¿Qué ha pasado y adónde fue el tiempo? ¡Ya es febrero! What's happened and where has all this time gone?! It's February already! Sorry it's been a week, and as usual, it is during the busiest times when I forego updating my blog and such! (I did, however, get the chance yesterday afternoon to update photos on Facebook with JanTerm events and such... although spring term photos are already accumulating quickly! So see my photo links on the right side of the page.)
So I have a lot to convey, but I'll try to be as brief as possible, for my dear brother's sake. (Bubby, please don't complain about the "wall of text" this time. They're in bullet-form just for you!)
Going back to before the freshmen left:
- Whitworth University President Dr. Beck Taylor and VP/Dean of Faculty Dr. Michael Le Roy came to visit for a few days, Jan. 19-22. The time was filled with much accomplished (we got solar panels approved for heating water on the rooftop!). Some highlights of our shared time were:
- receiving a lecture from Michael on the topic of CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement-with the U.S. of course)
- playing the game "Curses" with Beck and all the JanTerm freshmen one night
- exchanging intercultural experiences between the freshmen and Beck
- spending time aligning our goals and assessing where we're at in the vision and development of the CRC. It was wonderful to share the CRC with Beck and to sit down with him and Michael, investing some good collaborative time into discussing our developing academic center!
Coffee beans drying
at the Doka plantation- Emily and I took eight of our JTerm students to a partido de fútbol (soccer game) on their last Saturday night (the 22nd). We went to watch a LIGA vs. Punta Arenas game in Alajuela. Notot the most popular of games to go to. We'd originally wanted to go to the LIGA vs. Saprissa game (since they are the biggest and best [rival] teams in CR), but it had been rescheduled due to the Palmera festival, when we were out of town traveling. So we caught this one since it was the only one that fit into the JTerm busy schedule. It was pretty awesome and the group was really fun... catching on to all the chants and cheers and such. LIGA won on a penalty kick, in the exciting 91st minute of the game... many tears and a surprising amount of blood were shed (by the fútbolistas-that is, soccer players--of course!) in the process, making for an exciting, if not overly-dramatic game.
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| Beck Taylor (left) plays Curses with our JTerm Honors Freshmen group. HILARIOUS couple hours! |
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Me and Emily with 8 of our JTerm Honors Frosh students, just having purchased cheap LIGA jerseys off the street before the fútbol game. |
- We shared much community with the JTerm frosh in the last few days before their departure, which may or may not have included lots of song and dancing, possible shenanigans, games, laughter, and Chikys and Cremas (addicting Costa Rican cookies).
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A favorite cookie for some of our JTerm students |
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These go like hot cakes in our "Pulpería" snack shop |
- After the freshmen left, we three 24/7s and Lindy & Dinorah
were left with just one student, Alexandria (one of the JTerm students who has enough credits to stay here for the spring semester since she now has sophomore academic standing).
How we do... me and Bean workin' outside in the CR sun - The next two days before our next group started arriving, we worked a lot. Debriefed from Jan Term and planned for how thing could be bettered for future groups. Prepared for the arrivals of our spring students, coming in on many different flights. Prepped our orientation materials and planned for the week to
come, as our spring students are on campus for just the first week before we send them off to their host fams this Saturday. We did get to work outside in the sun a bit on those couple days.
On one of our new, super comfy couches:Bean, me, Emily, and Alexandria all fit!
Thanks for the recommendations, JTerm students;
sorry you didn't get to enjoy the soft, wonderful
comfort and delight of the new furniture!!! - We also purchased some new (comfy!) furniture for the entry way of the LAB (what we've named our academic building, which stands for, the "Larry Academic Building." Yep, Larry is our dog.)
- We slept very little, making many very late/early airport runs to pick up first the Holsinger family (Jenni Holsinger is taking her sabbatical here this semester, as well as teaching one class) and then our 20 students starting on Saturday morning.
