Time for some smiles!

Here are some stories and tidbits I've posted to Facebook recently that the rest of you haven't had access to.  Enjoy!

on what it means to me to be successful:

'i walked in on some of my third graders 'playing Teacher' the other day. this consisted of one of them standing in the front of the room and tossing my red and blue bouncy ball to the others, who were seated, asking them loudly WHAT IS YOUR NAME, HOW ARE YOU, HOW OLD ARE YOU, and DO YOU LIKE CHOCOLATE and waiting for their answers. when they responded, she then enthused GOOD JOB! EXCELLENT! VERY GOOD! and gave them a big thumbs-up and grin. ... and it was all done very mockingly, you know? but it made me feel awesome. because honestly, if THAT is their impression of me, i think that i've done my job pretty darn well.'


and

'i can't find the words to describe how awesome it makes me feel when i'm in my classroom cleaning up or grading and i hear students pass by outside singing quietly to themselves the songs i've taught them in English class... such a simple thing, but it makes me feel like i've changed the world'

from an oral exam with one of my 5th graders:

'me: what is your name?
her: rosa.
me: hi rosa! how are you?
her: FICK AND FABULOUS.
:D'


on the importance of ambition:

'this week's goal: teach every single one of my students how to say 'i love you'.'

a mural some of my students made for me:

on the joys of living in an indigenous territory:

'iiiii just walked out of my room here in Costa Rica and the first words I spoke of the day were the following conversation with my host father in Brunka, the local indigenous language: }

me: 'kak ba ka moren!' (good morning!)
him: 'kak ba ka moren. i shoj cre ra ban? (good morning. how are you?)
me: 'moren moren. i ni ba qui? (good, good. and you?)
him: 'atqui i dosh moren.' (i'm good too.)
me: 'que bueno.... i ni ya tegra 'que bueno'?' 'how nice... how do you say 'how nice'?
him: 'moren gra'.(good.)
me: 'moren gra!' (good!)

ok, i know that this is a tiny thing, but i LOVE learning tiny bits of Brunka and this was an awesome way to start my day. :) little things'



a video of one of my 3rd graders, Wesley, dancing like Michael Jackson:



on living in a tropical country:

'ok, iiiiiiiiiiiiii just spent a half hour running around with my host family in a torrential downpour attempting to sweep out the water which was pooling in rapidly under the walls and doors of our house and putting out buckets under the holes in the tin roof. then we ran barefoot through the rain to their grandmother's house and moved all of her furniture so that we could sweep away the muddy water flowing in from all corners. and then we came back to our house and swept some more. and when I innocently asked 'so, is this what the next five months are going to be like?' my question was met not with words of comfort but with maniacal laughter. Ohhhhhhhhhh Costa Rica............'


conversation with a student:

''Teacher, como se dice 'bonita' en English?'
'pretty'
'Teacher pretty!'
'thank you!'
'Teacher, que significa 'i love you'?'
'te quiero.'
'I LOVE YOU TEACHER!'

♥♥♥ this just never ever gets old.'

aaaaaaand last but not least, here's a picture of me with some of my friends here.  The two gringos to my right are Drew and Graciela, who are fellow volunteers with Worldteach.  The gringa to my left is Kelly, the Peace Corps volunteer who also lives in Boruca and one of my best friends.  We're at her birthday party in this picture... the others in the picture are a band made up of locals who came to serenade Kelly and wish her feliz cumpleaños :)

Aaaaaaaaaaaanyway, that's enough for today.

Besos!
Raquel

After the long silence

I've thought and thought and rethought how to start writing another entry.  So much has happened, so I think I'm just going to start with the thing that keeps on crowding into the forefront of my mind and overshadowing everything else:

My stepcousin Eric, a National Guardsman from Michigan, was critically injured in an IED blast in Afghanistan a few weeks ago.  He lost both arms and has many, many other injuries.  He's now back stateside and beginning what is going to be an incredibly long recovery process.  ... any and all thoughts and prayers and any amount of positive energy in his direction is appreciated.  Here's a picture of Eric taken before the attack: 

...I found out about what had happened day afterwards and it plummetted me into a very difficult spiral.  More than anything, I felt a deep sadness.  I spent a week crying into my rice and beans, with my host family not knowing what to say.  I tried to make it through all of my classes (and my boss was incredibly supportive), but I ended up taking some time off work just to rest because late at night when I shut my eyes I found myself unable to sleep, thinking of Eric and wanting to check my email but being scared to. 

