Costa Rica 2014

Blog 10: Post Travel

Well I am headed back to Missouri today. Costa Rica was an incredible experience and definitely life changing. I experienced several new opportunities and met a ton of great people. I also learned a new beautiful language and made several friends from Missouri State University. I am really excited to say that I met all three of my goals.

My first goal was to be able to speak and understand main words and terms in Spanish by the end of my trip. I surprised myself and met this goal. My first day with my Mama Tica in Heredia, I literally could only tell her my name, say hi, and say goodnight. By the end of the week I could at least get across a point to her using a mixture of broken Spanish and charades. When I arrived at my second homestay in Monteverde I could say some very broken sentences but we still had trouble understanding each other. By my last day in Monteverde I could understand and even speak in a conversation my Mama Tica. I know I still have a lot to learn, but I am extremely proud of myself for learning so much and doing so well at speaking Spanish compared to my first week in Costa Rica.

My second goal was to try new things. I definitely met this goal. I tried several new foods. Some new food I tried included arroz con pollo (rice with chicken), casado (the marriage of rice and beans), papaya (fruit), cas (fruit), guanabana (fruit), and fresh queso (cheese). I also tried working with children that spoke Spanish. I found this to be difficult at first, but accomplished it as my Spanish got stronger and I became better at charades. When I worked with children at Calle Hernandez Primary school, it was extremely hard to speak in Spanish because my Spanish was still very underdeveloped at that point. By the second time we went to San Luis Primary school in Monteverde I could at least say enough Spanish words to get my point across to them, which was a victory for me.

I also tried living with insects. This was something I hadn’t really anticipated. At my first homestay in Heredia I had a couple of lizards in my house which weren’t a big deal because I like lizards. I rarely saw insects in the house because my Mama Tica didn’t like insects. My second homestay was a whole new story. My first night there my Mama Tica told me that seeing scorpions in the house was a high possibility. Luckily for me, I never saw any. I told them I was really scared of spiders and they started laughing and pointing. I turned around to see what they were pointing at and there was a huge spider on the wall behind me. Immediately I felt really nervous about my new homestay. Over the past two weeks I learned to accept spiders. My first week in Montevede I took a shower with a spider that was at least 1 and ½ inches long (talk about a near heart attack experience). A couple days later I found a spider about the same size cuddled up next to my lap top. The following week I found a tarantula in my room. I screamed for my Mama Tica and she just laughed and then scooped it up and put it outside! The following day I nearly stepped on one when I climbed out of bed. A couple days later I dumped one out of my shoe. I would definitely say I have adapted to spiders! I also tried zip lining on this trip. It was amazing and by far the most frightening thing I have ever done for fun. I am very glad I had this amazing experience and I can’t wait to zip line again. I also went to see Arenal Volcano, Manuel Antonio National Park, a beach, La Paz Waterfall Gardens, and the national museum. They were all amazing to see. Arenal Volcano was definitely my favorite weekend activity.

My third goal was to learn about literacy in the school systems. Literacy in Costa Rica is completely different. The students learn reading and writing while they are in Spanish. I found out that the students are all kept at one level. If a student falls behind or is advancing they are just kept them with the rest of the students. This is done because there is a limited amount of resources, staff, and time. I also found out that the students do not have text books. They use the resources donated to them and they fundraise money for supplies. The government does not provide funding for the necessary materials in the school. The students are taught reading using phonics. It makes me sad to see that there is not a huge emphasis on reading in the elementary schools.

Something I learned on this trip that was by far the most beneficial thing I have learned about ELLs in all of college so far, was how to work with them. After being a SLL for 3 straight weeks, I understand what does work and what doesn’t. I can start by saying that repeating yourself over and over to the student does not work. The best thing to do is to just start talking to them. My teachers in my classes would ask me every day what I did that morning and I would have to reply in Spanish. At first it was very difficult for me but as time went by I just really wanted to tell my teacher about my fun morning and would just start trying to say what I wanted to say. She would coax me and help me get out what it was that I was trying to say in Spanish. She would then ask me things about myself and my family. I told my teachers all about my family, what we do for fun, my horses, where I have been, what I am majoring in, and what I love. The thing to remember is that most people, children and adults, like to talk about themselves so if you can get them talking about themselves, they are likely to be engaged. Engagement when teaching a second language is very important. I can remember times in Spanish when I felt very unengaged and those were the most difficult days for me. Also when teaching a second language to a student, the teacher should try to play games. Children love games. Memory and charades are both fun and cheap games to play with students that can be extremely beneficial to learning a second language. After learning how I want to be taught and treated as a second language student, I look forward to trying out these strategies on my second language students. I have also promised myself that I will learn the basic words of their language to show them that even as the teacher, I am trying and to help them feel more comfortable and at home in the school.

Overall my experience in Costa Rica was an amazing one. I strongly advise anyone who ever has the chance to study abroad to do so. I learned more about myself in the past three weeks than I have in the last year. I learned how I learn and how I work with others when I am surrounded by them 24/7. I also learned how to live in a culture where the atmosphere is completely different than the one I am used to. It was a great experience living with Spanish speaking people and being one of the few English speakers around. I loved living in Monteverde and would really love to go back. I am definitely going to get information about the six week internship program the private school in Santa Elena offers. I definitely would be interested in doing an internship there and living with my second host family again. Before I go back I want to broaden my Spanish so that I can work better with the ESL in the classroom and communicate with their parents. I will definitely miss Costa Rica, but I plan to go back at least some time in the future.