Yesterday I got to go an elementary school to observe. Talk about a culture shock! The school is about a 25-30min walk. In the states we value time and immediate obedience. Here in Costa Rica the students have a five minute break every hour and a half. And the students run out of the classroom and go to where ever they want. They have the freedom to walk out of the classroom if they want and the teachers don’t really care. It’s very different. Here in Costa Rica it’s not an individualistic society it’s very much a collective society. The students talk on top of each other and are very loud. It’s very loud everywhere even in the houses the walls and windows don’t keep out the noise very well. Also the students find their way to their different places like music, the playground ect.. They are never in lines and are expected to be kids. In America we expect the kids to be little adults. The children in America are expected to be seen but not heard, but here their expected to act like kids. I like that the kids have more freedom in the classroom but I wouldn’t give my students as much. Here days at school are longer and they go from 7:30am to 12:30pm then lunch break until 1:30pm until 5:30ish. Here in Costa Rica, the society in general has a hard time saying no, and giving direct orders. So the teachers may take 10-15 mins trying to quiet down the class and start.
It’s been a great experience here in Costa Rica. My mama tica (Costa Rican Mom) is very nice and she is an excellent cook, and she washed our clothes today!
Today we took a cooking class where we learned how to make bread pudding. And in dance class yesterday we learned sala and today we learned bachata. Both classes are in Spanish of course!
School is very hard. In the school we are not allowed to speak English. I only have on class which in the three times I have taken it we have reviewed almost all grammar that there is. On Friday we are to give a 10min speak and have a rough draft of our final composition paper. Thankfully that is only two pages. And our final paper and another 10min speak is due the next Friday. And we have regular homework that takes about an hour and a halfish. Also are days are very long we are up at 6 and get back around 6 and go to sleep around 9ish. But we only have two hours of free time and one of those is for lunch and the other one will be used for other homework.
Two more things that are different here than at home both are gross. First is used toilet paper goes in the trash can next to the toilet. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that one. And the other that I have gotten use to is that there are tiny ants crawling around on the table and I caught one on my plate tonight during dinner.
Please be praying for me my physical and emotional health. It’s very hard and very strenuous on our brains (all the girls with me here) to speak and attempt to understand Spanish all day. I feel like I have learned and can speak much more and I have way more confidence than I did arriving here three days ago. Also for me physically my back and ankle have been acting up since we have been walking everywhere and not on very rough surfaces. But, I trust that the Lord will help me through all of it.
I apologize for any incorrect grammar I’d like to say I’d do better next time but I think It will only get worse from here lol!
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