My Second First Day of School (This Year)

Today was my first day at the school I will be student teaching at in Costa Rica. (It's crazy to think just three days ago I was teaching in River Falls!)  I woke up bright and early- somewhere around 5AM- so we could leave for the bus by 6:30.  The school is so much different than back home. The biggest difference is that there is so much outdoor space.  You have to walk outside to get to different rooms, and some classrooms have other doors into an open space outside that they can use.  The day seemed to go muy rápido. It was a crazy schedule because my teacher was sick so they re-arranged the schedule in case she had to leave; also it was the founder's birthday and the whole school sang to him which was pretty cool.  I was surprised that I still knew most of the words to "Las Mananitas" from high school.  The students are supposed to have Spanish right away in the morning but it was switched to the end of the day.  They spend half of their day learning English, Science, and Math in English and then Spanish and Social Studies in Spanish.  Because of this, they have two different teachers which I think is part of why the day seems to go so fast.  The schedule is also different each day, as opposed to home where it is essentially the same everyday.  That will take some getting used to! My cooperating teacher is great though and I am very excited to work with her. I attended a meeting today and all they spoke was Spanish, I was surprised at how much I understood.  Two days in and I am already feeling better about my Spanish skills, though I still have a long way to go.

Every time it began to rain during the school day (it rains here virtually everyday at this time of year), the teachers and staff would say to me, "Welcome to Costa Rica!"  I will take the rain over the snow that is already occurring in places back home any day.

Again, I am so so thankful for the student teachers who are already here.  Without them I am not sure I would have made it to the bus to get to school, nor back from school.  I am going to zumba with Becca and possible Brittany tonight so that should be fun!

Another highlight of today was that I tried two new things! Papaya, which I had never had before, and mamones, which I have never heard of before.  Both were delicious!

Mamones (I forgot to take a photo, found this one here)

Needless to say, I am definitely becoming more comfortable here and am much more settled in.  My host family is great and although my Spanish skills are lacking I am learning slowly.  Lucky for me I still have plenty of time to practice!

You can find all travel posts from Hey Dreamer Blog here.