As human beings we sometimes can be so unaware of time that we forget on of its most basic principles: it passes as quickly as it comes. I know that I have been surprised once again by the coming and going of the ever-present moment, as I come to the end of my Costa Rica experience. I leave on Tuesday, April 27th, for Miami, FL, and the finale of this semester of dreams. Before I go, however, I wanted to make a few comments about my last few weeks here in Grecia.
The last three weeks have been divided between two days of Spanish classes and three days of an internship at el Centro Educativo Divino Niño (a private Christian school here in town). The classes have been wonderful because they have basically consisted of showing up and conversing, putting together dramas, and generally having fun, all in Spanish. Plus, they are feeding us food out the wazoo, with breakfast, morning snack, lunch, cafecito (coffee hour), and sometimes dinner. Costa Ricans sure know how to eat! However, the overall point of our time here is "Relationship over Task", so I've spent a lot more time just visiting with people and talking than I have actually working. It is very different than our task-oriented U.S. culture, but it has been really relaxing. At the school I have basically been following around the two English teachers and helping them teach Spanish to kids from ages 2-12. It has been such a blast! I have learned so much Spanish and had to practice my Spanish all the time, explaining homework to kids or trying to converse with them (the former being easier than the latter). The two teachers are wonderful, and will remain my friends even though I will no longer be at the school. Overall, I was just impressed with the whole situation. I was able to be helpful to some people here and at the same time be helped substantially by the experience. I was also surprised to find that Costa Rican kids really are no different than U.S. ones, with the exception that everything is in Spanish.
On this, our last Saturday, one of our teachers/friend/guide/keeper took us to Volcán Poás, one of the volcanos close to Grecia with one of the largest craters of any volcano in the world. It was a beatiful day spent with friends, and the volcano was not clouded over (which means a lot here as the mountain regions tend to be covered in clouds a large portion of the year). We also went to this fish farm where we got to fish for our own lunch. I didn't actually eat what I caught, but I had a GREAT time fishing for it. It was a great last hurrah for our time here. I had to laugh though, because it was almost as if we were all relatively unimpressed with the volcano...I think it's more that we've had so many "wow" experiences this semester that a ashy old volcano is no big deal...lol. I had a great time though, and I just had to revive my sense of wonder at it all.
I have a paper to write at the moment, but I wanted to update before I forgot to. I hope everyone has enjoyed my posts, and that they have kept you connected to my life in some small way. I have enjoyed writing them and knowing that you all are reading. As I wrote this blog, I wanted to begin and end with a quote. Both resound with where I am right now.
Every parting is a form of death, as every reunion is a type of heaven. ~Tryon Edwards
Much love, and can't wait to see everyone in person!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Grecia: The Posterchild for Costa Rica
Welcome readers to what is sure to be one of my final updates for the semester...It's been great, and I'm sure I'll find reason to update one final time, but the sad/exciting/hard/long-awaited/bittersweet truth is that my semester here in Latin America is coming to an end. But it hasn't ended yet!
I wanted to continue my blog with an update on my current situation, which is the quaint and homely town of Grecia in the Alajuela Province of Costa Rica. It is a town of 100,000 located about 45 minutes (in car) from the bustling capital of San José. However, it's radius to the capital does NOT mean that it is anything like the big city. In fact, I don't know how it could be more opposite. Where San José is noisy, filled with cars, and generally fast-paced lifestyles, Grecia reflects a more Tico atmosphere with a friendly everybody-knows-everybody mentality, complete with it's scenic setting in the Central Valley (you can actually see the mountains most days because of the general lack of smog) and the gorgeous cathedral and central park. Needless to say, I'm seeing a whole different side to the country here, and I LIKE IT!!!
What's better about Grecia is that we really get to be a part of a community here. All of our host families are a part of the Centro Cristiano de Grecia, one of the churches here in town. In addition to our families attending church together, we take language classes at the church every Monday and Tuesday, and I've had the opportunity to actually meet and talk to some Ticos in a normal setting. It is a very different experience, as I have found that Latin American churches can come as a shock to us high-strung white folk, but it has been a blessing so far to be able to learn some new ways to worship. What I admire the most about the Ticos and Nicos I've seen worshipping is that there is this marvelous focus on the fact that worship isn't about you and your experience; it's about glorifying and worshipping El Señor. (imagine that?!?!? lol) Being a good Nazarene, I may never get used to the wired, loud, and generally crazy services, but I love that I'm getting to be apart of them.
The other thing all us LASPers (our affectionate name for program members) get to do whilst we are here is work at an internship three our of five days of the week. I have the priviledge and opportunity to work with the English teachers at a little private school close to my host home. It's really been fun so far, walking 4 year-olds through their numbers and singing "The Ants Go Marching", as well as helping 4th graders say "I'd like a chicken sandwich and some diet soda". I'm honestly just glad to have something to do that I can interact with people and actually be helping them.
