I have literally started having bad dreams about leaving CR/going home and it makes me feel soooo guilty. I mean I DEFINITELY miss my friends and family a whole lot, and I do occasionally crave things from home, but I have not had that whole homesickness stage that I think I'm supposed to have.......I know how bad it was when I came home from SIX weeks in Ecuador, much less SIXTEEN weeks here - I thought about Ecuador and the people I met and the things I had done literally every day for at least a few months, and the nagging feeling that I needed to do something like that again never went away. I am literally panicking and looking online everywhere I can to see how I can get paid to do something like this abroad for a little while this summer, but no luck...yet haha. I have gotten used to this lifestyle and culture here that is so different from ours at home. It may be small things, like feeling like you're always outside because there is no AC here or having to rely on your legs or public transportation to go everywhere or constantly trying to think and process in another language and currency - those changes are the things that will bug me the most at home. The whole concept of walls and closed spaces has become foreign to me, and I don't think I'm going to readjust to those things well anymore AT ALL. Having a cell phone again will be a whole new thing all over again too, and a car has become such a luxury. People take their time here, they stop and smell the roses I feel like, and they really enjoy what the land around them has to offer. I'm afraid I will get frustrated with many, many of the ideologies that I was once so used to, and I'm even more afraid and positive that very few people will understand my frustrations.
The school here will also be hard to get over. No hallways, open classroom doors, outdoor classroom space, recess, being able to talk in line, the availability of resources, and the smart, young, adventurous group of teachers that work here will all be things that I strongly miss when I start teaching in the states. Thankfully, this school and my teacher ended up being a wonderful match for me, and there are so many little things that go on in this school that make such a big difference for the teachers AND the kids! I feel like I have such a freedom here to teach the kids in a variety of ways and expose them to so many interesting things that "may not fit into the curriculum" in the states. For example, for all you non-teachers out there, in the states, so many teachers "don't have time" to teacher social studies or science. AT ALL. All because of standardized testing. They only teach math and language because those are the only things being tested. CDS teaches kids to actually be independent thinkers, and lessons are incredibly integrated, that I feel like there's no way that students could miss out on a subject. I have a wonderful variety of students in my class that speak a multitude of languages and think in so many different ways, and it is simply enriching to be in an environment like that. I'm not saying this school is perfect by any means, but it is definitely a good fit for me, and I feel like I am almost getting spoiled teaching here! I can't believe that I have already taught for 4 weeks straight all by myself!!! I teach this coming week, the last week before our spring break (Semana Santa) but there really aren't any normal days, so I won't be really teaching too much and I don't like it one bit. Monday is Literacy Day, so we will be attending skits and going on a scavenger hunt for the principal that day, Tuesday and Wednesday are half days because we have parent conferences, Thursday is "Camp Day" that the kids "saved up for" with their good behavior so we will be doing fun stuff and arts and crafts, and Friday is Field Day. I have to start giving up certain subjects after the break so that my teacher can transition back into teaching full time and I'm already dreading giving it all back. I am itching to have my own class like this NOW, right NOW, but I know that my expectations for a classroom like this are somewhat unrealistic in the states, at least until they cut back on some of the testing and give teachers a little more freedom. I am too afraid that I would be so disappointed with my job in the states if I got one right now, so I'm sticking to grad school. We'll see though, maybe CDS (or a school like it in Tampa!) will find me again in 2 years. Raincheck anyone?!?
Another thing that makes me panic is the fact that I have 6 weekends left to see the rest of the country and I am not quite close enough to crossing off all the places on my list for me to be comfortable with that! Thankfully though, I have enlisted Jessica, the school nurse, to help me with my list as I help her with hers. We went to Puerto Viejo last weekend, and although it rained a lot, we all had a great weekend. Stephanie and us two Jessicas left early Saturday morning, St. Patrick's Day, and it rained the whole 4 hour bus ride there. Nonetheless, I wore my green shirt and shamrock beads that my mom sent me, and at least it stopped raining once we got there. We found a great hostel once we got there, and we happened to get the last 3 bunks at Pagalu Hostel for $11 each and MAN was it worth it. Hot water so hot that we all almost burned ourselves, SUPER comfy bunk beds, great location, free coffee, and the staff was really nice. We explored that afternoon and found an awesome little beach that was COVERED in a wide variety of the most beautiful, perfectly shaped seashells of all sizes and colors. We were picking up picturesque spirally seashells by the handfull, and I even found a shark's tooth with the root still attached! There were tons of creatures in the little tide pools that lined the shore, and we had fun exploring each and every little area!
We had daquiris as we enjoyed this sunset from our beachside hammocks, and at dinner that night, I ordered octopus for the third time in the country, but this time it was a little different from the rest..............
Yeah, it was basically whole, but no worries, it tasted good! I just couldn't handle the texture of the part with the suckers on it. And that wasn't our only animals encounter for the weekend.....When we woke up Sunday morning, it was raining pretty hard, but we decided to rent bikes anyway, make ponchos out of trashbags, and bike the 8 miles down the coast (16 miles there and back) through the little towns to Manzanillo, which is literally the end of the road. As we were biking down the road, we noticed a lot of cars stopped ahead of us which seemed unusual, since we hadn't seen many cars passing. And guess why they were stopped?!?!? To watch a SLOTH cross the road!!! HAHAHA what a random thing to run across! SO we watched as the sloth finished crossing the road, and he made it through the barbwired fence on the other side. I didn't realize how long their claws actually are, and this one was also green from all the moss he had growing on him!
We finally met the end of the road in Manzanillo, a little tiny beach town almost all the way to the Panamanian border. The road ended, crossed a little river, and turned into a rainforest path along the beach. We decided to ride back, but not before I bought the most amazing pair of pants ever. Anyway, we were all glad we decided to bike in the rain, it turned out to be totally worth it!!!
Next, Jessica and I want to cross off Dominical, a tiny surfer town, from our list, as well as a few other places. Also to help me with my list will be my mom, who is coming for Semana Santa. We are going to have lots of awesome and exciting adventures to say the least. We will be taking a tiny puddle jumper plane all over the country, stopping in La Fortuna/Monteverde first to go rainforest ziplining on one of the fastest ziplines in the country. We will also be hiking on an active volcano, Arenal, where we hope to see actual lava flow. After Areanl and the Monteverde cloudforest, we will fly to Tamarindo, one of the biggest and most popular towns on the Pacific. There we will enjoy Playa Conchal, which is a beach whose sand is made entirely of crushed up shells. We will spend a few days relaxing here before we pitstop in San Jose on our way to Montezuma, which is located on the southern point of the Nicoya Peninsula. We get to stay in a treehouse-like cabin in the coastal rainforests, and it sounds like we will get spoiled with breakfast up in our canopy room!!! So cool. After a few more days of exploring and beach going, we will return to Escazu to rest before Mom flies out on Saturday. Whew we are going to have a fun filled, action packed week and I AM EXCITED. 5 more days until I pick her up and 7 more until we leave on our adventure! YAY.
Well I think that is enough for now, no adventures this weekend so that we can rest up for Semana Santa! More to come later, and check out all my pictures on Facebook!
PURA VIDA,
Jessica
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