They weren't kidding

 So, they say "pura vida" in Costa Rica, about Costa Rica, when someone even THINKS Costa Rica, and I thought it was just a job well done by the tourist department. But, um, yeah, I really feel I am living the "pura vida" here. MUCH of that has to do with the freedom of getting to be a new version of myself, with none of the history of who I am at home, or the responsibilities I have weighing me down. But I am on vacation. Folks who live here also revel in Pura Vida. The grandfather of the house, Jose Luis, just brought me and the grandmother of the house, Rosa, but everyone calls her Flory, freshly squeezed orange juice from an orange that was on the tree this morning. Flory is in the kitchen singing while making "torta peresosa de manzanas." Last night during dinner, we had a great chat about my style of cooking being "peresoso" or lazy. Cooking ever part of dinner in the same pot so I don't have to wash more than one, or microwaving tostito scoops with cheese and calling it lazy nachos. 

harina de trigo, polvo para hornear y
azúcar sobre manzanas con canela

So far, NOTHING I have seen is lazy about this dish, except that it is all made in one dish, layer by layer. Peeling and coring the apples is NOT an easy or non messy task... I didn't catch a photo of the apples covered in cinnamon as the first layer, but I was able to snap a photo of the "dry" layer going in: a mix of wheat flour, baking powder, and sugar was the next layer:

Next came spooning butter over everything into little ponds of butter. Last she added the beaten eggs, turning the butter ponds in to egg and butter lakes. She poked everything with a fork to give the liquid layer some support to seep into the dry layer and put the whole dish to the side to allow the whole thing to mix.

capa de mantequilla seguida de huevo 

Now she is preparing a puree of cas with banana and we're listening to bolero music and dancing in the kitchen. Seriously, life is good in Costa Rica!

So, with my first free morning I was going to catch you all up on the various actividades (I wrote that instead of activites and decided to keep it), but clearly this has turned into a post about the family that has taken me in here in Costa Rica. I have been VERY lucky in Host Families. I had the BEST family in Georgia, who I miss so much every day. And now, I am going to have another family I will think of ALL the time when I get back to the states. It has been less than a week, but I love them all so much.

So from the top: Jose Luis and Flory (Rosa). They have a small garage/store in the front of the house. Flory is KNOWN for her incredible pan (bread) and if their store had any kind of internet presence, I would give 100 stars. Every morning the two of them prepare breakfast. It has been different every day, and they introduce something new for me every time. Today it was gallo pinto (spotted rooster, AKA rice and beans), huevos (eggs), and miel (honey) on my pan (bread). Along with various fruits it was a perfect breakfast. As every breakfast has been. They are both so welcoming and so happy in the morning, it is impossible to stay sleepy for long. Their happiness is infections, and they passed it along to their kids.

They have four children: Seidy, Marino, Dinia, y Rolando. I have not met Rolando yet, but I have seen photos of his VERY cute children with their Abuela Flory. Seidy doesn't live in the same house I am in, she lives a whole block away! I went over to her place one night to see the lights of San Jose and the surrounding mountains and it took my breath away. She lives in a block of her husband's family, as I live surrounded by houses of Flory's family. Seidy's husband's family owns an events and parties space, filled with incredible plants, flowers and trees. I keep meaning to go back and see the flowers by day, but there is always so much to see and do, I keep missing my chance. But she has promised when it comes time to harvest the mangos, she will let me know to come and help. Her daughter Milena actually is living in this house with her grandparents. Milena is in her 20s and teaches Portuguese. After my first VERY long Monday, which included an hour speaking Yiddish followed by four hours of Spanish class, she greeted me at the house in Portuguese. I am telling you, my mind about exploded from different language overload. I first met her briefly on Sunday because she was headed to the San Jose Pride March. Like I said, this is my kind of family.

Mirano and Dinia are the siblings that live in the house. Marino was the first person in the family I saw when he and Jose Luis and Flory picked me up from the airport. He is very funny. He doesn't speak much English, but he is good at modifying his Spanish to help me understand. Dinia lived in the United States for 8 years and has the strongest English in the family, but when I am confused by a word or have clearly not understood, she never reverts to English until she has tried to describe what is going on in words I am more likely to understand at least 3 or more times. I am VERY happy here.

So, I had finished writing all that and was starting to get ready to head out to the school for an afternoon of class (every school-day 1pm-5pm). I mentioned leaving around noon, and suddenly there was rapid spanish and all kinds of activity around me, which I was oblivious to until later events made me remember. Jose Luis went out, I hung out with Dinia and read her poetry in Spanish and English, and Jose Luis came back from his shopping trip. He took out cheese, tortillas, and a few dozen eggs (there are a lot of people in this house and we all love eggs, nevermind the eggs needed for Flory's bread and other wonderful creations. Then, he looked at me, and, with a HUGE grin on his face, pulled out white bread. I finally figured out WHY they wanted me to stay for lunch. As part of the program, I get breakfast and dinner from the host family, but am responsible for my own lunch. But today, we were going to have the food I had brought from my home. 

Behold, the Fluffernutter

Fluffernutters went over VERY well. There was MUCH unhappiness when they discovered that the store that imports a lot of food from the United States, doesn't import Fluff. I guess I am just going to have to come back sometime with a few jars of fluff, the same way I did this time: the jars all wrapped in 2 layers of ziplock bags and one plastic bag to be SURE any expansion does not result in a fluff filled suitcase.

Bailando con las Estrellas

Dancing with the Stars has the exact same set in every country I have been to. Just needed to take a moment to comment on that hilarity. But actually, it is really neat that countries like Georgia and Costa Rica, which have a strong dance culture, include those styles  of dance in the show.

