a day in the life
What do I do in Samara- a few of my adventures- not in order
Work with local kids- Mon- Thurs we ride our bikes to the village outside of the bussling Samara to a little place called el Torito- there we work with the local kids- 5-12 yro. We are there for an hour and then we head back to base camp, prep-eat lunch and the go to the Samara Salon for the later session. Everyday is different. Like I said, the ages range from 5-12, but sometimes there are younger kids and sometimes no kids show up at all. This would be because maybe school was cancelled that day, or maybe there class hours changed. Sometimes we just don't know. The group size ranges too, somedays only a couple of kids show up- I think the least I have seen has been 3... but othertimes it not so chill- I think one day over 30 kids were at the Samara program! Rock On CREAR! But truly- each day is awesome. The kids that do show up, show up because they want to, and thats the best, to have an active audience. Now that doesn't mean things go without glitches... for instance...
One day... oh geez... One of the educators was out of town, and the other was sick- I did not want to cancel the classes to do this, plus I felt like a week in, I can do this, So I went alone. Fine. But first off more kids came then I expected so I didn't have enough base sheets- The plan was to give each on a sheet of colorful foam and then I wanted to hand out a variety of stickers so they could make a little scene- o algo blah blah blah- it was a last minute thing because Andrea was sick- I wish I would have known sooner, but no dice.
But anyway, before I could even pass out the supplies, a little one showed me that she cut her foot, it didn't look so bad and I thought that everything was okay, so I start explaining the task and then I was going to give them a couple of things at a time as to not make a HUGE mess... BUT low and behold the universe was not in line for me and well the little one with the cut foot started SCREAMING! AND there was BLOOD! lots of blood- I mean, compared to what happened before- I saw blood on her foot, footprints on the floor- it SHOCKED me- so yeah, I gotta act fast- We (another girl and I) carried her over to the sink and the girl pours some water on her foot and starts cleaning it, but Im worried that there might be something in the cut because it was not bleeding a minute ago, plus each touch she freaks- SO okay, she calms down. I think she was more surprised by the sight of her blood then by anything else, soooo she's calm and I wrap her foot up and bueno- the funny thing is this morning, before I left my house I thought about bringing my first aid kit. Jeez I should really listen to my inner voice. ANYWAY- by the time we got back to the table the güilas (costa rican for kids - or girls- DONT use this word in Mexico- unless you are talkin about a slut- because thats what it means there-- funny spanish) so the guilas had gotten into everything! UGH. I suck. But ya live and ya learn. But seriously, this was just one crazy day- normally things go really smooth. I like it. Andrea and Lindsey son super buenas notas and they trust me to run the classes sola- so that means a lot. I even have a day in the up and coming summer camp- and environmental day- we are going to collect cositas de la playa and make art- talk about water conservation and protection, make recycled paper, and it should be a great day. I can't wait- Plus we have been planning the rest of summer camp and I can't wait! AFRICAN SAFARI, AQUARIMIUM, AFRICAN DANCE AND MASK MAKING- ITS GONNA BE AWESOME!
Then I have the weekends for me- One weekend we went to a Rodeo- Guanacaste is a region famous for rodeos- but there they call them TOROS- the night is saturday- the plan is toros- so we get on a bus heading out of town- its CR so its dark at 6pm, and by 7pm with no moon- ooosh. SO we get on the school bus thats headed north towards Nicoya. The plan is to hit up the Rodeo en Curime. The bus is dark and filled with people. The only time the light come on is when someone needs to get off. Its warm outside but the wind blows through the bus and cools us down like sweat on a hot day. It so dark. The only lights are from the head lights of the bus- its pretty surreal. The head lights faintly illumiante the roadside and all one sees is dark green- the jungle that surrounds us. I am on a bus, in Central America, on a saturday night, driving through the jungle on my way to my first tico rodeo. If my teeth were glow in the dark I would have lighted up the bus because I was probable smiling a mile wide- I love this. The fresh air, the unknown- I have no idea where we were going to get off and what I was going to see- but my friend asured me "Its going to be CRAZY- SICK"... Okay Curime- lets see whats going on... Then out of nowhere our stop arrives- lets go. We had to back track a little and I wasn't even sure how they knew where we were going, but I guess they could see the faint illumiantion above the rodeo- they was no moon so the lights of the rodeo reflected into the sky- our northern star- the star that leads to the Tico Rodeo.
Okay. I have been to rodeos before, but these ones are way different! SO there is a big.. corral and bleachers around it. The bleachers are filled and people are standing around the outside of the corral as well. There are a couple of tents that sell beer and other drinks, and inside the corral is where all the action is.. Young guys (and some older guys) are standing in the ring. They stay there too, and when the bull comes out the run around to avoid it! So there are tons of people running around and the bull is freakin and the guys riding it. Madness.... Also people (myself included) sit on the fence that is the corral- I sat on the top rung. Oh and everyones drinking- so people are running with the bull, sitting on the bulls cage basically and just waiting for the bull to come close... so we sit there and watch and after the bull bucks the guy, or flips the guy off, he just keeps running around until the horse backriders lasso him, meanwhile the people on the top rung kick the bull or try to stir up the bull- its way crazy! And these aren't baby bulls- these are big huge bulls with horns for days, even being on the top rung I sometimes didn't feel save- but I was- its just I have never seen anything like that! WOAH- I have never seen anything like it! Tico Rodeo- youre awesome.
