"No quiero que tu vayas."

"I don't want you to go."

I have been getting this statement more and more as the number days until I leave this gorgeous country gets smaller. When I think back to my first day here it seems like a year has passed, but in reality the weeks here are flying fast. This past Friday is a school day that will stay with me forever; I will recap:

The day started with its normal and crazy Friday excitement so when recess #1 came everyone was ready to bolt outside. I had promised a group of my boys that I would play "bolinchas" (marbles) with them. I find the same group every day behind our classroom tearing it up with marbles of all kind and I wanted to join this fun. Immediately I had been gifted with a handful of marbles of various colors ready to learn. For the following 15 minutes my little boys were full of so much laughter and shouts of joy every time their marble hit the "profe's." One of my students, Kener, who acts so tough and tells the girls in the class he's not going to miss me when they talk about me leaving, jumped into my arms when the bell rang and looked up at me with the biggest smile and just said "Profe!" :)  He then grabbed my hand and we skipped off to class together. My heart couldn't have been happier to make this small connection with my students. For the rest of the day I would feel a little tap on my back every now and then to see one of my little boys giving me a new, even prettier marble then before, with a big grin on their face. Needless to say, I was invited back to play marbles the next recess (score!).

It was a short day for Kayla and I because we were going to meet the art teacher, Roxana, at her house in Guápiles to do some art projects. So, before I left I wrote a little message on the board to my students wishing them a happy weekend. Shortly after had a swarm of my students around me asking me not to go and literally trying to trap me in the room. I was then handed various works of art and pictures as a bribe to not go ;) My little boy, Kener, grabbed both of my hands and reached up to give me a huge kiss on the cheek and said, "te quiero, profe." (I love you, profe) I was honestly on the brink of tears just leaving my students for half a day. Three of them made sure to usher me to school entrance to see me go. I looked back and watched a group of my students just standing there watching me walk away. I felt my heart break at that moment knowing that in a few weeks I will have to walk away for good...I can't imagine what the end of one school year is going to be like someday with my students.

Oh, my beautiful crazy students, who have made a little nest in my heart...

To share some other happenings in the magical world of Costa Rica a weekend ago we traveled with Papi to meet his sister, Karen, and her husband, Carlos, to adventure throughout Cartago. Karen and Carlos are so friendly and were very excited to share new sites with us. Our first stop was the breakfast table at their home in Cartago; it was tasty and lovely. We then traipsed through town a little bit to see the beautiful Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles and the ruinas (ruins). The basilica was breath-taking and so peaceful. Outside of the basilica there is a little walkway to a spot where there is holy water flowing from a few different spots. A lot of people come there to pray, bathe different parts of their body that might need healing or to fill up bottles to take home. Inside the basilica was even cooler!

After visiting the basilica, we went to walk through the ruins, which was lovely. On the inside there was a gorgeous garden and small pond!

Our next stop of the day was Volcán Irazú. I loved the whole drive up to this spot; so much agriculture, cool air, and neat little towns. We could see Cartago getting smaller and smaller as we drove up, it felt like being in the clouds.  Once we made it to the national park we walked around and looked at 2 out of the 3 craters that Irazú has. I don't know how to explain being by a volcano, but it was pretty neat and inactive, so no worries. On our way out of the park we got some fresh strawberries and headed back.

An old church we visited in Orosi, which was full of much history!



After volcano Irazú we went through two indigenous pueblos, Orosi and Cachí, where Mamí was born. We ended up visiting Mamí's dad actually, who was so sweet and even played the guitar for us.
Afterwards we visited the house where Mamí grew up it- super awesome and huge!!




On Sunday Kayla, our friend Odie, and I went on a lovely adventure to a little place in Guácimo called "La Perla," where we trekked to an absolutely fantastic waterfall. The walk there was amazing as well; there were cool bamboo bridges and a BMX track!

Roxana's outside workshop is basically like a dream!

Kayla and I crafting/putting on a marionette show with Roxana :)

















Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone! I wish and pray all the best for each of you :) Chao!

