Costa Rica Pura Vida

Well, here I have been in Costa Rica for about 4 weeks. Hard to believe! Doesn´t feel like it. Things are going really well. For me, being a teacher has been a new experience. I have no problem being in front of a class and being motivated. But planning lessons and actually making sure the students learn has been a new experience for me. The students are fantastic though and I have really enjoyed all my classes. The following picture is of San Juaquin, the town I live in. It is a very small town, more like just a stop on the road. The picture is of the Soccer field.

Here is a picture of what I wake up to every day! Really amazing, I wake up and if I just walk a little out into the Finca, there is a view of the entire valley. I have learned to really appreciate my surroundings more since I have been here and since I have had so much time on my hands.

The family I live with does a mission every weekend to a small indigenous village where they worship and provide a lesson out of the bible. It is truly amazing to see because the family I live with is comfortable, but they don't necesarily have a lot. And they still take time to provide for people who have even less. I think this is a great lesson for those of us who have much, and don't do something to give back. The past two weekends I went with them to the village. The last time I even took a guitar and played while they sang. The following pictures are of our trek out to the reserve and the house that we stayed in to worship.

This weekend I went and stayed with a professor from the High School. He lives in Tuis and larger town on the main road, about an hour away in the bus. Yesterday we walked around Tuis and got to know the town. I met all types of relatives, Mom, Brother, Cousin, Neighbors. Everyone had a story to tell, so I was definately practing my Spanish. At one point in a house Jimmy (The professor) grabbed a guitar and gave it to me telling everyone that I could improvise songs really well. But in Spanish is another story! Regardless I ended up singing a little song about Love and Mothers. The next day we went to a Soccer game where my high school was playing. They got dominated, but it was great to watch. Here is a picture of me and some of my students, followed by a picture of the game.

Then...just as the last game was finishing up. Everyone including myself started saying... va llover! Which means, its going to rain! Well sure enough within a few minutes it was pouring. The funny part is that Jimmy and I had gone on a motorcycle, and I drove because I can't fit on the back. We regardless, I ended up driving back in the pouring rain, down mountain roads, etc. But what a blast, we had a good laugh about it all. Here is a picture of Jimmy and I soaking wet when we got back.
Well more to come later! Julie Wilson will be here in Costa Rica by next Sunday and I'm sure there will be lots more pictures to put up. Good Bye!

DKW

Christine might get kicked out

There is a new addition to the family that arrived yesterday. The consequence, according to my host father, is that I am kicked out because they need my room! My other alternative is to sleep outside!

His name is Hercules and he's an adorable two month old puppy. He arrived at 3am with my host father, waking several of us up. We got up to play with him a little and then attempted to go to bed amongst the lyllabies of a puppy yelping. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep.

Awwww.... look at those eyes! He's going to be so handsome.

In our backporch area- his new home. I'm fighting for my room! :)

How sweet, like a baby......until you look down at his tummy and see all the fleas!

I'll hold him and love him and be the wonderful "Tia Christine" but I'm NOT cleaning up any of the piles of caca you see behind me. I counted 5 piles!

That's it for today.

Christine

Christine's School in Northern Antofagasta

Today I arrived at school to find out that there was no electricity in the school today. This was a first! I'm posting some pictures of my school, Elmo Funez, and classroom. I will try to post more later.

This is the front entrance of the school. It is about 4-5 years old. Note all the graffiti on the walls.

This is the front left view from the school entrance.

This is the front right view from the school entrance. Literally there are shacks across the street.

My front door!

My classroom.....la sala de Inglés!

Slightly blurry but you still get the picture.

Hope you can kind of picture me in here.

Christine

Christine's Proud Morning

Over the past weeks I have been working with an 8th grade student named Andrés. He is a very sweet, smart, and good student. He was chosen to be the representative from Elmo Funez School for the 2009 Public Speaking Competition which was held this morning, June 19th.

I have to boast about how fantastic he was!! He spoke at a great pace, held his composure, spoke clearly, remembered his citation at the end, was under the 3 minute time limit, and he was able to answer the judges question. We had practiced in our school auditorium, infront of his peers, with and without mircrophones, lots of on-stage practice and I think it paid off. He did phenomenal and I couldn't be more proud of him!

He didn't place in the top three out of 14 schools, but he did a terrific job and representated his school very well! Here are some pictures from this mornings competition.

(Me, Andrés, Proud Mother, Profesora Monica)
As we were waiting for the competition to start we had asked him if he wanted to take off his white coat, but he had holes in his pants that the coat covered so we kept it on. He was representing one of the poorest schools in the area, but that should only limit the material things we have, not our mind and spirit.

Andrés and I waiting for the competition to start! He was sooooo excited that the competition was being filmed and as for me, I couldn't believe how nervous I was and I wasn't even the one speaking!

Here all the students are recognized with a participation certificate as they await the results. My student is the 3rd from the right in the white coat. He kept saying throughout the competition how he was the shortest contestant. I remember being the shortest person in my school in the 8th grade. I would go home everyday and ask my dad to measure my height against our laundry room door.

Proud teacher I am! He told his Mami that his certificate needed to go in their living room. Awwww......... I hope this experience is just the first of many for him.

Until next time.

CW

Christine's Weekend

It was a busy weekend with lots going on. Friday I took a trip with another volunteer, our volunteer coordinator, and a representative from the Fundacion de Minera Escondida. We took a 4 hour bus trip to TalTal. It is a small fishing community south of Antofagasta. I was to give a presentation to a group as well as help welcome the 3 new 6-month volunteers to the region.

Here are a few pictures from the quaint Pueblo.

