New year goals for teaching/learning Spanish

I started a new job as a long-term sub teaching Spanish in a largish (1200 students) public school this month. As part of a warm-up activity my first day, I asked students to write their goals for Spanish class this semester. Most wrote what grade they wanted for the semester. One wrote that she wanted to learn some Spanish that she might remember, forever. I've been thinking about what my goals are, knowing that I have just under 6 months working with these students. It's easy to let the class become a series of grammar explanations, and exercises and games to practice translations, verb conjugations and understanding of vocabulary. I want to do more to share why I have spent so much time studying and using this language. Use more "real" language. Use a lot less English in the classroom. Start what can become a continued conversation for those students that want it. But it's hard when most of those students are focused on me as their evaluator and wanting a certain number on their report card.

Jump, Josie (A children's caterpillar story)

Josie was a happy caterpillar. She spent all day tiptoeing her many legs across leafy green. She enjoyed how some leaves tickled her with their tiny hairs, while on others she could simply slide.

She sampled the varied leaves. She lunched on smooth shiny ones. She snacked on crisp zesty ones. She dined with some friends, nibbling the canopy above her for a better view of the setting sun. For breakfast, she ate her pillow, soft and succulent.

One day, as she was enjoying a post-brunch stroll, she noticed a friend.

“What are you doing, Francis?” she called curiously.

“I’m building my cocoon, so that I can take a long nap and wake up with wings.”

“Wings? Why would you want those? Winged creatures are always in such a rush. They don’t appreciate the solid earth, and are always searching for some new thing, some new direction the wind might take them. Why would you want that stress?”

“Josie, don’t you know? I’m a caterpillar, and so are you. But now it is time for me to transform and become a moth. When the time is right, you will transform too.”

“Time to stop enjoying my leaves and leisure? Doubtful.” She shook her head and perched several legs on her hips to emphasize her disagreement. She shut her eyes to show she did not want to hear more. But when she opened them and looked at Francis for a response, she saw that his face had been replaced by tiny silver threads. She poked him gently. He wiggled in response, but had nothing more to say on the matter.

“Well. No wings, and already he’s in too much of a rush to properly finish a conversation.”

She picked up her many feet one by one, and continued her search for something green and delicious.

“Wings? Really?” She thought as she walked. “These legs take me anywhere I want to go. And there are more leaves here than I could ever hope to digest.”

The afternoon warmth turned to chilly dusk. Josie pulled some leaves around her close for warmth. She wished for something even tighter as her eyes grew heavy. She let herself fall into what she knew would be a deep, deep sleep.

Josie woke feeling refreshed, though slightly damp. She smiled at the sunlight peeking through leaves and stretched her legs: one, two, three, four, five, six…

She let out her wings to soak up the sunlight. Wait. Wings? And where were her other legs? Could this be true?

Shocked at her transformation, she batted her wings slowly. Open, close. Open, close. After some time, thanking the sun for not rushing her, she moved forward on her new legs. She tasted a nearby leaf with her tongue. Ugh. What she remembered as a delicious pre-bed snack now felt bitter on her small tongue. She craved something sweet. But she refused to let her wings change her leisurely pace. She enjoyed the feel of balancing along a leaf stem. She enjoyed feeling each of her—now six—legs under her, and their connection to something solid.

She moved forward at a familiar crawl, searching for something that would be more pleasing to her new tongue. As she walked, she took in the sights. Bumble bees, birds, mosquitoes and flies flew above her, moving with some unknown purpose that she preferred not to share. She continued along, lifting one leg at a time.

After awhile, she noticed a spider sitting gracefully in her web. Josie stood a moment to admire the intricate details from a distance, thinking as she did: “Winged creatures move too fast to notice the everyday beauty around them.”

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted when a small fly dove into the web. The spider immediately jumped to the fly, and began wrapping a silky thread around it. Soon it was covered entirely, and the spider returned to a corner of her web as Josie reflected on what she saw.

Josie batted her wings gently as she replayed the encounter in her mind.

“Of course!” She thought excitedly. She knew what the spider’s silky thread reminded her of: Francis’s cocoon! It was all so clear to her now. Here, she was not the only winged creature who wished for more legs and a slower pace of moving. The spider could make her a cocoon, and after a nap, she would wake again, having reversed the transformation and returned to her cherished life as a care-free caterpillar.

