Listening to: O My Soul
I think I'll bring back the "Listening to" feature - it inspires my to actually select what I listen to rather than just hitting the magic shuffle button. I'm on "The Coolin'" by Samuel Barber, which is causing some serious Chorale/Valpo nostalgia. I've been feeling a lot of that recently - I miss the people, the place, the experiences: the life. If any of you college kids are taking the time out of your insane schedules to read this (meaning you're not at the Halloween party for some reason), take that to heart. Get the most out of "college" while it lasts; it is an experience that, as far as I can tell, is pretty much unique to 18-22 year olds living in the U.S. That doesn't mean you should just "enjoy" college - living that life to its fullest means being productive, too. Ok, done preaching.
This was definitely the fastest week yet. It wasn't easy, but I feel like it was the first one that's resembled what the next 6 (5? how did that happen?) months will normally look like. A brief rundown (not including a bunch of random meetings and other stuff I had this week):
Domingo: Farmer's market at about 8:00 am. Best fruits, veggies, cheeses, and random (viz: very likely stolen) stuff at stupidly low prices. Last week, I bought my tea kettle for 1,000 Colones (about $2), my pressure cooker for 12,000 (you can handle the math), and five pineapples for another 1,000. Church at 3:00 pm, social time and sometimes a community supper after worship, then the general English class for the youth, then piano class.
Lunes: Class at HP from 4:00-7:00 pm. That doesn't look bad, but I have to leave here by about 1:30 and don't get back until approximately 9:00. Thankfully, it's paid per academic hour, so I get four hours' worth of pay instead of three. They're very smart and are at a Beginning-Advanced level (C1).
Martes: My one day that's currently free as far as teaching, though I do get to go to a Bible study that often feels like a class. I say "currently" because I may be picking up some more volunteer activity tomorrow when I visit the other Lutheran congregation in San Jose. I'm technically here as a volunteer to their umbrella organization (Iglesia Luterana Centro-Americana), but I've only been working with Sola Fe so far. The Bible study rotates between homes weekly, is accompanied by an awesome supper, and is led by Sergio, one of the pastors. At the end of the study, the group decides who is going to preach on Sunday. This seems like it's about 50/50 between the pastors and laity as far as preaching duty - they've already tried to get me to do it twice. They said they aren't letting me leave until I do, but my Spanish is nowhere near the level it needs to be for that yet!
Miércoles: Two lessons, 4:30-6:00 and 6:00-7:00. The first is a private lesson with Sergio. He's at a beginning-intermediate (B1) level, which is probably about my favorite to teach. They have enough background to believe in themselves, but they still have a very long way to go and are a little more eager to make mistakes and learn from them, which is very much the way I like to teach. The second is the beginning English class for adults, which is a little more difficult but just as rewarding.
Jueves: Normally, general English for the youth at 6:00 and guitar class at 7:00, but this week I got a shift as a substitute and had to bump these to Friday after my other English lessons.
Viernes: Same schedule as Wednesday.
Sábado: Hopefully a morning shift with InLingua (currently pending). Percussion class at 4:30, Youth Choir (starting next week!!!) at 6:00, youth group at 7:00.
Repeat.
Those are the basics of it, which probably look like almost nothing. Unfortunately, as I have discovered, teaching well requires a lot of lesson planning (and I'm not even grading anything). Additionally, I usually go to Heidi's for a sort of orientation class every week, run to the office(s) to make copies and file paperwork, go into San Jose for various things, Skyping, yada yada yada. Long story short, I somehow usually manage to have a lot less free time than I think, which is probably a good thing. I'm not very good at handling it. Additionally, there are still two churches that want a piece of me and I want to start a recorder ensemble. It would be a lot easier if I could work during the day or in the morning, but c'est la vie.
Tomorrow, there's some kind of inter-church service going on - I've only heard it discussed in Spanish so I'm very fuzzy on the details. I'm just going to show up at Sola Fe with my guitar and let them lead me. For this event, Wendy Mallette (a fellow Valpo student spending her semester here) and I have been working on a jazz arrangement of "A Mighty Fortress" for soprano saxophone and guitar per Heidi's request. We practiced it again this morning, and it actually went really well. Maybe I'll get a video up in the next few days.
I think I'd better call it a night as far as this post. Heather and I are working through the Bible in six months, and last night she called me out for slacking by about a whole book (Joshua). I need to read.
Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers. I feel like a lot more of my time so far has been spent trying to position myself to let God use me than actually letting him use me, but last night I got to catch a glimpse of it. I brought three boys in guitar class from "this is a treble clef" to being able to play open E's, A's, and D's in time in about 90 minutes. That was really cool, and I hope it was just a little taste of what's to come.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Running
I'm sorry it's been so long since my last actual post - things have been picking up quite a bit. I now have two jobs with two separate English teaching companies plus two paid lessons at the church, so if I'm lucky I might pull in enough to cover this month's rent. In addition to those, I've been doing some free lessons and classes at random times, and on Sunday we're going to sit down and figure out how that's all going to work on a weekly basis. I hate to admit it, but I'm excited to feel at least somewhat busy again.
I taught my first class for ProLanguage on Thursday night at a factory called Eaton over in Moravia. I should probably mention that if you want to track these places and get an idea of what I'm talking about, you can find most of them here. I'm sure I don't have everything there, but it should give you a general idea (also, please let me know if that link doesn't work for you). Even though I was just a sub, the class went unbelievably well. I only had three students, all of whom were very different from each other but who had obviously already built some rapport between themselves. On the way back, one of my students and I shared a bus since we were going the same direction and we got to talking. I knew from our class discussion that she was a person of faith, but somehow our conversation turned to the two things you're never supposed to talk about in public anyway. Honestly, I've had a very mixed reaction to living in a socialized democracy, and I'm sure I'll have time to talk about that at some point after I've chewed on it for a little bit longer. Suffice it to say that so far, I have found Costa Ricans to be incredibly open about their own religious and political views and equally curious about others'. The first thing my taxi driver asked after I told him where to take me was "so what do you make of this whole thing with Obama and Gaddafi?"
My other job, InLingua, is the organizational opposite of ProLanguage. At ProLanguage, they focus on the "freedom" a teacher "enjoys" by doing most of the lesson planning, testing, etc...on their own. To some degree, they're right - I enjoyed, for example, having my class make hotel brochures at the end of our session (mine was for the Hotel California, which got them all to start singing). At InLingua, however, I am a cog in a massive, international, well-known, and incredibly efficient machine. I will never write a lesson plan, quiz, test, or progress report for that job, and with the exception of an attendance sheet and copies used in class the entire operation is paperless. It's a Swiss company (go figure), and I'm really excited about the chance to work there. My first class with them (which is actually a weekly gig) is Monday night at HP. Yeah, that HP. Like I said - it's a pretty legitimate brand.
I have to say that I probably gave the best interview of my life for this job. It was like I couldn't say anything wrong, and by the end he was starting to bargain with me for terms I could accept rather than vice versa. I really like my boss so far - he's a nutty but incredibly passionate, energetic, and authentic Canadian. He knows all the company jargon sounds like a bunch of bull and he jokes about it sometimes, but he actually does believe in it and presents it very effectively as something we should buy into as well. His philosophy is basically that the higher the percentage of our work that occurs inside a classroom, the better we'll be at it. Perfect. He also agreed to let me use their materials in my volunteer lessons at the church (after a little verification with Heidi or Sergio) - the company is big on philanthropic stuff. Lucky for me, I sent in the trimmed down resume which includes mostly volunteer work and very little employment.
I taught my first class for ProLanguage on Thursday night at a factory called Eaton over in Moravia. I should probably mention that if you want to track these places and get an idea of what I'm talking about, you can find most of them here. I'm sure I don't have everything there, but it should give you a general idea (also, please let me know if that link doesn't work for you). Even though I was just a sub, the class went unbelievably well. I only had three students, all of whom were very different from each other but who had obviously already built some rapport between themselves. On the way back, one of my students and I shared a bus since we were going the same direction and we got to talking. I knew from our class discussion that she was a person of faith, but somehow our conversation turned to the two things you're never supposed to talk about in public anyway. Honestly, I've had a very mixed reaction to living in a socialized democracy, and I'm sure I'll have time to talk about that at some point after I've chewed on it for a little bit longer. Suffice it to say that so far, I have found Costa Ricans to be incredibly open about their own religious and political views and equally curious about others'. The first thing my taxi driver asked after I told him where to take me was "so what do you make of this whole thing with Obama and Gaddafi?"
My other job, InLingua, is the organizational opposite of ProLanguage. At ProLanguage, they focus on the "freedom" a teacher "enjoys" by doing most of the lesson planning, testing, etc...on their own. To some degree, they're right - I enjoyed, for example, having my class make hotel brochures at the end of our session (mine was for the Hotel California, which got them all to start singing). At InLingua, however, I am a cog in a massive, international, well-known, and incredibly efficient machine. I will never write a lesson plan, quiz, test, or progress report for that job, and with the exception of an attendance sheet and copies used in class the entire operation is paperless. It's a Swiss company (go figure), and I'm really excited about the chance to work there. My first class with them (which is actually a weekly gig) is Monday night at HP. Yeah, that HP. Like I said - it's a pretty legitimate brand.
