And There They Will Stay

Well, the second round of classes went smoother than the first, so thank you for the prayers.  In San Martin, I split the class up into two groups:  children and young adults.  The children's group is from 10-11am and the young adults group is from 11am-12pm.  Abel was not able to come with me this time because he was sick.  He was concerned about me finding my way and working the bus system by myself; however, after navigating the gravel roads of the Dominican Republic and backpacking from the south of Patagonia in Chile, bus systems don't really hold a candle to more important fears for me like snakes and drowning.  So, I headed off on Sunday morning to San Martin by myself.

I stopped by Isabela's house first to say hey to the family, the kids, and gather the children that make up more than 60% of the population of my classes.  Lio, Maykel, and Daysha came with me to the church.  We waited until 10am and then began classes.  I bought small notebooks for the children to write in over the weekend so I passed them out to those three.  The other two kids, Andersen and Anthony, didn't show up this time so it was just a 4 year old, 6 year old, and 12 year old.  We went over vocabulary dealing with nature, collected items outside like rocks, played games, took walks, named objects as we went, etc.  The kids were great.  They participated, enjoyed themselves, etc., but the age gap is so wide and the number of kids so low that doing activities is close to impossible.  Lio was constantly writing words in both his and Daysha's notebook because she can't write yet while Maykel was always tapping Lio's shoulder to make sure he did it right.  Abel told me that this time is hard for children because many of them attend another church at that time so he didn't think the numbers would increase as time went on.  Because of this, I think we are going to cut the children program and focus solely on the young adults.

Some pictures:

Maykel helping me tape up paper to write on for the class.  This is inside the one-room church they have.

Daysha is quite the photographer.  I was snapping my fingers and dancing around the church and then I stopped.  She told me to do it again so she could take a picture.

This is the front of the church where we hold the classes and where services are supposed to be held.

Inside the church/classroom.  Daysha and Maykel are playing.  The star table is where the students sit.

This is the group of teenagers who came for the English lesson.  Karen is the girl on the left with the teal tank top.  She is the most consistent student, already graduated from high school, and really just wants to improve her English.  Isabel is the one hugging her friend.  She is Isabela's daughter.

The young adult class went significantly better without 6 children running around.  This time, the girls left their boyfriends at home and I had two new students show up.  The girl behind Karen is Estefania.  She is the daughter of the woman who lives on the church property now but will soon be moving out by request of ILCO staff.  I alluded earlier to the fact that there had been some problems there.  When I told Abel that Estefania came, he was surprised because typically she doesn't participate because of what's going on between the family and the church.  What he doesn't know is I spent about 15 minutes convincing her to come - told her I had a notebook for her to write all the material in - every trick I had in my bag.  The other girl, Kaylin, sat outside the window of the church for about 20 minutes listening to the lesson and it was only on the 11th time that I asked her if she'd like to join that she actually came in.  Both the good and bad of this class was the I underestimated how much the girls know about English.  Most of them are juniors and they know a lot more than I thought.  This is good because I can focus a lot more on conversation, because I think this is what most of them are interested in, for next time.  Overall, both of the classes went well and I'm looking forward to challenging the girls a lot more next class.

After the class I went back to Isabela's house, like usual, to hang out with the family until the bus came at 1:30pm.  A neighbor gave Maykel 200 colones (like 50 cents) for buying groceries so he had bolted off to the store to buy two balloons with his hard earned cash.  You cannot imagine the lifespan and multi-use of a balloon when you don't blow it up or tie it off.  Maykel and Daysha spent a solid hour blowing the balloons up, watching them deflate as they flew across the living room, squeezing the material tight to hear the balloon squeal, watching the balloons bounce off each others heads as they beat each other like a teenage girl pillow fight.  While all this was going on, the rest of the family was watching the national championship soccer game that was on.  In a house of 11, they rest of the family members seemed programmed to tune out all other distractions and almost seemed capable of looking through Maykel and Daysha as they ran laps in the living room.  It was incredible.  I, on the other hand, was constantly shooting my eyes in different directions following flashes of purple and white balloons and then shifting my attention back when the family would oooooh and ahhhhhh with disappointment and celebration at the game.  I don't know if I could pull it off myself, but I sure do love big families.  It's like living in the story about "the old woman who lived in a shoe and had so many children she didn't know what to do."  Except Isabela knows exactly what to do and she does it beautifully and with love and respect and discipline and a baby in her stomach.  She is amazing.   Period.