Yeudy...

Before the end of the day of the school day today, one of my little students, Yeudy, wrote me a sweet little letter asking me what I was doing this weekend and told me about his weekend plans. He wanted me to write my answer on the back like we were sending each other mail. So I did and returned the letter. A few minutes later he asked to borrow a small piece of paper so he could make something. This was the result...

My first thought was, "cool, a paper airplane..." and then I returned it to him with a smile. A few minutes later Yeudy came up to me and said, "No, profe, it's for you so you know my love can always fly to you."

How does one respond to this? These children are crawling into my heart.

P.S.

Remember that one time I just uploaded a post? Well, I have some news that I feel is very worthy of sharing.

While I have been here in Costa Rica, my parents, their best friends, and the people from my church at home have organized a project to collect school supplies and books to send to my school here. By their compassionate and genuine hearts, the members in my tiny little church have raised over $600 to ship things to the school. I am brought to tears by the grace of God working through people, I cannot even express how beautiful this effort is to me. I am in complete awe as I watch this connection of humanity from a few small churches in Janesville, WI to a school of eager learning minds in Guácimo, Costa Rica. Once again I affirmed that we all really need each other more than we think and we need to reach out to one another with nothing but love and dignity.

Entonces, to everybody at home who has reached out to Los Geranios in some way; through thought or prayer or however... thank you. :)

It's about that time...

for a little news from Costa Rica!

Sunshine has been MIA while it has been raining for the past week straight. It turns out the sun just wanted to use its "raincheck"...
 (that pun goes out to my ladies of 324 Marsh St.!)

Even in all this rain, Costa Rica remains top of my list as far as beautiful life experiences thus far. Every day Kayla and I wake up (a little too late sometimes), give each other "that look" like 2 seconds passed from the time we fell asleep, and wait for the "Muchachasssssss" call from Mamí to come to the kitchen table for desayuno (breakfast). Then it's quickly brush the teeth and cruise to school to be greeted by our happy, smiley children :)

I get the same uncontrollable happiness when I first see one of my students running down the corridor to greet me with a big hug every morning. Usually it is my little skinny Antonio with a big grin on his face, popping out from nowhere to hang on my side the whole walk to class. In all honestly, learning about and teaching in school here has been challenging in many ways, but when I look at my students I am reminded completely that they are who I'm here for. No matter how many times I feel disheartened or discouraged, there's nothing I want to do more than to encourage them, laugh with them, and see them thrive.

The more I learn about who my students are as individuals, the more I am attached to them. In some of my students' cases family life is inevitably not enriching and it breaks my heart what I've learned while being here with them. Out of respect I will not detail the hard and trivial experiences some of these students live with, but will rather focus on who they are despite not being given what they deserve and need.

For a few examples...
-Seeing the squeal and wide grin from my little José Alberto, the quietest student in class, when he basically "schooled" every one of his classmates in an around the world game of math problems
-My sweet Gerson, who begs to be given extra math problems with a big smile on his face once he is done with other work.
-Then there's my oldest student, Ricardo, who I catch him always sharing his small amount of colored pencils with other students or cleaning things up.
-Nissi, who loves everyone, I mean everyone...and has the demeanor of a mature adult.
-Yeudy, who insists his name is spelt "Yeudi" even after conversing long and hard with Profesora Saira about how his formal documents say otherwise (I can't help but chuckle about this), is a pro puzzle builder. He is the first one I see at recess coming up to me yelling, "Profe!!!? Rompecabeza!?"
-Kener and Josmiar, my suave dancers.
-Sebastian, who will someday I swear, be a fúbolista (soccer player) just like he dreams of. When walking home from school he is always waiting in his soccer gear to say hi.

Needless to say, there's a lot to each of my 28 students and I don't know how I am going to say goodbye to them in just a few short weeks.

 I got the great experience of observing some of the special education teachers today, which was really great. I love the special education teachers, they are very friendly and I can see how a lot of the students thrive under their direction. Also, I believe that every child needs that individual attention.

