Story-Time

When I came back from my visit to the states, at the very last minute I found space for three Dr. Seuss books I have.  I haven't gotten my hands on any fun and easy books in country so I knew these would be perfect. 
I got the elementary teacher I work with to let me try story-time with the students this Tuesday.  I had mentioned it to him before and actually written the title of the first book we would read the week before when we were learning how to describe animals, and the order of adjectives and nouns.  So One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish seemed an obvious choice. 

We first tried it with the second graders which are usually the roudiest. We left ten minutes at the end of class. We sat them in two rows. The ones on the ends tended to get a little distracted because they couldnt see as well but we made sure to ask them questions and they would come back to us. They would repeat each line and in the voices I had made so they really enjoyed themselves. Just before the bell rang we repeated the three pages and they remembered each of the new words they had learned.  

Our little angel first graders surprisingly didnt understand as much as the second graders. They speak a lot more than the second graders so that came as a surprise to me. But we definitely laid a good foundation for future story times.

With the third graders it was time for the teacher to do it on his own and the kids loved it.  He did a great job, but I think he needs to work on his voices, haha.  It might help if he had had a chance to read the book before that day.  

On Wednesday the students had exams.  While the teacher is outside administering the verbal exam to each student individually I stay inside and study with them.  We tried story time again but this time for a much longer time period.  They LOVE looking at the pictures.  I had forgotten how crazy the world of Seuss can get.  It was an amazing opportunity to see them get creative.  Trying to explain what a Gox is however can get complicated. 

Working with this teacher is amazing.  He is always open to my ideas and hands the class right over when I want to do an activity with the students.  We have to work a little on how he runs those same activities though.  But I am so excited to have Story-Time once or twice a week with the kids.  I'll let you all know what book we make our way up to later in the school year.

I had no idea how much I had missed Story-Time in my life!

Winter Break Soccer Tournament - Primary Students

To start with, Costa Rica is in the northern hemisphere and it is technically summer here now.  But to go with cultural norms I will refer to the two week break from classes we just had here as winter break.  The days seem shorter now, and it's cold after it rains to the point that I often cannot feel my fingers at night if I am not under the covers or exercising.

So just after I got back from my trip to the states I ingeniously planned a soccer tournament to start on July 4th without realizing it would restrict me from celebrating with any other gringos.  The first week of the two week break was for elementary students and the second for high school students.  We met from 8:30-11 am from Monday through Thursday of each week.  We trained and practiced from Monday-Wednesday and had our finishing game Thursday.



The elementary group was composed of about 22 elementary aged students with a few high school students who came to help and lead by example which was a huge help.  I had had kids sign up on a list beforehand and called most of their parents to explain to them what it was to entail exactly.  One of the neighboring town's school didn't get the list back to me so I didn't get anyone from there which was sad for me because I work with those students but I got a chance to meet a ton of new kids from other towns.

I had planned on having our local ex-professional soccer player and the high school students train but somehow I recalled a bunch of the drills we had done in soccer practice the one year I played in high school and it turned out amazingly!  It took some effort to expose the kids to an actual practice feel, getting them to jog a lap, stretch together and then do soccer drills.  The experience levels varied a ton but everyone was light hearted and ready to learn.  At the end of the practices we would have "mejengas" or informal games and put to work all that they learned.  It was funny trying to keep them from bunching up so much but they had fun.

Finally, on the Thursday of the elementary school students' games they had already been put into their groups and wore their blue or white shirt.  The teams that I had created turned out to be a little unfair and we added one of the high school boys watching to one of the teams creating the rule that none of the high school kids could score a goal, so they served mostly to get the ball out of the masses formed of little boys and girls and move it up the field.  They wound up being a gigantic help that way.

After they all bought snacks at the pulperia and we headed to the school to watch Cars 2 together and give them more of a camp feel.  For my first camp that I put together on my own and organized before I went on vacation got back and had three days to tie up all loose ends it turned out really well.  All of the kids really had fun and had something positive to do.  I made sure to teach them some basic health stuff such as stretching properly and not laying down after jogging and I know that that stuff will have the largest impact on them that lasts.  I look forward to arranging more of the kind in the future.

