Un Dia Tipica

People have been asking me what a typical day for me in Costa Rica is like.  So I thought I’d describe, more or less what, I do here.  

6:00am- Wake up to the sound of roosters crowing outside my room. Stumble into the kitchen, drink some coffee,  eat breakfast.  Get ready for school. 

6:57am- Arrive at my classroom where there are 25 kids waiting for Teacher to open the door so that I can “prestame las cartas” (give then the Uno cards).  I must hear that phrase 500 times a day “Teacher, Teacher, prestame las cartas!!” 

7:00am- 10:30am Teach

10:30 - Lunch

11:00-12:00pm Teach 

12:00pm- to 12:30pm- Get out the hammer and nails. The next half-hour of my day is usually dedicated to keeping my rickety old classroom from falling down.  The door has already been fixed 1,755 times and counting. 

The students absolutely love to play “touch the board” game. Which is where I tape two pictures on the blackboard; (e.g. if we are learning about animals there may be a picture of a cat and a picture of a dog).  Two kids stand a few feet away from the board, then I’ll say either cat or dog and the first kid to touch the picture I say wins.  This game almost alway ends with the class breaking out into complete chaos or someone bleeding, usually both.  But the kids love it so we keep playing it.  The game is also hugely detrimental to my classroom, as it causes the panels on walls to fall off, making big holes.  If these holes are not fixed immediately the kids will escape out of them whenever Teacher’s back is turned.  

12:30 to 1:30 Make lesson plans for the next day, clean classroom, mess around on the internet.  

1:30 to 3:00  Usually this large chunk of my afternoons is dedicated to finding something to eat.   

Every morning my host Mother makes a pot of gallopinto, which is just a mixture of rice and beans, and a very typical Costa Rican breakfast.  The pot is supposed to last until the afternoon so that once the kids come home from school there is something they can snack on.  However, between me, my four host brothers, my host Dad who has a belly big enough to push around in a wheelbarrow , and my chubby-little host sister who everyone calls “chancho” (pig) the pot of Gallopinto is usually gone pretty quickly.  By the time 1:30 comes around I’m starving. I rush home as fast as I can to try and scrape whatever is left at the bottom of the pot, which is usually nothing.  There are no super markets or grocery stores in my pueblo.  So there is nothing I can buy to curb my hunger.  So usually I go back to school and bribe kids with stickers to climb trees and pick me mangos.  A couple mangos will usually hold me over for a few hours.

After I find something to eat I usually hangout on the front porch of my house and either read, play guitar, or talk with my host brothers and friends Diego and Jody.      

  

3:00pm-5pm  Tuesdays and Thursdays I ride my bike down the highway to some friends house and give them English lessons.  Usually they treat me to, much appreciated, plates of arroz con pollo.    

Mondays and Wednesdays are my favorite days of the week because they are soccer days.  The local teenagers gather on the plaza behind my house and have “majengas”, or pick up games.   My host brother, Pablo, is an amazing player. He practices on the plaza everyday; running laps, juggling, and taking set shots.  He even had a brief stint on the Costa Rican Junior National Team. Furthermore, Jeremy (the volunteer 15 min up the highway) takes the bus down to Vergel and plays sometimes.  Jeremy is also an excellent soccer player, he played four years on his college team.  I have always considered myself to be a decent soccer player, having played AYSO and Club for most of my youth, however playing with these guys everyday has really been humbling.         

5:00pm  Take a shower, then read in the hammock on the front porch, more guitar, play with the little kids, more messing around on the internet. 

7:00pm  The news comes on.  Everyone in Costa Rica watches the news. Everyone! And I don’t understand why?  It reminds me of the movie Anchorman.  Some of the things they consider news here I find ridiculous.  I’m pretty sure Ill see a pregnant panda or a waterskiing squirrel sometime before December. However ridiculous it is, I still find myself on the couch every night glued to the TV along with the rest of the family.  I have also found that the news is really good practice for my Spanish, as it allows me to listen to many different people’s voices, as well as, many different subject matters which builds my vocabulary. 

7:30pm Dinner 

8:00pm More porch lounging... read... play guitar... hang out with the family.

9:00pm Bed

So, mas o menos thats my life right now.  Hope you enjoy reading. Go Lakers!!!