Rant Time: GO!

Not gonna lie, dear readers...this week has been rough! Here, for your reading pleasure, are some of my quejas (complaints):

Things That Bug Me: The Unabridged Edition

1. People who are freaking unreliable! It's nearly impossible in Costa Rica to get people to show up when they say they will, IF (and this can often be a BIG IF) they decide to show up at all! I run an after-school program that serves between 50 and 70 kids on any given day, yet very few of the parents of those kids are willing to step up to the plate, be responsible, and help me out. Thus, the several times I have ended up by myself or nearly by myself with 35 kids.

2. The indirectness of the culture here. It's petty and childish. If you have a problem, come talk to me directly. Don't send your sister/neighbor/cousin's dog-sitter to do your dirty work. It's immature, and it just makes everything worse in the end.

3. School? What school? Classes get cancelled here for pretty much no reason ALL. THE. FREAKING. TIME. Rainy day? No school. Handing back exams? No classes the rest of the day. Teacher just doesn't feel like showing up? Enjoy your vacation. In one of my counterpart schools assigned by Peace Corps, I have barely started working due to this disaster of a school schedule. And that's after nearly FOUR MONTHS in my site. It's madness, I tell you, madness.

4. Machismo. Ooooh, this one makes me so mad. There is no reason in this world why I should not be able to walk down the street without someone hissing, purring, whistling, cat-calling, or doing whatever other obscene action in my direction. My name is not reina, princesa, mi amor, machita, bebe, or any other Spanish term of endearment. In fact, since we don't know each other's names, why don't you just shut up and let me be on my way in paz.

5. Classroom management. It's pretty much nonexistent here. It can make my job pretty hard at the after-school program. These kids just have never been taught classroom discipline, so it's really hard to impose it on them after a lifetime of not learning it. It's hard for them, and me, to adjust. We're getting there. Slow but sure. I think I can, I think I can...

Okay, I think I've hit on the main things that have been getting me down this week...now to end on a more positive note.

Things That Don't Bug Me: The Abridged Version

1. My students. They are the light of my life here, the constant bright spot that keeps me hanging in there on the bad days. They are intelligent, enthusiastic, clever, mischievous, hilarious, kind, welcoming, friendly, accepting, loving, affectionate, and so much more. They have truly made me feel loved and accepted here and been a huge blessing in the short time I have been here so far. I would not trade them or my work on the after-school program for the world. They make it all worth it.

2. My host brother, Gabriel. I love that child so much, I could just squeeze his chubby cheeks off. Always makes me smile.

3. My dog! Well, my almost dog. I am in the process of convincing my host family to let me have him. He might as well be mine though, since I am the only one who really loves him and pays attention to him and he follows me everywhere I go.

4. My friends in my town. I have been blessed to find several good, supportive friends in town who have been my saving grace on bad days.

5. My co-teacher, Isa. She is responsible, does not cancel class on a whim, and we work together super well. We've been co-teaching, co-planning, co-you-name-it from the beginning and we even teach a community class together. She is a wonderful teacher and I am so lucky to have her as a co-worker. We are planning an English camp for fifth and sixth graders in January.

6. Speaking of community classes....These are some of my favorite classes because I get to work with adult students who really want to learn and appreciate what I am teaching them.

Lastly, here's a video from one of my classes of some of my students playing a review game: