Summer arrived on Monday! It was quite sudden. I was taking Spanish classes this week, so it was off to the school early, and I got sunburnt between walking down and during our morning break. The mornings have been beautiful and summery all week. We still have the odd shower of rain, but there is definitely a feeling that summer is here, and I’ve been back in shorts and flip-flops.
Thanksgiving
----------------
Thursday was thanksgiving in the US, and so was a big celebration in the school. There was a thanksgiving party, so I had my first thanksgiving dinner. On the menu was turkey, mashed potatoes, mashed squash, green beans, cranberry sauce and stuffing. I was the turkey carver. It was a huge turkey that fed the entire school!
Actually, it was interesting, because it didn’t really feel like a celebration for the Gringos at all. Most people were a little down because of it. I didn’t realise that it was such a big holiday in the US, and also, because it’s such a family time, people were quite homesick. I felt that on Thursday night, a lot of them were on a bit of a downer.
Teacher of the week
-------------------------
I was teacher of the week this week. That sounds like an achievement, but it’s just a rota – we all take it in turns. Teacher of the week means that you have to stay behind and tidy up the staffroom each night, and on Saturday. And you chair the Wednesday weekly meeting. It was my first time chairing a meeting since last December. It was strange because it was something I did so often in Irish Life. I hadn’t realised I was teacher of the week until I arrived in on Monday and saw written on the board – Teacher of the week – Eamon ‘The Irishman’.
Intercultura news
---------------------
This was followed by the publication of the school magazine ‘Intercultura News’ which is written by the students and published monthly. The following article appeared.
New Teacher Interview – With Eamon ‘The Irishman’ McDonagh.
The following questions were answered by Eamon’s students on behalf of their beloved teacher:
· What’s his favorite holiday or time of year?
St. Patrick’s Day.
· Describe his ideal partner:
Someone who is friendly, funny and interesting.
· Describe his most embarrassing moment:
The day he gave us a class from Unit 9, but we were on Unit 7. Or, the time he got drunk in Puerto Viejo and tried to dance Celtic style, much to the bewilderment of the reggae enthusiasts on hand.
· What’s his most annoying characteristic?
He speaks too fast
· Does he have any hidden talents?
He always looks happy.
It’s pretty good hidden talent if you ask me!
The best restaurant so far
-------------------------------
I went to a Lebanese restaurant in San José last night with my friends Laura and Leah. It was a fabulous meal. The best since I’ve been here. I had a large main course and three beers in a very upmarket restaurant (there was a picture on the wall of Mikhail Gorbachev on his visit here) for only c7,000, or €9.44.
Today, my landlord had another barbecue, so we had a nice afternoon. It turns out his father was Lebanese, so he’s invited us all back in two weeks when he wants to cook some Lebanese food for us.
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My internet connection is down at the moment, because the government agency, RACSA were billing me to my RACSA email address which I don’t use. So I caught up on my payments the other day and am awaiting reconnection. I’m sending this from an internet café. I hope to be back online tomorrow.
So until next week,
Pura Vida,
Éamon
Today’s headline in La Nación: Aresep raises fares on faulty buses
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Irish Evening
Folks,
Although we still had some rain this week, it’s definitely getting less. Today was actually quite warm, with the temperature was about 25˚c this afternoon.
Irish evening
----------------
One group of my students were saying a couple of weeks ago that they’d love to know some more about Ireland. So we had an ‘Irish evening’ during class on Tuesday. I started off with a brainstorm on information they already knew about Ireland. It didn’t take long, because they knew nothing! They literally hadn’t a clue. They vaguely knew it was in Europe. They were amazed to find out that it was an island. They knew we liked potatoes and Guinness, but that was only from me in previous classes.
For the evening I wore my green FCEK – The Irish Correction t-shirt. I had a reading exercise around an article about Ireland. We had two music activities on songs, Nothing Compares 2U by Sinéad O’Connor and Sunday, Bloody Sunday by U2. I also had a clip of Riverdance to show them the dancing. The whole class went very well, and they really enjoyed it.
The Intercultura Cup
-------------------------
The soccer competition is up and running in the school. The Intercultura Cup. It’s open to teachers, students and their friends. Chris, the head teacher, arrived to my classroom with a few students earlier in the week and said they had something to ask me. They asked if I’d like to be on their soccer team for the competition. I politely declined. Afterwards, Chris said that he was sure I’d told him before that I’d like to play. I know most of you will find the thoughts of me playing in a soccer competition as funny as I do. I told him that no matter how drunk I would never have said I’d like to be on a team.
