Spanish in the Morning, English at Night: The Week That Runs Out of Ojochal's Happiness Project

Every Saturday at 8:30 a.m., the Happiness Project at the corner of Principal and Papagayo opens for coffee and a drop-in conversation that switches languages halfway through a sentence. The organization calls it the Bilingual Chat Circle, and its November calendar lists it as a "Bilingual Breakfast." It lasts ninety minutes. The rest of the week leads up to it. Spanish learners and English learners spend Monday through Thursday studying in separate rooms and often in separate towns, and on Saturday morning both groups sit down at the same tables.

A schedule with two directions

The Spanish side of the week happens at the building in Ojochal, early in the day. The November calendar has Spanish Conversational on Mondays from 8:30 to 10:00 a.m. and Spanish Beginners Advanced on Tuesdays in the same slot. According to the organization's Spanish classes page, local Ticos teach these courses, which are low-cost and begin several times a year.

The English side happens in the evening and travels. The English program describes "practical English classes taught by volunteer Ticos and Expats" that start three times a year. It names Ojochal, San Buenas, Punta Mala, Coronado and Lagunas as class sites. Here is how the calendar spread those classes across the last week of October:

That makes six towns in three evenings, stretching from Lagunas in Barú to Ciudad Cortés, with Ojochal as one stop among them. English classes go out across the southern zone, while Spanish classes stay in the Ojochal building. Both are set for the hours people have free. Morning Spanish suits people whose days are open, and evening English, held in the learners' own towns, suits people who work during the day.

The November calendar is shorter on the English side. Ojochal's Thursday class runs from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on November 5, 12, 19 and 26. Since classes start three times a year, the events calendar is the place to check when sessions in the other towns are scheduled again.

Why Saturday holds the week together

The pattern comes from the people who started it. The About page says Diane K. Smith, a retired medical doctor from Georgia, saw a need for an organization that would help Ojochal's Tico and expat communities integrate. She and co-founder Jeff Olson brought together a small team of expats in 2022. The organization's motto is "Happier and Better, Together," and it describes its work as bridging Costa Rican and expatriate cultures.

Classes can't do that on their own, because each class is full of people learning the same language. The Chat Circle is where the two groups meet. The events page describes it this way:

Ticos and Expats have the opportunity of conversing cassually over coffee in a relaxed atmosphere that is open to the mutual struggle of learning from other.

"Mutual struggle" is the key phrase. Someone who spent Tuesday morning on Spanish verb endings is talking with someone who spent Thursday evening on English, and each one needs the other's language. Nobody gets to be the expert for the whole conversation. It is drop-in, so nobody needs to register or keep pace with a term. Saturday Boxing follows from 10:30 a.m. to noon, which turns the morning into a two-part routine for anyone who stays.

The hours between the classes

Not every slot on the calendar is about language, but most of the rest serve the same purpose. They are shared hours, open to both communities, with no course to sign up for. Here is a regular November week at the building:

1. Monday: Spanish Conversational 8:30 to 10:00 a.m., with Coffee Time running 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. In the afternoon, the Women's Support Group meets 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. and Christmas Choir Rehearsal runs 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
2. Tuesday: Spanish Beginners Advanced 8:30 to 10:00 a.m. The bilingual Alcoholics Anonymous meeting is listed for Tuesdays 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. on the weekly events page.
3. Wednesday: Balance Class 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., which the organization lists as free and led by Tanya, then Coffee Time 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. The Men's Support Group appears on November 4 and November 18 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
4. Thursday: English Classes Ojochal, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
5. Friday: Community Market, 9:00 a.m. to noon, on November 6, 13, 20 and 27.
6. Saturday: Bilingual Chat Circle 8:30 to 10:00 a.m., then Boxing 10:30 a.m. to noon.

Coffee Time is the least structured slot. The events page describes it as a chance to "share a cup of coffee with the HP committee," every Monday and Wednesday from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. On Mondays it overlaps the Spanish class by an hour, so someone leaving class at 10:00 can walk straight into an open room. The Friday market works the same way. The organization calls it a "Community Sale" where "all are welcome," and the market contact listed on the page is Vanessa. The About page lists Vanessa Gutierrez as the organization's lead for administration, marketing and communications.

The calendar also has a Women's Health & Vitality program on Mondays and Fridays. The weekly page and the monthly calendar show it at different times of day, so confirm the hour on the current calendar before you go.

November adds rehearsals and recruiting

For anyone reading this in early November, Monday afternoons are when the building is busiest. Christmas Choir Rehearsal runs from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. on November 9, 16, 23 and 30, after the first session on November 2. The listings are for rehearsals. No December performance date or venue has been posted yet, so the calendar is the place to watch for one.

Two other groups are recruiting, and they follow the same pattern as the language program. The Blue Morpho Folkloric Group, the Happiness Project's traditional dance group, is restarting and looking for "Tica and Expat dancers." The call is posted in both English and Spanish, with Marie as the contact. The Gentle Fire, hosted by Alex Searle, is a group for "Expat and Tico men ages 18 and up" that meets in English every other Wednesday from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the building, with a suggested donation.

Both calls ask for Ticos and expats together, and the folkloric group's call is printed in both languages. The organization describes the same idea on its events page, saying it has "seen firsthand how much joy there is to be had in Tico and Expat grandparents, parents and children coming together to learn, grow and take care of one another."

Reading the calendar as a map

Put all the November listings together and the building has a clear job. Morning Spanish brings newer arrivals into Costa Rican life at the pace of a course. Evening English goes out to Coronado, Punta Mala, Lagunas and Ciudad Cortés, where the learners live. Coffee Time, the Friday market and the Monday choir are open hours that need no shared language to start. Saturday's Chat Circle is the hour when both groups practice on each other.

The Happiness Project is open about being low-cost and run by volunteers. Its pages describe classes as low-cost and workshop fees as minimal, and they don't publish a price list. To join a class, use the inquiry forms on the English and Spanish pages. For anything else, the weekly events page and the monthly calendar are kept up to date. The next Friday market on the November calendar is November 6, and the next Chat Circle is the following morning, Saturday, November 7, at 8:30 a.m.

At Tropical Investments, we work in Spanish and English every day, and we know how much of life in the Southern Pacific depends on places like the corner of Principal and Papagayo. If you are new to Ojochal and want to talk about how the town fits together, in either language, Karol Barboza and our team are glad to sit down with you.