My students here are so different from the students I am used to working with. They talk all the time! I am not getting easily frustrated, though, because I know it is partly a cultural difference. Also, my frustrations would only make it harder. This is great management experience before I go into my first year. My teacher has been a huge help and support. She hosted Sara and me in her home for dinner on Friday. That was very nice.

It is also different here because the families and students I work with are wealthy. Some have "staffs" in their homes! this is much different from my student teaching school in the States.

Our host home is still great. "Mom," aka Maria Elena, does her very best to make us happy and comfortable. She tells us the same thing over and over, which is a bit funny, but she is only trying to look out for us, so we love her for it. I can't believe we've been here almost three weeks...the time is flying by!

Last weekend five of the American girls and I went on a couple of tours up to Northern Ireland, into Belfast and over to the Giant`s Causeway.

We had to be in Dublin by 8 a.m., which meant leaving at six-thirty because the train comes seldom that early on a Saturday.

Ireland is incredibly small, and it probably doesn`t take five hours to drive from the northern most tip to the southern most one. On the way north, we stopped to see St. Peter's Church, a fairly famous church where St. Oliver Plunkett's head rests (Seriously, it`s just his head, and it`s sitting out for people to see.)

We then went to an ancient Celtic graveyard with HUGE Celtic crosses. Some were more than two stories high, and it was quite beautiful.

We got into Belfast and took a taxi tour of areas important to the Catholic-Protestant troubles.

We then walked around Belfast for awhile, seeing churches, schools, the botanical gardens, pubs, etc.

In the morning we got up super early again and went to the Giants Causeway. I really can't explain it in words. It`s basically a place where square and hexagonal columns raise up naturally out of the sea near the beach. On the way there we stopped at this neat rope-bridge built between the mainland and a little island. We were so far north that one could actually see Scotland. We then went to the causeway, and on to Derry, a decent-sized city in N. Ireland that was a site of much of the bloodshed during the troubles.

St. Peter's Church--

Our tour guide was the son of the mayor from the early 1990's so he gave us a first-hand account of what it was like to grow up in such an area.

We have just completed our third week of student teaching down here in Costa Rica. This third week was filled with excitement. We had a holiday from school on Monday, Dr. Angel and Dr. Frye arrived in Nicoya, Kendall’s birthday, Karla’s graduation, and Dr. Frye’s presentation at the university.
To start the week off, we had a relaxing day on Monday because Costa Rica was celebrating the Battle of Rivas. This is kind of like an independence day for Costa Rica. They were celebrating the fact that they fought off the invasion of William Walker, who was from Tennessee.
On Tuesday, Dr. Angel and Dr. Frye arrived in Nicoya. We went out to eat at a Nicaraguan restaurant. It was delicious. While we were at dinner, we met two American teachers from San Diego. They had taken a semester off from teaching to travel around Central America. One was a first grade teacher and the other was an eighth grade history teacher. It was exciting to meet other American teachers down in Costa Rica. They shared lots of interesting stories.
Wednesday was filled with excitement! Kendall turned 23!  We had a regular day at school. By the end of the day, I think that all the students, in the school, had sung to Kendall! During our fourth grade class, Kendall walked in to talk to Karla. While she was talking to Karla, Torrey told them that it was Kendall´s birthday and to sing on the count of three. The look on Kendall´s face was priceless and the students loved to sing.

After school, Torrey and I went to town to find a piñata. Piñatas are very popular for birthdays in Costa Rica. For dinner, Karla made a delicious dinner with rice, beans, salsa, and pork! Rosy and Lauren´s mom, Ana, made two incredible cakes, too. I’m glad we were able to celebrate Kendall’s birthday with her in Costa Rica.

Thursday was another fun-filled day! In our fifth grade class, we had the students bring in pictures of a vacation they had been on or would like to go on. With these pictures, they made a “vacation poster” and wrote about their trips. They seemed to really enjoy this activity. They love to cut and paste things. They also did a wonderful job on writing complete sentences about their trip.

