Flaming Liberals and Eternal Hope

On Happiness

Today, my hope has been renewed.  I am proud to be an American.  Today, I believe that change will come.  Today, I believe that anything is possible.  Today, I believe that Americans care about the Constitution and their rights as citizens.  I know that it’s naïve to put such faith into a politician, but don’t rain on my parade just yet. 

Last night, as I sat in my living room alone watching CNN, I was less anxious than I had been four years ago.  I knew that even if McCain were elected, he couldn’t possibly be as awful as Bush.  I watched the Electoral votes tally up as polling sites closed across the nation and found myself hoping against hope that it would happen; that Barack Obama would win. As the clock ticked down to 10 PM, I waited for the America map to turn Blue.

I remember being in Germany when I was 16 and going out to lunch with some other kids in my group.  Somehow, the conversation turned to politics and whether or not America would ever have a president of a so-called minority.  One kid, named Axel from Chicago, turned to me and said, “There will be a gay president and a woman before there is a black president.  Sorry.”  He wasn’t particularly apologetic, but I thought that he was right.  It was a matter of fact.  It’s not as if there were any particularly strong Black candidates.  I didn’t want to agree with him but I did.  I accepted it as true.  But then, last night, to my great surprise and joy, Barack Obama proved me wrong. 

And I wept. 

I was glad that my host family had all gone to bed, because they couldn’t have known how important it was.  It’s not just that he’s a half-rican.  It’s not just that his father was Kenyan and that he in turn was the son of immigrants at a time when it is so important that our country was established as a haven for immigrants.  It’s more.  It’s the civil rights movement.  It’s been the uniting of my generation.  It’s the fact that we can do anything and that odds don’t matter anymore. 

I am astonished that Barack Obama was able to win Virginia and Ohio.  I am amazed by the campaign that started so long ago, I struggle to remember a time before hand.  I believe that America is back on the upswing.  I know that the stock market opened down this morning, but that in the long run, we can rebuild and regain some of our former standing in the rest of the world.  It’s almost enough to convince me to move back to America, but I can do more help abroad than I can at home. 

So, there you have it.  Remember Remember the fourth of November and change the world as you can.  I'm sure that some day I'll vote republican, but today, I am young, optimistic and ecstatic to be a liberal and possibly self-righteous American citizen.  

 

A Note on Fairies, The glittery kind.

I’m a little confused as to how Disney decided to make an entire movie about Tinkerbell.  Tinkerbell has always been one of my least favorite characters, if not the absolute bottom of the list and now, there is a major motion picture dedicated to her, story.  Do we not remember how horrible Tink was to Wendy?  I specifically remember being six years old and thinking to myself, “Why does Peter Pan hang out with Tink?  She’s mean and jealous, he should know better.”  Apparently, we all should. 

How is it possible to celebrate such a mean little fairy?  The girls here are going bananas and are offering me bribes in exchange for copies of the new Tinkerbell movie.  I have told them that they are out of luck.  My real question is this:  How is it possible that adults, could want to be a part of a project that glorifies a mean, selfish and inconsiderate fairy, who has already been in two movies and is the face of the magical world of Disney?  I just don’t get it. 

I also find it very interesting that Michael Bay, the director of The Day After Tomorrow, also directed Transformers.  One film exaggerates the dangers of global warming, while the other had a million dollars of prototype cars and trucks: none of which, were hybrids.  

To the US and back in a New York Minute

Yes, it’s true, I went to the United States last weekend.  If we were not in contact, I apologize profusely, but I didn’t have a phone and so I was limited in my communication.  It’s not that I didn’t want to talk to you, it’s that I ran out of time. 

I arrived on Thursday at midnight and passed through JFK without any trouble.  Then I hailed a Taxi and headed to my new home away from home on Bleecker Street.  Which is really just Chris Anderson’s apartment.  He met me on the street, took me up into his new Studio and I unloaded my things.  I had assumed that I would be too tired to think at 1 AM, but I found that I was strangely recharged at the sight of my dear friend.  He sensed my eagerness to explore the city and took me out.  We went for a drink and I helped myself to a Jameson and Cranberry, which I had been craving for some time now.  (A girl can only take so much cheap Costa Rican Beer.)  We went dancing and stayed out much too late, but what good is sleep in Manhattan?

