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.
