End of the Year...

In the United States the last day of school is an exciting day filled with anticipation by the students and the teachers. In Costa Rica the school year does not so much end as simply fizzles out. Final exams are given and those students that pass are free to start their school break. For those that fail they are given an alternative exam, which they usually fail, and decide it is is just easier to repeat the grade and go ahead and start their break.

With little to do after the exams and about a month until the 6th grade graduation ceremony attention is turned to preparations for the festivities. The second graders practiced their cumbia dances, first grade practiced their songs, and the kindergarteners practiced their play. Decorations were prepared and countless balloons were inflated. The rather decrepit community center was turned into a very beautiful yet still decrepit community center.

Graduation went off without a hitch and all the student performances were spectacular. I have seen a lot of student performances and these were the best I had ever seen. The second graders did two very lively cumbia numbers which included numerous twirls a few lifts and even a between the legs pass. The first graders were quite adorable in their costumes and luckily no one set fire to themselves with the candles they were holding. The little ones had all their lines memorized for their play about farmers.

It was a rather bitter sweet ceremony for me as I knew it was the last big event I would be participating in at the school. While I was not always appreciative of it in the moment, the kids I worked with in Boruca were the all around best group of kids I have worked with in my teaching career. That's not to say that the kids I have worked with in the past were awful or that the kids from Boruca were somehow specially gifted academically (because except for a few exceptions they are not) but something about working with those kids was just easier. It is maybe that there, the kids are just allowed to be kids and are free from so much of the pressure that weighs on children in the States.

If I was independently wealthy I might have signed on to work there another year. However, I am not and my bank account has been calling for reinforcements. Luckily, before returning to the States for Christmas break I landed a job in Heredia, a suburb of the Costa Rican capital San Jose. So while my days of "professional" volunteering are coming to a close my day abroad have not. Who knows? Maybe they are just beginning.

posted by k meadows @ 3:21 PM 2 Comments