Hello friends and family of the BCS- Faculty Development Program in Costa Rica!

The faculty have arrived at the airport and are scheduled for an on time arrival. Thank you for your continued support and trust in this program.

AMERICAN AIRLINES

1328

SJO San Jose

Jul 27, 2015 01:06 PM

MIA Miami

Jul 27, 2015 06:04 PM

AMERICAN AIRLINES

2325

MIA Miami

Jul 27, 2015 07:50 PM

LGA New York

Jul 27, 2015 10:49 PM

All the best,
Maria Selde
Program Coordinator

Days Seven and Eight... and Closing Reflections

Phaedra and Becky stayed with Uvania and her family this week. Uvania and Alonso, along with their three children Katherin, Alondra and Jefferson, welcomed us into their home the moment we arrived. This quiet family has a beautiful way of showing affection and making connections as much through actions as through words. With Uvania we shared recipes; she guided us through making tortillas and taught us how to make cheese (as she does every day to sell), and we introduced her to hummus using the chick peas she brought home from her school cooking job to fulfill her curiosity after we described it to her. The family enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed taste-testing their traditional foods and snacks. Alonso quickly realized our interest in the farm and the natural resources; he patiently let us milk the cow despite the painfully slow rate at which we managed to fill the bucket, and brought us leaves and flowers every day from the yard to explain what they were and how they are used. Though perhaps the most quiet of all the family members, Becky had Alonso talking up a storm with her impressive Spanish-speaking skills, and Phaedra had the entire family in hysterics as she drew blind portraits of each. The teens Katherin and Alondra, who observed us with curiosity, taught us the game "Tonto" with the playing cards we brought from New York, and 6-year-old Jefferson beckoned to us all day long to see the cows, chickens, his bicycle, el moto (his Dad's motorcycle), and all manner of items he wanted to share. We were struck with the wide array of knowledge he has and how dramatically it differs from ours. Five days isn't very long to try to make an authentic connection, but this morning as we hugged and said our goodbyes, it was clear that despite cultural and language differences, we had indeed done just that.

Jessie and Briar stayed with Digna, the matriarch of the Corella family, this week. The mother of eight children, Digna now has one child left at home, Maria Elena, and the two of them welcomed us with incredible kindness and generosity. As soon as we arrived at the house, we were greeted with open arms as 17-year-old Maria Elena quickly launched into friendly and animated conversation and Digna looked on with pride and instant maternal care. These two women amazed us with their open-heartedness and their huge devotion to each other. Maria Elena explained to us again and again how her mother was everything to her, and it clearly showed. Though it was not always easy to communicate with our limited Spanish skills, Maria Elena was particularly good at finding ways to get her ideas across, with dramatic gestures, silly voices, and careful language. She told us all about life as a teenager in rural Costa Rica, and how important it was to her not to have children at a young age, as she had seen many around her do. It quickly became clear to us that this girl was quite amazing, and, just like her dog Susie, was tough but also fiercely loving.

On our day together, Maria Elena took us along to run errands in Puerto Viejo, the closest city (or, as Maria Elena describes it more accurately, a "mini mini mini ciudad"). Jessie and Briar were excited to ride the bus (Maria Elena shook her head in disbelief as they took an autobus selfie), examine the stores and services of the town and wander the huge grocery store/department store where Maria Elena purchased the groceries her mother needed to prepare for the fiesta. When we returned home, we had a lovely nap and spotted a toucan in our yard! We both enjoyed spending time watching the amazing birdlife that was constantly outside our window. We also enjoyed a private concert from Maria Elena after the fiesta - her voice is absolutely amazing when she sings her beloved ranchero music, and her dramatic flair makes her quite the performer as well. We were so grateful to have spent time with Digna and Maria Elena and were very sad to say, "Hasta Facebook!" when it was time to go.