The next day was spent roaming New York.  Coffee for breakfast, a leisurely stroll around the city and a detour for a haircut.  Then to Balthazaar for lunch and out to JFK airport to pick up the one and only Nancy Jane Lathan at the airport. 

Mama Lathan and I made the drive up to Gun Wavin’ New Haven in about 2 hours, where we met Auntie Carolyn, Reid and his roommate Sean.  We spent another couple of hours trying to decide what we wanted to eat for dinner, at which point we were all ready to kill each other.  Luckily, Reid kept his cool and suggested his favorite local pizza place, which shut us up quickly.  Nothing can dilute a Lathan fight like a good meal. 

After dinner, I went back to Reid’s dorm, which is muy tuanis (very cool).  I have to admit, I was a little jealous that his room is bigger than mine was Senior year.  Some kids get all the luck.  Reid and I stayed in and I tried to catch up on episodes of The Office.  (The Office coincidentally is back to its Season 2 glory if I may say so.  I was a particular fan of the part filmed on my old Pardee Tower floor in Episode one.)  The next morning I tried to catch up on Heroes, but ran out of time as I had to hurry to breakfast and the Yale-Penn game.

I bundled up in long pants, a turtleneck, a sweater and a scarf, which was a welcome change to the constant heat and humidity that has been my life these past 10 months.  Unfortunately Reid was injured and so couldn’t play or suit up.  The game was not as exciting as I would have hoped and unfortunately, the Bulldogs lost, but I was still glad to have been able to see a game for the season.  Uncle David, Cousin Ben, Auntie Carolyn and some of my Mom’s oldest and dearest friends made it out for the game.  It was a pretty great reunion, even if it wasn’t quite the outcome we had hoped for. 

That evening we all went to dinner and my Aunt Carolyn decided to help me drive the Rental car back to the airport.  I got up at 4:30 the next morning to go the airport, however when I got there at five, I couldn’t do automatic check-in.  So I got into another line to check my reservation.  At which point the woman checking me in (a gray haired woman with a bitter voice, bad attitude, outdated wardrobe and mean eyes) told me that My reservation didn’t exist and that I wasn’t booked for the day.  So I hightailed to a payphone and called my Mom who pulled up my reservation on her iPhone only to realize that we had booked the flight for the 23^rd of November instead of the 26^th of October. 

Oops. 

So I changed my flight for the next morning and headed back to the Hotel.  Then Mom and Auntie Carolyn drove me into the city where I spent the rest of the day with Chris.  We brunched and wandered and lived the dream.  I was a little overwhelmed by the end of the day because I hadn’t seen that many people in who knows how long, but I still had a great time.  I felt a little bit lost without a cell phone, but now that I am back on the reservation I realize it probably wouldn’t have been good for me to get used to it.  We went out to Indian Food for dinner in Hell’s Kitchen and then headed back early because I had to leave at 330 in the morning. 

So, a car came to get me at 3:30, I slept on the way to the airport, and then on the plane and then in the next plane and the next taxi and finally on the bus.  I arrived in El Vergel at 8 pm to find that my host family had cleaned my room and done all of my laundry.  SWEET!

  Tuesday Morning I had to tell all of my kids where I had gone for the weekend and why I had missed Monday classes, which was actually a little bit uncomfortable, because they already think that I have more money than god.  My fourth graders are working on writing and I brought back a bunch of magazines so that they could describe the pictures, which I think they enjoyed.  My first graders are learning the body which is fun to watch because they all go around singing “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” all day.  My third graders are still a nightmare, but at least it’s almost over.  Melissa, my host sister, made me an amazing Halloween card this week complete with pumpkins and a cut out vampire.  She also spelled Halloween “jalowin” which is phonetic in Costa Rica I suppose.  Maybe next year’s volunteer will have time to teach them spelling. 

