My Town!

A few photos to give a better idea of where I am living


a view of the soccer field, aka the only flat area in my town


my house!



the road towards the school


view of the mountains. wayyyy in the distance on a very clear day, you can see the Pacific Ocean from here (unfortunately it takes about 4 hours by bus to actually get there because the road is in poor condition)


this is just a tiny of idea of the ¨rivers¨ that form in the roads in my town which, during torential downpours, literally flood to the point that when I walk thruogh, the water goes above my ankles


my dog, Ron (Rum), who I call Roncito-- isn´t he cute?

Comida y Tiempo

I was thinking of topics to write about and it came to me to write about two of the most obvious topics there are: food and weather. So here goes!

Comida:
As a preface, let me say that as a result of informal polling among PCV friends it appears that I have one of the best food situations around, for which I say “Gracias a dios,” as everyone here says in relation to any give situation. In addition there is “Sí dios quiere.” “See you at the meeting tomorrow?” “Yes, if God wants.” ¨I hope to do well in that math test.¨ “If God wants.” And then, yes, there is the “thank goodness” which I suppose we say a lot in English, too. Enough on that tangent. Anyway, the point being that I am extremely thankful for the fact that my host Mom is quite the good cook and I am learning tons of good recipes which I can’t wait to make for everyone which I come back, but I will now give you a sneak peak into the Tico diet. Two words: rice and beans. Really, Ticos can absolutely have rice and beans for breakfast (gallo pinto which consists of fried rice and beans with a side of cheese or sour cream called natilla), lunch (which could also include fried plaintains and luckily for me includes chicken, salad, and a picadillo which is a kind of vegetable side dish) and dinner (similar to lunch). Every day. The other key word of the Tico diet is carbohydrates. It never ceases to amaze me that one can eat spaghetti WITH rice and beans. A PC friend was telling me the other day that he could not believe it when lunch came out one day with pasta, rice, potatoes, and yucca (a starchy potatoe-esque that I am actually a really big fan of beause it has a better taste than potatoe). I don’t understand how the plates don’t break under the weight of such ridiculous amounts of starches, really! I definitely maintain that the fact that I haven’t gained a PC “first-year 15” á la the freshman 15 of college is that I run and walk everywhere all the time--- gracias a dios, verdad?!

Another integral aspect of the Tico diet is cafecito. Every morning upon walking up we have coffee. Then, in the afternoon around 1 or 2pm, more coffee (and apparently my family does not drink that much, relatively speaking). But if my host parents don’t have their afternoon coffee it’s as if something is off-kilter for the day and a topic of conversation. “I cannot believe I didn’t have afternoon cafecito!” For me, it’s more a matter of not liking the idea of “having” to have any kind of food or drink every single solitary day and for that reason I usually just have 1/2 cup upon waking up and then only in the afternoon if I’m visiting someone and they offer it to me or at a meeting, as most meetings here end with a friendly cafecito break. The craziest thing is that people are accustomed to drinking coffee basically as soon as they start drinking milk. My little host niece who isn’t even 2 years old drinks coffee and it’s totally the norm! I guess it really is just a matter of what’s normal is normal, but maybe there is some truth to the fact that coffee stunts your growth, seing as there are few members of my town, men or women, who are taller than me… hmmm!

Tiempo:
As you probably know, in tropical areas like Costa Rica there are two seasons, the rainy season and the dry season. As you may not know, the term rainy season, which I currently have the pleasure of considering a part of my everyday life these days, is an understatement. It should be more aptly termed the “torrential downpour season.” It cracks me up because I’ve read in CR guidebooks that as a way to make it sound better, they call the rainy season the “green season” which is certainly good PR work. Luckily in my town it’s green and beautiful all year round, but now it’s just really really rainy! The crazy part is that almost every single day when I wake up, it is gorgeous and sunny outside. I go milk the cows, go for my run, etc etc, then in the afternoon right after lunchtime the clouds fill the blue sky and it begins to downpour and any remnant of the sunny morning seems like a distant memory. I guess being from New England, I should be used to weather changing at the drop of a hat as the saying goes, “if you don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes” but here in CR I just can’t get over the regularity of beautiful mornings and not-so-beautiful afternoons.

