We were up bright and early with the sun to attempt to brave the public bus system so we could take our first weekend trip to Playas Jaco to surf and soak up the sun. Our favorite new friend, Alfredo (yes, like the pasta) drove us in his taxi to the bus stop in central San Jose, a sketchy, sketchy place might I add. We bought our tickets for the 8:00am bus, and after a little breakfast and waiting, we were off. Success. For now.
After a two hour ride through the mountains we arrived at the beach. Playas Jaco is known for two things: surfing and prostitution. We were obviously there for the surfing/beach, but we knew we needed to be weary of our surroundings at night. We spent a wonderful day in the hot sun on the black sand just relaxing.
After a great day on the beach, we decided to venture into town to find somewhere to stay. Yes, we went to Jaco with plans to wing to. We did well too I think. We found this hostel called Poseidon that had a vacancy, free breakfast, Wifi, pool, AC (which is super rare), and two double bed. The 5 of us, being broke college kids, crammed into one room and took advantage of all the ammenities! So worth the little extra money. We walked around town that night, picking up little nicknacks and souvenirs, and I even found a place to rent a surfboard for $10/24 hours! Dinner was good, and I got to bed early so I could hit the best surf at 6am!
6am arrived faster than I thought, but I got up and hit the beach! It was beautiful, and the guys at the surf shop were right - the waves were beautiful! Problem was, they were HUGE and I was a beginner!!! I attempted anyway, and ended up just getting pounded by the surf. Nonetheless, I had fun, and I was able to get up a few times after the surf died down a little. It's Tuesday, and I still can't raise my arms or use my triceps if that's any indication! Better get in shape for next time!
Noon came and it was time to pack up our stuff, turn in my board, catch some lunch and head for the bus station. We all kept saying how nice of a weekend we had had, with new friends on a relaxing beach.
WELP we jinxed ourselves. We boarded the 1:00pm bus back to San Jose that some nice man had helped us get on. The nice man turned up on the bus too, and he helped Kelly and I lift and stuff our backpacks into the overhead compartments above our seats. I sat down, turned to talk to Stephanie for less than 30 seconds, looked up to check on our bags and THEY WERE GONE!!! The "nice man" turned out to be the sneakiest thief I have ever heard of in my life. Obviously he practices a lot and pays off the bus drivers so he can somehow Houdini our huge, noisy backpacks out of the bus, against the flow of passengers boarding the bus and without the bus drivers seeing him. Unlikely. Luckily I noticed very quickly before the bus pulled out, and I scrambled to get off. In broken Spanish, I tried to explain, but the bus workers just sent us to file a police report. Unfortunately however, Mr. Nice Man Thief Guy probably pays off the cops too. Regardless, Stephanie helped us file a report, but we are obviously still waiting for new. The only valuables in my bag were my iPhone and cords, and Kelly only lost his camera and U.S. phone, but I lost a lot of favorite things in that backpack....I have slept with "grannie doll" basically since I was born, and she happened to be in the bag too. Grannie Doll got kidnapped! :( :( :( I was (and am still) VERY upset about that. I hope Mr. Nice Man Theif FELT SO BAD when he opened my bad and saw poor little Granny Doll that he decided to get a real job and quit stealing. Then at least my bad luck wasn't in vain......
Anywho, Stephanie, Kelly, and I took a taxi back Sunday night, and we were exhausted. Hence the reason I didn't update....Now you get it. Note to self, literally keep your hands on your things. Your eyes will fail you.
On an upside, Monday was our first day at CDS. Nothing much exciting that day, just good ole teachers' meetings and workshops. No kids that day, but I did get to meet my teacher, Mrs. Calderon, who seems to be a perfect fit for me. She has high expectations for the kids but she is laid back and tried to teach the kids to be independent, which is super important. I also met the Principal, Mr. Large, who also seems very helpful and genuine. A spattering of other teachers introduced themselves to me, and so far, it seems like this place is PERFECT for me!!! I have so much in common, specifically life goals and teaching philosophies, with the other teachers!
Today, the excitement (aka the kids) came in full speed. I have 17 kids, 12 boys and 5 girls. One of the girls is new, and the other girls in the class are excited to have another of their own! All of these kids speak English and Spanish, and about half speak a third language. Almost all of them are of mixed heritage and decent, with mom and dad from two different countries that speak two different languages! They will even switch between Spanish and English in one sentence! Amazing! It's also really perplexing to see an Asian kid speak PERFECT Spanish, accent and all!! I can't wait to not only teach these kids, but learn from them as well! We shared about what we did for Christmas, and while all of them told stories of the foreign countries they visited, all I could think of was that I got to sleep late! Hahaha! The kids were all welcoming of course, and we had a good first day! Lots of learning for me! I look forward to the rest of the week!
I think tonight's dinner was good for my soul. Let's just talk about how awesome my host mom is really quick. Her name is Oky, and she speaks broken English, but she tries, and she LOVES having us in her house. I have somehow come down with a cold, and she takes such good care of me! She has made me some kind of hot lemonade concoction for the past three nights for my cough, she rubs some kind of cold remedy cream on my back before bed, and even though she wishes I would dry my hair before bed, I don't, so she says I better sleep with my head under the covers all the way to keep warm! All in Spanglish of course. She also has started sitting with us at dinner, which I love, because for 64, she is as lively as can be. She always wears bright red lipstick, and her jet black hair is always slicked back into a bun. She is always smiling, and she loves to cook for us! Her cooking is fabulous too! She says next week, she will teach me. I wish you could hear her accent and the way she talks. When she found out I lost Grannie Doll, she says "Oh sweetie, donn wuhrry, I talk weeth Gahd and I know shee cahming bahck. I know eet, dun wuhrry." SO SWEET. And tonight, she told us how she learned an American curse word, and that alone was one of the funniest conversations yet. She also tried to explain to us the word "joking" but she kept pronouncing it "chunky" or "junky" or "yoking" and we were all laughing so hard we couldn't breathe!! :) Oky has a LOT of stories, and I love to hear them all, even when they're all in Spanish. I do pretty well understanding, especially with help from the rest of the crew. Oky also has "muchos amigas" and she will tell you that a lot too. :) She is a very good foreign mommy. Trust me, there will be more Oky stories to come!!
For now, it is time for bed. I have to get up for school bright and early, with the sun and the AMAZING WEATHER!!! I will post pictures to facebook soon, so be on the lookout! Here is the most current link:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2713345305078.2125129.1000260093&type=1&l=f911e8c988
Like I said, adventure has found me fast. And I like it. (Except for the theft part).
PURA VIDA,
Jessica
JESS, love your blog. i'm enjoying reading it. sounds like you are having a wonderful time. cant wait to read more about it!!
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