Mar 23-29: Just a solid, productive week at site + FIA

I enjoyed this week a lot, because it was the second week since restarting my workshops for the year, and thus it felt like a productive week in which I finally started to settle into a bit of a rhythm. Over the course of the week, I hosted several PE classes as I wanted to rotate through each group of 4th through 6 grade classes before they go on school break next week. A pretty big breakthrough that occurred at the escuela this week was that the school’s administration created an official schedule for me for the remainder of this year. Previously, I’d scheduled sessions with each individual teacher and tried to host a PE or life skills workshop with each group at minimum each month. However, with this new schedule, I’ll be able to facilitate a PE class with each group once a week, barring any exams or special events. I’m pretty excited about that.

Additionally, at the high school, I popped into a couple of customer service English classes and helped them practice some role play scenarios at call centers. I also continued to meet with students and pitch ideas for community service projects required for their graduation. I have a couple of solid groups for projects developing (including a running club and a cultural research group), so I’m really looking forward to overseeing those efforts as the year unfolds. 



Over the weekend, arts were at the center of it all. Currently, there is a festival taking place in San Jose known as FIA, or Festival Internacional de las Artes. The festival is putting on several events and concerts throughout the city to celebrate the occasion, many of which are free to the public. On Friday night, my girlfriend Keily and I took advantage of FIA and attended a really fun and free concert by Fonseca, a Colombian singer. Then, on Saturday, Keily danced in a show (also part of the FIA programming) through the Ministry of Culture’s national dance workshop. So, I had the privilege of getting to watch her perform that night in one of Costa Rica’s most historic theaters. It was a really fun weekend being able to take in all of this beautiful art for free. Next week is Semana Santa, or Holy Week, so classes are out. I have a group of friends from college coming to Costa Rica to visit, and I'm really looking forward to seeing them and showing them around the country.






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