However there always are exceptions, like a few weeks ago when I had a packed day of visiting the town next door for a meeting with a women’s group that is working on a project of producing vanilla and then in the afternoon going to the high school for a meeting with the kids who are working on the rabbit project (see previous post). Well, when I woke up to torrential downpour, the idea of walking an hour in the rain to the neighboring town was less than appealing so I called and rescheduled for the following week (which I did indeed have on a very nice morning, gracias a dios, the week after and it was quite successful—we had a discussion about the goals, resources, opportunities, and challenges facing the group and how to overcome the challenges and use the resources to take advantage of the opportunities) . Then, as soon as I got off the phone, a neighbor from the high school passed by to say that class was cancelled due to the rain. I couldn’t believe it—instead of having a snow day, it was a rain day! In the end, it was nice to hang around the house and get some reading done (by the way, I would highly recommend “The Last Lecture” to anyone who has not read it, as well as “Colors of the Mountain” which I am just finishing up), but it really cracked me up to have school cancelled due to heavy rains—it at least gives you an idea of the severity of the rainy season.

Alright, so in looking over this post, I feel like I am ranting a bit, but it’s really meant to give a peek into life here, so I hope it was successful in doing so. If you have any suggestions for blog subjects or questions about my PC experience, feel free to comment or email me and I will get right on it for the next post!

¡Ciao!
Tes

Shoes!

Quite a random side note

The other day my 12 year old friend was over and we were hanging out in my room talking about shoes and doing each other´s makeup (so this is what may life has come to, haha!) and she asked if I had bought any shoes since I’d arrived in Costa Rica. At first I said no, but then I realized that I had indeed invested in two pairs of shoes since my arrival in my site and then it dawned on me that the 2 pairs of shoes are entirely emblematic of my time here. After being here for less than a week, I realized that life on the farm is not complete without a pair of rubber boots. Sloshing around in the mud in anything but rubber boots is just not wise, unless you truly enjoy cleaning shoes all day long (which then leaves you with no time to actually do all the farm things you want to do!). So on my very first trip to my closest big town, I bought my big black rubber boots which I have probably used at some point during the day just about every day here.

My second shoe purchase was a more recent one. As I said in a previous post, I have been working to revitalize the women’s soccer team in my town, which poses the need for tacos (cleats), especially considering that it is currently the rainy season and therefore the field can get pretty slippery. Cleats are pretty much a necessity (literally, lots of people in my town own cleats and not sneakers, to give you an idea of how large a role soccer plays here—and how little a role running does, for that matter!) So last week when I went into San Jose to pick up the books for my English class (which starts on Thursday!) I also picked up, after much deliberation in the CR equivalent of a Foot Locker, a pretty cool looking pair (if I do say so myself!) of cleats which served me extremely well in our first game this past Sunday. Not to get into a whole thing, but although we did lose, we played against a team that has been together for over 8 years and so the fact that we totally and completely held our own (after being together for barely 1 month!), made me incredibly proud of us. I can’t wait to keep practicing and get better and better!

