First Post in Site

So, it has been exactly 2 weeks since I arrived at my site. I don’t know even know where to begin… well first of all, this whole arriving at a place that you know is your new home for the next 2 years has definitely been a lot tougher than I thought it would be. Although I came here to visit a little over a month ago, it feels exponentially different now. The first day I literally did not know what to do with myself. However after the initial shock, things have definitely gotten better. Right off the bat I got in touch with the high school principal because at the swearing-in ceremony I met a guy from the Ministry of Agriculture who is working to start a project for the youth of the town to start an income-generating project. After graduation the vast majority of people leave for a bigger city like San Jose to find work so the goal is to provide a reason for them to stay and work here. The project is very much in the beginning stages and I think it’s an awesome possibility for something that I could get involved with.

The weekend that I arrived, there was a camping trip planned for the seniors of the high school to learn team building skills and the guy I met at the swearing-in said he’s love it if I would come along, so I talked to the principal and ended up going. As soon as I got there, I hear someone call “Tes” (almost everyone, especially in my new site, calls me Tesandra, so I didn’t know who it could be) and turn around to see another PCV, Kayla, there with students from her school! It was really nice to have her there because the kids were definitely into doing their thing and hanging out (which I certainly can’t blame them for, since I remember what it’s like to be in high school and how cool it would be to get to away for a few days). Overall it was a positive experience and I think it was a good way to get to know some of the high school-ers in a less formal environment. The principal wants me to get involved helping kids with English as well as with self-esteems and motivation charlas (talks). Another PCV did an extended course called “Learning How to Learn” on study skills and I think that could be very beneficial for the kids, too. What I really want to do in the next few weeks is observe the classes to get a feel for how things are run and then get involved myself.

After I got back from the campamento, it was time to “get down to business.” However in PC terms, getting down to business comprises getting to know as many of the people in my town as possible. So basically anytime I am interacting with other people I am “working.” But seriously, I have really been getting into the lifestyle here. Here is a sample “day in the life:”
6am: wake up
6-6:30am: breakfast/get ready
6:30-7:30: milk cows (!)
7:30-8:30: collect fruit (including mango, oranges, sweet lemons, and lots of other Costa Rican fruits that I had never heard or seen before coming here but are really yummy) and then feed some of collected fruit to the rabbits (one of whom just had 6 little baby rabbits that are the tiniest little things I have ever seen!)
8:30-9:30: clean up around the house/outside
9:30-10:30: go running
10:30-12: shower, read/help prepare lunch/hang out
12-2: lunch/watch the news/relax (love that Latina siesta!)
-the rest of the afternoon includes going to the meeting of any group that may be having a meeting (the women’s group, the development association, etc.), going to the elementary or high school, or else hanging out with my host family
6-8pm: dinner/watch news
8-9pm: sometime around here, I’m off to bed after a long day!

So that is pretty much my life during the past 2 weeks in a nutshell. I have taken the adage, “early to bed, early to rise, makes a (wo)man healthy wealthy and wise.” I have never ever been a morning person, as anyone who knows me can certainly attest to, but I have been happily surprised to find that life in the campo is not hard to get used to. In the last couple days, I have gotten up around 6am without an alarm clock! What I’m hoping to accomplish in the next few weeks is to spend more quality time getting to know people. Already some of the women I’ve met have been asking when I’m going to stop by their houses, so I really need to solidify some “cafecito” dates. Running has also been a really good way to get out in the community, in addition to giving structure to my day and being a good source of excercise. Today I ended up taking a little break to eat some guavas (one of the yummy CR fruits) with a really sweet older woman who was on her way back to her house, guavas in hand. “Running” is actually really a combination of running and walking because, as I mentioned in a previous post, my town is one big hill. If, one day, I can run up that hill without stopping, I will know that I am in incredibly good shape because it is intense! So basically I get a big warm up from walking up the hill to the road with the church/elementary school/high school/cementary that is relatively flat and therefore run-able.

Alright, I´m currently in my closest bigger town (about an hour bus ride from my site, after I make the (aprox.) 3km trek up the hill to the bus stop) to catch up on email and do some much needed errands, so I´ll leave it at this.

Pura Vida a Todos!
Tesandra