After school, Ricardo picked us up and took us to the university for KARLA´S GRADUATION! It was very exciting for two reasons. One, KARLA GRADUATED! And two, it was interesting to see how other universities and cultures celebrate graduations! After graduation, we went to a delicious café (Café de Melon).

TGIF! Friday ran very smoothly. During our break, I had to run into town to get some medicine. I think I came down with a little sinus infection or something, but, oh well. Dr. Angel and Dr. Frye came in to observe us during our last class. It was our fifth grade class. We were having them draw or cut out pictures of clothing and write about what they took on their vacation. One of the boys, Emanuel, had a L.L. Bean catalog to get pictures from. He was having a ball looking through it! On his sheet, he pasted pictures of tents, kayaks, water bottles, and water mocs to show that he went to the beach and camped.

After school, we all went back up to the university to listen to Dr. Frye’s lecture. She was giving a lecture on Cinderella. She spoke about how this story has 3000 different versions across the world. She discussed how the different versions portray the different cultures views and values. I had the chance to have Dr. Frye as a teacher a couple of years ago and absolutely loved her. She loves what she does and you can see this through everything she does. I am very glad that I had the chance to hear her speak again!

I can’t wait to see what next week brings! But now, Dr. Angel and Dr. Frye have just arrived and we are headed to Playa Samara for a day at the beach!

This week has been one of the busiest one yet! After another weekend traveling abroad, we came back to Nicoya on Monday night (since Monday was a holiday, we had the day off) and I went straight to bed. On Tuesday, we had a half day and I went into town to run some errands. I was alone but was very proud of myself for being able to successfully make my way around town and get some things done! On my way back home, Dr. Angel and Dr. Frye pulled up next to me and I took them to San Ambrosio to find Karla. We spent the evening touring Nicoya and going out to dinner where we shared our stories of the past three weeks. It was nice to see some friendly faces from home!

On Wednesday it was Kendall´s birthday, so we had to have a fiesta at Karla´s! We had a piñata and the best queque ever (compliments of Lauren´s mom).

At school on Thursday Lauren and I struggled through a lesson with the first grade class. Their behavior can get out of control very quickly. We made it through though, and decided to work towards more activities that take less time and possibly dividing the class into smaller groups.
Thursday was also Karla´s graduation. We went to the university to watch her and then went out to dinner at a little cafe to celebrate. We were so proud of her achievement!

Friday was the day of our observation by Dr. Angel and Dr. Frye. When they entered the third grade classroom all the kids ran over and attacked them with hugs! The lesson went well overall and the kids were very well behaved. We talked about families and worked on ABC books to reinforce the vocabulary of family members. We´ve learned that it is very difficult to communicate to the students what we need for them to do, without speaking in spanish at least some. I think the behavior problems are dramatically increased when they because they often don´t understand what they are supposed to be doing. For the ABC book we split the class in half and I worked with one group while Lauren worked with the other. This seemed to help minimize issues some as we were able to focus more on individual attention and the activity at hand. Generally, I think we are beginning to better understand the needs of these students, especially as compared to the students in the United States. It is obvious they need more direct and explicit instruction which must be repeated more frequently and modeled effectively or they are not able to understand the task that needs to be completed. The only problem with this is that in modeling activities for the students, they simply copy exactly what was on the board and this does not prove that they understand the concept on their own. Hopefully, we will be able to find a solution to this! I´m looking forward to the following weeks and continuing to learn more about Costa Rica and the school!

Volcano Arenal

The Field at School, with a Guanacaste Tree in the center

Valeria, my sister at Field Day

1st and 2nd grades

Solmar, but we call him Mowgli

Our favorite song, If You´re Happy and You Know IT

Fire Safety Day with 1st Grade

Wow, I can not believe that is has almost been a month! This was a short week but a very full week. We did not have school on Monday because it was a national holiday in Costa Rica. It was nice to get back to the students on Tuesday, though; I have learned almost all the names but am still working on pronunciation!

