So, I as I have just loaded my last blog post, I figure it would be a good time to go to bed. I go to the bathroom and reach for the light. Hm, where is the switch. Seriously, I can’t be that dumb. Then I look. Oh. The light switch is no longer there. Nope, not that it’s not working. It literally is no longer there. It has fallen into our wall. WHAT THE…..???????!!!!!! I have no light! I now am living in a glorified shed without a bathroom sink and now no bathroom light?
Am I being punk’d? If so, now’s a good time for a reveal, before I go completely insane. Seriously, where the hell am I living?
Tune in next time to see if I have survived and/or am completely Looney Tunes.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Crazy Times
Hey there loyal readers! This week has been quite interesting to say the least. Definitely experienced some of those Peace Corps highs and lows that they talk so much about. Seriously, it kind of makes you feel like an unstable crazy person. Well, I guess sometimes when you deal with crazy situations, the most natural feeling would be to feel a little bit crazy I suppose. I normally write about my experiences in chronological order, but I figure today I will write with however flows best. Sorry if it seems a bit jumpy!
So last week I mentioned how there was a school shooting at the high school. I later learned that in the town of San Ramon on the same day, a bunch of high school students also died. However, while the shooting in my town was an act of violence, this was an act of complete stupidity or insanity. Possibly both. So, these kids decided to lay in the middle of the street side-by-side and were soon after run over. Yep, that’s about it. They decided to lay out in the middle of the street. Knowing how Costa Ricans drive, I consider that stupid, insane, and suicidal. Seriously, I get nervous crossing the street. I’ve almost lost my toes many times, and my life too often to count. Drivers here are CRAZY. Maybe there was a suicide pact…I guess we will never know.
Going back to the subject of the school shooting, the fallout has been pretty intense and slightly fascinating. The funeral took place three days after the shooting and I heard that so many people went that not only did they overflow the church, but the entire street and the park across the way. I wouldn’t know because I was in an all-day meeting/workshop, which I will get back to later. For the entire week, this event had seemed to be all that the community could focus on. I can’t blame them. It was quite shocking and it happened within the community. It was all people could talk about. It freaked out everyone.
The weird thing is that all of a sudden, people have stopped talking about it and life has gone back to normal. If it is mentioned in passing, it is brushed off like it happened years ago as opposed to a week ago. People have moved on. It’s quite astounding really. My host-brother Luis, who lives with his dad, was visiting over the weekend and we got to talking about the shooting. I had forgotten that he also goes to that school. I guess he was a friend of the victim. I didn’t really know what to say because there really isn’t anything one can say that would feel right in that situation. I’ve been to my fair share of funerals lately and know that one of the only things worse than feeling miserable is having someone trying to say something nice and making you feel more miserable. Sometimes saying nothing is best for all parties.
Anyway, so he started talking about the parents and seemed pretty upset about it. I think that he felt that the situation was preventable, and in retrospect it seems that it probably was. There were the classic signs that the shooter was troubled. His room was like a shrine to death and the things that he posted on his facebook page were indicators of his intentions. However, nobody did anything. I can see where surviving friends would be upset about this. I would want to know why nobody did anything either. All of a sudden, my host-mom starts scolding him about how a parent should love their kid no matter what. While true, I’m thinking this was probably not the best time to talk about that and the tone was probably not a great way to handle a grieving kid who is seeking to understand what happened in the midst of tragedy.
So, the high school is currently having therapists lead workshops and talks about what happened and are trying to support the students. However, there isn’t really hasn’t been an opportunity for the school kids to express their feelings about what happened and discuss warning signs and what to do if they come across red flags in the future. So, I decided that I would go class-to-class, and with the help of their English teacher, lead discussions about what happened.
These discussions went really well and I’m super happy about how the kids responded to the topic, but at the same time it was also slightly depressing. Every time I entered a classroom and explained why I was there and gave them space to express their feelings, the students didn’t know what to do with the open floor. I think that the loose nature of the discussion and the fact that it was focused on them and how they were feeling was so foreign that they didn’t know how to react. However, after asking a few questions and making sure they understood that the classroom was safe space for them, they really opened up. They wanted to share their thoughts and opinions to adults who were willing to listen. Sometimes the topic would turn to violence in general and some of the stories they had were just heartbreaking. It’s really hard to know what to tell a kid who deals with abuse at home or who has siblings with violent friends or boyfriends. It is also very obvious that they don’t trust adults. I can’t blame them. Adults don’t take most of them seriously. It was nice to see them expressing themselves and being completely respectful of each other’s ideas and feelings. I do hope that they got something out of the discussions because I know I sure did.
Like I mentioned previously, last week I went to an all day workshop with a bunch of people from the various social institutions. It was a day dedicated to children’s rights and the various ways that those rights are being violated in the country. I listened to presentations about violence, sexual exploitation, and child labor. It was incredibly enlightening. It is incredible how many people still believe in and use corporal punishment. The reasons children fall into child prostitution is incredibly sad on their own, then you add the things that happen to them while they are prostitutes. It’s awful. The amount of kids who are forced to leave school and work is astounding, and I can only feel for the kids who have to go to school and then work on their free time. It’s just so sad that people take advantage of kids in so many different ways. The only thing about this workshop that I didn’t like was that it didn’t really propose any solutions to these many problems. Sure it’s good to know that these things exist, but I’d also like to know how people are battling them, or at least that they have a plan to fight them. I don’t know. I do know that the meeting left me slightly depressed.
On a lighter note, this Friday there was an acto civico at the school which is basically their version of a school rally, but is normally focused on some kind of governmental holiday. I’ve seen a few before and thought them a good break from the normal school day, but this one was pretty cool. They were celebrating the annexation of Guanacaste into Costa Rica. All I know about the annexation is that there is a lot of debate as to whether Costa Rica stole Guanacaste from Nicaragua or if Guanacaste decided to leave Nicaragua and be part of Costa Rica. Really, the answer depends on if you ask a Nicaraguan or a Costa Rican. Either way, it is celebrated here. I’m glad because Guanacaste really is a fun region of the country and has some cultural things that are interesting. So, for the acto civico, the kids came to school wearing traditional outfits from the Guanacaste region, danced a bit, and created their own bombas. What’s a bomba? Well, it’s basically this thing that they do in Guanacaste where they shout and then say a really clever rhyme really quickly and then shout some more. It’s actually kind of fun at first, but then gets kind of annoying after a bit. Anyway, it was just a fun day in general. I got absolutely no work done, but I did eat a lot of traditional food. So that goes down as a good day in my book.
This is my counterpart, Don Carlos, aka: the principal of the school. He's watching the acto civico and looking very serious. He's normally smiling and joking around.
A bunch of the kids getting ready for the acto civico in their costumes. The kid in the middle with the hat is my host-brother, Dennis.
So, I know you’re all dying to know how my housing situation is after reading about my rat situation. Well, I must say that I think our rodent problem isn’t quite so problematic. I haven’t seen one in days, but I have heard that others have seen one a couple of times. Either way, it’s not quite the problem it was a couple of weeks ago. WIN!
However, the other night while everyone was sleeping, at around one in the morning, the whole house was awakened to a loud crash. Because my host-family can keep strange hours, I just figured it was my host-mom in the kitchen. Why did I think that she would be doing stuff in the kitchen at one in the morning? I don’t know. It’s probably because I’ve woken up at odd hours to people getting up and getting ready for work. I was also probably too tired to do the math and realize that 1 am is much too early for anyone to be getting ready for work. Well, in the morning I quickly discovered the cause of the startling noise. As I open the door to the bathroom I see that the bathroom sink is in pieces all over the floor. Yes, that’s right, our bathroom sink tore itself off the wall and it’s piping and committed suicide in the middle of the night. This happened mid-week last week. Guess what? We still haven’t replaced it. It doesn’t seem like people have much motivation to replace it anytime soon. I mean the sink was lying on the floor for days before anyone decided to do anything about it. So, I now have to wash my hands and brush my teeth either in the kitchen or outside. Annoying, yes. Surprising, no. At this point, I feel like nothing can surprise me. FAIL! 20 points rewarded to my mom’s theory about the shed.