I submitted my absentee ballot and have dreamt about the election for the last 5 nights in a row, which is simultaneously concerning and sad.  I can’t wait until it’s over, just so that I can sleep again, one way or another.  Unfortunately, I’ve had to watch Fox News, because that’s the only channel that we get that is covering the election non-stop.  It makes me angry more than anything else, but it’s still better than nothing I guess. 

My host mom bough me a new pair of earrings yesterday that matches the Necklace they bought me in the Spring.  My host brother Pablo has promised to teach me how to make my favorite food (Patacones).  Yesterday my host brother Quito (1^st grade) put together a whole sentence on his own.  Well it was basically a sentence.  He asked me, how to say ‘laying’ and then             I told him and he said, “Entonces hay un Chicken laying eggs.”  I jumped for joy, well it was more of a leap, but still, I was airborne.  I know it doesn’t seem like a big deal considering that he has had English with me for a year, but it really shows progress and I was extremely proud of him. 

I finally got a couple of care packages that had been sent to me ages ago. I would like to send a big shout out to the one and only Lindsay Dencker, who sent me an incredible supply of “fall” goodies like pumpkin lip gloss, Pilgrim hats, leaf decorations and spooky music for Halloween.  I have decided to make Halloween a 4-5 class celebration, just because.  I am considering having a haunted house on Friday.  Maybe I’ll make the kids bob for apples.  I also can’t wait to do some of the Thanksgiving activities that I have planned.  Making pilgrim and Indian caps, decorating turkeys and building cornucopias.  Oh what fun. I was also delighted to get a big package from my Mom, complete with flashcards, paper plates and other excellent teaching supplies.  I can’t believe it’s November. 

Okay then, that’s all from this end.  I have no travel plans for this fin de semana and am looking forward to some time at home reading and planning my life for the next year.  I would like to take this opportunity to let you know that there are only 44 days left until my return to America and that you had better start revving your engines, because it’s going to be epic.  Thanks for reading, stay tuned for More Radventures, same rad time, same rad channel.  

Danger ZONA!!!

Dear Friends-

Crisis Mode.  It’s October.  It’s my favorite time of year.  Halloween, the presidential election, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas are all right around the corner and I am in the labyrinth/jungle that is the Zona Sur.  This means I am missing out on pumpkin pie, costume parties, football season, scarves, corduroys, fall shoes and Christmas music.  I need your help.  If you love me, make me a care package. Include mixed CD’s of your favorite new groups or Christmas music, Annie’s Macaroni and Cheese, newspaper clippings, old copies of the economist, fun size candy bars or lollipops (not chocolate), pictures of yourself or postcards from your current location and anything else you deem necessary or just want to donate to Escuela El Vergel in order to get it out of your house.

 

Radford Lathan

Maestra De Ingles

Escuela El Vergel

El Vergel, Palmar

Osa, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

 

Alright, now that that’s done, some information on my life.  I came to a startling realization yesterday, the most rewarding thing that I have done in my life this far is not teaching or any kind of volunteering.  It was the LA Marathon, which leads me to believe that I am not nearly as generous of a person as I previously thought.  It only benefited me and I’ve never felt so good about life or myself.  As such, I am trying to pick up running again.  It has been extremely difficult with all of the rain these past few months and I am sure that it’s not going to get better, but I am making a point of going out for walks or jogs every afternoon that it doesn’t rain.  (Besides, I have to work off the rice ring that has surrounded my middle.)

      I went to Portrero Grande last weekend to visit my friend Jen Turner.  It’s very close to me geographically speaking, but the buses and waiting time make it a long trip to get to her.  (Getting back only takes about an hour but getting there can take about three.)  She had a baile (dance) in her town and invited me to come and help her tear up the dance floor.  It was a lot of fun.  Unfortunately, I seemed to attract the town drunks and crazies and spent a good portion of the evening turning down eccentric and intoxicated Costa Ricans.  Her host family was very nice and let me stay in one of the cabinas that they normally rent out, for the evening.  It was swell.  It was definitely the best twin bed I have slept on since my arrival in Costa Rica. 

