Jan 29
The Klong Kheaw Waterfall was nothing like I had expected. Although I’m not too sure what I really had expected, it was so much more. Walking along the trail at first everything appeared the same as any park or hiking trail in America, but when you took a closer look you could see it was much different. The vegetation was so lush as well as beautiful and interesting to see. I think my favorite thing in the woods were the intertwining tree roots all over the ground. Some of them stretched as far as the eye could see. It was so beautiful walking through the paths and looking at all the bamboo trees and exotic plants.
I really loved the part in the vegetation when the path was full of tree limbs and plants over your head like a covered bridge. It looked like something you would see in a romantic movie. The actual waterfalls were amazing. The water felt so refreshing and cooling. At first we walked down into the water and tried to navigate our way through the rocks and water.It was not such a good idea!!
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Dec 15
Last week we celebrated the graduation party for the English community class. The class started in February and finished the last week of November.
The classes were held at night at the Universidad de Costa Rica, about half a mile away from the uVolunteer dorm. These classes are a part of the teaching English program and they are a great way to get involved in the local life and to make Costa Rican friends.
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Nov 28
Marshall Owen ended his English teaching program yesterday. He worked there for 6 weeks and had a great time sharing time with the kids. Marshall worked at La Sabana kindergarten, which is just a couple of blocks from the volunteer dorm. La Sabana kindergarten is embellished with colorful painted murals, which make you remember your own childhood.
English teaching in Costa Rica is fundamental; Costa Rican students start getting English lessons as soon as they enter the public education system. The Costa Rican government understands the relevance of tourism and business for the economy, and for that reason tries to make sure its people are well educated and prepared for the future.
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Oct 17
Since I had never been to a retirement party before, I didn’t know what to expect from the Wat Aw Yai School retirement party which I was invited to. On Thursday 29th September, I was picked up by P’ Wiseht at 4pm. When I arrived at the party, some teachers and students were already there. The students were going to do the dance show and thus they were getting dressed up and started to put their make up on. I was helping them and talked to the director of the school. “I am very sad to see p’ Nid leaving”, the director said to me. P’ Nid has been the only English teacher and was working at the Wat Aw Yai school for 30 years and 13 days.
There were more than a hundred people from other schools at the party, including the Aw Yai community. A lot of typical food and drinks from Trat were served at the party, and of course there was karaoke. It was amazing to see how relaxed and joyful the teachers and directors were during the celebrations. They were singing karaoke and telling jokes. It was such a different experience to see them like this, as opposed to when I encountered them during school times. The crowd insisted that I should sing a song as a uVolunteer representative, and so I did.
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Sep 21
In Costa Rica, English has become one of the main requirements for most job applications because the tourist industry increases every year. uVolunteer started a project in 2007 in which our volunteers teach English to people in San Ramón according to this economic and social context. The population to which the project is addressed are to those who don´t have the time or money to pay for private education.
The English community class is a great opportunity to interact with the locals and explore Costa Rican culture. The project began with 20 students and two classes. The project opened as a conjunction between the uVolunteer volunteers and local volunteers like Danilo and Daython, and has been growing since then. The first volunteer to teach at the Evening class was Joachim Mowinckel whose experience can be read about at http://www.uvolunteer.org/costa-rica/volunteer-stories/joachim-mowinckel.php. More than 50 volunteers have contributed with the program during the last 4 years. uVolunteer would like to say thank you so much for all your help.
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