May 28

Visit to HomeTwo Montessori, Universidad Nacional Costa Rica, and Museo de Cultura Popular.  

   We arrived to HomeTwo Montessori School at 8am and were put into groups that were distributed into different classrooms.  The classrooms ranged in age from one to about five years old. Once inside the classrooms, we were able to observe the teachers and the students in a classroom setting.  We were given permission to watch and to interact with the students.  The thing that most caught my interest was how peaceful, friendly, respectful and focused the students were for such a young age (3 year olds walked in a straight line all the way to their class!). The class was also taught in such way that for the most part all the students were bilingual or even trilingual!  It was very easy for the student to be speaking spanish and quickly move into english.  The class set up was Montessori style.  The walls were lined with shelves which contained baskets and trays of items.   During the free exploration time students were able to go to the shelves and choose a basket/tray with items of interest.  The child brought the tray back to the table where they sat quietly and explored the contents.  Yes Dr Mo, this is constructivism!!!!  Interacting with the students was awesome. This visit ended with a small picnic with the owner of the school, Alexandria, who founded the first Montessori school in Costa Rica 24 years ago. She sat with us and briefly talked about how she came to own a Montessori school as well as the different components of the school. One of the things that stood out in the conversation was that HomeTwo Montessori had grown so much over the years, yet most of the enrollment was based off of word of mouth and has never been publicly advertised. We had a great time, learned a lot and, wished we could have stayed longer than the two hours we were there!

   Our second vist was at the Universidad Nacional Costa Rica, where we  had a group of students lead us on a tour and had several activities planned for us. Our visit started with a typical ice breaker activity.  Our right wrists were tied together, one ASU student, one University student.  Using our two hands as one we had to write each of our names on a name tag.  Then we had the chance to introduce our partner.  After the ice breaker we took a short tour of the buidlings.  During the tour, we had the pleasure of seeing a traditional Costa Rican form of dancing called bomba. An elegant way of flirting, the dancer yells "BOMBA", getting everyone's attention to recite a short poem. We also played an educational version of hot potato with balloons.  Each balloon contained a piece of paper with an educational question.   In its traditional style we stood in a circle.  The balloon was introduced to the circle and we quickly passes it around.  When the music stopped.....who ever had the balloon had to pop it, read the question  and answer it.  After we completed the game we exchanged gifts; we gave them ASU t-shirts and they surprised us with books. Before their next class, we socialized and had lunch with the students for about an hour.  Right when it was time for us to leave the clouds opened up and it started pouring.  The bus was parked a distance away and we had to make a made dash for it.  Most of us got pretty wet!  Then we left and headed for the University Museum.  One of our favorite parts of the experience was lunch time. This reminded us of the MU at our Tempe campus because it was just as busy and crowed during lunch.

   Our last visit was at the Museo de Cultura Popular where we learned how to make our own traditional biscochos, drank delicious coffee, and amazing agua dulce!   The ingredients for the biscoshos was made right in front of us.  Then, we were each given a mat and two balls of dough.  We made filled biscochos and plain flat ones.  Once we had all the bischochos made we put them into the outdoor clay oven.  The smell of the fire in the yard reminded me of camping.  After we enjoyed our bischochos and coffee, we toured their grounds where they had traditional Costa Rican coffee plantions and we walked through a re-make of a 19th century Costa Rican home! It was a great place to learn about old Costa Rican traditions and forms of living.







PURA VIDA!

May 27

We had a great day with great weather. We started our day by making a stop at a local farmers market.  Once here, we were put into groups and given an assignment by our guide Adrian.  Each group was given money and a fruit or vegetable to purchase.  Off we went walking up and down trying to locate these fruits we have never heard of, seen or eaten.  The street was lined with booths with each stacked full of different items.  Towns folks enjoyed the park, chatted with friends and purchases fresh produce.   The fruit was fresh and totally amzing.





From the farmer market we headed to the INBioparque. This was an amazing facility that was similar to an open zoo.  Birds flew over head, butterlies zoomed in and oiut of bushes, and other critters ran across our path as we made our way through the park.  The animals were all out and active and making a lot of different noises. It was a lot of fun to see all the different types of animals and plants that Costa Rica has to offer.  As we walked through the park our guide Leah shared details about the different plants and animals we were seeing.  She shared what the plants were and how they were used by the local people.  Before we left Arizona each of us chose a different Costa Rica plant and animal to study.  During our walk, if we saw our plant or animal we were given what is called "a teaching moment" to share with our group what we learned about our plant or animal.  This park was a great introduction to Costa Rica's environment, plants and animals.


 After Inbioparque we headsed to the Children's Museum.  Getting to act like a five year old again at the Children's Museum was a lot of fun.  We had the opportunity to explore all the different rooms and hands on science activities. Seeing all the different activities that the museum offered to teach about science was great and a great look into how they learn.  An interesting fact about the Children's Museum is that it was once a prison!  The halls were lined with pictures of how the Museum looked when it was a prison.  The prison was a large facility so turning it into a museum offered a lot of space an possibilities. One of my favorite parts was the area for bubbles.  All of us  had a great time using the tools to create huge bubbles.  Another fun area was the shadow light area.  Here you stand in front of a wall with the light on, then you move and your shadow remains.  All in all it was a lot of fun.  After the museum we were off to explore San Jose.  We walked around the city a bit stopping to look at some of the old spanish style buildings. They have some of the same restaurants that we have in the USA.  We got to stop at a little walking mall area where they sold great souveniers.  The weather was beautiful and sunny until later in the afternoon when it rained. The rain helped to cool off the temperature and get rid of the humidity.

May 26

Hola! We have all arrived in Costa Rica and so did all of our luggage! The flight was easy and it was only rocky towards the end.  It was great having a non-stop flights.   Adrian, our tour guide, and Rodolfo, our bus driver, welcomed us outside the airport. When we arrived it was dark so there wasn't much we could see on our drive from the airport to our hotel, La Condensa, but we did make a stop at the local supermarket. There was music playing loudly outside and it made some of the girls want to dance! Our hotel is beautiful, but most of us didn't get to see much because it was so dark. We are definitely getting spoiled on our first stay though! We all need to hit the sheets though because we have lots of exciting things ahead of us for the next two weeks! Adios!

Costa Rica Pre-Adventures!

So, how does one prepare for a trip of a lifetime?  They learn all they can about the destination!
What do YOU know about Costa Rica?  Stay tuned to learn more about Costa Rica through our 5 senses!