Anyway, we headed out to the competition on Friday. Because of the number of teachers, they’ve now got two teams. The Meltdown’s are the original team, but they’ve now got an offshoot, the Goosecocks. They designed a logo and got t-shirts printed for the three-week competition, only to crash out spectacularly on the first night.
Irishisms
-----------
People are always having a laugh at my Irishisms. ‘I’m grand’, when asked how I am, is mimicked by many of the staff. Monique thought I was talking literally when I said that the sun was splitting the stones for my sister’s wedding. Joaquín’s phrase of the moment is ‘Jaysus!’
I lapse into Irishisms when teaching much to the confusion of my students. We were having a race in a game around telling the time yesterday, when I called out ‘Five past six’ as one of the clues, only to have the game stop as they looked at me blankly. It’s ‘Five after six’ in the book. I’ve confused students talking about footpaths instead of sidewalks. Laundrettes instead of Laundromats. Forming a queue instead of making a line. Opposite the bar instead of across from the bar. Beside the supermarket instead of next to the supermarket. And bizarrely, diagonally opposite instead of something called ‘kitty corners’!
I said to one returning teacher that I hadn’t seen her since we ‘broke up’, meaning since school broke up for the holidays. The others though I was implying we’d had an affair.
The school is delighted to have another accent to the teaching staff. When I arrived there were 5 Canadians and 3 British teachers. Now many have left and all the replacements have been from the US, so the staff is all American except for 3 Canadians, Tom from UK, and myself. And Tom is leaving next month!
Well, that’s it for another week, folks. I’m now off to prepare for a marathon 20 hours set of private classes this week with a new French student.
Today’s headline from La Nación: Mudslide destroys 27 houses in Aserrí
Although we still had some rain this week, it’s definitely getting less. Today was actually quite warm, with the temperature was about 25˚c this afternoon.
Irish evening
----------------
One group of my students were saying a couple of weeks ago that they’d love to know some more about Ireland. So we had an ‘Irish evening’ during class on Tuesday. I started off with a brainstorm on information they already knew about Ireland. It didn’t take long, because they knew nothing! They literally hadn’t a clue. They vaguely knew it was in Europe. They were amazed to find out that it was an island. They knew we liked potatoes and Guinness, but that was only from me in previous classes.
For the evening I wore my green FCEK – The Irish Correction t-shirt. I had a reading exercise around an article about Ireland. We had two music activities on songs, Nothing Compares 2U by Sinéad O’Connor and Sunday, Bloody Sunday by U2. I also had a clip of Riverdance to show them the dancing. The whole class went very well, and they really enjoyed it.
The Intercultura Cup
-------------------------
The soccer competition is up and running in the school. The Intercultura Cup. It’s open to teachers, students and their friends. Chris, the head teacher, arrived to my classroom with a few students earlier in the week and said they had something to ask me. They asked if I’d like to be on their soccer team for the competition. I politely declined. Afterwards, Chris said that he was sure I’d told him before that I’d like to play. I know most of you will find the thoughts of me playing in a soccer competition as funny as I do. I told him that no matter how drunk I would never have said I’d like to be on a team.
Anyway, we headed out to the competition on Friday. Because of the number of teachers, they’ve now got two teams. The Meltdown’s are the original team, but they’ve now got an offshoot, the Goosecocks. They designed a logo and got t-shirts printed for the three-week competition, only to crash out spectacularly on the first night.
Irishisms
-----------
People are always having a laugh at my Irishisms. ‘I’m grand’, when asked how I am, is mimicked by many of the staff. Monique thought I was talking literally when I said that the sun was splitting the stones for my sister’s wedding. Joaquín’s phrase of the moment is ‘Jaysus!’
I lapse into Irishisms when teaching much to the confusion of my students. We were having a race in a game around telling the time yesterday, when I called out ‘Five past six’ as one of the clues, only to have the game stop as they looked at me blankly. It’s ‘Five after six’ in the book. I’ve confused students talking about footpaths instead of sidewalks. Laundrettes instead of Laundromats. Forming a queue instead of making a line. Opposite the bar instead of across from the bar. Beside the supermarket instead of next to the supermarket. And bizarrely, diagonally opposite instead of something called ‘kitty corners’!
