Busy, busy

Well, it's been a really busy week. I've been run off my feet in the first week since Barbara left.

The pic of the week is the English department taken just before she left in the garden just outside my classroom.

The English department
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Since Barbara left, just one long week ago, I've been run off my feet dealing with school administration in addition to teaching. Placing students into group and private classes, moving students who are at the wrong level, ordering school supplies and collating all the hours worked and getting them to accounting have all been part of week one. I hope, and expect, that it will die down once I realise what I'm actually supposed to be doing. It's reminded me, though, that I hate administration.

Tourist visit
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The strangest story of the week was about the group of American senior citizens that arrived into Limón on a cruise. Cruises stop in Limón if they're in the Caribbean, and in Puntarenas if they're in the pacific. What the tourists must think of Costa Rica I don't know, because they're the two dirtiest and ugliest cities in the country. But they're the big ports and nowhere else can take the cruise ships.

This week, as the senior citizens were visiting, a group of them was travelling in a minibus, and a mugger with a knife and a gun held it up . One tourist in his 70's challenged the 20-year old mugger, and got him into a headlock which he held for so long that the mugger died of asphyxiation.

The police said that they weren't going to press charges, and the man rejoined the cruise.

Enda's 30th
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It was my brother Enda's 30th birthday party last Saturday. I don't really miss things from home that much, but that is one night I'd love to have been able to go to. He had got a present of tickets to the England rugby game in Croke Park before the party, and so was in great form after Ireland's amazing victory. Thanks to to wonders of Skype, I was able to ring Enda on his mobile, and transfer to several people there. I was on the phone for almost 20 minutes, and the cost was still just around €3.

Saturdays over
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I finished my Saturday rotation last week. It was a long six week rotation, because this is a long semester. It's great to have long weekends now until April 14. There are a few of us planning to go to Playas del Coco on the Pacific this weekend, and I'm going to go to Nicaragua the following one.

Oscars
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I had some friends over for the Oscars on Sunday night. They're on at such a civilised time over here. The red carpet programmes seemed to go on all day, and the ceremony itself started at 7.30. Word was going around the school that I was having an Oscar 'Party', but I had to quash that because I wanted it to be a relaxed night where we could actually sit down and watch it. So Erin, Jennifer, Julia, Emily and Alan called around with lots of food, drink and popcorn, and we had a great old night of it.
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Well, that's it for this week. I'm off to the school now for another early start to my working day! Luckily I just keep a note of all of my hours and I'm paid for it all. So until next week,

Chao,

Éamon

Sunday's headline in La Nación: Firearms used in assaults every two hours

Volcan Poás at last

Well, this week a group of us hired a car and I eventually got to see the elusive Poás volcano. You may remember we tried this when Rita and Enda were over, but it was lost in a mist of cloud.

The pic of the week is looking down into the crater. You can see the steam rising from the lake and on the right can make out wisps of smoke coming from the fumaroles.

Tiquicia
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We hired the car straight after work on Saturday, and went to a restaurant called Tiquicia above the affluent suburb of Escazú on Saturday night. It had the most amazing view of the Central Valley I've seen. An enormous sea of light as far as the eye can see, and you can pick out San José, Heredia and Alajuela.

Poás
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My heart was in my mouth on Sunday morning at 6.30 when I opened the curtains to see what the weather was like. It was beautiful. The mountains were completely clear. When we got to Poás at 9am, the visibility was perfect. There is a lake in the crater, which had a partial eruption last year. The temperature is about 4o degrees Celsius and there is steam coming off it. There's a smell of sulphur in the air. The upper lake is beautiful too. It's an old crater that's been filled with rainwater.

La Paz
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Afterwards we went to the beautiful waterfall at La Paz. The price of $29 was a bit steep for those on tico wages, but a bit of negotiation got us in for the local's price of $15. Here we saw the butterfly and hummingbird gardens, as well as the serpentarium (snakes) and the ranarium (frogs). Then on through the trails past the magnificent waterfalls.

Barbara's departure
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My boss Barbara finished up for 2 months on Thursday. She's travelling around Europe. We had a great and very funny night on Thursday when she left. It will be tough keeping the school up and running while she's gone.

No Frontiers
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Some of you may have seen the Irish travel programme No Frontiers last week. There was an item on Costa Rica, which I thought was great, and gave a real sense of the place from a tourists viewpoint. You can catch the show here.