I have to say that I probably gave the best interview of my life for this job. It was like I couldn't say anything wrong, and by the end he was starting to bargain with me for terms I could accept rather than vice versa. I really like my boss so far - he's a nutty but incredibly passionate, energetic, and authentic Canadian. He knows all the company jargon sounds like a bunch of bull and he jokes about it sometimes, but he actually does believe in it and presents it very effectively as something we should buy into as well. His philosophy is basically that the higher the percentage of our work that occurs inside a classroom, the better we'll be at it. Perfect. He also agreed to let me use their materials in my volunteer lessons at the church (after a little verification with Heidi or Sergio) - the company is big on philanthropic stuff. Lucky for me, I sent in the trimmed down resume which includes mostly volunteer work and very little employment.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
A Little Break from the Day to Day
So, instead of a life update (since you have to get tired of reading those eventually), I'm going to do a little political post. If you're reading this, you probably know I would loosely consider myself a conservative and Republican. I say loosely not because I don't know where I stand but because I honestly don't know exactly what those two words mean anymore. Maybe it's the fact that I'm living in a (pretty well-run) socialist state or maybe it's just the distance from home but for some reason, I've been completely enthralled by catching up on the Republican Primary debates over the last few days. This is especially weird given that I may or may not be around for Primary season, depending how that whole scene shapes up. I just finished watching the debate from this evening. Here are some very brief (mostly positive) comments about each candidate.
If you're going to comment, be civil. Hatred and slander are at least as dangerous to a country as any other political problem, and healing a broken nation takes more casts and fewer clubs.
I'll go alphabetically:
Bachmann - I really do think you have a better understanding of Congressional issues than anyone in the race other than Newt. I also respect your experience as a federal tax attorney, which I think has enabled you to concisely and correctly criticize the 9-9-9 plan. If you want a serious chance at the nomination, you need to tone down the gimmicky phrases and undisguised appeals to emotional responses in your audience. They're bringing out a Palin-esque side of you that, while valuable in quite a few areas, will absolutely crush your chances of winning the nomination and/or election. We know you're a passionate mom. Prove you can be a strong leader.
Cain - I like your boldness. It takes guts to run a campaign on the underlying premise that you're not actually a politician. Your position on the Fed is definitely your most concerning attribute in my opinion. Your boldness is getting you into trouble on occasion; if you want to win this thing you have to be more careful about your first response and stop having to cover your tracks later.
Gingrich - Are you actually still running? That's not an insult - I'm just confused. If I had my druthers, you would drop out, win a VP nomination, and moderate the remainder of these debates. You seem to be half cheerleader and half elderly advisor, which is fine by me. Your comments are often insightful and useful, and to be honest I think you're already doing a better job of moderating them than have many of the official moderators.
Paul - More than anyone, I would love to see you debate Obama. I think you're the most intelligent person in the race, but even more than that I respect your complete lack of partisanship. You aren't bipartisan; you're nonpartisan if not anti-partisan (which would be even better). Your allegiance lies with principles, not parties. You honestly remind me of Yoda next to the rest of these candidates: you're old, wise, funny, (mentally) agile, and consistently screwed over by the man (by which I mean the moderators). That said, your persona works better when you add a little boldness to your "frail little old man" image. You have the vote of a lot of the deep thinkers in the party; work on your excitement and emotional appeal. You have a near perfect track record and you're the only person in the race who seems unquestionably trustworthy, though Santorum also seems to shoot pretty straight. Keep going.
Perry - I can't decide whether I want you to get out of the race or not. On the one hand, you're a horrible debater. I don't think I could, in good conscience, vote for a man who so poorly expresses himself, no matter how good the underlying ideas could possibly be. They say Nixon lost because of the transition from radio to TV; you'd never have a shot with either. You and Santorum also made yourselves look like fools in your dealings with Romney, but at least Santorum had a reasonable idea to express. Telling the moderator ahead of time that you weren't actually going to answer his question and proceeding to hammer yet again on your only two points ("Obama is horrible" and "we need to use our untapped energy") embodied every negative stereotype your potential voters have of a lifetime politician from Texas. You cannot win this nomination or election. On the other hand, you are making the rest of the field look a heck of a lot better than they actually are, which may enable one of them to finally step (or in this case trampoline) into a real limelight and become a legitimate nominee.