This man rowed his boat much farther than I would ever care to row a boat. I watched him for about 10 minutes.

Above you can barely see a dog that was having way to much fun trying to play with the nose of the burro.

One Plaza.

Two Plaza.

I returned on Saturday just in time for Salsa class and then a night out with some friends.

I love this picture of Johnny and I.

Not all but a lot of the group we hung out with.

As most everyone knows, I love to salsa dance. It's fun, exercise, more tasteful than night clubs, and something I enjoy doing very much. It is also a great way to meet people, practice Spanish, and get to know the city. I take lessons Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays (sometimes Fridays too). Here is a picture from a "lesson" or more like a "practice opportunity" I went to at the University of Antofagasta a few Fridays ago.

Sitting on the left of me or to my right is Willian, my salsa teacher and good friend.

I hope to post some pictures soon of my school and perhaps some food.

Chao!

CW

Well an update from down under!

This past week has been pretty amazing. My host family I am living with is a great family, they have Christian values, they are fun, and the farm I love on is amazing. Already killed my first scorpion!

Well to get to San Juaquin I had to take an old school bus from Turiallba to San Juaquin. You can see in the pictures that it was hot, sweaty, and a rough ride. But it definately made for a good story!The following pictures are of my room! My room is comfy and really really basic. I had a scorpion in my bag the other day...but I killed it. And my bathroom is almost outside, but it has a roof and walls. But all in all the house and my room and the family are everything I wanted.

This is a picture of my Heber and Isabel on our way to Turiallba. We are going to get some groceries, and also I am using the internet!

More to come later!

DKW

Costa Rica!

Well I am here!

It has been a while since I have been able to post anything just because of all the running around we have been doing, and also the fact that I don´t have my computer.

My first day as part of this program was meeting alot of the other volunteers which alot of them happend to be from Harvard...interesting bunch. Then we all flew down to Costa Rica and from there started a week of orientation.

The next few days we did lots of activities and took spanish classes and all types of stuff. One day though we went up to kind of a crazy guys farm up in the mountain. Where he had bannanas, coffee, and sugar cane! So there I am with some sugar cane in my mouth.

During orientation week I stayed with a host family. The host families house in the far right house in the picture. Really nice family with a little boy named Kelo and a son named Mario. Then my host parents were Mario and Yorleny. Really nice family. I plan on visiting them when I go back to Orosi with Julie.


Right now I am in Turialba, Costa Rica, and tomorrow I am going to my town, San Juaquin de Tuis. I should get in around 2:00 in the afternoon. I can´t wait, because then I can actually unpack and kind of get into a routine.

Well it has been good, until next time!

DKW

Christine's Night of Salsa Dancing

So, as I posted in my last blog, I went salsa dancing with Joe and Willian last night at Candela's. It's a small salsateca that I love. Good crowd, small dance floor but still bigger than other places, good music and I always have a good time. Here are some pictures from last night!

(Willian and I)

He's such an excellent salsa dancer!

(Joe and I)

Can you tell we had a great time! I'm also happy to announce that the teachers strike is over. We now have school tomorrow! Three new volunteers arrive today, as part of the 6 month program, and tonight we will meet them for dinner and introductions.

Chao,

CW

Christine's first Asado

It's Saturday evening and I've just returned from my salsa class at the YMCA. I came home to my family intently watching the TV as Chile beat Paraguay in a game of soccer 2-0!

Last night a fellow volunteer and friend had an asado at his house. Rachel (another volunteer) and myself went as well as a Chilean friend of Johnny's. We ate Churripan, chicken, rice, and beef with sides of green beans, olives, tomatoes, bread, and pickled vegetables. Yummy!

This is a picture of all four of us.


(Rachel, Me, Pancho, and Johnny)

Johnny's family had a very nice house located a little further south than my house and farther up the mountain. It was a 4 story home, white painted walls, with collections of glass figurines and some African art. They had a very interesting and very large lamp. Johnny and I just had to strike a pose and make a little fun with it.

Last picture is just one of me and the host. I think we look a little like brother and sister, but I've already got the best brother in the world so he'll have to stick with just being a fun friend.

Well, tonight I am going salsa dancing with Joe (fellow volunteer) and Willian, my salsa instructor. We're going to Candela salsateca and it should be a good time!

CW

Christine's update on the strike

This is week 3 of the teachers strike and I thought I would write a short explanation about the strike as it was explained to me.

The strike is the result of a bonus that teachers throughout the country were promised last year during a renegotiation of their contracts. The government claims that it sent the bonus money out to the municipalities to be distributed to the teachers, but apparently the municipalities spent the money on other things without passing it along to the intended recipients. Teachers in Valparaiso began striking roughly a month ago to demand the bonuses and since then the strike has spread to many other schools throughout every part of the country. The government has been in negotiations with the teachers and has offered to pay them a part of the bonus now, with the rest to follow in several instalments, but so far the teachers have deemed this unacceptable. Negotiations are continuing and officials believe that the situation is close to a resolution. However there’s no real way of knowing when the strike will end.

Unfortunately for students, teachers, and volunteers alike, strikes are an inescapable part of educational life in Chile . Almost every volunteer is forced to deal with them at some point and we are encouraged to remain neutral in a strike, in large part because as foreign guests in the country we generally lack the cultural and historical background necessary to fully comprehend the issues at stake.

It is possible that I will work Saturdays to make up lost time or that the 2 week holiday in July will be make up time as well. However, I have been keeping busy during the time studying spanish, learning more salsa combinations, researching, and site seeing around town.

I'll keep you all posted!

CW