My (not so) new host family

I promised to share a little bit about why I'm not living in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui anymore, and so I'll do my best to do so briefly here. I'll most likely elaborate more on why certain aspects of my work here didn't work out the way I had hoped they would, but I'll stick to the principal reasons here. The TEFL project was started within Peace Corps Costa Rica because the Arias administration of 2006-2010 made a super ambitious goal of making the country bilingual by 2017. What exactly they mean by bilingual (language is a little more nuanced than you speak it or you don't) I don't know, but whatever they meant, they asked the Peace Corps to start a TEFL project. Peace Corps responded and our program was born. I'm in the first group and we are assigned to work with public schools, both directly teaching classes and helping teachers become better English teachers. 


There is a whole slew of activities that could help teachers become better English teachers. Reviewing lesson plans, worksheets, homework assignments, and tests for errors or odd usage; practicing English with the teacher before or after school or during free periods; observing the teacher and providing feedback; co-planning and then co-teaching; teaching certain lessons and having the teacher observe me and then meeting to compare styles; organizing meetings with teachers to talk about best practices; and meeting with the principals to give feedback to them about the teachers' performances. If you think about it, every one of these activities requires some commitment of extra time by the local teachers. This became a huge challenge at both the schools in Puerto Viejo. 

At the regular high school, the time wasn't as big a problem as a major lack of interest by the teachers in working with me. I got the impression from most that they thought they were good enough English teachers as it was, and a few others were too ashamed of their English skills to work with me. The principal there was in her first year at a huge high school, and every time I met with her I got the impression that she had more important things to do than take advantage of my presence. The night school had a much different atmosphere, a welcoming principal and teachers interested in working with me. Yet, as they took the bus home-they weren't going to stay late (it was 22:00 anyways) and all of them had young children that they took care of during the day-then their spouse came home-and they went to work-thus, they could seldom come more than 15 or 20 minutes early. So, to put it quite succinctly: I found very little willingness or time to work with the teachers. I shared this challenge with my bosses, and they met with some of the people from the school. They decided that it would be best for me to move to a new site for the coming school year. It was decided that I'd move to Liverpool, as Kevin B., my boss was planning to send some of the new cohort of volunteers to the area, and he thought it'd be helpful to have an experienced volunteer in the region to help them transition into their service. So, I had the fortunate experience of being able to go with Kevin to Liverpool and look around for host families. 

I have been having a great time since mid February, when I moved into the Avendaño Hernández household. Liverpool essentially consists of two main roads and the highway, one long paved road perpendicular to the highway going south and a long, dirt road parallel to the highway to the north. There a number of roads jutting off these main streets, that are more like cul-de-sacs, as they don't go anywhere. I live on the main paved street, about 500 meters south of the highway, right next to a small convenience store, and across the street from another brand new convenience store. Well, directly across the street from me is an undeveloped lot, filled with banana trees, coconut trees, and eye level weeds. 

For the first two months I lived here, it was just me and my two host parents, Guido and Margot. They are from Heredia, a city in the Central Valley near San José. Guido runs a semi-truck repair parts store about a kilometer away on the highway. He has worked in this for a number of years, and was working in between the Central Valley and Limón for a number of years, and over three years ago decided to move the business permanently to Limón. So, they've lived here since. Margot has an aunt and a few cousins in Liverpool as well, but their three oldest children, and almost all the rest of their relatives live in the Central Valley. Their youngest son, César, was living in Heredia when I moved in, and I moved into his old room, so it was very convenient. But, then, he was fired from his job at a smoothie shop, and at the same time one of his friends also lost his job-so they couldn't pay rent anymore, and he and his friends all moved back with their parents. César is in a tough period, because he graduated high school in December, when he was 17 (the high school here only goes to 11th grade) and so he's 17, but can't work, because almost all jobs in Costa Rica require one to be 18 (he only got the job at the smoothie shop due to family connections). So, he's moved back, and has been a great addition to the family. He got his computer set up in the family room, and sleeps on a mattress between the recliner and the kitchen table. He doesn't seem to mind at all. He spends most of his time on his computer, either surfing Facebook or playing Pro Evolution Soccer or Grand Theft Auto. He's big into soccer, so we talk about that a lot, and he's always showing me this or that Internet meme. Margot is super nice, will joke a bit, and is pretty relaxed, having already gotten her three older kids out of the house and César is pretty much there, she's definitely seen her busiest days go by, and she's happy about it. Guido is lots of fun, mostly due to his strong opinions, and his willingness to let them loose after one or two after dinner drinks. It's been a great move, and I'm pretty sure you can figure out who is who in the pictures. 

Itzelth, Margot's niece's daughter, lives next door, and loves to drop by and play in my mosquito net