Nadia's Adventures

Uniforms

nadiaschafer — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 01:43:09 +0000

Did I mention that us student teachers have to wear uniforms? It’s nice to not have to think about clothes, but lets be honest, our torsos look like bags a little bit. All of these ladies are lovely anyways, so let’s appreciate this: The End!

Poas

nadiaschafer — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 15:05:39 +0000

Wow I have not updated in a while. School has been busy and I’ve been able to do a lot of teaching, which is great. But, on top of things due for college and the state, I’ve been busy and forgetting about this whole blogging thing… So, I will start by talking about Poas. On Saturday, the 6th of February, the five of us decided to go to the Poas volcano for the day. All the information we looked up said the bus would leave at 8, so we decided to meet at 7 to catch a taxi to the bus station. My alarm didn’t go off because I had it set to weekday (oops), so I woke up at 6:45… I got ready real quick and we met up with the other girls. However, for the bus they don’t sell tickets, you just have to line up. There is only one bus that goes to Poas, so it is at high demand. The line was unorganized, and even though we were some of the first people in line, we were still worried that we might not get on. We then find out the bus doesn’t leave until 8:30. It was a little late on top of that, so at about 8:45, everybody started pushing to get on the bus. We all got spots though which was good!

On the bus we met an older couple who had a tour guide with them. We talked to him a little bit, because he was going to school to get his degree in tourism and knew a lot of cool stuff to do. We ended up seeing them while we were hiking around the volcano, and the couple insisted on taking pictures of all of us. They took about 15 pictures of us on my camera, and seemed to be pretty entertained by it… it was quite funny!

All of us + Gustavo

We really lucked out at the volcano though… everybody we asked said it is usually cold and windy. But, when we went it was warm and sunny and 100% clear. I’ve heard others say they couldn’t even see the volcano when they went because it was so cloudy. So, we had a lovely day looking at the volcano, lake, and having a picnic and hiking around a little bit. Yayyy!

The Poas Volcano!

Kirra and Alana with some big leaves!

The lake after hiking up past the volcano. This is where we had our picnic

Lora el loro

nadiaschafer — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 21:40:59 +0000

The backyard of the house I live in is beautiful.

Rosa has tons of hanging baskets with plants and flowers. The orchids are so bright and big, they look fake.Doesn’t this backyard look so nice and peaceful? Well, it may look that way, but it’s not always the case. Beyond the beautiful greens and flowers sits Lora.

Loro means parrot in Spanish, so her name is basically parrot. Lora is at least 55 years old, and was past down to Rosa from her mother after she died. So, Lora is a very special part of the family. Every afternoon, Rosa and Lora start conversing, while Rosa is cooking dinner in the kitchen. It usually gets louder and louder until there is practically a fight going on. All Lora wants is to eat her coffee… yep that’s right. Rosa soaks a piece of french bread in coffee and gives it to the bird, and then she shuts up.

Lora also enjoys laughing in all different ways. Apparently, she is mocking different peoples laughs that she has heard in the past. It’s quite entertaining, although it can be very disturbing if I’m trying to work in the backyard. As annoying as Lora might be, this place wouldn’t be the same without her.

Third day, Bad day.

nadiaschafer — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 03:15:49 +0000

Yesterday, my third day as a student teacher, was a VERY bad day. Really, it was a bad 30 minutes but it was enough for the day, week, month, and maybe for the rest of my student teaching semester. So, this is what happened:

My master teacher decided that the students should get a break for 10 minutes, and they had some energy to burn off. The only rule she gave them was to stay in hers and my vision so we could watch them. So, we go out to a big grass area that stretches across the campus (which is pretty big since it’s a Preschool-12 school), and has the main walkways of the school. Towards the end where I was standing there is a wall that starts low and gradually goes up, and the flag pole goes up from the middle of the wall. Behind the wall are some bushes and planter areas. In front of the wall is a a statue of Lincoln’s head. However, once we got out there, my master teacher left because she needed to get laptops for the next lesson… little did I know that she would be gone for over 20 minutes, and little did I know about what was about to happen! Long story short, 4 people ended up hurt and in the nurse, but the long version is way better, so if you have the time to read on, I suggest you do so…