      Classes are going relatively well.  4^th grade is still excellent.  They had an exam on the rainforest today.  It was adorable.  They had to tell me the layers of the rainforest and endangered species and things that we can do to prevent deforestation.  I also broke the news to my 1^st graders that paper comes from trees.  It pretty much blew their minds.  Some of them are still trying to recover.  (I jest.)  3^rd grade went well today, most likely because only two of them showed up.  There have been workers at my school remodeling the Cafeteria for a couple of months.  This past weekend they made me a couple of extra desks so that there are enough desks for all of my students in my classroom.  They also closed the gaping hole in the back of my classroom so that chickens and children can no longer enter at their leisure.

Cynthia, the kindergarten teacher has asked that I start tutoring her in English.  I agreed, but haven’t actually had a session yet.  I am excited to work with her.  It will be good to work with someone who has already gone through puberty.  The only problem is that her younger brother also wants English lessons, but I don’t want to give them to him because he kind of gives me the creeps.  But then again, so do most Costa Rican men.   

  Right, well, that’s all from this end.  I trust you are all staying out of trouble north of the border.  I haven’t made any students cry yet this week, so that’s an improvement and I haven’t told anyone that their work is trash, so I guess I’m not such a bad teacher after all.  Then again . . . It’s only Wednesday. 

Bad Teacher. . .

I made one of my Sixth Graders cry on Monday. 

I know, BAD TEACHER.  But he did kind of deserve it.  Also, I would like to point out that this is not an 11-year old sixth grader.  He’s fourteen.  And he calls me Radford instead of Teacher, which believe it or not, is kind of disrespectful.  It would be like calling your teacher “Jane” instead of Mrs. Smith.  Plus he’s really unhygenic and always says inappropriate things so I already have a chip on my shoulder about him. 

You see, we are studying World Cultures right now and each of my sixth graders was supposed to make a poster board illustrating information about their Country.  They had 5 weeks to complete the project.  Now, this particular student drew (out of the hat) Panama, which I didn’t think would be particularly difficult as we are 3 hours from the border and there is a lot of interaction between the two countries.  However, last Wednesday, he asked me if he could change his country for Mexico.  I told him that he could. 

So, Monday comes and he doesn’t want to present.  I tell him that he doesn’t have a choice because he is being graded as if this were an exam.  I tell him that he doesn’t need to worry because everyone is being graded the same and that he just needs to do his best.  So he tells me, “Okay Teacher, but I don’t want to use my poster, I’ll just tell you the information.”  Then I tell him, “No, that defeats the purpose I have to see the poster.”  And I take it off of his desk.  Much to my surprise, there is no information on Mexico or Panama on the poster.  Rather, he has taken it upon himself to present on COSTA RICA.  Which I did not assign for obvious reasons, and which we had already done in class as an example.  I asked him, “What was your country?”  “Mexico.”  “Why didn’t you do that?”  “Because, Teacher.”  At which point I snapped.  So I may or may not have told him that his poster was basura (trash) and that I wouldn’t grade it.  So I turned to ask if anyone else wanted to go and he left the room in a hurry.  I assume that there were tears considering his haste, but I didn’t actually see them. 

Then later that afternoon, his very pregnant mother came to talk to me about what had happened and to ask why he hadn’t done the project.  It was awkward.  So today he came in during recess and remade his poster (Costa Rica again) and presented the information to me. 

I don’t think I’m going to miss him next year. 

I think that I used to be a good person, but my patience has been spent and I’m sick of bending over backwards for kids who don’t care.  In other news, you probably won’t be hearing from me much over the few weeks.  It rained all day today and the weather is probably going to continue until the end of October.  As such, my afternoon trips to Palmar are going to be limited.  La lluvia me dar pereza.  (The rain makes me lazy.)  I am getting lonely again and am pretty sure that another bout of loneliness is about to hit the Zona Sur, but am not making any preparations to prevent it.  I’m pretty sick of Costa Rica and I am ready to be somewhere else.  I feel as if I’ve seen it all and am having a tough time of motivating myself to do any kind of travel or exploration.

