I left Pavones a few weeks ago to return to Eugene for a three week break from classes at Escuela Camino Claro. It happens to be a mid-year vacation for the public schools in Costa Rica, but also a much needed descanso for the hard-working staff at ECC, which is composed of me, Raphel, and our new substitute teacher, Amanda. As I left the house, I glanced into the newly organized and cleaned classroom, untouched for a week already, and had to pause for a moment: I was taken aback by the shelves of books and the amount of materials that had been building up over the past few months. It looked like a real school! I realized with a start that things happen quickly although we rarely notice the changes as they take place. At times like this I get to smile and enjoy the feeling of progress. Another thing I noticed as I walked out the door, though, is how badly we are STILL in need of shelves: you'd think that after all we've managed to accomplish we could successfully have some new shelves built! But no! cardboard boxes and plastic veggie crates are still valuable storage entities at this point.

Classes continue as normal with changes being made to accommodate the transient foreign families that come and go throughout Pavones. Our student base remains solid and is growing in numbers of locals, which both Raphel and I consider rewarding. The number of students that now attend the two types of classes we offer are as follows: ESL classes with local Costa Rican natives, ages pre-K through adult, around 20, and home school classes with English-speaking students, grades 1-6, around 10. The experiences we've had teaching adult ESL classes has been perhaps the most noteworthy because we are truly learning as we go along and adapting to the challenges that present themselves. Our adult students can ask some pretty advanced questions; therefore our grammar knowledge grows just as our students' does! Likewise, the home school classes are progressing nicely and we are able to become more creative with our programs. As the year moves on, we supplement the Calvert curriculum with more exciting activities like science and art projects. Raphel is now using a Waldorf- based program, Oak Meadow, with her sixth graders.

During our July break ECC and Pavones had the pleasure of hosting a group of six high school students from Kalapuya High School in Eugene, Oregon. Their three week trip, which could aptly be named something like Global Services Outreach Program: community service and cultural integration excursion for high school students was a great success (sounds catchy huh? We may just be able to market that!)! The six students, their head teacher, their principle, a nurse chaperone, and two of my friends from South Eugene High School comprised a group of enthusiastic volunteers eager to serve the community and experience new things along the way. A few of their main activities Raphel and I helped organize for them were: 1) a treasure hunt/sign painting project they did with other local high school students, 2) a trip to the Guiymi Indigenous Reservation where they lived with local families and experienced their lifestyle for three days, 3) the "Life Stories" series where a variety of Pavones locals were invited to dinner and asked to share about their lives in a familiar setting, which was, overall, designed to give us all some interesting perspectives on the multicultural connections in Pavones and the changes that are taking place here, 4) a trash clean-up of the town, and 5) painting our school. There was plenty of time to fit in some fun activities like surfing, bike riding, and relaxing to prevent burnout. Please see pictures on our website's Photo Gallery page! Apart from some mild cases of cultural shock and the fact that things function here on "tico time", we were all impressed with how smoothly the trip went and are very excited to make this an annual event. This pilot program has a real possibility for being a new phase of ECC and possibly taking us into the future. Thank you to Calan Taylor, Fred Crisman, and the students of Kalapuya High School for their eager participation and for giving me and Raphel this valuable experience as well.

I think what has characterized the last few months for us is our realization that we must start to look seriously into the future of ECC, both short term and long term. Along with this come two dilemmas: defining our identity as a school in Pavones and finding new ways to financially support ourselves. Two big things we are faced with! Already, next year is on our minds and we must make serious decisions about introducing more classes, recruiting more students, and perhaps adding another teacher. All of this means ECC is in a constant process of change and we are learning that it is imperative to stay true to ourselves and our goals for the school while staying flexible. No easy feat. Also, the financial situation gets more and intense as the fundraising money from last year gets depleted. Besides deciding to have another fundraiser in January in Eugene, we are forced to look down other avenues to bring in more money. Grant proposals, high school volunteer programs, as mentioned previously, and college internship programs are all ideas we're entertaining for the future. With effort, hard work, and constant help from family, friends, and other supporters, I am confident that anything could happen and we will continue to be successful. ECC is manifesting in the lives of everyone involved, much much beyond Pavones and Eugene, and forging forward into the unknown. The idea has become a reality.

Pura Vida,

Haley