Culture Day

Hiding from the animals in Madagascar

Yesterday (Friday) was Culture Day at Sojourn! It is basically an alternative to Columbus Day (they don't really like him down here) and a chance to have a whole day of fun. Each class represented a country by learning about it, decorating the classroom, dressing in typical clothes, and making a typical food. This is a wonderful idea considering that in my class alone there are students from El Salvador, China, Columbia, Venezuela, Brazil, and of course Costa Rica and the United States. 1st grade learned all about Venezuela this week. On Monday we had a mom from Venezuela come and give a presentation about the country with pictures, on Tuesday we made flags, on Wednesday we looked at artifacts, on Thursday we cooked arepas in class, and on Friday we wore blue, yellow, and red and showed what we knew to the school! Some moms made polvorosas- a Venezuelan shortbread cookie- to serve and each student had a special job in the classroom. Some welcomed visitors into the class with "Bienvenidos a Venezuela!" while others showed the flag and told what it represents. We had students on cookie patrol and others explaining various artifacts from Venezuela, such as money (bolivares). The students did such a good job and were so excited to share what they knew!
I certainly learned a lot of flexibility during the day's festivities as little was communicated and the whole day was chaos- welcome to Costa Rica. However, my students loved it (so did I!). We "visited" Cuba, Madagascar, Hungary, Russia, Iraq, China, Japan, Australia, and Israel. The school day ended with an assembly (complete with parents and ILE students) celebrating many different cultures and languages. To be honest, I had tears in my eyes at times.

It is amazing to be in a place that is so welcoming and diverse. It is in situations like these that you truly learn and grow.

Last night the elementary teachers had a sleep over which involved a lot of junk food and catch phrase. The camaraderie among the 8 of us is so encouraging...it is a blessing to work with them!

Us girls are currently planning a trip to the Carribean next weekend for some beaching! You will be hearing about that soon. :)