Poco a Poco (Little by Little)

Poco a poco I am learning about the culture here. Sometimes through classes that the Spanish Language Institute offers their students during orientation that I´ve sat in on, sometimes through observation. A few interesting things I´ve learned...

It is an insult to walk around the house with bare feet.

Umbrellas are called paraguas if you are a man and a sombrilla if you are a woman (same object, different word depending on your gender).

Coffee here is much weaker (one fourth as strong?) as in the States and it and some form of bread/carbohydrate are eaten late afternoon, sometimes in place of dinner, sometimes more like a snack.

Most houses have a series of high metal gates that you have to unlock to get to the house. Cars are also driven into the garage area and locked behind the gate, though you can see through the bars of the gates and know that the car is there. It is unwise to leave your house unattended at any time.

The school was built on a hill. At the top is the gate where the guard sits to let you in as well as the registration building and classrooms for the Spanish Language Institute. As you continue down the steps, walking under awnings to sheild you from the rain, there are several other series of gates that lead to various areas of the school. First are the secondary classes on the right and the Spanish and MEP classses on the left (MEP classes are for Costa Ricans only, Spanish classes for Ticos/North Americans only), then Music and the upper elementary grades and lunch area are on the left and the Sojourn office and preschool (Rayitos de sol...little rays of sun) are on the right. At the bottom of the hill, the gym is on the left and the primary grades (with another gated entrance) are on the right. It is nice to be away from a bit of the hustle and bustle. My room was quite full of all kinds of trash and supplies and furniture, but I have sifted through it and cleaned out a lot. The principal publically acknowledged the transformation that occurred and said seeing me at the beginning of the week was like watching someone shovel through snow. It reminded me of my job teaching kindergarten, which I also got at the last minute and also involved cleaning out a whole room full of other people´s stuff that they´d left behind. It´s so fun when God shows us ways that he has been preparing us for the future. Several other teachers noted that having that room would have overwhelmed them too much, but it was similar enough to a past experience of mine that I knew it could be done if I put my mind to it. It reminded me of a friend who recently told me I have a gift of being able to stay calm and see clearly in the midst of chaos.

I have a class of 12, about half of which are Ticos (Costa Ricans) and half of which are gringos, children of missionaries who are going to classes at the Spanish Language Institute just up the hill. Our school is called Sojourn Academy. I think it is the coolest thing that my gringo students are going to deploy to Peru and Honduras and Costa Rica, the only Hispanic countries I´ve visited for an extended time. Another aspect of God´s affirmation that this country and this classroom are exactly where he´s called me.

I am blessed by my Tico family. Adrianna just turned 29 yesterday, and I got to celebrate with the family by eating Tres Leches cake and laughing A LOT and possibly learning a word that means "wedgie" that came about when Christian, the dad, was playing with the kids. Jimena is two and loves to look at me with big eyes and smile. We have a lot of fun dancing and tickling each other, though it is very hard for me to understand what she says to me. Fabian, ten years old, is one of my best language helpers. He is energetic, chubby, loves soccer and is almost constantly smiling. One night we played Super Banco together (a version of Monopoloy that has all Costa Rican landmarks for properties) and last night we played Blink, a card game I brought with me. Fabian is a charmer for sure, who lets the ladies go first as we enter the family car and says the thing he likes best about several girls he´s interested is that they´re beautiful just like his mom. Adrianna is pretty, but what stands out to me most is her gentle spirit and thoughtfulness. After a multiple hour adventure as a family, I bought an umbrella (It rains everyday). A few days later I accidentally left it at home becuause it was drying out and was in a different location than where I normally keep it. Not only did she notice, she carted it up to school and dropped it off so I´d have it when I went home that evening. Not only that, she insists on dropping my lunch off at the school so that it´s hot when I eat it. That is not normal here and is above and beyond the call of duty. The food here is quite tasty as well, rice, beans, fruits (a lot of bananas, pinapple, sweet bananas that taste like dessert, salad that looks kind of like coleslaw without the mayonaise sauce, bread, sandwiches of cheese-butter-something like ham-balogney).

Unlike when I lived in Honduras, there is running water that is safe for me to drink in the house as well as running water for showers. I was impressed by this because we had water every three days or so in Honduras, partly depending upon how much it rained and collecting it from outside, taking showers with a bucket. Not the case here. For a few days I thought there was only cold water, but realized that if you just turn on the water a tiny bit, then it is warm when it comes out! If there is too much water pressure, the heater can´t keep up. I was thankful to learn this in a culture session!

One of my favorite things so far was meeting a few of my gringo students because they are in orientation right now, as are thier parents. Because I am a new teacher I do not have to help lead orientation, but one morning they had us come anyway and we got to sit down and talk to them for a while and then sing praise songs with them. I came alive so much then! (I have been exhausted from working hard at school, mentally translating everything, but maybe especially from the difference in altitude here.) One of the kids was crying, and I got to comfort him and talk to him about Jesus being there all the time for him when he´s sad, etc. I was struck by how easily this conversation occured as well as the fact that it couldn´t have happened in public school. In general, I am thankful that God is constant when pretty much everything else about my life has changed! I absolutely love singing praise songs as well. The first praise song we sang at a staff meeting was one of my favorite worship songs, Shout to the Lord, in Spanish. It was one of a few Spanish praise songs I memorized. Two of the songs at worship with the kids were ¨Your Love is Deep¨which is another of my favorites, though I just learned there are actions to it! I love action songs...they remind me of camp! Another was ¨Eres Todopoderoso¨ about how powerful God is. This song has particular sentimental value to me from my time in Honduras and is also one I´ve memorized before in Spanish. Though I have cried a couple times and miss the depth of relationships back home, I am also learning my way around, can get from my house to school by myself, and am developing relationships with teachers Mary and Esther who are also newer. Esther even came by my house to visit for a few minutes last night (which lasted an hour because we´re on Hispanic time now, and my family is super sweet!).

Thank you so much for praying for me! Prayers for rest and peace are appreciated.

I have limited access to Internet at school and hope to check e-mail etc. once on the weekends. I love you all!!!

Joanne