Here are approximate prices of things in US dollars that we have found nearby.
land nearby: 1.something acres = $100,000.00 (approximately)
toaster oven: $60
taxi from school to Centro Comercial (distance = ???): $2
taxi from Centro Comercial to our home: $4
pressure cooker (one year warranty): $27
sunscreen (small, about 8-10 oz): $20!!
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Food prices
Conversions from colones to US dollars are approximate.
5 mangos (ripe) = $2 (Super Vargas)
16 oz jar of peanut butter = $6 or $7
1 bunch of fresh basil, 1 bunch of lettuce, 1 bunch of arugula, 2 squash, 2 small eggplant, 3 huge tomatoes, all organic = $9 (Ferria / Farmer's Market)
1 banana at pricey corner store called, "Whole Foods" = $0.10
15 brown eggs = $3.20 (Ferria / Farmer's Market)
5 mangos (ripe) = $2 (Super Vargas)
16 oz jar of peanut butter = $6 or $7
1 bunch of fresh basil, 1 bunch of lettuce, 1 bunch of arugula, 2 squash, 2 small eggplant, 3 huge tomatoes, all organic = $9 (Ferria / Farmer's Market)
1 banana at pricey corner store called, "Whole Foods" = $0.10
15 brown eggs = $3.20 (Ferria / Farmer's Market)
Civics Week
Costa Rica's Independence Day was on Sept. 15th. Therefore, every morning LAST week, for the first half hour of school, all students and staff assembled in the 1st and 2nd grade classrooms (that can become one large room, the ONLY space on campus inside large enough for everyone) for presentations related to celebrating Costa Rica. Each presentation is called, "Acto Civico" (civic act?) and all presentations are a culmination of work done by students each afternoon for 45 minutes since the beginning of school.
Each morning started with everyone standing silently with right hand on one's heart while the Costa Rican flag was proudly paraded into the room in proper flag-holding style, with one person holding the flag up so that it wouldn't drag on the ground. The school's flag was also carried in, and both were put in stands for the duration of the presentation.
Then we all sang the Costa Rican national anthem and song of the Puntarenas province in which is Monteverde. Luckily they provide the words by means of overhead projector. After the presentation (which I'll get to), at the end we sang, "O, Costa Rica!" (like a national patriotic song that isn't the anthem).
At first I wasn't sure if I should put my hand on my heart while the flag parades in, or if I should sing the words, since it isn't my country. But I saw other "international" (non-tico) teachers putting their hands on their hearts and trying to sing along as best they could, in order to provide a model for the students I'm sure, so I joined in of course.
The presentations included:
1. animals of Costa Rica - monkey, manatee, butterfly, some sort of deer-like thing...
2. sayings (dichos) of Costa Rica (I'm hoping to get this from the teachers soon)
3. Kindergarteners in traditional Tico costumes danced to typical music of CR
4. traditional clothing of the various provinces of CR
5. famous people of Costa Rica - (I'm waiting for the list of who they presented)
6. Dances by teachers and students with traditional clothing
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| kindergarteners prepare to dance |
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| students and teachers perform typical Costa Rican dances |
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Learning the Language
Here's word learning in action! I imagine those in the TESOL field, or anyone who has taught or learned a second language, would appreciate this!
1. Out of the blue, while walking to school up the tiny windy dirt trail on the coast side of the main road, Jerry asked, "What does tienes mean?" How cool that he had heard it already so often in the last three days that it was rolling around in his brain! "It means, 'you have'" I responded.
2. The boy jumped from tree to rock to ground, and ran around the grassy grounds with the other kids. As a native English-speaking eight year old who has been here less than five days, he has already picked up some Spanish. "Guys, come check out this pizote!" he yells, as a coatamundi (or pizote, pronounced pee-so-tay) wanders carelessly nearby. Here's proof of how important it is to learn vocab with CONTEXT!
3. I learned in Spanish class in high school that tierra means dirt, soil, earth. Every time I heard this word, I pictured the actual brown tangible stuff in which kids like to play and worms make their home. However, I asked one of the maintenance guys at school what the metal-looking stick was that sticks out of the ground next to a power line. He explained that it's a tierra, and how it works during a lightning storm. Then I realized that he meant the stick grounds the electricity in a lightning storm.
4. What's the most difficult thing about the language here? What I have found to be tricky so far is that my Spanish doesn't yet enter into the realm of p.c. pragmatics; I don't know how to speak about special education without saying something offensive. Luckily for me, my main support person, a Tica, is patient, she speaks Spanish clearly, and she doesn't mind repeating things for me.
1. Out of the blue, while walking to school up the tiny windy dirt trail on the coast side of the main road, Jerry asked, "What does tienes mean?" How cool that he had heard it already so often in the last three days that it was rolling around in his brain! "It means, 'you have'" I responded.
2. The boy jumped from tree to rock to ground, and ran around the grassy grounds with the other kids. As a native English-speaking eight year old who has been here less than five days, he has already picked up some Spanish. "Guys, come check out this pizote!" he yells, as a coatamundi (or pizote, pronounced pee-so-tay) wanders carelessly nearby. Here's proof of how important it is to learn vocab with CONTEXT!
3. I learned in Spanish class in high school that tierra means dirt, soil, earth. Every time I heard this word, I pictured the actual brown tangible stuff in which kids like to play and worms make their home. However, I asked one of the maintenance guys at school what the metal-looking stick was that sticks out of the ground next to a power line. He explained that it's a tierra, and how it works during a lightning storm. Then I realized that he meant the stick grounds the electricity in a lightning storm.
4. What's the most difficult thing about the language here? What I have found to be tricky so far is that my Spanish doesn't yet enter into the realm of p.c. pragmatics; I don't know how to speak about special education without saying something offensive. Luckily for me, my main support person, a Tica, is patient, she speaks Spanish clearly, and she doesn't mind repeating things for me.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
My office (1)
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| My office from the outside (right-most window) |
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| View of the Necoya Gulf from my new office! |
Agouti
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| It's a guinea pig! No, it's an earless deer-rabbit! No, it's an agouti! (The thing in back is a tree, not its tail. It seems tail-less.) |
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