Maykel drinking some mandarine juice.

Lio is on the right.  He's the one who came to class and helped Daysha out.  I can't remember the brother's name on the left.

Maykel and his purple balloon.

Daysha and the white balloon Maykel gave her.  After she slobbered all over it, dragged it across the floor, then wiped it off on her shirt, she asked me to blow it up for her.  I declined for health reasons only.

Working hard.

I have gotten very close to this family.  They make me feel at home and make me feel like I have one here.  And, just as families do, they love to make fun of me.  One of their favorite games is to get me as close to every animal they can find - chickens, parrots, cats, roosters, dragonflies, etc. and see if I'm scared of it.  Their favorite reaction is that of utter terror, that of which I never fail to deliver when Lio comes in with a chicken tucked in his shirt, pulls it out and shoves it in my face.  One afternoon we watched Animal Planet and as each creature came across the screen they asked me each time if I was afraid of that animal.  To most I replied yes because they were sharks and snakes and other horrible animals.  They laughed every time.

A dragonfly they spent 20 minutes trying to catch just to put in my face.  It was actually kind of cool... til they let it go.

Byron, another son, with the chicken he hid inside his shirt for me.  Who knew chickens laid straight on their backs.  Oh farm animals.

I got Isabela's number, the mom, just to keep in touch with her throughout the week and also after my time is up in this community.  Her baby is due in November and I have every intention of making a trip back up here to see the new baby and the family.  They have nuzzled their way into my heart and there they will stay.

Around 6:30pm I was still on the bus into El Jardin.  It gets dark in Costa Rica at 6pm so I spend the last thirty minutes on the bus in the dark.  I hate this part because it means I have to ride with my face pressed against the glass looking out for Hazel's home.  There are some street lamps along the road and the family usually has the door open and the light on when I arrive, but if I don't pull the string and tell the bus driver to stop, he'll pass the house and I'll be stuck in the middle of San Julian with no place to stay.  This is enough to scare me into riding the rest of the trip squinting through the lit-up reflections on the windows counting landmarks and memorizing their sequential patterns.

That night there was a storm brewing.  No rain to speak of so far, but lightning bolts splitting the night sky into puzzle pieces and thunder rumbling soon after.  The sun had sunk about 20 minutes ago and usually by this time we would approaching the small strip of gravel road known as El Jardin usually lit up with lights from the school and open doors and windows of the houses along the street; however, it was still as black as night.  I started getting worried.  I thought I'd missed Hazel's house and was in the middle of the banana plantations up the road.  I could barely make out the outline of the houses in the dark.  I finally saw a group of people standing on the road with a faint light reflecting off their faces and recognized Marilin, Hazel's younger sister.  I jumped up, pulled the string, and ran to the front of the bus.  I thanked him and hopped off.  When he left, the light left with him.  I couldn't see anything.  The group of people began passing me, some saying "Hello teacher" and "Hi teacher."  Marilin finally found me and brought me back to the house.  Apparently, the power had gone out in the entire town.  There was not a light outside of flashlights, cell phone, and candles for miles.  We stayed up that night talking in the candlelight.

Here are some pictures of Hazel's house (in the daylight):

This is the view out of the front window at Hazel's.

Right across the street from their house.

The walkway leading up to their porch.

Their whole house.  I sleep in the room on the right - the pink part.

School at El Jardin went well on Monday.  I spoke with the English teacher from the school, the one who comes Wednesday - Friday, on the phone before I left and she said that they have an exam on foods that week.  She said it would be helpful to review with them before their exam.  So, I came armed with review activities and games.  I asked the teacher if it would be okay to be in contact with her on a weekly basis to see how I could help and what material she would be going over that week.  I'm really excited about having her input and having a bit more of a direction in how to teach the children.

Some of my classes are small and some have over 30 students in them.  One of the biggest struggles I am dealing with is classroom management.  It seems in my larger classes that unless every student has something to do, it slowly evolves into complete chaos.  Even if I divide the students into teams and do an activity, they struggle to pay attention unless they are the person doing the action.  This makes lesson planning a bit more difficult as finding activities to keep 32 children occupied all the time with no downtime in between is rather challenging.  It is my goal for this coming week though.