Tuesday was also an exciting day because Dr. Angel and Dr. Frye arrived! It was nice to see familiar faces in our new home.

Thursday was a busy but very exiting day because Karla graduated! It was very interesting to see the graduation ceremony for the University here and we were all very proud of Karla. I was also very thrilled because my little brother came with us and I think he really enjoyed it. To finish up the very busy week, we were able to go see Dr. Frye present at the university after school. She did an excellent job and I thought it was a great experience to be in a lecture type setting with students at the university here.

As far as teaching goes, I am learning a lot and have a great experience. We are doing some fun stuff with the students. We had our 6th graders write letters to students in NC this week, and they loved it. I am hoping to deliver those letters to my students at Mabel. I also have more letters from the older students because I gave them letters from my students at Mabel. It will be tricky to keep the correspondence happening, but hopefully I can work something out.

With the 5th graders this week, we had them plan trips, and have been talking about traveling. It has been really fun to her about some of their dream trips and why. We have decided to do a really cool project with the 4th grade class. Karla had wanted us to help her put labels and signs all around the school in English, and it just so happens that the 4th graders are learning school vocabulary so we decided that we would help them and let that be their class project.

One of the things that I am learning is that pronunciation is very important. I feel as though that is one area that I can be the most helpful in because the two languages have such differences in some areas. The students have been helping me with my Spanish pronunciation, while I help them with their English so it's been a great way to learn for both of us because it is a two way street.

The language barrier is still very evident, but I am learning ways around it. It has been a struggle at times with my family, but we make get by, and I am going to miss them so much when we leave. I am traveling to San Jose with them next weekend so that should be interesting.

Overall, I am continuously reminded of how wonderful this country is. The land itself is stunning and the people are amazing! I am excited to see how the last couple of weeks go!

Mi Hermano!

The girls at the University of Nicoya-

The third week teaching in Costa Rica was quite hectic, but an enjoyable time. This week was a four day week at school, but we had a lot of things to do outside of San Ambrosia. We had Spanish class at the University National in Nicoya, Karla´s graduation ceremony, Dr. Angel and Dr. Frye´s arrival and a little something extra with my birthday.

At school, I continued teaching English with Harold and constructed a recycling program to begin next week with ¨GoGo,¨ the science teacher. Teaching English continues to be a little difficult for me in that I´m used to teaching Biology- the two do not have many similarities. However, I think Harold really appreciates me being there to help with pronunciation and I´m enjoying the experience. I´m excited to see how the recycling program goes next week; GoGo and I made announcements to every class at the school in Spanish and English to help jump start the program. We´ll be recycling plastic, paper and other miscellaneous items.

As far as the extracurricular activities of the week are concerned, Karla´s graduation was a very exciting time. We were all very proud of her and the ceremony was an interesting experience. There were dancers performing a traditional Costa Rican dance and one of my ninth grade students was a performer. My birthday fiesta was absolutely wonderful due to the great planning done by my fellow student teachers and Karla. We had an amazing dinner, complete with the best cake in the world and a piñata. Lauren´s mom made the cake- I´m hoping she´ll know the recipe by the time we return to The States.

Dr. Angel and Dr. Frye arrived on Tuesday. We got to hear Dr. Frye´s lecture on Cinderella and the many different versions spanning many cultures across the world. It was a great lecture and it was wonderful to see someone so passionate about their work. We all took a trip to the gorgeous Samara beach on Saturday and it was nice to get to spend some time Dr. Angel and Dr. Frye. I also rented a surfboard for the first time and thanks to Torrey- I can say I surfed in Costa Rica. Had it not been for my lifeguard friend I would probably be a little more battered and bruised; instead, I can say I stood up on the board and rode on some whitewater in Costa Rica! Amazing!

My Birthday Cakes!

One of my students performing a traditional dance at Karla´s Graduation.

