Tuanis Mae

¿Adivina qué? I’m having a great Spanish day. The group I have now is a Language/Service combo group so the chaperones really want to speak to the kids in Spanish all time. It’s great because then I have to speak Spanish all the time. I had a long conversation with the husband of the woman who runs CPI Flamingo at the volunteer site and it was great because I was actually participating in the conversation at a normal rate of speech. He complimented me on how good my Spanish was. I was thrilled! I finally feel confident again. : )

Secondly, apparently I have lost a lot of weight since last year. At least four different people from CPI commented that I looked a lot thinner and they couldn’t believe it was me. I didn’t realize I looked so different last year! It’s been the running, I know, but apparently it’s made a bigger difference than I realized. Today I ran 4.5 miles as the sun was coming up. I can only stand to run at early hours because the heat and humidity are at least mildly tolerable.

Tonight we have a fogata at the beach. The bonfires are always fun and an enjoyable way to end out a day. Let’s hope for no rain! We finished our volunteer at the school today and it looks great! Check out the pictures, it’s amazing how much a little paint can do for a place.

I unfortunately don’t have any great stories at the moment. My Tico experiences have been limited because I’ve mostly been working this year. I’ll keep my eyes out for fun Tico Facts and random animal sightings. Meggie and I are ‘working’ right now, so we are amusing ourselves with dance versions of Lady Gaga songs. Just another day in Costa Rica…

I should go do something productive.

Wieners and huevos,
Jessica Lynn

Costa Rica Running 101

Buenos días : )

I got up this morning and went for a run like always and decided that if anyone is reading this and happens to visit Costa Rica and go for a run, they should know a few things first.

1. When in Rome… Down here, most Ticos walk with the traffic. I was never really comfortable with this, but trying to follow Tico customs I used to run this same way: with traffic. I wouldn’t recommend it. At least when you’re running against traffic, you can jump into the ditching when a crazy, pothole avoiding bus approaches you head on.

2. Think: Luis Sacher’s book Holes: Run as close as you can to them on dirt roads. Why? Because you can easily run around them, and the cars won’t go near them. This frees up plenty of space for you to run.

3.Holy Torrential Downpour: it’s inevitable. Just be aware that your shoes may not dry for days.

Last night I taught dance class to my group. Yes, this gringa teaches Salsa and Merengue with a little bit of Cumbia and Bachata. Last night we only got to Salsa because the group was so big and because I made them have a dance off. It was a lot of fun! I wish we could do Zumba with them. I’ve been to a few classes, and wow is it a blast! It’s a pretty workout too! Double bonus.

With this group, I basically have a full time job making sure they are a fed. I have to take care of their lunch and dinner menus everyday and I feel like all I do is ask for food orders! We volunteered at a local elementary school today painting, weeding, and beautifying. We will be back there for one more day tomorrow to finish the project.

Most young children in Costa Rica attend public schools where the education is free. When Costa Rica abolished its army in 1948 the government put that money towards education, thus, Costa Rica has a 98% literacy race. In this particular town, there aren’t a lot of resources to ‘fix up’ the school. What little resources they do have, they put toward school supplies. This is where we come in. We paint, repair, and tend to the lawn area so the students have a beautiful setting to walk into each day. It’s a pretty neat transformation of the school.

I also went on the best snorkel cruise ever yesterday. This water wasn't very clear so we lacked any great fish sightings, but it was still fun nonetheless. The last time I was on this particular cruise, it was a year ago with Kristen and it was in the middle of a tropical storm. The waves were also pretty big yesterday, so we had numerous kids at the back of the boat sending their goldfish back to sea. Pura vida.

Smooth sailing...New group Chaps and I on the snorkel cruise.

Okay, time to get more food orders. Yum!

Arroz y frijoles,
Jessica Lynn

P.S. This is was the view from my bedroom at my last homestay. Not bad, eh?

Waka Waka Eh Eh

Well I made it to Monday. Since Friday, I really haven’t had much time to think or write. Friday night I had a nice fogata on the beach with my group before heading back to my homestay. On Saturday, I had a ‘day off.’ Days off around here are in limited supply and by 4:00 p.m. I was in full work mode.

Saturday was spent hanging out in the morning watching the U.S. fútbol game with my friend and fellow CPI chaperone, Muni. She and I hung out at my host family’s house for the afternoon being lazy watching the game and enjoying the cool afternoon rain. After she left, I began working for the next 4 hours. I was in the midst of receiving the itinerary for my new group coming in Sunday and wrapping things up with my old group. I had so many things going on in my head, it’s a wonder it didn’t explode. I didn’t even have a full itinerary by the time it was all said and down. However, I somehow managed to coordinate things well enough that it looked like Sunday might be flawless.

Sunday morning, I woke at 5:00 a.m. for a run and to continue working before picking up my group to take them snorkeling. At the snorkel point, I had to say goodbye!

Anyway, from the snorkel point, I was whisked away to Liberia to meet the chaperone of my new group (West Coast Connection) at their hotel, take them to the supermarket and then to the airport to collect their kids. We waited at the airport for all of the flights, packed all 37 of them into a bus and headed to CPI Flamingo with pizza en route. At CPI they took their placement tests and we then headed to the hotel to check-in. After the hotel it was dinner and gelato before ending the night around 11:00. Whew. I made it. : )

That is my hectic life in a nutshell. Although it doesn’t look like much, it took a lot of intense planning on my part to see to it that everything went according to schedule (like picking up the pizzas on time and checking flights). My life slowed down a little today with a snorkel cruise and class. Más tranquila…

All right, time to check in on my estudiantes. I am teaching dance class tonight : )

Chao for now!