Romney - You are the best rhetorician in the debate, particularly with your rebuttals. While I would very much like to see Paul go up against Obama, I also believe you could beat him toe to toe. You seem more comfortable thinking on your feet and rolling with the punches than any other candidate. You have done a pretty good job of using Perry to springboard yourself forward by trying to maintain your opponent's integrity until he no longer allows you to do so and then separating yourself from him. You will have to do this several more times, and I seriously doubt it will be that easy in the cases to come. A lot of people like you but aren't sure they can trust you. You have the most difficult track record for your potential voters; you're explaining yourself well, but you still have yet to earn that trust.
Santorum - While you get a bit whiny at times, I actually think you have some great ideas (particularly your emphasis in the reinstitution of the American family). I appreciate your boldness and your obvious research; you depend more on principles and evidence than anyone in the field except Paul. Your temper tantrum with Romney tonight was horrible and it made you look like a desperate outlier (which, statistically, you are). I wish you were a bit higher in the polls, but I don't think you can outthink Paul, shout over Cain, or debate Romney and win. On the bright side, you can definitely beat Perry.
I don't think I missed anyone. Maybe that was worse than a normal post, but I feel better having gotten out those ideas. Again, comments are welcome if well thought out and civil.
Cheers,
Jacob
If you're going to comment, be civil. Hatred and slander are at least as dangerous to a country as any other political problem, and healing a broken nation takes more casts and fewer clubs.
I'll go alphabetically:
Bachmann - I really do think you have a better understanding of Congressional issues than anyone in the race other than Newt. I also respect your experience as a federal tax attorney, which I think has enabled you to concisely and correctly criticize the 9-9-9 plan. If you want a serious chance at the nomination, you need to tone down the gimmicky phrases and undisguised appeals to emotional responses in your audience. They're bringing out a Palin-esque side of you that, while valuable in quite a few areas, will absolutely crush your chances of winning the nomination and/or election. We know you're a passionate mom. Prove you can be a strong leader.
Cain - I like your boldness. It takes guts to run a campaign on the underlying premise that you're not actually a politician. Your position on the Fed is definitely your most concerning attribute in my opinion. Your boldness is getting you into trouble on occasion; if you want to win this thing you have to be more careful about your first response and stop having to cover your tracks later.
Gingrich - Are you actually still running? That's not an insult - I'm just confused. If I had my druthers, you would drop out, win a VP nomination, and moderate the remainder of these debates. You seem to be half cheerleader and half elderly advisor, which is fine by me. Your comments are often insightful and useful, and to be honest I think you're already doing a better job of moderating them than have many of the official moderators.
Paul - More than anyone, I would love to see you debate Obama. I think you're the most intelligent person in the race, but even more than that I respect your complete lack of partisanship. You aren't bipartisan; you're nonpartisan if not anti-partisan (which would be even better). Your allegiance lies with principles, not parties. You honestly remind me of Yoda next to the rest of these candidates: you're old, wise, funny, (mentally) agile, and consistently screwed over by the man (by which I mean the moderators). That said, your persona works better when you add a little boldness to your "frail little old man" image. You have the vote of a lot of the deep thinkers in the party; work on your excitement and emotional appeal. You have a near perfect track record and you're the only person in the race who seems unquestionably trustworthy, though Santorum also seems to shoot pretty straight. Keep going.
Perry - I can't decide whether I want you to get out of the race or not. On the one hand, you're a horrible debater. I don't think I could, in good conscience, vote for a man who so poorly expresses himself, no matter how good the underlying ideas could possibly be. They say Nixon lost because of the transition from radio to TV; you'd never have a shot with either. You and Santorum also made yourselves look like fools in your dealings with Romney, but at least Santorum had a reasonable idea to express. Telling the moderator ahead of time that you weren't actually going to answer his question and proceeding to hammer yet again on your only two points ("Obama is horrible" and "we need to use our untapped energy") embodied every negative stereotype your potential voters have of a lifetime politician from Texas. You cannot win this nomination or election. On the other hand, you are making the rest of the field look a heck of a lot better than they actually are, which may enable one of them to finally step (or in this case trampoline) into a real limelight and become a legitimate nominee.
Romney - You are the best rhetorician in the debate, particularly with your rebuttals. While I would very much like to see Paul go up against Obama, I also believe you could beat him toe to toe. You seem more comfortable thinking on your feet and rolling with the punches than any other candidate. You have done a pretty good job of using Perry to springboard yourself forward by trying to maintain your opponent's integrity until he no longer allows you to do so and then separating yourself from him. You will have to do this several more times, and I seriously doubt it will be that easy in the cases to come. A lot of people like you but aren't sure they can trust you. You have the most difficult track record for your potential voters; you're explaining yourself well, but you still have yet to earn that trust.