As soon as we got out, the kids went CRAZY. They were all over the place running around, climbing the wall, going behind the bushes, IN the bushes, playing with ants, etc., etc.. There was not a single moment where I was not trying to tell a kid to get off the wall, out of the bushes, stay in my vision, or to not throw rocks at Lincoln’s head! Within the first few minutes, one girl got hit in the mouth and started crying. She kept telling me it hurt, but I really could not deal with sending her to the nurse and attempt keeping an eye on 22 scattered first graders at the same time. So, I basically told her that she was fine. Every once in a while, she would come tell me it hurts, but I really had too much to deal with and there was no blood or swelling… I think she’s just a baby. (I know, I’m mean). Little did I know that blood was in my near future…

Just minutes later, I see two girls come from behind the bushes, where they weren’t supposed to be playing, with their hands over their mouths. I notice blood on both of their hands. Other kids were following to tell me the story of what had just happened. The girls collided, which caused one of them to loose her tooth, and the other to get her chin cut open. Yep, her chin was cut open by the other girls tooth. Also, nobody could find the tooth, and we are pretty sure she accidentally swallowed it. Now, I needed to get them to the nurse. So, I ask the “nurse helper” (they have class jobs) to take them. Neither of them were crying, but there was still a lot of blood, and I had a feeling the girl was going to need stitches in her chin! I send the three of them to the nurse, and turn to talk to another student. As I turn back around, I notice that there were four students walking, and I didn’t know who it was!

Just a minute later, a boy comes to me saying HE needs to go to the nurse because he just got bit on the finger by a red ant! So, I tell him to just go. Well meanwhile, the baby girl I was referring to earlier said her mouth still hurt. I was sick of her whining and just told her to go to. So, at this point, 6 students are gone! The two minor injuries return and I am so furious at this point that I am shaking the morocco to get the kids in line. No joke, it took TEN minutes to get the kids in the same spot. Nobody was listening. Finally they are all sitting, and I gave them a huge speech about how I’m very disappointed and they will not be having a break for a long long time because they didn’t listen. They seemed to get it, and were all listening for once! The teacher FINALLY came back to see all the students sitting perfectly on the ground, as if they had been that innocent all along. They start to explain what happened, and I told her I needed to go check on them all at the nurse, so she took the class…

I go to the nurse to find one with cotton in her mouth, one with a band-aid on her chin, the nurse helper, and the tagalong. I sent the nurse helper and tagalong to the classroom (after telling tagalong how worried I was and she should never do that again) and waited for the nurse to fill out paperwork for the stitches that the girl would be needing to get after school. Finally, I got to take them both back to the class and calm down for a second.

I cried on the bus ride home, but I’m hoping this is the worst day for a while!

Living with Rosa

nadiaschafer — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 01:03:55 +0000

So, I realize that I haven’t updated in a long time. Costa Rica has been great. My host mom, Rosa, is so hospitable and made me feel so welcome the second I met her. She cooks great food and lets us know that her house is our house and we can make ourselves at home. I think she made the adjustment to a new country much easier. She only speaks to us in Spanish, which I appreciate, but I’m still struggling to work up the guts to talk in Spanish… we will see how that goes, but I guess it has only been 2 weeks.

Rosa is also an excellent cook! She makes us eat a lot too… partially because she serves our food and partially because it is so good that we just want to keep eating. The first weekend we were here, her kids came over, who live a couple blocks away. One of them told us that everybody who has lived here has gained 15-20 pounds over the semester! I went on my first run yesterday and hopefully that will continue. Or, get ready for fat Nadia to return in June!

The first weekend that we were here, we explored our local areas a little bit. All five of us explored Moravia (the city we live in) on Saturday, and San Jose on Sunday. We just looked at the shops and went to the museums in San Jose.

All of us waiting for the bus! This is the best one of many takes, but we tried!

We made these at the art museum with magnetic shapes!

The school I am teaching at, Lincoln, is crazy! It is known to have the presidents kids go there, and many of the people who are running for the February election have students who go there too, so they have very high security. It feels strange, and the safety of it all even makes me a little uncomfortable. It’s just another adjustment I will have to make.

On the second day of orientation, the elementary student teachers didn’t have to go, so we went to the beach. It was a three hour bus ride, but it wasn’t so bad. However, the bus schedule randomly changes, so we thought the bus was at 7:30, when in fact it was at 7:00… so, we had to wait until 8:30 for the next one. We got there around 11:30 and stayed until the last bus at 5:00. Thank goodness for Greta! She is another teacher at Lincoln who also lives at Rosa’s house and she came with us and showed us how to travel in Costa Rica. We liked the beach so much, that on Saturday we went again and stayed at a hostel that was two doors down from the beach! Jaco is a large stretch of beach that is just gorgeous and the water is warm, the waves are good, but the sand is HOT! It is a black sand beach, and you literally can’t walk from the shore to the end of the sand without running, or else your feet will burn!