With new determination, but still refusing to use her wings, Josie traced a possible path up to the spider’s web with her eyes. She started moving, one leg at a time, so pleased with her new discovery.

After her climb, Josie ventured one leg onto the soft silky thread. But when she tried to lift it and move forward, she realized the surface was tremendously sticky. She shook her leg, and became more stuck.

The spider scuttled to her quickly and cut the threads attached to Josie’s legs, scolding, “You will break my web. You are far too big!”

“Oh, no. Please, Spider. Please. I want you to make me a cocoon so that I can take a long nap and wake up as a caterpillar again. Please, won’t you help?”

The spider laughed softly. “I don’t make cocoons, young one. I make dinner. Once I wrap my prey in silk, I can drink all their delicious blood. But you are far too large for me to eat. So let me give you some advice. Jump. Open your wings, and don’t look back. It is true that in life are changes. Some are drastic, and make us wish for what was before, what was familiar. But there are changes you can’t control. When those changes happen, you move forward, and you let changes change you. Never forgetting, of course, where you’ve been. Not necessarily having a clear idea of where you are going. But knowing that to continue LIVING, we need to embrace the present, look towards the future, and move forward.”

Josie was shocked. She had been so wrong. Of course, she was not angry at the spider, who needed to eat. Her body was designed for wrapping flies and drinking their blood. Josie’s body was hungry, too. She wanted something sweet. Not knowing how to respond to this sage spider, Josie stood unmoving for a time. Then she replayed the words: “Jump. Move forward. Don’t look back.” She breathed deeply, pressed her six legs into solidness. And jumped.

I wrote this story sitting up in a strangler fig near CEC during my last week in Monteverde. I was processing a pretty difficult transition. In my original concept, the caterpillar died. My brother thought that concept would appeal to hipsters, and I thought it was somewhat Grimm's fairy tale-esque. But since I felt myself relating to the caterpillar, I decided to explore another possibility. I did confirm that some moth cocoons are silky like a spider wrapping its prey, though I want to share this with folks from the Butterfly Garden to get some expert input.

Coming Home

Currently writing on the eve of Christmas Eve, from PA. I'm no longer working at CEC, and quickly moving forward with a new job to avoid feeling the full effect of the reality that I packed all of my bags (who knew you could collect so much in 18 months?) when I left Monteverde this December. It's hard to describe how I've been feeling, which explains the prolonged silence. I spent the month after being let go with applying to teaching jobs and putting off saying goodbye. I flirted with the idea of finding another teaching job on the mountain, or another something else job. I still love so much of what I found in Monteverde. The one paved road and stopping along it to chat with familiar faces. Where the paved road meets the unpaved road. The door that we seldom locked and was often pushed open with an "Upe!" or a gust of wind. Learning to dance, to cook, to live with new rhythms. The rain, feeling certain that you could touch the end of a rainbow around the corner. The wind, and how it could knock you over, lift you up. Although I don't have solid plans for my future, I know that I'll be back, that I'll change and that the mountain will change, along with the folks I know who're still there and those that will come and go without me meeting them. I'm both excited and hesitant as I move forward. Being greeted in PA with a record snow storm was a smack in the face to remind me that airplanes as well as tornadoes can take you far away from what's familiar, that "there's no place like home", but that home is more than where I drop my suitcases. I smiled on Tuesday when I went to my new school, with 1100 students, and found a teacher potluck to celebrate the upcoming vacation. Although I had to rush to finish in the 30 minute lunch period, I could already see possibilities for finding new ways to expand my "home".

My Starfish Story

On my most recent vacation, in September, I took some time to explore Santa Rosa National Park, which is in the northwest corner of the country, almost in Nicaragua. A 4am wake-up and 3 buses away from Monteverde, I was in an entirely different ecosystem, less green, more sun, and the preferred home of Costa Rica's national animal, the white tailed deer.

Bus station in Liberia

The majority of the time, I had the park’s trails entirely to myself. I saw...

...monkeys,

...cactus growing like vines,

...a completely empty beach,

...birds,

...crabs,

...interesting driftwood,

and a starfish with a pair of gimpy legs.

