Tenorio National Park Trip

This weekend I made a last minute decision to go on a trip with some of the volunteers. They are only here for a short time and have been doing trips every weekend. I skipped out last weekend so I decided that it would be fun to get out of Portero for the day. 6 of us went to Volcan Tenorio, which is about a 3 hour drive from our town. We left at 6am from Portero and got to the National Park around 10:30. We made a few stops on the way and also had some car trouble on the way. We bought lunch (and went to a big grocery store!) in Liberia, the capital of the Guanacaste province. After Liberia, we still had over an hour to go to get up into the mountains.

From the car driving to the park

The turn into the park was  gravel road and we missed it the first time so we had a bit of a detour and backtracking (even with the GPS, we got lost twice). The gravel road was about 7km long, but it took a long time to drive it. There was a reason we got 4WD on the car rental. About halfway up the road, we thought we had a flat tire, but the sound somehow corrected itself once we kept driving and we never figured out what was wrong with the car. We had quite the drive into the park between the very bumpy gravel road and the huge hills- definitely not as terrifying as driving in the Andes in Peru (with no guardrails), but still it kind of felt like we were on a rollercoaster.

Too bad these pictures didn't really turn. The roads were much steeper than they look like here

Once we got to the ranger station, we paid our entrance fee and were on our way on the 7km hike. This park is on top of a volcano and is known for its Rio Celeste (blue river). The water with sulfur in it from the volcano mixes with calcium carbonates from the river and produces really blue water.

We hiked up through the woods and got muddy and hot on the walk. The first stop was the waterfall, which was quite a hike down, but definitely worth it when we got there. Some people were swimming, but the water in the river was freezing so I didn’t go in too far. It was nice to feel cold though after being so hot in Portero the whole week!

Trying to figure out how to get back up the steep slope!

We continued to the Mirador (lookout point) and took some more pictures of the mountains and trees with the clouds hovering above them.

Our next stop was the blue lagoon where we ate lunch. The blue water smelled like sulfur and was kind of cloudy, but it was still interesting to see and the waterfall was very pretty. After we ate lunch, we returned on the same path because we needed to return the car before 6pm.

On our way back to the ranger station it started raining, but didn’t start pouring until about 5 minutes before we were back. I had a poncho (yay Flying Pig ponchos!) and was very glad I had packed it. We still got pretty wet getting back to the car, but all fell asleep on the drive home, wet and muddy, anyway.

We had a few stops on the way back- ice cream, grocery store, pharmacy for contact solution( can’t find it in Portero), and gas. We then proceeded to get quite lost and ended up somehow coming into Portero from the wrong direction. We asked a few people to make sure we were going the right way (back on dirt roads and now getting dark) and made it back at about 5:30. Luckily this meant we didn’t have to pay for two days of the car (they were open until 6pm), but it was cutting it a little close.

All in all a very fun day and the blue waterfall was probably one of the coolest places I’ve ever been. I don’t think it tops Iguazu Falls in Brazil though. It seems like getting a bunch of people together and renting a car is the best way to go on trips because otherwise you pretty much have to do guided tours. Because most of the things to see in Costa Rica are in national parks, the locations are nearly impossible to get to on public transportation. I will be able to get to a few of the cities on buses, but I’m definitely planning on getting more volunteers together to go to other parks around the country.

Work at Abriendo Mentes

 Today was the first full workday I have seen at Abriendo Mentes since people were away last week and I only arrived on Thursday. This morning we had a staff meeting with all of the volunteers and I went to all of the kids’ classes in the afternoon. I also had my first meeting with Meradith, the director of AM, about my goals and interests in my time here.  I didn’t get to start many of the tasks I am working on because the internet was out this afternoon, so I am writing from home on my computer (I can use the internet tomorrow to post this). Now that I know a little bit more about the organization, I wanted to explain some of the programs that run weekly and some of the projects I work on.

One of the primary goals of AM is to teach members of the community- both children and adults- English and this is one of the main projects I will be working on. I have been to two days of kids’ classes so far and will begin working with adults next week. The kids’ classes are broken up into pre-k, K/1, 2/3, 4/5, and 6^th grades. Each class works on the same unit mostly learning vocabulary and simple sentences, but the older kids’ classes try to expand upon concepts learned earlier in other grades. AM uses the school’s textbook and English curriculum as a guide so that our classes build upon what students are being exposed to in school. Classes are pretty basic, but at least they are being exposed to English and we speak as much in English as we can in the classes. We also do many art projects and play games and sing songs to get them excited about learning because the schools use pure rote memorization to teach.

I will also be co-teaching (and eventually leading) an adult English class. I think the class I will be working with consists of very beginning students. I am particularly excited about this because I will get to know some adults in the community and will be able to practice my Spanish with them when I see them around town.