Kirra fixing our toilet in the hostel.

The stretch of beach to my right.

The stretch of beach to my left.

Ok, so I realize that this blog is all over the place, mainly because I haven’t updated in a while. There have been so many random and funny things that have happened that I wish I could remember them all… my goal is to update way more often so I can share them with you. I will update again this weekend!

Puntarenas to Moravia

nadiaschafer — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:00:55 +0000

The hotel in Puntarenas was very relaxing. It had black sand beaches and lots of pools. The day before we were supposed to check out, I started to plan my transportation to Moravia. Because I had two luggage’s, there was no way I could take the public bus. After talking to three different people in the hotel, they all recommended this taxi driver, Alberto or “Chino”. First, we dropped off my sister and her boyfriend at their hotel nearby. I was sad saying goodbye but so so excited to be moving into my new home. Chino was quite the character and very friendly. As we started driving, he asked me if I had tried to see monkey’s yet. I asked where the best place was so I could take my friends. Chino was literally jumping in his seat and clapping his hands while saying “I have a surprise for you.” So, he takes me to this house, and they have white-faced monkey’s all over their front yard (wild). The family gave us some fruit and I hand fed them bananas and watermelon. When they would take it out of my hand they would make a little noise, as if they were saying “thank you” or “gracias.” Also, he told me to hold on to one really tight, so I did and the monkey pried each of my fingers and bit one of them (it didn’t hurt at all though) to try to get the banana. There were also two moms with babies on their backs, which was probably the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. It was amazing to be face-to-face with the monkeys like that. They were adorable!

The baby was just clinging to his mommy as I was handing her bananas. It was so precious!

Getting to the house was an adventure within itself. It is in a town called Moravia, near San Jose. However, even though the driver knew where Moravia was, the houses have no addresses. My “address” was: From the national bank, 2 blocks north, and 1 block east. So, every time he drove a block he would stop and ask someone on the side of the road if we were going in the right direction. Then, once we got on the street, we had to look for the second part of the address which was “white house with grey.” There was definitely more than one house that matched this description. Thankfully, we found neighbors in front a house, and asked them and we were right across the street! However, the house has two gates and a door so Chino was yelling for them to come open it. After a while, my lovely roommates came to the door, since my host mom wasn’t there at the time. I immediately felt relief and now I am in my new home!

I love this place!

nadiaschafer — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:17:06 +0000

I love everything about Costa Rica! The people are so friendly and make you feel very welcome even if you are an annoying, lost, confused tourist. They are so helpful in telling you places to go and where not to go and are very willing to help with learning Spanish. The food is great! There is rice and beans with every meal… literally… even breakfast. I thought I would hate it but it is actually very delicious and everyone makes it a little different. There is always coffee and random mixes of tropical juices… yummy.

The first two days we went up into the cloud forest and there has been a cold front so it has been very very rainy and cold and windy! However, we still had a great time. The first day we went to the Arenal volcano, but because of the fog, wind, and rain, the volcano wasn’t visible at all. We still had a great time at Tabacon, where we spent a few hours in natural hot springs. Anybody who knows me knows that I get cold very easily and I love warmth, so needless to say, I was VERY happy at the hot springs and very warm. Yesterday we went on a canopy tour at San Lorenzo. After a series of ziplines that ranged from 50-250 meters, we went on the “Tarzan Swing” which is exactly what it sounds like. The two guides hook you to a wire that is on a 100 foot tree, quite a distance away, and push you as hard as they can until you are flying like Tarzan… it was quite the thrill. To finish, we went on the two longest ziplines. Only Joel and I went, and we went up a 20 meter tower (via stairs) went on a zipline that was 750 meters! Here it is: Then we went on one that was 450 meters. On the last one, we were going against a very strong wind, so I went attached to one of the guides so we could have more weight and speed to make it to the end. It was very rainy and I was DRENCHED by the end of it. I had to buy clothes for the two hour drive home because the rain even soaked through by rain jacket and the shirt I had on under it. Every step I took, I could feel water ooze out of my shoe padding and socks. However, it was completely worth it. I would love to do it again on a more clear day so I can see further and see animals, which were all hiding for protection from the wind/rain. The best thing about the rain… the rainbow that follows it

Today, we went to a butterfly farm and a coffee farm. I must say… I love butterflies! They were all so beautiful! We also got to see eggs, caterpillars, and chrysalis. Here are some pictures:

A really cool looking caterpillar!

