Poas and La Paz - Round 2

Mark came to visit last week and while I was in school he took a tour of Poas Volcano, Doka coffee plantation, and La Paz waterfall gardens.  When I went to Poas a couple of weeks ago, I didn't see anything because of the number of clouds.  Mark, however, was able to see into the crater.  It actually erupted just 2 days prior to his visit so in his video you can see steam still rising from the crater....

here's the link to his video  http://youtu.be/j2YUhoe9EeI

He also went to Doka Coffee plantation....I was bummed out that I didn't get to go there with him.  It seems like a really interesting process and he came back telling me all about it. Of course, he wanted to tell me about the kinds of machines they use in their factory, but that's just the engineer in him.  LOL.

These are the berries right off the coffee plant....I thought the colors were beautiful, but Mark told me that the ones that float are the bad beans.  They'll end up using these for other products.

After the good beans are sorted, this is what they look like.  They are then laid out into rows and dried in the sun.

I'll spare you pics of the roasting process...I'm guessing you can imagine what that's like...but here's the finished product...

When he left there, he went to La Paz waterfall gardens where he was able to experience the toucan like I did...

And here's a video of the falls that he took...... http://youtu.be/dxsltNy0rPw

Ram Luna

Mark came to visit and we took a night to go to a touristy dinner.  The food was fantastic and the show was really cool, too.  There is a traditional liquor here called Cacique Guaro.  It is made from sugar cane and is so good that it's dangerous.  We enjoyed some cocktails made with this while we watched the show.  Here we are at the restaurant....

This picture was taken outside the restaurant.  It shows San Jose and all of the central valley behind us...

 

Click this link to see what the show looked like... http://youtu.be/UlLE7US69E8      

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They played a lot of traditional music.  This instrument is from 1932.  Oh, and Layne says he misses his sax!

 

Sink or Swim

I'm disheartened about something.....I heard through the grapevine that a mentor teacher told her student teacher to "sink or swim." I am thankful that my mentor teacher did not say that to me because I think that would really weigh heavily on my heart.  Especially since, as a teacher, would you EVER tell one of your students to "sink or swim"?  I don't think any decent teacher would say that to a student and, isn't a student teacher a student, too? 

I hope I remember these things if I ever take on a student teacher.  These students (I guess I'm talking about myself here) need encouragement and mentorship, not more challenges.  Trust me when I say that we get enough challenges...please LEAD us and TEACH us.  Just my two cents.

Stay in school

I had a moment the other day that I really wanted to share...

It was library day and I was herding all of the students to the library.  Our routine is that they get there and the librarian reads them a story.  After that they have free time to browse the library to look for new books to read.  Before the all the kids were settled, a student asked me why I wanted to be a teacher.  I replied that I'd always wanted to be a teacher from a very young age.  He (in all his innocence) asked me why I'd waited so long since all the other teachers were so young.  I laughed at his boldness, but was honest with him when I told him that I'd started a family at a young age and made some decisions that kept me from completing my education...that I'd never finished school so I was never able to officially be a classroom teacher.

The librarian called all the student's attention to her as she began to read the story.  When she was on about the third page, this student raised his hand.  She called on him, thinking- like I did- that he had something to add to the story she was reading.  Instead, with tears in his eyes (he literally wiped his eyes), he said to the librarian, "I'm sorry Miss _____, but I just can't stop thinking about what Mrs. Zwolle said.  Mrs. Zwolle, I'm sorry you never got to finish school.  I think that is so sad."

I was so touched....I just smiled at him and replied with, "Don't be sad!  I'm in school now!" and I used the moment to tell him (and the other kids) that it's never too late to go back to school.  I told them that not completing my education had certainly made my life more difficult, so it's always a good idea to stay in school and finish, but that if life throws you a curve ball, not to give up, but to push forward and know that the learning process is never over.  Whether we are in a formal school or not, we are always learning.

He seemed satisfied with that answer and turned back to the librarian to finish her story, but this is a moment that I think I will hold in my heart for quite some time.  I hope to challenge students and to encourage them.  I hope to teach them many academic skills, but I also hope to teach them that even though we sometimes make poor choices in life, the important thing is to learn from those choices and to make better ones in the future.

Our new room

It's been a while since I've posted....please accept my apologies.  Layne and I moved into a new room about a week or so ago.  It's bigger and has a private bathroom so we feel more comfortable.  We'll be in this room until mid April and then we'll move again to a smaller room for the last two weeks of our stay in Costa Rica.  Here are a few pics from our landlady's website of our new room and bathroom.