Santorum - While you get a bit whiny at times, I actually think you have some great ideas (particularly your emphasis in the reinstitution of the American family). I appreciate your boldness and your obvious research; you depend more on principles and evidence than anyone in the field except Paul. Your temper tantrum with Romney tonight was horrible and it made you look like a desperate outlier (which, statistically, you are). I wish you were a bit higher in the polls, but I don't think you can outthink Paul, shout over Cain, or debate Romney and win. On the bright side, you can definitely beat Perry.
I don't think I missed anyone. Maybe that was worse than a normal post, but I feel better having gotten out those ideas. Again, comments are welcome if well thought out and civil.
Cheers,
Jacob
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday
Well I'm watching youtube videos to catch up on political developments in the US for the last month or more - I pretty well missed the entire rise and fall of Rick Perry thanks to the LSAT. My internet is too slow to actually load the videos realtime, so I'm going to write while they load up.
Today I got the chance to go to a farmer's market in San Jose called the mayoreo. I bought a bunch of fruits and veggies, several of which I'd never seen (let alone tasted). I also bought a pressure cooker, which was a complete mistake. Either it's missing a part or no one in this apartment complex can figure out how to lock down the lid. It's not the good old lock-on kind but a weird winged contraption with a sort of handle in the middle you're supposed to rotate to raise the wings and tighten the lid. Regardless, I managed to make tortillas, black beans, chayote (imagine a fruit that most closely resembles a potato), and rice with peppers, onion, and several cloves of garlic. I love me some garlic. I've really enjoyed cooking here, if you haven't noticed the theme.
While I'm still job-hunting, I'm very excited to start up English lessons at the church this week. I'm going to run a beginner-level help session every day and an intermediate class on Tuesday. The help session is going to be very informal, but I hope it will be a big help to the kids. Basically, I'm just going to offer tutorial and homework help in an English-speaking environment. I have no idea how many will show up or how old they'll be, but hopefully we can make it work for everyone.
Church went well today - I successfully (with a little help) figured out a melody on a recorder, which I didn't really think I could do. Wendy is going to stop by with her saxophone early in the morning so we can start working on an arrangement, so I had better hit the sack.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Rough Patches
So, my last few posts have been pretty spotty at best - my bad. It's been hard to find both time and internet (one of which should now be solved...read on). I've been hired as an English teacher, but I'm waiting on classes to form up. Essentially, I have a job but no work. That means I've been looking for other kinds of work, both with other English companies and with what they call "call centers." I don't really want to go back to doing surveys again, but it would beat telemarketing (or starving).
I'll hopefully be starting up English and Music lessons after church on Sunday afternoon. We've been waiting to schedule those until I have a work schedule, but I think we might just have to go ahead with it. There should be some fun projects as far as the music - we've got a couple of guitars, drums, recorders, and a keyboard, so I think I might start working on some arrangements to accompany the singers in church. Right now it's basically whoever can play a plucked instrument (guitar, mandolin, etc...) chordally accompanying the singers by ear. People who play violin, flute, etc will sometimes add whatever harmony they like or reinforce the melody. This is a lot of fun, but for obvious reasons it has its occasional problems. I'm hoping I can set up a few three or four part songs for some of those instruments and get some cool rhythmic stuff going as well.
This is an incredibly involved church, especially compared to the U.S. congregations I've experienced. They only have around 30 members. About 12 of them are adults, and they have an 6-person leadership board (which may or may not include the 2 pastors and deaconess). They had elections last week, which was a pretty interesting affair (as someone used to running meetings with a system at least resembling Robert's rules). They have three weekly Bible studies, two of which rotate homes and involve sharing supper, so they share a significant amount of time with one another at least once every other day. It's very interesting - they have almost no resources in the material sense, but are more deeply catechistic and biblically knowledgable than all but the leadership of any church I've seen in the US. Pastor Sergio leads these studies and doesn't hold anything back in the discussions - we discuss context, controversies, and deep theological implications of every passage. His theology (and that of the majority of the congregation) is much more liberal than my own, but he is not at all militant about his own point of view. He can get a little over-excited sometimes, but in general he does a lot more asking than answering.
I ran this morning, for the first time since coming to Costa Rica. Miraculously, my waistline hasn't ballooned with the Costa Rican diet. I would say their food pyramid would look a lot like the old USDA one, except you would have to switch vegetables with oil and salt. They fry something at every meal, I think. Another thing I didn't expect: they blend and drink almost all of their fruit intake. I tried my hand at it yesterday with a pineapple and an orange, which turned out pretty well. The only ones I've seen people eat "raw" are bananas and avocados.
