Saturday, February 25, 2012
Día del Cariño y Costa Rica
Caution: Very long blog post ahead
It seems like the days fly by, I just realized I haven’t posted in two weeks! So much has happened since then. I’ll begin with an excursion Laura and I took on the lake. We decided to take out a boat and go for a casual cruise. It ended up that 1: it was much harder than it looked and 2: it is quite a sight to see two gringas trying to row a boat with a current and a forest of lake plants below. We had a hilarious time trying to coordinate our paddles and not drift too far away. While rowing back in, a man was filming us on his cell phone for a solid five minutes. To our dismay, we never went viral on YouTube as we thought might happen. Always an adventure :)
They love to celebrate holidays here in Santiago (as do I, which is convenient), therefore Valentine’s Day (Día del Cariño) was a blast! On Monday, the 6th graders had a big presentation in front of the school which they call their trabajo civico. The kids all looked so nice and tidy. The boys were super suave in black pants and white collar shirts and the girls had their hair down and were wearing beautiful cortes and huipiles. They began by singing the national anthem and reading poems about friendship. Two of the kids performed a traditional Guatemalan dance and I loved it! For the finale, five of the girls performed a “modern” dance. They whipped off their traditional clothing, slapped on some lipstick and wore short skirts! They danced to two songs, Jennifer Lopez’s “Get on the Floor” and Pitbull’s “Rain Over Me”. I just about died, it was so out of character for a lot of them! Quite scandalous for Santiago. Hah Got to love Guatemala! On Tuesday (Valentine’s day) the ENTIRE school piled in the back of hired pickup trucks and we drove to a nice area outside of the city with a giant fútbol field, basketball courts and pretty trees. The whole day we relaxed, played games and enjoyed the beautiful sunshine. Here, they all do a gift exchange instead of handing out cards. They traded their gifts and then gave out hugs. Needless to say, my heart melted! On the way back, one of the trucks of kids passed another on a windy road! Oh Guatemala! Hah I’ve been dreaming of the day when a holiday would arrive and I could do a project. I had prepared materials to create Valentine cards and we weren’t able to do it on Tuesday, so the holiday continued on Wednesday. All my students were so creative with their messages and designs. I particularly enjoyed one of the messages by Francisco to another boy, Miguel, in the 3rd grade class. It said: “What are you doing Miguel? Are you going to school tomorrow? When you don’t look sick, I’ll give you a hug” hahaha! Though most had messages like “friends forever” or “I love you” I really liked his creativity and got a good chuckle out of it.
The next day, I left to go to Manuel Antonio, one of the most famous national parks located southeast of Tamarindo. It was my first public bus adventure in Central America! Although it was a long journey, I had heard so many good things about the park I was determined to go. I met some girls at my first bus stop who warned me that the day before they waited for two hours and it didn’t come so they gave up. Yikes! However, I lucked out and the bus going to Liberia was only 20 minutes late. My next bus to Puntarenas left an hour after I thought so that wasn’t bad as well. When we started getting closer to Puntarenas, I happily took in that blissfully distinct ocean smell as we neared the coast. Puntarenas reminded me a little of Venice, CA: big beaches and funky people! My last bus went to Quepos, a town outside of the park. I arrived at night and was ready for my adventure to start the next day. Through my bus rides that day, I really felt like I got to see a lot of Costa Rica. I met some nice people and though it was a long trip, I enjoyed myself.
The next morning I got up early with anticipation and took a bus from Quepos to the town of Manuel Antonio. The ride was absolutely stunning. Starting from Quepos, we wound up into lush, green hills that were home to million dollar views overlooking the ocean. Everywhere you looked were really cute hotels, fun restaurants and fancy boutiques. The last stop was at the beach, which was a postcard-perfect, coconut-filled paradise. Long, white stretches of sand met with turquoise waters and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It was gorgeous and in that instant, I understood what all the hype was about! I found my way to the entrance of the park and with a passion fruit, pineapple and banana smoothie in hand, I started my day. One of my goals in Costa Rica was to see a sloth. I was warned that they were harder to see than imagined, but I was pleasantly surprised when within ten minutes, I saw one! It was nestled high up in the trees sleeping and the only way I saw it was by latching on to a tour group and looking through their telescope. However, I already felt fulfilled and I had barely gotten there! Further down the path, one of the tourist guides excitedly pointed out a toucan, which he said was quite rare to see. I followed a mass of camera-toting tourists and snapped some photos, only to be further intrigued by the presence of an iridescent blue butterfly the size of a bird breezing by. I almost had to laugh, how was this happening?! It was too good to believe that I was seeing such amazing creatures one after another. But, it continued! A little further down, I saw another sloth! This one was much closer and I could watch the little oso perezoso slowly move from tree to tree. They really were quite mesmerizing, it’s amazing how much time you can spend watching them. After my Costa Rican wilderness safari, I made it to the first beach and it was even more beautiful than the one outside of the park. I walked through the waves and took in the amazing views. The water was the warmest I have ever been in. I hate to even say it, but it was so hot and humid outside I almost wished it were colder! But it was pure bliss. Up in the palms, monkeys chattered and hopped effortlessly from tree to tree, occasionally snagging snacks out of unnoticing tourists’ bags. They had the cutest little faces and were really entertaining, though as always, it makes you a little sad to see them so accustomed to people.
The next beach (Espadilla Sur) was much larger and less crowded and equally as beautiful. I had some lunch and took a dip in the tropical waters. Later that day, I hiked to Puerto Escondido, which was a smaller and rockier beach but was perfect for a relaxing afternoon view. I was having a great time exploring all of the world- class beaches and I contemplated more than once how I was ever going to drag myself from that place. On my way back I saw ANOTHER sloth and this one was the icing on the cake, it had a baby clinging to it! Awwww!! All in all, it was a perfect day and I was so happy I made the trip, it was worth every hour in the bus and then some.