When I saw the starfish, I was reminded of the starfish story (click to read the story) that my West Philly roommates Alice, Dana and Maya told me when they were in City Year. It's an inspirational story about a little girl who wants to make a difference. Smiling to myself, and channeling that little-girl enthusiasm, I picked up the starfish and threw it towards the Pacific. Unfortunately, I am not a very good throw, and it landed immediately in the crashing waves. So, realizing that rather than actually helping this little guy to get back into the ocean and live a happy starfish life, I was in fact only prolonging the hour of his death by waves onto sand to dry up in the hot Guanacaste sun. Still imagining pig-tails and good intentions, I found him again in the crashing waves and picked him up to throw him to safety. As I flung him, his leg flew off, and he plopped a few feet in front of me. Not wanting to make his situation worse, and hoping that starfish can regenerate their legs, I decided to move on.

I am not sure what the moral of this story is.

Leaf-cutter ants

Here's a peek at leaf-cutter ants. Usually they carry (you guessed it) leaves that are 3-4 times their body size, but these ones are toting pink flowers. The video is actually from my friend Dana from our day-cation to Las Juntas. She could tell you lots more about these guys, since she spent two months volunteering in Monteverde telling tourists about interesting insects at the Butterfly Garden.



Perhaps the most incredible thing to notice is that these ants make a path, with their little ant legs, from so much walking back and forth.



Gorgeous.

Problem solving

I'm now a month into my second year at The Cloud Forest School, in my new role as the Colegio Academic Support Teacher, working with special ed and ESL students in 7th-11th grades. I've become super-slacker with regards to updating my blog, mostly because in the second semester, I accepted the position of Assistant Director of Academics, with a lot more responsibilities. I've since resigned from that role, wanting to focus more on supporting the progress of my students and growing as an educator without so many commitments. I also want to use this job, as well as friendships and the natural beauty of Monteverde as inspiration for more writing. Keeping this blog relatively up-to-date and picking up more on my writing are both personal goals I have for this year.

One thing I realized about myself last year is that I like identifying and solving problems. But also that I cannot solve all, or really any of them, alone. As trite as that sounds, it was a huge realization, and recognizing this and also the need to focus my energy on tackling one (maybe 3) problems at a time will allow me to be successful and happy.

This lesson, of relying on others to successfully face and meet challenges, was one that Becky and I presented to our 8th grade advisory a few weeks back at the start of the school year. We started with a team-building game where each person got a word on their back and had to find and link arms with the person who had a matching word (i.e. spoon & fork, rice & beans, shoes & socks) without talking. It's not possible to see the whole problem if half of the riddle is on your back, so this is successful when a third person comes and puts two partners together. When we talked about the activity, it was clear that some folks had "cheated" and either looked at their back or whispered to a friend what was on theirs. Diego claimed this was telepathy. Next, we did a trust walk with partners, and then "Magic Carpet", which involved 18 students standing on a VERY large beach towel that my mom left for me when she visited in February (although not super useful for real beach trips, which always involved backpacking and riding several hours in a public bus, this was ideal for team building purposes). They then had to flip it over without anyone getting off the carpet/ginourmous beach towel. This was finally successful only when a "lightning storm" gave 2 students superpowers and the ability to fly (and piggyback another 2 students), but pulling each other together into a tighter group and cooperating made the task easier. So, in our discussion at the end of advisory, we asked some questions about how they solved these problems that they were presented with and what they could take away and apply to other problems, expecting answers like teamwork, cooperation, communication, etc. But, my favorite responses were: telepathy and lightning.

Growing our library

As part of our planning for improving the English curriculum in the colegio, we are also looking at growing out the colegio English classroom library, which was largely built when the high school was still growing and classes were 4-5 students. Now classes are as large as 22. Currently, Tracy uses the available resources and runs her class as a series of reading groups. We would like to be able to read some texts as a full class, with the ability to have shared conversations. If you're able, please consider donating a book on our wish list online or giving requested titles that are collecting dust in your library to me when I return home for Christmas (in just one week!).

Why teach English?

As I'm wrapping up my first semester teaching at CEC, I am looking back at these past few months and forward into planning for next semester. Which has me revisiting the question “Why do we study English?” The first day of class, I asked every student to answer this question along with some others as part of setting goals. The seriousness of their responses was a bit surprising. Pamela, a 7th grader, wrote: “Quiero aprender inglés porque es muy importante para hoy en día. Si uno no sabe inglés, no es nadie.” Which translates: “I want to learn English because it is very important for today. If you do not know English, you are no one.”

Now I am working with our colegio English teacher Tracy to plan how to incorporate the ESL students into the colegio English classes, and also rethinking our goals, as teachers and as a school, for teaching English.

