WORD SEARCH // SOPA DE LETRAS

I was thinking today about language.  (Actually I think about language a lot, as I am teaching one and learning another, and have become a little obsessed with it.)

But I like how "lol" has kind of lost its meaning.  It has for me, anyways.  If I laugh out loud at a text from a friend (which I do, quite often) I feel like I have to explicitly tell that person that I did, indeed, just laugh out loud.  A mere "lol" wouldn't suffice. It's like we're going back to the good ole days, before we butchered the language to meet character limits.

The other day, I discussed with a Costa Rican friend of mine a word I heard.  A group of people who would usually be calling each other "mae", were calling each other "mop".  (You have to say this with a Spanish accent, long o and soft p)  He told me that "mop" is actually a shortened form of "mopri" which itself is a mixed up form of the syllables that make up the Spanish word "primo" or cousin.  How's that for a little micro etymology? It's like calling someone your "cuz". Costa Rican Spanish is full of slang and dichos or sayings, and I love them.  It is truly a form of folk poetry.

And what about the most famous Costa Rican phrase, "pura vida"?  This is not just on t-shirts and post cards down here.  This is the real deal.  It can mean "thank  you" and "you're welcome" and "don't worry about it" and "how are you". It can be a statement or a question or an adjective. It really is a beautiful phrase, with a beautiful meaning, that sounds absolutely awful when spoken with a North American accent.

One of my favorite things about Costa Rican Spanish is the English words they've adopted and just speak them with a Spanish accent.  Some examples I've heard are "full" as in el tanque esta full or "spot" like aqui es un buen spot and "ride" like dame un ride?  I think my favorite would be "coffeemaker" which just sounded so funny to me when spoken with a Spanish accent.  (Also, Life Pro Tip, all coffee should be made using the traditional Costa Rican chorreador.  You'll never buy a coffeemaker again.)

If I remember anything from my linguistics class in college, it's that language is a complex and evolving living thing and I have become increasingly in tune with it over the past year and a half.   When I first started really studying Spanish I wanted word for word translations of ideas between the languages.  But the more I speak Spanish and the more I try to teach English to Spanish speakers, I realize you really have to think in a foreign language, not just try to translate what your native language would say.

This makes my job both fascinating and frustrating.  Fascinating because I have learned that syntax between English and Spanish doesn't really translate all the time. Fascinating because I get to talk about idioms and words like "get" which English speakers use in hundreds of different ways, and literally cannot be translated into one specific word.  Its also frustrating, because how do you begin to think in another language if you don't know that language yet.  I feel my students' frustrations here, because I have been in their shoes.

In general, I really think that Spanish is a more organized language.  Rules are rules in Spanish.  Vowels all sound the same.  Accents follow very specific rules of pronunciation.  Phonetics in English is a nightmare.  I can't tell you how many times I've ended up out of breath looking at a white board with words like "though" "through" and "rough" trying to explain how they are all pronounced to a group of wide-eyed students. I feel that Spanish is more concise than English, in that it communicates more with less words.  But the plethora of words in English make it a very specific language, and I sometimes get confused with the multiple meanings of words in Spanish.

I really do love teaching English and I really do love learning Spanish.  I love comparing them and mixing them.  I have made an entire group of friends, and family for that matter, in a second language.  Its not something I every really thought I would do.  It has become a hobby to sit and observe the language around me.  I think about English a lot differently, and sometimes speak it differently now, too.

I'm leaving Costa Rica soon, but the language I've acquired here is something I will always have.


Bonus: Some of my favorite Spanish words.

Rompecabeza = puzzle, but literally comes from the verb "romper" or to break, and "cabeza" which is head.

Similarly, sopa de letras = word search, but literally means soup of letters

hipoteca = mortgage.  Not one I use every day, but fun to say.

madrugada = very early in the morning, something like "crack of dawn" in English

almohada = pillow. Again, I just like saying this one. It's so soft and smooth, just like what it is in real life!

I would be lying if I told you I don't know all the Costa Rican drinking slang
tapis = drunk
sarpe = last call or last drink of the night
goma = hangover
birra = beer (I always thought it was just cerveza) and then of course, "pura birra" instead of "pura vida"

Central Valley Vistas

Look who came to visit!  #middleschoolmadness

students turned friends, MaJo, Taina and Estef

some of that bomb ass dank ass zucchini casserole

Manuel Antonio

THE BEST COOKIES EVER. 

Told ya.

Central Valley Vistas, Pt. 2

The famous steel church of Grecia.

Salud! 

