July 27-Aug 2: English Festival Escape Rooms and Romeria

The end of July and the beginning of August brought a really busy and fun week in my community. At the escuela, we had better weather this week, so fortunately, I was able to have all of my classes outside as scheduled. My students played Capture the Flag. It’s something I introduced to them earlier in the year, and as they’ve gotten more familiar with it, they’ve gotten much better at it. I also co-hosted the Amigos sin Fronteras International Club this week at the escuela. Students virtually traveled to East Asia where they learned about China, Japan, and South Korea. They learned their Chinese Zodiac animals and subsequently made paper lanterns.

At the colegio, I was much more involved with English this week. After helping with a couple of English classes this week, I also assisted with the high school’s annual English Festival, which was on Friday. This year, English teachers paired up and transformed their rooms into Escape Rooms. Students had to use their English skills to receive clues in order to “escape”. It was a lot of fun to engage with students in English as well as setting up and decorating the escape rooms. 

Friday was also a special day because that evening I participated in one of Costa Rica’s most famous traditions known as “La Romeria” with my girlfriend Keily. I’ll write more about the Romeria next week for my sidebar blog, but basically I participated in a pilgrimage many Ticos do from San Jose to Cartago, where Costa Rica’s national church is. In total, we did around 14 miles on foot. Keily and I ran the first 7 miles or so and then walked the final 7 with her family who we met up with on the route. I had never participated in the Romeria prior, so it was really neat to experience it for the first time with Keily. On Saturday, I joined Keily’s family once again for her cousin’s 6 year old birthday party which was World Cup themed.