I just came back from playing about 3 hours of soccer at the cancha which luckily is just right up the way from my house (200 meters to be exact, which is the official address of my house and how the postman knows where to deliver my letters, “200 meters northeast of the soccer field.” As I mentioned in a previous post, they don’t use road names or number houses here, so addresses are based on the distance from any given landmark, oy vey, Costa Rica!). Anyway! I had a total, “I am so glad to be doing Peace Corps here, in my town” moment today. A few years ago there was a women’s soccer team in my town but due to some of the women having kids, getting older and probably a bit of pereza (laziness), they disbanded. The last few months I’ve been talking to my neighbor/running partner who really wanted to get it started again, so a few weeks ago I made a nice little poster to hang in all the pulperías to get people together. The first Sunday about 10 people came which isn’t too bad, but today we had our second practice with our coach (a.k.a. neighborhood friend on the guy’s team who I coaxed into training us) and it went really well. I didn’t think a lot of people would come since it’s during the week, but there were 12 of us and we ended up playing against a group of neighborhood kids who showed up and at a certain point during the game, I just had this surge of happiness that this is providing women, younger girls (of which there are many on the team!), and kids a way to get out of the house and exercising. In these rural towns, kids spend entirely too much time in front of the TV watching telenovelas (which, may I add, are complete garbage in my personal opinion) as opposed to reading or being outside (which is almost hard for me to believe because it is so beautiful out here, I want to be outside all the time!). Anyway, it was just a really great afternoon and definitely a reminder of how lucky I am to have the opportunity to be here.

So what else is going on? Well, a few weeks ago we had a Peace Corps “we’ve been here for 3 months so let’s get some more information on what we are doing here” training for a week in San Jose. It was really nice to spend time with my PC buds, not to mention staying in a nice hotel with wireless internet (milagro!). At the end of the week, we received a training by one of the most well-known English programs, Centro Cultural Costarricense Norteamericano, so that we can teach English classes in our town, using their methodology and books-- people can even receive a certificate upon completion of the course. When I got back to my town, I had a meeting the first weekend to see the interest level. I was expecting that everyone would show up and then I would “scare them off” with 6 hours a week of classes (plus homework!) and not missing more than 2 classes, but in the end only about 15 people came to the meeting. I told people I was going to have the matriculation 2 weeks later (this past Thursday) and during those 2 weeks, I don’t think I went anywhere without at least 5 people asking me about the class. Needless to say, I was all nervous that ALL these people were going to come, but in the end it turned out to be “pura paja” as they say here (literal translation: pure hay; actual translation: full of you know what) and I have the official count of 18 matriculated students. I’m actually really happy about it because I think that’ll be a good number, not too big or too small, and hopefully my new students will get really into it! People here are extremely motivated to learn English because in Costa Rica, it really is a gateway to tons of job opportunities, not only in tourism but also in the business world. I have mixed feelings about the fact that you practically “have” to learn English to get ahead in Costa Rica, but that is a whole conversation that is best had in person and not on my blog.

Which brings me to some exciting news. A few weeks ago I bought my plane ticket to come home for my cousin Nora’s Bat Mitzvah in November. I am beyond excited because by then I will have accumulated a fair amount of vacation days and will be stateside for about a week and a half! Although it’s 2 months away, I know the time will fly and I’m not sure how to mentally prepare myself. I’ve been away for 7 months now, the longest period of time I’ve spent outside of the US in my life, but I’ve kind of gotten to the point where this is my life and I’m used to it and I can barely imagine being home and doing things like, hm, speak English on a regular basis! Above all I am just really excited to see my family and friends and especially to be with my family for the bat mitzvah.

On a related note of family events, this past weekend was my cousin Jared's wedding. It really is one of the toughest aspects of doing Peace Corps that I cannot be home for such a momentous occasion, but I know that comes with the territory of making the 2 year committment to do the Peace Corps. Still, I was especially missing my family on Sunday, thinking of everyone being together to celebrate Jared and Lisa and I really wish I could have been there. I truly wish Jared and Lisa all the best and cannot wait to celebrate with them in person in November-- it will be quite a celebratory time! So mark your calendars for mid-November: Tes is making her return to the US of A. If I can’t see you in person, at least it will be substantially easier to talk on the phone!

