the end is near!

i have tried and tried and tried again to write this entry. i've made lists of what i've learned in costa rica (that i am truly capable of being a full-time teacher, how mundungo tastes, what it feels like to be a racial minority), of how i've changed (now i'm trilingual, hopefully a tad more patient, and much tanner), and of things i want to remember (students' hugs and comments and gifts, the night a cobra came into the house, baby aris' first steps and words). so many paragraphs and pages i've written, only to give up and go back to the beginning all over again, because nothing seems to fit what i'm feeling right now.

but.

this blog isn't just for me. it's for all of you, all of you wonderful and caring people continents away who worry about me and want to know how i'm doing. so: i'm going to do my best with this attempt, and i promise i will post it. here goes!

i'm... barrelling towards the end of my time in central america. classes are over, exams are finished, grades have been turned in, we've had our last program meetings and said our gringa farewells. almost all of my students passed english this year, and passed it with good grades. only a handful of the 150 did not pass, and all but two of those were also failing in other subjects. the two who are being held back solely because of english nag at the back of my mind a bit, but i think that's part of being a teacher and having that odd power over a child's life.

anyway, enough seriousness.  this year has been awesome, intense,  and life-changing (for me and hopefully for my students as well!).  and because i'm struggling to find the words, i think  i'll finish this entry with a few photos from my recent tican life:

 i bought myself a handmade mask, made from one bamboo root:

aaaaaaaaaand i painted a huge mural on the wall of the english classroom with the help of my girls' group:

and and and while i'm mentioning random things, here's a picture from when my girls' group made puppets:

i'm also now the proud owner of two baby chicks, which have now grown to be significantly larger than in this photograph:

...you see, about a month ago i helped slaughter a pig, and i wanted the experience of killing a chicken myself in order to be able to continue eating chicken with a clear conscience. ...let's see if i can make myself kill laura or chinchi...

anyway, that's enough for today. wow! i actually wrote something. ...there will be more in a few weeks. i leave costa rica 5 weeks from today, actually... so incredibly surreal.

happy late thanksgiving!
besitos, raquel

(ps apologies for the lack of capital letters in this entry; the right-hand shift key of the computer i'm using is being recalcitrant)