Another interesting thing that happened last week was that I put my laundry out to be washed one morning as requested by the lady who is helping out around our house (I’m still confused about that situation) and when I got my laundry back, I was missing my navy blue bandanna. So, I decided to ask her if she’s seen it and she replied that she had not. I asked my host-mom who sometimes still folds my clothes, and she also denied seeing it. Well, I’m positive that it was in the laundry because I have become a crazy anal person about the comings and goings of my clothing since the now infamous bra-incident. Yes, it is famous. I have met a few volunteers along the way and been greeted with the, “Oh I heard about you!” Haha. Peace Corps gossip spreads quite fast in these parts. Anyway, knowing that I put it with the laundry and that it never came back really pushed my buttons. I mean it really pissed me off. (Sorry Megan, you have a half hulked-out letter coming your way) Firstly, I’m pissed that something of mine has gone missing. Whether it was stolen or lost, neither really looks that good. If it was stolen, it just means that I can’t trust people with stuff ever! If it was lost, then I still can’t trust people to take care of my stuff. Also, it was a gift from my sister that my aunt brought with her when she came to visit. Being a sentimentalist, I now cling onto gifts from home. To lose a token of someone’s love, is just not acceptable. I am aware that I sound like an OCD lunatic and that it is a bandanna and not something more important like a toe or an arm, but I must remind you of my opening paragraph. Sometimes I just turn into a crazy person. Plus, I think the other problems concerning my living situation added to the aggravation and I really just lost it. Well, I lost it to myself anyway. I still have enough sense to not go bonkers on people here even if it is in English. So, I locked myself away in my room and stewed about it all night. There was a lot of muttering and cursing to myself. Then I calmed down and started to feel depressed about being such a crazy person. The battle for sanity continues.
The weirdest part about the whole bandanna situation was that all of a sudden my host-mom was giving me the cold shoulder after I asked about having seen my bandanna. This was super confusing. I was frozen out for days. I started questioning whether asking about it was offensive, but I’ve decided that it cannot be offensive to ask if someone has seen something. That’s just part of interacting with people. So, then yesterday she went to town with her boyfriend and son and when they came back, the son gave me a new bandanna. After that, all was normal. Um, nice gesture I guess, but it doesn’t really fix my feelings or my paranoia does it? Gotta move on, just gotta move on. At least that’s what I tell myself.
And to leave off with the best part of my week, on Sunday I went to Playa Herradura to meet up with my Tico 22 friends, Tom and Melissa J. It was AWESOME. They called me up on Saturday wanting to know if I wanted to go to the beach, but they wanted to find a new beach. So, I asked my good Tica friend Rocío if she knew of any, and she suggested Herradura. Great suggestion! It was really nice. The water was mellow, it wasn’t rocky and there were palm trees and other tropical plants providing shade and awesome scenery. Not only was it amazing to be on the beach and swimming in the ocean, but it was sooooo good to be with friends. We compared stories and laughed at each other’s problems. We laughed not because we’re mean people, but because our problems are exactly the same. For the most part anyway. Nobody else’s high school had a shooting the past week. It felt so good to talk about frustrations with people who know exactly what you’re talking about without the slightest chance of offending anyone. It was also fun and cathartic to talk about where our heads are at in terms of our service. We’ve all decided that at the rate we’re going, we will have come into Peace Corps as bleeding heart liberals and leaving it cold-hearted Republicans (sorry Nicole, and I don’t actually believe all republicans are cold-hearted). Hahaha. To be honest, sometimes our frustrations have led us to view the world with a more conservative lens. I’m not sure if this is a normal part of the journey, but I’m hoping it just a phase. Maybe we still haven’t reached a level of understanding with the culture and the struggles of the people. We have only been at site for 2 and a half months. Maybe we’re viewing the world too simply and haven’t taken in the complexities of the culture. Maybe this is still just culture shock. I hope so. Either way, it was still an amazing day and the break from life that we all needed.
Until next time!
This is Playa Herradura. It was nice and mellow and the perfect place to go if your a PCV looking to regain some sanity with a few friends.
This would be Melissa making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Oh yeah, peanut butter is a rare treat for us. It's expensive here. I hadn't had a PB&J since the States. It was so amazing I had 2.
So last week I mentioned how there was a school shooting at the high school. I later learned that in the town of San Ramon on the same day, a bunch of high school students also died. However, while the shooting in my town was an act of violence, this was an act of complete stupidity or insanity. Possibly both. So, these kids decided to lay in the middle of the street side-by-side and were soon after run over. Yep, that’s about it. They decided to lay out in the middle of the street. Knowing how Costa Ricans drive, I consider that stupid, insane, and suicidal. Seriously, I get nervous crossing the street. I’ve almost lost my toes many times, and my life too often to count. Drivers here are CRAZY. Maybe there was a suicide pact…I guess we will never know.
Going back to the subject of the school shooting, the fallout has been pretty intense and slightly fascinating. The funeral took place three days after the shooting and I heard that so many people went that not only did they overflow the church, but the entire street and the park across the way. I wouldn’t know because I was in an all-day meeting/workshop, which I will get back to later. For the entire week, this event had seemed to be all that the community could focus on. I can’t blame them. It was quite shocking and it happened within the community. It was all people could talk about. It freaked out everyone.
The weird thing is that all of a sudden, people have stopped talking about it and life has gone back to normal. If it is mentioned in passing, it is brushed off like it happened years ago as opposed to a week ago. People have moved on. It’s quite astounding really. My host-brother Luis, who lives with his dad, was visiting over the weekend and we got to talking about the shooting. I had forgotten that he also goes to that school. I guess he was a friend of the victim. I didn’t really know what to say because there really isn’t anything one can say that would feel right in that situation. I’ve been to my fair share of funerals lately and know that one of the only things worse than feeling miserable is having someone trying to say something nice and making you feel more miserable. Sometimes saying nothing is best for all parties.
Anyway, so he started talking about the parents and seemed pretty upset about it. I think that he felt that the situation was preventable, and in retrospect it seems that it probably was. There were the classic signs that the shooter was troubled. His room was like a shrine to death and the things that he posted on his facebook page were indicators of his intentions. However, nobody did anything. I can see where surviving friends would be upset about this. I would want to know why nobody did anything either. All of a sudden, my host-mom starts scolding him about how a parent should love their kid no matter what. While true, I’m thinking this was probably not the best time to talk about that and the tone was probably not a great way to handle a grieving kid who is seeking to understand what happened in the midst of tragedy.
So, the high school is currently having therapists lead workshops and talks about what happened and are trying to support the students. However, there isn’t really hasn’t been an opportunity for the school kids to express their feelings about what happened and discuss warning signs and what to do if they come across red flags in the future. So, I decided that I would go class-to-class, and with the help of their English teacher, lead discussions about what happened.
These discussions went really well and I’m super happy about how the kids responded to the topic, but at the same time it was also slightly depressing. Every time I entered a classroom and explained why I was there and gave them space to express their feelings, the students didn’t know what to do with the open floor. I think that the loose nature of the discussion and the fact that it was focused on them and how they were feeling was so foreign that they didn’t know how to react. However, after asking a few questions and making sure they understood that the classroom was safe space for them, they really opened up. They wanted to share their thoughts and opinions to adults who were willing to listen. Sometimes the topic would turn to violence in general and some of the stories they had were just heartbreaking. It’s really hard to know what to tell a kid who deals with abuse at home or who has siblings with violent friends or boyfriends. It is also very obvious that they don’t trust adults. I can’t blame them. Adults don’t take most of them seriously. It was nice to see them expressing themselves and being completely respectful of each other’s ideas and feelings. I do hope that they got something out of the discussions because I know I sure did.
Like I mentioned previously, last week I went to an all day workshop with a bunch of people from the various social institutions. It was a day dedicated to children’s rights and the various ways that those rights are being violated in the country. I listened to presentations about violence, sexual exploitation, and child labor. It was incredibly enlightening. It is incredible how many people still believe in and use corporal punishment. The reasons children fall into child prostitution is incredibly sad on their own, then you add the things that happen to them while they are prostitutes. It’s awful. The amount of kids who are forced to leave school and work is astounding, and I can only feel for the kids who have to go to school and then work on their free time. It’s just so sad that people take advantage of kids in so many different ways. The only thing about this workshop that I didn’t like was that it didn’t really propose any solutions to these many problems. Sure it’s good to know that these things exist, but I’d also like to know how people are battling them, or at least that they have a plan to fight them. I don’t know. I do know that the meeting left me slightly depressed.
On a lighter note, this Friday there was an acto civico at the school which is basically their version of a school rally, but is normally focused on some kind of governmental holiday. I’ve seen a few before and thought them a good break from the normal school day, but this one was pretty cool. They were celebrating the annexation of Guanacaste into Costa Rica. All I know about the annexation is that there is a lot of debate as to whether Costa Rica stole Guanacaste from Nicaragua or if Guanacaste decided to leave Nicaragua and be part of Costa Rica. Really, the answer depends on if you ask a Nicaraguan or a Costa Rican. Either way, it is celebrated here. I’m glad because Guanacaste really is a fun region of the country and has some cultural things that are interesting. So, for the acto civico, the kids came to school wearing traditional outfits from the Guanacaste region, danced a bit, and created their own bombas. What’s a bomba? Well, it’s basically this thing that they do in Guanacaste where they shout and then say a really clever rhyme really quickly and then shout some more. It’s actually kind of fun at first, but then gets kind of annoying after a bit. Anyway, it was just a fun day in general. I got absolutely no work done, but I did eat a lot of traditional food. So that goes down as a good day in my book.
