Note: I have had time to think about the deaf schools that we visited yesterday. Both schools are trying their hardest to ensure that the students get an education, but they are very different in their methods. The Cartago school has very friendly faculty members, but their students are very shy. They make do with what they have, and are more than thankful for any help they may get. The Guell school, on the other hand, has very friendly students but their staff do not share much information with us. Unfortunately, we were not able to see much about the Guell school due to the strike. Growing up, I was mainstreamed so I didn't see much of deaf schools and do not remember much about my experiences at all.
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Today was our last day in San Jose until next week. We got to sleep in a little late and had breakfast at 8am. Breakfast for me consisted of a scoop of scrambled eggs, two pieces of hotdog-like sausages (or sausage-like hotdogs), and rice with beans.
After breakfast, our tour guide, Rhyan, was kind enough to give us a tour of San Jose. We walked from the hotel to see a military memorial park. In the park, we encountered a woman teaching salsa classes, a man with a bunch of wooden stilts (who taught us how to walk on them!), and a different woman leading an African dance workout. I was more than happy to join in the workout, but had to tap out early enough due to being in jeans and not able to stretch as much as I could.
After, we walked over to the government buildings (the legislative district, so to speak) to learn about their history. After that, we visited the Museo Nacional de Costa Rica, or the National Museum of Costa Rica. The building was originally a fort, but had been remodeled into a museum. We got a crash course in pre-Columbian Costa Rica and in the history of the building.
After visiting the museum, we took a break for lunch at the Mercade Central, the central market. It is much like Reading Terminal in Philadelphia in that it was a series of very small shops and restaurants in a warehouse-style building. I enjoyed beef broth, chicken, rice, beans, beets, and rice pudding for lunch, as well as a frozen lime drink.
After lunch, we took a half hour to explore the market. I couldn't resist and bought a beautiful, wooden necklace for only 7,800 colones (equivalent of about fifteen United States dollars).
We hopped on the van and took a short ride to visit the Asociacion Nacional de Sordos de Costa Rica (ANASCOR). It is a non-governmental organization devoted to serving the deaf community. We met with the previous president who took the time to tell us about the organization's missions, goals, and how they had succeeded so far. The entire talk was in Lesco, which turned out to be an acronym for Lengua de senas costaricense. It was a little difficult to follow along, especially when your understanding is rudimentary.
What I got, however, was that they had several aims and goals. Some of them were different from the United States and uniquely applicable to Costa Rica. For example, there is a channel (number 7, I believe) that broadcasts in both Spanish and Lesco. At one point, there was a debate on television and the deaf Ticos wanted to watch it. However, the broadcasters did not show the interpreter and there were no captioning, so they couldn't follow along. They were angry, of course, and wrote a letter. This case ended up going to the courts and soon after that the channel started having a PIP (Picture in Picture) of an interpreter. There are still many kinks to be ironed out, but they now have an all-access channel.
Some issues are very similar to the United States, however. ANASCOR struggles to bring together the deaf people in the country, especially as the number is rapidly dwindling due to vaccinations that prevents diseases that cause deafness (such as meningitis). This is further exacerbated by the free healthcare that all Costa Ricans are entitled to. Due to this, cochlear implants are very affordable and many deaf children today have one. Many deaf United States citizens have brought up concerns that with medical and scientific advances (stem cells helping hair cell regeneration, for example), the number of deaf people are dwindling.
After we learned about the organization, we spent about three hours socializing with ANASCOR members such as the president, Victor, and prominent members in the deaf community such as Leo and Carlos. We got to meet their wives and beautiful daughters. It was overall a very enjoyable time.
Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel and enjoyed a delicious dinner of salad, chicken with fish tartare, white rice, mixed vegetables, and a brownie. We also had passion fruit juice and water to drink.
Early tomorrow, we head off to Tortugero and will be able to visit the Braulio Carrillo National Park en route. I'm looking forward to it - apparently the hotel in Tortugero offers tours where we can go and watch green sea turtles digging nests and laying their eggs, and this is the prime season for it!
________________________________________________________
Today was our last day in San Jose until next week. We got to sleep in a little late and had breakfast at 8am. Breakfast for me consisted of a scoop of scrambled eggs, two pieces of hotdog-like sausages (or sausage-like hotdogs), and rice with beans.
After breakfast, our tour guide, Rhyan, was kind enough to give us a tour of San Jose. We walked from the hotel to see a military memorial park. In the park, we encountered a woman teaching salsa classes, a man with a bunch of wooden stilts (who taught us how to walk on them!), and a different woman leading an African dance workout. I was more than happy to join in the workout, but had to tap out early enough due to being in jeans and not able to stretch as much as I could.
After, we walked over to the government buildings (the legislative district, so to speak) to learn about their history. After that, we visited the Museo Nacional de Costa Rica, or the National Museum of Costa Rica. The building was originally a fort, but had been remodeled into a museum. We got a crash course in pre-Columbian Costa Rica and in the history of the building.
After visiting the museum, we took a break for lunch at the Mercade Central, the central market. It is much like Reading Terminal in Philadelphia in that it was a series of very small shops and restaurants in a warehouse-style building. I enjoyed beef broth, chicken, rice, beans, beets, and rice pudding for lunch, as well as a frozen lime drink.
After lunch, we took a half hour to explore the market. I couldn't resist and bought a beautiful, wooden necklace for only 7,800 colones (equivalent of about fifteen United States dollars).
We hopped on the van and took a short ride to visit the Asociacion Nacional de Sordos de Costa Rica (ANASCOR). It is a non-governmental organization devoted to serving the deaf community. We met with the previous president who took the time to tell us about the organization's missions, goals, and how they had succeeded so far. The entire talk was in Lesco, which turned out to be an acronym for Lengua de senas costaricense. It was a little difficult to follow along, especially when your understanding is rudimentary.
What I got, however, was that they had several aims and goals. Some of them were different from the United States and uniquely applicable to Costa Rica. For example, there is a channel (number 7, I believe) that broadcasts in both Spanish and Lesco. At one point, there was a debate on television and the deaf Ticos wanted to watch it. However, the broadcasters did not show the interpreter and there were no captioning, so they couldn't follow along. They were angry, of course, and wrote a letter. This case ended up going to the courts and soon after that the channel started having a PIP (Picture in Picture) of an interpreter. There are still many kinks to be ironed out, but they now have an all-access channel.
Some issues are very similar to the United States, however. ANASCOR struggles to bring together the deaf people in the country, especially as the number is rapidly dwindling due to vaccinations that prevents diseases that cause deafness (such as meningitis). This is further exacerbated by the free healthcare that all Costa Ricans are entitled to. Due to this, cochlear implants are very affordable and many deaf children today have one. Many deaf United States citizens have brought up concerns that with medical and scientific advances (stem cells helping hair cell regeneration, for example), the number of deaf people are dwindling.
After we learned about the organization, we spent about three hours socializing with ANASCOR members such as the president, Victor, and prominent members in the deaf community such as Leo and Carlos. We got to meet their wives and beautiful daughters. It was overall a very enjoyable time.
Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel and enjoyed a delicious dinner of salad, chicken with fish tartare, white rice, mixed vegetables, and a brownie. We also had passion fruit juice and water to drink.
Early tomorrow, we head off to Tortugero and will be able to visit the Braulio Carrillo National Park en route. I'm looking forward to it - apparently the hotel in Tortugero offers tours where we can go and watch green sea turtles digging nests and laying their eggs, and this is the prime season for it!
I have enjoyed reading about your adventures! Enjoy your time!
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