MY TEN MOMENTS

The moments I share with you next are just a few remarkable memories I collected during the
month I lived in El Invu de Peas Blancas in San Isidro at Centro Espiral Man. I have to admit
that these are not the only WOW moments I lived but these are lighthearted experiences that I
will always treasure. I am grateful for all the experiences I had during these four weeks, for the
great opportunity I was given and for the blessing of always having good people around me. I
hope you enjoy and appreciate my experiences.
1. When we met at the airport on August 24
th
. It was a moment of great expectation. We
introduced ourselves to the other participants and departed for CEM. We were all very
formal and polite and did not have any idea about all the work that was to come. That is
when I met Pipa too. He was very talkative and nice to everybody. It was as if an old
friend was picking us up at the airport. I drove to CEM with Ily, Grettel, and Blanca. That
was the beginning of everything!

2. The day we taught our first class. The school was quiet and we were the only ones all
day long. I went to my room to get ready and when I came out boom! The school became
alive with students popping out of different places! They came by bike, by car, by
motorcycle and even walking. It was very exciting to see everybody ready for action.
People were greeting each other as if they were at a family reunion. That was a great
day!!

3. Poster night. On the Thursday of the second week we had do create a student poster.
We observed students and interviewed them. Spending time with them gave us the
opportunity of looking at them from a different perspective. It was a lot work and I
wanted to use this new tool I had heard about called Glogster. There I was giving the
final touch to my poster and then I realized Renato had music on and we were all singing
the same songs, trying to stay awake. Strangers with a common cause. The next day,
when we shared our posters, we could see that it was time well spent.

4. Davys place. On the Saturday of the second week, we were invited to go to Davys house.
We were all very excited to finally go somewhere after two weeks of working over 12
hours. Some people played games, others danced and everybody ate. Amanda and
Renato were in charge of the BBQ and the food was delicious. Around 10:30 Amanda
told us that everybody had left, so we decided to go back to the school. When we got to
CEM, we realized that six of our friends had been left behind, so Ily and I decided to go
and pick them up. When we found them, they were all happy to see us. The whole time,
they had been at Marys. Talk about misunderstandings!

5. Lul the Actor. One afternoon, some of us were having tea and coffee when a cute little
dog came wagging its tale. Suddenly, Ax came out of the trainers office as if he was
ready to kill someone and started barking. The cute dog just fell on the floor and
pretended to be dead. We were all very impressed by the little dogs talent. We were
also impressed when we saw Ily standing on the bench witnessing all the action from a
safe distance. It was hilarious!

6. Playing Lottery. By the third week, we were pretty used to being around each other all
day long. On Wednesday night, Daniela invited us to play Mexican lottery and we said
yes. We played for a long time and enjoyed a lot the way Dani called the different Mexican
characters like la chalupa or el borracho. It was Davids turn to call the lottery and we
laughed a lot when he said: la sndia with the wrong stress. Those were good times!


7. Independence Day Parade: On September 15
th
, we got the morning off to go see the
schools parades in San Isidro. It was great to share a piece of my culture with my new
friends. It was nice to show them how we celebrate our Independence Day. Amanda
had lots of stories about the town and Pipa took us on a walking tour of the town. It was
nice to get a break!

8. Birthdays: During our course, three colleagues celebrated their birthdays. It was great
to be there with them on that important day. We sang Happy Birthday to Walkiris from
Dominican Republic, Rosario from Per and Daniela from Mexico. The best part was the
delicious cakes that Libia and Donnay baked for them. It helped us come closer as a
community.

9. Sloth: On Independence Day, after the parade, we went to a spot where some people
had seen a sloth the night before. It was a beautiful sight and for some people it was the
first time they had seen a sloth. I felt happy and proud of being Costa Rican.

10. Dinner at La Fortuna: On the Friday of week two, I went to La Fortuna with as many
people as I could fit into my car. We went to a nice restaurant and even though David
and Renato had to squeeze in at the back of the car, we had a great time.