This is my counterpart, Don Carlos, aka: the principal of the school. He's watching the acto civico and looking very serious. He's normally smiling and joking around.
A bunch of the kids getting ready for the acto civico in their costumes. The kid in the middle with the hat is my host-brother, Dennis.So, I know you’re all dying to know how my housing situation is after reading about my rat situation. Well, I must say that I think our rodent problem isn’t quite so problematic. I haven’t seen one in days, but I have heard that others have seen one a couple of times. Either way, it’s not quite the problem it was a couple of weeks ago. WIN!
However, the other night while everyone was sleeping, at around one in the morning, the whole house was awakened to a loud crash. Because my host-family can keep strange hours, I just figured it was my host-mom in the kitchen. Why did I think that she would be doing stuff in the kitchen at one in the morning? I don’t know. It’s probably because I’ve woken up at odd hours to people getting up and getting ready for work. I was also probably too tired to do the math and realize that 1 am is much too early for anyone to be getting ready for work. Well, in the morning I quickly discovered the cause of the startling noise. As I open the door to the bathroom I see that the bathroom sink is in pieces all over the floor. Yes, that’s right, our bathroom sink tore itself off the wall and it’s piping and committed suicide in the middle of the night. This happened mid-week last week. Guess what? We still haven’t replaced it. It doesn’t seem like people have much motivation to replace it anytime soon. I mean the sink was lying on the floor for days before anyone decided to do anything about it. So, I now have to wash my hands and brush my teeth either in the kitchen or outside. Annoying, yes. Surprising, no. At this point, I feel like nothing can surprise me. FAIL! 20 points rewarded to my mom’s theory about the shed.
Another interesting thing that happened last week was that I put my laundry out to be washed one morning as requested by the lady who is helping out around our house (I’m still confused about that situation) and when I got my laundry back, I was missing my navy blue bandanna. So, I decided to ask her if she’s seen it and she replied that she had not. I asked my host-mom who sometimes still folds my clothes, and she also denied seeing it. Well, I’m positive that it was in the laundry because I have become a crazy anal person about the comings and goings of my clothing since the now infamous bra-incident. Yes, it is famous. I have met a few volunteers along the way and been greeted with the, “Oh I heard about you!” Haha. Peace Corps gossip spreads quite fast in these parts. Anyway, knowing that I put it with the laundry and that it never came back really pushed my buttons. I mean it really pissed me off. (Sorry Megan, you have a half hulked-out letter coming your way) Firstly, I’m pissed that something of mine has gone missing. Whether it was stolen or lost, neither really looks that good. If it was stolen, it just means that I can’t trust people with stuff ever! If it was lost, then I still can’t trust people to take care of my stuff. Also, it was a gift from my sister that my aunt brought with her when she came to visit. Being a sentimentalist, I now cling onto gifts from home. To lose a token of someone’s love, is just not acceptable. I am aware that I sound like an OCD lunatic and that it is a bandanna and not something more important like a toe or an arm, but I must remind you of my opening paragraph. Sometimes I just turn into a crazy person. Plus, I think the other problems concerning my living situation added to the aggravation and I really just lost it. Well, I lost it to myself anyway. I still have enough sense to not go bonkers on people here even if it is in English. So, I locked myself away in my room and stewed about it all night. There was a lot of muttering and cursing to myself. Then I calmed down and started to feel depressed about being such a crazy person. The battle for sanity continues.
The weirdest part about the whole bandanna situation was that all of a sudden my host-mom was giving me the cold shoulder after I asked about having seen my bandanna. This was super confusing. I was frozen out for days. I started questioning whether asking about it was offensive, but I’ve decided that it cannot be offensive to ask if someone has seen something. That’s just part of interacting with people. So, then yesterday she went to town with her boyfriend and son and when they came back, the son gave me a new bandanna. After that, all was normal. Um, nice gesture I guess, but it doesn’t really fix my feelings or my paranoia does it? Gotta move on, just gotta move on. At least that’s what I tell myself.
And to leave off with the best part of my week, on Sunday I went to Playa Herradura to meet up with my Tico 22 friends, Tom and Melissa J. It was AWESOME. They called me up on Saturday wanting to know if I wanted to go to the beach, but they wanted to find a new beach. So, I asked my good Tica friend Rocío if she knew of any, and she suggested Herradura. Great suggestion! It was really nice. The water was mellow, it wasn’t rocky and there were palm trees and other tropical plants providing shade and awesome scenery. Not only was it amazing to be on the beach and swimming in the ocean, but it was sooooo good to be with friends. We compared stories and laughed at each other’s problems. We laughed not because we’re mean people, but because our problems are exactly the same. For the most part anyway. Nobody else’s high school had a shooting the past week. It felt so good to talk about frustrations with people who know exactly what you’re talking about without the slightest chance of offending anyone. It was also fun and cathartic to talk about where our heads are at in terms of our service. We’ve all decided that at the rate we’re going, we will have come into Peace Corps as bleeding heart liberals and leaving it cold-hearted Republicans (sorry Nicole, and I don’t actually believe all republicans are cold-hearted). Hahaha. To be honest, sometimes our frustrations have led us to view the world with a more conservative lens. I’m not sure if this is a normal part of the journey, but I’m hoping it just a phase. Maybe we still haven’t reached a level of understanding with the culture and the struggles of the people. We have only been at site for 2 and a half months. Maybe we’re viewing the world too simply and haven’t taken in the complexities of the culture. Maybe this is still just culture shock. I hope so. Either way, it was still an amazing day and the break from life that we all needed.
Until next time!
This is Playa Herradura. It was nice and mellow and the perfect place to go if your a PCV looking to regain some sanity with a few friends.
This would be Melissa making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Oh yeah, peanut butter is a rare treat for us. It's expensive here. I hadn't had a PB&J since the States. It was so amazing I had 2.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Soccer and Rats and Shootings, Oh My!
Why, hello again! So, last week I had a lot to talk about because I was off doing so many fun and exciting things. For this week’s blog, I think that it might be a light entry because I really haven’t been doing much of anything.
Since the schools had been on vacation, I decided to also take a break from work. To be honest, it is almost impossible to concentrate at the house anyway when all the kids are home screaming, the TV is blaring. So, why not take a break? I’ve got a whole 2 years to work anyway. Oh, because I have a diagnostic of my community due in a month. Well, that’s what this week is for.
Then what have I been doing? I’ve been reading books like crazy. Nothing new, but in 2 weeks I’ve devoured 3 books. It doesn’t sound like much, but when you consider Great Expectations was on that list, I think that it was a pretty hefty amount of pages turned. Also, I’ve been writing a bunch of letters. Sadly, I’ve been receiving not so many letters back. Sad face. You know who you are!! I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about a handwritten letter that makes my day. It’s like the handwriting reflects the writer’s personality and the time taken to think about me and write it all down. Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely grateful to have Internet too. I think I would be in a much worse position if I couldn’t be in regular contact with everyone back home.
The past week, I was following the Women’s World Cup. I’ve been a fan of the women’s national team for a while now, but it’s been quite a while since the team was this exciting. Seriously, I had been missing the days of Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy and the rest of the gang. They were so fun to watch and look up to. There weren’t that many women superstars, so it was nice to be exposed to females in a world of athletics dominated by men. After they retired, the team just wasn’t as dynamic. I mean, they still had Abby Wambach kicking ass, but it just didn’t have that same spark. All of a sudden, this year the team is on fire again! It’s been so fun watching them play hard and kick butt…except when they are not, like in the final, but I’ll return to that in a second. I contemplated getting a Carli Lloyd jersey, hopefully the reason is obvious, but their jerseys really suck this year. Really, who designed those hideous uniforms? They should be fired. Anyway, it was fun rooting them on with the rest of the country, even though I’m far away. I gotta say though, being the only American for miles who cares about the outcome of a soccer game is very strange and not quite as fun. Watching them lose in the final was really sad. I really almost wanted to cry. They could’ve won, there were so many chances, but they just couldn’t execute. It was a close game though, and it was really fun to watch. Also, if we had to lose to any country, Japan needs those uplifting moments more than any of us. So, while incredibly disappointing, it is kind of cool to think about the fairy tale ending for the Japanese team. They were such underdogs, yet they went for it and made out with gold.
