Morena. . .

Nothing has really happened to me since I got back, I am on Automatic. Be that as it may, I’ll tell you a little bit about what has been going on. I apologize if this sounds redundant.
My food situation is improving with the rainy season. I have been bombarded with the largest avocados I have ever seen and the sweetest mangoes imaginable. The Luna bars and vitamins that I brought back with me from the States have helped too. I have as of late discovered coconut helado, which is just coconut milk and shavings with sugar and water frozen in a plastic bag. Delicious.
School is hard, but good. I am at a complete lost with 1st and 2nd grade. Everything I try is completely useless. They hate listening and participating. Every day is a free for all. They are exhausting and I am not cut out for them. One of them told me straight up that Alex was a better teacher. Kinder isn’t so bad, we just sing most of the time and then sometimes we color. Teaching without materials is interesting because you get really creative, but it’s hard because different kids are good at different things and you don’t want to overuse anything.
Third and Fourth Grades are great. Today we played the incredible game of “tackle teacher” in which 8 students tried to tackle me in the plaza. It was loads of fun. I actually enjoyed it greatly. The kids got all of the material that I had planned for the day very easily and so I just figured that they deserved a little time outside. I felt like my Dad, kids kept throwing themselves at me and I had to keep entertaining them, but it was a lot of fun. I might try it in all of my grades. Actually that’s a dirty lie. I’m not throwing my 6th grade kids anywhere unless it’s out of a window.
5th grade is a challenge because the kids are in very different places academically. There are two girls who I think might be a little developmentally challenged. They are brilliant artists, but I have explained some concepts so many times and they still don’t understand it, which makes me believe that maybe its not just my ineptitude as a teacher. I have postponed their exam twice, but I can’t anymore. If they don’t get it, they don’t get it. I should leave it up to them to come see me for help if they need it instead of beating myself up anymore. I spent 20 minutes explaining that England was a country and then another 10 explaining that it is a part of the United Kingdom, which is in Europe. That was a long day. I felt helpless. They didn’t want to read, they didn’t want to write, they didn’t want to talk, they didn’t want to draw, they didn’t want to play a game. It was a bad day.
On the upside, I did have a great discussion with my kids on the resources and characteristics of Costa Rica. It went as follows.

Teacher: So, class, what are some things that Costa Rica has?
Student 1: Crocodiles!
Student 2: Beaches!
Student 3: River Pollution!

I love that river pollution was one of the first things that came to the minds of my 6th graders, though I suppose it’s true. I just figured that they would have mentioned some form of endangered species first, or maybe, I don’t know, something about the rainforest. Life here is full of surprises and that only becomes truer as I continue to break down the language barrier.

Also, I have heard quite a few Ticoisms as of late that I absolutely adore.

“The other half of your orange” – Sort of like saying ‘Soul Mate’ but not as chessy.
“It’s where the devil left his jacket” –A fun way to say “In the middle of nowhere”

I went to Manuel Antonio last weekend to hang out with Kristi and Jack. We had a good time and En Route I saw my first Costa Rican Crocodiles. Please remind me not to go swimming in any rivers. (Actually, that’s useless, I live on a river and it’s worth the risk.) There were some warning signs at the Beach in Manuel Antonio that a crocodile had been seen lurking. He got a good hold of a local dog named Moose who survived with a mere 108 stitches.
This weekend I am going to Turrialba to do a little White Water Rafting with the rest of the group. I absolutely cannot wait. I haven’t seen quite a few of my favorite people since we left Orosi, so I will be nice to see them. I’m tired from the week and it’s only Wednesday, I hope that I can psyche myself up for the weekend. I’m sure it will all be alright, it’s just hard to imagine physical exertion when you are mentally exhausted. I’m starting to think about what I’m going to do and what I want to do when I get back to the America and I have NO IDEA. I don’t even know what I want out of life after this year is over. What have I gotten myself into? ☺

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading.
Love, Your Favorite Morena.