After writing all of this, I realized I forgot to tell y'all about my family! I have a host dad named Rubén, mom named Ligia, and two host brothers named José and Leo. It's a very different family, but I love them already. My parents are much older, and my brothers are 28 and 31 respectively. It was a little weird at first, but I'm enjoying the fruits of having a grown-up family, which translates into: WE GET TO DO THINGS!!! The first day they took me to a soccer game (if ever in Latin America, you must go to one. It's a part of the experience). I learned a lot of words and word combinations that day, most of which are not good...lol. But it was a great day, as they also took me to a concert in San José and dinner. The next weekend we spend trying to go to Volcán Poas, but it was too cloudy so we just drove to another town to go to the mall. I couldn't believe it! I feel so spoiled...and probably rightfully so. Needless to say it's been a great time. On a side note, I so want to be in Costa Rica for every Holy Week from now on, mainly because they get the whole week off! We spent the whole time just chillin', watching movies and hanging out together. It was AWESOME! Plus the fact that it's such a bigger deal here, at least for the Catholics. There's some hard feeling between the Protestant and Catholic churches here, so the Protestants don't do anything that could be conceived as remotely Catholic. This means I missed out on my Maunday Thursday and Good Friday services, but it didn't squash my week. I will look forward to them next year though.
Well, I think that's about all for now. I'm loving my time here, and I can't wait to get back to tell some of these stories face to face! Thinking happy thoughts for you all and only 20 days until I'm back in the States!
Goodnight all...
I wanted to continue my blog with an update on my current situation, which is the quaint and homely town of Grecia in the Alajuela Province of Costa Rica. It is a town of 100,000 located about 45 minutes (in car) from the bustling capital of San José. However, it's radius to the capital does NOT mean that it is anything like the big city. In fact, I don't know how it could be more opposite. Where San José is noisy, filled with cars, and generally fast-paced lifestyles, Grecia reflects a more Tico atmosphere with a friendly everybody-knows-everybody mentality, complete with it's scenic setting in the Central Valley (you can actually see the mountains most days because of the general lack of smog) and the gorgeous cathedral and central park. Needless to say, I'm seeing a whole different side to the country here, and I LIKE IT!!!
What's better about Grecia is that we really get to be a part of a community here. All of our host families are a part of the Centro Cristiano de Grecia, one of the churches here in town. In addition to our families attending church together, we take language classes at the church every Monday and Tuesday, and I've had the opportunity to actually meet and talk to some Ticos in a normal setting. It is a very different experience, as I have found that Latin American churches can come as a shock to us high-strung white folk, but it has been a blessing so far to be able to learn some new ways to worship. What I admire the most about the Ticos and Nicos I've seen worshipping is that there is this marvelous focus on the fact that worship isn't about you and your experience; it's about glorifying and worshipping El Señor. (imagine that?!?!? lol) Being a good Nazarene, I may never get used to the wired, loud, and generally crazy services, but I love that I'm getting to be apart of them.
The other thing all us LASPers (our affectionate name for program members) get to do whilst we are here is work at an internship three our of five days of the week. I have the priviledge and opportunity to work with the English teachers at a little private school close to my host home. It's really been fun so far, walking 4 year-olds through their numbers and singing "The Ants Go Marching", as well as helping 4th graders say "I'd like a chicken sandwich and some diet soda". I'm honestly just glad to have something to do that I can interact with people and actually be helping them.
After writing all of this, I realized I forgot to tell y'all about my family! I have a host dad named Rubén, mom named Ligia, and two host brothers named José and Leo. It's a very different family, but I love them already. My parents are much older, and my brothers are 28 and 31 respectively. It was a little weird at first, but I'm enjoying the fruits of having a grown-up family, which translates into: WE GET TO DO THINGS!!! The first day they took me to a soccer game (if ever in Latin America, you must go to one. It's a part of the experience). I learned a lot of words and word combinations that day, most of which are not good...lol. But it was a great day, as they also took me to a concert in San José and dinner. The next weekend we spend trying to go to Volcán Poas, but it was too cloudy so we just drove to another town to go to the mall. I couldn't believe it! I feel so spoiled...and probably rightfully so. Needless to say it's been a great time. On a side note, I so want to be in Costa Rica for every Holy Week from now on, mainly because they get the whole week off! We spent the whole time just chillin', watching movies and hanging out together. It was AWESOME! Plus the fact that it's such a bigger deal here, at least for the Catholics. There's some hard feeling between the Protestant and Catholic churches here, so the Protestants don't do anything that could be conceived as remotely Catholic. This means I missed out on my Maunday Thursday and Good Friday services, but it didn't squash my week. I will look forward to them next year though.
Well, I think that's about all for now. I'm loving my time here, and I can't wait to get back to tell some of these stories face to face! Thinking happy thoughts for you all and only 20 days until I'm back in the States!
Goodnight all...
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