Homeward Bound

The students have set-off on their journey home!
Thank you for your support and trust in the program.

Delta Air Lines Flight 902

1. ON TIME

   SJO

   ATL

   San José · Fri, Jul 29				Atlanta · Fri, Jul 29
   Departed	Terminal	Gate		Estimated arrival	Terminal	Gate
   6:57 AM	M	05		12:55 PM	-	F9
   Scheduled departure 7:00 AM				Scheduled arrival 12:57 PM

If you have any questions please feel free to call the office (303)679-3412.

All the best,
Maria

Maria Selde
Program Coordinator
World Leadership School

Student video is live

Congratulations to our first TabLab intern students for completing an incredible trip.
Check out their adventures at the student-produced video below:

https://youtu.be/5qgfhMEF6xA

Well done, Maggie, Tyler, Max, and Harrison!
Pura vida-
The TabLab Team

On their way to San Jose!

The student interns left this morning for San Jose!  On the way, they will tour a volcano and do some shopping, so it will be another full day.  Tonight, they will stay at Adventure Inn in San Jose for an early night.  Tomorrow morning will be an early flight, and Walter will have them at the airport by 4:00 am!  Expect your students to be excited and very, very tired.

Kidding about that whole "no water" thing

That's all - just letting the moms and dads know that the interns were having a good time joking around with last night's blog "Day 10 Without Water."
It's only been 8 days without water.
Kidding again.
The interns have had their fill of rice, beans, local food, various fruit juices, and WATER!  The most impressive meal was Harrison's third plate of food at Daniel's farm.
You have a great group of kids, and we have enjoyed working with them.  Today they will go rafting, and then we get ready to head home.  I know their host families already miss them, and there were lots of hugs and some tears.  The TabLab Costa Rica Team will miss them too, and we all agree that this is a special group.
Pura Vida!

Day 10 without water

On Monday, we had a challenge day and we walked around the town completing various tasks. First, we went to an art class with Max's host mom. We made bowls and painted ladybugs and flowers, Max's flower was interesting... so he traded with the teacher. On the other hand, Maggie was able to finish not only the bowl but also a rock with a turtle on it- so fun!
Next we went to a dairy farm to milk cows. We all were able to milk about a half a glass of milk, and Tyler even drank his!
After milking, we had a dancing class. We even took a video which will never be seen. Please don't ask when we get back :)
Next was sugar cane pressing. It was imPRESSive. We all drank our freshly made pure cane juice, delicious!
After sugar cane pressing, we made corn tortillas with some of the locals and ate them afterwards. We learned about all the necessary ingredients and the way to shape them.
Finally, we all had a huge awesome dance party with the locals and our host families. We had great food and music.

Today, we all said goodbye to our families in the morning and went to the eco lodge for lunch after a few hours at the school.
We got to go zip lining in Chillamante over the Sarapiqui River and we had a ton of fun. All of us cannot wait to go rafting tomorrow and we are also very tired and going to bed now and Goodnight Buenos noches

Tablab Team 2016

Hi!
We've been busy lately! Between projects and exploring Costa Rica, we haven't had the opportunity to blog until now!
On Friday, we spent the day at the high school, Liceo El Paraíso, working on our video and discovered that Liceo has a smart board given to them by the Costa Rican Government which they didn't have enough time to setup, so the smart board was adopted as another project.

On Saturday, we had a soccer match! It was Liceo El Paraiso's team, made up of anyone and everyone who wanted to play, against a team from Chilamate, who had jerseys, soccer balls, and warmups, three things that El Paraíso is yet to adopt. The game was great! Max, Tyler, and Harrison played midfield and by the end of the first half we were losing 5-2. The next half we played even better though! We didn't allow any more goals and ended with a score of 5-4, which we were all happy about!

After the soccer match, we went to Costa Rica's Best Chocolate- an organic farm centered around conservation and restoration of Costa Rican forests. They taught us all about chocolate's history and the origins of production. We tried raw cacao beans, cocoa liquor, drink of the gods with toppings from milk to cinnamon to hot chili powder to nutmeg, and all the chocolate we could eat.

On Sunday, we had a session for the local community to learn how to create emails and facebook profiles and pages. It was a great success!  After the session, we worked more on the smart board. Because Liceo has 6 classrooms, we designed a mobile cart for the classroom, and  attached the projector using innovation (mostly velcro, zip ties, and cardboard). Teachers can wheel the projector into their class and use it to improve their learning experience!

Until next time,
The TabLab Team

A Trip to Finca Organica de Sarapiqui

After working all morning at the school, instructors Walter and Jose took the group to a local organic farm where they raise pepper and vanilla.  Daniel and his family are working with several other local families to make a consortium of organic farmers to increase health and reduce chemical pollution to the environment.  