My other project is a bit more abstract than teaching the English classes. In the meeting today, Meradith and I talked about how I could help encourage more people in Portero to become part of AM (sending their kids or taking English or computer classes). I asked my host family (who is involved with AM) why more people didn’t get involved because the program is free for anyone. Janet (host mom/grandma) explained to me that some families don’t have confianza “confidence” in the program. They see other children playing games and having fun with the volunteers and do not think that the children are learning much. This shows how limited a view of teaching methodology  the people of Portero have. The parents of the kids probably have only ever known a school where students sit in their desk and copy things from the board that need to be memorized, so our creative teaching methods are new to them. This is really unfortunate because it means that the children are missing out on valuable English exposure and learning.  My job is to somehow organize some sort of community assembly to explain more about the program to people and to help them understand that our teaching methods. People here also have little understanding of the importance of starting to learn a foreign language young, which is also something that would be important to explain to them. I’m not quite sure where to start with this project, but we think it would be very valuable in bringing our programs to more people in Portero.

Other projects that I might be involved in are the Women’s group and teaching computer classes. The  Women’s group meets once a week and is learning how to make bags out of recycled materials so that they can sell them to make a little money for themselves. We are also  offering basic computer classes for people so that they have some understanding of how to use a computer, make a resume, help their kids with homework, etc.

I will have been in Costa Rica  week tomorrow and I think I’m adapting pretty well so far. This experience is very different that other times I have been abroad because I am surrounded by English speaking volunteers all day. Because of this, I’m having to really work to talk to people as much as possible in my host family and I think I will take a few private Spanish lessons to work on some aspects of grammar that I know I use incorrectly.  One of the most difficult things about living in Costa Rica so far has been their use of usted. They almost never use the tu form and using usted seems really formal to me. It also means I have to conjugate all of the verbs differently and remember how to use reflexive pronouns in the third person. I’m hoping I adapt to this (but don’t forget how to use tu!) because right now it still just seems really formal and uncomfortable to use.  

It’s been really fun to use Spanish regularly and it seems like I’ve been here a lot longer than a week. The dirt road with giant potholes seem normal and the U.S with paved roads and fully furnished houses seem really far away. I’ve gotten used to the chickens that walk around everywhere and the stray dogs that follow me around. I still am surprised every time the cows walk my house on the road though. Today they were on the beach! I also walk by a neighbor’s house everyday that has a huge pig living in their yard, which is a little surprising. I got to see monkeys playing in the trees the other day, which was really fun. Rural Costa Rica is definitely different than any other place I’ve been abroad!

I’ve gone swimming twice now both times at Playa Penca. It’s less than a 10 minute walk from my house. Today was the first day that it was really sunny outside so I took pictures of it this afternoon. Not many people go to the beach and most of the kids don’t even know how to swim here. There are lots of other beaches close by that I hope I’ll get to do daytrips to too.

Tomorrow morning I am going to yoga at the super fancy beachfront hotel that is a 20 minute walk from my house with some of the other volunteers. I also need to venture into Flamingo so I can buy shampoo and contact solution. I can buy shampoo here in town, but I doubt I’ll find any contact solution. I can either take the local bus and risk getting lost or do the hour walk. I’m still trying to find a place to buy fruits and vegetables too.  I wonder how sick of rice and beans I’ll be after 3 months of it at least twice a day.

Typical dinner

Gecko on the wall of the office

I don’t know what else to write about right now and the bugs are biting me in my room (that means putting bug stuff on before bed…yuck!) If you have questions about anything here, ask me and I’ll take more pictures or answer whatever I can.

Pictures!

Just got back from Playa Penca- the pretty swimming beach in town. I stopped in the office for a moment and it started pouring rain and still is pouring so I put up the first pictures I took here. Here are some pictures of Alajuela and a tour of Portero. 

This is the main square in Alajuela, where I stayed the first night I arrived in Costa Rica.

Main church in Alajuela

 Plaza in Alajuela (taken from inside the church. I didn't want to take my camera out on the plaza.)

Street in Alajuela

My room in the hostel in Alajuela

First view of the beach from the shuttle. Gulf of the Nicoya Penisula where I am staying.

First lunch on my own at my host family's house.

The front of my house.

Looking one way down the road from my house.

Looking the other way toward the town.

Unlucky frog on the road. Flashlight is in my bag so I don't step on frogs at night!

Neighbor's banana trees on my walk to the center of town.

Walking into town with the soccer field- the main area in town.

Soccer field

The Abriendo Mentes office

Where the office is located.

The Salon Comunal- where some of the classes are held.

Portero Beach- not where people go swimming but the closest. It is right by the Salon Comunal and the soccer field in the middle of town.

Pelican for Patten!

Big bird on my first beach walk.

Portero beach

This is where I would walk or run on the beach. It's a 45 minute walk to Flamingo.

Flamingo is across the water. It's a bigger touristy town.

Walking back to Portero Beach.

Fun Friday kitemaking in the Salon.

The computer lab in the office where I can get internet.

Lizard in my house.