Once the school day ends, Kayla and I make the walk home, reflecting on the way. Before we make it too far we run into a lot of our students in their homes since they live so close. It's a beautiful thing.

In other news...this past weekend was really relaxing. On Saturday Kayla and I went to the home of one of my students to help with some English home and on Sunday we had a family visit (Kevin, Sandra, Sandra's father, and their daughter Kiyanni) complete with famous Rice and Bean, and fort-making with the little ones :)

The weekend best this last, Kayla and I went on another adventure with Xiomara to a rainforest near Guácimo. It was absolutely breath-taking.

I wish everyone reading many blessings and a happy rest of the week! :)

Hasta Luego, Amigos!

Me: "How are we able to breathe?" Student: "Through our hearts?"

It's responses like that... the goofy looks across the room, whispered stories, surprise hugs, the light in my students' eyes when they finally understand, shared tortillas and juicy mango, and endless amounts of curiosity that leaves my heart smiling constantly here when teaching. There is not one day that passes where the joys during the day aren't able to overshadow all the challenges and struggle.

It's finished! The U.S. puzzle map. They all really get a kick out of doing this puzzle every day.

                                Look at these beautiful ladies enjoying their meriendas! (snacks)

I cannot believe how fast these past two weeks have gone in school and looking ahead seems even crazier. Just two days ago Kayla and I celebrated being here one whole month. One month. Here I am in the middle of one of the biggest adventures I have ever had in my life and it's still so surreal.

I don't even know where to start, like normal, maybe I'll start with SLOTHS!!! because I have seen a grand total of two in the last few days. Imagine seeing your favorite animal just meandering through your school, place of employment, or home...it's pretty unreal, amigos. Yesterday Kayla came running to my classroom and told me to come outside. I didn't believe that there could be a sloth hanging out in the middle of the school, but sure enough hanging snuggly from a branch was the lazy, tranquil creature that I love. During the following recess, a swarm of students and I watched this school sloth make its way (slowly of course) from one tree to another. Ten minutes later, our sloth friend made it to the neighbor tree. There were lots of screams, giggles, and happiness all around!

 Today we sighted the sloth climbing through school ( I think it was late for class...)

To share a little bit about what the last few weeks have been like I will start with our surprise weekend with our new cousins, Xiomara and Marlon, 2 of the coolest people I have ever met.

Two Saturdays ago, Xiomara and Marlon showed up to the house and said we were going mountain climbing in Suerre, which is a city close to Guácimo! Xiomara and Marlon were so excited to show Kayla and I everything. We stopped at a Tilapia farm to chat with a few of their close friends and see a beautiful stream in their backyard. There are so many Tilapia farms here in Costa Rica, it's great! Past the farm we were doing some serious off-roading up and up until we reached a perfect spot to get out a walk.






We found our way to a gorgeous waterfall that absolutely took my breath away. Simple bliss is what I felt the whole time being in this environment. I want to plant my future home right there.

The following Sunday Marlon and Xiomara picked us up at 6:15 sharp for an all day adventure around the Limón province. *Little note about Marlon and Xiomara: these two are absolutely the most "Pura Vida" people I have met here in Costa Rica. They are so full of life and were so thrilled to take us to all these absolutely amazing places. Here is a brief outline of what we accomplished together in one unforgettable day:
1. Breakfast stop at an adorable outdoor cafe called "El Primo," where we tried out first Costa Rican coffee...mmm, rico.
2. Pit stop to pick up our favorite fruit here, Guanabana :) Like a mixture of pineapple, strawberry, and oranges.
3. Visit a few hidden rivers.
4. Watched huge cargo boats being loaded, including Dole fruit company!
5. Tour around the center of Limón.
6. Drive through the indigenous villages in Costa Rica; so peaceful and discrete.
7. Check out what cocoa trees and their fruit looks like.
8. Taking a boat from Cash, a small city, to PANAMA (what!?) to get some items at a import store.
9. Peaceful afternoon in the Caribbean, snacking on the beach.
10. Driving home with uncontrollable smiles and content hearts.
11. Dinner at "El Primo."
12. Best night of sleep ever.