Bonfires

I imagine my student loan debt as a little bonfire, slowly burning back home.  And I am just throwing little portions of my hard earned money in to keep it burning, one dollar bill or mil colones at a time.  Every once in a while, even my family or my friends will throw in too.  They will crumple up a few bucks and toss them in and watch as it takes a moment for the paper to catch but then quickly engulfs itself and disappears.  They do this because they feel bad for me.  Thanks guys.  

When I first graduated, the bonfire burned quite nicely.  Recently, just the the embers are glowing. Every once in a while it might even choke out a little bit, a tiny stream of smoke climbing upwards, and I come running over to breathe some monetary life into it.  

I got an e-mail the other day that said don’t quit now! If you just keep paying the minimum, if you just keep feeding me, in 20 years, your soul loan will be forgiven.  That’s promising.  20 years.  I will be 46.   

I’m not sure who this little bonfire is keeping warm.  I am not comforted by the heat it radiates.  More like annoyed.  I’ve never actually touched this money, either, which is still a strange phenomenon to me.  It has been numbers on a computer screen since I took out a loan in 2007 to go to UNCW.  Electronically sign here, okay.  Abra cadabra, money in my bank account for tuition, books, rent, food (and maybe a few Avett concert tickets.)  Every transaction I have made in repayments has been on the computer.  (I am fully aware that there is a very complex financial and economical theory to these “STUDENT LOANS”, but I am also fully aware that 18 year old me didn’t know what it was and 26 year old me has failed to figure it out.)

All I know is that this little bonfire is like singed into my eyeballs.  You know when you look at the fire too long.  It’s hypnotizing and you can’t look away, and when you do, your whole vision is impaired by this gaping white spot.  It takes you a minute to adjust and it never really goes away -  you can still see it when you close your eyes.  

I guess what I am getting at is I’ve put on some shades.  I’ve put on some polarized aviators actually, cause that’s what my dad wears, and while I’m not going to pretend that it’s not there, burning incessantly, I’m going to let the embers cool down for a while, until there is a nice fine white ash covering the burnt ground.  Am I going to keep this dimly lit fire burning for 20 years?

I hope not.  

But, for now, I am the happiest I have ever been.  I may not be paying off that stupid debt or following really any of that 50/30/20 budget plan that sounds so easy but really isn’t.  I am withoutadoubt living in the moment.  I have a new job in Grecia, Costa Rica.  I have a house with hot water and a good friend that is teaching me do yoga, dance bachata and wear high heels again.  Luckily, back when I had some more money, I bought myself a roundtrip plane ticket back home to Charlotte to spend some time with my family.  I can’t wait to see you guys, but I am glad it is round trip, because I am not ready to leave this place for good.

I had an interview for the job of my dreams here in Costa Rica with an experiential education company called Outward Bound, I am sure you've heard of it.  Ironic that the only thing I want to do with my life is get students to travel abroad, when I am trying desperately to pay for my time as a student from abroad.  I haven’t heard back from them, but ya know, that’s okay.  Because I am still doing what I want to do, and had wanted to do, for a very long time.   And I surprise myself everyday by how I’ve continued to make it work, despite not having much money.

So burn on little baby!  According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, outstanding student loan debt in the United States lies between $902 Billion and $1 Trillion with around $864 Billion in Federal student loan debt.  So it doesn’t seem like anyone else is any huge rush to pay that off.  

View from my new digs. 

Volunteering with TabLab

This is a cross post from the blog I posted for Costa Rica's TabLab program.  I'd love it if you visited the TabLab website and learned a little more about the program. 

I am so excited to be working in Costa Rica with TabLab. 

Prior to my work in Sarapiqui, I was an English instructor at a private bilingual high school in Ciudad Quesada, Costa Rica.  I didn't realize just how good we had it.  I used to complain about the weak WiFi for my students who needed to do research on their personal laptop computers they brought from home.  It was a daily struggle to keep them off of their iPhones.  Just a 2 hour drive from that, I find myself in the rural areas of Sarapiqui where many students don't own books and have never used a computer, much less a smart phone or tablet. 

I was lucky to work with those fortunate students.  They were great readers, eager learners, almost fluent in English, and proficient with all types of technology.  They were grateful for the things they had and the education they were receiving.   I learned a lot about the classroom and teaching in those 10 months, but I was looking for something different, something to broaden my experience in Costa Rica and as an instructor. 

