Playing Croquet with my Family

       Croquet is a game that my family loves to play. When I was little, it was a tradition to play whenever my dad's side of our extended family came over. We stopped playing for many years when my grandma was no longer able to, but started again this year. Since I have gotten back from Costa Rica, we have been playing a lot. It is a super fun (slightly old-fashioned) game. I think it is most comparable to mini golf. I have won 1 or 2 games, but my dad and sister have one most. It is really fun to play with my family!
       This demonstrates Activity and Learning Outcome 4: Show commitment to and perseverance in a fieldwork experience. When we started playing croquet again this year, I was not very good, but now I win sometimes!

TAing at Del Mar

       While I have lived in Nosara, Costa Rica and attended Del Mar Academy, I have been teaching a lot. It is mostly outside of school at the Nosara Performing Arts Academy, but I have also been helping out with two fourth grade Spanish classes at Del Mar. I work with both classes for 45 minutes every Tuesday afternoon. The first class is non-spanish speakers, and the second is kids who are fluent or almost fluent in Spanish. As I am not fluent in Spanish, I can generally be more help in the first class. I help the kids with basic conjugations that they are learning, sentence structure, words and phrases, and anything else their teacher needs me to do.

       This activity demonstrates Service and Learning Outcome 1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth. Working with both of these classes shows my how much better my Spanish is getting, but how much room for improvement there is.

Teaching at the NPAA

       About a month ago, I found out about an organization here called the Nosara Performing Arts Academy (NPAA). Since then, I have started working as a volunteer teacher for several classes. I assistant teach two theater classes on Thursdays and I teach a group voice class on Tuesdays. This has really put me outside of my comfort zone. I had never taught voice before coming here, and teaching it to a group of teenagers is pretty scary. I am really enjoying myself, though. I love sharing the arts with others, and this is a great opportunity for me to work with a different community of people (even though most go to Del Mar).
       This demonstrates Service and Learning Outcome 3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a fieldwork experience. I set this volunteer opportunity up pretty much by myself. After a teacher suggested the NPAA, I contacted them and started working there every week.

More Surfing

       While I have been in Nosara, surfing has been one of my primary activities. It is really difficult and scary, but I'm improving and having a blast. The last few weeks, the waves have been especially big, but I have tried going out a couple of times anyway. I've also caught a couple of good waves and stayed on them for much longer than before. 

       I think this demonstrates Activity and Learning Outcome 2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process. Surfing is a big challenge for me, as I'd never done it before I came here. Practicing every week has really helped me improve.

Horseback Riding and Enjoying Nature

       In Nosara, the three "main activities" are surfing, horseback riding, and yoga. As of today, I have officially tried two of them. At the end of another amazing weekend, I went riding with a new friend of mine whose family owns several horses. They live in a part of Nosara that I had not yet been to, and riding horses was a great way to explore that land. One of the many amazing things about Nosara is that you are always only about 20 minutes from both the ocean and the mountains. Both of these environments offer different exciting activities as well as different looks at the beautiful land. Riding was my first "mountain experience," and it was a blast. Watching the sunset while we were riding was incredible and completely different from watching it from the beach. I can understand why the people living here try to be very eco-friendly and focus on protecting their environments. They live in such a beautiful place, and they want it to stay that way in years to come.
       This has been mentioned in several previous blogs, but it can't be stressed enough how much people love their lives here. I think the environment really contributes to how much joy people feel living here. I have read that being in nature, or even just seeing trees can improve your mood, and in Nosara it almost always feels like you are outside surrounded by nature. Even at school, the campus is mainly outdoor space. I think that being near other people who feel this joy in their environment is contagious; positive, happy people make you happier, so the overall effect is a feeling of connectivity and happiness in everyone. I feel so lucky for the opportunity to be living in this community of people and this beautiful nature. I hope that Andrew, Ilan, and I will bring some of the peace and happiness we feel back with us to Houston to share with others.
       This demonstrates activity because of the surfing and riding that I have been doing. I think it also demonstrates Learning Outcome 1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth. I am not very good at surfing or riding, but I am definitely improving, and I keep trying to get better.