Thanks to Gregorio, one of my friends at the church here, I now have internet access via a little USB stick. It's pretty slow, but it only costs $10/month so I'm not complaining. It works well for voice calling on Skype, but can be a little sketchy once you add the video, so feel free to call me if you see I'm online.
I guess the last thing I'll write about for today is my Spanish usage. I'm definitely going through a bit of a rough patch the last few days. I hit the ground running pretty well when I got here and did really well at the Bible study on Wednesday night, but for some reason my brain has been shutting down a bit recently. I usually need a good half hour or so of conversation before the lightbulb comes on and I start understanding the majority of it, but the last couple of days that just hasn't happened. I hope it will get better here soon.
That's it for now, thanks for reading and hopefully I'll have more news about a job and work at the church very soon! ¡Hasta luego!
I'll hopefully be starting up English and Music lessons after church on Sunday afternoon. We've been waiting to schedule those until I have a work schedule, but I think we might just have to go ahead with it. There should be some fun projects as far as the music - we've got a couple of guitars, drums, recorders, and a keyboard, so I think I might start working on some arrangements to accompany the singers in church. Right now it's basically whoever can play a plucked instrument (guitar, mandolin, etc...) chordally accompanying the singers by ear. People who play violin, flute, etc will sometimes add whatever harmony they like or reinforce the melody. This is a lot of fun, but for obvious reasons it has its occasional problems. I'm hoping I can set up a few three or four part songs for some of those instruments and get some cool rhythmic stuff going as well.
This is an incredibly involved church, especially compared to the U.S. congregations I've experienced. They only have around 30 members. About 12 of them are adults, and they have an 6-person leadership board (which may or may not include the 2 pastors and deaconess). They had elections last week, which was a pretty interesting affair (as someone used to running meetings with a system at least resembling Robert's rules). They have three weekly Bible studies, two of which rotate homes and involve sharing supper, so they share a significant amount of time with one another at least once every other day. It's very interesting - they have almost no resources in the material sense, but are more deeply catechistic and biblically knowledgable than all but the leadership of any church I've seen in the US. Pastor Sergio leads these studies and doesn't hold anything back in the discussions - we discuss context, controversies, and deep theological implications of every passage. His theology (and that of the majority of the congregation) is much more liberal than my own, but he is not at all militant about his own point of view. He can get a little over-excited sometimes, but in general he does a lot more asking than answering.
 |
| Costa Rican Food Pyramid |
Thanks to Gregorio, one of my friends at the church here, I now have internet access via a little USB stick. It's pretty slow, but it only costs $10/month so I'm not complaining. It works well for voice calling on Skype, but can be a little sketchy once you add the video, so feel free to call me if you see I'm online.
I guess the last thing I'll write about for today is my Spanish usage. I'm definitely going through a bit of a rough patch the last few days. I hit the ground running pretty well when I got here and did really well at the Bible study on Wednesday night, but for some reason my brain has been shutting down a bit recently. I usually need a good half hour or so of conversation before the lightbulb comes on and I start understanding the majority of it, but the last couple of days that just hasn't happened. I hope it will get better here soon.
That's it for now, thanks for reading and hopefully I'll have more news about a job and work at the church very soon! ¡Hasta luego!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Rain
(10/11 6:30)
Things have been moving along slowly but steadily and I think I'm almost "there" - wherever that is. I have my apartment stuffed pretty amply with the stuff Heidi had been saving for me. A lot of it was very dirty after sitting in an outdoor garage for who knows how long, so I've used up at least half of my spray bottle of Clorox and my room smells a bit like a nursing home (old but well sanitized). I'm in a little studio, probably about 12'x16', and I've managed to cram in a big bed (queen, I think), a dining table, a kitchenette (fridge, microwave, toaster oven, gas stove, blender), and the built-in bathroom. I also have space open for a sleeper couch that we haven't been able to bring over due to the rain.
Ah, the rain. Costa Rica is in its wet season right now, and the last couple of days (due to a storm in the Atlantic, I'm told) have really lived up to that title. Normally, it's supposed to rain for a couple of hours in the early afternoon. Yesterday, it rained from 10am to 10pm or later, and today it's been going since late this morning. That said, I really don't mind it beside the inconveniences it causes. It's a soft rain, as they say here, and I find it to be much more calming than depressing. There's some occasional lightning, but nothing like a good midwestern thunderstorm. The Ticos/as (people from Costa Rica) all seem to think Nebraska is always cold - it's funny to watch their faces when I tell them about the difference between our summer and our winter.