Luckily I got into contact with Meghan at Chilamate Rainforest Eco-Retreat.  Apart from helping around the retreat, I have been helping implement the TabLab program at Liceo El Paraiso and Escuela La Lucha.  I really like helping the teachers get a better grasp of the resources on the iPads and getting the students excited about technology.  Luckily, many of the teachers I have worked with so far are at least familiar with some kind of tablet or smartphone, and most of the high school students are also.  But there are a few teachers and students who may find the technology intimidating or too complex.  

We take for granted the accessibility and immediacy of technology and information.  I have used a smart phone for over 10 years, and have had a personal computer in my home for as long as I can remember.  My public schools in North Carolina had all of the latest technology in our labs. Resources abounded; both in educational materials and staff.  It's truly eye opening to see some of the hurdles that these students and their families and their teachers have to go through to get a good education.  

I think there are a few major do's and don't's to make this program a success.  Familiarity with these tech devices just comes with time and use, which may not be as high in these rural areas in which I am working.  I do want the teachers to understand that this is an amazing resource to make their jobs more interesting and improve interaction with their students.  What I don't want to happen is overwhelm them or make them think this is more work for them - something no teacher has time for.  In reality, it should make their jobs a little bit easier, while teaching the students how to not only work independently, but with their peers.  In just the few classes I have helped out in so far,  almost all of the students have paired off or grouped themselves and are sharing new ideas and things they've discovered while exploring the iPads.  It has also opened up a discussion between teacher and student.  These quick-learning adolescents who can pick up on the specs of a device quickly are sharing their findings with their teachers as well.  

My first goal is to get the students on the iPad in some way, shape or form daily.  From research in science, to interactive maps in geography, spreadsheets in math and reading in English and Spanish, there are endless opportunities to incorporate the technology in the classroom. My second goal is to get the teachers to understand the significance of technology in the classroom and how to use it effectively, as described by TeachThought.  Flexibility and openness, as well as a general belief in the value of technology, are important in this theory.  The foundations are there.  I know these are attainable goals and I am honored to be a part of the project. 

I ain't got money, but I got time

I don't know what happened y'all.  It's almost May?

"Where did the time go?"  "It feels like just yesterday I was..."

Actually, none of these apply to my situation, because I have been so busy, going non stop since I got back here in January.

The days are long, and the weeks are short, and before you know it I am looking May in the face.

School takes up 40+ hours of my week.  But come Friday, I am literally on the first bus out of here.  I hate losing track of all of the days.  I find myself reflecting on a bus ride, or having an afternoon cafecito in town and thinking I really need to write this down, I really need to back over the week. That run in with the gentleman who complimented my Spanish, or that sunset in Uvita, or how great it was when Kelsey and Tim visited and spent the weekend on the lake, or the sweet dog that showed up at school and laid next to me for hours while I worked, or the fast friends and bad-luck-turned-to-blessings of that trip to Panama, or the good karma I had last weekend with David and Irisol in Nosara, or the progress made by one of my students who spoke almost NO English last year but can carry on a conversation with me now. But the truth is, there is no way to chronicle all of the things that happen to me daily, weekly, monthly.  It reminds me of one of those Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows "Oleka" or the idea that:

Our lives are built of the same few notes, repeated over and over. It’s not a grand symphony, full of surprises. It’s a song sung in canon, that simply carries on, until the tune gets stuck in your head. But then the verse changes over, and for the life of you, you can’t remember how it’s supposed to go.

This is why I left my job, my quaint little Plaza Midwood duplex, and my dog in Charlotte: to avoid OLEKA.  This is why I am watching my niece grow up via Whatsapp videos and pictures:  To live each day differently and live in the moment and all of those other cliche notions of adventure.  Why I thought I had to move to Costa Rica to do this, I do not know.  It certainly helps keep things interesting.

But, just like always, the tune carries on here, too.  Sometimes the tune here is the grand symphony, full of surprises.  But sometimes, it's not.  Please don't take that as a complaint - it is simply an observation that routine becomes us. I am much more aware and thoughtful of the idiosyncrasies now.  Sometimes I jot them down in my journal or calendar, sometimes I even snap a photo.  But sometimes, nothing.

These experiences are still mine though, even if I don't write them down, right?  They happened.  They are on the little collector's shelf in my mind of Experiences.  It might be a blur of "untitled" and unorganized files (have you SEEN my computer documents?)  but they are there.  And in the end, they are the patchwork of the quilt I am creating.  Not just "that time I lived abroad in Costa Rica" but the person I am becoming as a whole, the reason why I started this chapter in my life to begin with.

(For Posterity, David Koller and Irisol Gonzalez.) 

Pura Vida

Peace and Love

Hakuna Matata