As some of you know, I was in Austria 2.5 years ago when my dear Aunt Carolyn died rather abruptly.  No one expected her to go that quickly, and her death hit me unbelievably hard.  I flew back to the States for her funeral, but it haunts me still, sometimes, that I was not there to spend more time with her in her last days alive.  That I hadn't sent more photos like she'd asked me to.  That I hadn't written more like I should have.  That I hadn't included her as much as I had promised to.

... and now here I am, again, doing the same thing, finding myself so caught up in life here in Costa Rica that I'm not as close to what I love in the rest of the world as I would like to be.  And then, when Eric got injured, it just hit me again... how difficult it is to be away from my family, from my dearest friends, from those I love.  When I know that my nieces are having a hard day and I can't hug them; when I miss my parents and my sisters and so many other people. 

So.  Please, forgive me for not being as in touch as I have wanted to be.   I'm hoping that this entry can be a new start of being more communicative-- I absolutely love to hear from any and all of you, to read your emails and comments and messages, to get your letters and boxes in the mail.

Six weeks have passed since my last entry, though it seems way longer than that in my mind. I feel guilty for not writing and keeping up to date with all of you, and I hope that you know that even though I haven't been as communicative, I think of you often and am thankful-- especially right now-- for your continued support.

This is all worth it.  This is who I am, this is me, and being in Costa Rica is what I want to be doing right now.  It's just really, really hard sometimes. And I guess that what I remind myself in those difficult moments is that the reason I hurt is because of a good thing: it's because of love.  Because I love my family, I love my friends, I love other countries, I love languages, I love travel, I love to teach.  And I would not trade those loves for anything, even when they pull me away from the people nearest and dearest to me. 


Anyway.  That's enough seriousness for one entry, isn't it? Time to move on to a few positives:


1) I now speak Spanish!  Like, really.  Like, I just finished a 797-page novel in Spanish.  Like, when I remember conversations from the past that I had in English or German, they're now in Spanish.  My dreams are in Spanish, my life is in Spanish, and I love it, love it, love it!



2) My job at the school is a great source of happiness for me.  The second trimestre is well underway and I have a comfortable routine with my students and lessons.  Planning has gotten exponentially easier, and I feel at home in my classroom.  Here's a video of me and some of my students 'cleaning my classroom' after school (by which I mean, dancing around like the silly people we are):




3) My parents will be coming to visit me for the first week of July, and I am super excited. 


4) I spend lots of time at the house of the family across the street... I call them my 'second family' here in Boruca and they're incredibly warm and welcoming.  In fact, after writing this entry I'm going to go over there for a birthday celebration (the second one they've invited me to in a month.)  After school I stop by before going home to just sit under their wood-and-leaf Rancho (outside wallless structure very common around here) in a hammock and catch up.  Here's a picture of two of them, Damaris and Margarita:

 

Alright, enough bullets.  The last news of this entry is that I am loving it so much here in Costa Rica that I am giving serious thought to staying here for a while after the end of this school year in December.  To be honest, I want to stay with Worldteach (the volunteer program that I came with), but it is looking like it would be unfeasible to try to raise another $4,500 by December.  (THANK you to all of you who have asked about this and have told me you would contribute again if need be-- it measnt he world.)  Therefore, I might very well end up looking to see if I can find a job here at a different school... with the TEFL certificate that I will have completed at the end of my service, I should be able to work at a private school.

Either way, before a second school year started, I would be able to come back to the States for a while and visit :)

I will keep you all posted.    
Much love and again... thank you.
Raquel