Eco-Lodge in the mountains Wow.. Had an awesome weekend with the staff of Nuestra Escuela,http://nuestraescuela.org/ at Casa Collores, an eco-lodge set in the beautiful mountain forest of Central Puerto Rico.http://casacollores.com/ .. Am so wrapped I came to Nuestra Escuela..I was attracted from the moment I heard about the background, purpose, mission & initiatives of the school..I can't speak highly enough of the place and the people...I am so impressed already with their commitment, dedication & awakenedness..they are so onto it..Wed, Thurs & Friday this week we spent shacked up at a nun's convent doing training in social capacity & financial literacy which will be introduced to the students when the new semester starts next week. Wed & Thurs began at 8am & went through to 9 & 10.30 pm stopping only to eat..and everyone was positive & enthusiatically engaged..then on Fri after administrative matters like representatives from each of the school's 5 sites presenting their own evaluation report on 'from where & where to' & a new governance structure proposed, we then packed up and drove 2 hrs to the mountain retreat to look at strategic planning for the school for the next decade..they were straight into it on arrival.. dreaming, sharing, discussing, comparing, proposing, analysing & evaluating till late into the evenings..stopping only to eat, cool off in the river, & watch PR win silver in the wrestling.. & this week staff are busy enrolling prospective students, taking them through a briefing process & preparing for taking the new students to the retreat this coming weekend ..as a means of getting to know each other, building trust, acknowledging the students' hardships & struggles, supporting them to self reflect & helping them to project a new future by setting their own goals & therefore their own curriculums for the year...kiwi teachers would have been in an uproar about excessive workload & missing out on school holidays! It appears here that holidays are for the students to have a bit of a break and a time for staff to work even harder! ..I must say these guys do it in style though..the professional development training during the week for example the event was family-friendly with an on-site creche for the kids & purposeful roles for the teens..the strategic planning weekend at the eco-lodge retreat..well, for starters it was held in environmental heaven.. mountains, forest, river..& tropical fruits galore..need I say more..it included an onsite chef who catered delicious, authentic Puerto Rican cuisine..and everything was provided..including red wine & nibbles to wind down with in the evenings! So..yeah..I can see why staff would willingly opt in! :-)
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My group's presentation of AFLATOUN.. concept introduced through verse, key ideas described through acronym rap, & slogan shared through song & dance. 20 minutes to consult, create, rehearse & present..I picked an animated group to work with..or rather they picked me as the grouping energiser activity was getting together with someone you were different from..and since I am from a different country, this lot braved it to group with me.
1 verse lyrics: " separando la ficcion de la realidad"(separating fiction from reality); 2 acronym rap: "Ahorra (saving) Finanzas (finances) Liderazgo (leadership) Actuar (to act) Tiempo (time) Organizar (organise) Union (united) Naciones (nations)..pal piso! (to the floor!, kinda like 'boogy down now!')"; 3 song & dance: "La mano arriba (hands above), cintura sola (waist circling), da media vuelta (give half turn), actuar ahora (act now)..vive explorando (live exploring), siempre pensando (always thinking), y investigando (and investigating), actuar ahora (act now)" Awesome! Day 1 of a 2 day staff seminar on AFLATOUN-an international Social & Financial Capacity Education programme to be introduced to the students this semester. 12 hrs of seminar flew by & despite little sleep prior & fully immersed in Spanish I managed to remain captivated, energised & engaged. Everything about today was inspiring. From the organisation, the concept, the content & most of all the commitment of all involved. So inspirational in fact that for the self exploration exercise whereby we drew ourselves as who we are, in terms of profound personal definition, and then spoke about it, I created a new language of expression which I have aptly named 'Espanugues'!! It's what comes out of my mouth when I am thinking in Portugues & trying to speak Espanol..kinda like a weaving together of the 2..somehow people managed to follow me though..or at least were polite enough to make out they did. LOL :-)