I said to one returning teacher that I hadn’t seen her since we ‘broke up’, meaning since school broke up for the holidays. The others though I was implying we’d had an affair.
The school is delighted to have another accent to the teaching staff. When I arrived there were 5 Canadians and 3 British teachers. Now many have left and all the replacements have been from the US, so the staff is all American except for 3 Canadians, Tom from UK, and myself. And Tom is leaving next month!
Well, that’s it for another week, folks. I’m now off to prepare for a marathon 20 hours set of private classes this week with a new French student.
Today’s headline from La Nación: Mudslide destroys 27 houses in Aserrí
Monday, November 14, 2005
Cantina Mulo
I guess I overestimated the change in the weather. I had hoped to go to the coast this weekend. But the weather forecast was terrible. The hourly forecast as hilarious, listing rain, rain, rain hour after hour, interrupted by the odd thunderstorm. So I stayed put in Heredia.
France 0 Costa Rica 2
--------------------------
OK, so that’s only the half-time score. Costa Rica played our group toppers, France in a friendly during the week. We had the TV on watching it during our weekly meeting. However, France came back in the second half to win 3-2.
Cantina Mulo
----------------
Those of you of a certain vintage from Irish Life will remember Blacks. The pub on Talbot St that was always a bit of a dive, but was well-loved by many of us who frequented it for many years. I remember one work colleague telling me that he used see Jim, the proprietor, more often than his own father. And he lived at home.
Well the good news is that Cantina Mulo is the Blacks of Costa Rica. It’s directly opposite the school. It’s a very typical old Tico Cantina, which is a type of spit-on-the-floor bar that serves drink and food. ‘Jim’ over here is called Jorge. We’ve had many a good Thursday that starts off there. Barbara my boss usually ends up behind the bar serving drink. I was going to say pulling pints, but alas there are no pints, and only one beer is ever on draft, Imperial. So it’s usually bottles. With the odd shot of ‘Guaro’ (the local drink made from sugar cane) to round off the night.
One very curious, but typically Tico, fact is that there is a Gents urinal just in the corner of the front bar. But it’s basically right in the bar. It’s a tiny cubicle, and you’re just screened by ‘saloon type’ doors. It’s the sounds that are most disconcerting when you’re sitting there drinking your beer however.
The other bars
------------------
After Mulo, it’s usually on to Bulevar. Which is a big American style bar, open to the front, and with two floors, and a back bar with live music. It’s very gringo, meaning that a lot of Americans, usually students, go there.
An alternative is El Chozo, which has several floors, and a stunning view from the top bar, looking out over Heredia, San José and the Central Valley.
After everything else is shut, if the night continues, it’s on to Miraflores Disco Bar. To which all the late-nighters of Heredia beat a trail. This is where Jack and I came on our first night in Heredia, when he sang Downtown on the Karaoke. In all the times I’ve been there, I haven’t sung Karaoke. Well, maybe I’ve sung along. But I’ve never taken the mike!
El Cholo
-----------
Still my favourite bar by a long shot (not of Guaro!) is El Cholo. The gay, but very straight-friendly, bar down the road. It rarely forms part of the trail on a Thursday, although many teachers love it. It’s quite Spanish, rather than Tico. It serves tapas rather than bocas. The owner is from Barcelona, and it has a picture of the Nou Camp and lots of Barca memorabilia.
I’ve got a lot of feedback on the weekly emails in the early days that all we talked about was bars and beer. So I haven’t mentioned it for a while, and I actually have been living a quieter life, believe it or not. I guess I’ve blown all that now.
France 0 Costa Rica 2
--------------------------
OK, so that’s only the half-time score. Costa Rica played our group toppers, France in a friendly during the week. We had the TV on watching it during our weekly meeting. However, France came back in the second half to win 3-2.
Cantina Mulo
----------------
Those of you of a certain vintage from Irish Life will remember Blacks. The pub on Talbot St that was always a bit of a dive, but was well-loved by many of us who frequented it for many years. I remember one work colleague telling me that he used see Jim, the proprietor, more often than his own father. And he lived at home.