This week is going to be exciting. I'm going to be teaching the 6th class, which I'm really looking forward to because they are basically middle school students - as opposed to the 4th and 5th class I've been working with. I really loved working with the younger grades. I've made some good friends with the students and their families and will be attending a hockey match on Wednesday to see all the boys play. The possibility of me staying in Ireland to babysit one of my fourth grade students has also been mentioned. This will probably not happen, but it's still fun to think about!

Over the weekend, I visited Kilmainham Gaol (the jail in Dublin) where many people were put to death over the years. The jail is full of history. During the tour, I was both disturbed and fascinated at the same time. My visit to the jail couldn't have happened at a better time because I will be teaching the 6th class about a book called, The Guns of Easter, by Gerard Whelan. This book is about The Easter Rising of 1916, and many of the Irish Republicans who were responsible for this event were hamged at this jail I visited.

On Friday of last week, Lindsay and I taught the 3rd and 4th class about cowboys. The Irish are fascinated with anything dealing with the Wild West and Native American history, so Lindsay showed them a powerpoint presentation of pictures her Dad took on his latest journey, on horeback, through the mountains of North Carolina and Virgina. The video was accompanied with country music, which the students really liked. They sat in awe and had many questions to ask afterwards.

Overall, things are fabulous here. I love Ireland.

Ireland, Ireland, I love this place except the weather!! It's so cold and wet it kind of reminds me of Boone but colder. This week, because of this cold wet weather ,I got really sick. I got some kind of respiratory infection and had to go to the doctor.

On Friday of last week Annabelle and I went into a third grade class and taught. I liked the change from first grade class. I did miss my children in first grade though. This class also was fascinated by my accent and my dad. The news about my dad has spread throughout the school and all the students are intrigued that he is a cowboy and rides horses. I showed the class a PowerPoint of pictures of one of my dad's packing trips that he goes on yearly. The students were amazed and loved the show!

This weekend I went to the Kilmainham Gaol to visit. I have a real love for history and this country is full of it. Kilmainham Gaol is where the people who helped with the 1916 "rising" were held until they were executed. The Easter 1916 "rising" was when Ireland rebelled for independence. Here at the jail we took a guided tour. We saw where the men were kept and where they were executed. The jail also has a museum inside. The museum had letters the men wrote to their families and loved ones before they were to be executed.

One man named Oliver Punklett wrote a letter to his love asking her hand in marriage. She came to the jail and they were married inside the jail. After they were married, they had ten minutes with each other before he was executed. The ten minutes they had with each other were in a jail cell with two guards.

Susan is my host mother and her father has given me copies of journals that were written by his father that recorded and discussed some of the events of The Rising. He has also given me copies of newspaper ads of this time. I am fascinated by all of this history that lives in this country!! I am learning more everyday about the history of Ireland. I love having talks with my host family after dinner about Irish history. I have learned so much about the fighting that used to go on in the North and why they were actually fighting.

I can’t believe how fast the time has flew by for me. This week I'm sure will be another exciting week!!

This is a picture of me in one of the nicer jail cells.

This was the letter that was written to the lady asking to her to marry him.

The last two days have been quite eventful for me at Scoil Mhuire. Over the weekend, the school was vandalized, so Monday morning there were several classrooms with broken windows and one in particular that was unusable because of shattered glass. The vandals didn't take anything; it appeared to be purely an act of malice. So the sixth class had to double up for the day so that the jr. infants (four- and five-year-olds) could have their own classroom.

Then the jr. infants' teacher had to go somewhere, and they called me in to mind the class. (I'm kind of the do-everything girl; I get volunteered to help out wherever and whenever they need me.) Here they are.

Then yesterday I went with the 3rd class to another local school called Rathdown, where an artist has come in the past couple weeks to work with the kids in making mosaics. They have hundreds of pieces of colored tile, and a picture of a sea scene was drawn onto a sheet of paper. The paper was then divided up and each group worked on a section of the mosaic separately, cutting and fitting the pieces of tile until they fit without touching. It is going in the train station when it's finished; I just hope they finish it before I leave so I can get a picture. Here we are working on the parts.

