Finally in Costa Rica

HOLA!

So it is Day 2 in Costa Rica and it is very different than america.

Day 0-The airport

The whole day seemed like we spent it traveling. Woke up early

to get to the airport. Waited at the airport for three hours. Flew

two and a half hours to Miami. Wait at Miami for two hours. Then

fly three more hours to Costa Rica. Once you get to Costa Rica you

get on a bus and they drive you to immigration and customs. Once

through there you can get your bags. I had several bags that were

very heavy. I then had about a 45 min drive to my house. This seemed

like longer only because we had 5 suitcases and many other small bags

to fit in my mothers car. There was barely any room that my roommate

and I were sitting on each others laps.

The first thing that I observed is that driving is very different in Costa

Rica. It is similar to Mexico. (He who honks first has the right of way.)

It was defiantly a scary situation. I also observed that the family life is

different. The houses seem more close compared to america where you

have two story houses that you never see one another. Everything is also

done as a family.

Day 1-First real day

Woke up and started unpacking and moving in. Madre made breakfast,

it was very good. I am not a huge fan of any kinds of beans though. The

rice, eggs, and juice was very good. All of the juices are made from real

fruit and adding aqua in a mixer and mixing it. After breakfast we started

making everything for lunch party. She makes everything from scratch.

We pulled the spinach, peeled the carrots and garlic. Learned about many

new foods. Mainly fruits. We then had a lot of ANSCOR members come

and introduce themselves and give us tips to Costa Rica. It was very cool.

They stayed for a while just chatting then gave me time to work on my

homework. (Yes I am crazy enough to take an online class while in Costa

Rica.)

Something I noticed was if you are a female you get a hug and kiss on the

cheek from everyone. If you are a male you hug the females and kiss them

on the cheek but shake other males hands. This is very different then America.

Again the food is different than america making everything by hand and not

having things come ready in boxes. (I think that may just be my family that

does the already made things.)

Day 2-Monday

Today has been a very busy day! We had breakfast and then went to the bank

and changed money. It was hard because they didn't have anyone that signed nor

spoke english. My mother ended up having a 45 min debate with the manager

about how it needs to better fit our needs. They have no suggestions that can

benefit us though. I find this interesting because in America, at least Texas, they

have one staff member that speaks Spanish. We also met my "grandmother,"

"aunts" and "nephews." I also had an opportunity to go and sit in on Fabian's

college class about families and communities. This class was all special education

majors. It was very interesting because these students want to work with different

disabilities and barely know any lesco. You would think they would want to know

more. They are not exposed to it enough. The classes were fully in Spanish making

it very hard for me to understand. Maybe at the end of the 10 weeks I can understand

better. After that my Madre invited some friends over and we talked, looked at

pictures, and listened to music of some old students that are now in a band.

They were very good and very nice to us. They have invited us to join them for

other events and to watch them while we are in Costa Rica. :)

Thats all for now. More to come later :)

Hola!

English:

For my host family to get to know me. Hope you enjoy!

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Español:

¡Hola, este vídeo está para que mi familia de la

casa se familiarice con un poco sobre mí!

*Taylor*

Sharing our Experience

Hello!

My name is Taylor Denney and I am a junior at Gallaudet University. I am an honors student majoring in Education (specifically elementary) as well as minoring in dance. I am one of eleven students that are going to spend ten weeks in Costa Rica this summer.

We will be volunteering at the two Deaf schools in Costa Rica, as well as providing some of the children a "summer camp" to get to know them as well as give them positive role models. We are all very excited to get to go and are attending many different workshops to prepare us for our trip. Some of the workshops include a shared reading workshop (to help us learn how to teach English and reading better to the children) , a theater workshop (to get the kids having fun and bond with them), physical fitness and team building.

I know that I am very excited to get to go to Costa Rica! I am already getting a taste of the Spanish and LESCO. (For those of you that don't know LESCO is what they call their sign language.) It is similar to ASL, but it has its differences. Costa Rica also occasionally uses VSG (which is similar to home signs that are more acting and visual).

Yesterday we had a man named Francisco arrive in America for the first time. He flew from Costa Rica to teach us true LESCO and Spanish where it is not just from a book or video. After our teacher picked him up from the airport a few of us met him for dinner and got to just chat and as I like to call it "Pick his brain." I had soo many questions and was soo excited to have someone in America for the first time. After dinner we got a chance to move him into his room where he will be living for the next month. I hope he enjoys living the college experience (aka a dorm room) for the next month. It could be very interesting.

Monday (or lunes) as I have learned we will have our first real LESCO lesson. Until Monday we will enjoy the beautiful weather and good company. By the way, this beautiful weather is SNOW! I love it! We have made a few videos and pictures that I will upload for you to see.

Now back to the reason that we created this blog. (I sometimes get off topic just to warn you.)

