Well, the cat's out of the bag! Dan and I loved Costa Rica so much that we will be living there for the next two years! We will be teaching at the Cloud Forest School in Monteverde. It is the opportunity of a lifetime and we couldn't be more excited. There's a lot to say about this incredible school and town but first I will give you a brief synopsis of our job search.
At the end of February, things in Myanmar weren't looking the greatest. The military coup and COVID-19 were both ongoing. Our school released an announcement stating that if teachers decided not to return for the 2021-2022 school year, we should let them know ASAP. After much discussion, Dan and I had to make the decision that was best for us. It was difficult to come to but we decided to notify the school that we wouldn't be returning. Although it was lovely working with our students, assistant teachers, and the administration, it was really difficult for us to teach the entire year pre-recording lessons, not being in the country where we are teaching, and not getting the student interactions that teachers go into the career for. After we made our decision, we began the job search immediately.
There was one thing we knew and it was that we wanted to continue to teach abroad. After getting evacuated from Indonesia after only six months and not even getting the chance to be in Myanmar, we felt as though there is so much we still wanted to do with international teaching. We applied for many, many jobs across the world. After many interviews, at the end of April, there was a clear front runner- the Cloud Forest School in Monteverde. After a zoom meeting with the principal of the school, she invited us to come and visit the school. At the time, we were living in Esterillos Oeste which is about a 2.5 hour drive up the mountains to Monteverde. We left a few days after for Monteverde! The principal and her family took us out to dinner, gave us a tour of the school and Monteverde, and even showed us possible living areas. The day ended with two big yesses from Dan and I. Our future principal allowed us to explore some more of the school on our own including our future classrooms!
The Cloud Forest School is a bilingual, private Pre-K to 6th grade school that services the students of Monteverde and the international community. The school is environmentally-focused with over 100 acres of cloud forest. In short, it is GIANT and so beautiful! There are only a few cloud forests left in the world and I get to be working in one of them. I feel very fortunate for this once in a lifetime opportunity.
Monteverde is in the Puntarenas province of Costa Rica. It is up in the mountains and known as one of Costa Rica's major ecotourism destinations. There's ziplining, suspension bridges, hiking, shopping in the small downtown area, and more. It's a little cooler (weather wise) than where we've been the last few months which we are both looking forward to!
Dan and I can't wait to embark on our next adventure. Costa Rica is a beautiful country and I am so grateful to have the opportunity live and work here for two years. We will leave at the end of July so if you want to catch up before we are off, let me know! In the meantime, we'll be packing and preparing to teach in Costa Rica!
It is likely that you are living the best life of anyone that I know. How very exciting for you both. I look forward to more of your writing. It really is quite good.
My warmest regards,
Zoot
Brian
you know...Joanie's husband.
😎