Next week is our last full week! I can´t believe we have been here for over a month already. I have learned so much about the daily life both in and around San Ambrosia school. I have finally begun to recognize and evaluate some of the differences between Costa Rican Schools as compared to schools in the United States.

It seems that here in Nicoya they let fewer obstacles stand in the way of teaching time and allow fewer things take away from that time. Students are not let out of school for heat (which, of course, is always an difficult for both teachers and students) or because of power outages (which is not uncommon and is a big deal because there are then no fans to combat the heat).

Teachers in Nicoya devote more time to the classroom and specifically to learning time and less time to classroom management and organization, reward or discipline systems. The students are given much more freedom, even at a very young age. They do not go walk in lines around school to lunch or to the bathrooms and no one holds their hands as they leave school at the end of the day. One of our first grade students rides his bike to school alone every morning. This is something that would be a rare sight in our communities, as parents are quite a bit more protective of their children.

Students are also given more freedom within the classroom and, therefore, do not usually follow typical rules of the United States like raising your hand before you talk. When we tried to explain this concept to our students, they thought that once they raised their hands they were immediately allowed to talk. This has helped me recognize that when students from other countries come into my classroom in the future I need to be understanding. Behaviors which I perceive as disobedience may actually be behaviors that were reinforced or simply not reprimanded in other communities or cultures because the behaviors we expect are not valued in others places like they are in the United States.

It has also been interesting for me to note that most of the teachers at San Ambrosia have higher expectations of their students and provide more harsh critiques of their students than in the United States, where parents would likely complain about the teacher´s lack of sensitivity towards students. Students seem to take it all in stride, and I believe it is just a different system, in which the students need high expectations in order to succeed.

From a general classroom teacher´s perspective it is also interesting to me that the grade teachers (first, second, third, etc) do not play a role in literally leading students throughout the day. If their students are in PE, English, or Music for their first class, the teacher does not need to show up before those classes in order to organize the students or take attendance. There is no ¨homeroom¨ period during the day. Or if these classes are the last of the day, the classroom teacher may leave school early, she does not have to wait until the end of the day and send her students off.

More than anything else, I believe the observation of these differences will assist me in having a deeper understanding of students from other cultures and their motivations for behaviors which I may not have otherwise understood.

This is William. He is in first grade and he rides his bike to school everyday.

These are the first grade girls!

Only two more weeks left! I can hardly believe it.

This week has been a wonderful week so far. In 4th grade, we are working on our labeling the school project. The students have done a really great job and I think that they are proud of their work.

The 5th grade has been studying about the United States so that has been really great for us to have input on. We have taught them all about the Appalachian Mountains! In the 6th grade, we are talking about amazing people and why they are amazing. That class is really great to work with because they really want to help us with our Spanish as much as we want to help them with their English. I taught one of the students how to respond to "see you later, alligator" with "after a while crocodile"!

It's really fun and I love being able to form relationships with the students despite the language barrier. Also this week, the students are getting ready for their big test. I have had a chance to help my younger brother study for the test because he takes it on Friday. I am communicating a little bit better with my family, but it is still hard at times. Next weekend we are going to San Jose so I am really excited about that. I will be so sad to leave San Ambrosia because it is really starting to feel like home!

Dennis with his school label!

Marley and me with some of our 6th graders!

So another week in Mexico is flying by!

Sara and I spent the day on Saturday in Tequila, Mexico. We were so hungry after the bus ride that we found aplace where we could eat hamburgers and french fries! [a nice little taste of home. :)] Afterwards we toured one of the tequila distilleries and that was cool thing. We ended up not having much time to just hang out, because we had to catch the bus back to Guadalajara to be home for "cena" at 8:00.