Here are some pictures of El Jardin where I work:

This is the school.  It's pink.  Poor boys.  There are about 5 classrooms, a lunchroom, and the field out front.  In the back is an entire field of banana trees and other plants, fruits, and vegetables Nehemias is helping to cultivate during his agriculture classes.

These are the children gathered outside to do the "civic activity."  September 15th is Costa Rica's Independence Day so each day this week and next they do a civic activity where they sing the national anthem and learn about the country.

Singing the national anthem and other patriotic songs.

This is Kevin and another boy from class.  They are two of my smartest students and very motivated.  I told Kevin, the boy on the right, that my dad's name is Kevin.  He told me this was awesome because now I would never forget his name.  And I haven't.  He is a fantastic student.  He works quickly and with fervor.  He is one of those students that is so excited by all he learns he can barely sit in his seat for more than 5 minutes.  He gets in trouble for talking too much and getting up all the time, which I know one day he'll need to learn to control, but I find it very hard to fault him for his enthusiasm, as it is lacking with so many other students.  After I give them an assignment he is always on the first to jump up out of his seat like it's on fire and show me his work.  He begs for approval with his eyes and is always disappointed when we have to wait on others to finish.  Whenever I pass his house, he always calls out "Hello teacher!"  With most students, this is where the conversation stops because I'll usually say Hello back then ask "How are you?"  Students usually laugh with embarrassment or say "Huh?" but Kevin, only in the 4th grade, says "I'm fine, how are you?" His face is always filled with the anticipation and wonderment of Christmas morning as if every opportunity to learn is a gift.  I hope he never loses it.

There are a lot of cultural differences that are hard to get used to in El Jardin.  I think because the school is so small and in a rural location, that many of the formalities and rules for classroom management are overlooked. Students and teachers have a closer relationship and this causes the kids to take liberties I never would have in school and for the teachers to allow it.  For example, students typically get up and tell you where they are going instead of asking.  Raising your hand to get called on is not something I have seen much of.  Students are more prone to raise their hand while they're calling your name or walking towards you with their notebook in hand.  I've also noticed that it takes students FOR-EV-ER to take notes down off the board.  They always doddle and chat and scribble a few things down then talk to their neighbor a bit.  When the teacher asks if students are ready to move on, the students all call out "Noooooooooooo" and the teacher gives them longer.  Wasting time is something most American teachers do not take kindly to and they have no problem moving along if you cannot keep up.  "See me after class and get the notes" or "Ask a neighbor for help while the rest of us continue" is a response you'll usually get.  Here, teachers allow for as much time requested.  The pace of the class is set by the students.    This is evident by how quickly the seniors I teach move from activity to activity due to their motivation at the hands of their impending national exam in November versus the snail-paced 6th graders in El Jardin.  It seems that taking advantage of the education offered to you is much more of a choice here rather than a requirement as it is in the U.S.  Quite a culture shock for me and issues I am constantly confronted with during the school day.  I'm trying to wade in the middle between high expectations and cultural understanding.

Edgar, the English teacher I assist in San Julian, is completely swamped.  It is his first year teaching at this school, he has four classes he's in charge of, and one of those classes, the seniors, has to prepare for national exams.  Because of this, we decided that it'd be better for me to work strictly with the seniors and give him the other periods to organize for.  My lesson with the seniors went awesome.  There are 11 of them, a pretty good mix of guys and girls.  They all try hard, are attentive, participate, read when called on, and have a genuine interest in passing their exam.  Nehemias told me before working in this community that graduating from high school is a very hard thing to do for many students because most boys drop out to work in the banana, pineapple, or yuca plantations to support their family at an early age and most girls get pregnant and begin their own family without graduating or dropout to work to.  This is a very common thing to do and is not looked down on at all.  It is more the norm and graduating high school is accomplishing an extraordinary task.