Love this garden addition down my street.not that I've seen any live mules around here but it certainly conveys a feeling of being in Puerto Rico..I guess like seeing a kiwi icon conveys a sense of NZ although most of us can't claim to have seen many live ones of them! :-) Initially I just thought this was creative architectural design & landscaping for the sake of an interesting theme but on the way back from the supermarket this afternoon I saw a couple of men sitting at a table by the entrance-way actually playing chess. I would've been keen to get closer & observe for a while but I was carrying groceries & had dinner to cook. Quite a mission trying to find ingredients like what I'm used to at home. Went to 4 supermarkets trying to find flaky pastry..try saying hojaldre (pronounced or-hal-dre) spanish for flaky pastry, several times over..it's not easy I can tell you..anyway, it may be catered for on the internet translator site but its not in Puerto Rican supermarkets so I ended up making it myself..butter, & cheese just aren't the same either so personally I felt the bacon & egg pie and apple crumble I made for dinner this evening weren't as tasty as when made with kiwi ingredients but my international dinner companions (from Chile, Marcedonia, Bangladesh, the States) all seemed suitably impressed anyway. Would still love to score some puha & treat them to boilup! 'carambola' or star fruit from the neighbour for desert..cute fruit & yummy too. These little lizards are so cute..they scuttle about in the garden & up the exterior walls..managed to get close enough to take a snapshot this afternoon after not having been quick enough the last few days..this one almost posed for me! Managed to catch a glimpse of some local birds in the silk tree outside the front of the house too..after just having commented to my flatmate about the sparsity of birds around here compared to back home..had it confirmed though that the chant I've been waking up to every morning which sounds like someone repeatedly saying "Las cantares" is infact a bird..so they are about alright, just not so easy to spot. The little native frogs, which I am yet to spot, are called 'coqui' (pronounced coc-key) 'cause that's the sound they make..it's pretty much continuous but I've found it intriguing & pleasantly Puerto Rican..actually I'm really enjoying the different symphony of sounds..haven't found the local dogs having a regular bark-athon too irritating yet either..kinda just part & parcel of the place really...much like the latin music blaring from every direction during the day..salsa dancing here I come! I hadn't made listening to music part of my routine in recent months 'cause I've always had other things to do & taking my focus..so it's nice to have the head space now to appreciate music for the sake of enjoyment & entertainment..& in my case it's educational too 'cause it's an integral part of the culture I am uploading...can't say I had heard of reggatona as a genre but I'm beginning to like it. Almost succumbed to a 4pm siesta on the veranda today but decided to pull a few weeds in the garden first..3 hours later the front of the flat looks amazing & I am still perplexed as to how come I don't do this for my own garden back home! Amazing what one can be inspired to do when one is not ridiculously exhausted from the usual stresses of daily life! Even managed to inspire my flatmate to come outside & start pulling when he saw the transformation occuring..he got gardening fever too & even planted some seeds for the first time ever..I took a foto for him to send to his mum..we mums are impressed by things like that..I think my dad would've been impressed with my gardening efforts today..anyway..must take some footage of the exterior & interior of the flat tomorrow..now that I have given it all a 'Monica' ..just wish I had taken some before shots! Went for a walk b4 dinner..much cooler at that time..must say I was impressed that I didn't see much in the way of litter..apparently most people own cars & drive everywhere so I wonder if that makes a difference to there not being debris left along the sidewalk..spied a bit around McDs though..guess fast food magnates are a magnet for sloths universally! Anyway..almost 4 am over here now..gotta try get a few hours kip in before the new day unfolds..my flatmates are under instruction to speak to me only in Spanish as of tomorrow morning so am gona have to be sharp too..buenos noches amigos. Hasta la vista! Tania :-) Speaking 3 languages is currently the minimum in my new household..yesterday I listened to my 22 yr old flatmate going in & out of 4 languages on skype .. the brain is so receptive to learning several languages when we are young ..why wait till we are old & struggle .. my dream school would be multi-lingual!! :-)
