We asked our Costa Rica volunteers to describe the towns in which they live and schools where they teach.  We hope these samples will give you a picture of life as a WorldTeach volunteer in Costa Rica, but please keep in mind as you read these that every site is unique.  Your experience will be what you make of it!

Marbella, by Asya Troychansky
La Conquista, by Rose Leonard

1. Community:

Marbella is a beautiful little town in Guanacaste on the Nicoya Peninsula.  Although its population is small (approx. pop. 250), it is anything but sleepy.  When it's not raining, everyone is up and about in the plaza.  The town is centered around a soccer field, a salon, a cantina (a bar), two pulperias (general stores), a soda (a restaurant), and a pizzeria (the most recent addition).  Within walking distance of Marbella are stunning beaches (white sand, black sand, rock) that are usually deserted except for a few wayward surfers.  As of a few years ago, Marbella was a fishing town.  With the influx of tourists and developers, however, the main occupation has changed to construction. 

2. School:

The Telesecundaria in Marbella is a well-run little school (52 students, 3 teachers), overlooking the soccer field and painted in what I've come to think of as the Costa Rican Color-a cross between turquoise and teal.  The school is like a civic-minded familia.  Proud of their heritage, the students begin the day with a rendition of the Costa Rican national anthem.  And like loving siblings, they move with arms draped around each other, and share in communal cleaning duties.  In terms of textbooks and teaching supplies, the Marbella colegio is better resourced than many other Telesecundarias.  But the school still has unmet needs: it lacks books; there is no cafeteria; and the donated computers don't work.  In spite of shortages, the teachers are resourceful, working hard to motivate and teach their students math, physics, chemistry, biology, civics, history, Spanish, and English.  (The two teachers responsible for teaching English have limited English).  The ability levels among the students are mixed, and one of the biggest obstacles is the absence of a 10^th and 11^th grade.  Currently, students who wish to continue their high school education past 9^th grade must commute to a nearby town (and pay the cost of transportation, which for many is prohibitively expensive).  In the next few years, Telesecundaria Marbella is hoping to set up 10^th and 11^th grades and move into a larger building.

3. Teaching Assignment:

My school day typically began at 10:15 and I gave three one-hour English classes (at 10:15, 11:15, and 1:00), one each to 7^th, 8^th, and 9^th grades.  (Although the students had been receiving English instruction for years, their proficiency-especially their speaking ability-was minimal.)  In the morning hours before class, I jogged and lesson planned.  For my community project, I chose to hold aerobics classes and private English classes-and these I gave during the late afternoons and evenings.  In the few free hours between school and adult classes, I swam and relaxed at the beach, chatted with the year-long WorldTeach volunteer at my site, and visited with friends in the community.  Over my long weekends-I didn't teach Fridays-I traveled.  During Quincedias (a two-week school vacation in July), I traveled with other WorldTeach volunteers for a week, and returned for the second week to resume my adult classes.

4. Living Arrangements:

I lived with an elderly couple a little ways outside of the central plaza-and a 15-minute walk from a black sand beach.  The house was very open (I was outside even when I was inside), humble yet clean and comfortable.  My house had electricity, a phone, a TV, and a washing machine.  The shower water was cold, but this wasn't necessarily a bad thing in the 90-degree heat. My room was nice and private-a second-floor appendage reachable only by a steep, narrow staircase.  Made of wood and tin stilts, and pretty much the only room above ground in Marbella, the room was like a palomar (a tree house).  I loved everything about it, except for its openness.  Because the walls didn't quite meet the ceiling (there was an 8-inch gap on all sides), all of the bugs had free entry: mostly moths, mosquitoes, and wasps, and sometimes spiders and scorpions.  I slept under a mosquito net and got over my squeamishness of bugs real fast!

5. Language issues:

I arrived in Costa Rica with minimal Spanish, having just taken one Spanish course in the spring semester.  During orientation week in Orosi (a mountain town outside of San Jose), I felt daunted by how much Spanish I did not know.  Poco a poco though, by interacting with people in my host community, and putting myself out there-engaging in conversations that I would normally have in English (i.e., the socioeconomic effects of tourism)-I built my understanding and speaking skills.  By the end of the summer, I met my goal to become a much better Spanish communicator, and more importantly for me, got to know people in my community by speaking to them in their native tongue. 