Heating up
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The weather continues to baffle me. I'd expected it to be similar to last year, but the evenings can still be very cold. Which only had in December / January last year. This week we had three really hot days. So much so that the blu-tack went hard and all my photos fell down.

US Presidential race
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I sometimes start my class with Headlines, where I write up headlines from English language newspapers and get the students to tell me the story. They have very poor knowledge of international news. But they were completely baffled when I wrote up Osama declares in US Presidential Race!
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Well, that's it for this week. I've only one more Saturday left on this rotation, so I'll have seven consecutive long weekends after that.

Until next week,

Chao,

Éamon

Today's headline in La Nación: Assassination in Guatemala of three right-wing Salvadorian deputies of the Central American parliament

Without Water

Folks,

We were without water supply for most of the week. My neighbour Dennis moved out and I recall the difficulties in driving in Costa Rica during Rita and Enda's holidays.

The pic of the week is the potholed road in Puerto Viejo which led to our hotel last month. It was taken on a night of rain, which is not uncommon on the Caribbean coast.

Pothole nation
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I had never driven in my time in Costa Rica until Rita and Enda's trip, when we hired a car. It was really difficult when we had to drive on potholed roads, particularly as we went to the Caribbean. Either the road would be perfect, until you suddenly ran into a huge pothole that was concealed, or you're in a completely potholed road, when you have to drive really slowly and try to steer the best path through them. It was exhausting to drive it. I was amazed that the car wasn't damaged. I had my heart in my mouth when the guy from the hire company was checking for damage.

No water
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Last Sunday I had to shower in literally a trickle of water, and assumed it was a temporary loss in pressure. When I got to school on Monday, however, I realised that everyone who was living in Heredia was in the same boat. The supply was cut at 8am every morning, and didn't return until well into the evening. We didn't even have water in the school. I wasn't so bad, because I had early starts with my French student, and so was showered before going into work at 8. But some of the others had to go to the gym or the swimming pool just to get a shower!

Superbowl fallout
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We had a great night out at the hip-hop Superbowl bash. It was a good laugh, and a very late night. The Indianapolis Colts won, so Emily was delighted and Paul had to make good on the forfeit he'd promised if the Chicago Bears were beaten. He spent the whole day, Wednesday, wearing Emily's tight little pink Colts top. We nearly collapsed laughing when he arrived for the weekly meeting. Throughout the evening we could hear him explaining to his students what had happened.

Dennis
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My neighbour Dennis left earlier this week. He's been living here for about 3 and a half years. He's moved to a cabin up the mountains several kilometres away. I'm now the senior tenant. Olive and April from Canada are in the apartment to the left since 3 weeks ago, and George from the US has moved into the one on the right.

Amazon.com
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I've always been impressed with the personalisation on the Amazon.com site. When I read a book, I put it on there, even if I haven't bought it from them, and I rate it. The site then gives me recommendations based on what I've liked. They're normally spot on. Imagine my surprise this week to receive an email recommending Baby-proofing Your Marriage: How to Laugh More, Argue Less and Communicate Better as Your Family Grows.
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Well, that's it for this week. I've an easier week coming up with no private classes or courses. However, my boss, Barbara, goes on her sabbatical from Thursday.

So until next week,

Pura Vida

Éamon

From today's La Nación: Only 1 in 3 drunk drivers lose their licence

High summer

Well, we're into February, and probably the best month of the summer. Although I still have three weeks to go of my Saturday rotation, so it will be a while before I can travel.

The pic of the week is taken from a police sign to tourists in the Basilica in Cartago, but I've also seen it in bus stations. As I've said before, bad English also amuses me. At a restaurant recently the menu offered 'It Cremates of Clams' (Cream of Clam Soup) and 'Fish to the Iron' (Grilled Fish).

High Summer
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February is probably the best month of the year in Costa Rica. The days are beautiful and sunny, and we haven't seen rain since December. However, the evenings here in the central valley are still cold. Which is different from last year. I've just been out to the shops, and was sorry I hadn't put on a sweater.

President Sanchez
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I have a Google Alert for Costa Rica, so I get a daily email of any international news reports about the country. I was puzzled to get a note of a press release from the White House of George Bush's meeting with President Sanchez of Costa Rica some time ago. Puzzled, because President Arias is the president here. I then realised that they'd used his second last name, which is actually his mother's name. His full name is Óscar Rafael de Jesús Arias Sanchez. Although, unsurprisingly, he doesn't usually use the Rafael de Jesús.