So, why DO we teach English at a school in the cloud forest of the Tiliran mountains of Costa Rica? It's clear that many students and their families choose CEC because of the opportunity to really learn English. With the year's tuition equal to a third of an average salary in the region, that choice is even more telling of the value which families place on this skill. I think it's clear that knowing English is a way of increasing job opportunities, especially in the Monteverde region where most jobs are found in tourism and biology research which require interacting with many English speakers. In fact, with the amount of English spoken in Monteverde, it can feel like a rural community in the U.S.

Beyond that, I think that knowing the English language gives students access to new ideas and perspectives, both through communication with other English speakers and through literature. The study of English expands students' world view and understanding of history and helps them to develop an appreciation for cultural differences.

Side note - the Costa Rican Ministry of Education requires that students take an English exam along with other subjects in order to graduate. This test is a 70-80 question multiple choice test with comprehension questions based on a series of short (less than 200 word) texts, such as an email to a tourist with recommendations for planning their trip to Costa Rica, or a description of an English class, or a conversation between a ticket agent and a customer buying a train ticket from NYC to DC. Although this test is not comprehensive, I think it shows a recognition of the importance of knowing a second language and a national attempt to prepare graduates to participate in a world that functions in languages other than Spanish (and often in English). I want us to go beyond the basics in what we're expecting of our students.

Working from my ideas and conversations with others, I have created an outline with ideas for developing the colegio English curriculum around 5 different themes, one for each grade: identity, voices, culture, justice and the environment. And I have ideas for titles to consider with each of the themes. I've heard folks say that anyone can teach English, especially ESL abroad, so long as they know how to speak the language. While I disagree, I do think that I can create a much stronger curriculum using contributions from others. And I think that everyone has useful ideas about interesting books and movies. I'd love to have your input. You can email me suggestions for titles or ask to look at the Google doc.

Pretzels and photos

I made pretzels with my 7^th grade ESL students the other day. Since they had never heard of them before, it was completely fine that we didn't have pretzel salt and the oven and yeast weren't really working. They had a lot of fun covering their hands with flour and twisting the dough into shape, and so long as the final result was warm fresh-baked goodness, I think everyone would have been happy.

A volunteer who is making a video about our school was one of several folks to walk in the kitchen as we were pretzeling, and she asked to take some footage, which was definitely a lot of fun. I also had my camera and had taken a few shots of dough and smiles.

Then I thought about pictures. That decision that, yes, this moment is worth capturing and sharing with others. I remembered a conversation I overheard between a student inviting a volunteer to climb a strangler fig a short walk from school, and she replied, no, I don't have my camera. Like it wasn't worth the trip if you couldn't document the experience. Which is clearly silly.

I think of all of the moments that are just as—and often more—important than students posing with pretzel dough. Like Beatriz's look of concentration as she described the super strong wind with her growing English skills, retelling how she saw a bird thrown against the 'Perro Negro' hill coming from school. And her smile when she was through and could see that I understood her meaning. Or Luis and Freddy wrestling each other to the ground to reenact a bear catching a fish in a story we read. Or Anna standing on a chair and singing 'All I Want for Christmas is You' into her hairbrush to cheer up a friend. Or one of many stray dogs that came into the bar/lounge Moon Shiva and fell asleep on Bethany's lap. Those moments I wouldn´t want to interrupt by taking out my camera or happen when I´m not carrying it, but I often wish I could blink my eyes and have them work like the shutter of a camera so that I could share the things I see with others.

¨Change you can believe in¨

At midnight left la Colina Lodge where were watching the election returns and then McCain´s and Obama´s speeches. And it was one of the few cloudness nights we´ve had here in Monteverde. Gorgeous. Had a feeling of openness, new possibility, positivity. Can´t write more than that now because time for classes.

Halloween

This year Halloween involved costumes, sharing Reese's and spider rings sent by my mom, reading “The Tell-Tale Heart” with my ESL students, dancing with Chancos del Monte (rock band that includes the school's board president), an international teachers' party with 'bloody' toilet paper streamers, and pumpkin cookies that Anna and I made with super cute Martha Stewart cookie cutters that Jenn brought back from the States.


