La vida mía

Vámonos Gringos!

Yay team U.S.A.! Now I can tease my papatico down here that the gringos won. : )

Yesterday was a good day with the group at Playa Conchal in the morning. I love this beach because the waters are so blue and the beach is actually made up of shells. It’s beautiful. I finished out the day at work and returned home for a wonderful dinner and conversation with my host family. I even had time for a gelato run with my group!

This morning I woke up at 5 for a 10k run out to Playa Grande in the rain! It was a great run and I was soaked by the time I got back, but it was worth it. Tranquila...

------ ----- ------ ------ ------ ------
I want to take a moment to explain what I’ve been doing down here every day for the past two weeks. It occurred to me, in a suggestion from my mom, that those who are new to this may not be able to follow exactly what it is I’m doing. Let me explain…

I officially work for the Spanish language immersion school called Centro Panamericano de Idiomas (or CPI). I work for CPI Grupos. Contrary to what most think, I do not teach English here. CPI is a school that offers Spanish courses for those interested in learning the language in Costa Rica. CPI was started in 1991 in a house in the Central Valley. It has since grown into three campuses located in Heredia (Central Valley), Monteverde (Mountains) and Flamingo (Beach, Pacific Coast). The courses are designed as full immersion for beginning to advanced speakers with a maximum of 4 students per class. The school is equipped to hold university, high school, individual and families of students coming through.

I work for the division of the school called CPI Grupos. I am hired as a chaperone for the summer. Basically, my job description entails working with high school or college groups that are taking classes through CPI. I am the intermediary between the group’s own chaperones and CPI. I am the “fill-in-the-blanks” person. I make sure their classes are ok, that they get fed and that they get to their other activities on time. I travel with them throughout the country and transfer schools with them when they do transfer. When I pick up a group from the airport, I am with them usually until they leave the country. Thus, I am very nomadic in the summer and typically won’t stay in one location for more than five days at a time.

A typical day includes waking up early around 5:30 a.m. and meeting my group at the pickup point around 7:30 a.m. before heading to a planned morning activity (i.e. canopy tour, surfing, volunteering, dance class, coffee tour, jungle tour, hiking, etc.). After the activity, we get lunch somewhere that I have coordinated and then return to CPI at 1:00 p.m. for Spanish class from 1:00-5:00 p.m. At 3:00 there is a 20 minute snack and coffee break. While the kids are in class, I am in the office usually uploading pictures, writing the group blog, confirming the following day’s activities or anything that needs to be done. After class we will all go to an evening activity if one is planned or I will make sure they arrive back at their homestays. This is usually the point when my job ends for the evening, around 7:30 p.m.

In a very small nutshell, this is what I do. There is very little personal time or down time and some of the groups can be intense while others are very relaxed and in touch with the pura vida lifestyle. However, I absolutely love my job and love being here for the summer. I work with a wonderful group of people and for a wonderful school. I am exhausted but content at the end of each day. : ) I will explain more in upcoming blogs about what all goes on here at school. This should give you all a good start!