Went to movies tonight at the Carribean Cinema in San Juan, with Kasey a Puerto Rican friend of my flatmate who he met thru a really cool concept called "couch surfing" http://www.couchsurfing.org/ . Movie was in English with Spanish subtitles so I had a comprehension advantage except for when the Spanish subtitles were for the Italian being spoken on screen & I had to focus hard on deciphering from the context of the Italian dialogue as much as the bits & pieces of Spanish subtitles I could pick out..kinda made me wanna learn Italian too though..It was a Woody Allan film, 'To Rome with Love', quite quirky but light & entertaining..and I got to pick up a few new phrases thru the subtitles like 'No puerdo creer' meaning 'I can't believe it'. Check out the luxurious, spacious seating!..heaps of room to spread out with little tables to put your wine, sushi (which they have for sale there!) or popcorn etc on.. was a nice little outing considering I was thinking of not going in order to stay home & soak my feet some more in the bucket of iced cold water.. which I am currently doing now since my return this evening & had done for several hours already today..the old flip-top waste paper bin is my new best friend as the the size, shape & height of it allows for me to have both feet/legs in there emerged almost up to the knees..not only do my feet currently resemble Fred Flinstones but also wrinkled from the hours underwater they remind me of elephant stumps!..worst part was not being able to wear my new purple boots out this evening..barely managed to get my feet back into them let alone be able to attempt zipping them up! Thank goodness for jandals & elasticated sandals I say.. this is one of the less glamorous side-effects of transcontinental travel ..wasn't planned for it & never read about it in any glossy brochure, that's for sure! Well folks 2.40 am on this side & am still in nocturnal state ..last 'night' was ridiculous..I went to bed at 6 a.m! Apparently it takes at least a day to recover & adjust per time zone difference .. seeing as Puerto Rico is 16 hrs behind NZ, that's 16 time zones..& I've been here 6 days so I have another 10 to go before I can expect to settle into the right sleep patterns ..hope my hands & feet are back to normal by then too! Gonna try for a 'moe' soon...if I don't get caught chatting on line that is.. Buenos noches..Tania Flinstone! :-) Not that I ever buy this for myself in NZ but brought kiwifruit chocolate over here thinking that Puerto Ricans wouldn't know what a kiwifruit was..turns out they import them from the U.S ...weird thing is that I have eaten 3 of them this week..which is 3 more than I'd have eaten in the past 12 months!..the things have sat for weeks uneaten in the fruitbowl at home until they look so shrivelled & unedible that they get thrown out..crazy that now I have the urge to eat them simply cause they remind me of NZ! The other urge I had today was cleaning! Must be that nesting instinct..moved furniture round, swept & mopped..(can't remember the last time my place back home got so much TLC).. even weeded the garden here! .. all the while thinking of my poor garden back home I have neglected now for several months..what is with that, aye?..psychologists could have a field day analyzing the human behaviour of slacking off in your own back yard & then sprucing up someone else's..kinda reminds me of when a friend told me how my son would help fold washing when he visited at her house..I choked with laughter at the time cause my son's washing had been piled high on the armchair at home for days waiting for him to attend to it! Ahh..must be I'm missing my babies & went into mother overdrive today.. I even cooked dinner & made a pizza from scratch..(I usually hate to cook)..that's it..wow, just figured it out by myself, no other analysis needed!
