Organized Chaos and the first grade

February 27, 2008

You know how you have those days when you wake up and you just know its going to be a long and painful ride until you get back to your bed again? That was how I felt when I woke up this morning. As I lay under my mosquito net I thought about everything that I had do for the day. The list itself wasn’t too long, rather, the problem was who I had to teach. I started with 80 minutes of 6th, followed by 80 minutes of first and then 80 minutes of 4th.
In other news, I have finally discovered why 1st graders are so cute. It’s because they have to cover up for the fact that they are complete deviants. I think that ideally, with the really little ones it is supposed to be some kind of organized chaos. I just had chaos. One of my students spent the entire period doing whatever I told him not to do. He made sure he didn’t participate no matter what we did. They spent the entire time telling me how hungry they were and how they didn’t want to participate anymore because they wanted to go to the Plaza.
Kindergarten is kind of a free-for-all and I suppose that it is unfair for me to assume that they can just change gears like that. On the other hand, I have finally realized that my fourth graders are geniuses. No that’s not true, they just really like English and they know all of the vocabulary from the World Teach book. This also means that my 5th and 6th graders know it too, they just don’t want to share. They like thinking that they are smarter than I am. More power to them, that’s what I would do if I were a kid with a first year teacher I would play it for all it was worth. My fourth graders also really like homework. Which should make teaching them even easier.

So long as Jose Pablo keeps cutting class I’ll never have a problem. Yeah, like that’ll happen. I also had something like Corned beef hash for lunch, which was excellent. I also had a snack of tuna and salsa with saltines for an afternoon snack. It hit the spot. (Sidenote, I have been overeating a lot lately, which I am pretty sure is just a sign of minor depression.)

I went on a run this afternoon for the first time since I got to Vergel. It was my first real run since I got here, most of the time I have just been walking. I am pretty sure that it was 100 degrees out at 3 pm. It felt great, but not as good as my shower when I got back. I felt so much better after my run, it was like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I saw a 5 year old chopping up a dead tree with a machete while I was running. Everything got better, which I definitely needed today. Not much else has happened. Except for the fact that when I was line drying my clothes it started to rain so everything got wet again.

Also my (one) sports bra has developed perma-funk. I head up to La Fortuna on Friday for the weekend with a couple of the other Volunteers. I haven’t felt pretty or worn perfume in a while, so this should be a good chance for me to feel like a girl again. I need that. I also need a conversation in English with a new person. I would also like a couple of Otis Redding CD’s if I could find them, but I am trying not to get too ahead of myself.

My host Dad asked my how many Novio’s I have had in the United States. Rather than explain that I haven’t had any because I’m apparently scary and or afraid of commitment/I am too much for most people to handle/people at USC don’t date, I just made one up. He sounded pretty good, it’s just too bad he was fictional. Then my host Dad asked me if I like Tico men because the last Volunteer liked Ticas. I told him that it depends but because I am so tall, it usually doesn’t work. He said that it was good to be tall because that way I could beat up on them if I needed too. Then I left because he was doing the creepy Tico check-you-out thing.

I know that sometimes it sounds bad, but it’s actually really nice here. I got about 100 kisses on the cheeks from my students today and probably as many hugs. I also have discovered the most delicious cream cookies on the planet. They are called Recreo (recess) cookies, and if I am not careful, I eat a pack a day. My students often bring me snacks, like sweet potato/yam chips, mangoes and oranges from their homes. Plus, the Super Mercado where my eldest host brother works has Jif: Extra Crunchy and Creamy. They walk with me as I stride along the Inter-American Highway, always asking where I am going and what I am doing, sometimes they like to race me. Shoes are not required for walking with me. In fact, shoes are discouraged. And that, is why I love Costa Rica.

All in all, there are a lot of moments when I would rather be at home, but when it comes down to it, I can’t think of anything else I would rather do at home. There is no way I would trade time in a desk job for this, even if it is easier. The kids are tough, the days are long and most modern conveniences have long since been forgotten, but it sure as hell beats every cubicle in America.