Helen and Jennifer stayed with Lorena, Edwin, Alejandro(18), and Morelia(13), as well as their menagerie of farm animals.  How amazing it was to wake up each morning to the sound of the roosters! Edwin woke up around 5am to milk the cows and feed the pigs, while Lorena got breakfast and coffee started for us.  Although we didn't have to report to our schools until 8am we almost always spent a couple of hours wandering around the farm, visiting with the animals, and taking note of the plants, flowers, and insects all around us.  After arriving back to the house after a full day's work we ate dinner together and chatted about what life was like living in the Linda Vista community. What a world of difference! Alejandro talked our ears off while his sister Morelia always stayed by his side, chuckling and hanging on his every word. We spent our nights playing dominoes and card games. The most comical parts of all were while we were worked through our linguistic kinks to understand one another. My jaw actually hurt from smiling and laughing so much.

On our last night in the homestay we had a going away party at Digna's house (Lorena's mom and Alejandro's/Morelia's grandmother). Maria Elena (Digna's daughter) spent the whole night dancing and teaching us gringas how to dance cumbia, bachata, salsa, and reggaeton.  We all sang and danced the night away.  Morelia and I confessed to each other how sad we were that it was our last night together and we imagined how great it would be if we were really sisters.

Just as a photo of a sunset never captures it's true beauty, there are no words that could come close to describing all of the magical moments we have had here in the Chilamate rainforest and the Linda Vista community.  A few nights ago I (Jennifer) was outside with our host family looking up at the starry sky and talking about how incredible it was that when we return to New York we will be looking up at the same moon, albeit thousands of miles apart.  Because of Lorena, Edwin, Alejandro, and Morelia we now know what it means to fully and unconditionally love family, neighbors, and strangers.  They welcomed us with open arms and cared for us like family.  There was never any judgement over language barriers, cultural differences, or ideas.  Our time together was filled with laughter and food cooked with love.  Our family made us feel truly loved in a home away from home. We will cherish the moments that we shared together and hope that we get the chance to meet again someday.  For now I am grateful that we can keep in touch via social media and continue to share bits and pieces of our lives with one another. ¡Pura Vida!

Closing Reflections on Global Education

In addition to the deeply personal transformations we have had, this experience has changed us professionally as well.  The authenticity and depth of global experiences (whether developed locally or abroad) have the power to instill in young children a sense of empathy, understanding, curiosity about others, and an appreciation for multiple perspectives.  

Children are never to young to connect with other kids across the globe.  They are naturally empathetic and it is our job to nurture and develop this skill within them. We already knew the importance of reaching children early when it comes to so many types of learning, and we now include global competency among them.  Imagine a Berkeley Carroll graduate who appreciates their own culture as well as others', who is not afraid of making mistakes, and has curiosity and motivation to connect across boundaries.

Day Six: Not Your Average Rainforest

We started by getting ready for our Costa Rican visitors from the ministry and schools around the area. While the wifi sometimes makes downloading teaching apps to share a little tricky, we are so thrilled to be in such a tech-rich environment here at the Eco-lodge. As Meghan says, "This is not your average rainforest."

Jennifer thanked everyone for coming and we began with introductions.

Our visitors were:

Henry -  the director of Paraiso high school

Gerald - professor de social studies and civics at Paraiso and part of their tablet program

Adrián - coordinator of English for the Sarapiaui region

David - professor of math and regional math supervisor

Jorge - national tech integration director of the education ministry for schools across the country, invited by regional directors of Sarapiqui. His past work is in teaching, biology, pedagogy. He would like to share what the network has accomplished and what the ministry is doing on a national level.

Albán - accompanying Jorge - in transportation

Yacdaniel - teacher at Paraiso - science teacher and likes to work with tablets

Héctor - regional social studies director, focuses on finding ways to use technology

We also enjoyed a brief visit from 3 other ministry members who joined us for the middle part of our day. 

We started by thinking about the world that our students will be entering. Jen presented the idea that we live in a VUCA world.

Volatile

Uncertain

Complex

Ambiguous 

So what do our students need to prosper in this world?

What do they need to know? What are the values and the behaviors and learning they need, not just to survive, but to thrive and prosper?