On my walk to school Tuesday morning with Hazel, she told me that she is under a lot of pressure with these exams because if she passes and graduates this year she will be the first of her parents and all her sisters and brothers to graduate high school.  She talked about how her mother tells her how proud she is of her and how her brothers call her on the phone just to encourage her.  She is up to the challenge but petrified at the chance of failure.  She knows how much this means to her family, herself, and her future.  I think this is how a lot of these students feel and it makes their drive and ambition heavenly to work with.  I enjoy my time with them so much.

In this class I have been going over reading comprehension strategies as that will be the majority of the English part of the exam.  They have to read about different aspects of Costa Rican culture, sports, etc. and answer questions about the text.  This Tuesday we worked on sports and next Tuesday we'll work on art of Costa Rica.  I always try to relieve some pressure by telling the students that they know much more than they think. Last Tuesday I wrote all the key words in the practice questions and related words about sports that I could think of.  I had a list of about 50 words and the students knew most of them.  At the end of class, I told them to look at all the words on the board and recognize that they knew the meaning of every single on of them.  They are prepared and ready for this exam.  More beneficial to them than 10 extra words would be going into that exam with confidence.  I hope to provide that for them by November... along with some more vocabulary and verb conjugations.

This is a picture of the 7th grade class in San Julian doing the "civic activity" for the day.  The school has 5 classrooms as well; however, the lunchroom is about a 10 minute walk down the road.  They use the community center for their cafeteria as they do not have their own. This is where the town usually holds dances and parties on special occasions.

I ate lunch at the school on Tuesday.  You wouldn't guess what we had - rice, beans, and cabbage.  I know, right?!  Haha.  The most interesting part of that meal was the end, where Hazel and I followed the line of students back into the kitchen with our dirty plates.  All the students are responsible for washing their own plates, silverware, and cups, then setting them up to dry.  As I watched the students, especially the younger boys, halfheartedly scrub their plates and simply run their cups under the water tap, I couldn't help but looked down at my own glass and wonder who had "cleaned" mine before me.  It's a wonder the students trust each other enough to do a good job.

Hazel and I had walked to school that day even though Nehemias offered to lend me his bike after Hazel's broke.  I tried Nehemias' out, but given the 2 foot height difference and the catastrophe with the bus seats, it became clear that his bike was just to small for me.  It forced me to hunch myself over like I had severe case of multiple sclerosis and caused my knees to repeatedly uppercut the handlebars until I thought my kneecaps would fall off.  After two minutes on the bike I knew we had to walk.

So, on our way back, in the blazing sun, Hazel and I began our journey.  Feeling lucky to have caught a ride with the semi-truck driver the week before, I was surprised to find myself riding a tractor back to town this time.  Apparently, the tractor driver, Yovanni, used to live in the house on the church's land in El Jardin and Hazel knew him.  He was returning home after working in the pineapple plantation up the road and offered us a ride.  So here I was, all over again, gaining new ground through the pineapple fields of San Julian and El Jardin with yet another new mode of transportation: a tractor.  It was fantastic.

That night I went to a Catholic church service with Hazel at 5pm.  She used to be Catholic and still enjoys the services even though she is now a Lutheran and spends her Sundays at the Lutheran church in El Jardin.  She told me it'd be better not to take communion at the Catholic church service.  I think she felt like she needed to make her alliance clear though I'm not sure why.  I saw many of my students at the church service and three of the boys, of course giggling, made their way to the front to sit next to me.  It was nice and I enjoyed their company even though they laughed for half of it.

During the prayer we prayed for those that were less fortunate than us.  We prayed for the poor and those that suffer.  Those without food and those without joy.  As we prayed I began to realize that it is these conditions, the living conditions of El Jardin and San Julian, that I pray for when I am in my church.  And yet, here I was, with the people of my prayers, praying for those who had even less.  The church mentioned children living in a country of war and parents watching disease take the lives of their own, yet I was standing with people who do not have running water, who wake up at 3am to catch the tractor to work for 10 hours straight with no benefits or a decent salary, who drop out of school at the age of 9 to help provide for their family, who do not have the funds to establish themselves or their children as legal citizens of Costa Rica, who cannot afford to repair holes in their walls or buy an extra plastic chair after one has broken.  I was standing with these people praying for those less fortunate.  It is always these moments in which I realize how much I really have, how little I truly need, and how every day is a day to redefine and exchange my dreams, my wishes, and my goals for those of a higher value than money.