On Sunday we tried to get to ruins that are about an hour and a half away. After the longest, hottest bus tour of the city of Guadalajara, we realized it was a lost cause. We ended up back at the artisan market shopping! Not a bad day, in the end!

My birthday was last week,also, which made it very special. My teacher knew it was my birthday and so we had a party at school with brownies and special "birthday" things. When we got home, Sara had told our host mom it was my birthday. She had a cake for me with candles and a flower and everything! It was really lovely and made me really happy!

School is going pretty well. Next week we have a half day on Wednesday and we are celebrating children's day. This is a big event in Mexican schools so we are going to play and eat pizza til 12:00. Then, we send the kids home and we have a 5 day vacation for Cinco de Mayo.

School here has definitely been more of a challenege that I am used to, but it's been a great learning experience for me as a future classroom teacher. My students know a lot of English to be so young, but they are still learning vocabulary. I say things and then have to remind myself that I usually need to explain words in more detail. With the words "mow the lawn," for example, they don't know to be just to cut grass. It's interesting to see how I have to explain things in different ways and how much they are soaking up. I can't believe that two weeks from today I will be on my way back to North Carolina. These weeks have gone by very fast!

Wow! Time has flown by since we first arrived at the home of Maria Elena Baeza, and now we are already winding down! I remember being so worried about moving from high school Spanish to the Second grade in Mexico, but now it seems fairly natural. I have yet to overcome how chatty our Mexican students are, but it has definitley taught me a lesson in patience. You can never expect the whole class to pick up on instructions the first time (really at any level, but I have been taught this day in and day out here). I have also learned that young children are rarely the same one day to the next!

In high school, I could generally expect the same attitude day in and day out, but it seems as if the "problem" of the day rotates! There is so much to learn about younger children.

I have truly been enjoying observing how children learn in a second language. It is hard to imagine, even as a second-language learner and speaker myself, to know so much English at such a young age and to have almost 60% of your instructions given in English. It simply amazes me to watch how they soak up anything that I introduce that is not "textbook" English. I enjoy seeing words I have introduced to them, such as "pigpen", appear in their journals. This has taught me so much about how difficult and how rewarding it can be to teach others a new language. I believe that this has helped to instill in me the importance of teaching in practically all Spanish in my future classroom.

Otherwise, Elyse and I have had some interesting adventures! Not that I expected anything less! We have had many chances to simply go and spend time in places where Mexicans go to vacation and where Mexicans go to shop and relax. I think that when we "experience" Mexican culture, it is often through very American places. Instead of travelling to Puerto Vallarta, which is very American these days, we are going to Rincon de Guayabitos, where we hope to observe and experience a more "Mexican" vacation. This weekend we will be traveling to Guanajuato, which has continutally been compared to one of my favorite towns in Spain- Toledo. I am very excited to visit a city with a lot of history and culture!

This week seemed to fly by! It’s hard to believe that we only have a week left here in Nicoya. This week has definitely been the hottest week since we’ve been down here. After being down here for six weeks, I think I’ll definitely be ready for Charlotte’s summer weather!
Since we’ve been teaching at San Ambrosio now for four weeks, it seems more like home. This week has run incredibly smoothly. In all of the grades, we have been working a lot with conversations. Each grade has been working with partners to practice speaking English. In fourth grade, we’ve also been working on the English vocabulary that describes the parts of the school. They’ve designed signs to post up around school. The fifth grade is still working on stories that deal with traveling. They have learned additional vocabulary that helped them write paragraphs relating to traveling. In sixth grade, they’ve been working with stories dealing with “Heroes and Famous People.” San Ambrosio is coming to the end of their first quarter. During the next couple of days, we will have to give the students their English assessments.
Life outside of school was normal! While walking the streets of Nicoya, I feel more and more like a local. I know the city a little better and have my regular places where I go. Last night I went with Torrey and her family to a soccer game! It was very exciting to attend. The game was against the Guanacaste team and San Jose team! It was very interesting to see the difference between sporting events here and back home!
I am excited about next week, but I know I will also be sad to leave!