This was the rather exhaustive list we developed together:

Problem solving

Make decisions

Discernment / critical thinking

Analysis

Leadership

Flexibility 

Capacity to adapt to change

How to work in a team

Empathy

Nationalismo, amor por la patria, y amor por los otros, knowledge of self

Cultural respect

Recognizing that others 

Knowing that there is a lot to learn, the importance of learning from others (a big opportunity with the global connections in the world)

Empowerment - kids need to believe in themselves

Asking good questions, especially when things are hard (must be comfortable respecting the views of others)

Assertive

Making sure that living out our rights is not forgetting the rights of others or our responsibilities - rights come with responsibilities - the balance 

The importance of listening

Participation

Creativity and innovation (goes with problem-solving)

Respect for others so that others will respect me

Being proactive

Knowing that everyone has abilities and gifts but that they might be different form one another

Respecting the time and space that each person needs

Respecting the beliefs of others and meeting people where they are, respecting different perspectives

The capacity to grow and change

Being informed about change helps people accept - important to know how to communicate

Ease with technology

Then we did the chopstick challenge. In this challenge, groups of 4 try to hold up a chopstick, count to 3 and then catch the chopstick of their neighbor before it falls. We rocked it like no group has rocked it before, moving from small group success to whole group success.

What skills and behaviors did we use to have success? 

These ideas were added to our already-long list:

Leadership was shared because an idea would occur

Observation and listening

Accept leadership from others

Confidence

Risk-taking

Collaboration

Some time to practice so that there is room for failure

Failure tolerance

Persistence

Patience

This reminded Jen of the concept of "Failing Forward" ("Fracasar Hacia Adelante") and Briar of her favorite quote by Samuel Beckett: "No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better."

Then we moved on to the Problems of Practice Posters we created for gathering collective wisdom. We formed six teams and tried to very quickly answer questions pertaining to teaching. We switched questions every 3 minutes.

Question #1: How might we increase student engagement and motivation?

Question #2: How might we use technology to improve student learning?

Question #3: How can we make using classroom technology easier for teachers?

Question #4: What kinds of collaborative projects might we do between our classrooms through technology?

Question #5: How might we ensure students stay in school and feel successful?

Question #6: how might we plan lessons to ensure we reach our educational goals?

After lunch, Briar showed Book creator book, pebble go, and the library site. There was interest in building Google sites and Google custom search.

Jessie showed a keynote from her class' China study and showed them iCardSort

Jacdaniel shared how he has embedded a quiz on his website - it's a plugin from Wordpress that has more features than our  Google forms

Phaedra showed Pottery, Origami, Art Studio and Brushes. She also showed that she has experimented with a "flipped classroom" model to teach kids by video so that they have more time and differentiation to experiment with the project.

Adrián showed a booklet they are about to put out as the new tech curriculum. Se llama "Changing Our Mind" - it has a cool graphic that uses a train metaphor as a map to show the changing of teachers' ways of thinking. He also shared that he used an Online Radio Station streaming - hearing a station from London helped expose kids to pronunciation and time zones!

David mentioned using online or android apps for weight (putting things on a scale) or for time. He also told us about Geogebra - an app iPad to examine - 3 dimensional geometry 

Hector told us about the app Go Anime to make short animated videos.

Jen shared 360 Cities which can show you any place in the world. 

Becky showed how to make a Google Site and the app Gizmos to show simulations and to virtually experiment with scientific and mathematic principles.

We ended our day together, very happy to make a connection and to plan for future sharing of projects.

We teachers were happy to have a break after this, and so appreciative of the time to lounge in the lovely Chilamate Eco-Lodge. Several members of our group enjoyed playing Bananagrams with Lluvia, Meghan and Davis' daughter.

We will soon wander home to our homestays for dinner and tomorrow we will spend our final day with the families. We are all planning to wake up for the milking of cows - we will see if we all manage to get up and out in time after so many full and exhausting days!