Besides reading and watching some soccer, a lot of focus was put on the rodent problem in the house. I mean, it was a really big problem. They were everywhere and I could not sleep well knowing that they come out at night and roam around in my room. So, my host-family tried everything. They bought rat poison and that worked. The rodents ate it up. Yet, more came. They decided to put a mousetrap under my bed. Well, it killed one. I guess that’s something. Finally, they decided to get a cat…yet when the cat came, all the kids decided to chase it and it ran away scared. I seriously thought that the cat was gone forever. I mean, why would it come back? It’s not like it considers that place home. It was severely traumatized by the crazy kids. To be fair, half of the time I feel severely traumatized by those crazy kids. I think that it was even more traumatized by being brought to the house in a black plastic bag. Oh yes, that’s right. One of my host sister decided to bring it over in a plastic bag. She came over and says, “We got you a cat.” I say, “Where?” She points at the bag. I think, “Um, is it alive?” Somehow it survived. Yet despite all those things, a few days later it came back. Well, I’m not sure how many mice and rats it will be chasing since my host-mom prefers that it stay outside. OK… So, now we don’t have hoards of rodents coming out after the sun sets, but I’m fairly certain we still have one or two roaming around. I know this because I’ve seen them. However, since the trap failed to catch another rodent the other night, my host-mom considers the problem controlled and I think is halting further efforts. Like many things, I’m not sure how I feel about that.
So yesterday, at the local high school, there was a school shooting. There are many versions of what happened and why, but nothing is certain and the police are currently investigating what happened. From what I’ve gathered, a boy who doesn’t attend the school went there and shot another boy. He then shot himself. There is a lot of speculation as to why he did this. I’ve heard that drugs were involved. I’ve heard that it was about a girl. The most recent story is that they were formerly boyfriends and the victim broke up with the shooter to be with a girl and the shooter obviously had bad feelings over it. I’m not sure what to believe, but I do know that it is HUGE news. I didn’t realize, but it’s news all over the country. When it first happened, I obviously heard about it fairly quickly because I was in the middle of interviews and kids from the high school were calling their families to let them know what happened. Because our town doesn’t have a high school, the kids have to go the bigger town to that high school. I didn’t realize at the time that it was a national event. It makes sense though. School shootings are not common in Costa Rica. I keep hearing, “This is the kind of thing that happens in America.” Well, angry teenagers aren’t exclusive to America.
Anyway, I know this will probably freak people out back home, but let me assure you that all is well here. I am safe and the town is safe. In relation to where the school is, I’m about a 15-20 minute bus ride away. Also, as of yet, I haven’t stepped foot in the high school since it technically isn’t part of my assignment and I hear is a pain to get to, but in the future it is likely that I’ll work with high school students, but in my town doing workshops and other projects in our local salon comunal. Again, I just want to assure friends and family that I am safe and there is no need to worry. It could’ve happened anywhere. (Why take the chance?! Nothing to lose! Hahaha. Inside joke.)
Well, that’s all for now. Does anyone else feel like I’m living in a TV show? Seriously, I feel like my life is extremely abnormal. OK, gotta get to work so that I have more to write about later. !Hasta luego!
Since the schools had been on vacation, I decided to also take a break from work. To be honest, it is almost impossible to concentrate at the house anyway when all the kids are home screaming, the TV is blaring. So, why not take a break? I’ve got a whole 2 years to work anyway. Oh, because I have a diagnostic of my community due in a month. Well, that’s what this week is for.
Then what have I been doing? I’ve been reading books like crazy. Nothing new, but in 2 weeks I’ve devoured 3 books. It doesn’t sound like much, but when you consider Great Expectations was on that list, I think that it was a pretty hefty amount of pages turned. Also, I’ve been writing a bunch of letters. Sadly, I’ve been receiving not so many letters back. Sad face. You know who you are!! I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about a handwritten letter that makes my day. It’s like the handwriting reflects the writer’s personality and the time taken to think about me and write it all down. Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely grateful to have Internet too. I think I would be in a much worse position if I couldn’t be in regular contact with everyone back home.
The past week, I was following the Women’s World Cup. I’ve been a fan of the women’s national team for a while now, but it’s been quite a while since the team was this exciting. Seriously, I had been missing the days of Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy and the rest of the gang. They were so fun to watch and look up to. There weren’t that many women superstars, so it was nice to be exposed to females in a world of athletics dominated by men. After they retired, the team just wasn’t as dynamic. I mean, they still had Abby Wambach kicking ass, but it just didn’t have that same spark. All of a sudden, this year the team is on fire again! It’s been so fun watching them play hard and kick butt…except when they are not, like in the final, but I’ll return to that in a second. I contemplated getting a Carli Lloyd jersey, hopefully the reason is obvious, but their jerseys really suck this year. Really, who designed those hideous uniforms? They should be fired. Anyway, it was fun rooting them on with the rest of the country, even though I’m far away. I gotta say though, being the only American for miles who cares about the outcome of a soccer game is very strange and not quite as fun. Watching them lose in the final was really sad. I really almost wanted to cry. They could’ve won, there were so many chances, but they just couldn’t execute. It was a close game though, and it was really fun to watch. Also, if we had to lose to any country, Japan needs those uplifting moments more than any of us. So, while incredibly disappointing, it is kind of cool to think about the fairy tale ending for the Japanese team. They were such underdogs, yet they went for it and made out with gold.
Besides reading and watching some soccer, a lot of focus was put on the rodent problem in the house. I mean, it was a really big problem. They were everywhere and I could not sleep well knowing that they come out at night and roam around in my room. So, my host-family tried everything. They bought rat poison and that worked. The rodents ate it up. Yet, more came. They decided to put a mousetrap under my bed. Well, it killed one. I guess that’s something. Finally, they decided to get a cat…yet when the cat came, all the kids decided to chase it and it ran away scared. I seriously thought that the cat was gone forever. I mean, why would it come back? It’s not like it considers that place home. It was severely traumatized by the crazy kids. To be fair, half of the time I feel severely traumatized by those crazy kids. I think that it was even more traumatized by being brought to the house in a black plastic bag. Oh yes, that’s right. One of my host sister decided to bring it over in a plastic bag. She came over and says, “We got you a cat.” I say, “Where?” She points at the bag. I think, “Um, is it alive?” Somehow it survived. Yet despite all those things, a few days later it came back. Well, I’m not sure how many mice and rats it will be chasing since my host-mom prefers that it stay outside. OK… So, now we don’t have hoards of rodents coming out after the sun sets, but I’m fairly certain we still have one or two roaming around. I know this because I’ve seen them. However, since the trap failed to catch another rodent the other night, my host-mom considers the problem controlled and I think is halting further efforts. Like many things, I’m not sure how I feel about that.
So yesterday, at the local high school, there was a school shooting. There are many versions of what happened and why, but nothing is certain and the police are currently investigating what happened. From what I’ve gathered, a boy who doesn’t attend the school went there and shot another boy. He then shot himself. There is a lot of speculation as to why he did this. I’ve heard that drugs were involved. I’ve heard that it was about a girl. The most recent story is that they were formerly boyfriends and the victim broke up with the shooter to be with a girl and the shooter obviously had bad feelings over it. I’m not sure what to believe, but I do know that it is HUGE news. I didn’t realize, but it’s news all over the country. When it first happened, I obviously heard about it fairly quickly because I was in the middle of interviews and kids from the high school were calling their families to let them know what happened. Because our town doesn’t have a high school, the kids have to go the bigger town to that high school. I didn’t realize at the time that it was a national event. It makes sense though. School shootings are not common in Costa Rica. I keep hearing, “This is the kind of thing that happens in America.” Well, angry teenagers aren’t exclusive to America.
Anyway, I know this will probably freak people out back home, but let me assure you that all is well here. I am safe and the town is safe. In relation to where the school is, I’m about a 15-20 minute bus ride away. Also, as of yet, I haven’t stepped foot in the high school since it technically isn’t part of my assignment and I hear is a pain to get to, but in the future it is likely that I’ll work with high school students, but in my town doing workshops and other projects in our local salon comunal. Again, I just want to assure friends and family that I am safe and there is no need to worry. It could’ve happened anywhere. (Why take the chance?! Nothing to lose! Hahaha. Inside joke.)
Well, that’s all for now. Does anyone else feel like I’m living in a TV show? Seriously, I feel like my life is extremely abnormal. OK, gotta get to work so that I have more to write about later. !Hasta luego!
Monday, July 11, 2011
Best Week Ever!
