I really live here!
Today marks a key landmark; Michael and I have been living in Costa Rica for one month. It is beginning to feel like home. We see familiar faces on the road. We are greeted by our neighbors and by the owners of stores, who have come to recognize us as well. Yesterday I was greeted at the cheese factory with a joyful "Hola" and smile from the woman there, showing recognition. Although folks here say hello to everyone (Really. It is considered rude to not say hello to every stranger who comes past.) but there is a marked difference between the "hola stranger" and the "hola I think I've seen Your Face Around." It's nice to be a Face Around.
I also took the very exciting step of creating a Costa Rican bank account. I even have my own Banco National debit card. It was much less complicated than I thought it might be. And I even spoke to the teller entirely in Spanish! Granted, my Spanish is very choppy and contains a lot of hand gestures to fill in the words I don't know...but at least there's progress. And the teller seemed to understand what I wanted to do with the money and traveler's checks in my hand.
But I suppose I shouldn't celebrate my Spanish speaking too much...I suppose when one stands in line at the bank and presents the teller with money and traveler's checks there really are a limited amount of options there. It's pretty glaringly obvious what I might want to do at the bank with those items.
Anyway. It was exciting nevertheless.
These week has been lovely in school so far. My 1/2 class was smoother this time around; I think I'm getting the hang of working with those little ones. It was hardly flawless (there is no such thing as flawless class!) but we managed to do some fun pretend games and laughed a good deal. It was very cute, actually. We played "Catch the Imaginary Ball" for a good ten minutes and the kids were thrilled. We also pretended we were walking through all sorts of materials, and they enjoyed that as well (glue, water, ice cream, etc...)
For those of you reading who are connected to the school where I used to work..you'll be pleased to know I've implemented the Red Homework Folder system here. I even used the same line when introducing it: "This is your new Best Friend." And, a message to Michael Zimmerman...yesterday I taught my students how to Bump it Up when rounding numbers. It might warm your heart to know there is now a group of 16 Costa Rican students doing the Bump it Up rounding dance...
I also plan to introduce the "Funky Chicken" when we multiply fractions, and I'll be sure to give Brad Presant credit for that one!
I also took the very exciting step of creating a Costa Rican bank account. I even have my own Banco National debit card. It was much less complicated than I thought it might be. And I even spoke to the teller entirely in Spanish! Granted, my Spanish is very choppy and contains a lot of hand gestures to fill in the words I don't know...but at least there's progress. And the teller seemed to understand what I wanted to do with the money and traveler's checks in my hand.
But I suppose I shouldn't celebrate my Spanish speaking too much...I suppose when one stands in line at the bank and presents the teller with money and traveler's checks there really are a limited amount of options there. It's pretty glaringly obvious what I might want to do at the bank with those items.
Anyway. It was exciting nevertheless.
These week has been lovely in school so far. My 1/2 class was smoother this time around; I think I'm getting the hang of working with those little ones. It was hardly flawless (there is no such thing as flawless class!) but we managed to do some fun pretend games and laughed a good deal. It was very cute, actually. We played "Catch the Imaginary Ball" for a good ten minutes and the kids were thrilled. We also pretended we were walking through all sorts of materials, and they enjoyed that as well (glue, water, ice cream, etc...)
For those of you reading who are connected to the school where I used to work..you'll be pleased to know I've implemented the Red Homework Folder system here. I even used the same line when introducing it: "This is your new Best Friend." And, a message to Michael Zimmerman...yesterday I taught my students how to Bump it Up when rounding numbers. It might warm your heart to know there is now a group of 16 Costa Rican students doing the Bump it Up rounding dance...
I also plan to introduce the "Funky Chicken" when we multiply fractions, and I'll be sure to give Brad Presant credit for that one!
posted by Rebekah at 8:12 AM
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