The next day, I took in a few last hours at the beach and a guava sorbet and then hopped on a bus to San Jose. I met up with Claire later that night and savored my last few moments in Costa Rica, which included a trip to McDonald’s haha I left that next day and was back in Santiago later in the afternoon. I was so thankful to have had such a wonderful vacation. It was really cool to see another Central American country that was so different from Guatemala. It was much more Bob Marley and beaches than cortes and tuk tuks and I felt like I had gone to another world, which was great for a little break. I couldn’t have pictured more perfect beaches, ones that rivaled or were better than some of the beauties I’ve seen in Hawaii, Italy and Brazil. I ate some amazing food, had great company (whether it was human or animal) and enjoyed being a beach-bumming backpacker. It was really hard to leave such an amazing destination, but I missed the kiddos and was happy to be back at school.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Volcano Hiking, Lightning Watching and a New School!
As I write this, I realize I have been in Santiago for over a month now. My oh my, what a month it’s been! Sometimes I have one those ‘whoa, I really am a teacher!’ moments and it seems so surreal. I always had plans to get my TEFL certification and teach English abroad after graduating and this is the perfect first experience. I have already learned so, so much and continue to learn each day, just as I hope my students do. I feel like I am really beginning to understand what works and what doesn’t, poco a poco. I began last week at another school in town, Panul. It has been really interesting teaching at a different escuela because they each have their own separate vibe. I am teaching three classes: second grade, third/fourth grade and fifth/sixth grade. The 3rd and 4th grade classes are combined and there are 26 students. What really surprised me is that the combined 5th and 6th grade class has only 8 students, three girls and 5 boys. Panul is a true statement to the reality of a lot of Guatemalan children; many students don’t make it to sixth grade. As well, a lot of the students are in the upper teens. I really applaud them for continuing to go to school, because I’m sure it can be frustrating. I have found that I’m going to have to try even harder because a lot of the fun games that I use are more appropriate for younger ages and as well, it’s sometimes easier to do them with a larger group. It will be a good challenge and even more experience and I am happy for that. Even though Chu’ul and Panul are different, as always, kids are kids and they are just as cute. Lots of the kids want to play games with me at recess or hold my hand and they are always smiling and laughing. Though I am quite attached to my Chu’ul students, I have lots of room in my heart for all the niños at Panul as well!
Last week, Laura and Maggie (two of my friends) and I took 10 kids to one of the parks across town as a little field trip. We wanted to make sure that their parents knew where they were so we went to all their houses and talked to their parents and then we were off! We piled them into tuk tuks and traversed the narrow, winding, up and down streets of the city, which lots of the girls thought was so much fun. I felt like tour guide Brianna because the whole time I yelled at them to keep their limbs in the vehicle! At the park, which is located right by the lake, we looked for fish, played in the grass and had a little juice box treat. Isabel, one of the little cuties, put a flower in my hair and kissed me on the cheek, smiling as she said “Brianna, te quiero mucho!” It’s moments like that when I feel as though I have captured the purest form of joy. <3
On Sunday, four of us from Milpas hiked the volcano San Pedro (which is in a lot of my pictures). Not really sure why I had the idea that it wouldn’t be that hard (come on Bri, it’s obvious that volcanoes have very steep sides), but I was maybe not as prepared as I would have liked! My legs definitely went numb on multiple occasions and I will admit to excessively grabbing on to tree limbs to pull me up. At times, it seemed like we were the only people on the whole volcano and we had the trail to ourselves. It was really green and mossy and so nice to be away from all the hustle and bustle of Santiago for a little bit. Finally at the top (a very self-fulfilling moment indeed), it was really cloudy and we couldn’t really see much but I did google some images afterwards, so hey that’s alright! In utter exhaustion while waiting on the boat, we witnessed a man carrying two giant carts of chickens on his head fall into the lake. I was so tired, it was one of the moments where I didn’t even know if I was really seeing it happen. PS, for all of you that have been wondering if a chicken can swim, it kind of can! All in all, it was an entertaining day. I wanted to climb a volcano while here so I’m happy I did it, but I don’t know if I’ll be the first person in line to sign up next time :)
Last night we had our first intense rain storm here in Santiago. Since I have been here, there have been probably 15 minutes of rain in total. No joking around over here, when they mean dry season, they mean it! We were all so shocked at the storm, but mesmerized by the lightning that lit up the whole sky and made it look like daylight for a few seconds. The thunder was the loudest I have ever heard it my life. We sat up on the terrace and watched it all around us. I pulled my new rain jacket on and tested it out. I was tempted to pull out my knee-high yellow rain boots as well but I resisted, seeing as how my walk is probably not even 15 seconds :) The power went out and Laura and I had a romantic, candle-lit lesson planning date. This morning, I plunged into an ice-cold shower only to be further shocked when the water stopped completely and has yet to come on again. If this is any sign of what the rainy season is like, I’m in for a wild ride! I love the sun and blue skies so I’m hoping it has no intention of starting up early.
Next week, I head off to Costa Rica for a long weekend to visit my friend Claire who I met while studying abroad in Argentina. We haven’t seen each other since then so I’m really excited!! I can’t wait to sample another taste of Central American culture. Xok aaq'a (Tz’utujil for good night!)*
*Side note: You know a language is difficult when you have a hard time even pronouncing the name of the language, but it sounds really cool and I’m trying to learn some phrases to surprise the kids
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