After a restless night sleep in the rustic cabin called "Casa Calateas" in Carbon, Costa Rica, many of us felt confident that we overcame some fears of the wilderness. Our group sat at breakfast and shared funny stories about what happened in our cabins the night before. Some people had lizards in their rooms; others had what could have been bats. We all laughed a little hearing the stories and we were excited for what the new day had in store for us.
After breakfast, we went around town and interviewed various people in the community. I personally went to speak with the two teachers. One teacher was retired and the other worked at a school that had 40 kids enrolled.
The first interview was with a retired teacher named Angela. She allowed us into her beautiful home to hear her story. Angela talked to us about the education system and how students from different cultures are able to interact while at school. According to Angela, all of the students come together at school; everyone is welcome and they all learn the same things. The schools do not use different evaluations for different cultures because then you are dividing people. She also talked about white people coming in from other parts of Costa Rica and what it's like to live in Limon.
She talked about how the Ticos and the Afro-Caribbeans are both losing some of their own culture. Angela thinks that the two cultures are influencing each other, and are also being influenced by outsiders. The Afro-Caribbeans used to work in the banana plants but now they want better jobs so people from the new cultures will come in and take over these jobs. Ticos and Americans both give work they don’t want to do themselves to the foreigners. Angela said the construction of the major road in Costa Rica was like a dream. It allowed them to become part of the whole territory and create a diverse culture.
Even once the cultures started growing and becoming more diverse, the schools were still united. Angela believes that uniting the kids within the schools helps bring interracial peace. Costa Rica has nationwide uniforms that all look the same based on what grade you are in. This helps students to not divide themselves based on how much money their parents have. When they all have to wear the same thing, you are not able to see how much money the family has, which helps create equality.
The next place we went was a school of 40 kids. We had such a great time visiting this school! We started out by speaking with Sandra. She told us her story, where she is from, how she became interested in teaching and how she is currently commuting two hours to get to work. We also talked about schooling here in Costa Rica and how very few kids go to high school and even fewer attend college.
After we finished speaking with Sandra, we were able to join the kids during recess. This had to be my favorite memory of the trip so far! The kids decided they wanted to challenge our group to a soccer game. These kids were anywhere from 5 to 9. They split into teams and then played process of elimination in order to choose our group members for their teams. I was beyond thrilled when a sweet little girl chose me first! Dr. Harris was the goalie for our team and it was very enjoyable. Both the kids and our group were having a blast running around that field.
We left for Playa Chiquita after lunch at Casa Calateas. After about fifteen minutes, we arrived at our destination. Our new hotel, Namu Waki, was incredible! It had a pool and there were monkeys climbing in the trees! Needless to say, we were in heaven. It was very relaxing to sit by the pool after we unpacked our luggage! We hung out there and talked about the plans for the week.
For dinner, we went to an adorable restaurant outside where we had one of our best meals yet. It was a taco bar with burritos, guacamole and all of the fixings! Pamela, a lady who worked at the restaurant, came over to visit with our table while we were eating. She told us about her life and what brought her to Costa Rica. Her life seemed to be very simple and enjoyable. Pamela was very proud of the life she lives and how she works to conserve the environment. She was very hospitable and even decided to show us her gorgeous house. After checking out her house, we headed to bed because it had been a long day and we had an even longer, yet amazing week ahead of us!
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