Students on their way home!

Hello Pegasus School family and friends! The Pegasus students are on their way home! They left Costa Rica on time and should land at 12:36 into LAX. Thank you for your support of the program! 

February 22nd Delta 1396 SJO to LAX 811AM – 1240PM

Erin Lasky 

Director of Operations. 

Working on the World Leadership School curriculum with instructor Tim Kubik!

Day 6 Last Work Day

Hola, this is Mrs. Conti

We didn't post last night because we did a homestay at Rafael's house, the guide who took us into the forest, graciously hosted all of us so we could get an authentic Costa Rican experience.  Today is our last  day of work. I'll post a few pictures so you can see something and then we'll post later tonight. We leave the school today, go to a local woman's home to learn crafts, and then drive about 4 hours to Dominical (the Pacific Coast) for our last couple days.

The work we've done is almost finished.  Kinsale designed a mural on the classroom wall we painted.  We finished the garden beds, but ran out of compost to fill them, but we can plant in one of them today. 

Here is some fun:

Day 4 First Day of Major Work at the school

Today started out like all other days with Javier waking us up at 6:30 am.  We all got up and went immediately to the San Rafael school for our first real work day.  When we got there kids were on the swings, play structure, and even the tables.   Even though the school is small almost all of the kids were playing soccer.  We joined in the soccer game, Pegasus students vs. the school.   Immediately after we started playing, we knew that we were going to be killed by kids younger than all of us.  As they say in boxing, we were “saved by the bell”, and called in to eat breakfast.  The score was 5-2.  Breakfast was delicious and almost everybody loved the food.

 

 

After breakfast we got straight to work. We split up into three groups: crushing charcoal, leveling the beds for the garden, and repainting the kids playground.  Kids from the school were chosen to work alongside us.  At the charcoal smashing group we smashed large chunks with shovels into small pebble like pieces.   After the charcoal was crushed we shoveled it into a tarp so we could paint the wall behind it.  We saw that the paint was fading so we decided to repaint the wall.  We let the San Rafael kids do most of the painting work, they really liked it!

 

The next job was leveling the ground where the raised garden beds were going.  It took a long time to level the beds because the ground was so rocky and bumpy.  Then we moved the wood from the art room and started placing it in the raised beds, the next step will be to secure the wood to the beds and then cover it with plastic and then begin to fill it.  The principle of the school wants to do several different types of soil combinations based on research from EARTH University here in Costa Rica, to use as science experiments to see what grows the best.  The crushed charcoal will be mixed with compost, rice husks, coffee husks (because of the local coffee supply, it would be more sustainable than rice) and maybe even coconut husks.

 

 

 

 

Painting team: The old run down playground just got better.   While everyone was lifting wood and smashing charcoal the third group helped repaint the playground.   With the artistic talents of Kinsale the group repainted the whole playground.   Every inch of that faded playground was enlightened by vibrant colors.  After they were done the play structure looked just like new.  Once the kids saw it they loved it!   We also embellished all the tables and chairs with fantastic new colors.   Stripes and dots were covering the whole thing.

 

 

 

We also did a leadership style and temperaments lesson today with Javier.   It was sort of like the kiersey test we took online back at Pegasus.  Cards were passed around the room and we were asked to take three that best describe us.  Based on the cards we chose we were put into groups to see who similar thinkers were and who were different.  During that exercise a lot of us learned what type of people and leaders we are.

 

Blog Written by Adam Watson 

Thoughts about Costa Ricans:  The people of Costa Rica are very helpful.  They really like soccer.  We believe that they don’t want anything specifically but they will take whatever they can get.  We don’t believe that they would ask for anything, but rather accept anything you offer.  The people like to be involved and share with foreigners or unfamiliar people.  In conclusion you must think about what they want because they won’t ask for anything.

 Thoughts from Michael sherlock

Day 3 rude awakening!

Hello Pegasus Family, this is day 3 of our eventful and long journey to Costa Rica. We woke up this morning, and we had a big problem. In one of the boy’s cabins, Adam spotted a huge, black hairy spider that was on his towel, which ended up on his shoulder, after he came out of the shower. His roommates, Cole and Patrick ran to him and took pictures. Then Patrick called Mrs. Conti over (which was the first thing she faced as she just woke up and stepped out of her cabin that morning) and said, “There is a significant spider in our room and we need you”. 

                                                  Good morning Mrs. Conti! 

                         A glass and the New York times were my weapons for capture!

 

 

After Mrs. Conti removed the spider, some of us decided to go to the local Roman-Catholic church. We listened to the priest preach. It was hard to follow along, but we were able to understand some parts of the Spanish vocabulary taught by our one and only Sra.Botts.  Also, some of us were confused because not all of us are Catholic. Here are some pictures of some of the Catholic students getting Communion.

