Getting Back into the Swing of Things

I realized today that I haven’t written since I’ve gotten back from my trip to the states, which I think is somewhat indicative of how I’ve been feeling since then. I had an absolutely wonderful, if somewhat whirlwind, trip home last month, primarily for the very special occasion of my cousin Nora’s Bat Mitzvah. The bat mitzvah was lovely and it was the perfect opportunity to see lots of family members I had not seen in quite a long time. It was nice to have over a week, because I was able to really catch up with my aunts/uncles, cousins, and grandparents (and my Mom and Austin, too!) and at the end of the week I headed to Boston to see friends from college and CT. Needless to say, it was great seeing so many people I care about and had not seen in person for a very long time (besides my Mom and Ali, I hadn’t seen a family member or friend from home in over 9 months!). Let me say that all of the joyous time spent with all those people has made it a somewhat difficult transition back to Costa Rica. Of course it’s been nice seeing everyone and everyone has been more than welcoming after my absence. But it has been somewhat difficult coming to terms with the fact that I truly have two lives: in the US and here in Costa Rica and, though somewhat unfair for the CR life, my US life has a 23 year head start in terms of the relationships that I have there. I don’t want to make it seem like I’m not happy here, because that sincerely isn’t the case. This is more to explain that when choosing to do Peace Corps, it is difficult to conceptualize the idea of leaving one’s life behind for 2 whole years and I think that going back home to visit has certainly illuminated the weight of that decision.

However in typical “Tesandra, PC Volunteer” fashion, I am slowly assimilating back to my life here. Last week, I invited all the members of my English class to my house for a potluck Thanksgiving dinner. It was a major success, with the Ticos adventurously trying some new food I had brought back (stuffing, cranberry sauce, and, if I do say myself, some delicious pumpkin pie). Part of the PC experience is this cultural exchange and I was really happy to be able to share that part of our culture with them, specifically the concept of giving thanks for what we have. I had us go around in a circle and share with the group what each person was thankful for. I was really touched, and also surprised, that many people were so thankful for the English class and not so much as a chance to learn English (that too, but that’s more implicit), but also as an opportunity to get to know more members of the community. I think I take for granted the fact that it is such a small town and everyone knows each other, but while people know each other on more of a surface level basis, there aren’t that many opportunities for people to get to know each other on a deeper level and so the English class has been an outlet to foster those friendships.

the full spread-- yum!


my host mom serving the food


some of the boys in the class enjoying their food


my host mom and I!


On a related cultural note, now that I have shared Thanksgiving, I am really excited to experience a Tico Christmas. It seems that there are lots of traditions (and lots of eating!) involved and I can’t wait to experience it all. This past weekend we got the Christmas tree in our house (my very first Christmas tree!) and have been decorating all over the house. I’m sure I will be repeating the fact that I’ve never celebrated Christmas and why not countless times over the next few weeks, because even my host family, who definitely knows that I´m Jewish, ask if I’ve ever had a tree, even though I’ve told them many times that Jewish people don’t celebrate Christmas (not even the tree part!). I brought down a little menora and it’ll be interesting to see what they think of lighting the candles and reciting the prayers in Hebrew—I told them that after 8 nights, they’ll be singing along with me! We’ll see what happens!

Other pictures:
Long-awaited proof of me milking cows!

The corral where it all goes down





Across from the corral is this crazy looking contraption called a trapiche which turns sugar cane into a liquid, which can then be made into something called tapa de dulce which is basically a hardened block of brown sugar (really yummy!) used for cooking and making various drinks. Back in the day people used oxen to power the trapiche, but the trapiche at my host family’s house is really now more used for decoration, except for every once in the while when we decide we want some fresh caldo de caña (the liquid), but instead of using oxen, we use man-power!







Here I am turning the to squeeze the liquid out of the sugar cane— that smile is deceiving, it’s tougher than it looks, but also lots of fun!


the final product-- caldo de caña