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Canadian-Costa Rican Cultural Exchange
By Hollie Pratt-Campbell
One crash course in culture shock coming
right up. Twenty students from Regiopolis-Notre
Dame Catholic High School are travelling to
the remote Costa Rican fishing village of
Parismina this week to fulfil a requirement
for the International Baccalaureate (IB)
Diploma.
The rigorous academic program is aimed at
highly motivated students who are interested
in receiving an education with a global
perspective. The IB diploma requires
students to complete 150 hours of
creativity, action, and service, in which
they strive to make a difference in the
lives of others.
"We try to arrange opportunities for
students to get involved in something like
this to complete that requirement," says
teacher and guidance councillor Len Whalen.
"[This trip will inspire them to] ask
questions about the greater existence of
life outside our own community, and the
challenges they face working within another
culture."
The students will work with the organization
Globe Aware, which offers local community
projects financial assistance and help with
manual labour; they will have opportunities
to work at Parismina's turtle hatchery, help
out at schools, and work in restoration
projects across the community.
"This has been a great experience," says IB
co-ordinator Francine Delvecchio. "We're
working with a really wonderful group of
students. One of the things that really
appeals to me about this particular project
is that it includes a cultural component, a
humanitarian component, and also an
environmental component. It's a really neat,
well-integrated project."
Another important aspect of the trip is
sharing Canadian culture with the Costa
Ricans. With the help of Whalen, the
students wrote a play, Canada: A Tour on a
Loonie, which they will perform for school
children in Parismina. The play stars
Camille Engel, Callum Scott, and Ben du Toit;
it tells of two Spanish children who find a
map of Canada and a loonie on a beach.
Wherever they drop the coin on the map, they
are transported to that spot, and shown
around by a character called Captain Canada.
A Tour on a Loonie also features well known
characters like Sir John A Macdonald and
Celine Dion. The play includes dance numbers
which depict the northern lights and
Canadian urban life, as well as audio visual
elements featuring numerous scenes of
Canadiana.
To prepare for their roles, Camille and
Callum had to learn all their lines in
Spanish — a language neither student spoke
prior to taking part in the play.
"It was fun learning some words in Spanish,"
says Camille. "Maybe they're not the most
important words, but I can talk about one
thing — the Rocky Mountains."
"We learned a lot of Spanish but it's not
like we can have a conversation in it," adds
Callum. "It'll be interesting to see [how we
will communicate with people in Costa Rica].
I went to China in the summer, where I also
didn't speak the language, but I still got
along with the kids there and did some
activities. I'm looking forward to the same
type of experience."
Ben has also enjoyed many new experiences
while working on this project, from meeting
new friends to taking part in a play.
"It's been hectic but also lot of fun," he
says. "I haven't really done a drama
production before so it's been neat having
the whole play experience. I'm looking
forward to seeing the new culture, too, it's
something I've never done before."
The group leaves Dec. 4, and returns Dec.
12.
"We're all really excited about the
possibility of travelling to a community
that's remote," says Whalen. "The
accommodations are going to be fairly basic,
so it'll give us a chance to see how people
in another culture live."
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