Good times. But one of the most interesting things was the reaction the Halloween celebrations got from many Ticos and questions it raised for me about the origins of the holiday and why we celebrate the way we do. I was repeatedly told that it was a Satanic holiday. One person said she really wanted to go to see the band at Bar Amigos, but would not because advertised as a Halloween party, and did not want people to think that she worships Satan or had anything to do with Halloween. I explained my vague understanding of the word “Halloween” originating from “All Hallow's Eve” or “All Saint's Day”, a Catholic celebration and that the holiday also takes some traditions from pagan (Druid?) harvest festival (celebrating lots of food...eating candy). I realized that I'm really not sure myself what we're celebrating or why. Interesting side note, the Spanish translation is “Día de las Brujas” or “Witches' Day”, which may partially shape (and/or reflect) how the holiday and it's celebrations are perceived by Spanish speakers.

Which is not as interesting as the staff meeting on Wednesday, when Anna asked whether students should be allowed to wear costumes to school, and led to a debate that ended with the decision not to celebrate the holiday in school. Tico teachers said don't celebrate because not part of Costa Rican culture. But students know that it exists, because of television and tourists/expats (bars advertise costume parties for us gringos). The only reason folks would want to wear costumes is to show off how much money they have. Or (for high school girls), to show off their bodies. And school has a policy against junk food. And that many parents see holiday as a Satanic celebration and would misinterpret our allowing students to wear costumes, so would need to explain why celebrating, but that would be difficult to communicate beforehand, and better to not recognize Halloween, but possibly have a costume day at some other time during the year since dressing up can be fun.

I wonder why we don't use this as an opportunity to teach about U.S. culture, offer a different view of U.S. culture than Disney channel, have U.S. students share experiences, learn a bit of history, consider religious influences on holiday, talk about what is scary, why people like being scared, why people like disguises, and so on. In my ESL class, I asked students to interview a U.S. student or teacher about how they celebrated Halloween in the past and plans for celebrating in Monteverde. I shared my favorite candy (Reese's sent by my mom), and we read a scary story or read about “ghost hunting”. And I know that could create more interesting Halloween-themed lessons with more thought and planning. I think it is a shame to ignore an opportunity for cultural exchange like this, and want to think about how we could celebrate as a school next year (starting the conversation earlier than 2 days before).

Just passing through?

Last week, we had an interesting discussion at staff meeting. We all discussed in small groups our goals and dreams for the school, and then barriers that kept us from accomplishing them. Then we shared ideas with a global discussion. One thing that came up was the fact that many of the staff are international teachers who come to the school for a year or two. This makes it hard to build community, since there is a division between Costa Ricans, ex pats who have settled in the community, and teachers in their first year at the school (I am one of 9 in this last category, of about 36 who make the school run...another 7 are in their 2nd year). At one end, there is certainly a language and cultural barrier. Also, there is a problem that people (unconsciously) don't want to put all their energy into relationships when they know they might need to say goodbye in just a year. People come each year with new energy and new ideas, but this leads to some inconsistency when the next teacher does not necessarily continue the same conversation. Some problems we discussed are conversations that have happened before, and the solutions never seem to work out completely. This situation is especially interesting considering that most students enter in preschool and continue through graduation in 11th grade.

Why do so many teachers come and go? The answer is fairly simple, if also complicated. Many teachers are recruited from North America. The salary for teachers is low. In take-home income, I am making less than I did as an Americorps volunteer living at minimum wage. And while many expenses are cheaper than when I lived in West Philly, prices for many items are high since Monteverde is a tourist town (restaurants and such cater towards folks with money to spend) and in the mountains (you buy a bus ticket for your rice and shampoo). And of course, there are added expenses, like the cost of a ticket home for Christmas and the temptations to be a tourist and explore as much of this new place as possible. The founders of the school included ex pats living in the community who had a vision for a new kind of school, quality, bilingual education with an emphasis on understanding and protecting the environment that would be accessible to as many students as possible. As a bilingual school with English, there is an emphasis recruiting native English speakers. Which leads to a new set of question. What do I bring beyond a southeastern PA accent? How would a Tico teacher do my job differently?

I have been a member of many communities that I've since left, but continue to impact who I am and how I interact with others, my own schools, summer camps, Americorps, my host family in Ecuador. I know that they all change as new members come, and it's easy to not think of myself as part of them anymore. But there is also a bond that exists between me and others who have been part of these same communities at completely different times. I'm interested in exploring how the internet could be a way to bring past, current and future members of CEC community into the same conversation.