Three of my students left school this week.  They all moved.  No notice, just didn’t come to school on Monday and then their Mom came to say that they were moving to San Jose the next weekend.  I’m sad that I didn’t get to say good bye, but to be honest, all three had a tendency to cause troubles in my classes.  Still, they were the cute trouble makers, who were always nice outside of class.  Ah well, maybe they’ll do better in San Jose. 

My first graders learned “May I see” today and spent the rest of the period asking to see things around the room.  We didn’t get a lot done, but at least they’ll remember how to ask for things nicely.  I had to send a note home with one of my 4^th graders too.  I’ve been putting it off for about 4 months now, but it was finally time.  Surprisingly, 3^rd grade went exceptionally well.  This was probably because we spent the majority of the class coloring and not actually learning English.  Oh well, if I’ve learned anything this year its to pick your battles and 3^rd grade is not a battle that I am going to win.   

I’m ready for October. 

  

News Delay

This just in: Tom Brady out for the season, David Foster Wallace Commits Suicide, My boss comes to visit, Orange ipods and letters from possible stalkers.  Ewwww.

Hello out there.  How are things in the land of plenty?  Costa Rica is the rich coast indeed and I can’t wait to get back to America.  3 months and ten days, but who is counting.  Based on my internet lurkings I have discovered several important facts as of late.  The first of which is that Tom Brady is injured and out for the season.  What will this mean for the Fighting Radtastics, my fantasy football team?  Not much in all likelihood as I still have Eli Manning.  The second thing that I have learned is that there are now ORANGE iPod Nano’s, which may actually be the greatest thing since rice and beans.  Our Southern California Trojans are fighting on as always and to the best of my understanding demoralized Ohio State last weekend. 

However in regards to Central America it has been a busy week.  We spent last week gearing up for Independence Day (September 15) and have had school assemblies every day for the last seven days in preparation.  Last Tuesday was International Children’s Day and so we played outside all day.  There was a lot of running around and there were a lot of kids begging me to carry them around.  I gave away pens, pencils and coloring books as a means of buying popularity. The day before I had the pleasure of teaching with the one and only Reginald Wilmont Lathan. 

Yes, Papa Lathan and I had a key time over the weekend.  He arrived on Friday night and I met him at the airport.  We went out to dinner near our hotel and planned the rest of our weekend.  On Saturday Morning we drove down to Manuel Antonio.  I got us a little bit lost on the journey, but considering there are no street names, I feel like I did okay.  We went out to lunch at Agua Azul, a restaurant with spectacular views and mean bacon cheese fries.  Dad was delighted to see that they were also showing the Notre Dame-San Diego State game.  Kristi came to join us for drinks and we all decided to go out dancing that evening after dinner.  We also (shh don’t tell mom) gambled at the black jack table at the Casino across the street.  It was lame and we lost all of our money, but I think we all learned out lesson.  After blackjack we went dancing at Barba Roja in order to dance the night away and tear up the dance floor.  It was exactly as glorious as you would expect. 

Sunday we did some beaching and swimming by the pool before we packed up the car and headed south to Dominical.  The 44km dirt road is a lot easier in a car than it is in a bus.  We stopped for lunch in Uvita, but it was thoroughly uninspiring.  As we approached my site my Dad was in near disbelief.  As the jungle intensified around us, he told me that I could come home because it was “too lonely out here.”  We spent an hour or so with my host family before heading back to Palmar and our air-conditioned room for the night. 

Class on Monday was a great success and everyone wants to know when he is coming back.  I think that my students wish they had gotten any other member of my family to be their teacher for the year.  I got two new students on Monday, who just moved from San Jose.  Luckily they have both had English before and so have been catching on quickly to all of the material. 

