This might be a meaningless post to you, but I wanted to share the things (good, bad, funny, and serious) that surprised me about being here. Sorry for all the sentence fragments, English teachers.
Rain.
When you check climate reports that say it rains 30 out of 31 days per month, they aren't lying. Every day between 1:30-ish and 2:30-ish, it comes… And it POURS. I'm talking not just cats and dogs. This rain is like lions and wolves. Also, the thunder almost makes me have a heart attack every time it hits. Lightning seems to hit just about everything. You can sit outside, watch it hit the things around you and feel the vibration from it. It's crazy! And for the humidity: that perm was completely worth the 2 weeks of horrible-smelling hair. I don't even want to think about what my natural hair would be doing.
Spanish.
Everything you learn in school is a lie… Fine, not everything. But a lot of things are different here. They don't say "pluma" for pen; they don't say "mochila" for backpack; they don't say "igriega" for the letter Y. It's "ye" pronounced "je" (say it with a French accent). And double L's? Like in "calle" or "ella"? NOT pronounced like a Y. They're pronounced like a J. WHAT.
Here's the biggest lie I learned in school: They rarely use the tú form. Talk about being confused. We NEVER used the usted form in school unless it was one of those "let's practice conjugations" worksheets or when we needed to ask the teacher something. And maybe a few times for the formal writing/presentation on the AP SPanish Lang test. So there's that little bit of information for you. Apparently in Panama they almost always the tú form. SO CONFUSING. Want to know something else? The tú for is the only form used for God. WHAT? I distinctly remember "usted" being the formal one. And it is when you talk to people. But not with God. He's Tú.
*Note to my former Spanish teachers: You weren't wrong! They just don't use the same vocabulary here!
Safety.
First off, I feel extremely safe here- both at the villa and walking around. I've heard enough stories about being mugged to think twice about what I bring with me, but I'm not scared here. We stay in a pretty nice part of San Jose (as far as I can tell). The one thing I'm disappointed about is the lack of interaction I'll have with impoverished people, which is where most of you picture people taking a year to do missions-y things. But that's not what I'm doing, so I wanted to share about what it's like! I went to a mall yesterday that's far nicer than most US malls. We go to a church with fairly wealthy people. And since I'm doing ESL ministry, the people I'll be with are adults and all have a small amount of English knowledge already. Now, I'm SO excited about doing ESL, but my heart is in the dump communities like El Recuerdo in Guatemala. There might be a few chances here and there in a dump community called La Carpio, so hopefully we can get plugged in there. I know as everything we're doing is worthwhile and impactful, but if there was a way I could be a part of the poorer parts of town, I'd be on it!
Backgrounds.
As most of you know, I was mildly freaked out because I thought I was the only student coming from a public school. One, I'm not. I think there are 5 or 6 of us. Two, I can't tell the difference most of the time whether or not someone here was homeschooled or went to a Christian school. I was so so scared about not relating to people and it turns out that we never talk about high school anyway (which is SUCH a relief). This group of 30 people is AMAZING. I wouldn't want to live in a house with anyone else. Eighteen to twenty year olds are similar no matter where they're from. You teach them how to play "What Are The Odds" one night, and within 4 days, you've seen them play it hundreds of times. As a result, you've seen them lose their hair… And their dignity.
People Back Home.
Someone told me everyone you see one you live in a foreign country for a while reminds you of someone at home. It's true. You start to feel like everyone you see on the street is someone you know. They might sound like someone you know. I'm also finding out who every other GAP student looks and acts like. Not everyone has a twin yet, but I have no doubt they will by the end of the year.
PS-I've gone running at the University of CR for about half of the mornings I've been here… Hopefully since I'm getting over this cold, I'll be able to go every weekday. Yeah, I don't know who I am either.
Here is my classroom!
This is the view over the Villa from the backyard!
No comments:
Post a Comment