Finding internet has, obviously, been quite the challenge. There is a network I can access right now that's named "5.000 x mes 2232-2215", but I tried calling that number today and it belongs to a hospital. I also tried entering the number as a password, but that didn't work either. 5,000 Colones x mes means roughly $10/month, so this would be a great deal if I could access it. None of the neighbors I've talked to so far know who owns it, but I'll keep looking.
Ah, my neighbors. It's been a lot of fun meeting them. Yesterday, Anna (who lives across the hall) saw me standing in the dark by myself eating an avocado with a spoon. I apparently looked pathetic enough to earn a meal, because she brought in a casado (lunch dish) with rice, beans, yuca (kind of like squash), and chicken. She came back to check on me once with an avocado, and another time with a coke. It was so nice of her - I think we had spoken maybe five words before then. Today, another one of my neighbors (the sister of one of our church members) taught me how to cook a typical lunch. It was the same as my lunch yesterday, except we fried a kind of sausage instead of roasting chicken. I have enough leftovers for at least three or four days.
I have a lot more to write about, but I have to get this down. As of this evening I have been dating one of the most beautiful, intelligent, loving, and faithful people I have ever met for nine months. Be jealous.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Settling In
Well, Mom just used up most of my blogging time via Skype so this will have to be an express post. Short version: I have an apartment, but haven't moved in yet, and I have my second interview for a job as an English teacher on Monday. My apartment is very close (cercisima) to the church, so I should hopefully be able to spend a lot of time there. Accessing the internet has been a little difficult - the wifi at Heidi's house doesn't work on my computer or iPod for some reason. I'm hoping that's just a fluke (i.e. that they will work at internet cafes). I can put in the password and connect to the network, but can't access the internet. If any apple pros out there have any hints for me, I'd appreciate the help.
I haven't been able to start much work over at the church yet - I've pretty much just been meeting and getting to know the congregation. I'm very much living a bilingual life at the moment; English at Heidi's, Spanish everywhere else. I can get over to the church and back via the bus on my own, but I still have a lot to learn as far as the geography and bus routes. Hopefully in the next week or so I'll be able to start English and Music lessons over there. We did buy an electric keyboard in town, so hopefully that will come in handy.
Ok, have to run! I'll fill in some more details when I have time.
I haven't been able to start much work over at the church yet - I've pretty much just been meeting and getting to know the congregation. I'm very much living a bilingual life at the moment; English at Heidi's, Spanish everywhere else. I can get over to the church and back via the bus on my own, but I still have a lot to learn as far as the geography and bus routes. Hopefully in the next week or so I'll be able to start English and Music lessons over there. We did buy an electric keyboard in town, so hopefully that will come in handy.
Ok, have to run! I'll fill in some more details when I have time.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Whirlwind #1
Wow, what a day. I'm pretty tired and still trying to beat this cold, so I'll do a quick summary.
I was tired enough to sleep through a marching band practice about 20 yards outside my window this morning - Heidi was in utter disbelief when I finally came out of hibernation. My itinerary yesterday took me through four U.S. airports before landing in San Jose, spanning about 20 hours from door to door.
The pastor of Sola Fe (our church) and his wife stopped by this morning. Sergio ate (his second) breakfast with me and then showed me around San Pedro and San Jose, including the most crucial bus lines for me to learn. He also helped me buy a cheap prepaid phone, which went significantly better than last time (see June 10 on jakeacrossthepond.blogspot.com for reference). We walked around a bunch, then came back for lunch.
After lunch, Heidi took me through a presentation on the histories of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, since most of the members of the congregation are immigrants. I never realized some of the major differences, but one analogy really stuck out to me. Nicaragua was like the Deep South of the USA - a few white men running huge plantations based on indigenous, imported, and self-procreated slave labor. Costa Rica was more like the United States' Midwest, where the government gave land they didn't really have to predominantly white settlers who worked it themselves. Single white men who wanted to get rich quick were the typical Spaniards in Nicaragua. Families trying to build a better life went to Costa Rica.
I had a little break at this point, where I practiced some guitar, then we went to the church. We went first to Gregorio's house, but they quickly shoved me back out the door with a woman whose name I forget now. She took me to a nearby home and served me supper while she and her daughter watched a telenovela (soap opera). I thought it was odd that I would eat by myself, but I didn't want to be rude. Afterwards, we returned to the other house where they were cooking supper. When they sat down, I was implored to eat again. I ate rice and some kind of meat or egg at all of these meals - egg and ham, chicken, beef, and fish. The food is like the coffee - not spicy but incredibly rich and delicious. I also had fried plantain slices (twice). Heidi later explained to me that this pre-supper is a common way to offer hospitality.