Hey there readers! So I know it’s been a bit, but last week was really kind of crazy, but no worries, I’ll be detailing the passing events for you in a second. So, don’t feel like you’ve missed out. However I gotta say, that basically being out of site for a week was a lovely break from life and I love being American…and eating like one too.
Sunday, I made my way to San Jose to attend my regional VAC (Volunteer Advisory Council) meeting. I guess I should do my best to explain what VAC is because I’m betting most of you don’t know what I’m babbling about. So basically, VAC is a committee made up of volunteers who become our voice to bring up concerns and suggestions to Peace Corps Costa Rica. They also set up activities and events for volunteers to get together to blow of steam and bond. The volunteers in Costa Rica have been divided up by region. Each region gets together on occasion discuss our issues/successes and hang out. I belong to the Central Valley region and Sunday was our day to meet up.
I got into town early and met up with another Tico 22, Melissa J, to hang out and have lunch before our meeting. It was pretty nice to hang out with her since I haven’t seen her since swearing in. We had a chance to catch up and compare stories. We also went and had lunch at a PCV favorite Asian restaurant. We both had the Pad Thai, which was OK, but not the same as back home. We later found out at our meeting that the restaurant had been shut down due to sanitary reasons. Well, I guess they cleaned up some, because I had to inform everyone that it was definitely not shut down as we had just had lunch there.
So after lunch, we waited for Maitreya to find us so that we could go to the meeting together. While we were waiting, we ran into Allen and Rosie. Rosie doesn’t actually belong to the Central Valley, but was in town for the 4th and decided to tag along. I mean who wouldn’t want to tag along? We were all in one spot and it’s been ages. Anyway, we all went to the meeting and it became really apparent that we were the new kids since we didn’t really have much as far as ideas, concerns, project success and what not. While it was pretty much all business and was slightly reminiscent of training, it was cool to see other volunteers. Especially since we were all jazzed about the 4th. Seriously, I don’t think I have been so excited to be American. Especially since I was hanging out with other Americans who were really excited to be American. I think our group was especially excited since we’re still adjusting to Tico life and have started to appreciate our culture and privileges.
Our meeting ended and our group basically split off from the rest. Rosie took off to figure out where she was going to stay that night, a matter deemed vital and worthy of leaving, and the rest of us decided to look for a bar and have a couple drinks before I had to leave to go back to site. So, as we’re walking along, we realize that everything is closed because it is Sunday when Maitreya realized that she knew of a bar that would probably be open. Allen concurred. So went of in search of this bar. We walked and walked and still no sight of this mysterious bar. I became more and more doubtful they knew what they were talking about and we were moving further and further away from my bus terminal. However, we did eventually find it and I had just enough time to have a beer with them before taking a taxi to the terminal.
It was worth it though. I haven’t had a beer in ages as people in my town have made it apparent that drinking can put off a very bad impression. I mean, when I first got here and people asked if I drank, they would look very displeased with my answer. I thought I was being conservative too with my response, “Yes, but not often. Only in social occasions.” Hahaha. Thus, I’ve refrained from drinking in my town. Not a hard task to do considering there’s never a reason to drink nor people to drink with, and there isn’t really a place either. No bars around in this small town.
So after rushing my beer, I would have much rather been able to take my time and converse longer, I went off to catch my bus. You may be wondering if I had planned on going back to San Jose for the 4th, why not stay the night. Well, that’s because I have a very limited number of nights out in my first 3 months at site and I planned to use it all to meet up with my Auntie Dinna and her family in Guanacaste later on in the week. I happened to luck out and discover that the 4th of July is a freebee night. However, VAC is not so I had to go back home that night.
After getting home around 8:30 or so, I crashed, woke up early the next morning to catch a bus back to San Jose. I met up with Claire who was coming into the same terminal about an hour after I did and we found a place to have breakfast. We had some OK gallo pinto, super stale bread, fried queso blanco (I don’t really like it…I mean what kind of cheese refuses to melt even when fried?!) and some coffee. Typical Tico breakfast. We roamed around a bit while catching up, and you should hear about the issues she’s had. Remember our bad luck with host families in training? Well, that same luck followed her to her site and she was basically kicked out of her new host family’s house. Don’t worry though, she found a new family. Hopefully it works out this time.
We then made our way to Morgan’s (my mentor who has extended a 3rd year to be our Peace Corps Volunteer Leader (PCVL)) place where we were to have an American BBQ, eat lots of American food, and eventually make our way to see fireworks. Well, let’s just say effort should count for something. We got there and Emily (a fellow Tico 22) was already there. We made our way to a local supermarket to buy some supplies for our amazing BBQ. Somehow after getting back, there was consensus that I would start the fire going on the grill while Emily made guacamole, Kyle (Morgan’s roommate and other PCVL) and Morgan worked on something in the kitchen and Claire distributed beer. Well, I’m not sure how old our coal was and how well it had been stored since they inherited off somebody else, but it would not light. Well, the little ones would light, but there were a couple huge pieces that just wouldn’t go. So, Morgan ended up cooking the burgers and sausages on the stove. We all stuffed our faces with amazing burgers and sausages, guacamole and chips, and potato salad. Oh but wait…the grill did not go to waste. We ended up roasting marshmallows to make s’mores! Yeah! Yeah! OK, sorry…I got distracted just thinking about the deliciousness of that day. There was some confusion about graham crackers and labeling, but I still think the s’mores were yummy. To top it off, we had root beer floats. Mmmm, they were so good. I’m not sure if this is coming off, but I MISS food from home.
So after that little feast of yummy-ness, the rain died down and we left to go watch the fireworks. Rosie and Jason (yet another Tico 22) were calling and trying to figure out how to meet us there. So, Kyle and Morgan led us as we ventured off to find the local of this great American celebration. Well, we were misinformed and thought the fireworks were going to start and hour later than it actually did. Luckily, the fireworks started shortly after getting off the bus and we were able to watch most of it. Unfortunately, Rosie and Jason didn’t make it. We ran into a bunch of other PCV’s from the RCD (Rural and Community Development for those of you who can’t keep up with these crazy acronyms…really who can?) project. However on the way back, they split and went to a bar while the rest of us found Rosie and Jason and went back to Morgan and Kyle’s place to hang out. Good times, but I really don’t think I have stayed up that late since orientation most likely, possibly even before that.
The next morning, Claire took off early to go back to site so that she could get her new house and family checked out by Carolina, our boss. The rest of us went to the Peace Corps Office to hang out a bit before going out separate ways. I picked up a couple new books, “Open” by Andre Agassi and the first Harry Potter in Spanish. Very excited to read both. Emily and I had lunch with Morgan and Kyle before leaving and that was good. And that was the end of the great 4th of July adventure.
The next day, I went back to San Jose to catch a bus to Guanacaste. I really didn’t have to go all the way to San Jose, but people (including the guys selling the tickets at the terminal) were being vague and telling me different ways of getting there so I got frustrated and figured that I’d just go to San Jose and take the bus all the way to Tamarindo. I didn’t really have to rush or anything like that because the time that I was originally told the bus leaves San Jose was 8:30, but when I went to go buy that ticket, they told me that time doesn’t exist and the earliest was 11:30. So I had time to kill that morning anyway, why not go to San Jose? I took the bus, scoped out the route and realized that the bus stopped for a break at the exact spot where I could catch a bus back to my town. I took a mental note of that and slept most of the way to Tamarindo. When I got there, it started to pour rain and I somehow found my way to a taxi who said he could drive me to the Marriot where my family was staying.
I get in and ask the guy how much it would cost. He says, “$75.” I respond, “Entonces, cuantos Colones?” (Then how many Colones). He then replies, “12,000.” All of a sudden I like this guy. If you do the math, he ended up charging me about $24. I’d say that’s a pretty good discount. So, we chatted the entire way to the hotel. I think that he liked the fact that I spoke Spanish. He also gave me his card in case I needed to use him in the future.
My Uncle Ron was waiting for me when I pulled in and he gave me a big hug before leading me to his room where the others were waiting. Well, I’m not sure if it was the shock of seeing family from home or from walking around in a fancy place, but I was pretty dazed. I said hello to my Auntie Dinna and Jordan and they gave me the bag of things that people sent me from home. The bag of goodies was pretty awesome. Thank you everyone who contributed! My favorite item was the personalized calendar filled with pictures of family and friends back home. Not only did I really need a calendar, but I also wished I printed more pictures before I left. Perfect gift.
After settling in, we went to dinner and they filled me in on things that they have been doing and the things that they had planned for the next couple of days. We also ate yummy food. Auntie Dinna and I split a bottle of wine. Delicious.