It was honestly the best weekend I have had here, and all the other weekend have been pretty amazing themselves. I am so thankful for Xiomara and Marlon, their gracious hearts, and their love of adventure. I will not forget it.

The following week was our first full week of school, which was great! I have come to accept that my students are definitely going to be teaching me more than I will be able to teach them in my time with them. I love them and how they surprise me in many ways every day. I played soccer with the boys in gym the other day... oh my goodness... I'm pretty sure they are better than my high school's soccer team was. They love sharing soccer stats with me even though most the time I have no idea what they are talking about, I just smile and nod :) I am slowly learning the team names, I fear I might be quizzed one of these days soon!

One of my students favorite things to do is have me quiz them in math facts once they are done with their work. I make little problem sets and they set to work with determined minds, it's so fun to see their faces when I correct their work. Also, riddles. Today I wrote a riddle on the board for them today and they went crazy (in a good way). Once they figured it out they were begging for more.

Parents. I love talking with my students' parents, they are so kind and loving. The other day one of my students' moms told me she doesn't know what is going to happen when I am gone because her son likes having me as a teacher in his class. It made my heart melt. Yesterday one of the moms brought me a bag of recently cooked corn on the cob, which was awesome and yummy! That was a good walk home, snacking on come corn and discussing the day. The other week another one of my students' moms invited Kayla and I over to just sit and chat.

As this blog post turns into a chapter book I will resort to a list of things I am so blessed to have experienced recently :)

-A Saturday trip to San José, the capital city, to visit some popular sites like the National Theater, the Zoo, Casa Amarilla, The Cathedral, and Central Market. Kayla and I walked around for 7 hours taking in a very different city life! :)
-Surprise Birthday Party for Papí's sister. I am in love with this beautiful family. Almost all 11 siblings were there at the party where there was karaoke, copious amounts of food, dancing, piñata, merriment, and did I mention food? It is so wonderful to be in a place where the love between individuals is so visible.
-Talking with Mamí about God and other beautiful topics. She is such a strong woman of faith and love, I look up to her very much!
-Teaching Papí how to use the computer and set up an email account, tehehe.
-Wednesday Pilates with the ladies from church (and a small crab that wanted to join us on the floor). I was so relaxed after this!
-Being able to take time to reflect and see how truly amazing this opportunity it. God is good, life is sweet, and living in each moment just keeps getting better.

I pray that you all are in great spirits no matter what the weather is, literally and emotionally :)
Much love and peace from Costa Rica,
Hasta Luego!

"You say goodbye, I say hello."

The title of this blog post pretty much sums up awkward greeting moments between native Costa Ricans and myself, and I love everyone of these awkward moments. When passing someone on the street it becomes an instant battle in my mind what I should say because I never know if someone is going to say "Hola," "Buenas," "Buenos Dias;" all pretty natural greetings for "hello," or my personal favorite "Adios," which translates to "goodbye." I am so accustomed to saying "hello" to people in passing that the first time I heard someone say "Adios" here when Kayla and I walked by, I was slightly to mildly confused.

By this time in my adventures here I know that whatever I say in greeting, someone is going to say "adios" in return of my "hello," and it's just easy to use in short passing for hello and goodbye. I can't help but chuckle every time, however, because I literally translate it to "Hello," "Goodbye." 

Anyways, look! an Iguana!

 More to come mis amigos, bendiciones a todo! :)

I love my students (who choose to believe I also speak French...)

I cannot express the elation in my heart. Today was the biggest affirmation in my life of why it is I feel called to be a teacher. Since being in Costa Rica, Kayla and I have had our fair share of challenges, which turn into blessings nonetheless, but today...oh today. Today was the biggest blessing so far.

Everyone knows that feeling on the first day of school, whether you are a child, parent, relative, or teacher. The day wakes you up with butterflies and uncertainty about the day ahead, and minutes feel like days. This morning Kayla and I woke up really early to get ready for school and didn't really have much to say; anticipation was in the air.

