Past Websites

Kevin in Costa Rica

Spanglish…

As the WorldTeach volunteers continue to imerse themselves in the Spanish language it takes some time to readjust to English when we are visiting one another. This past week during Semana Santa, Spanglish was the language of choice among the volunteers. Here are a few of my favorites…

“Wicked tuanis”
There are a number of volunteers from the Boston area. Tuanis means “cool” in Costa Rica but if you’re from Boston it of course means “wicked.” The two together means its really really wicked.

“Let’s get vamosing.”
“Let’s get going.”

“El pregunted me.”
“He asked me.” I am a big fan of Spanish verbs with English … (Read more)

Kevin in Costa Rica

My First Month Teaching…

I completed my first round of exams this week as my first month of teaching English in Costa Rica draws to a close. I have started to grade the test and the results are similar to what would have expected. Fifth and Sixth grade preformed well and third grade had good results also. Fourth grade did awful but this is not surprising. Most of my classes seem to be excited about learning English while fourth grade seems to be most excited about how they can annoy the gringo. As my patience wears thin I let off a little steam but … (Read more)

Kevin in Costa Rica

Yo hubiera conluido mi primera semana al escuela…

This past Monday I started my day to the sounds of a blaring television.The morning news was focused on the first day of school and a constant stream of reports on dress codes, cafeteria food, and other issues that were beyond my Spanish abilities to understand. Oscar, my host dad here in Boruca, devoured his gallopinto while Isha, my eleven year-old host sister, contemplated whether to wear hear uniform skirt or trousers. I mostly tried to remain composed as waves of trepidation pounded me. It was the first day of school.

Normally I am a touch nervous before the first day … (Read more)