#palmichal

Casa Salvaje, Palmichal, Acosta canton, San José province, Costa Rica,

For the past two months, a group of 16 RCAH students have been taking part in Ethics in Tourism and Sustainable Development, a study abroad program in cities and towns throughout Costa Rica. Over the past week, students have been wrapping up their visit to the country, saying goodbye to host families, and returning to the U.S. We can't wait to hear stories about the engagement projects that students collaborated on in each community and to see so, so many photos. 

Bronson Herman, an RCAH-er from the Costa Rica program, shared these recent memories from his first day of teaching English at a high school in Palmichal, Costa Rica:

A view of the area surrounding Palmichal, Costa Rica.

"Today was my first day of class teaching at the high school with McKenna and Evan. We were all very nervous and anxious to see what the students had in store for us, but did our best to conceal our emotions. My host father Don Hernán walked us to school like an ecstatic parent reassuring us that everything would go smoothly. Our major concern was if we were wanted by the students and staff there. Flashes of imperialism, arrogance and imposing one's language on a different culture is what we feared our presence would be perceived as.  Regular classes were not in session due to school elections, so our entrance was even more of a spectacle within the student body. Maria Fernanda, the English teacher we would be working with, had us sit in on her class and talk about Michigan. My host brother Mauro was in the class and Hernán sat in as well. I went into a very detailed explanation that even their teacher had difficulty translating into Spanish. Later I was made aware of the English level of the class and felt bad that no one in the class could understand what I was describing.

Bronson with his host brother, Mauro.

The high school had opened in February with funding from the Costa Rican government, which approved them as the first school to have a rural tourism program. All age groups went to this school which based grade levels on their skill levels rather than actual age.  As new members of the staff, we ate in the teacher lounge with our fellow colleagues. Passing through the hallways the students would stare, whisper and giggle at us.

Laura, the rural tourism teacher we would also be working with, took us to the plaza where there was a soccer game. Being unprepared for the game, I played barefoot and in cargo shorts while everyone had their expensive soccer cleats on. Our team lost, but I made a first impression with the student body when I stopped a penalty shot in warm-ups.  From then on, I was solely known as the "crazy shoeless gringo" and I embraced it.

Bronson playing soccer in Palmichal.

Mauro said that the three North Americans were the main subject of the conversations at the school. Dance lessons were after the game, but no one danced. It reminded me a lot of the middle school years when boys and girls dominated each side with no contact (plus the music being played was absolutely terrible). I was going to dance in the middle of the room by myself hoping other students would join in, but Mauro was going to kill me if I did. With no one dancing, I stood outside the room while a swarm of students surrounded me. In the time of one day, I had become famous and a U.S. ambassador. Everyone wanted a picture with me and asked a question. During the photos, all I could do was smile and laugh--I was flattered by the amount of interest someone could have in my life. Seeing me blush made the students laugh even harder and at one point I told them how embarrassed I felt. We had our own personal paparazzi in which students would be snapping shots of us as we were talking in the hallways. With these mountain of photos taken also came endless friend requests and some of becoming students cover photos. The chaos surrounding Obama's visit in Costa Rica was nothing compared to our first day of school."