domingo, 24 de agosto de 2008

Lots of clouds, green and laughter

I'm starting this blog to post thoughts about my first year teaching at the Cloud Forest School in Monteverde, Costa Rica.

So far, I've been enjoying getting to know people and places and growing accustomed to living in clouds/rain/mist/thunderstorms.

Lots here in Monteverde is green. The mountains (clearly), the uniforms for our high school students, a fruit that looks like a toothless grandfather and tastes great mixed with soup or rice and beans, the mold that we quickly learned grows on bread or anything else when not stored in the fridge. Good fun.

Also, in fitting with the local name for our school, la Creativa, my students are very creative and rather playful. Especially my 10th graders. Without understanding why for the first week or so, I was amused that my students always insisted on pronouncing my name in an exaggerated English accent and then laughing. I finally realized that my English pronunciation of "Teresa" sounds like the Spanish "tu risa" (your laugh), which the students really enjoyed and have decided to call me. This has led to a new nickname that I've embraced and decided to use as my blog...so I'll be living with it awhile. A variation they also use is "Tu ja ja ja".

Looking forward to posting more updates, and pictures soon...