Costa Rica Immersion Experience Week 1

       This year, as part of Post Oak's J/A-Term program, I planned a 3 month immersion experience in Nosara, Costa Rica. I am attending Del Mar Academy and living with a host family with two other boys from my school.
       We have officially been in Nosara for a full week, and the time has flown by. It is such a joyful community to be a part of, and it seems like the kids at Del Mar never get sick of each other. We spent our whole weekend with students from Del Mar at la Playa Guiones and the surrounding town, which is about a 20 minute walk from our house. Just like the school week, weekends here are a shockingly different environment to be apart of than in Houston. No one is stressing or running from one activity to another, instead they are surfing, swimming, eating, playing games, and enjoying each other's company. Everyone just goes with the flow and has a blast.
       Andrew, Ilan, and I have all noticed after only a week how happy everyone here is. There is no stress or pressure or competition; everyone supports each other. The lifestyle also feels healthier, which I think adds to the overall happiness of everyone. Additionally, everyone at the school is very welcoming. They all seem genuinely pleased to have exchange students at their school, and I already feel like I've known some of them much longer than just a week.
       Del Mar Academy is a fantastic partner institution for Post Oak, and I am so thrilled that we get to pioneer our exchange program with them.

       I think this demonstrates Activity and Learning Outcome 3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a fieldwork experience. I proposed and helped plan this immersion experience, and so far, it has been lots of activity between, surfing, walking, and just being outdoors.

Gift Wrapping for Child Advocates

       On December 8th, I went with my mom and sister to child advocates to wrap gifts that were being donated to children in the Houston area. We wrapped gifts for a few hours; I probably wrapped over 20 presents. It was a great experience to be helping children in Houston get nice, pretty gifts for Christmas.
       I think that this demonstrates Service and Learning Outcome 5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively. Some of the bags of toys were very large, so I worked together with my family and other volunteers to wrap them.

The River Recital

       I volunteered at The River again this semester. I worked with the 8-12 year olds and I had a blast! Saturday, November 23rd was the recital. I had missed the dress and tech rehearsals, so the rehearsal right before the recital was a little difficult and confusing, but once the other volunteers and I figured out what was going on, we fixed everything and the show went great!
       I think that the recital demonstrates Service and Learning Outcome 5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively. Since there are so many kids and so few volunteers, all of us in the 8-12 age group had to discuss and work together to make the show run smoothly. It just took a a little planning and a quick team huddle, and the show went great.

Local Music Festival 2019

       This year, I played at the Local Music Festival at Evelyn's Park for the second time. My band played for a 20 minute slot, and then I played an acoustic set for 10 minutes. It went really well, and I had a great time! Below are some pictures of us in action.

       This experience represents Creativity and Learning Outcome 4: Show commitment to and perseverance in a fieldwork experience. We played at the music festival two years in a row, which means that we showed commitment and growth in our musical and collaborative skills.

Volleyball Games

       During the Week of September 29, 2019, my volleyball team played 3 games. We won all of them! We have added about 2 hours of practice time every day, which has helped us improve a lot very quickly. Below is a photo of us playing, and a photo after our victories.

       Volleyball this week falls under Activity and Learning Outcome 2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process. The extra hours of practice were a challenge, especially in the middle of college application season, but they helped us to develop new volleyball skills and work together as a team.

Volleyball Tournament

     This weekend, my school's volleyball team went to a big private school tournament. We had only been practicing for a couple of weeks, and these were our first games, so we were all very nervous. We played 5 games in two days against some very good teams. It was a great experience even though we lost every game because it was a much bigger tournament with a more professional feel than any that I have been to before. It was really fun to play so much volleyball over the weekend too. Our team also played so much better than we ever have in the past, so I think the rest of our season could go really well as we practice and improve.
     I think that this volleyball tournament demonstrates Activity and Learning Outcome 4: show commitment to and perseverance in a fieldwork experience. Even though our team kept losing, we didn't give up and we played our hardest in each game.

Climbing Mt Fuji

       This summer, my family took a trip to Japan. My dad used to live there, so he has been wanting to take us for a while, and we finally got to go this year. Among the many exciting things we did, one of the best experiences was climbing Mt. Fuji. It was an extremely difficult climb; it took us two days, and I fought altitude sickness on the first. Once we saw the sun rise from the summit though, it was all worth it. Below is a photo of the sunrise on Mt. Fuji.

       This experience demonstrates Activity and Learning Outcome 2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process. This was my first time facing altitude sickness, but now I have learned how to persevere through it, and to recognize the signs before they get too bad.

Biking the Golden Gate Bridge

       On Monday, July 29th, my dad, sister, and I biked to and across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fransisco. It was a cool, cloudy day, so there weren't a lot of people out, which made it really easy and fun once we got to the bridge. The bike to the bridge was pretty difficult; it had lots of hills that we had to go up, but the way back was super fun when we got to ride back down those hills. Below are some photographs.

       This experience demonstrates Activity and Learning Outcome 1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth. I realized on this trip that I am not very good at biking; I find it pretty scary. I also learned that if I was in better shape it would be easier. I pushed through though and had a lot of fun.