I used my Bridge-the-Gap grant to live and study in San Jos for three weeks

this summer. I enrolled at the Costa Rica Language Academya school I had
attended 14 years agoand stayed with a local family. After many years teaching
Spanish 1 to 8th graders, I felt I needed to bump up my own language skills, which
had become a bit stagnant. With 75 hours of advanced classes under my belt, not
only have I significantly improved my Spanish, but I am more determined than ever
to continue on this path, taking more advanced classes and practicing regularly.

Because this was my fourth visit to Costa Rica, I had already been to many of
the popular tourist destinations. My intention this trip was to focus on my studies,
so I only left San Jos one day to travel in the small mountain towns around Cartago.
However, by a stroke of luck, the Festival Internacional de Arte (FIA) was taking
place for 10 days during my stay. This gave me the opportunity to attend many
different cultural events, right in the city. After my classes and on the weekends, I
experienced everything from Msica Pasacalle to Romeo y Julieta de bolsillo to
Cimarrona y mascarada. Most of the events were free and took place on one of the
many plazas scattered around the downtown. While San Jos is fairly covered in
murals already, a number of artists were commissioned to paint the walls around
FIA as well, and I filled my camera with these images.

Some notable highlights of my trip:

-Spending the 4th of July in Escaz with much of the population of U.S. ex-pats (and
the Costa Rican ambassador). It was fairly surreal to eat hamburgers and have my
picture taken with Uncle Sam!
- Pausing class because the parrots outside our classroom were squawking too
loudly to hear each other
- Watching a comic Argentinean, two-actor version of Romeo and Julietand
understanding most of the jokes!
- Visiting a wood-carver who worked with coffee trees, made charming figurines,
and cut beautiful and mysterious images right into his walls and porch columns.
- Accomplishing so much in 3 weeks that even I could tell that I was speaking more
quickly, confidently and accurately! And feeling the momentum to keep progressing
after my return.

I am beyond grateful for the funding I received. I know that I will return to school
this year more competent in my field, and more confident in my teaching.

With sincere thanks,

Stephanie Marlin
Meigs Magnet Middle