More pictures!

I am on a picture-posting roll! Here are some from the past few months:

CR Independence Day assembly

A few chicas poderosas in traditional Costa Rican campesino clothingChicas making healthy cookies (recipe from my neighbor, Terry Walters`, cook book!)

The final product-- yum!

My Mom doing the ¨human knot¨ activity when she came to visit

Creativity Day Plays (in English!)

Isn´t her mask adorable?!

The kids love doing bunny ears

Little Red Riding Hood cast

¨What a big mouth you have¨
¨To eat you!!!¨

Little red, the grandmother, and the wood cutter enjoying the food that little red brought in her basket

The 3 bears, goldilocks, and ¨friend¨

Goldilocks and ¨friend¨ (because goldilocks would have had way to many lines to memorize if it was just her and the 3 bears)

Mi Casa!

Pictures of my home for the next 8 months:



view from the front door. this is the 'sala' aka main living room area, which is also the perfect spot for my English class

the kitchen. that red sink and bucket is my laundry area

kitchen table with cool log chairs, as well as space to hang clothes to dry during the rainy season

where the magic that is my cooking takes place. this is the first time I made tortillas all by myself... the final product-- yum!my bed with lots of pictures of family and friends surrounding it

all of the clothing I have in CR is in this picturemy adorable 13 year old neighbor
playing uno in the sala--- a typical Sunday afternoon with my neighbors

Noticias!

A time in my PC service that I was not certain was going to come has officially arrived. PC requires a certain amount of time spent with a host family when one first gets to site for integration reasons. When I first got here, PC/CR had a somewhat extensive 1-year minimum, which has recently been shortened to 6 months. Especially in rural CR, it does not take long to assimilate and adapt--- and perhaps more importantly, for town members to adapt to you--- so this modification makes sense. However in my town of 300 people, empty houses are not common. When I arrived last year, there was a little cluster about 500 meters down the hill that continues down to my host family’s house with 3 empty houses, but they had since been occupied up until a few weeks ago, when I found out that 2 were vacant. I contacted my PC boss who came to approve it and moved in a few weeks ago. The house is fantastic--- 2 bedrooms, nice living room/dining room area, and a large kitchen—the kitchen is typical campo style where it’s not entirely enclosed, but rather enclosed with a fence material, making it more airy and spacious.

As I have mentioned in my blog, I have been incredibly lucky to have a host family who took me in and made me truly feel like another member of their family. I am beyond indebted to them for their kindness, opening their home to me and treating me like a daughter/sister. While I believe this is the right move for me at this point in my PC service, it is comforting to know that they live right down the road. They have already had me over multiple time sand I look forward to having them to my house (though my cooking cannot compare to my host mom’s!).

I believe that overall this change will be very positive, however all new experiences present their challenges and so here I have outlined the advantages and disadvantages of living solita in the campo of Costa Rica:

PROS
-having the opportunity to try my hand at cooking my own food
-getting to know my new people in the town; my new neighbors include a bunch of really sweet kids who constantly keep me busy, asking to do origami and practice yoga, among other activities
-making my own schedule
-embracing my inner Miss Fix-It
-being able to invite people over and play hostess, as opposed to always being the guest during the past year

CONS
- washing laundry by hand (and then worrying about clothes getting wet while they are hanging out to dry)
-no fridge (yet!), so no cheese, milk, or refrigerating leftovers (of which there are lots when only cooking for one person)
-dealing with scary tropical bugs (and what I believe was a bat in my bedroom my 2nd night here) by myself— my broom comes in quite handy for this so I can keep a considerable distance from them

This is the first time that I have ever lived alone, so it is quite an experience growing accustomed to all that living alone entails while being in a foreign country. I believe this will change my dynamic in town for the remaining months. Living with a host family kept me busy as there is always something to be done on the farm. Living on my own, I have the flexibility to make my own schedule and involve myself in more activities in the elementary and high schools. Another pro is the fact that my “commute” to the elementary school is now only 5 minutes, cutting out 15 minutes of steep hills. In that vein, I went this morning to the town next door, where I have done some work with the women’s group and approached the teacher about teaching English once a week. The school consists of 5 kids in all different grades and just one teacher, who does not speak English. Two of the kids are the ones who had approached me about teaching English over the winter vacation and I know they are really dedicated and excited. I also talked to the women’s group president about helping with some business computer classes (we’ll see how that goes—I need to brush up on my Excel!). At the elementary school in my town, my director skills, honed with arte por la paz a few months back, are again being put to the test--- and this time in English! In September there is a creativity day in the school and the principal asked me to do a play in English. In collaboration with the English teacher, we are going to put on “Goldilocks and the 3 Bears.” It should be quite the challenge, but I think it will be great!