Didn't venture beyond the gate today except to put the rubbish out. Was nice to chill out & potter..one of my flatmates went to the laundromat to do his washing but I declined the offer to go & did mine by hand at home instead..partly to sleep in, partly to save money & partly because my other flatmate had witnessed a driveby murder occur there one time.. so reckon washing by hand is a winner.. it has been raining on & off which has been great in helping to keep the temperatures down to bearable..interesting to note that the houses here don't tend to have glass windows..but rather they have wider eaves above to deflect the rain, as well as louvres on the outside for shade & privacy, and mesh on the inside to keep the mozzies & insects out..not that I have seen any..not even a single fly..there was one cockroach in the house today which my flatmate was surprised about cause he hadn't seen one inside here before...the mesh windows & doors tend to keep things like that out.. the little lizards outside are cute though, I see them scuttling about all the time..they can move pretty quick..am yet to see an actual native frog although I can constantly hear them ..at least they are nice to listen to..seemed like all the dogs in the neighbourhood had a bark-athon this morning..people keep them as security..and when you pass by people's houses you see themvpeering through the locked gates..people tend to keep their gates locked, even when they are home..I certainly felt safer knowing no-one else could get in when I was home alone at times today..actually, I haven't been game yet to venture out without at least one of my flatmates.. they said even they wouldn't be game to venture out late at night..kinda makes you think about our luxury lifestyle back home in Motueka & other parts of NZ where we take it for granted to be able to go wherever, whenever, even on our own..on that note I'm off to bed..after 5 a.m over here..still got that body-clock to adjust for the new time-zone! Hasta luego (Until later) Un abrazo (hug) Buenos noches (goodnight) Me :-) x Yay..managed not to succumb to an afternoon siesta today. So may now stand a chance in setting my body-clock to Puerto Rico
time. My flatmates were going to take me to the plaza to do salsa dancing yesterday evening... but someone went into her room to study her spanish book & woke up several hours later!!..didn't even get past lesson one before conking out..nevermind, they still took me to the plaza later, except to eat icecream..my flavours were guayana & guaranaba con quejo blanco..have no idea what they were except that one had white cheese in it & both were delicious! Fought hard against the 4 oclock urge to nod off today & got through 3 lessons from my Spanish in 30 Days book..hey at this rate I'll have it sussed in 10 days..yeah right! LOL..Took along a box of NZ Favourites to school today..chocolate..the universal language which needs no translation! Am keeping my eyes peeled for puha..have promised my carnivorous flatmates a boilup if I can find it or a suitable substitute. Tried to make a raw fish salad last night..not an easy task when the fish comes preserved in salt & the canned coconut cream resembles a sweetened, caramel coloured gel..surprisingly tasted okay though..looked wierd but was edible. Oh, I bought some kiwifruit in the supermarket yesterday..a tray of 6 costs US$1. They are actually imported from the US and are called 'kiwis'...kinda realised that when I was asked what climate do kiwis like & got a puzzled response when I replied "well, depends on the person but I like it warm".. Am hoping the 'extreme humidity' induced swelling in my legs & feet will subside soon..those $54 flight socks I purchased prior to leaving may have saved me from vascular issues but not hot feet & kankles.. soo not cool! LOL Weather & transportation permitting we are off to the beach this weekend. Apparently public transport really sucks around here..am yet to find out..Will try to upload more fotos, & videos for those who are able to view them. My flatmates are founders of an organisation to develop creativity in Latin America & have a website worth a look:http://www.latcreativa.org/ Also my Chilean flatemate is an artist & has his own weblink if you wanna check it out too. http://www.jose-saavedra.com/ ...Buenos noches y Hasta manana.. Tania :-)x My apartment in Puerto Rico. Had a relaxing first day in Puerto Rico getting to know my flatmates. One Chilean, the other Macedonian & both here together doing an animation education project within Nuestra Escuela. We have shared much about our own countries, our life journeys & our reasons for coming here. I have them convinced to come do a similar project in NZ next year! We walked to the supermarket this evening, about 15 mins from our apartment & next time I will be sure to take my camera because the houses in themselves are completely different to home. All the windows are barred & entrance-ways gated for security but somehow it manages to still look attractive & even quaint without looking menacing. I rarely ever drink beer in NZ but have had several here already. Humidity & laid back lifestyle seem a good excuse to do like the locals. 3.44 a.m over here but am either pumped on adrenalin or body clock still on kiwi time. School tomorrow morning..so maybe this kiwi will not be so pumped when it is time to get up..LOL..Thunder storm outside at the mo so am fortunate as it has kept the climate cool..apparently will be a different story once the rain passes. Buenos noches. Ciao. Tania :-) x |
Tania CorbettThrough my Puerto Rico experience I hope to gain valuable insight to further contribute ideas for city & educational developments within our local region. Archives
November 2012
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