No, not the Amish
Just to be clear...the Quakers are not, in fact, the Amish. Nor are they in any way similar to or related to the Amish. They do not dress in any particularly unusual manner and they do not have any particular objection to electricity. Just to be clear.
We get a surprising number of tourists at our school looking for "The Quakers." One visiting Italian tourist actually laughed at my boss when he said he was a Quaker (he IS a Quaker) because she thought he was kidding. She said, "No! You're not a Quaker! I mean the REAL Quakers, in the black clothes? And the bonnets?" Apparently this poor woman came all the way up the mountain to Monteverde for the sole purpose of catching a glimpse of some Quakers.
I believe she might have been disappointed.
There are plenty of Quakers here. But they wear hiking pants and rubber pants and rain slickers just like any 21rst century person living in a farming community on a rainy mountain.
It is very, very odd to teach in a school that is also a tourist attraction. Tourists sometimes simply ignore that we are clearly an actual school trying to go about it's school business. Plus people stand in our recess yard and take pictures. They also take pictures of our students, which I find quite creepy. The kids are used to it, but the North American in me wants to call the police.
One tourist came into our staff office the other day and announced, "I am here to learn about your school! Can someone give me a tour?" What made this particularly odd is five of us were sitting in the office around a speaker phone CLEARLY looking like we were planning on doing something important. My boss explained that we were about to do a phone interview so now was not the best time. The man simply ignored this and walked further into the office. He continued asking questions about the school, about its history, all the while the clock is ticking away and we are waiting to begin our phone interview. My boss asked again if he could excuse us because we were doing something important at the moment and he then wanted to know when could be come back and take the tour.
See, the thing is, we are actually a school. Not a tourist site.
This guy was actually not so out of the ordinary. I am often stopped as I am rushing from one class to the other, arms full of books and rulers and paper and scissors and string and other assorted supplies, by some tourist who would like to ask me a few questions. I have been asked by tourists, "Are YOU a Quaker?" as if they are wondering, perhaps, why I am not wearing a bonnet. (Reminds me of when I used to be a tour guide at Sarah Lawrence College where at least once a day I was asked by some parent, "Are YOU a lesbian?")
You don't really want to be rude to the visitors, but you do feel a little perturbed. And I feel that kicking said tourist would not truly reflect the Quaker values of our institution.
So- folks- if you ever are visiting another country and wish to see a cute little school, please don't forget they are also a normal school just trying to do normal school stuff. If you choose to ask a million questions and times that are clearly inconvient, please don't be upset if you get kicked. You've been warned.
On that note, if you ask extremely personal questions of your college tour guide, you should perhaps also be kicked.
We get a surprising number of tourists at our school looking for "The Quakers." One visiting Italian tourist actually laughed at my boss when he said he was a Quaker (he IS a Quaker) because she thought he was kidding. She said, "No! You're not a Quaker! I mean the REAL Quakers, in the black clothes? And the bonnets?" Apparently this poor woman came all the way up the mountain to Monteverde for the sole purpose of catching a glimpse of some Quakers.
I believe she might have been disappointed.
There are plenty of Quakers here. But they wear hiking pants and rubber pants and rain slickers just like any 21rst century person living in a farming community on a rainy mountain.
It is very, very odd to teach in a school that is also a tourist attraction. Tourists sometimes simply ignore that we are clearly an actual school trying to go about it's school business. Plus people stand in our recess yard and take pictures. They also take pictures of our students, which I find quite creepy. The kids are used to it, but the North American in me wants to call the police.
One tourist came into our staff office the other day and announced, "I am here to learn about your school! Can someone give me a tour?" What made this particularly odd is five of us were sitting in the office around a speaker phone CLEARLY looking like we were planning on doing something important. My boss explained that we were about to do a phone interview so now was not the best time. The man simply ignored this and walked further into the office. He continued asking questions about the school, about its history, all the while the clock is ticking away and we are waiting to begin our phone interview. My boss asked again if he could excuse us because we were doing something important at the moment and he then wanted to know when could be come back and take the tour.
See, the thing is, we are actually a school. Not a tourist site.
This guy was actually not so out of the ordinary. I am often stopped as I am rushing from one class to the other, arms full of books and rulers and paper and scissors and string and other assorted supplies, by some tourist who would like to ask me a few questions. I have been asked by tourists, "Are YOU a Quaker?" as if they are wondering, perhaps, why I am not wearing a bonnet. (Reminds me of when I used to be a tour guide at Sarah Lawrence College where at least once a day I was asked by some parent, "Are YOU a lesbian?")
You don't really want to be rude to the visitors, but you do feel a little perturbed. And I feel that kicking said tourist would not truly reflect the Quaker values of our institution.
So- folks- if you ever are visiting another country and wish to see a cute little school, please don't forget they are also a normal school just trying to do normal school stuff. If you choose to ask a million questions and times that are clearly inconvient, please don't be upset if you get kicked. You've been warned.
On that note, if you ask extremely personal questions of your college tour guide, you should perhaps also be kicked.
posted by Rebekah at 8:13 PM
3 Comments:
Oh my god, people are stupid sometimes...
About twelve kilometers (as the swallow-tailed kite flies) north of Monteverde, on the way to Arenal, on a branch of the rio Chiquito, is a Mennonite colony. Perhaps that's what the Italian lady was looking for.
On the other hand, isn't part of the charm of the place knowing that outsiders want to come and visit . . . even if they are annoying at times . . .
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