6. Biggest challenge thus far:

In the colegio, I often had trouble balancing fun activities and actual lessons.  My students loved it when I jumped around and played games with them, but as soon as I put the "to be" verb on the board, I often got "Teacher, no teacher. game, teacher" or just blank stares.  Because of my inexperience, and some students' lack of motivation or interest, it was sometimes difficult to be an effective teacher. 

7. Greatest rewards:

Fortunately, the most challenging aspect of my experience also proved to be one of the most rewarding.  I'm not under any illusions that I taught my students the English language in just two short months, but I taught them a bit, and perhaps inspired some to pursue English study, or to widen their educational horizons.  Where I feel I made the most impact though is through my aerobics class.  Twice a week for six weeks, I blasted cheesy 80s music from the town salon, and danced and sweated with six local women (of varying ages and situations).  Since I've left, they've continued meeting on their own for aerobics.  In the words of the year-long WorldTeach volunteer in Marbella: "You've taught them an exciting way to exercise (and given them the courage to do it on their own), how to take care of themselves, and given them an outlet outside the house!" 

8. WorldTeach history at site:

2001-2005: Year-long WorldTeach volunteers taught at the primary school.
2001, 2004, 2005: Summer volunteers taught at the Telesecundaria.

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1. Community:

1. Approx. population    
   308 at last census


2. Geography

La Conquista is a small, picturesque, rural town located in the Heredia Province.  Lush vegetation surrounds the dirt, stone road and the small river that run through town.  La Conquista is centered around the single dirt, stone road; all houses are built on that pathway, making it easy to find neighbors.  Friendly animals live peacefully with the natives.  Monkeys and colorful birds (even toucans!) abound in the trees while a myriad of bugs and toads thrive on land.   The weather is very hot and humid with frequent rain showers.

3. What’s in the town

The Junta Administrativa is the five-member group that makes the legal decisions for the educational needs in the community.  It is applying for government grants to build a new Telesecundaria colegio as the existing one may no longer function in its current location.  Since the heart of La Conquista lies about a 30-minute walk from the highway, it is unknown to most foreigners.  Although it is a beautiful town, there is no commercial tourist attraction.  The town has a Christian church and a Catholic church.  Although the town does not have a communal salon or any type of restaurant or bar, there are two small pulperias (general stores) where people can buy necessities.  The primary school and the colegio currently exist on the same land, though this will not be the case next school year.  Hopefully, the Junta Adminstrativa will have raised enough funds to complete the construction of the new colegio by the beginning of February 2006 for the school year.

4. What’s nearby

The closest city to La Conquista is Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui.  The Sarapiqui area is known for its Biological Station, which houses many exotic plants and animals, and for its white water rafting areas.  Puerto Viejo has one Internet café, many small shops, two banks, and a supermarket.

5. Occupations that people hold

Most families work their own land to make a living.  While some families maintain palmito and pineapple fields, others raise farm animals.  Young men often work in the mountain clearing land and lumbering wood.  Others commute to nearby banana plantations for work. 

2. School:

1. Number of teachers overall, number of English teachers

There were three teachers in the Telesecundaria La Conquista.  The director was also the English teacher, Civics teacher, and Social Studies teacher.

2. Number and grade/ability level of students

This year the colegio houses three grades: 7^th, 8^th, and 9^th.  Each grade ranged from 15-27 students.  Most students were familiar with greetings and numbers before I arrived.  They struggled, however, with forming any kind of sentence.  The 7^th graders mostly memorized questions and answers because they could not form their own sentences.  The 8^th and 9^th graders were able to learn how to compare people and write their own sentences.

3. Number of classrooms

There were three classrooms, one for each grade.  As the Junta is seeking to build a new colegio for the next year, there will hopefully be four classrooms to accommodate 10^th grade.

4. Amenities (white board, markers, VCR, stereo etc.)

The only teaching resource available is a blackboard and chalk.  The school has no TV or VCR to show the tapes given by the Ministry of Education, though the tapes supposedly do not function.  There is no functional electricity (no fans, no lights).

