Hola, habla Alison!
The past weeks has been crammed full of activities so will try to remember as much as I can. But the lack of time on my hands means that these posts will become short and sweet!
Every Sunday there is a fruit market in the local town of Santa Ana which is full of fresh exotic fruits and foods which are incredible. My second year buddy took me there the first time where I tried new fruits, like mamones chinos, which have now became a new favourite of mine! I also visited the Multi Plaza, a mall located in a town called Escazu fifteen minutes bus drive away. It is completely different to the local town of Santa Ana because it is very Americanized, full of brand shops and a food mall. I don't think I'll go there often as it is quite expensive and you don't get a sense of the true Costa Rican culture. All of the first years went on a trip to the capital, San Jose, which is almost an hour bus ride away. San Jose is full of life, I particularly loved the markets. There is an old market in which a restaurant is located that is the oldest in there which really does take you back in time. It is also very cheap, I got a typical smoothie that was so nice, I forgot the name of it though. If I return I'll remember the name! There was also an amazing art market next to the museum which was full of amazing creations from hammocks to jewellery. I particularly enjoyed a jewellery stall where the man made the items there and then, I bought a pretty ring for 1000 colones which is two dollars, and he made me a ring for free with the shape of PV which stands for Pura Vida, the Costa Rican saying. I have found that the people here are so nice and generous which makes the experience all the more amazing and interesting!
The second years put on an Incredible performance for us which included many performances from Barbie Girl to Mambo Number Five, dancing and singing to poetry. Most of them are ''pass downs'' which means their second years, my third years, performed them to them and they got passed down to certain people to perform. There are many pass downs here, including secret ones. It is a really fun experience. The second years really know how to put on a performance!
The whole school went camping, well in cabins which is very different to the many camps I go on in tents. We went up in the mountains to a place called Robleato, here we participated in activities surrounding the UWCCR competencies of social responsibility, sustainability, healthy lifestyle, leadership, conflict transformation and diversity. We also did fun things like play football and go on a water slide and volley ball and go in the swimming pool. This was especially fun in a storm with loads of rain. That's another thing, it is rainy season (which is still boiling for me) but there are bursts of storms and rain almost everyday, so lots of thunder and lightning. I also loved socialising more with people and getting to know them, this is a constant thing that happens everyday.
I really enjoyed the inter residence competitions, my residence is Cahuita so we were all out in force with face paint! There was four activities to participate in, in which everyone participated in at least one. There was soccer, photography, art and basketball. I did basketball in which we came second, I really enjoyed it, especially getting my competitive side out! We still don't know the final overall results yet though, fingers crossed though. ''BE Cahuita, BE BE Cahuita!''
I even had a small birthday celebration because we celebrate the birthdays in months as there are many people. So there was a cake at our residence meeting for those born in August and September whicih was really nice and thoughtful, thanks to Brenda my residence coordinator and the RA's Alison (another one) and Valeria, who all so a super job.
Academics have started and my lessons are so interesting, especially with the awesome teachers and class mates which creates very interesting discussions. I got the results I wanted on my placement exams. My Higher Levels are English Lit and Lang, Psychology and Visual Arts and my Standard Levels are Spanish B, Maths and Environmental Systems and Societies. I also to Theory of Knowledge (TOK) and Creativity, Action, Service (CAS). I originally wanted to do English Lit HL but is clashed with Arts so I changed to Eng Lit and Lang. The CAS's start soon, I have a preference to do guitar, dance, aerial acrobatics and La Carpio, this is a service CAS where you spend days in very poor areas of Costa Rica helping children and to give them a good time as they have virtually nothing.
Most recently us first years planned a surprise for our second years in which we made and bought food and drinks, wrote cards for our second year friends, roomies ( my roomie is Lutfe from Bangladesh who is lovely, my other room mate is now not coming which is sad but there is now more room!!), buddies and IB buddies. We also made a film for them which includes some of the first years singing to 'You've got a friend in me', if you want to see it the link is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Msa6ttyP94&feature=youtu.be . They looked like they really enjoyed it and I hope the surprises continue as it is nice to give back to them after how welcoming and kind they have been.
This is all I can remember for now as sooo much has happened!! It has been an amazing experience so far and I can't wait for the rest of the year!