Well the good news is that Cantina Mulo is the Blacks of Costa Rica. It’s directly opposite the school. It’s a very typical old Tico Cantina, which is a type of spit-on-the-floor bar that serves drink and food. ‘Jim’ over here is called Jorge. We’ve had many a good Thursday that starts off there. Barbara my boss usually ends up behind the bar serving drink. I was going to say pulling pints, but alas there are no pints, and only one beer is ever on draft, Imperial. So it’s usually bottles. With the odd shot of ‘Guaro’ (the local drink made from sugar cane) to round off the night.
One very curious, but typically Tico, fact is that there is a Gents urinal just in the corner of the front bar. But it’s basically right in the bar. It’s a tiny cubicle, and you’re just screened by ‘saloon type’ doors. It’s the sounds that are most disconcerting when you’re sitting there drinking your beer however.
The other bars
------------------
After Mulo, it’s usually on to Bulevar. Which is a big American style bar, open to the front, and with two floors, and a back bar with live music. It’s very gringo, meaning that a lot of Americans, usually students, go there.
An alternative is El Chozo, which has several floors, and a stunning view from the top bar, looking out over Heredia, San José and the Central Valley.
After everything else is shut, if the night continues, it’s on to Miraflores Disco Bar. To which all the late-nighters of Heredia beat a trail. This is where Jack and I came on our first night in Heredia, when he sang Downtown on the Karaoke. In all the times I’ve been there, I haven’t sung Karaoke. Well, maybe I’ve sung along. But I’ve never taken the mike!
El Cholo
-----------
Still my favourite bar by a long shot (not of Guaro!) is El Cholo. The gay, but very straight-friendly, bar down the road. It rarely forms part of the trail on a Thursday, although many teachers love it. It’s quite Spanish, rather than Tico. It serves tapas rather than bocas. The owner is from Barcelona, and it has a picture of the Nou Camp and lots of Barca memorabilia.
I’ve got a lot of feedback on the weekly emails in the early days that all we talked about was bars and beer. So I haven’t mentioned it for a while, and I actually have been living a quieter life, believe it or not. I guess I’ve blown all that now.
Monday, November 07, 2005
After the rain
The weather has taken a turn for the better, with much less rain this week. Sometimes I’m inclined to forget where I’m living at this stage, and I start to take things for granted. But this evening when I went down to the supermarket in the lovely clear evening sunlight it was beautiful to see the mountains to the North, South and East. The city of Heredia isn’t very beautiful, but the location is.
Ceviche
----------
After class the other night, one of the students popped back and said that he and his wife were going into the neighbouring city of Alajuela to have some ceviche. Ceviche (pronounced seVEEchay) is dish of raw fish, marinated in spices. So I headed out with them to Alajuela. An opportunity to practice my Spanish if nothing else.
We arrived at the cevichería in Alajuela, which turned out to be just a counter on the street. Ceviche is served in a tall glass, looking a bit, I guess, like a sundae. I have to say that although a ‘drink of fish’ doesn’t really sound very nice, it was actually delicious.
Still no travel
----------------
You may remember that I had intended to travel away a couple of the weekends while I’m not working Saturday. I guess with all the rain it just seemed much more comfortable to stay in the apartment and socialise locally.
I’ve only one weekend before working the four remaining Saturdays before the Christmas break. So I’m hoping to head away, probably to the Pacific coast, next weekend. Several of my friends are going to Nicaragua on a border run. Unfortunately I join them because I’m out of visa compliance.
Long Christmas break
---------------------------
The Christmas break is quite long this year. We break up on December 15th, and classes don’t start again in January until 23rd. We can stock up on private classes in that time if we want, but I think I’d like to just have the time off. In addition, my mother is coming on holidays for a few weeks from December 27th, so it will be ideal to have the time off for travel.
Shortly after she goes back, Jack’s planning his return to Costa Rica, sometime around the beginning of February. It will be five months since he left, and he’ll be returning in the beautiful summer months.
New neighbours
--------------------
Two older American guys have moved into the apartment next door. There had been a young Canadian girl. So I’ve now got Americans on all sides. Carlos, the landlord, threw a barbecue for the tenants (there’s only 4 of us) yesterday to welcome the new arrivals. They seem like guys who have come down here to retire. There are a lot of Americans who come down here to retire, because it’s much cheaper to live than in the US. I had wondered first off if they were a couple, but there have been quite a number of female visitors coming in and out in the meantime so I’ve discounted that theory. And they’ve only been here since Tuesday.
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