So as my Mom says, “it’s all good!” And even better knowing I’ll be back in the US for a trip to visit family and friends September 10-21—can’t wait to see everyone!

Pura Vida,Tes

Some Stories and Quotes

In my journal, I often find myself documenting vignettes--- seemingly small but personally significant experiences. I decided to share a couple of them here, with the hope that they may illuminate a bit more what life is like here:

In the pulperia by the soccer field, the main town hang out, one of the ways to pass the time (besides the usual chatting among neighbors) is by playing one of the coin slot machines where you put in 15 cents or so and then play some mindless game. I in no way endorse this activity, which I believe is tantamount to throwing one’s money away. As I explain to anyone that will listen: I would rather spend my money on something concrete, like food, than gamble it away on the off chance of winning. Regardless, one day one of the kids whose family owns the pulperia (I’ve talked about this family before—they have 8 kids who are all really great-- one of my favorite families in town) was playing and won the equivalent of a couple dollars. Needless to say, he was ecstatic (that much money can go a long way in a pulperia with tons of 5¢ and 10¢ candies). Immediately after the change spouted out of the machine, he proceeded to ask everyone in the store, which was a few of his brothers and sisters as well as myself, what we wanted from the pulperia, because he was going to treat us. I was overwhelmed by the fact that his immediate reaction was not to get something big for himself, but instead literally “share the wealth.” At first I felt uncomfortable asking for something, but I quickly realized it was a matter of pride on his part; he was really happy to be able to do this. I can honestly say I will never forget the innate generosity that was revealed on that day.

I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned the fact that Ticos are really into their gardens. Con razón, as the tropical flowers that bloom all over the place are absolutely beautiful, but it always cracks me up that if there is ever a lull in conversation when I am visiting someone, bringing up flowers is a fool-proof conversation starter. However one day I had the realization that this whole flower business has much more significance than meets the eye. I was visiting the daughter of my old friend, Flora, when the subject of flowers came up. This is a woman who grew up with 15 siblings, who has worked hard her entire life raising 3 kids, picking coffee year after year to try to get a bit ahead. She explained to me that tending to her garden is something that, despite the trials and tribulations of life, makes her truly happy. She can see a concrete cause and effect in the care and patience that goes into tending the flowers and the beauty that results from this hard work. It is a point of pride and the epitome of a “labor of love” caring for flowers. Many women in my town have to put up with a lot of “stuff” (i.e. lack of respect and appreciation on the part of husbands and children for tireless efforts cooking, cleaning, and general up- keep of the household, issues such as alcoholism and abuse, all of which comes under the umbrella of the machista culture that dominates Latin America. I want to be clear that while these issues are not seen in every family, they are some examples of the issues facing women in rural Costa Rica and, I venture to say, world-wide). None the less, I had never thought about it before that for them, caring for their flowers is a joyful time-out from life that provides an aesthetically pleasing outcome, (which, in turn, provides fodder for conversation when people come to visit!).

I have also kept meaningful quotes from books, magazines, and newspaper articles that I have read during the past year and a 1/2. Here are some I’d like to share with you all:

“It might have been tempting to remember Guineau as an experience, the last hoorah of my youth, but it never has been and never will be. It’s a place, like any other, with people who cannot be captured in a single photo. Time can’t be stopped. We are, all of us, constantly moving forward, along roads full of potholes and curves and red dust so thick we can’t always see exactly where we’re headed.”
-Annie Mascorro, PCV Guineau ‘00-‘02

“Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life-- they feed the soul. When writers make us shake our heads with the exactness of their prose and their truths and even make us laugh about ourselves or life, our buoyance is restored. We are given a shot at dancing with, or at least clapping along with, the absurdity of life, instead of being squashed by it over and over again. It’s like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea. You can’t stop the raging storm, but singing can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship.”
-Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

“Maybe this is what we get in life, a few great loves: loves that return us to ourselves when we need it most. And maybe some of those loves aren’t people, but places—real and adopted homes—that fill us up with light and energy and hope at moments when we feel especially tired or lost. That is the beauty of love in all its forms. We don’t know when or how it is going to save us.”
-Laura Dave, Modern Love 1.20.08

“When it comes to life, we spin our own yarn, and where we end up is really, in fact, where we always intended to be.”
-Julia Glass, Three June

“You can’t solve all the problems of the world, but each day you can do something. A certain peace comes from doing what you feel you should be doing.”
-Jane Goodall

I believe I am long overdue for a blog update, so here I am, updating! So, what’s new? Vamos a ver…

I am happy to report that, due to letters and meetings that were written and attended by development association members and myself, the Municipality sent machinery to my town to fix the roads for the first in longer than anyone can remember. As I have mentioned before, improving the quality of the roads here is the number one priority identified by town members. This past weekend, they used various equipment to level out the road and then brought in multiple truckloads of rocks and earth in order to leave the roads, as they would said here, “bien chineados” (very pretty). Needless to say, it is a huge improvement from before and I am hoping it will make a big difference in terms of being more easily transitable as the worst part of the rainy season rapidly approaches. This collaboration between the development association and the Municipality is a bigger deal than it might sound. For any project with the Municipality to come to fruition, a tireless set of requisites must be completed. It has certainly been a learning process, but what we have learned will be useful in years to come. Before this year, the development association was not aware of the procedure for being part of the municipality’s budget to fix the road. Now we are well aware and have already written a letter to the appropriate people to be included for next year, too. In other road-improving news, we have also submitted a proposal to make some cement drainage ditches (wow, I do not know what to call these things in English) in some of the steepest parts of the road so the water doesn’t run through the road. I will keep you posted, but as for now, every time I go running, any person I past will comment something to the effect of, “Isn’t it so nice to go running on this nice road, now?” And I happily answer, “Yes, it is!”

In the school, the basketball and volleyball nets were just put in this week, thanks to the grant from Kids to Kids. Now, when the kids get back from vacation (they have a 2 week winter break, kind of like our Christmas break, as the seasons are reversed here), they will learn how to play as part of the gym class they receive. Actually, that return to school, which should have been today, will not be for a little while. In Costa Rica, there is apparently a swine flu outbreak and so last week, the Ministry of Education declared that, in accordance to a decree by the Ministry of Health, elementary and high school will have an additional week (and possibly more) of vacation because 30% of kids are asthmatic and asthmatic people have a higher risk of catching the swine flu. What I fail to understand is why this is suddenly becoming a problem and why these same people have not been at risk from the beginning of this whole swine flu epidemic, but it’s hard to tell…

Ok, enough of my rant on Costa Rican institutions. So during this vacation, I have been reverting to my role of camp counselor, organizing arts and crafts activities, as well as games and yoga in the soccer field. When I’m brainstorming activities to do with the kids, I go back to my elementary school days and reminisce about what I liked to do. Therefore I have been making lanyard keychains, doing origami, and playing freeze tag and red light green light (remember?!). Any favorite childhood games that come to mind, feel free to pass them along, because I am always looking for something new to do!