Ciao! :)
Every Sunday there is a fruit market in the local town of Santa Ana which is full of fresh exotic fruits and foods which are incredible. My second year buddy took me there the first time where I tried new fruits, like mamones chinos, which have now became a new favourite of mine! I also visited the Multi Plaza, a mall located in a town called Escazu fifteen minutes bus drive away. It is completely different to the local town of Santa Ana because it is very Americanized, full of brand shops and a food mall. I don't think I'll go there often as it is quite expensive and you don't get a sense of the true Costa Rican culture. All of the first years went on a trip to the capital, San Jose, which is almost an hour bus ride away. San Jose is full of life, I particularly loved the markets. There is an old market in which a restaurant is located that is the oldest in there which really does take you back in time. It is also very cheap, I got a typical smoothie that was so nice, I forgot the name of it though. If I return I'll remember the name! There was also an amazing art market next to the museum which was full of amazing creations from hammocks to jewellery. I particularly enjoyed a jewellery stall where the man made the items there and then, I bought a pretty ring for 1000 colones which is two dollars, and he made me a ring for free with the shape of PV which stands for Pura Vida, the Costa Rican saying. I have found that the people here are so nice and generous which makes the experience all the more amazing and interesting!
The second years put on an Incredible performance for us which included many performances from Barbie Girl to Mambo Number Five, dancing and singing to poetry. Most of them are ''pass downs'' which means their second years, my third years, performed them to them and they got passed down to certain people to perform. There are many pass downs here, including secret ones. It is a really fun experience. The second years really know how to put on a performance!
The whole school went camping, well in cabins which is very different to the many camps I go on in tents. We went up in the mountains to a place called Robleato, here we participated in activities surrounding the UWCCR competencies of social responsibility, sustainability, healthy lifestyle, leadership, conflict transformation and diversity. We also did fun things like play football and go on a water slide and volley ball and go in the swimming pool. This was especially fun in a storm with loads of rain. That's another thing, it is rainy season (which is still boiling for me) but there are bursts of storms and rain almost everyday, so lots of thunder and lightning. I also loved socialising more with people and getting to know them, this is a constant thing that happens everyday.
I really enjoyed the inter residence competitions, my residence is Cahuita so we were all out in force with face paint! There was four activities to participate in, in which everyone participated in at least one. There was soccer, photography, art and basketball. I did basketball in which we came second, I really enjoyed it, especially getting my competitive side out! We still don't know the final overall results yet though, fingers crossed though. ''BE Cahuita, BE BE Cahuita!''
I even had a small birthday celebration because we celebrate the birthdays in months as there are many people. So there was a cake at our residence meeting for those born in August and September whicih was really nice and thoughtful, thanks to Brenda my residence coordinator and the RA's Alison (another one) and Valeria, who all so a super job.
Academics have started and my lessons are so interesting, especially with the awesome teachers and class mates which creates very interesting discussions. I got the results I wanted on my placement exams. My Higher Levels are English Lit and Lang, Psychology and Visual Arts and my Standard Levels are Spanish B, Maths and Environmental Systems and Societies. I also to Theory of Knowledge (TOK) and Creativity, Action, Service (CAS). I originally wanted to do English Lit HL but is clashed with Arts so I changed to Eng Lit and Lang. The CAS's start soon, I have a preference to do guitar, dance, aerial acrobatics and La Carpio, this is a service CAS where you spend days in very poor areas of Costa Rica helping children and to give them a good time as they have virtually nothing.
Most recently us first years planned a surprise for our second years in which we made and bought food and drinks, wrote cards for our second year friends, roomies ( my roomie is Lutfe from Bangladesh who is lovely, my other room mate is now not coming which is sad but there is now more room!!), buddies and IB buddies. We also made a film for them which includes some of the first years singing to 'You've got a friend in me', if you want to see it the link is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Msa6ttyP94&feature=youtu.be . They looked like they really enjoyed it and I hope the surprises continue as it is nice to give back to them after how welcoming and kind they have been.
This is all I can remember for now as sooo much has happened!! It has been an amazing experience so far and I can't wait for the rest of the year!
Ciao! :)
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| Cahuita girls ready for competition! |
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| My cabin group |
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| Me, Barrise and Becca at our Birthday celebration. |
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| Me, Carla, Maia and Amiya at Robleato! |
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| On the water slide at Robleato! |