Monteverde itself is an interesting mix of people. There is a very large transient community. Tourists, students at language schools, biologists doing research, construction workers, in addition to CEC teachers and others. Many of these groups do not interact with each other. This mix of people adds another type of diversity to the incredible biodiversity that attracts so many people to the zone. And it creates tension at the same time.

Even the diversity in residents of the zone creates interesting tensions. Consider the one paved main road in the Monteverde zone. This was added in the past year (maybe two), after a bit of controversy. Most roads are still dusty/muddy littered with rocks and holes. The road from the Panamerican highway up to Monteverde is still dirt, terribly bumpy and even deadly (just last week, the post courier was killed by a mudslide while traveling on his motorcycle). Many environmental advocates want to keep the road relatively inaccessible to limit the number of tourists (who come despite the road) who visit the zone and thereby limit the human impact on this zone´s fragile ecosystem. Others argue that the road should be paved to allow better access to the hospitals, malls, family and friends in other towns and cities and easier access to transport goods up the mountain. Last week, heavy rains caused landslides that blocked the roads to and from Monteverde for days, and this is not uncommon for the season. Now, there is a paved road that cars, trucks and ATVs can race down. Is this change progress? Community development?

I think many view my role in Monteverde as part of this flow of folks coming and going and that I'm just "passing through". I'm not wholly sure how long I plan to stay, and will make that decision later. But I know that I'm not just passing through, because I am ready and wanting to understand this community and allow myself to be influenced by it and grow within it. And I'm looking forward to continuing that process.

Sights and sounds

Because I promised to include a few pictures and I now have access to faster internet connetion at school so uploading is easier, here's a few images.

First, frisbee with other staff, students and friends each Saturday:


This is a sloth that was walking back and forth on a telephone line by our cabin one night:



Here's a view of my bedroom, with the quilt my mom made me that matches really nicely with the all wood everything:

And here's a video that Bethany recorded of the 15th of September Independence Day celebrations:



Finally, here's a link to my all my photos on Picassa that I'll update periodically.

Cooking with chayote and other ideas

And now for something completely different. I mentioned chayote and good soup in an earlier entry, and Melissa asked for some recipes. So, here's a recipe that a friend from Columbia shared. Making a variation of this soup attempting to create my own chicken stock was my project all Saturday afternoon. The first time I had it, it was cooked on a wood stove, which I do not suggest, since takes super long.

Super starchy soup

2-3 potatoes
1-2 chayote (darker green is better for soup)
1 yucca
1 green plantain
1 tomato
bullion cube
salt
cilantro

Peel and dice the potatoes, chayote (remove white center core), yucca and plantain. Add them to boiling water with bullion cube and salt to season. When potatoes are soft, add diced tomato and fresh cilantro and allow to boil another 2-5 minutes.

Tastes great with fried plantains (as does everything). 1 large yellow plantain makes 8 pieces. Slice peel length-wise to open, then cut plantain in half and slice halves length-wise. Fry in some vegetable oil until both sides golden-brown. No need to add anything.

Other ideas

I've also used chayote boiled along with potatoes to make mashed potatoes/chayote. Then mixed in some sauteed onions, peppers and garlic and a bit of cheese. Melissa suggested boiled with brown sugar, which sounds wonderful. And, like all veggies, mixed with rice is a great plan for some cut up chayote. I like Dana's mom's rule about more colorful meals being better.

Another thing I very much enjoy is creating variations on banana bread. Here's a recipe:

Banango bread

1 egg
½ stick butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2-3 ripe bananas
1 mango
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Mix egg, butter and sugar (I'll melt butter in oven as preheating, so also greases pan). Mash in bananas, using a fork. Add cut mango. Blend dry ingredients, and add to batter. Bake in a greased pan at 350 for about 30-40 minutes (or until golden brown).

I've substituted (or supplemented) fruit yogurts, jams, for fruit and added honey, nutella, granola, oatmeal, and/or raisins. Always pleased with results.

Please share ideas you have for good recipes. I'm a big fan of food. And potlucks are a splendid way to socialize. One of our teachers talked about starting cooking classes as a way to socialize and learn Costa Rican cooking. Once that happens, I'll have more to share.

Dirty Nica

Do you know how when you learn something new, and you start to notice it everywhere? Like hearing the SAT word “garrulous” on the news and then noticing it in a magazine ad. Maybe not, but these past few days I have been hearing a lot about Costa Ricans' prejudice towards Nicaraguans. As a teacher, I am trying to better understand where this prejudice comes from and how to address it in my students. Here are some things I've seen.