Pura Vida!
Tesa

Pictures from My Site!

my mom and my host mom together!



my mom and I with the little baby rabbits


the rancho outside of my house



the brick oven in the rancho which we use to make pan casero (homemade bread) and all sorts of other delicious things



my host brother and dad preparing corn to make "choreadas" (really yummy corn pancakes)



go mom go-- grinding the corn to then make the choreadas



me making choreadas



the finished product!



this bouquet is made of flowers all found right outside my house

Special Visitor and More, 8/13

It has been a month since I’ve written, so I thought I’d give an update on how things are going. I am now passing the 3 month mark in site, which is the time when things are supposed to get going (volunteers say anytime between 3-9 months but since I have the benefit of having a high level of Spanish, I would hope I will be able to get started on projects earlier!). I have been somewhat hesitant to make finite commitments, because I really have wanted to get to know the members and groups of the community and have them get to know me before I got started. Although I go back and forth from feeling really good about the fact that I feel like an accepted member of the community from feeling like I haven’t particularly done anything, overall it’s the former and that in and of itself is an accomplishment. Of a town of 319, my host aunt who now lives in San Jose jokes that I know more people than she does and people are continually surprised when they’re talking about someone and I make the connection of who so-and-so’s parents/siblings/children are. I am definitely getting the hang of who’s who which is nice!

I finally got started doing the family interviews and it’s been a really great way to solidify relationships that I have been fostering with different families. With one family, the mom was talking about how much she likes to go for walks but has no one to go with and as I am known throughout my town for walking and running all the time, I told her that whenever she wanted to go, “vamos!” So as I was about to leave and she said, “how about tomorrow?” I said “sure!” Little did I know that we were going to explore pretty much every trail in my town and into the next town, stopping at a family friend in the neighboring town for lunch. When I arrived back at my host family’s house 4 hours later they couldn’t believe how far we’d gone and since then I have had numerous conversations with people about our “epic” walk (news about the gringa going for a walk sure does travel fast!). It is definitely an example of how with every person I meet, I continue to make more and more connections with people in my town, and in this case the town next door. In addition, it is an example of the kindness and generosity of Ticos, which is something that never ceases to amaze me and make me grateful to be here. I had never met the people we visited on our walk, yet we ended up staying for over an hour and they served us lunch and were just so gracious. This is so typical in my town, but every time it happens I think, this would never happen in Avon. If a neighbor stopped by on a walk (which would barely happen as it is), I would maybe offer a glass of water, but never a meal! But here I have rarely left a household without being fed a meal or at least cafecito (coffee with bread or pastry) and I must say it’s a lovely "costumbre."

On another note, this past week I had a very special visitor in my site… my Mom! It was wonderful seeing her and an amazing opportunity for her to get to see what my life here is like. She got up at 6am with us (the 2 hour time difference helped, because 6am here is 8am EST) to go milk the cows and feed the chickens and rabbits and in the process realized just how difficult milking a cow is… as will any lucky visitor who follows in her foot-steps! She got to walk up the crazy hill that is my road to the school/church/bus stop; it was a nice validation that my Mom, dedicated walker that she is, could not get over how long and steep it was. She got to meet lots of community members at a church event (lots of singing, dancing included), a meeting with a women’s group in the aforementioned neighboring town, a soccer game with the men’s team, as well as a more informal soccer game (in CR they are called “mejengas,” who knows where that word comes from!) including yours truly. When we first got to the soccer field, I was a bit intimidated to see only guys playing (ranging in age from 12-50), so I quickly recruited a girlfriend who lives across from the street to play and it was lots of fun.

It was great just spending time talking with my Mom (in English!) and I was quite impressed with her ability to speak in Spanish with everyone, especially during some conversations on a wide variety of topics (from family values to issues facing my town) with my host family. Being with her (and especially saying good-bye) made me really miss my family and friends. I think I had the realization that I am just beginning my service and still have 21 months to go (ah!) and that being away from everyone will be a lot harder than I had thought. But then I go back to the fact that Peace Corps is something I have always wanted to do and I’m really glad to be here, fulfilling my dream. There are so many opportunities for me to get involved and now is the time where I will begin to really get started. Now that this post has come full circle from the first paragraph (getting involved, etc etc), I will wrap it up.