Soccer Game in Nicoya

The Hokey Pokey

The weeks are flying by! It's been interesting trying to adapt in my school because I'm a 'specialized teacher' as they would call it. I'm an art education major.

It just so happens I'm in a school with no art program and no room in the curriculum for any specific time given to art. So it's been a struggle to find places where I'm needed! I've instead been creating collaborative projects, not only in individual classes but in the school as a whole.

I've been working on a mural where each class in the school can contribute a piece.

I'm finishing up a mural in the hall (or cafeteria) of my school and spending time in the senior school (our sort of high school equivalent) working with girls getting ready for their big national test and critique in art. On Thursday they were given their big portfolios to put all their work in to be graded by a national supervisor. It's a bit like the EOG's in North Carolina but for art. I thought that was really cool.Things have been going very well overall and now we're counting down the days until I head back across the big fish bowl.

Some girls from the other universities in Ireland and I went to a famous pub called Johnnie Foxes where we heard great live music, saw Irish dancing and ate amazing food. I struck up a conversation with one of the more attractive dancers and he told me that he toured with Riverdance and that their choreographer does Riverdance as well. My friend Katie and I both got pulled up on stage to dance in front of the large crowd of people enjoying the show.

Week four in Costa Rica has been packed with excitement. The recycling program at San Ambrosia is finally underway, Beach Open 2008 is complete and I also spent a couple days visiting Canas and Tiliran where a wind farm is located.

The week started at San Ambrosia labeling giant recycling bins for the recycle program which I helped organize. My ninth graders setup bins for paper, plastic, aluminum cans, glass, ¨frutas¨ - compost and miscellaneous items. After an impromptu speech I gave in English along with other explanations given by my students at an assembly the recycling program was kicked off. All the students seemed to be very involved, placing many items in the bins... including Styrofoam plates in the plastic bin, which I´m sure I´ll be sorting through this week. Overall, though, I think this program will be excellent for San Ambrosia and it will be something they can continue long after we return to the States.

On Thursday, I visited Canas with Harold, the English teacher I work with at San Ambriosia. I saw one of Harold´s adult English classes at a school in Canas. It was interesting to see all different types of people in his class ranging in age from 15 to 50. We stayed at a fire station where he is a volunteer. It was really a fun time climbing to the top of the tower and getting to put on all the fire fighting gear. I don´t know how they wear all that gear in 90 degree heat!

While in Canas, one of Harold´s students took Lauren and me to visit the wind farm. I was amazed at how large the windmills were, yet they didn´t seem to create any noise. I was literally standing about 40 feet from the windmill and could barely hear any sound coming from the massive structure.

I know some of the concerns with building a wind farm in Ashe County were the noise level and the eye sore the farm creates. However, I can assure you the wind farm doesn´t create much noise and in my opinion isn´t all that aesthetically unpleasing. Its great to see the clean energy that is being produced all over Costa Rica. My only question is why can´t the United States jump on board with renewable energy?

This past weekend we went on a beach tour of the Pacific Coast with Karla. She borrowed her uncle´s car and we visited three different beaches. All of which were absolutely beautiful!

Wind Farm

Recycling Project

Fire Station

This past week was great. I worked with the 6th class and taught a few lessons about a book they are reading (The Guns Of Easter). They have been a pleasure to work with as have been all the other classes at Kill O' the Grange. I also attented the 6th class field hockey tournament on Wednesday of last week. A mother and coach, who was heavily involved with the field hockey teams, passed away in November of last year with cancer. In an effort to remember her the field hockey league has decided to hold a tournament every year in her name. I attended this tournament and it was really fun to see the boys from the school play. I also met their families which was also very good.

