Back in the Saddle Again
Many things have been put on hold for a while, especially since this unusual year of traveling has occurred. My routines have been altered, changed, and erased. Extra curricular activities and interests have slightly been put on hold, my life has changed. Not better, or for the worse, just different.
For example, schooling hasn’t been apart of my life for a couple of years, since graduate school. I truly have to say that I don’t really miss it. The learning and meeting new people, yes!…the exams, papers, and deadlines no! This year I have defiantly learned a lot. We World Racers are readers and we have amazing books circulating around. I have not been deprived of rich language, growing and self improvement knowledge, romance, adventure, or suspense which comes along with immersing oneself into a great novel.
So, I can truly say I was surprised when I had the desire to join others in the venture of taking Spanish classes from a Language School in Costa Rica. I had a tremendous desire and peace to take it.
Mind you, I had never taken Spanish before, except for the quick mini lessons I had learned from Sesame Street. And the haunting experience of trying to learn Portuguese 9 yrs ago while living in Brazil seems to negatively surface to my memories. I just could not grasp it; maybe it was the circumstances, my youth (23yrs), or lack of true motivation and desire. Whatever the reason, languages are not my forte.
As of late though, I had the feeling that learning Spanish wouldn’t be so bad, probably because of my team. Aaron our dubbed “Mexican” American, and all the others who have taken it somewhat throughout their lives were painting an excitement and desire for this language among our team. They could not wait to use their Spanish and get emerged into it as we entered into Central America.
I guess I joined in on the bandwagon because before long I was taking an entrance test, and paying school fees. I had nothing to test…no real prior knowledge …so it was pretty fast and harmless…the testing part not the paying part. J
The school itself was amazing! The peaceful environment, colorful and homey surroundings created a welcoming atmosphere. Epifania, I found out later was family owned and the staff was all Christians…no wonder the peace and comfort.
I had nothing to fear…except not understanding anything I was hearing!
It ended up being one of my most positive experiences. My teachers were great. They were filled with creative teaching, hands on games and much, much patience.
Our mornings from 8:30 -10:15 were filled with vocabulary and grammar. Even though I had to start from scratch and were among 4 others that had a pretty good Spanish base, I did ok. Alejandra taught with clarity, creativity, and much repetition through practice. Everyone would sense my looks if I appeared confused, lost or overwhelmed and would jump in to help clarify. But the verbs kept coming…and I kept learning…and they became pretty impressed by my status of sentences and somewhat (not always correct) pronunciation… I was encouraged and kept going…and passed with my class unto the next level, which is a miracle in itself.
Then the snacks began; delicious fruits from Costa Rica. Mmmm good! This was a great break for my mind to rest. Even though I willingly jumped back into the saddle of learning, my brain still had a lot of catching up to do. J And sweet fruit defiantly helped with the stimulation!
From 10:30-12:15 was conversation. This time was very interactive. Our first week with Zeidy was filled with games, matching, and learning all kinds of vocabulary words. The second week was Jazhel. It was filled with all sorts of conversation ranging from relationships, nutrition, dancing, and other very fun varieties of talk. Her hand gestures, repetitive word usage and mix of Spanglish (English and Spanish) helped tremendously. We found ourselves falling over in laughter and responding with vigor and interest. For me my Spanish understanding (not necessarily talking) increased greatly over that time.
One of the best highlights of the week was our dance lessons on Friday, in between the grammar and conversation. It was a hoot! I came out experiencing the Salsa, Meringue, and other Latin dances. It was as if I was in an aerobic class, and I came out sweatier than when I’m running. So …my exercise for the day was checked off.
Our last class fell on Molly’s birthday. We learned, danced, and then conversed while we made cookie dough. The recipe, ingredients, and instructions were all in Spanish. It was so fun and delicious! That is my type of hands on learning.
My experience over these last two weeks was filled with so much knowledge and many emotions. I felt affirmed, encouraged, over stimulated, over whelmed, frustrated and confused. I realized I should have taken a foreign language when I first started teaching. I learned and experienced so much in those two weeks which brought much insight and understanding into how “my students” learned and often times felt.
The Race has interrupted my “normal “routines of life but also introduced me to multiple opportunities I would never have encountered. And for that I am grateful. Some routines however defiantly don’t change…even in other countries. I still found myself finishing my homework on the way there (on the bus).But, it got done correctly and on time. REALLY, that’s what matters, right?