TabLab interns and their local student hosts enjoy lunch prepared by Daniel and his family from organic local ingredients.

Students competed to see who could gather the most ripe pepper pods through the plantation.

 It was close, but the interns were pretty sure they won!

Maggie tastes a fresh cacao bean.

Tyler feeds the biggest pig we've ever seen... watch for a cameo in the student-produced video!

Students return to the school to wrap up their morning projects before heading back to their homestay.

Getting to know the community of El Paraiso

As the director of TabLab, I had the pleasure of arriving in El Paraiso and immediately attending a community meeting for women with TabLab intern student Maggie.  We met with her homestay host mom as well as many other women from the neighborhood.  Max, Harrison, and Tyler's homestay host moms and sisters also joined the conversation.  (The men all met at another house.)  We talked about the incredible experience of the homestay as well as some of the challenges in a cultural exchange.  I was really impressed with Maggie's humor and confidence, as she speaks no Spanish.  The women all worked hard to help her understand and include her in the conversation (thank you, Lluvia for translating!) The next morning, all 4 interns continued their work at the school.  During a brief break, they were interviewed by the local students.  The interns are working hard, but they are also taking time to integrate with their new brothers and sisters.  This is a really incredible group of kids! - Heather Hiebsch

Day 3/4 in Costa Rica

Hey guys! Yesterday we finished and published the website for the school, and almost finished the tourist guide. Last night we had a gender meeting where all the girls get together and al the boys get together separately and talk about our lives and gender roles in the different communities. It was super interesting learning about the roles women and men play in the community. But today we are working on finishing the guide and starting the video. Also it turns out the school has a smart board that they haven't touched, the school wants us to find a way of putting it in one of the classrooms. One more project added to the list, but at least we have 2 down :). We are spending the morning at the school working and for lunch our student partners and us are heading to a farm or plantation to spend the rest of the day learning about that and maybe helping out! We are having a blast and can't wait to tell you all about it!


Tables Team 2016

Day 2 in El Paraiso

Yesterday we spent our first night on our homestays with the locals. We played games using cards, soccer balls, spoons, play dough, and more. It was a blast and the families are doing so much for us through their cooking and hospitality. The food here is better than I think any of us could have imagined and the people here are full of joy and have permanent smiles on their faces. This morning, we woke up early like people usually do in Costa Rica to make the most of daylight. Walking to the high school, we learned that it is not always an easy task getting to school as many people drive cars or motorcycles long distances to get there, we even saw one young girl riding a horse to school. This was our first full day in the community and we spent the majority working on the school website, which is almost finished, and a tourist guide for the area. This afternoon we are planning on returning to our homestays and playing more games with the children, we might meet up at the local park to play a game of soccer. We all enjoy our host families and the community around us, we are having so much fun in El Paraiso and can´t wait for what tomorrow will bring.

TabLab Team 2016

First Day in El Paraiso

At 11 am this morning we all went to our first day of school.  We had lunch with the principal, as well as some new friends that would be joining us on our stay here in Paraiso.  We sat in on a Psychology class which began our immersion with the students at El Paraiso Colegio. Later, we began our work on our first project, creating a webpage for the school.  We decided to add certain pages that would aid the students in their daily classroom activities, as well as the teachers.  This project is the first of four that we will be working on during this trip.  Local students have been engaging in this process with us, and will be joining us on the rest of our eight day trip to the local Colegio.  Later this afternoon we will be returning to our homestays and spending some time with them before dinner at the home.  All is well from El Paraiso, and we are excited to continue on with our journey.

TabLab Team 2016

Off to Our Homestays in el Paraiso!

Maggie, Tyler, Harrison and Max arrived yesterday to Chilamate Rainforest Eco Retreat for lunch and then an afternoon rainforest hike where they saw sloths, monkeys, frogs, birds and more! Then some activities, dinner and some rest.

This morning after breakfast they headed to meet their homestay families in el Paraiso and then to the High School!

Since they have left their phones behind, they will be blogging when possible from the ipads at the high school and Walter and I will help by getting photos up to keep you all updated!

Pura Vida! from Meghan, Chilamate Rainforest

First morning in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica

Hello family and friends of the TabLab Program in Costa Rica. The students arrived in San Jose and were greeted by their WLS Instructor, Walter. They had dinner and then got settled in their hotel. They will head to Chilamate tomorrow and will start updating the blog. Please don't hesitate to call 303-679-3412 with any questions. 

Erin Hawk

Director of Operations