Ometepe, Nicaragua

First and foremost, I did NOT want to go to Nicaragua.  I was so scared of all the things I'd seen on the news over the years about rebels and guerilla fighters, but I must say that this was the best thing I'd experienced so far in this trip.  Before even reading my blog post, you should go to www.ometepenicaragua.com and read about this amazing place.  Our destination was Ometepe, Nicaragua.  It is an island in Lake Nicaragua.  The island is there because it's two volcanoes that have come up out of the lake.

Our bus left San Jose at 5 a.m. on Saturday.  We arrived at Nicaragua's border around 1:00.  Crossing the border was a little scary.  We had to get off the bus, let immigration stamp our passports as we left Costa Rica, and reboard the bus.  Then, we drove a little bit in "no-man's land" until we reached the Nicaragua side.  Again, we had to get off the bus, let them go through our luggage and stamp our passports, and then get back on the bus.  Nicaragua is very "old school" and we actually had to get our luggage off the bus to lay it out on tables so people could come by to inspect them.  While that was going on, we had beggars and vendors harassing us. It was a little overwhelming, but it all worked out okay.

We arrived in Rivas, Nicaragua about 2:30 (I'm guestimating).  When we exited the bus, we were pounced on by about 8 taxi drivers...well, not really taxis.  They were bicycles with the little cart on the front.  I think the correct term is "rickshaw"?  Anyway, they wanted to charge $5 per person to carry us 8 km to the ferry.  Then, a taxi driver came up and said he'd take us for $3 a person.  So, we took the car.  (We found out later that we should never pay more than $1 per person for that ride). Once we got to the ferry, we had to wait about an hour.  At this point, we're tired, hungry, and just plain irritated.  Finally, FINALLY, we were able to board the ferry and ride it to the island.

Ometepe is an island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua.  The lake has bull sharks in it, and great waves for a lake.  It was one of the coolest places I've ever been. 

This little village of Moyogalpa was so full of culture.  I loved it so much.  It was the typical place that you think about....small homes side by side...no coverings on the doors or windows, you can see right into the homes.  Sometimes you'll hear music coming from various places, tunes overlapping.  Roosters are crowing and scattering out of your way as you walk down the street.  Barefoot children are running around playing games.  Some people might set up a little table in front of their home to sell items....sometimes food, sometimes craftsy items, sometimes maxi pads (just sayin').  These people are poor, but they were so friendly and welcoming and helpful to us.  I definitely want to go back to this place one day.

We stayed at a place called Yogi's Hostel in Moyogalpa which was, well, a hostel.  It was the first time I'd ever stayed in a hostel.  I guess I really didn't know what to expect for $7 a night, but it was fine.  Nothing fancy, but we were able to sleep.  This was the courtyard at night.  I just loved the way the light was.  This picture really doesn't do it justice....

And, here's looking down into the common area, where we would hang out and swing in hammocks.  There's Layne....the only spot he could get Wi-Fi....LOL

We rented 4 wheelers and scooters our second day there.  We were able to explore about 25 km of the island.  Unfortunately, we got a late start and the 4 wheelers had to be back by 5 p.m. so we didn't get to go as far as we wanted.  Sights were amazing, though.  As we left Moyogalpa, the homes (if that's what you want to call them) got further and further apart.  You could still see the majestic volcano (which last erupted in 2010) towering over these modest dwellings.

Continuing down the road, we found a place for ziplining.  We couldn't take our back packs, so I opted to babysit the packs while Layne and the other student teachers went ziplining.  It was only $20 per person and they said it was amazing.  One of them took some pics of Layne for me, but I haven't gotten them yet.  This is the group after they were done....

We finished out the day at Playa Santo Domingo.  It's a beach with surprisingly big waves.  Well, not as big as ocean waves, but for lake waves they were pretty impressive.  And there's the second volcano in the background....

It was a great couple of days.  On our last night there, we walked down to the lake to watch the sunset.  We turned around once and saw the volcano looming behind us....

And the sunset?  Well the sunset was the perfect ending to a pretty fantabulous trip :-)

I was a little worried coming back into Costa Rica.  I just didn't know how things would work with Layne being a minor.  But, he went way ahead of me...didn't even wait for me.  He was through immigration, had his passport stamped, and was tapping his foot at me telling me to hurry up before I could even get to the immigration desk.  Entering Costa Rica was a little easier than entering Nicaragua...at least they had x-ray machines for the luggage so we didn't wait for each bag to be searched.

Back in Escazu

We made it safely back to Escazu from Nicaragua this afternoon, but I've got too much to do for school to blog about it right now.  I'll blog about it in the next couple of days.  Just wanted everyone to know we're safe.