The group of eleven of us are spending ten weeks in Costa Rica and will be staying with a host family in their home and will have to pay for food, transportation and a flight to Costa Rica. It is not a cheap trip by any means. We are all looking for sponsors and anyone who is willing to donate to this great cause. We will be uploading pictures of the preparation and workshops we attend as well as along the ten weeks we spend in Costa Rica. This way you can see what good we are doing with the donations. We have many goals of some things that we would like to buy and donate to the schools as well as a Deaf Organization Asociación Nacional de Sordos de Costa Rica (ANASCOR). Any support you give us would be wonderful! I am looking into making a T-shirt and possibly putting any supporters logo or names on the back that the group a few days when we are in Costa Rica.

I really hope that you enjoy our blog. Feel free to comment to contact us with any questions you may have or any support that you may be willing to give us. Any small donation will help us do something or will even be a start so please!

Thank You!

*Taylor*

P.S. I have asked a few of the other students to write letters of things they are looking forward to and a little bit about themselves.

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(en español)

¡Hola!

Mi nombre es Taylor Denney y soy estudiante de segundo año en la Universidad de Gallaudet. Soy estudiante en el programa de honores con especialización en educación (específicamente educación primaria), así como una concentración en danza. Yo soy uno de los once estudiantes que van a pasar diez semanas en Costa Rica este verano.

Vamos a ser voluntarios en las dos escuelas de sordos de Costa Rica y también proporcionar a algunos de los niños un "campamento de verano" para conocerles a ellos y darles modelos positivos. Estamos todos muy contentos de poder ir y estamos asistiendo a muchos talleres diferentes para prepararnos para nuestro viaje. Algunos de los talleres incluyen un taller de lectura compartida (para ayudarnos a aprender cómo enseñar inglés y lectura mejor a los niños), un taller de teatro (para conseguir que los niños se diviertan y crear un vínculo con ellos), la aptitud física y trabajo en equipos.

Yo sé que estoy muy emocionada de ir a Costa Rica! Ya les estoy tomando el gusto al español y al Lesco. (Para aquellos que no saben qué es Lesco es lo que los ticos llaman su lenguaje de señas.) Es similar a la Lengua de señas americana o ASL, pero tiene sus diferencias. En Costa Rica también se utiliza de vez en cuando VSG (que es similar a las señas caseras que tienen más calidad y son más visuales).

Ayer tuvimos la visita de un hombre llamado Francisco que llegó a Estados Unidos por primera vez. Voló desde Costa Rica para enseñarnos Lesco y español en persona, no simplemente de un libro o video. Después que nuestra profesora le recogió en el aeropuerto, algunos de nosotros nos reunimos a comer y se puso a charlar y pude indagar. Tenía muchas preguntas y estaba emocionada de tener a alguien en Estados Unidos por primera vez. Después de la cena tuvimos la oportunidad de instalarle en su habitación en la que vivirá durante el próximo mes. Espero que disfrute de vivir la experiencia universitaria (también conocida como vivir en una residencia estudiantil) por el próximo mes. Podría ser muy interesante.

El lunes tendremos nuestra primera lección real de Lesco.Hasta el lunes vamos a disfrutar del buen clima y de la buena compañía. Por cierto, este buen clima es ¡la nieve! ¡Me encanta! Hemos producido algunos videos y fotos que voy a subir para que usted los vea.

Ahora de vuelta al motivo por el cual hemos creado este blog. (Le advierto que a veces me salgo de tema.)

El grupo de once de nosotros pasará diez semanas en Costa Rica y se alojará con una familia en su casa y tendrá que pagar por la comida, el transporte y el vuelo a Costa Rica. No es un viaje barato. Todos estamos buscando patrocinadores y a gente que esté dispuesta a donar para esta gran causa. Vamos a subir las fotos de la preparación y los talleres a los que asistimos, así como de las diez semanas que pasamos en Costa Rica. De esta manera usted puede ver lo bien que estamos aprovechando las donaciones. Tenemos muchos objetivos de algunas de las cosas que nos gustaría comprar y donar a las escuelas, así como a la organización de sordos conocida como Asociación Nacional de Sordos de Costa Rica (ANASCOR). ¡Cualquier apoyo que usted nos pueda brindar sería maravilloso! Estoy buscando la manera de fabricar una camiseta y posiblemente poner el nombre o logo del patrocinador en la espalda para que el grupo le haga propaganda cuando estamos en Costa Rica.

Realmente espero que disfrute de nuestro blog. Siéntase libre de comentar o ponerse en contacto con nosotros con cualquier pregunta que pueda tener o cualquier apoyo que usted puede estar dispuesto a darnos. Cualquier pequeña donación nos ayudará a hacer algo, o al menos puede ayudarnos a empezar , así que…¡por favor!

¡Gracias!

* Taylor *

P.S. He pedido a algunos de los otros estudiantes que escriban sobre sus aspiraciones y un poco sobre ellos mismos.

Opportunity of a Lifetime

My name is Sheri Unuigbey. I am from Denton, Texas. I am a transfer student at Gallaudet University. My major is Computer Information System. However, I am thinking about changing my major to International. This summer I am going to Costa Rica with my classmates, there are eleven of us. Some of us are having problems financially; we would like to help those who need financial support to go on this trip. My classmates and I have been in Costa Rica Track since August 2009, together we learned about the history and culture of Costa Rica. Currently, we are taking biodiversity class and language of Costa Rica. We learn and study together; we all would like to go to Costa Rica together.