After supper #2, we went to a confirmation class. This was quite the eye-opening experience. The kids were obviously excited to be there, but they were under nothing I could recognize as control. We sang a few songs and then went through an article of the Lord's prayer. I'll save you any details, but it was certainly a challenge I have never experienced and one I look forward to meeting.
After that, it was just bus, blog, and now bed. I am very tired, as I said, so I bid thee good night.
I was tired enough to sleep through a marching band practice about 20 yards outside my window this morning - Heidi was in utter disbelief when I finally came out of hibernation. My itinerary yesterday took me through four U.S. airports before landing in San Jose, spanning about 20 hours from door to door.
The pastor of Sola Fe (our church) and his wife stopped by this morning. Sergio ate (his second) breakfast with me and then showed me around San Pedro and San Jose, including the most crucial bus lines for me to learn. He also helped me buy a cheap prepaid phone, which went significantly better than last time (see June 10 on jakeacrossthepond.blogspot.com for reference). We walked around a bunch, then came back for lunch.
After lunch, Heidi took me through a presentation on the histories of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, since most of the members of the congregation are immigrants. I never realized some of the major differences, but one analogy really stuck out to me. Nicaragua was like the Deep South of the USA - a few white men running huge plantations based on indigenous, imported, and self-procreated slave labor. Costa Rica was more like the United States' Midwest, where the government gave land they didn't really have to predominantly white settlers who worked it themselves. Single white men who wanted to get rich quick were the typical Spaniards in Nicaragua. Families trying to build a better life went to Costa Rica.
I had a little break at this point, where I practiced some guitar, then we went to the church. We went first to Gregorio's house, but they quickly shoved me back out the door with a woman whose name I forget now. She took me to a nearby home and served me supper while she and her daughter watched a telenovela (soap opera). I thought it was odd that I would eat by myself, but I didn't want to be rude. Afterwards, we returned to the other house where they were cooking supper. When they sat down, I was implored to eat again. I ate rice and some kind of meat or egg at all of these meals - egg and ham, chicken, beef, and fish. The food is like the coffee - not spicy but incredibly rich and delicious. I also had fried plantain slices (twice). Heidi later explained to me that this pre-supper is a common way to offer hospitality.
After supper #2, we went to a confirmation class. This was quite the eye-opening experience. The kids were obviously excited to be there, but they were under nothing I could recognize as control. We sang a few songs and then went through an article of the Lord's prayer. I'll save you any details, but it was certainly a challenge I have never experienced and one I look forward to meeting.
After that, it was just bus, blog, and now bed. I am very tired, as I said, so I bid thee good night.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Running on Faith
...and caffeine. I'm absurdly early for this flight - I arrived at my gate at 6:40 for an 8:10 flight to Dallas. I'll be hopping around a bit today - Dallas, Orlando, Miami, and finally San Jose - but I imagine only Nebraska will give me free wifi so I figure I should write while I have the chance. Given all the traveling I did this summer, I'm surprisingly not sure when I was last in an airport. I suppose it would have been my trip home with Heather this Spring.
The sun's rising out the window to my left, washing away what has been a very short night and what felt like an instantaneous summer. I've spent a lot of time wondering what God was doing with me over the last few months. We like to wrestle sometimes. In the end, I realized (yet again) that I cannot comprehend his timing, his plan, or his methods for accomplishing that plan, and consequently resigned myself to focus on simply taking the next step. He's already promised to take care of the rest.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. (Pr. 3:5-7)
My translation/takeaway:
Don't fool yourself with your own flawed logic.
Trust God with all your heart.
Remember who and whose you were made to be
and he will take care of tomorrow.
Don't pretend to know what you're talking about;
humble yourself and let God do the talking. Listen and obey.
As I said to mom this morning on my way in, I hope to learn much more than I teach over the next few months. I don't know how it's going to happen, but I've got faith, and right now I think that's all I really need.
The sun's rising out the window to my left, washing away what has been a very short night and what felt like an instantaneous summer. I've spent a lot of time wondering what God was doing with me over the last few months. We like to wrestle sometimes. In the end, I realized (yet again) that I cannot comprehend his timing, his plan, or his methods for accomplishing that plan, and consequently resigned myself to focus on simply taking the next step. He's already promised to take care of the rest.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. (Pr. 3:5-7)
My translation/takeaway:
Don't fool yourself with your own flawed logic.
Trust God with all your heart.
Remember who and whose you were made to be
and he will take care of tomorrow.
Don't pretend to know what you're talking about;
humble yourself and let God do the talking. Listen and obey.
As I said to mom this morning on my way in, I hope to learn much more than I teach over the next few months. I don't know how it's going to happen, but I've got faith, and right now I think that's all I really need.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)