Recycling Project - The Start

I had two weeks between my trip to Nicaragua and home to work on my recycling project full steam.  I had nearly every weekday booked with workshops for students, faculty or community.  My goal is to have a workshop with all of the students and, then the community in each of the four towns we're working with.  The motivation of each school board I've worked with has varied and their persistence thereafter as well.  After numerous cancellations and reschedules I have finally finished the workshops in three towns.  However, I find much need to continue holding them in different forms to increase knowledge and continue motivating more people.

I heard from someone that one of the towns was starting a program and they had no idea I was involved with it which is exciting for me because it means people are talking about it.  One of the environmental groups I've spoken with told me that if this project doesn't work this generation will be disappointed to the point to not try it again so I really need to make it work.

Working with the students was exhausting, working from 7 am- 4:30 with them.  By the end I had recycling coming out of my ears.  It's incredible that they knew so little about recycling and now I value Miami-Dade County Public Schools even more, at least for the education I received.  Some classes were more enthusiastic than others.  Those I've worked with got a little out of hand at times since they can finally speak the language we were working with.  But in the end, they've been the gateway to getting the word throughout the communities.  Yesterday, I heard a little girl who only a few weeks ago was throwing trash in the streets say, "Mommy, that's plastic don't throw it away."  It reminded me of how everything we volunteers do does have an affect although at times it really seems to be a slow one.

The community workshops have been awkward... I don't want to treat the adults like children but in most cases they only have a 6th grade education which in most cases included 3-4 hours school days.  Although, the more educated attendees seem very bored at the beginning they've come out very motivated once they got a chance to really take over conversation.

The basics of the project are as follows: a recycling center in Aserri agreed to send a truck to pick up our recyclable materials once we have 1,000 kilograms worth.  Mind you that is one TON of plastic, aluminum, white paper, colored paper, newspaper, carton, glass bottles, and tetrabrik (a common milk/juice carton material here in Costa Rica that is extremely harmful if buried or burned). So I decided to work with the only institutions strong enough in my neighboring towns that could really reach out to entire communities.  The schools.  I went to all of the school board meetings and they agreed to be their town's recycling center.  The part that I hope really makes this a sustainable project is that once we can call the truck to pick up the materials, they will buy the materials from the schools providing them with a small extra income.

The idea is that the community members can drop off their materials twice a week at the schools and the sixth graders will organize them Fridays to go into storage.  One school started collecting a couple days before I went home.  We collected a good bit from just fifteen or so families.  And although I hadn't thought of it, the school's director had invited me to help them on that day.  The women dropping stuff off and staying to help organize had so many questions that I hadn't considered to adress.  It was a great learning process for all of us.

 
The schools have had "winter" vacation these first two weeks of July.  We have a lot of work to do to really get this project off the ground once classes start again and I'll be sure to update more once we do. But I'll leave you with our main recycling reminder, "limpio, aplastado, y separado!" For the gringos that's, "clean, compact, and separated!"

Nicaragua Trip!

It turns out that I planned two trips in the month of June trying to work with everyone's schedule.  The first of which was to Nicaragua!  Man was it HOT.  A volunteer friend Audrey and I went together.  It was a nine hour commute to Managua the capital by bus.  Managua was very impressive.  Although everyone says capitals usually aren't, especially since they tend to be dirty but this one wasn't.  What made it uneventful was that it's not a pedestrian town.  Everywhere we went we only saw four lane roads.  So we walked around the national museum, legislative building and the original national cathedral.  The cathedral was the best part.  It's been closed after earthquake damages.  I asked the men working if we could look around and they let us!  It really is a cool church with AMAZING views of Managua and the lake.  It made the rest of our awkward morning in eerie Managua worth it, we were the ONLY tourists around. 

Next, we headed to Granada which is such a great city.  It's a colonial city dating back 1524 and has some amazing buildings built all throughout its history.  We checked out the open market, had mojitos overlooking its central park and four cheese pasta for dinner on its famous Calle Calzada. I find the name of this street hilarious.  This street is know for it's touristy restaurants and such, I can just imagine they started calling it that because that's where the people with shoes would go at night.  In the morning we had an amazing international breakfast - I had french toast!  Then we checked out San Francisco's convent and went up a bell tower for the best view of Granada and the lake.  