Names can be confusing over here. Most students have four, and the challenge is to find the correct first and last name out of them. I'd be Éamon Paul McDonagh Brady, for example.

Aguinaldo
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I meant to write about the Aguinaldo in December, and I know I praised it last year, but I have to sing its praises again. I'm sure it would be an election winner if someone proposed it at home. People in Costa Rica are paid a thirteenth month every year, in December. It's one twelfth of what they're paid for the previous twelve months. It's a legal requirement of every employer. To make it even better, it's tax free. It means that there's a lot of money around at Christmas. You can even see it in the availability of taxis and in the shops and supermarkets.

Tax
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Speaking of tax, for the first time I've had to fill in a tax return. It's a complicated process where you have to detail all your payments and expenditure. Allowed deductions are rent, utility bills, restaurant and (believe it or not!) bar expenses. So I've been saving receipts all year, along with those of everyone who've visited me. You have to fill many forms, and pull all this information together, and then go and queue in the bank to get them to stamp them all for some reason. Bank queues are usually at least an hour. However, for the cost of C5,000 (€7.40) I was able to get the accountant in work, currently out on maternity leave, to do it for me. I still haven't been asked to pay anything.
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Well, that's it for this week. I'm off now to a 'hip-hop' party in the Fiesta Casino to celebrate the Superbowl. In work we've Paul from Chicago and Emily from Indianapolis, so it's difficult to decide who to support. So far the Indianapolis Colts are 16-14 ahead.

So until next week,

Pura Vida

Éamon

Today's headline from La Nación: Only 27% of ICE employees are in the union (ICE is the telephone and electricity supplier)

Future Plans

If you think that my email updates have been erratic this year, then you'd be right. I did start this on Sunday, but there was a problem with blogger, where I host the picture of the week. I've had a busy week, and so I haven't got back to it until now.

The pic of the week is taken from the diving boat when myself and Enda were in Playas del Coco. It shows the people who were diving with us, and in the background Cabeza de Mono, or Monkey Head (you can see why) which we circled on our dive.

Back at school
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It was a very busy week last week, as school started back on Monday. I also had the National Conference of Teachers of English in San José on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. That entailed 6.30am starts, so I was wrecked after the week. This week is also very busy. I have a French private student (French meaning he's from France, not that I'm teaching him French), and he travels a lot internationally, so we have intensive classes on the weeks he's in Costa Rica. So I've had private classes with him for 3 hours every day, in addition to my regular classes.

Future plans
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I realise that I've never updated you on my future plans. You may recall that last semester was supposed to be my last in Intercultura, but there's been a change. I've decided to stay for one more semester. My boss, Barbara, is going on a sabbatical in later this month, so I'll be helping out in running things in her absence. It also gives me more time to plan what I want to do next. But this is definitely my last semester. I'm now the 4th longest serving English teacher out of the staff of 23. And I'll become the 3rd in April when another one leaves. I'm fast becoming the elder lemon.

So that will bring me up to June. I then plan to move to the Pacific coast for 3 months. My plan there is to write, not teach. Writing has very much taken a back seat to teaching, so I'm hoping to achieve more by giving it dedicated time. Over the next few months I'll travel to the coast and decide where exactly I want to stay.

That will bring me up to the end of September. My plan then is to travel around Central America and Cuba. Hopefully including Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico. And I'd love to take in some of Colombia. I've always enjoyed the company of the many Colombians here, and I'd love to visit there if I can.

This would have me finished by the end of the year. I hope to be home for Christmas (my first since Christmas 2004!), and I've yet to decide where I'll be off to for 2008.

New students
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I've quite a few brand new intro classes. So starting with 'Hello, my name is ...' and very basic stuff. I did one exercise where students had to choose a famous persona, then ask each other for their names, telephone numbers and email addresses. I realised I had a lot of work to do when in one class I had Brat Pit, Ton Cruz, Ton Hamps and even Maycol Llordan (Michael Jordan)!

Change of address
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I'm not moving yet, but I'm not going to renew my post office box as I'll be leaving Heredia mid-year. So my new postal address will be at the school. So it's:

Éamon McDonagh
Intercultura
Apartado 1952-3000
Heredia
Costa Rica

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Well, that's it for this week. I'm dashing off again to my French guys private class. Sorry about the delay. I'll try to do better in future.

Until next week,

Pura Vida

Éamon