Something that is very different between schools I have experienced in the States and here is time. The teachers here arrive 10 minutes before the beginning of the day and there is really no rush for anything, like most things here. 20 minutes before the start of the day was early for Kayla and I because there was hardly anyone at the school. We are teaching at a school of excellence called "Los Geranios," and it is a beautiful place. I will post pictures of it later, but it is a teal-colored cluster of buildings and is very open. There are plants and trees growing right in the middle of the school, it's gorgeous. The classroom sizes are smaller, around 25 students per class, because in Los Geranios they want to focus attention on each individual to help make as successful students as possible.

This morning all the students and their families trickled into the school to have a reflection and welcoming to a new year of school. All the students looked so sharp in their blue uniforms and were carrying big smiles on their faces. The principal, Doña Laura, introduced all the teachers and called off the names of the students in their respective classes. I am student teaching in the third grade, tercer grado, with a teacher named "Saira" (yes, it sounds a lot like "Sarah," match made in Costa Rica).

Meeting my students. I don't think I could stop smiling all day seeing these beautiful children and their bright eyes looking up at me with curiosity. Brother, did they have questions.... all throughout the day I would hear a little voice behind me ask "¿Profé? ¿Profé?" (short for "Profesora"-teacher).

"Where are you from?"
"Have you seen snow?"
"How old are you?"
"Did you come here in a plane?"
"Do you have boyfriend?"
"Is she (Kayla) your sister?"
"Do you have beaches in the United States?"
"Do you speak French?" (This question is the winner as it was the most reoccurring...???)
"Who's in your family?"
"How do you write my name in English?"
"Do you watch wrestling on TV?"
"Are you going to stay in our class?"

You get the picture :) This is one of the reasons I love children and want to spend my every day with them; they have curiosity, they are giggly, their beautiful minds are constantly fired up, and they love you for everything you are.

It took me a little while to get a hang of what the schedule was like during the day because I hadn't gotten any information on what a normal school day consists of. Shortly after starting the day there was a small "recreo" (recess), where the students could have a snack and play for a little bit around the school. Immediately two of my students took me by hand and walked me around the school, asking more questions. Every time we had a recess today a swarm of students would surround Kayla and I, firing questions at us left and right with giggly voices :) I think this is the closest I will get to feeling famous. Some students would try to use what English they knew to say hello, which is such an awesome feeling when someone makes that effort. I am in love with the energy in this school and all these students. I have known them for maybe 7 hours and feel already that come that last day of school, it's gonna be rough to say "hasta luego."

During block time in my classroom, the students were asking so many questions about me and the United States that my teacher pulled up a chair to the front of the classroom and told me to sit down. Saira told the students that they could ask me any questions they wanted. It was so much fun. I got to share with my students pictures of things that are important to me from home and things I like to do.

After it was time for the last class of the day, Religion. We played a little game and then the students had a little picture to color. The Religion teacher gave me one to color and one of my students jumped up, pulled a chair next to his and said, "¡Venga!" (come here). He shared his brand new colored pencils with me while I taught him the colors in English.

When it was time for everyone to go home, I did not want to say goodbye. So many of my students came up to me to affirm that I was coming back the next day. After being flooded with kisses, hugs, and "hasta mañana's" (see you tomorrow), it was the end of the very first day of school.

Running into the principal on our way out she asked me if I was tired and I honestly responded that I think I have more energy than ever. Maybe every day won't be like this, but I have today, and Gracias a DIOS (Thanks to God) for every moment of it.

As Alicia Keys would say, "This girl is on fire."

Bendiciones to you all, I hope that your week is going stupendously! :)

  Desks ready for a new school year!

 Saira's desk

  

 2 of my muchachos guapos! :)

 Front of the classroom

 A beautiful picture from one of my students and a project from Religion class!

Happy First Day of School!! :)

These pictures will never do justice to the view we get to wake up to every day!

Tejas..... somehow you seem out of place.