Hope everyone’s well and enjoying the last few weeks of summer!
XXOO
Tesa

2 Months in Site!

Wow, time flies… this Friday marks 2 months in my site and 5 months in Costa Rica. It’s strange because sometimes I feel like I’ve been here forever and other times it feels like I’ve just left my family and friends in the states. So, 2 months down, 22to go… hmm, perhaps it’s better to take it 1 day at a time, which is exactly what I’ve been doing. In the states, I’m someone who lives by my planner and like to have it nice and filled up, but here “planner-planning” is not really an option. However I am slowly adapting and finding the joy in the spontaneity of having a totally unscheduled day. Of course it inevitably happens that the day with nothing going on (i.e. meetings/going to the school/etc) is the day that I end up doing the most things, which is the beauty of this point in my PC service. I know that a few months from now, between English classes and my collaborations with other groups, my planner will once again be quite filled up, but in the meantime, these first few months are really to get to know the members of my community. Officially, I am working on a community analysis, which is due after the first 6 months of service. The community analysis is a profile of my town including the history, present (census info, community resources, organized groups, etc), and future opportunities. I have been gathering information and really need to start conducting interviews because the analysis requires the input of a minimum of 10% of the community, which in my town of 319 would be 30, although I definitely would like to do more. We’ll see how it goes!

So, what are these different groups and projects going on in my community you might ask? Here is a sampling:

-As I mentioned in a previous post, the high school is currently located in our community center, which is an uncomfortable situation for all involved, but most of all for the 80 students in the 5 grades who have classes simultaneously in one big room. Therefore, the town is in the process of constructing a new high school. We have a big grant from the municipality, but the next steps to utilize that money have not been taken because of a lack of communication between the municipality and the development association. I went to the municipality a few weeks ago and made some good contacts and hopefully we’re going to have a meeting this Friday to talk about what we need to do to get this project up and running.

-Speaking of the high school, about a year ago the ministry of agriculture came to my high school with a program geared towards developing entrepreneurial skills in the students to then create agriculture-based business opportunities for the youth so that they do not leave the town upon graduation, which is what most do. While this group started a project caring for rabbits, the training side of the project is seriously lacking in organization, so I am hoping to help with the training of the students in themes ranging from business skills to environmental awareness to self-esteem.

-There is a women’s cooperative that is in the very beginning stages of development. The other week I led a meeting with the women to discuss the various resources of the community and different project ideas to see if we could come up with projects that highlight community resources (i.e. primary materials). Promising possibilities include making jams with local fruits and making furniture and other crafts from bamboo, which grows in abundance in my town.

-Also in its beginning stages is a committee the deals with issues related to children and adolescents. Since they’re just starting, they don’t have a solid idea of what the committee can do for the community, but I would love to collaborate with them on different projects in order to provide activities for the kids, specifically during the winter vacation. Anyone want to come to Costa Rica and help me run a camp in January? I’m not entirely kidding…

As you can see, there is definitely no shortage of opportunities for a “rural community developer” such as myself. Basically, I hope to help in the organization of these projects and be a resource in terms of ideas for activities, as well as a point of contact with other institution in CR that can help with any of these projects.

In addition, in August, I have a training to teach English using a well-known program that provides a highly regarded certificate upon completion of the course, so after the training I will start giving English classes, which people are eager to start. Also, based on the model of another volunteer, I want to start an aerobics class as a more informal, fun activity to promote exercise among the women (and men and kids if they’re interested!). I’ve already been talking to some women about it and they are super excited, so I need to get working on a little routine so that I can start that up, too.

Hopefully this gives a better idea of what I’ll be up to for the next 2 years. It´s funny, the other day I was having a conversation with my host dad and he was saying how he thought what my PC friends and I are doing is very valiant-- leaving our friends and family to live and work with strangers in a foreign country for 2 whole years. My response was that, I hope that within the 2 years, the people in my town become my friends and family, but even more, I want to be here for a reason. I want to accomplish something (or really, some things, plural) because that is why I am here. As clichéd and Peace Corps-y as it sounds, I want to make a difference and truly see the opportunity to make that happen in the next 2 years.

Bueno, that’s all for now!
Pura Vida,
Tesa