Headed to Isla Ometepe to take the ferry across.  Now Managua and Granada were hot, but on the island we were MELTING!  Our hostel turned out to be on a part of the island that had no wind.  We were the only two guests and it was a ten minute walk to the thirty person town.  We both decided we weren't up for being in a place more rural than our sites, skipped over hiking to up the volcanoes and left in the morning to the beach.

Our first day in San Juan del Sur was sweltering but then was raining the next two days.  We stayed at this incredible hostel that was a mansion in the hills that had a shuttle down to the adorable town with old and new mixed in.  Although it's a touristy place it wasn't overbearing, probably because this is no where near peak-season for Nicaragua.  We had some good meals right on the water and it made me miss my favorite meals back home!

Our first full day we hung out in the pool until the waves got better. The hostel has a truck that takes people out surfing everyday which we can rent boards from.  So we took advantage.  Playa Remanso is a protected bay and such a gorgeous place to be.  My first day surfing went ok, I'm really good at catching waves on my belly!  The board was a little too small for me to get up on.  Took a nap on the beach after being out there for a couple hours, and I realized just how much I need the beach in my life.  The next day we took a break and hung out in town and watched a movie at the hostel.  I love hostels with an awesome couch set up. I really miss comfy family rooms, weird I know, haha.

My last day in San Juan we hung out at the hostel til the afternoon when the surf would be better.  There were only three of us that were heading out that day with Marcus.  He invited us to his friends place up on the hill overlooking Playa Madera (which is where they filmed Survivor Nicaragua).  We were hanging out with some of the people there when another person staying there started introduced himself to all of us - Penn Badgley.  I really should have invited him to sit with us but he went downstairs and layed on a hammock.  But a little later I went and sat to chat with his friends, one of which I realized was Shawn Pyfrom.  Mind you, we're about a thirty minute drive from town, at least twenty minutes of which are dirt roads.  We're in at an extremely rural beach and meet two American actors, it's such a small world.  

So we took to the waves which were INTENSE!  I took out a bigger board which turned out to be a small boat and getting it out was the largest battle.  Several times I just threw myself on to catch a wave and stop having to suffer anymore.  I didn't get up to much because of that.  But it was still so much fun and exhausting.  I even have a huge bruise to show for it after banging into some rocks.  It's funny that I was kind of dreading how exhausting it would be to get there and backpack around but it turned out to be relaxing and exactly what I needed.  Since the rainy season has started I've had trouble getting rid of the chill and melting in Nicaragua did just that.  Next up, home in 12 days! 

Cabalgata in my Town

I showed up to the cabalgata in my town just as it's starting to help with whatever I can and considering riding if the rumors are true that some people brings horses to rent out the same day.  Ernesto and I were unsuccessful in finding horses to rent prior to the event.  So I arrive, mention to a few people that I wanted to ride but couldn't find a horse and am waiting for the people running the event to give me a job.  I sit with one older lady who has a bunch of cool daughters and granddaughters around her and order lunch.  About fifteen minutes before the people are going to head out on their horses a friend of mine Pedro from the next town over comes up to me to ask if I still wanted to ride.  I hesitate because it's pretty expensive and is a short ride.  I have the opportunity to ride trail about ten times as long in a few weeks so I really couldn't decide.

Finally, I realize I don't feel like helping serve food and horse back riding would be so much more fun and my old host-dad explained that riding would be better because I'm basically giving them a lot of money.  In U.S. standards it's not that much but out here it's pretty substantial.  So I change into my boots (yup I knew the universe would work out for me), and go to find my horse.  Pedro said it was super "manso" or tame and I find that it is for the most part but really like to run.  So I take a few turns around the soccer field and we all head out right as the heavens let out a few drops. We got through the town a bit and head up the road that's "pura montana" the old road that's surrounded by farms. 