Work with local kids- Mon- Thurs we ride our bikes to the village outside of the bussling Samara to a little place called el Torito- there we work with the local kids- 5-12 yro. We are there for an hour and then we head back to base camp, prep-eat lunch and the go to the Samara Salon for the later session. Everyday is different. Like I said, the ages range from 5-12, but sometimes there are younger kids and sometimes no kids show up at all. This would be because maybe school was cancelled that day, or maybe there class hours changed. Sometimes we just don't know. The group size ranges too, somedays only a couple of kids show up- I think the least I have seen has been 3... but othertimes it not so chill- I think one day over 30 kids were at the Samara program! Rock On CREAR! But truly- each day is awesome. The kids that do show up, show up because they want to, and thats the best, to have an active audience. Now that doesn't mean things go without glitches... for instance...
One day... oh geez... One of the educators was out of town, and the other was sick- I did not want to cancel the classes to do this, plus I felt like a week in, I can do this, So I went alone. Fine. But first off more kids came then I expected so I didn't have enough base sheets- The plan was to give each on a sheet of colorful foam and then I wanted to hand out a variety of stickers so they could make a little scene- o algo blah blah blah- it was a last minute thing because Andrea was sick- I wish I would have known sooner, but no dice.
But anyway, before I could even pass out the supplies, a little one showed me that she cut her foot, it didn't look so bad and I thought that everything was okay, so I start explaining the task and then I was going to give them a couple of things at a time as to not make a HUGE mess... BUT low and behold the universe was not in line for me and well the little one with the cut foot started SCREAMING! AND there was BLOOD! lots of blood- I mean, compared to what happened before- I saw blood on her foot, footprints on the floor- it SHOCKED me- so yeah, I gotta act fast- We (another girl and I) carried her over to the sink and the girl pours some water on her foot and starts cleaning it, but Im worried that there might be something in the cut because it was not bleeding a minute ago, plus each touch she freaks- SO okay, she calms down. I think she was more surprised by the sight of her blood then by anything else, soooo she's calm and I wrap her foot up and bueno- the funny thing is this morning, before I left my house I thought about bringing my first aid kit. Jeez I should really listen to my inner voice. ANYWAY- by the time we got back to the table the güilas (costa rican for kids - or girls- DONT use this word in Mexico- unless you are talkin about a slut- because thats what it means there-- funny spanish) so the guilas had gotten into everything! UGH. I suck. But ya live and ya learn. But seriously, this was just one crazy day- normally things go really smooth. I like it. Andrea and Lindsey son super buenas notas and they trust me to run the classes sola- so that means a lot. I even have a day in the up and coming summer camp- and environmental day- we are going to collect cositas de la playa and make art- talk about water conservation and protection, make recycled paper, and it should be a great day. I can't wait- Plus we have been planning the rest of summer camp and I can't wait! AFRICAN SAFARI, AQUARIMIUM, AFRICAN DANCE AND MASK MAKING- ITS GONNA BE AWESOME!
Then I have the weekends for me- One weekend we went to a Rodeo- Guanacaste is a region famous for rodeos- but there they call them TOROS- the night is saturday- the plan is toros- so we get on a bus heading out of town- its CR so its dark at 6pm, and by 7pm with no moon- ooosh. SO we get on the school bus thats headed north towards Nicoya. The plan is to hit up the Rodeo en Curime. The bus is dark and filled with people. The only time the light come on is when someone needs to get off. Its warm outside but the wind blows through the bus and cools us down like sweat on a hot day. It so dark. The only lights are from the head lights of the bus- its pretty surreal. The head lights faintly illumiante the roadside and all one sees is dark green- the jungle that surrounds us. I am on a bus, in Central America, on a saturday night, driving through the jungle on my way to my first tico rodeo. If my teeth were glow in the dark I would have lighted up the bus because I was probable smiling a mile wide- I love this. The fresh air, the unknown- I have no idea where we were going to get off and what I was going to see- but my friend asured me "Its going to be CRAZY- SICK"... Okay Curime- lets see whats going on... Then out of nowhere our stop arrives- lets go. We had to back track a little and I wasn't even sure how they knew where we were going, but I guess they could see the faint illumiantion above the rodeo- they was no moon so the lights of the rodeo reflected into the sky- our northern star- the star that leads to the Tico Rodeo.
Okay. I have been to rodeos before, but these ones are way different! SO there is a big.. corral and bleachers around it. The bleachers are filled and people are standing around the outside of the corral as well. There are a couple of tents that sell beer and other drinks, and inside the corral is where all the action is.. Young guys (and some older guys) are standing in the ring. They stay there too, and when the bull comes out the run around to avoid it! So there are tons of people running around and the bull is freakin and the guys riding it. Madness.... Also people (myself included) sit on the fence that is the corral- I sat on the top rung. Oh and everyones drinking- so people are running with the bull, sitting on the bulls cage basically and just waiting for the bull to come close... so we sit there and watch and after the bull bucks the guy, or flips the guy off, he just keeps running around until the horse backriders lasso him, meanwhile the people on the top rung kick the bull or try to stir up the bull- its way crazy! And these aren't baby bulls- these are big huge bulls with horns for days, even being on the top rung I sometimes didn't feel save- but I was- its just I have never seen anything like that! WOAH- I have never seen anything like it! Tico Rodeo- youre awesome.
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