In the last month, I received some very special visitors: my Mom, followed by Genie and Rus. My Mom’s visit was a perfect combination of relaxing at the beach and a beautiful hot springs that we had actually been to a few years ago on our visit to Costa Rica, as well as a few days in my town. It was an eye-opening realization how much things have changed since her last visit, which was in August of 2008. Last year, everything was new and exciting and now, at least for me, everything is more status quo. This is just my life and it’s not quite so new and exciting anymore. I think that has a lot to do with where I am at this point in my PC service--- over a year in site. Regardless, my students were really happy to practice English with her during the English class and my Mom also got to meet my chicas. And it was wonderful to spend time just with my Mom catching up on, well everything! Then the next week I went to the beach for a day with Genie and Rus and then we ventured out to my town in a rental car on a very little-transited road that is in less than ideal driving condition, especially now due to the rainy season. But they made it and enjoyed a typical cafecito at my house and also attended an English class. I know I’ve said this before, but it bares repeating: it means so much to me when people come visit my town because it really is impossible to get an idea of what it is like without seeing it firsthand. On the note of visiting, I have some exciting news: I officially have tickets to come to the US on September 10th. I will be spending a weekend in Baltimore and then the week in CT. Even if I can’t see everyone, it will be nice to at least have easier communication access for a little while! I am counting down the days to see everyone, especially to celebrate Rosh Hashanah with my family--- I can’t wait!

And on that note, I’m off to bed!
Pura Vida,
Tes

Pictures!

Ok, let`s see here. Here are some pictures from the past few months...

my lovely home-made birthday cake from the surprise English class party
my whole English class at the party
party-goers eating cake. please notice the Mambo #5 video in the background.

the girls and I
the guys and I

the arte por la paz kids in all their t-shirt, nametag, and peace tattoo glory

peace!

my kids up on stage--- the boy with the P and cape is "peace man"

this is my new little puppy Coco who is definitely tico-- he loves mango!
Coco otra vez, isn't he adorable?!

Arte por la Paz

The word proud doesn’t even come close to how I felt today at the “arte por la paz” event in San Jose today. As I wrote in my last post, today was the culmination of a month’s preparation with a group of 5^th and 6^th graders in the elementary school. Kids and volunteers from around Costa Rica came to San Jose to show off their plays, dances, poetry, and art work. It was an all-around wonderful day, but by far the best part was watching my kids do the play we had worked so hard on throughout these past weeks. I think I was probably as nervous as they were, especially because in our rehearsals we really had yet to get it 100% right, but I was totally blown away by their performance and when they were finished was practically bursting with pride. They even won the silver medal in the play category which was like the icing on the cake. All in all a truly wonderful day: as I was telling my Mom, certainly one of my top 5 days in PC.

Speaking of counting days, May 16^th marked my one-year as a volunteer. It’s strange to think: is this where I thought I’d be after being in my town for a year? I guess the answer to that question is that I really had no preconceived notion of where I would be after a year, especially as it wasn’t like I was coming in with a specific goal of improving “health education” or “agricultural practices” or something more specialized and specific like that; community development is quite broad which certainly has it’s advantages and disadvantages: I can involve myself in any project that I want in my town and that can be considered developing the community, however then it comes down to, is what I’m choosing to do in the community the most worthwhile? Is it sustainable? What kind of an influence am I having?

As I have mentioned before in my blog, doing Peace Corps truly epitomizes the “live life one day at a time” motto that of course is adaptable to life in general, but particularly so here. Something I’ve talked about with fellow Peace Corps friends is the intrinsic need to have some kind of quantifiable achievement: “I built a community center” or “I started a women’s group.” The first problem with that is that it is never just the PCV who is doing a specific project (or at least shouldn’t be, as that defeats the whole purpose of a sustainable community-driven endeavor). Second, so much of what we do as PCV’s is plant seeds for ideas that may not take place until the future (ie recycling), but the work is cut out for us in terms of at least beginning the process of changes in mentality or conscientiousness about issues.

For example, in terms of working with youth, while it may not be easily quantified, seeing those kids up on stage performing for the first time in their lives and doing an excellent job, I was confident of the positive influence this experience has had on them. I know that the self-esteem of each of them was soaring today, especially when our town was called for the silver medal. On the way home, they were already asking about next year and kvelling over how cool their medals, t-shirts, and even the name tags were. It was so sweet that something so seemingly insignificant as a laminated name tag meant so much to one of the boys. But long after the medals are lost and the t-shirts don’t fit anymore, I hope that they will look back on this day as a time when they did something completely out of the box that they didn’t think they had the confidence to do, but did anyway and did it well, learning that hard work and dedication does pay off in the end when you put your heart and mind to do something. And so, certainly for today, I feel really good about what I am doing here.

Here’s to having even more days like this in the coming year!