On Thursday, we were having a lesson on understanding, asking and answering (discussion, short answer, essay) questions. Students have been reading student-selected books with partners. I asked them to write discussion questions about their books so that they could have a conversation about big ideas from their text with others who have not read the book.

One of my 10^th graders wrote this discussion question for The Friendship (a novella by Mildred D. Taylor set in turn-of-the-century American South about a conflict that arises when a black man addresses a white store owner by his first name) : “Do you agree or disagree have friends with niggers?” I said the question used a very racist word. He said he's not racist, but then went on to say that Nicas (short for Nicaraguans) are dirty, stupid, talk stupid, violent – greeted by giggles from the rest of class. I said, “I'm not laughing.” Good strategy or not, I let him continue, so he could practice his English and I could listen and better understand. I asked why. Asked if others agreed (all did, one qualified “not all bad”). The student continued. Stupid. Kill people. 9 people at the bank (in Monteverde 2 years ago). Rotweiller chased a Nica. And girls. Men *hip thrust and smile* girls. I was overwhelmed with the matter-of-fact hatred.

I said I wanted to understand. Told students to bring in articles to show me, and “justify their opinion” (a phrase we were practicing). And we would talk about this topic more. Clearly haven't resolved, and I'm still figuring out what my plan will be for our next class on Tuesday. We didn't have class on Friday, since celebrating Children's Day and also a trip to see the play for 7^th, 8^th and 9^th which I'll mention more below. Monday we have Independence Day celebrations.

During break, another student said a joke in Spanish about Nicas crawling on the floor in Pali (=Walmart) looking for “los precios mas bajos” (“the lowest prices”). I mentioned dumb blonde jokes. But rubias are beautiful. Ah, stereotypes.

On Friday, I went with students to see Cesar Melendez's El Nica, a powerful monologue about hate, marginalization. After some slides showing news headlines and graffiti with hate messages towards Nicas, the character, El Nica, stumbles onto the stage in a dirty, bloody “Pura Vida – Costa Rica” t-shirt with a giant smiling tree frog. He confides in a small cruxifix on the table – laughing, yelling, reenacting flashbacks. He apologizes to the audience for being poor, illiterate, for coming to the country, for his accent, for his dead father. He talks about political oppression, torture, real hunger, Ruben Dario, brotherhood, a dangerous crossing in secret of the San Juan River (border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica). A scene near the end involved him being beaten up by unseen attackers and ended with his arms outstretched, crucified. Play is 8 years old. Over 1400 performances. In a short Q&A after the performance, Cesar said wants a day when the message he presents is no longer needed and people stop coming. When we returned to CEC, the other students were wrapping up ice cream to celebrate Children's Day. No formal processing of the piece. What was understood? How will we continue this conversation? Where does prejudice come from? Political instability? Oppression? Poverty? Hate?

I've been trying to process what I've seen, and figure out what to do with this knowledge. Anna (my roommate and colegio science teacher) said that she saw most of the 10^th graders at the play when they had a public performance, so we can use that as a common discussion topic to address these issues.

In the meantime, this weekend and Monday are celebrations for Central American independence from Spain, which originally was 5 provinces, now Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica (Panama part of Columbia). Here's a look at the parades that will happen tomorrow on the 15th. A major event involves a torch that leaves Guatemala at 4am on the 13^th and is carried by youth down the Panamerican highway and into each community. Our town received the torch in a ceremony at 9am this morning, after high schoolers had been running with it all night from the highway and up the hill (taking turns, with a bus). This symbol of shared purpose and unity is so interesting when considered with the hateful anti-Nica speech I've been hearing.

Two truths and a lie

So I had my students play this game in class to practice with talking about the past and telling stories. I explained the basic rules - you share 2 truths and 1 lie about yourself (I added that it had to be about when you were young) and other players have to guess the lie. It was fun, but not everyone understood. Freddy was my favorite. He asked if he could have 2 lies, and I said that was ok. So, he said: 1) A man cursed me and I killed him. 2) I fell off a precipice and died. and 3) I like to play soccer. I guessed the third, and he was shocked.

Also, they all believed that I lived in Argentina for 3 years. Which I found surprising. I guess I need to go there now.

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...