Jessica Lynn

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...

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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!

El Señor Sapo y La Polilla (Mr. Toad and the Moth)

Sounds like a fairytale doesn’t it? Well, allow me to inform you that at 4:45 in the morning, neither of these seem much like a fairytale.

I had a small zoo in my bedroom this morning.

Let’s begin. At approximately 4:30 a.m. I was awakened by the sound of something hitting the walls and windows inside of my room. I remained in bed because it was dark, I couldn’t see anything, and I thought I could tolerate it. Fifteen minutes later, I could no longer sleep because the fluttering of wings against the window was too obnoxious to ignore. As my eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, I saw a moth about the size of my hand sitting on the wall. Awesome. I climbed out of bed knowing I would never sleep with this creature flying around me and spent the next 10 minutes ‘ushering’ it out of my room with my bath towel. In the spirit of the Tico culture, I try not to kill things thus, my exhaustive efforts to see that it made it outside alive.

Finally free of the giant moth, I made my way to the bathroom to use the facilities. Upon entering the bathroom I was first greeted by a centipede. This animal was not so lucky. Either the centipede or millipede is poisonous and because I couldn’t remember which one was more dangerous, this creature suffered at the mercy of my sandal. I’m sorry, Costa Rica. Feeling better, I took one more step toward the bathroom and was alarmed to see a large frog sitting in my shower looking up at me. Neither one of us could move, so we just sat there looking at each other until he hopped a little bit and hid under the shower curtain. Satisfied that he was out of sight, I used the bathroom and went back to my room wondering what to do.

As I laid in bed (gearing up for my big race) I heard a couple of hops and then nothing. By the time I went back in 30 minutes later the frog was gone. I have no idea where it went or how it got in for that matter, but it was gone. I can’t imagine what will await me tomorrow. : )

Anyway, I had my big 5k race today. It should be noted that this is my second 5k ‘race’ ever—outside of the one that I raced against two other teachers in the fall. None have been official but they have been fun. I lost today but it still felt good. Time: 22:49 on hills. I’ll take it.

It is 7:30 a.m. now. Time to get my day going with volunteer work and classes!

Chao pescado, <-- Oh look, another animal…
Jessica Lynn

What just happened here?

So I some how just volunteered myself to race a 5k tomorrow morning. How did this happen you might ask? I’m not really sure.

Yesterday in Arenal I ran with some of the group members on a ‘recovery run.’ However, it ended up being more like a 7k hard run uphill. The runners asked once on a climb if I wanted to slow down and I said ‘no’ because if I had slowed down I never would have made it. I think they took this as a sign of competitiveness.  Near as I can tell, this is how I got pulled into a race tomorrow morning. Oh dear. This should be fun. : )

We did put a small wager on it, so the efforts won’t be for naught. Dos refrescos, por favor. Keep in mind though, I do not race 5ks—that is always something I have left to my brother and sister. Any racing tips might be nice. I measured the ‘course’ twice just to make sure it was accurate. Heaven help me. I told my host family that if I didn’t make it back for breakfast that they should come looking me.

Amor y suerte,
Jessica Lynn

P.S. Went surfing today--muy tuanis. : )
P.P.S. The button on CSI Miami is not the same en español.

Gecko Kisses

Feliz Dia de Padres! Te amo Papa!

Allow me to share with you why it is 9:00 p.m. here on the coast, I am absolutely exhausted but I know without a doubt that I won’t sleep for a while.

Those that know me know that I am not particularly fond of snakes. I found out tonight that I am not particularly fond of chameleons either…even if they are on a leash. I met my new host family tonight (I’ll talk about them later because they are amazing!) and I also met their neighbor and son—who happens to have a pet chameleon. He walked in the door and I nearly jumped out of my skin. My papatico joked that there was an even bigger one sitting in my bedroom, hence, why I can’t sleep a wink. Although I know there isn’t a chameleon in my room, I do know for a fact that there is a big iguana in a cage somewhere on this property… Lord help me.

Anyway, I am in my quarters now listening to the geckos giving kisses to me outside of my room. That’s literally the sound they make—the smacking of lips. My new host family here in Lajas is fantastic. The area where we are staying is a poorer area and although the families aren’t destitute, there is a definite difference in living style compared to those in the Monteverde or the Central Valley. However, I must have won the lottery with host houses. This house is modern, well furnished, I basically have the ground floor to myself and a pool just outside of my double doors that lead to the patio. The family itself is great too! The husband and wife are so warm and welcoming and very laid back and friendly. I have a feeling my group will have a very different experience with their families, so I might not tell them about my living conditions. Tuanis : )

Basic run down of the weekend includes the volcano and hot springs. This morning the group hiked to La Fortuna waterfall. I haven’t been there since I went with UD, and I had forgotten how beautiful it is. I fully intend to take my family there. You can actually swim right next to the waterfall! The rest of the day was spent driving out to Flamingo in the pick up truck with Mario, the chauffeur. The volcano actually erupted during the day today, sending a large mushroom cloud into the sky. I’ve never witnessed that happening before so I was amazed. Of course, this followed last night at the base of the volcano where I enjoyed one of the most beautiful evenings I’ve had in Costa Rica. The sky was clear, the moon was bright and one could see the silhouette of the volcano and the ash rising toward the sky. It was beautiful.

Okay, I really am pooped. I ran 7km today in hills and I am beat. I am going to take a recovery run tomorrow before surfing.

Besitos,
Jessica Lynn