3. Teaching assignment:

1. Your daily schedule

I taught for two or three hours each day. 
Monday:  10:15-11:15 (8^th grade), 11:15-12:15 (9^th grade)
Tuesday:  10:00-11:00 (primary school community project), 11:15-12:15 (7^th grade)
Wednesday:  7:00-8:00 (8^th grade), 8:00-9:00 (9^th grade), 9:15-10:15 (7^th grade)
Thursday:  1:00-3:00 (9^th grade workshop)
Friday:  8:00-9:00 (7^th grade), 9:15-10:15 (8^th grade)

2. Your semester or cycle schedule

The school year in Costa Rica begins in February and ends in December.  Therefore, the students receive a two-week vacation in July, known as Quince Dias.  Holidays include the Annexation of Guanacaste in July and the Pilgrimage in August to honor the Virgin of the Angels.

3. The level of your classes

Unfortunately, my students have not received enough grammar lessons because the book the English teacher uses lacks coverage in that area.  The book focuses more on topics and vocabulary, which are certainly useful.  The students can answer basic questions about family, sports, and descriptions of people.  Their comprehension is limited, though, when they are asked to read a paragraph and answer questions pertaining to what they have read.

4. Living arrangements:

1. Info on your host family

My host parents, Victor Esquivel (53) and Maria Cecelia Fernandez Villalobos (46) have five children: Daurin (29), Maikel (24), Yalitza (23), Rosibel (16), and Ruth Meri (15).  Yalitza is married and has a son named Randy (3).  She lives with her husband and Randy in a house on her father’s land.

2. House/room

I was given one of the four rooms in the house.  The family drinks water from a well because it is too expensive for them to connect pipes to the potable water that runs through town.  The house has a bathroom and a shower with cold water.  Each room has a single light bulb that usually functions.  Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for the electricity to temporarily stop due to passing storms.  Electricity usually returns within several hours or less.  The family has a washing machine, though my host mom often washes clothes by hand as well.  The kitchen is equipped with a stovetop, a microwave, and refrigerator, but no oven.  The oldest son, Daurin, has a computer he uses for work purposes.

3. How close you are to the school and other important locations in town

My house was a 30-minute walk from the bus stop, a 10-minute walk from the school, and 5-minute walk from the pulperia (general store).

5. Language issues:

I had taken 7 years of Spanish and had spent time in Peru and Mexico before coming to Costa Rica.  Though my Spanish was quite advanced before my arrival, I have greatly improved and have become much more fluent than before.

6. Biggest challenges thus far:

The biggest challenge I faced during my time in Costa Rica was grappling with the reality that I would be in La Conquista for about two months.  The first day I arrived at my house, the concept of staying in that place for two months was a bit overwhelming.  I kept thinking how far away August 12^th seemed.  My host family, though civil, did not go out of their way to be welcoming and friendly to me on my first day.  I think they were just as scared as I was!  It was hard to imagine being completely accepted as member of the family when I first arrived.  I felt like I would end up being more like a guest living in one of the rooms.  After a couple days, I had a long conversation with my host dad during which he told me his life story.  I started to tear just hearing the difficult life he has led.  Ever since that moment I felt more at home in their house.  I felt more at home not because the family talked to me much more, but because I gained my host dad’s confidence. 

7. Greatest rewards:

This summer has been filled with rewards!  I have become much more confident and fluent in Spanish and feel comfortable traveling on my own.  More importantly, I have made a difference in La Conquista.  My students know much more English than before (though they are nowhere near fluent) and they are actually excited about learning English!  Although it remains their most difficult class, they are much more comfortable trying to speak than before.  A 1^st grader even asked me to tutor her in English in the afternoons!  In addition to teaching my students English, I have gained their trust and have also become their friend.  Two 9^th graders invited me to their church group twice to hang out with their friends.  It was one of the best memories I have of my summer!  Another friendship I made was with my host sisters’ nephew, Randy.  At the beginning of the summer he ran away when he saw me or just stared blankly at me as I walked through the house.  By the end of the summer he was asking me at least five times a day to play cards, play soccer, play cars, or even play Dragon Ball Z with him!  He was the cutest child I met in Costa Rica and I miss him dearly.

8. WorldTeach history at site:

2003, 2004, 2005 (me!)

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