So to catch up. I had a wonderful time in New York, though I am still firmly on the side of "I can visit, but never live here." Seeing Bubbe up and walking and spending time with her after a not so minor battle with Covid was HUGE. Also awesome, was seeing my siblings, and getting to spend time, though less time than I intended when I got buses and trains a bit confused and ended up who knows where... One of my favorite parts was (prepare to be SHOCKED) the Museum of Math, or MO MATH as it says above the door. Mi hermano marveloso and I had a blast exploring. 

Velocity was MUCH harder than distance

I LOVE flying at sunset

Sof-kl-sof, it was time to get to JFK from lower Manhattan on the Hudson. Not an easy process. But I am my father's daughter and always aim to get to the airport absurdly early so all was well. I got there with my limbs and bags intact. The flight was easy and beautiful.

Finally, I arrived in Costa Rica, got my first stamp in my new passport, and was met by the grandparents of my host family as well as one of the sons. None of them had a lot of English, so I started my immersion in the Spanish Language IMMEDIATLY. When we got home, it was clear that these folks were my kind of people. We talked and talked and talked, and FINALLY went to bed around 11:30 PM, which to my body was actually 1:30 AM... To say waking up ready for spanish world this morning is to lie.

But ready or not, today's orientation was a great time. First, I got to feel a little less badly about missing the Equator trip of the last two weeks. But also, I had an amazing time meeting the other teachers in the program's week 1 in Costa Rica. I also got to explore Santo Domingo de Heredia a bit, first with the program and then on a walk with my host family. When they say Heredia is the provincia de flores, they aren't kidding. They are EVERYWHERE in every color. Here are some of my favorites from today:

A LOT of coffee here.

Is this Jasmine? It blooms at night.

  On the walk with my family, I learned that just about every            house on the block belonged to someone related to the   Grandmother of the house. Later when one of the daughters   

 invited me to see her house she showed me a block that is       mostly her husband's family. But that was ABSOLUTLY not all   that we saw at her house. We went over after the sun set so that I   could see the place all lit up. And it was BEAUTIFUL. The family hosts events on the property, and there is a great indoor eating/dance space, a covered outdoor dance/eating space, an outdoor open dance eating space SURROUNDED by beautiful plants and trees. She took me around to the different trees and showed me fruits I never even knew existed. I am so excited to go back in the day time to see the flowers and fruits more clearly. But the best was last, a trip to a family art space which had a 3rd floor from which you not only see San Jose very clearly lit up, but also what seemed like a crown in the mountains, which were mostly the lit up churches and basilicas all along the mountain paths. I didn't take a picture of that (Honestly a picture would not have done it justice) but I did manage to snap this one on our walk.

San Jose and the Mountains beyond

Tomorrow is the first day of classes. Normally on Mondays, the mornings are our own, but to start us off, we are going to have another full day together. I already have my lunch, the second half of the GIANT burrito one of the daughters made me for dinner (everyone else got a half, I got a whole one. Between the Grandmother's delicious bread (and food in general), the daughter's delicious food and sweets, and the brother bringing me more of everything, I am not going to have a difficult time eating here :)

In another post, I will introduce the family, but I want to check in with them about how first. Now, it is PAST my bedtime, but I knew if I didn't get this in now, I would miss it, once the whirlwind of classes begin.

Hasta Luego

Do people even blog anymore?

10 Years... TEN YEARS!

I can't believe it's been 10 years since I came home from Georgia. That was the last time I lived outside the United States (living = a month or more). I had all these plans when I got home. I was going to do City Year for a year, and then maybe a teacher residency in DC. From there I would look into non-traditional classroom work (with a traveling circus or TV or Movie on set education. There were some really cool options I was looking into.

Instead I spent two years of AmeriCorps in Boston, got my Masters in Cambridge, and spent the last 7 years at Chelsea and Revere High Schools teaching History (and English) to students who are learning English. PS, thank you Georgia, because when I was first hired, it was my teaching English in another country that made my resume stand out. I got back to the Boston area and I couldn't leave.

I'd really loved bouncing around before I came back to Boston after Georgia, but I was blown away by how incredible it felt to return to my childhood community as an adult. I got to teach at the Shule I'd been a student in. I got to lead the singing at Workers Circle events where I'd always been a participant before. I am so happy I came to back and tangled my roots more deeply into Somerville, but I sometimes wonder about that alternate universe Pauli, teacher to the stars.

She'd look a lot like this I think

Anyway, after a world wide traumatic event cancelled my Summer of 2020 trip to Spain, I now FINALLY have the chance to travel to a new country. After hanging around New York for a couple days with my siblings and Bubbe (National Museum of Mathematics, here I come!) I will head off to COSTA RICA for the next 6 weeks as part of a Spanish Language Immersion program for Educators with Common Ground International. My high school students have been teaching me Spanish since I started (my very first phrase was "escribe en sus propias palabras" and it is likely my most used phrase of my teaching career). I like having a very beginner level spanish when I speak with them because it models learning, and speaking even when you're not sure of the whole sentence (or of any forms of grammar). But speaking with their families is another story. My main goal out of this experience is that I will be able to speak with students' families and know that we have both understood one another. It is one of my greatest fears as an educator that someone will tell me something important and I don't have enough language to understand and consequently do nothing. I know something like that could happen with any family in any language, but I am absolutely going to take this chance to minimize the risk. And hey, tri-lingual sounds pretty cool :)

About updating the blog:

When I get to Costa Rica, reality will likely alter the system I have in my head, but I am PLANNING to devote only 1 hour every few days to anything English. So if you want to see/hear what I am up to, sign up to get an email when I post, because it might not be so regular (not that I was EVER a regular writer)

Here we go!