One of the main reasons why I wanted to go to Costa Rica is to help the deaf people there. They do not have the same opportunities we have here in America. I want to show them that they CAN do anything they put their minds to. They are not aware of the rights they do have. There is an organization in Costa Rica: Asociación Nacional de Sordos de Costa Rica (ANASCOR). This organization is a non-profit organization that dedicated their works and time to help the deaf community in Costa Rica.

I am really excited about this trip. I know we will learn something extraordinary. I believe that learning in classroom will not compare to being in Costa Rica. The hand on experience we will have while in Costa Rica will be life-changing experience and challenging for us.

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Mi nombre es Sheri Unuigbey. Yo soy de Denton, Texas. Soy una estudiante que se transfirió de otra universidad a la Universidad Gallaudet. Mi especialización es en sistemas de información. Sin embargo, estoy pensando en cambiar de especialidad y enfocarme en estudios internacionales. Este verano me voy a Costa Rica con mis compañeros, hay once de nosotros. Algunos de nosotros estamos teniendo problemas financieros, nos gustaría ayudar a quienes necesitan apoyo financiero para realizar este viaje. Mis compañeros y yo hemos estado en el programa con enfoque en Costa Rica desde agosto de 2009; juntos nos enteramos de la historia y la cultura de Costa Rica. En la actualidad, estamos tomando clases de idiomas y sobre la diversidad biológica de Costa Rica. Considerando que todos aprendemos y estudiamos juntos, a todos nos gustaría ir a Costa Rica juntos.

Una de las razones principales por las que quería ir a Costa Rica es para ayudar a las personas sordas allí. Ellos no tienen las mismas oportunidades que tenemos aquí en Estados Unidos. Quiero mostrarles que pueden hacer cualquier cosa en la que pongan sus mentes. Ellos no son conscientes de los derechos que tienen. Hay una organización en Costa Rica: Asociación Nacional de Sordos de Costa Rica (ANASCOR). Esta organización es una organización sin fines de lucro que dedica sus obras y tiempo para ayudar a la comunidad sorda en Costa Rica.

Estoy realmente entusiasmada con este viaje. Sé que vamos a aprender algo extraordinario. Creo que el aprendizaje en el aula no se compara con la experiencia de estar en Costa Rica. La experiencia práctica que tendremos en Costa Rica nos va a cambiar la vida y constituye un reto para nosotros.

Dreams-- Sueños

Hello,

My name is Dawn and this summer I will embark on a journey to Costa Rica with the Gallaudet Honors Program. I am very excited to have such an opportunity. I look forward to bringing different skills such as reading and theater to the Deaf students in Costa Rica.

During our 10 week stay we will be working with ANASCOR and visiting 2 schools for the Deaf. We hope to be able to provide different technology that they need such as projectors or computers. Growing up deaf is not always the easiest especially with my experience in hearing schools. The use of technology helps bridge a lot of gaps between the hearing and deaf worlds. With the use of technology Deaf students are allowed to reach full potential and are able to obtain an equal education.

My personal goal is to bring my own experiences growing up Deaf and now being a Deaf adult as well as take with some experiences of others me to Gallaudet and America. Perhaps as a class we will gain knowledge of how to help Deaf youth here in America. I feel that we can all learn each other. I know particularly I have been having a wonderful time with our visiting guest, Francisco. It is interesting to see how much our worlds differ as well as how much they are alike.

-See you later!-

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Hola,

Mi nombre es Dawn y este verano voy a embarcarme en un viaje a Costa Rica con el Programa de Honores de Gallaudet. Estoy muy emocionada de tener esta oportunidad.. Espero llevarles diferentes habilidades como la lectura y el teatro a los estudiantes sordos en Costa Rica.

Durante las diez semanas de nuestra estadía estaremos trabajando con ANASCOR y visitaremos 2 escuelas para sordos. Esperamos ser capaces de proporcionar una tecnología diferente, lo que necesitan, como proyectores o equipos. Crecer sordos no es siempre lo más fácil, especialmente con mi experiencia en las escuelas de oyentes. El uso de la tecnología ayuda a cubrir una gran cantidad de vacíos entre los oyentes y el mundo sordo.Con el uso de la tecnología a los estudiantes sordos se les permite alcanzar el potencial completo y son capaces de obtener una educación igual a la que reciben los oyentes.

Mi objetivo personal es llevar mis propias experiencias de haberme criado sorda y de ser ahora un adulto sordo, así como traerme algunas de las experiencias de los demás conmigo a Gallaudet y a los Estados Unidos.Tal vez, como clase, vamos a adquirir conocimiento de cómo ayudar a los jóvenes sordos aquí en América. Creo que todos podemos aprender unos de otros. Sé que he estado teniendo un tiempo maravilloso con nuestro huésped, Francisco. Es interesante ver cómo son de diferentes nuestros mundos, así como lo mucho que se parecen. -¡Hasta luego!-