When we got back to the room, I took a shower and basically took in the life of luxury. It was amazing. The toilet was so clean and I wasn’t worried about the flush not working. The sink was so white and the faucet actually gave a generous amount of water compared to the little stream of water that the sink at home spits out. It barely constitutes a trickle. There was light! Oh so much light. You could see everything clearly! So different from the darkness that I’m used to experiencing at home. Also, the shower…what?! TWO SHOWER HEADS! Top it off with hot water. I don’t actually think I showered in water that was all that hot because I’m fairly certain that my skin no longer tolerates water that’s hotter than warm. However, it was nice to shower in warm water! Stepping out of the shower, I realized I wasn’t hot or sweaty. Oh, bless air conditioning. I miss the feeling of cold, artificial air. Although, at times that too became a bit to chilly for me. I didn’t mind though. I took the opportunity to sleep in a long sleeved shirt. I never get to do that! Oh, and the bed! The bed was so soft and didn’t seem like it was going to break apart when I moved. Not to mention I got to sleep bundled in sheets and blankets. Mmm, that was lovely. Wow, I forgot what living in comfort could feel like. AND I LOVE IT! Not to say that I’m not enjoying my time at site, but who doesn’t love the high life? I have to admit, I kept most of my excitement to myself since so I wouldn’t come off like a total lunatic. I mean, I’m sure that it would be startling to all of a sudden hear someone scream, “It doesn’t smell gross in here!” Yes, I did think that, and no, I’m not making that up.
When we woke up the next day it was so quiet. The only things making noise were us. There were no crazy animals, trucks and buses passing through, crazy people yelling and blasting their radios. Out of habit I reached up to my ears to pull out earplugs, and I realized I wasn’t wearing any. It was AWESOME. Then we went to breakfast, which was a buffet, and I had to stop myself from laughing with happiness. I mean seriously, to have one option that is different from my normal mornings is one thing, but to have an entire room that is bigger than the house I’m living in full of different treats was something else. Sigh, I just have to sigh thinking about it.
We then went horseback riding through the rain forest and on the beach. Haha, they actually made us wear helmets. The only reason I laugh is because I’m sure Peace Corps Safety and Security would definitely approve of that. I’ve been horseback riding before and I love it, but this was really different. We were definitely off the beaten path. We also got eat alive by mosquitoes. During training, I formed a theory that Costa Rican mosquitoes are so vicious they can get at you through your clothes. I always thought that I was paranoid. While riding my horse, I realized that I was not paranoid. When you look down and see a mosquito biting you through your jeans, it’s kind of horrifying and astounding all at the same time. It’s OK though, because it was worth it. We saw some beautiful things and I got to show off some of my Spanish skills.
When we got back to the hotel, we grabbed some lunch and hung out in the pool for the rest of the afternoon. That too was lovely. It wasn’t too crowded at all and the water was warm. My uncle did make fun of my farmer’s tan though. And I quote, “It looks like you’re still wearing a shirt!” It’s true. I have a funky tan from running in my sleeveless workout shirts. When we got tired of the pool, we went back to the room and relaxed. Even doing nothing was heavenly there. I wouldn’t have minded reading all day in that room. It was so cool and dry and quiet.
Later, we went into town for dinner. They had heard of this place called Coconut’s or something like that, which specialized in seafood. Oh man, I have to stop and reminisce for a bit. I had the seafood pasta with cream sauce. It was basically exactly what it sounds like but probably even better and it was topped with a small lobster. It was so tasty, but the sauce was so rich, I couldn’t finish it. The others got lobsters and steaks. Those also looked quite delicious.
While we were in town, I was asking around about where to find the terminal and how to buy bus tickets back and what times the buses leave. Well, people were telling me different things and basically it was driving me crazy until some guys told me that I could catch a bus off the road of Villa Real. I took down that information and figured that was the best we were going to get for the night.
The next day, we went back to the buffet breakfast and ate really quick before catching our shuttle to go zip lining. I’ve never done it before, but it was amazing! This place had 11 lines and a couple of them were really long. When we got there, we were the only people so we basically got to have a private tour with the 3 guides. They were awesome guys. They were letting us do tricks and at one point they had all 4 of us go down together. That was fun, but the take off was a bit rough. As soon as the guide and my uncle took off, their weight pulled down the wire and the rest of us were basically dragged through the gravel off the ledge. Still, it was tons of fun.
On the way back to the hotel, the driver was telling us how the road led down to this restaurant called Lola’s. We were planning on trying it out for lunch but had no idea where it was. I asked him if he wouldn’t mind dropping us off there instead of the hotel and he agreed. Lola’s was great. It was basically a restaurant where all the tables were on the beach. The food was really good too. We shared a plate of super yummy nachos and I had what may be one of the best veggie burgers ever. We also met Lola. When we got there, I hear my uncle say, “Is that a pig?” Haha. Normally, if I was at my site I would say, “Probably,” and go on my way. What grabbed my interest was this pig was literally on the beach. This wasn’t just any pig either. This pig was HUGE. I mean, it had to weigh like 350-400 lbs. It was so random. How did a pig get here and is it really just chilling in the water like that? Well, it eventually came up to our table and our waitress just yelled, “Lola!” And then it clicked, “Oh, I guess this is Lola from Lola’s Restaurant.” It was definitely an interesting place to dine if you ever get a chance.
We then walked on the beach on the way back to the hotel. It was kind of cool because the entire stretch of beach between Lola’s and our hotel was deserted. It was kind of disconcerting also. I mean after 20 minutes of walking and seeing only wilderness on your right, and water to your left, and sweat starting to gather at the top of your shirt, you start to feel like a character from “Lost.” However, it was nice to walk off the enormous lunch.
When we got to the hotel, I did more research, talked to more confused people and made some phone calls to figure out my game plan on how to make it home the next day. I decided to somehow make my way to Santa Cruz, which isn’t so far and take a bus from there back. I also called my new taxi friend and he agreed to get me to Santa Cruz for the same 12,000 colones.
After that mess of a treasure hunt, I finally relaxed a bit before dinner. We decided to have dinner at the hotel because on Fridays they had buffet dinners. Because the food was amazing and it was my last night in heaven, I decided to gorge myself. It probably wasn’t the wisest choice because I really don’t think I’ve ever been so full in my life. It was so delicious I couldn’t help myself. There was just so much! Again, my Auntie Dinna and I shared a bottle of wine.
The next day we had breakfast before I had to go. I basically ate more than I normally would considering I had a long day of traveling and probably would not be eating lunch. Still, that English muffin was delicious. The bacon was no joke either. Yum. So, after some goodbyes and big hugs, I jumped in the taxi and made it to the terminal. On the bus ride back, I realized that the bus was taking the exact same route that my other bus took. So I jumped out at the stop, took another bus to Puntarenas and from there took a bus to my community. Skipping the trip to San Jose saved me a few hours, so I think it was a successful journey.
Well, settling back into life here has not been the most fun. The night I got back it was so hot, I could not get to sleep. When I finally did, I was woken at 5 in the morning by these crazy rats having an argument that escalated into a fight in my room. They then decided to run up my wall (by my head) up to the roof. Yes that’s right. They ran vertically up the wall that I sleep next to in order to do whatever it is mice/rats like to do. However, one of these rats decided to stay behind and kept digging around in my trashcan. I’m not sure what it was looking for since I only keep scraps of paper in that trashcan.
Later that day, I told my host-mom about it. She said that she thinks it because of the bodega (make-shift storage shelter thing) around the back that brought the mice in. I think that it is clearly the exposure to the outside that is responsible for bringing the rats/mice. Let’s just agree to disagree. However she and this couple that she has hired as the help have tried to get rid of rodents last night. We’ll see how well it worked.
Oh yes, my host-mom has hired help. I’m not sure how or why. I’m fairly certain that this family is not well off at all…if you just look at the house this is apparent. She herself is a house cleaner, so I’m not really sure where the money’s coming from and why she’s using money that could be spent on better things (ie. Fixing the holes in the walls, putting up windows in the kitchens where we currently only have a chain linked fence, or closing off the house to the outside elements) to get other people to cook and clean for her. I’m not sure how I feel about this. Plus, I’m not sure if these people are going to live here. She said they wouldn’t, but last night they stayed over. I don’t know what to believe anymore. In Costa Rica it seems like the best plan is to just wait and see.
Ok, well that’s all for now. I didn't have time to edit, so pardon any grammar errors. Until next time.
Auntie Dinna getting fitted to her harness before zip lining. That guide's name was Carlos.
Jordan getting fitted to his helmet before horseback riding.
Uncle Ron getting ready to jump on his horse.
