I met a teacher, a few youth from the church, and some families while I was there. One of those families included a mother of nine (one in the oven). They are fantastically energetic despite their responsibility to care for those younger than them and I enjoy the family's company immensely. This is the house where I will be staying if/when it rains so much that I won't be able to make it out of the neighborhood due to landslides and floods that wash out the dirt roads and derail the buses.
I think this community will take the longest to integrate because they seem much more disconnected and scattered about than the other communities. On top of the fact that I will be giving these classes in the church and not in the school where there is an expectation of attendance and a consequence of grades. These classes are optional and free, meaning I better be really good if I'm going to draw a crowd. We decided that I will be giving these classes on Sundays from 10am - 12pm (give or take an hour of course) for youth in the area; those in school and those already graduated but just interested. I have no idea how many will show up tomorrow but I did manage to get one young woman's number who I promised a call if I didn't see her at the church.
After I spent the morning/afternoon in San Martin, I left at 1:30pm and arrived in El Jardin on Sunday night at 6:30pm. On Monday I went to see the principal at the El Jardin school and talk to him about helping out. He rode in on his motorcycle, and by in, I mean, literally drove his bike through the school gate and straight on into the door of his classroom. When he emerged, he shook my hand and introduced himself. I told him who I was and why I was here. As I began to ask if he would have any use for me he said "Great! Our English teacher is only here Wednesday through Friday. You can fill her spot Mondays and Tuesdays teaching six classes from 7am to 4:30pm!" I hesitated a little at the quickness of the job offer and unquestioning trust with which he allotted me. I explained that I could only come Mondays as I will be working in San Julian on Tuesdays. He laughed a little and said "Perfect!" I tried to ask him a few questions about schedules, what grades I would be teaching, when classes started, what the students had already gone over, etc. He told me that the schedule "changes all the time" and that I'll be "teaching most of the kids." So with that he shook my hand again, said thanks, and walked away just like that. Get position at school: check. Information about position: next to nothing. It is with that I have spent the latter part of the week preparing for.
The next day I went to San Julian and met up with the English teacher, Edgar. He is fantastic. He speaks in terms of hours and class schedules and specific days. He also is a good teacher, energetic with the students and introducing new concepts with activities. I asked him when he would like me to help and he told me as much as I am able. We decided I would help him with his first class, which are the sophomores, then his second class, the freshman. The second class is really big so we'll be splitting it up to do activities for more individual attention. He then moved his senior class from Fridays to Tuesday afternoons so I could help them with their national exam.
I asked Edgar if I could observe his first two classes that day just to see what it was like and he agreed. The first class was lively and funny. They all have big personalities and made it enjoyable to watch. The second class is much larger and freshman, no less. There are about 25-30 students in this class. Today they were assigned to pick one of the two English songs they had learned and sing it for the teacher as a class grade in pairs. All the students were ordered to stand outside as they would be called in for their performance pair by pair. It felt like a spin off of American Idol where instead of all the contestants being flamboyantly confident and ready for stardom, they were intensely shy and at times straight up unwilling to perform. Students peered in through the windows and sat quietly outside of the door to hear their classmates stumble and waver through the songs.
You might be surprised at the singling out of students or the forced participation in activities of an extroverted nature, but do not be, for this is not a characteristic of cultural grooming unique to Costa Rica, instead every Latin American country I have visited. In Chile, teachers call students' grades out in front of the entire class as students "booooo" and applaud grades below and above average. In my experience, Latin American educators, parents, and authority figures of all walks of life enjoy watching children squirm and writhe under the spotlight of unwanted attention. It seems that the ability to defeat timidity is a virtue valued in this society.
The students, older than children at the elementary school and thus well-versed in these public advertised obstacles, did well and sung their songs about numbers and days of the week as best they could. After each performance, Edgar and I would discuss each student and assign them a grade. To say it wasn't fun would be a lie.
I enjoy so much my time in these rural areas with these children because they are always so genuinely interested in who I am, where I come from, and what I, as a person, can offer to their lives; what I can add to their own story. I think that's a blessing of rural life. Now, I'm not trying to get all cliche and talk about how living without TVs and cell phones and iPods and video games would be a better life, but I am going to say that without those things so readily available, you are forced to consider those around you entertainment in themselves. Leisure is sharing someone's company and pleasure is taken in conversation. In turn, communing with those around you is as much as a necessity as it is a joy. It is a source of recreation and a worthy pastime. I think it is this reason, this cultural difference, that encourages the students to welcome me and show such wholehearted and enthusiastic interest in my presence - because I can be a part of their story, their lives. They make me feel like the more I offer up of myself, the more effort I put into the relationships around me, the more valuable I am to who they are. They allow all those who pass through their lives the opportunity to make an impact in it. In turn, it seems that their hearts are always open to be changed by those they meet. More simply put, they are more aware of the fact that other people exist. How I wish I gave all those around me even the smallest chance to do the same in me.