As soon as we start this trail it starts to pour.  I've had issues with my eyes not liking my contact lenses anymore so I'm wearing my glasses and can no longer see.  Maybe I should invest in a sombrero for the next one, or a horse as my host-dad has joked.  Anyways, some guys stop under a shady area and block up the trail, I try to get through because at this point we are completely drenched.  Finally, a man comes up and gets them to move, commenting on how even a woman wants to continue.  Avoiding the machismo I just add, "I'm no ordinary woman."

And my horse is off trotting the whole way there.  I tried to stay with a few friends of mine but I got tired of trying to hold it back.  A tipsy guy from the next town over takes interest in me and keeps me company since he knows horses better and can keep up.  It turns out he's Ernesto's cousin, as is most of the region, and he finally backs off a little.  When we get to the rest stop I find one dry spot on the back of my leg and make my way to get a drink to warm up a little.  Of course, only meat snack but the owner of the house invites me to something warm.  One of my students that has a crush on me finds me and tells me he dropped his sombrero and by the time he retrieved it I was way ahead of him. 

We got back to the main road and the rain has finally stopped.  At least now I can see the beautiful, fog covered, crazy green mountains around me.  The coming of rainy season has made me comment on how green everything is at least three times a day for the last few weeks.  But now I'm on a horse and soaked and it's been so much fun.  I ride back into my town and am so excited for the next one.  There's mud everywhere.  I end up riding the horse home and was going to shower and head back up to the parties but it got too cold and Ernesto and I decided to stay in and watch movies.  I wound up getting a cold but that's become pretty common for me.  They blend into the usual nasal allergies I haven't been able to part with.

For the next week everyone I saw commented on how they saw me riding.  They all commented on how well I ride.  It's funny because I know I don't ride well, but I guess I didn't have my eyes bursting wide either.  It impressed them which I can appreciate because if anyone sees me walking downhill in these mountains probably sees me as a two year-old.  But the best part is that my town got a chance to see that I'm not just an English teacher and have a life outside of the school.  Although the event is for a fundraiser for a family that has had very hard times recently, they've brought my community to have two large events in the last few months and I hope that it empowers them to stay united and work together to improve the town as a whole.  Riding through the rain never felt so good. 

Trip to a Trapiche

 The day after my Honey Experience I got invited to walk down to a "trapiche" or a sugar cane processing place.  Being Cuban-American, I'm kind of sad I've never experienced this before.  I remember my Dad bringing sugar cane to my grandparent's house one weekend and me chewing on that and thinking it was gross but never really drank too much cane juice afterward.  But being as how it was one of the most widespread grown crops in Cuba for some time I find it closely linked to my heritage.  Especially since Allan spent most of career working to efficiently process it, and my hearing about it regularly from Dad.

I had intended to find out with the trapiches are run around here and go to one so when my host-sister-in-law invited me I jumped right on board.  I walked down with them and managed to slip and cut my hand up a little on the walk down.  Once we arrived Eric had already run all of the cane through a machine that squeezes all of the juices out.  The juices trickle down through a pipe to this gigantic vat which sits over a wood burning oven.  It's pretty intense.  He had been boiling it for a couple hours when we got there so we didn't have to wait long. We got to shelling peanuts to put in some of the candies we were going to make.

We heard some people on the next farm over and went to visit and check out their trapiche run by "bueyes" or oxen.  Some of my neighbors and students were there having a little party as their dads, uncles and sons worked processing the sugar.  They offered me a wok full of cane "miel" or honey.  It's the juice after a certain point of boiling, or what they scrape off the top of the boiling cane juice.  I had a few spoonfuls and had to beg they make me not eat it all because it was just too much sugar!

We got back to what used to be my host-dad's trapiche and is now his son's and he was starting the first candies.  He was taking some of the cane and putting it into what looks like a large wooden canoe.  Most of his wooden tools are over a hundred years old he explained to me.  The canoe thing was carved straight out of a tree to make sure it could deal with the boiling cane juice.  He mixed up the juice until it started to cool and solidify a little and we added some peanuts.  Then, they placed this mixture onto a palm leaf to make some candies.

