Feb 10th was my first day of school at the public school in Sitio de Mata, the community we live in.
School is different and hard. It is different because we don't have lots of technology and the building is not closed in and it is small. There are about 75 kids in school, about 10-11 in each class.
It is hard because I don't quite know Spanish so I can't answer most people's questions (if people speak slowly, I can sort of get it). For the first couple of weeks I stood around a lot and just watched and just got the language into my mind. And then I started to be able to play with kids and sort of say stuff and answer more questions.
I have taken five tests: religion (0% completed), Spanish (51%), social studies (94%) science (74%) and math (100%). I felt like people were going to judge me on how good I was doing, but it was really about the language so it didn't matter about what percentage I got. It was just about learning the language and different kinds of things, like the culture of Costa Ricans. I feel proud that I was able to answer the questions in social studies, science and math, and could actually do them in a different language.
This is the size of the school. It is very small compared to Westview and there are 6 rooms with ~20-22 kids in each. There are two grades per classroom, but the grades go to school at different times of each day. For example, I go to school on Mondays from 7-1:20, Tuesdays from 8:20- 2:30, and Thursdays from 7-10. So the school schedule is different on each day. The school goes from kindergarten to sixth grade. They have more grades then Westview, but many less students.
These are the bathrooms at the school. They are not fancy like at Westview, but they are clean and at least they are bathrooms.
This is the lunchroom. It isn't huge like at Westview. At Westview there are heaters to heat the food, but here, to protect the health of the children, they cook fresh vegetables and meat. There is only one cook who cooks all the food for the children. She cooks the food and has to serve it fresh so it doesn't get cold. Sometimes they make spaghetti and meatballs. They also make rice with meat soup. My favorite is rice with chunks of meat and beans. They also make a sweet soup every once in a while as a treat for all the students. They also make cake with the soup. They also serve fresh fruit every day except for the days that they get the food because then they don't have time to cut it all up. They make fresh fruit drinks such as cas, pineapple, and raspberry. Lunch is very healthy. There is no sugar, salt, or extra stuff; just the food. I have lost a lot of weight from this sort of diet and forced exercise (having to walk up and down a steep mountainside to get to school or to the bus to go to town). I feel great because of these healthy habits.
The playground is very small and there is hardly any playground equipment, but kids still have fun by running around, playing tag, playing soccer, and other games. I have learned how to have fun without a bunch of equipment.
The is my classroom. You can see the size. It is very small and there is no equipment such as individual computers and smart boards. Instead of smart boards there are white boards and chalk boards. We have notebooks for every single class and lesson. They take up a lot of room in our backpacks. This is third and fourth grade together. Our teacher is also the Directora (the principal)! We have to wear uniforms: white shirt, dark blue pants, black belt and socks and shoes. For days when we have PE, we have to wear any white t-shirt and dark blue shorts, and tennis shoes. At first the uniforms were uncomfortable because I wasn't used to them, and then later on I started getting used to them and became more comfortable. I'd rather wear clothes of my choice everyday because then you don't have to be bothered by the fact that you have to get a certain kind of specific clothes. The uniforms are good because then people can't tease other people about them having wore something they don't like, because everybody wears the same thing.
This is my class photo here. The one in the very front is me. There are 6 girls and 11 boys. They let us have a lot of recess. After every class we have at least 45 minutes of recess (there are 2-4 classes per day depending on the length). Sometimes on the test days we only have 1 hour and 20 minutes of school total, so we don't get a recess.
This is me playing with my friends at my birthday party. I invited the entire class, but also brought my Westview class with me (I wore my class tshirt!).
These are some of my friends. From left to right: Jorge, Brandon, Laurens (Lawrence), Sebastian, and Mario. This is the hammock behind my house.
This is the recycling center project in my community. It is very small, but lots of people use it. I learned about this place in my first week of school and I take my family's recycling up to the center.
She had so many animals. I had my dad help me write a letter the second week we were in Sitio de Mata asking Tatiana if I could help her take care of her animals. She said yes!
The Elvis duck was one of many ducks. This duck was Laszlo's favorite one.
This is another of my favorite dogs, Otis. We named him Gopherito before we knew his real name. Tatiana found him in a trash can. He was very sweet. Isn't he adorable?! He died. It was very sad.
I also loved the quilos (guinea pigs). When we got there, there was one. She had a baby. Then they had a baby. When we left there was so many quilos that Tatiana had to make a little ranch for them.