Last week in 6th class Mr. Malseed and I taught a lesson on bridges and the physics behind their design. I showed the class a video of the Tacoma Bridge collapse and then the students proceeded to design their own bridge using two pieces of paper. Mr. Malseed and I walked around the room to see whose bridge was the strongest. The students were fascinated with the video and they enjoyed the challenge of figuring out which of their designs would be the strongest. I enjoyed watching them learn from their mistakes. The best and strongest design came from two boys who tried over and over again to figure it out. They finally did, and the picture of their bridge is below.

Lindsay and I have also managed to do a little bit more travelling. We visited the Aran Islands and stayed in Galway for the night with a friend from Galway University. It was "grand" - although we do need to work on our Irish. And we were also lucky enough to have been asked to go fly fishing with my host dad and his buddy. That was one of the best times I've had so far.

I'm starting off this week well. Yesterday the sun was out and it made for a beautiful day to spend at the shore enjoying the calm water of the Irish Sea. A lot of families come down on pretty days with their kids and their dogs and just let the lot of them run freely on the beach. There's also a lot of people out sailing, kayaking and swimming.

I'm going to France this weekend for a little beach holiday of my own. Two girls from another university are going with me. It should be a grand experience.

Today in school I finished a project with the P2 girls where we created a collaborative still life collage. We looked at famous still life images through art history and made a list of items we would put in our own still life image. In the end the class ended up making a collage of their own drawn images of fruits and veggies and other items. My mural in the hall/cafeteria is almost done. I'm waiting for one more class to finish up and then that will be done just in time for me to leave Rathdown!

I really like working with the young girls. In that same P2 class I've been tutoring girls with their 'maths' as they call it. Tomorrow I'll be in the senior school working with the 3rd Class girls getting ready for their "Junior Cert." which is basically a big exam. The girls are preparing all the work they've done over the term to be checked by state examiners.

My parents come next Thursday, a day or so after I get back from France (Next week is a holiday.) We've made plans to hit up some touristy areas but spend a lot of time in the country as well. I'm pleased to be here with my family seeing this beautiful country.

The Nile project I'm working on with P3




The hallway we like to call "The M-50"... the main highway around Dublin

The senior school





Spring has sprung!

Another week in Ireland has been wonderful! I am just learning and experiencing more than I ever thought I would. The kids are great at Kill O the Grange!! This week the kids played a football game and they were so cute. We all had fun! The staff at the school are great as well and so helpful.

I just can’t get over the children at my school. They are all so well behaved and well mannered. Never have I seen a child talk back to a teacher or any adult in the school. They are such sweet and caring children. This week I went into the fourth class half a day to teach. It was a last minute notice, but I learned to get something together fast. It worked out great and the kids enjoyed the activity I had them do. It was good to look back and see that I can think quickly on my feet when teaching and come up with an activity when I didn't have a notice. It was a great teaching experience that worked out.

Friday was the last day for one of the girls in my class. Her family is moving to the Northern part of Ireland. It was a sad day in my class on Friday for the kids. Most children here don't move schools at all. It is a rare occasion that children move from school to school like they do in America.

This weekend Annabelle and I went to the Galway and one of the Aran Islands. The Aran Islands were so nice and pretty!! The people living on the islands are paid government supplements to live on the islands and speak the Irish language to keep it alive. Everything including all food and gas are shipped onto the islands. Their only way of making money on the islands is the tourist. It was a great get away place. We biked around the island. It was so pretty and peaceful.

Sunday Annabelle and I went fishing on the Slaney River for salmon and trout. It was a lot of fun. We had such pretty weather to go fishing. The only thing that didn't go so well for me was that I dropped my video camera in the river! (Its still not working and I'm hoping that it will dry out and I got stung by a poisonous weed!) This week we have also visited Malihide Castle, Howth, and we went on a Viking Splash tour in Dublin. This was so funny we got to wear Viking hats as we toured around Dublin learning the history of the city during the Viking settlement.

This week will be my last in the schools. It will be a sad week. I am going to miss the staff and the children in my class. I can’t believe that the time has almost come to an end.