The rest of last week flew by.  I got a love note written in English from a local which was thoroughly creepy and sounded a lot like a love song on a pop station.  We had assemblies every day to celebrate Costa Rica’s independence from Spain.  I had a bout of Stomach Flu.  It didn’t rain for three full days.  Mikki-Jean came to visit me for the first time, which was exciting for me but as it’s Costa Rica, we didn’t do anything worth writing home about.  Sunday night the school hosted a march that was part of the Independence day celebrations.  Everyone makes a little cardboard house and puts a candle inside of it and marches along the highway to signify the new of freedom and independence.  Or at least that’s how it was explained to me.  Monday morning I went to Palmar to watch the parade of bands and small children celebrating their independence.  (Coincidentally, I also had my first Costa Rican Snow Cone and might I say, I would not recommend it.)

Tuesday my classes are going to be audited by Leilani; who is my boss from San Jose.  She gets to sit in on my best class (4^th) my worst class (3^rd) and my in between class (1^st).  I’ll let you know how that goes.  Once again, thank you for reading.  Keep living the dream.  See you in three months and a few days.  Fight on!

Just another Tico-venture

It would be an understatement to say that I love my fourth graders.  They are amazing.  They are sweet, sassy and incredibly smart.  The 4 girls make up for the occasional laziness of my two boys.  Thursday was no exception.  I was hardly looking forward to class since it was the end of the day and I had already taught 1^st and 6^th grade, including a new student in each.  However, my fourth graders (who are learning about the rainforest and its preservation) helped re-energize me and turn my day into “one of the good ones.” 

Together we made a giant poster of the rainforest including each of the four layers and the animals that dwell in them.  They asked me why I had to leave at the end of the year, which I appreciated.  I told them that it was just time for me to find a new job and they told me that I didn’t need a new job.  Then I joked with them that they might not even remember me a few years down the line and Daniella (one of my smartest students) insisted that she never forgets anything, so that was impossible. 

After we finished our poster we watched 10 minutes of Harry Potter.  Costa Rican children aren’t really encouraged to let their imaginations run wild, a point I discovered when Harry Potter escaped his muggle relatives in a flying car and my students said, “A flying car! What a lie!”  I did my best to assure them that it’s magic and we can’t understand how it works, but that it is possible.  What’s next?  No Santa Claus?

I went on another Bike ride with my 6^th grader Christian today, who, coincidentally, I caught cheating on his last exam.  My 5^th and 6^th graders all cheat on almost every exam; I just don’t always catch them with hard evidence.  He had a worksheet poorly hidden in his desk.  We rode a few kilometers down the Pan-American passing a number of “new” waterfalls that have popped up since the rain started to intensify.  I feel desperately out of shape, but any exercise is better than none, or so I have heard. 

This past weekend, I had my in-service meeting in San Jose with the other WT volunteers.  It was pretty good.  Our meetings lasted about half of the day and we covered a lot of our questions and concerns for the end of the year.  We went out dancing on Friday night and to see Wanted at the movies on Saturday night.  I also joined a fantasy football league, which I am not proud of, but it will serve to pass the next 3 months and 17 days or whatever it is. 

On Sunday I tried to catch a 10:30 bus home only to find out that it was actually a 10:00 bus and that all of the buses were booked until 2:30.  Rather than sit in the bus station for four hours, I ventured over to the hospital/doctors office a few blocks from the bus terminal and went to the pharmacy for some over the counter-prescription meds.  Following that riveting experience, I ate lunch in the Hospital Cafeteria and then headed back to the Bus Station.  Mikki Jean and I lucked out and had seats next to each other on the bus despite not having bought our tickets together.  The ride back was uneventful, except for the remnants of landslides that we passed on our way into San Isidro.

So, that’s all for now.  Papa Lathan arrives tomorrow and we are headed to the beach for a day or so.  Then it’s back to El Vergel for classes on Monday and he flies home on Tuesday.  You know it’s a Lathan vacation when . . .