Lastly, he pours all of the cane juice into the wooden canoe and then started picking up smaller amounts and pouring it into long blocks of "tapas" molds.  He fills each one up and lets them cool.  While they do Cinthya and Mauricio walk me down the "quebrada" to show me the water Eric was using to clean all of machinery and tools.  We sit along the rocks as Mauricio points out all of the cows he's named and splashes us as he throws rocks.  It was a beautiful break from a very hot morning around a use boiling vat.  When we get back to the trapiche Eric and Macha are flipping over the molds and we hear the popping sounds as they fall to the table.

It's a Semana Santa custom that people usually go down to a trapiche on the first Saturday of Semana Santa and use the dulce made to make cookies and all sorts of deserts throughout the week.  People give their visitors entire tapas or bags of the coconut/dulce cookies they make called "cajetas de coco."  These are by far my favorite part of the Semana Santa traditions.  The fish soup, sardines and excessive consumption of fish is a little much for me.  Then, there's "picadillo de aracache" which is like most other picadillos but based off a different vegetable that was interesting.  I did enjoy trying everyone's arroz con leche or cajetas de coco though. I finally got a chance to make some the following weekend.  Carving the coconut out and then shredding it was tough work.  All in all, I still don't like sugar cane dulce very much, but mixed in with coconut, I can definitely learn to be Cuban.

My honey experience!

Friday before Semana Santa I got to experience how a local farmer takes out honey from hives.  It might not sound cool, but I'm still so excited I got the chance to.  The farmer's name is Carlos Luis, probably the nicest man I've ever met and he's kept bees for over 30 years.  And at the time, it was especially unheard of around here but it's provided quite a bit for his family.  His youngest son Luis Andres was in my community high school course for the four months it was held and always a pleasure to be around.  So getting a peak into how he's spent a lot of his time was really nice.  For him, going up to the bee hive outside his house is like kayaking in Florida for me... common.

So I was still recuperating from a bacteria in my stomach when Carlos Luis calls Ernesto's house to invite me over.  Ernesto and his Mom frantically start cleaning the boots he's going to lend me... he takes the pressure washer to them.  Ticos are serious about their shoes being clean, and if you know me at all... I don't care.  So I walked all of the four blocks over to their house and they set me up in their nice suit.  Thankfully, this hive that they have right next to their house they only go to just before sunset to make sure the bees don't attack their chickens, or worse their turkeys.  Carmen (Carlos Luis' wife) has "chompipes" (turkeys) and chickens behind the house.  One of the chickens has been killed by bees, but if one of her precious turkeys were killed it would be really bad.

So we made our way up the "path" that they go up every two weeks so it's not really a good path but I made it in my clown boots and all.  They smoke the crates as they open them and all throughout to calm the bees so that they don't get upset.  Apparently the cells in the middle are usually used to harvest the babies and towards the outside the honey.  The top boxes in the stacks are also more likely to have honey and the lower ones babies.  So they go through each box verifying each cell and placing the ones with honey in another box they take to the house. So we did that until sunset, well actually they did.  Luis Andres spraying them with smoke from a little puffer that they put little bits of wood in and light on fire.  Carlos Luis checking each cell and switching them to the other box.

When we got back to the house we cut up some of the panels into blocks that they give as gift to people who chew on the wax to get all of the honey out.  It's honestly too sweet for me to eat such big chunks of.  Then we scrape of the outer layers of wax to then put the panels in this spinning contraption with four panels in each and spin it to get the honey out.  Then, they let all of the honey settle and drain it through a fine cloth.  They bottle the honey in gallons or about 21 oz bottles and sell that smaller bottle for $6 each.  It's pretty expensive actually, well comparatively.  So for those 2-3 hours of work they make a good bit.  But they're still one of the humblest families I know.  They're comfortable enough to send their oldest son to college and hopefully Luis Andres is on his way there too.

 Pancakes sweetened with honey, AND honey on top!

I might be excited since I just got the coolest package from Jessy, but still, the time I spent with them was so great.  He just knew so much about every aspect of his job and it still excites him.  He's also a coffee/banana/basically anything farmer.  I guess most farmers around here are always excited to tell me about their jobs.  That's the beauty about living a life you love.  Having a huge grin ear to ear talking about your job even after working it for over forty years.  I hope I can find that...

Good night loves!