Written by Briar Sauro  

Día Cinco— Impressions

Written by Phaedra Mastrocola

Right on cue, I was gently awakened by the call of the distant roosters at 4:30 am, followed soon after by the rains pounding on the hot Costa Rican tin roof. In my half sleep I recalled dicing chayote—a mild green squash-like vegetable—by the light of the single bulb dimly illuminating the main room of the house. I remembered Jefferson—our six-year-old brother—showing off his bike-riding skills, and the delight on his face as he modeled the family's new New York Knicks cap. I remembered waking up to a herd of mooing cows crossing the road outside our window the prior morning, and relived the sensations and surprises of milking one of the family cows. I was gently lulled back to sleep by the sounds of cicadas and farm life surrounding us, and was later reawakened by the sound of cold water forcefully rushing from the half-inch wide shower pipe that juts from the half-wall adjoining our bedroom with the bathroom. As I squinted through the mosquito net that envelops my bed, I saw a day filled with cherished opportunities to learn and expand.

* * *

This morning we were greeted with a bouquet of achote from our homestay Dad, Alonso who on discovering our enchantment with the nature that surrounds us, has continued to select a variety of plantas y insectos for us to discover and dissect. Achote, we learned, is a beautiful red seed pod with a coarse fur-like covering. The seeds are soaked in water, then mashed into a paste with oil and added to any food, from arroz con pollo to picadillo, for a rico rojo color. Our homestay Mom, Uvania, explained that children like to paint their lips with the seeds, but that achote is also good for treating anemia, which brought us to the conclusion that it might be rich in iron.

Breakfast was freshly made tortillas, juevos y frijoles negro. Uvania served natilla with the tortillas, a creamy store-bought product similar to sour cream, though not especially sour. If they milk the cows in the night and let the milk stand, in the morning they would have the makings for homemade natilla.

By 8:30 am we met up with the rest of the crew for our school visit to La Escuela la Lucha, established in 2002. Lucha, we learned, means fight or struggle, and the property on which this school exists owns up to the name. Owned originally by a German man, the land was occupied over many years by squatters who were repeatedly evicted. Since the land was not government owned, the squatters did not qualify for adverse possession, which usually takes hold after a period of ten years. After many years of complications, a portion of the land was unofficially donated to the school, which has yet to gain legal ownership of the property.

It was here that we met Ana, principal of La Lucha since 2003, when roofing materials served as walls and the floors were dirt. Ana has worked tirelessly to create the infrastructure to transform this two classroom schoolhouse into the modern facility we observed today. She has overseen its expansion from 12 students to 65, preK and Kindergarten classes came on board six years ago and, thanks to its partnership with the World Leadership School, the school now boasts a set of iPads for educational games and further investigations.

Our group was very excited to see the workbooks the school uses, which sparked a number of ideas for enriching our own curricula back home. How exciting would it be to have our fourth graders retell the story of Columbus by analyzing both our own written history and that of Costa Rica?

Today's mission was to offer an interactive learning experience to the students of La Lucha. We introduced the Marshmallow Challenge to a combined classroom of first and sixth graders, who responded to the challenge in ways we could not have predicted. Despite repeated instructions and a mid-way break for a gallery walk, the first grade groups responded as though we were speaking a foreign language (pun intended). They seemed unaccustomed to the idea of collaborative work and, perhaps, lacking in experiences that promote creative thinking.

To our delight, the sixth graders were very developmentally ready to take on the challenge. One of the sixth grade groups—two boys—engineered a spectacular multi-legged structure that held the marshmallow up successfully for long enough to call their solution a success. The thrill of victory was felt by all.