Our hotel. The JW Mariott.
This is Lola.
Everyone hanging out at Lola's after eating a delicious lunch.
Sunday, I made my way to San Jose to attend my regional VAC (Volunteer Advisory Council) meeting. I guess I should do my best to explain what VAC is because I’m betting most of you don’t know what I’m babbling about. So basically, VAC is a committee made up of volunteers who become our voice to bring up concerns and suggestions to Peace Corps Costa Rica. They also set up activities and events for volunteers to get together to blow of steam and bond. The volunteers in Costa Rica have been divided up by region. Each region gets together on occasion discuss our issues/successes and hang out. I belong to the Central Valley region and Sunday was our day to meet up.
I got into town early and met up with another Tico 22, Melissa J, to hang out and have lunch before our meeting. It was pretty nice to hang out with her since I haven’t seen her since swearing in. We had a chance to catch up and compare stories. We also went and had lunch at a PCV favorite Asian restaurant. We both had the Pad Thai, which was OK, but not the same as back home. We later found out at our meeting that the restaurant had been shut down due to sanitary reasons. Well, I guess they cleaned up some, because I had to inform everyone that it was definitely not shut down as we had just had lunch there.
So after lunch, we waited for Maitreya to find us so that we could go to the meeting together. While we were waiting, we ran into Allen and Rosie. Rosie doesn’t actually belong to the Central Valley, but was in town for the 4th and decided to tag along. I mean who wouldn’t want to tag along? We were all in one spot and it’s been ages. Anyway, we all went to the meeting and it became really apparent that we were the new kids since we didn’t really have much as far as ideas, concerns, project success and what not. While it was pretty much all business and was slightly reminiscent of training, it was cool to see other volunteers. Especially since we were all jazzed about the 4th. Seriously, I don’t think I have been so excited to be American. Especially since I was hanging out with other Americans who were really excited to be American. I think our group was especially excited since we’re still adjusting to Tico life and have started to appreciate our culture and privileges.
Our meeting ended and our group basically split off from the rest. Rosie took off to figure out where she was going to stay that night, a matter deemed vital and worthy of leaving, and the rest of us decided to look for a bar and have a couple drinks before I had to leave to go back to site. So, as we’re walking along, we realize that everything is closed because it is Sunday when Maitreya realized that she knew of a bar that would probably be open. Allen concurred. So went of in search of this bar. We walked and walked and still no sight of this mysterious bar. I became more and more doubtful they knew what they were talking about and we were moving further and further away from my bus terminal. However, we did eventually find it and I had just enough time to have a beer with them before taking a taxi to the terminal.
It was worth it though. I haven’t had a beer in ages as people in my town have made it apparent that drinking can put off a very bad impression. I mean, when I first got here and people asked if I drank, they would look very displeased with my answer. I thought I was being conservative too with my response, “Yes, but not often. Only in social occasions.” Hahaha. Thus, I’ve refrained from drinking in my town. Not a hard task to do considering there’s never a reason to drink nor people to drink with, and there isn’t really a place either. No bars around in this small town.
So after rushing my beer, I would have much rather been able to take my time and converse longer, I went off to catch my bus. You may be wondering if I had planned on going back to San Jose for the 4th, why not stay the night. Well, that’s because I have a very limited number of nights out in my first 3 months at site and I planned to use it all to meet up with my Auntie Dinna and her family in Guanacaste later on in the week. I happened to luck out and discover that the 4th of July is a freebee night. However, VAC is not so I had to go back home that night.
After getting home around 8:30 or so, I crashed, woke up early the next morning to catch a bus back to San Jose. I met up with Claire who was coming into the same terminal about an hour after I did and we found a place to have breakfast. We had some OK gallo pinto, super stale bread, fried queso blanco (I don’t really like it…I mean what kind of cheese refuses to melt even when fried?!) and some coffee. Typical Tico breakfast. We roamed around a bit while catching up, and you should hear about the issues she’s had. Remember our bad luck with host families in training? Well, that same luck followed her to her site and she was basically kicked out of her new host family’s house. Don’t worry though, she found a new family. Hopefully it works out this time.
We then made our way to Morgan’s (my mentor who has extended a 3rd year to be our Peace Corps Volunteer Leader (PCVL)) place where we were to have an American BBQ, eat lots of American food, and eventually make our way to see fireworks. Well, let’s just say effort should count for something. We got there and Emily (a fellow Tico 22) was already there. We made our way to a local supermarket to buy some supplies for our amazing BBQ. Somehow after getting back, there was consensus that I would start the fire going on the grill while Emily made guacamole, Kyle (Morgan’s roommate and other PCVL) and Morgan worked on something in the kitchen and Claire distributed beer. Well, I’m not sure how old our coal was and how well it had been stored since they inherited off somebody else, but it would not light. Well, the little ones would light, but there were a couple huge pieces that just wouldn’t go. So, Morgan ended up cooking the burgers and sausages on the stove. We all stuffed our faces with amazing burgers and sausages, guacamole and chips, and potato salad. Oh but wait…the grill did not go to waste. We ended up roasting marshmallows to make s’mores! Yeah! Yeah! OK, sorry…I got distracted just thinking about the deliciousness of that day. There was some confusion about graham crackers and labeling, but I still think the s’mores were yummy. To top it off, we had root beer floats. Mmmm, they were so good. I’m not sure if this is coming off, but I MISS food from home.
So after that little feast of yummy-ness, the rain died down and we left to go watch the fireworks. Rosie and Jason (yet another Tico 22) were calling and trying to figure out how to meet us there. So, Kyle and Morgan led us as we ventured off to find the local of this great American celebration. Well, we were misinformed and thought the fireworks were going to start and hour later than it actually did. Luckily, the fireworks started shortly after getting off the bus and we were able to watch most of it. Unfortunately, Rosie and Jason didn’t make it. We ran into a bunch of other PCV’s from the RCD (Rural and Community Development for those of you who can’t keep up with these crazy acronyms…really who can?) project. However on the way back, they split and went to a bar while the rest of us found Rosie and Jason and went back to Morgan and Kyle’s place to hang out. Good times, but I really don’t think I have stayed up that late since orientation most likely, possibly even before that.
The next morning, Claire took off early to go back to site so that she could get her new house and family checked out by Carolina, our boss. The rest of us went to the Peace Corps Office to hang out a bit before going out separate ways. I picked up a couple new books, “Open” by Andre Agassi and the first Harry Potter in Spanish. Very excited to read both. Emily and I had lunch with Morgan and Kyle before leaving and that was good. And that was the end of the great 4th of July adventure.
The next day, I went back to San Jose to catch a bus to Guanacaste. I really didn’t have to go all the way to San Jose, but people (including the guys selling the tickets at the terminal) were being vague and telling me different ways of getting there so I got frustrated and figured that I’d just go to San Jose and take the bus all the way to Tamarindo. I didn’t really have to rush or anything like that because the time that I was originally told the bus leaves San Jose was 8:30, but when I went to go buy that ticket, they told me that time doesn’t exist and the earliest was 11:30. So I had time to kill that morning anyway, why not go to San Jose? I took the bus, scoped out the route and realized that the bus stopped for a break at the exact spot where I could catch a bus back to my town. I took a mental note of that and slept most of the way to Tamarindo. When I got there, it started to pour rain and I somehow found my way to a taxi who said he could drive me to the Marriot where my family was staying.
I get in and ask the guy how much it would cost. He says, “$75.” I respond, “Entonces, cuantos Colones?” (Then how many Colones). He then replies, “12,000.” All of a sudden I like this guy. If you do the math, he ended up charging me about $24. I’d say that’s a pretty good discount. So, we chatted the entire way to the hotel. I think that he liked the fact that I spoke Spanish. He also gave me his card in case I needed to use him in the future.
My Uncle Ron was waiting for me when I pulled in and he gave me a big hug before leading me to his room where the others were waiting. Well, I’m not sure if it was the shock of seeing family from home or from walking around in a fancy place, but I was pretty dazed. I said hello to my Auntie Dinna and Jordan and they gave me the bag of things that people sent me from home. The bag of goodies was pretty awesome. Thank you everyone who contributed! My favorite item was the personalized calendar filled with pictures of family and friends back home. Not only did I really need a calendar, but I also wished I printed more pictures before I left. Perfect gift.
After settling in, we went to dinner and they filled me in on things that they have been doing and the things that they had planned for the next couple of days. We also ate yummy food. Auntie Dinna and I split a bottle of wine. Delicious.
