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)
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)
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