Written by the Costa Rica program students
These past two weeks have been a whirlwind of adventure. We all started our homestays and quickly became one with the Tico lifestyle. Some of us more rustic than others, such as Allie who gets up at 6 a.m. most mornings to milk the cows. Then there’s Elana who lives across the dirt road in a pink doll house filled with a family of five women. The two of them have been teaching the Ants Go Marching to the enthusiastic 50 students of their small school. They are also in the process of starting their adult english classes in the evenings this coming week.
The Em-duo, Emily and Emma, live a few towns over, in a quiet place called Bolivia. Emily was glad to have her abuela back from the hospital last Tuesday and has enjoyed spending time with her 11 year old brother and 3 year old sister. Emma is living with the school cook, Nena, who she walks to school with everyday at 6 a.m. to prepare the lunch for the students. The Em-duo have been teaching their students greetings and days of the week. They are preparing to make English board games to use in future weeks.
Then there’s Blair nearby in a town called Mollejones who has enjoyed working in the Kindergarden everyday and spending time with her pregnant mother who is due any day now. She tried teaching the 23 energetic kindergarteners the days of the week but it was difficult as they still don’t even know the days in Spanish.
This weekend was our first reunion all together after two weeks of being apart. Geno, our fearless leader had a busy weekend in San Isidro planned for us. On Saturday morning we all woke up early to take an aerobic Costa Rican dance class. We had a lot of fun and learned that moving your hips like the Costa Ricans isn’t as easy as it looks. That afternoon we spent our time lounging by the pool and soaking up the blazing San Isidro rays. Geno made us a decadent beet, corn, chickpea and hearts of palm salad that was a nice change from our usual rice and beans. After showering and catching up on Internet we headed to the “best pizza place in San Isidro” and filled our bellies with lots of yumminess.
We are all excited and nervous for the next two weeks in our villages. We will give you the next update from our mid program getaway in Uvita! Ciao!!
