In a Rhythm

I have finally slipped back into my happy, solitary routine here in Monteverde. An exciting change has come to Monteverde these past few weeks: the cold. I love it. My house has no insulation and no heating, so when the sun drops into the Nicoya Gulf at night, so does the temperature. I sleep with my wool hat, sweatshirt and down vest every night. I am always bundled and snuggly (Also, I don’t sweat during the day and I my clothes don’t smell).

Yesterday was a clear, sunny, cool, breezy day. It felt like fall in Rochester. The air was crisp and clean. The wind passing over my skin is cleansing and makes it sound like fall in Rochester but the smell is different. Yesterday was a rare day that made me want to stay in teaching forever. Because:
-I got to work early, like always. At 7:20 a.m. I was not so quietly cursing out the copy machine in the main office when I heard, “Hi Ginna.” Oops. It was one of my fourth graders. He hadn’t heard anything. Phew. I feel like I could write a ten-page essay on why this particular student is so awesome, but I will not. I will just say that I was glad that he was the first person that I spoke to on this crisp, cool Friday morning.
-The second student to show up to school on Friday, at 7:25 a.m. was another one of my students. This is the kid who wakes up at 5 a.m. on Saturdays to make brownies, then wakes up his mom, and they eat brownies together. Need I say more? We had a long conversation about his new bike. This is the first time I have noticed a real difference between the students here and the students in NYC. In NYC students were smart and knowledgeable and articulate, but here the students are smart and knowledgeable and articulate about things that actually interest me: frogs, bikes, how to harvest coffee. They could care less about hip-hop, shoes, celebrities.
-At about 7:30 I headed into the classroom and continued to prepare for the day. A small group of students followed me inside and continued to talk to me about things that interested me: a book called When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, a book I have not read. Then we sat around on tables and came up with a multiplication word problem for the class. This is what we wrote: “Andy is moving to Jupiter. He is bringing seven suitcases. In each suitcase he has nine alien friends. How many alien friends is Andy bringing to Jupiter?” After we solved and discussed the problem in math class that morning a native Spanish speaking students raised his hand and asked, “What is suitcases?” and I love working with English language learners. I love watching them find words and make connections and push themselves and find voice and translate for each other.
-In Assembly we sang a song about not washing your black socks. It was great for two reasons: 1) It had a fun, upbeat melody that put me in a great mood and 2) it was about NOT washing clothes.
- Math class was fun. On Fridays the kids have independent work and Tedi and I test kids on their multiplication tables. Do you know that there is nothing more satisfying that sitting next to a child on the steps, asking them their seven times tables and having them calmly and confidently master them? It all starts from the moment they leave their seat and walk over to you. They get this twinkle in their eye, which makes me smile, which makes them smile. Yesterday, my cheeks hurt from so many smiles during math class.
-After school I sat with a fourth grader who had not completed his math work during class. Watching a kid do work is fascinating. Watching them think, seeing how they grip the pencil, sitting so close that you can hear their breathing, noticing how they position their body, boggles my mind. And makes me happy.

Pero ya. Now it is right before 10 a.m. on Saturday morning and I am sitting on the porch under my brightly colored laundry and sipping tea. Wearing a sweatshirt and wool cap. It has been misting for hours and my clothes will never dry and my house smells like mildew but I don’t care.

Here are some pictures from when Dad was here:


This is when Dad and I were trying to stay out of the rain. He was taking pictures of the workers across the street in the downpour working on the roof of the mall, and I was taking pictures of dried up flowers in the flower box.


When we finally made it to the Ranario we had this great view of a Rufus Eyed Stream Frog. In San Gerardo on a night hike I got to see one of these in the wild. Either way, pretty cool.


When we went back to the Ranario at night these Glass Frogs came out and hung out on the glass. After some experimentation with flashlights and camera setting, Dad and I got some pretty cool shots. The white is the little guy's lungs.


Hour glass frog. I can't figure out for the life of me why they are called that. Supposedly they have an hour glass shape on their back, but I'm not convinced.


Hour glass frog belly.


This was what welcomed us out into the night. This is what we walked through to watch the Phillies watch game 4 for the World Series. It was so worth it.