Anyway, I left on Tuesday with a final schedule (for now) of the next two months or so:
Sunday - travel to San Martin, class for youth from 10am - 12pm, leave San Martin at 1:30pm, arrive in El Jardin at 6:30pm, stay at Hazel's house that night
Monday - teach 6 classes at El Jardin school from 7am - 4:30pm; bike to San Julian and stay at church in that town
Tuesday - teach classes at San Julian school from 7am - 2:00pm; bike to El Jardin and stay at church in that town; stay in San Jose
Wednesday - travel back to San Jose at 5am; arrive at 11am; work in office during afternoon; stay in San Jose
Thursday - individual tutoring sessions at ILCO offices with Xinia, Rodolfo, and Bishop Melvin; stay in San Jose
Friday - work in office preparing lessons for upcoming week; stay in San Jose
Saturday - day off; stay in San Jose
Now, how long this schedule will last is something all together different as I will be working in these communities, reporting progress and participation, etc. If a community does not want the classes or isn't present enough to take advantage of them or if I feel that there are communities who could use classes more than the one I'm in, the schedule will change. I'm beginning to realize that part of my job is not only to teach English but to shape the entire program by giving feedback and being the guinea pig so that the next volunteer will have a program much better widdled down than the one now. They will know who to talk to, what to expect, what areas need work in the communities, what works well, what doesn't, and what areas need what from them. I'm here to establish needs and goals of communities as much as I'm here to provide a means for meeting those needs.
This is quite a responsibility that takes more self-initiative, face-to-face contact, logistical planning, and notebook paper than I ever thought necessary; however, I'm two weeks in and haven't lost my head yet. (Prayers welcome.) Tomorrow starts the beginning of my first official week of classes (even though I started tutoring sessions last week).
Onto last night, with pictures. Friday night Christina and Brenda, two young women who work at the ILCO offices, in the youth and children's branches respectively, invited me to a see a play with the rest of the university students from the church and the pastor, Erik, from La Carpio. Brenda came to visit the states last year and stayed at my house so it was nice to have her familiar face welcome me. We went to a play in downtown San Jose in a small theater. It was obvious that the play was very local and low budget as it was being put on in the one roomed art museum of the building. There were only about 20 people in the audience, but they set it up well. The second picture below of the yellow building shows the entrance to the small room where the play was held.
This is my friend Claudia who also went to the play. She is the receptionist at ILCO and provides me with all the information I never knew I needed.
Entrance to theater. The person in the bottom right corner is Erik, the pastor from La Carpio.
This is Brenda posing with one of the featured pieces of art in the museum where the play was.
The play was the outbreak of stories in recent years about church officials taking advantage of children in regards to sexual harassment and abuse. A serious topic to say the least. The play had four actors who played different characters ranging from the children themselves, to the Fathers in Catholic churches, to the investigators who tried to uncover the story. The play was very abstract in that in was more of a montage of scenes including testimonies from children to dance scenes of robotic motions. The children's testimonies were the hardest to hear. The actors did a fantastic job in the sense that while they were speaking about what had happened to them they remained a sense of innocence during the monologue, never suspecting the Father of fowl play and blinded by naivity. That was probably the saddest part - that most children during the interviews, as depicted by the actors, remembered fondly the games the Father played with them like hide-and-go-seek or how the Father told them how much he loved them. They would get confused when they spoke of the sexual abuse, not understanding what was happening to them, and getting upset about how it felt, but never suspecting the Father of foul play. Simply confused, never doubting the Father's love for them or his good intentions. It was heartbreaking. Other scenes had interviews with mothers of these children who were in denial of the situation. I enjoyed the play though struggled to understand some of the more abstract scenes of dancing and song. Overall, I thought the play effect in its ability to twist your stomach into knots at the thought of such horrific abuse towards the defenseless.
After the play, Brenda, Christina and I went out dancing in downtown San Jose. Below are some pictures of us waiting around in a park for two former German volunteers who were going to go out with us.
Christina is on the left, Brenda is on the right. Brenda is from Nicaragua.
This is a picture of the National Theater where plays, poetry readings, operas, and other performances happen during the year.
When we finally met up with the Germans, we went to a bar and played pool. Thomas is one of the German volunteers taking a shot. Christina and Brenda are trying to "help" him by giving him really good "advice" so he doesn't miss the shot.
This is Brenda and the other former volunteer, Johann. Brenda likes to dance. I don't think she stopped moving the entire time we were in the bar.
Below is a 360 view of San Jose as I walk to the offices from my home in San Sebastian. It's about a 30 minute walk, but as I told you, no matter where you look, there is always a lush mountain top painted with white smoke and mist from yesterday's rain and preparing for this afternoon's.
I am off tomorrow morning back to San Martin for my first class, if anyone shows up that is. Then to El Jardin on Monday and San Julian on Tuesday. Wish me luck on Monday as I willingly throw myself into a pit of hundreds of indefatigable and spry elementary students.
I'll tell the howler monkeys you all said hello and to keep it down.
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