When we got back to the room, I took a shower and basically took in the life of luxury. It was amazing. The toilet was so clean and I wasn’t worried about the flush not working. The sink was so white and the faucet actually gave a generous amount of water compared to the little stream of water that the sink at home spits out. It barely constitutes a trickle. There was light! Oh so much light. You could see everything clearly! So different from the darkness that I’m used to experiencing at home. Also, the shower…what?! TWO SHOWER HEADS! Top it off with hot water. I don’t actually think I showered in water that was all that hot because I’m fairly certain that my skin no longer tolerates water that’s hotter than warm. However, it was nice to shower in warm water! Stepping out of the shower, I realized I wasn’t hot or sweaty. Oh, bless air conditioning. I miss the feeling of cold, artificial air. Although, at times that too became a bit to chilly for me. I didn’t mind though. I took the opportunity to sleep in a long sleeved shirt. I never get to do that! Oh, and the bed! The bed was so soft and didn’t seem like it was going to break apart when I moved. Not to mention I got to sleep bundled in sheets and blankets. Mmm, that was lovely. Wow, I forgot what living in comfort could feel like. AND I LOVE IT! Not to say that I’m not enjoying my time at site, but who doesn’t love the high life? I have to admit, I kept most of my excitement to myself since so I wouldn’t come off like a total lunatic. I mean, I’m sure that it would be startling to all of a sudden hear someone scream, “It doesn’t smell gross in here!” Yes, I did think that, and no, I’m not making that up.
When we woke up the next day it was so quiet. The only things making noise were us. There were no crazy animals, trucks and buses passing through, crazy people yelling and blasting their radios. Out of habit I reached up to my ears to pull out earplugs, and I realized I wasn’t wearing any. It was AWESOME. Then we went to breakfast, which was a buffet, and I had to stop myself from laughing with happiness. I mean seriously, to have one option that is different from my normal mornings is one thing, but to have an entire room that is bigger than the house I’m living in full of different treats was something else. Sigh, I just have to sigh thinking about it.
We then went horseback riding through the rain forest and on the beach. Haha, they actually made us wear helmets. The only reason I laugh is because I’m sure Peace Corps Safety and Security would definitely approve of that. I’ve been horseback riding before and I love it, but this was really different. We were definitely off the beaten path. We also got eat alive by mosquitoes. During training, I formed a theory that Costa Rican mosquitoes are so vicious they can get at you through your clothes. I always thought that I was paranoid. While riding my horse, I realized that I was not paranoid. When you look down and see a mosquito biting you through your jeans, it’s kind of horrifying and astounding all at the same time. It’s OK though, because it was worth it. We saw some beautiful things and I got to show off some of my Spanish skills.
When we got back to the hotel, we grabbed some lunch and hung out in the pool for the rest of the afternoon. That too was lovely. It wasn’t too crowded at all and the water was warm. My uncle did make fun of my farmer’s tan though. And I quote, “It looks like you’re still wearing a shirt!” It’s true. I have a funky tan from running in my sleeveless workout shirts. When we got tired of the pool, we went back to the room and relaxed. Even doing nothing was heavenly there. I wouldn’t have minded reading all day in that room. It was so cool and dry and quiet.
Later, we went into town for dinner. They had heard of this place called Coconut’s or something like that, which specialized in seafood. Oh man, I have to stop and reminisce for a bit. I had the seafood pasta with cream sauce. It was basically exactly what it sounds like but probably even better and it was topped with a small lobster. It was so tasty, but the sauce was so rich, I couldn’t finish it. The others got lobsters and steaks. Those also looked quite delicious.
While we were in town, I was asking around about where to find the terminal and how to buy bus tickets back and what times the buses leave. Well, people were telling me different things and basically it was driving me crazy until some guys told me that I could catch a bus off the road of Villa Real. I took down that information and figured that was the best we were going to get for the night.
The next day, we went back to the buffet breakfast and ate really quick before catching our shuttle to go zip lining. I’ve never done it before, but it was amazing! This place had 11 lines and a couple of them were really long. When we got there, we were the only people so we basically got to have a private tour with the 3 guides. They were awesome guys. They were letting us do tricks and at one point they had all 4 of us go down together. That was fun, but the take off was a bit rough. As soon as the guide and my uncle took off, their weight pulled down the wire and the rest of us were basically dragged through the gravel off the ledge. Still, it was tons of fun.
On the way back to the hotel, the driver was telling us how the road led down to this restaurant called Lola’s. We were planning on trying it out for lunch but had no idea where it was. I asked him if he wouldn’t mind dropping us off there instead of the hotel and he agreed. Lola’s was great. It was basically a restaurant where all the tables were on the beach. The food was really good too. We shared a plate of super yummy nachos and I had what may be one of the best veggie burgers ever. We also met Lola. When we got there, I hear my uncle say, “Is that a pig?” Haha. Normally, if I was at my site I would say, “Probably,” and go on my way. What grabbed my interest was this pig was literally on the beach. This wasn’t just any pig either. This pig was HUGE. I mean, it had to weigh like 350-400 lbs. It was so random. How did a pig get here and is it really just chilling in the water like that? Well, it eventually came up to our table and our waitress just yelled, “Lola!” And then it clicked, “Oh, I guess this is Lola from Lola’s Restaurant.” It was definitely an interesting place to dine if you ever get a chance.
We then walked on the beach on the way back to the hotel. It was kind of cool because the entire stretch of beach between Lola’s and our hotel was deserted. It was kind of disconcerting also. I mean after 20 minutes of walking and seeing only wilderness on your right, and water to your left, and sweat starting to gather at the top of your shirt, you start to feel like a character from “Lost.” However, it was nice to walk off the enormous lunch.
When we got to the hotel, I did more research, talked to more confused people and made some phone calls to figure out my game plan on how to make it home the next day. I decided to somehow make my way to Santa Cruz, which isn’t so far and take a bus from there back. I also called my new taxi friend and he agreed to get me to Santa Cruz for the same 12,000 colones.
After that mess of a treasure hunt, I finally relaxed a bit before dinner. We decided to have dinner at the hotel because on Fridays they had buffet dinners. Because the food was amazing and it was my last night in heaven, I decided to gorge myself. It probably wasn’t the wisest choice because I really don’t think I’ve ever been so full in my life. It was so delicious I couldn’t help myself. There was just so much! Again, my Auntie Dinna and I shared a bottle of wine.
The next day we had breakfast before I had to go. I basically ate more than I normally would considering I had a long day of traveling and probably would not be eating lunch. Still, that English muffin was delicious. The bacon was no joke either. Yum. So, after some goodbyes and big hugs, I jumped in the taxi and made it to the terminal. On the bus ride back, I realized that the bus was taking the exact same route that my other bus took. So I jumped out at the stop, took another bus to Puntarenas and from there took a bus to my community. Skipping the trip to San Jose saved me a few hours, so I think it was a successful journey.
Well, settling back into life here has not been the most fun. The night I got back it was so hot, I could not get to sleep. When I finally did, I was woken at 5 in the morning by these crazy rats having an argument that escalated into a fight in my room. They then decided to run up my wall (by my head) up to the roof. Yes that’s right. They ran vertically up the wall that I sleep next to in order to do whatever it is mice/rats like to do. However, one of these rats decided to stay behind and kept digging around in my trashcan. I’m not sure what it was looking for since I only keep scraps of paper in that trashcan.
Later that day, I told my host-mom about it. She said that she thinks it because of the bodega (make-shift storage shelter thing) around the back that brought the mice in. I think that it is clearly the exposure to the outside that is responsible for bringing the rats/mice. Let’s just agree to disagree. However she and this couple that she has hired as the help have tried to get rid of rodents last night. We’ll see how well it worked.
Oh yes, my host-mom has hired help. I’m not sure how or why. I’m fairly certain that this family is not well off at all…if you just look at the house this is apparent. She herself is a house cleaner, so I’m not really sure where the money’s coming from and why she’s using money that could be spent on better things (ie. Fixing the holes in the walls, putting up windows in the kitchens where we currently only have a chain linked fence, or closing off the house to the outside elements) to get other people to cook and clean for her. I’m not sure how I feel about this. Plus, I’m not sure if these people are going to live here. She said they wouldn’t, but last night they stayed over. I don’t know what to believe anymore. In Costa Rica it seems like the best plan is to just wait and see.
Ok, well that’s all for now. I didn't have time to edit, so pardon any grammar errors. Until next time.
Auntie Dinna getting fitted to her harness before zip lining. That guide's name was Carlos.
Jordan getting fitted to his helmet before horseback riding.
Uncle Ron getting ready to jump on his horse.
Our hotel. The JW Mariott.
This is Lola.
Everyone hanging out at Lola's after eating a delicious lunch.
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