 

 

After the mass, we walked to the local waterfall. It was really fun because there was a trampoline, and big rocks in the river to climb on, and a restaurant for some people to take a break and eat. The rocks were really fun because we had to jump from rock to rock while there are fast rapids in the river. Some people managed to stay dry (Sahir, Ryan, Patrick, Adam, Cole while others were not so fortunate (Michael!).

 

On the way back from the waterfall, we were headed to do a “home-stay” experience with some of the local families.  But first, we stopped and bought bread. We brought the bread to the families that we spent 2-3 hours with.  In Costa Rica, it is a tradition to bring bread to another family. We were paired up with a partner from our group. We had to speak Spanish to each of these families, so it was very challenging. We couldn’t have any help and we couldn’t go to our teachers the whole time. We were there for lunch, so we were introduced to some many new foods. We felt very uncomfortable in the beginning and as time progressed many of us got out of our comfort zones and had a good time. Many of the families were generous and excited to have us over for the afternoon. This is a picture of Sahir and Emma’s homestay family.

 

 

Here is a picture of Mary and Adam with their homestay family:

 

 

In conclusion, it was a very action-packed day full of excitement and new experiences.

written by: Sahir Patel and Michael Sherlock

                                                                                                                                                                  

More about day 2

Message from Mrs. Conti:  Now that I've figured out how to blog from my ipad and upload photos, I thought I would share some more with everyone...

photos:  

Our trek through the conservation reserve!

Then we visited the school.

Pegasus kids playing on the playground while waiting for the rest of us to arrive at the school for the first time

The greenhouse structure below, was built ahead of our arrival because it's not safe for our kids to weld.  Thank you to everyone who helped us raise the money, this is an awesome structure that the school is very excited about.  The principle has been there himself working everyday to get this built before our arrival.  It will last a very long time! We will be building the raised beds that will go under the structure.

Our first day of preliminary work included clearing the area of weeds and rocks...

....while others smashed charcoal which will be used in the garden beds as a source of carbon for the plants to grow.  They have very poor soil here in Costa Rica, which is typical of rain forest environments, so this is one method they use to replenish the soil.  Which I'm learning all about as fast as I can, doing research at night because I am considered the "expert" gardener professor!  Oh boy, no pressure, I've never built a garden in the tropics before, but here we go!

After smashing charcoal this is what the kids looked like, although a lot of that came from them painting mustaches on each other!

We had another incredible day today, I will let the kids explain it in detail when they blog tonight, but let's just say I had many, many proud teacher moments today, beginning with Sunday mass at the Catholic Church that 10 of our students attended with me and Javier.  And, ending with their excitement of spending three hours in "home-stay" experiences with local families.  They were all incredibly nervous about spending time with the local families because they felt their Spanish would not be good enough, but by the time we picked them up they were beaming with enthusiasm.  It has truly been a culturally enlightening experience already and our kids are embracing it to the fullest in true Pegasus fashion!

Day 1: Arrival and Introductions

Hola Padres, Maestros, y Amigos!

Good news: we have all arrived safe and intact, ready for the adventures this country holds in store!  This morning after landing in San Jose at 6:30 am (Costa Rica time), we had a quick, yet delicious breakfast before embarking on our two hour bus ride to Santa Maria del Dota.  Along the way, we made a quick stop at a local market where we tried out a variety of Costa Rican sweets including, but not limited to dolzeda de leche and sugared figs.  (A video of the market should be present on the blog if all goes according to plan...)
 After our visit to the market, we journeyed on down to Cabinas Cecilias, our resting place while we work at the school, and got settled in. Around lunchtime, we walked into town and ate at a local restaurant; unfortunately, on our way to the playground in town, we were struck down by some rain. But it was not all bad; we met some local children while huddled under the gazebo and spoke some Spanish with them for a few minutes. The rain resided and we moseyed on back to camp.  Since, we enjoyed some fun teambuilding and leadership activities thanks to our wonderful guides.  They seemed to have worked, as we are all starting to get to know each other better and become a productive team.  However, the red-eye flight really did a number on some of us, and as we write this post, the cabin lights around us are fading out...everyone is looking forward to a good, restful, and most importantly, full night's sleep.  We can't wait for the adventures to come tomorrow and throughout the rest of the week...we will be reporting back soon with more exciting news. 

Buenas Noche y Feliz Dia de San Valentin!
~ Julia & Amanda/Amandoo/Mandy/Grasshopper

P.S.- The accommodations are extremely nice and I can't wait to go to sleep in our commodious room. (There are heated showers!!!!!) ~Julia

 

Our good day has started!

Hello and Happy Valentine's Day friends & families of the Pegasus School program! The students and faculty have safely arrived in Costa Rica.  They will start updating the blog soon, but in the meantime please enjoy some photos from their journey! Please call with any questions - 303.679.3412.

Pura Vida!

Maria Selde
Program Coordinator