Giant caterpillars!!

This butterfly was just born this morning. It is hanging to dry its wings!

Well, that’s all for now. Tomorrow we are heading to Puntarenas. We will be staying at an all-inclusive resort for two days. I will need the relaxation before a semester of student teaching (which I am getting very excited/nervous for!!). Sorry for such a long post but I just wanted to share some of the beauty of this country with you all. Peace and Love!

Estoy en Costa Rica!!

nadiaschafer — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 19:00:32 +0000

I have arrived in Costa Rica! I can’t believe I am finally here! One of my goals in coming here is to become proficient, or close to, in Spanish. However, when we got off the plane in San Salvador I was still have dozed from the sleeping pill I took before getting on the plane, and then only sleeping for 5 hours. I wasn’t even feeling up to speaking in English, and especially not mentally awake enough to speak in Spanish. Then, as we are waiting in line to order coffee my sister says, “you order the food.” I froze. I got nervous and could barely remember a single word in Spanish. I began to order in Spanish and finished by saying “please” (in english!)… I don’t know why I couldn’t just say “por favor.” It is clear that the Ticos feel much more comfortable speaking in Spanish, however, they are willing to speak English to the best of the ability for the tourists. However, I hope that I will be the one willing to speak Spanish. I know I need to push myself more, so I am using some Spanish here and there, but basically speaking in Spanglish. Well, I guess it’s a start… hopefully I will warm up to it before moving in to my home-stay… after all, I have only been here for 2 hours or so!

Our hotel is great… we got an upgrade and it is nice and big… there is plenty of room for our 5 huge luggages, which we weren’t expecting at all! For the next four days, my sister (Deanna), her boyfriend (Joel) and I will be playing tourist and going on a variety of tours. I hope to update after each day, as we will be seeing some exciting sites… and hopefully taking lots of pictures!

So Close…

nadiaschafer — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 01:15:50 +0000

So things did not go quite as planned. The tour we were planning on going on was fully booked, so we are traveling around on our own, leaving on the 9th of January. Well, not really on our own because we plan on doing three day tours and three days at a resort to just relax. I just got a new camera for graduating, so be expecting some good pictures! I used to love photography until a camera got stolen and I gave it up for a while. I thought I would remember how to work everything, but I guess I don’t! Hopefully it will come back in time for Costa Rica and some awesome rainforest pictures

Well, on another note… I made it through the first semester of the credential program (and now have a B.A.!), which means I am half way there… kind of. This next semester is going to be difficult. Also, three of the people who were in the program are staying to teach in Santa Barbara, and five of us are going to Costa Rica. It is going to be hard being separated from the people who helped get me through the first semester (I will miss you all dearly!). Although sometimes modern technology can interfere with the simple joys of life, I must say I am thankful for it as I go to Costa Rica. I will be able to keep you all up to date with my blog, Skype with friends and family, and stay in touch with and support my credential program friends. I’m not sure I would make it through 5 months in another country without it.

36 days until Costa Rica!

nadiaschafer — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 03:46:57 +0000

As many of you know, I will be going to Costa Rica in 36 days! The plan is to go with my sister and her boyfriend for 10 days for a tour of the country. Then, I will be student teaching at Lincoln School in San Jose for 5 months. The school is an English, International school, but I will be in a home-stay, and hopefully will be coming back to the states fluent in Spanish (this is my goal)! I am beyond ecstatic about this experience. I have wanted to be a teacher since I was 6 years old, and I am so close to becoming a credentialed teacher. I will be working with a 1st grade class, which I am also so excited about! I have worked in 3rd-5th grade classrooms throughout my program at Westmont, so 1st grade will be a new and exciting experience! There are four other students from my program who will be in Costa Rica doing the same program. I am so excited to have them with me and get to know them better.

I have not been away from home for long before, so this could be a challenging experience, but I feel ready for it. The semester will consist of helping my master teacher, teaching lessons, doing two two-week take overs, doing three tasks of the TPA (Teacher Proficiency Assessment), and composing a portfolio to get my credential in June. Hopefully there will be fun weekend adventures in between all the craziness of student teaching. Once I am in Costa Rica, my goal is to update this blog once a week. Please pray as a I prepare to embark on this journey… for safety, health, and a great experience!