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This is Larry at my office windowsill. He owns the place. |
- All of our spring term students had arrived by, well, early Monday morning... with stories to tell of their travels and difficulties. Obstacles overcome, we started our group's orientation Sunday night, briefing them on cultural topics, sensitivity, and various introductory topics/activities.
- Monday morning, we took all of them down to San Rafael and Heredia on their "plunges" to discover the lay of the city.
- Classes began on Tuesday. The way the semester program works is that the students pick and choose which courses they want to take/those that are applicable to them, and then there are 4-5 week units in which one or two courses are taken at a time. To start off the semester, 5 weeks of various Spanish and culture classes are offered.
- Students are in different levels of Spanish. And part of being a 24/7 is TAing for one. Actually, this is where the surprising, yet exciting, news comes in...
- I'M TAKING CLASS TOWARDS GRAD CREDITS NOW! So I suppose that "break" I wanted to take from school really didn't pan out so well. One month later, here I am back sitting in a classroom... as a student! It turns out that it was just convenient for me to aprovechar de (take advantage of) the Advanced Spanish Grammar and Lit class that's being taught here right now (to 302 students). But I'm taking it as a modified course for grad credit. It's really quite nice, since I haven't taken a language/grammar class in three years, let alone take a Spanish class in well over a year! I get to refresh my memory on grammar and such, teaching a lesson or two and leading "tertulias" (conversational activities instead of the Live Lab program which I used to run at Whitworth North-for those of you who are familiar with that). Plus, I get to help the undergrad students at the CRC develop their language and watch them progress in comprehension, speaking abilities, and interaction with the language as they become more comfortable in this environment. I'm super excited about this, despite the fact that it's another 3-4 hours out of my day being in class, plus homework/essay writing/lesson planning. I didn't think I'd be starting school again so soon after just graduating. Ah, well, I am getting a head start on grad school credits!
Today has been the second day of classes, and it's great to see students becoming acclimated to the CRC and class routine, even though things will change after they go to their host fams this weekend. Meal times are good, teaching students the ropes of composting afterwards. Watching them do homework, socialize, and live around campus is enjoyable as well.
Solar panels being installed on the top of our dorm building! - Jenni and Adam's boys run around campus as they are homeschooled here. Excited about craft projects, the most recent insect or lizard or fish they've seen, or the weather--it's all so new and exciting. We enjoy still having young children on campus since the Orozco family's departure after JTerm.
- It's been crazy busy, and we've been accumulating our fair share of stories amidst all the hubbub of new students, guest professors, installing WiFi for the dorm building, and installing solar panels!
Emily's muddied legs after
our afternoon adventure today
(involving dogs, mud, and exercise!)- Add to the list having an unnerving experience on a bus ride and almost getting eaten by dogs/the mud (whichever sounds scarier/more gross; take your pick cuz they both provided sufficient adrenaline to fuel a good run through the jungle).
- But it has all been worth it. Life is SO very good. Fun. This group is most definitely very different from our JanTerm group. The dynamic is very different. On many levels. In the nature of the program is different; this is a semester, during which the students are in homestays and not on campus all semester. So we don't LIVE with them or have them all around all the time like we did with the JTerm group. Also, these students are all different ages and stages of their university careers.
- Tonight: "Community" Cookie night (watching episodes of the TV show "Community" and eating homemade cookies) made its spring semester debut. Community and cookies miss you, JTerm Honors Freshmen!
We miss our JanTerm group a lot. Making memories and bonding with 31 freshmen was a blast. Not a day goes by that we don't make reference to our lovely times had. There are photos (and video clips) abound, and many stories to be shared for years to come. Good times. Here's to the spring semester now!
Sorry this was just one of those summarize-and-describe sorts of blog entries. In the future, I aim to post shorter, more interesting entries, and more frequently, which may not be as in depth, but at least they'll be easier to read. I keep getting bugged about that by friends/family members. Pues, hasta luego!
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