Our afternoon was spent discussing ways we might bring our experiences home. How can we convey the importance of global citizenship to our colleagues and our students? How will we resist being bogged down by expectations and swayed by the familiar? How can we remember that "an obstacle is often a stepping stone"? (Prescott)

Day 4 at Daniel's Farm

With each day of this experience, it seems that we dive deeper and deeper into the culture of Costa Rica, and every day is more rich than the last. Today was probably the most affecting day of our trip so far. We had the great fortune of visiting the beautiful organic farm in Paraiso run by Daniel, a truly incredible person whose life story touched us all deeply. After a lunch that was muy rico, made entirely from ingredients that he grows, Daniel took us on a wonderful tour, showing us all that he does to maintain an entirely organic and chemical-free farm. We loved seeing the enormous and adorable pigs (whose methane powers the gas line to Daniel's house) and the shy baby goat named Flea, and we learned all about Daniel's unique method of creating chemical-free fertilizer. We were quickly put to work as we helped mix the fertilizer and then harvested the peppercorns, a surprisingly meditative task! Daniel then allowed us to become a lasting part of the work he does by helping us each plant a tree to contribute to growing the forest.

Daniel's peppercorns

Becky feeds the pigs!

Daniel and the tree saplings that we planted.

By far the most inspiring part of the experience was hearing Daniel's personal story, about his experience on the large banana and pineapple plantations when he was younger, and the horrible effects that the methods and chemicals used had on him, his coworkers, and the land around them. Many of us began thinking about the food that we eat, much of which is exported from countries like Costa Rica, and how we can be part of the solution to the problems that Daniel spoke about so eloquently. One thing we all agreed on is that more people need to hear his story to truly understand the horrific history of non-organic farming in this country.

While the highlight of the day was clearly the visit to Daniel's farm, we also made some great visits to the elementary and high schools in Paraiso. We even ran a Marshmallow Challenge with high school students, just as we've done with Berkeley Carroll students at home! It was fascinating to notice the similarities and differences between how these students approached the task and how we've seen our own younger students attempt it. And of course we returned in the evening to our host families, who continue to welcome us with so much warmth (and a lot of humor!). We are halfway through the trip today, and can't wait to see what's next! Pura vida!  
-Jessie

Marshmallow Challenge in Paraiso

Day 3...although by now we have done so much it feels like it could be day 30!

We made two school visits today. The first visit was to the Chilamate School. The owners of the Ecolodge, Meghan and Davis, send their children to this school. Meghan is on the board of the school (all of the  public schools here have parent boards,) and Davis runs any construction or infrastructure projects with the school. They also have connected the school with the World Leadership School in order to utilize the volunteer power to help with construction projects. When Berkeley Carroll students came here with WLS in March, they worked on the beginning stages of a construction project to create a covered play area for the children. Today, we got to see the  finished project. The completion of this project was a tremendous accomplishment for the school, as rain here can be frequent and intense. Now the school is moving on to an electrical rewiring project, because last year the Chinese government donated a large number of laptops to the Costa Rican Ministry of Education, but those that were passed on to Chilamate have been sitting unopened as the school did have the electrical capabilities to support their use. The school is able to do this project using the money it did not have to spend on the play yard project by using volunteers to build much of it, and using Davis' expertise to source affordable materials. Seeing this work gave us a sense both of how hard it is for these schools to afford and implement upgrades, and also how much can be accomplished through a pooling of human resources.

Next we visited the Linda Vista school, just a mile or two up the road. This school has one teacher for 18 students in 1st-6th grade. The teacher is the only employee of Linda Vista aside from the cook, so in addition to doing all the teaching, she also does most of the administrative work. One of the women we ate dinner with on Sunday night, Rocio, volunteers there to help out with the paperwork. Two highlights of this visit - the first was when four students performed a traditional dance for us, complete in traditional clothing. This dance was part of a celebration this time of year in honor of the unification of the region Guanacaste with the rest of Costa Rica. The other highlight is when the students invited us to play a game of soccer with them. All of the students enthusiastically joined this game, which ended in a friendly 0-0 tie.

The afternoon was spent at the home of Mayra and Sergio, who live in Linda Vista. Myra fed us a delicious lunch of patacones (fried smashed plaintains,) enyucados (fried yuca dough filled with ground beef,)  vegetables, and of course beans and rice. Then she taught us to make empanadas. Yum! In the mean time, Sergio regaled us with stories (en español of course) and asked us to teach him English sayings. We got a tour of their small farm, and witnessed new piglets arriving in sacs - a new and unusual sight for us city dwellers!

