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.
Election Day...
So while this is very outdated I will take a moment to relay this story from election day. Election Day was largely not talked about in Boruca and the day passed as normally as any other. Except for the fact that I was feeling rather sick and spent a good amount of time in bed listening to the rain on the tin roof and sipping matte. At about ten o'clock I put on my rubber boots and waled down to the "soda" which is sort of a carry-out restaurant and bar. They also have satellite T.V. So I watched the final election returns and it was very clear that Obama had already won.
Despite my tiredness, I decided I should watch what was truly a historic moment and stick around for Obama's acceptance speech. Of course, I didn't really hear Obama as the speech was dubbed in Spanish. I probably could have understood it better had it not been for the somewhat inebriated Borucans who were congratulating me on Obama's victory. They seem to think I was somehow single handedly responsible for his victory and I received many handshakes, pats on the back, and even a few, "You did it!"
While I was certainly aware of the importance of the moment for the United States everyone in this little hole in the wall bar in a mountain top indigenous reservation in a tiny Central American country repeatedly reiterated to me the importance of this moment for the entire world. Obama has promised to improve America's image across the world. From my experience the world is waiting for him with open arms.
The past month...
So, I have been a little busy this past month. Back in September we had our independence day celebrations. They are quite involved. It took two weeks to decorate the school,new murals were painted on the walls, the drum line practiced constantly, loudly. On the actual day of the celebration most of the schools population marched through town banging drums, twirling batons, or just smiling and waving. A good time was had by all.
A few weekends ago was the Day of Indigenous Culture. This is a rather important day in Boruca. The main event is a feast with traditional foods. I witnessed and lent a hand in the food preporation. The main event was the pig slaughter. I had to help string it up because I was the only one tall enough to reach the rafters of the community center. I helped with the shaving as well and plucked some chicken feathers. I thought it was an important experience because I believe that anyone who eats meat should be willing to participate in the slaughter of their favorite foods. If one does not have the stomach to watch then they should be vegetarian. I found that I clearly had the stomach for it and will be enjoying bacon for years to come.
I also had the opportunity to participate in the traditional occupation of Ticos for the past 150 years, coffee picking. In the begining I was rather enjoying it. Sunshine, cool breezes, fragrant plants, bella vistas, what could be so bad. To tell the trught there is really nothing bad about it except that it is really quite boring. One is assigned a row of bushes. One enocuners the bush and examens every branch. Those berries that are red or yellow can be picked and thrown into the basket around one´s waist. The green ones are left to rippen and will be picked another day. And that is pretty much coffee picking. There is more that goes into the cultivation and maintinace of the plants but so far as harvesting, well, one can accomplish a lot of thinking.
I have also been traveling north quite a bit. I had an interview with a private school in Heredia and got the job. So once my volunteer duties in Boruca are finished I am off to Heredia to start my new job. So, I´ll be in Costa Rica until at least June 2009 and longer if I decided to stay at the school through another year. Right now I am in town for the weekend looking for apartments. My main criteria is no live chickens in the kitchen.