Finally, we met the families with whom we are staying for the first time tonight. We are staying in three houses - one owned by Digna, the matriarch, and the other two on the same tract of land owned by two of her daughters. They are clearly a tight knit family, and are all very welcoming to this group of Neuva Yorqueñas. It is clear that we will learn much from them in our five nights in their homes. We look forward to getting to know them.

Monday, July 20, 2015

Rafting Rapids y Visita a la escuela, Cristo Rey
Written by Helen Birney

Every day seems to surpass our wildest dreams, and at the most unexpected times. After breakfast, we set out to raft in class 2-3 rapids with two  apprehensive members of our group. Not only did we all go rafting, but we all smiled doing it…at least some of the time. While rafting was memorable, and caught on camera (keepsake photos will be brought home on DVD) it was what happened around rafting that takes the 40^th birthday cake (Happy Birthday, Briar!) Upon arriving at the beginning of our “river trail” we saw our first sloth…as Becky put it, the complete awe and oo-ahhing made this sloth move faster than it had in its life to get away, but fortunately for us that was still slow enough for us to get a picture with it.

Another rafting-not-rafting highlight was being pulled into the raft after we jumped in. Jumping in was lovely, don’t get me wrong--the cold water was refreshing, the feeling of rushing water exhilerating—but being pulled into the boat by our life jacket shoulder straps created a BC teacher pile in the middle of the boat, stuck like turtles on our backs and fish out of water flopping to get back to our seats to paddle. Our guide kept it a light-hearted ride, but we knew how to handle jokes about pirhanas and being left behind with a grain of salt.

Half-way through our ride, we stopped and waded in the water a bit, with a group of cows looking longingly at the fresh-cut pineapple and watermelon cut for us as a mid-ride snack. After skipping our watermelon rinds across the water like stones (it’s awesome, try it) we fed the sweetest cows the rind of our pineapple. Who knew cows even liked pineapple?

The frequency of cormorants was like spotting herons on the Chesapeake Bay. Our guide’s knowledge about all Costa Rica animals world was extensive, and I feel like in general all of our guides are this way, even though they are specialized in rafting, chocolate, or the rainforest. They know it all.

In the afternoon, we went on a school visit in Cristo Rey. We were provided with the idea that this particular school is set in an area known for crime and drug use. The children that attend the school all live near the school, and for some children, the meal they get at school is the only meal of the day. Climate affects everything about school, from absenteeism due to rain, to the inability to hang charts on the wall because they would peel off from humidity.

Despite being armed with this information, we immediately saw how similar our children were to each other. One group of boys played wall-ball the way they do in the cave on our roof for yard, huge groups of children played soccer in the field, and others just wandered around talking with their friends. We were received with interest, and many children wanted to talk to us, but were nervous to try to speak  English. We were able to engage some children in a discussion about traditional foods from USA and Costa Rica, and by the end of the lesson we all finally felt like teachers. We didn’t realize how much we missed the feeling until we had the opportunity to make a difference in the way that we know how, and were sent off with hugs, smiles, and good-byes in both English and Spanish.

The classes are mostly taught with rote learning, where the teacher writes on the board and the students copy what he/she writes. In one math class, the kids just copied what the teacher wrote on the board; however, at the same time, we also saw how what the teacher wrote scaffolded problems and made connections much in the way we do number strings. The biggest difference is that the kids are not involved in the construction of the answer, so some inevitably just copy, and other more savvy kids might pick up on the mathematical patterns that we often stop to discuss at Berkeley Carroll.

Lack of books, inconsistent internet, and classrooms without windows and conditioned spaces are tempting to focus on, but truthfully these are not the most memorable aspects of this school. As a team of teachers looking to expand our global ideas and empathy, we have to ask ourselves, what can we learn from this experience, rather than what can we bring to it? Today, we learned that climate can affect the way and frequency that kids come to school. We learned that the classes take time to prune, weed, and care for a garden that is used to sell vegetables for money for the school as well as supply some food to eat. We also learned that it is possible to take five minutes between classes to let kids run around and regroup in their next class. We learned that by inviting Spanish speakers to our school, we can create a genuine interest in getting our kids to speak Spanish, just as our presence conjured this up in the kids at the school. We learned that all kids are kids that share similar likes and interests, and that programming, presentation tools, and integration are common themes that can relate our schools together.

Gotta go to finish Briar’s birthday celebrat

ion con pastel y chocolate!

We made it to Chilamate and it's AMAZING!

Day One:

Hola a todos... Jen Abbate here.

POR LA MAÑANA...
Today has been amazing. We started out (bright and early) with a delicious breakfast of Costa Rica's local dish- "Gallo Pinto" which is rice and beans with scrambled eggs. After filling our bellies, we then headed out to the rainforest with our guide, William.  We saw so many interesting flora and fauna that I feel compelled to share all of them with you.  Here is a list of what I can remember seeing:

-Female Ringed Kingfisher
-Male Amazon Kingfisher
-Great Kiskadee
-Iguanas
-Halcedonia (a bird of paradise looking plant)
-Green and Black Poison Dart Frog
-Avocado Tree
-Bromelia
-Rufus Tailed Hummingbird
-Rainforest Millipede (yuck!)
-"Blue Jeans" Red Frog
-Cicadas (so loud!)
-Long Nose Bats
-Long-Billed Hermit Hummingbird
-Hot Lips plant
-Ground Anoli Lizard
-Whiteliner Bats
-Great Green Macaw  (ok, we didn't actually see one, but we saw the type of tree they live in)
- Leaf-Cutter Ants
-Slaity tailed Trogon

"Blue Jeans" Red Frog

No sloths, no howler monkeys... yet.

After the hike it was so hot and humid that we felt like we were walking around in a steam room. We looked longingly at the Sarapiqui River.... and then Helen suggested that we go in. We suited up and climbed down to the river and just laid there in the shallow running water enjoying the cool down.  It was the perfect way to regroup and reenergize for the rest of the day.

POR LA TARDE
After our hike we met with Jennifer Klein from WLS and we had great conversation about global education.  Some questions we considered were:

What is culture? How do we define global citizenship? When one imagines the global graduate Berkeley Carroll will produce, what are the skills, knowledge and behaviors, and values that we want to embody? These questions alone are so thought-provoking and we all appreciated having the time to bounce ideas off one another and with Jennifer.  We already have a working list of so many ideas to take back to Carroll Street, and it has only been ONE day.

After lunch we headed to a cacao plantation to learn all about one of the best (in my opinion) creations on this planet, CHOCOLATE.  Our guides took us through the process step-by-step.  We got to try cacao from the fruit off the tree, to a raw nut, to a roasted nut, to a powder, to a liquid, to a drink, to solid chocolate.  We learned a lot and enjoyed the samples.  I think Ms. Blumenthal may have to incorporate some of this into her science curriculum!

Oh, and we saw (and heard) HOWLER MONKEYS at the plantation (insert jaw-dropping emoji face here).

POR LA NOCHE
We had dinner with two locals, Dunia and Rocio, where we learned about life for women and families growing up and living in this area of Costa Rica.  From the moment we met them they treated us with so much love, greeting us with open arms and kisses.  They shared stories of their lives, growing up in rural Costa Rica and the challenges they faced trying to get to school.  We learned that although there are certainly stark contrasts between our communities and lifestyles, we were able to find many commonalities and enjoyed many laughs together. It was a pleasure to meet them and we are grateful for the opportunity to share a meal with them.  We plan to visit them at their homes later in the week!

First day!

Hello family and friends of the BCS - Faculty Development Program in Costa Rica. The faculty arrived to Chilamate a few hours ago but unfortunately the internet is down so they aren't able to update the blog. They will hopefully be able to start blogging tomorrow!

Erin Hawk
Director of Operations