WE DID IT

I made it! I’m a volunteer! Right now I’m sitting at a desk at my part-time office at the local school in my site. It is only part-time because I have to share it with one of the teachers here. She uses it on Mondays and Thursdays and I can have it Tuesdays, Wednsdays, and Thursdays. It actually makes a big difference having a quiet private place to work/chill out. It’s a bit distracting trying to focus or relax at home where there’s only so much space and everyone stares and watches me all day. Of course, the first thing that I do when I some quiet space is work on my blog. You may be surprised, but this is considered work since one of the 3 goals of the Peace Corps is to share my experience with you at home so that you can better understand the people of Costa Rica as well.

I guess I should pick up where my last blog left off. I got some sad news from home about another uncle passing. While not unexpected, it is still very sad, especially considering what the family has been through already. It’s hard to know that things are tough at home when I’m so far away, yet at the same time, I’m glad that I didn’t have to experience another tragedy in person. While I can’t be with them now, they are in my thoughts and hope they know my heart is with them.

Back in Costa Rica, the last week of training was pretty mellow. We had to go to the Peace Corps Office to have our Final Assessment Training Interview. I have to say, mine went pretty swimmingly. Also, for our last Spanish class, our teachers decided to take all of us on a field trip to this house where we basically had a party. We set up a bbq and made all sort of yummy food. We used the left-over beef and chorizo from the family party and it was amazingly delicious. Since the meet had been marinating for all that time, it was full of flavor. During our class party, they had us learn and practice the Costa Rican national anthem since we had to sing it during out swearing-in ceremony. It definitely took a few tries before we got the hang of it, and even then we still were not perfect. I just don’t understand how the words flow with the music. At times it’s super fast and you’re trying to fit about 5 syllables into beat, and then later on you’re trying to stretch 2 syllables into like 4 beats. That’s where they lose me anyway.

So that brings me to swearing-in. We had to meet at a plaza in San Jose so that we could take busetas to the ambassador’s house where the ceremony was to take place. It was pretty interesting to travel around looking formal and cleaned up. Actually it was kind of strange seeing everyone looking so good since we normally don’t and also we’re in the Peace Corps. Hahaha. Also, I had to wear a huge corsage because our host mom demanded that we wear one. Apparently many people like it. Unfortunately, it is definitely not my style. I also had to take a little bit of crap from my peers about “going to prom.” Yes, it was definitely a moment where I chose my battles and wore it for the sake of avoiding conflict, insults, and drama. However, if you watched my ceremony or saw pictures, the flowers were not my idea at all.

Speaking of watching my ceremony, we found out that this was the first swearing-in ceremony in Latin America to be available to be viewed at home. If you haven’t seen it, you should check it out. It was good though. There were a lot of speeches and some of them were repetitive, but it was nice to hear some of the things said. Sometimes I forget what we’re doing here and it was a really good reminder. It is also fairly intimidating hearing about the legacy of the Peace Corps and how we are now part of it. Oh, also the ambassador is a pretty cool lady. She decided to pull some spontaneous stuff, such as letting us do shout outs to the camera after receiving our diploma/certificate. I heard that it was hard to hear because of the way the sound system was set up. I think they lowered the volume of the actual microphones used so that the translator could be heard, so that’s kind of a bummer. If you want to know what I said, here you go. “What’s up California?! To my friends and family, I love and miss you. Keep on keeping on!”

After the ceremony was over, things followed the typical after-graduation schedule. We took a ton of pictures. We said goodbye to our staff and our teachers. This was really shocking to me for some reason. I guess I was so focused on getting to swearing-in and being official that I forgot that leaving meant that I wouldn’t be able to see all my staff on a regular basis. It was a very sad realization. What is awesome though is that I get to be friends with all my Spanish teachers and can contact them whenever I need anything or want to hang out. As for my training team and staff, since I am working I will be seeing and contacting them fairly regularly. Also, after three months we all have to meet up somewhere in San Jose to do our In-Service Training.

So after all of the formalities, Claire and I went back to our house to pack our stuff and use the internet one last time before leaving. I talked to my mom, which was really great. We talked about my ceremony. She told me that she cried through the whole thing. That may have been one of the most touching experiences in my life. It was unexpected and it was amazing to realize that I had done something to make her that proud. It is just so encouraging to know that my family back home has my back and is 100% supportive of why I am here. Knowing this makes things easier when they get tough. They remind me why I’m here and it helps keep me grounded when I get caught up in all the little things.

Anyway, when we finally left, we took all of our belongings and took a taxi to one of the hostels in San Jose where a bunch of us were staying that night. We eventually met up with other volunteers and went out for pizza. There is a pizza place in San Jose that is a favorite of all the volunteers because it’s actually tasty and comparable to pizza in the States. The only thing is that it is super discreet and down this shady-looking alley. You have to follow these train tracks to find it. An Italian lady owns it, which is probably why it tastes so good.

So after filling up on what might be the last pizza I will have for a while, we all went back to the hostel to pre-party a bit before going out. That was really entertaining. Everyone was relaxed and laughing the entire time. Our group is actually really fun to hang out with because nobody’s scared of giving anyone else crap. We get called out on everything. It’s nice to see everyone be themselves uncensored. We then went to a local bar/club to blow off steam. It was an interesting place. Definitely not a place I would have chosen on my own, but it was fun. I started out by playing foosball with some of the other volunteers, but when we ran out of 100 colones coins, we joined the rest of our group on the dance floor. It was an amazing last night.

I can’t lie, the next day was really depressing. It was so sad to say goodbye to everyone one-by-one. I don’t think I was ready to leave everyone. I know that some people were ready to go, but I definitely was not. However, I didn’t have a choice. So, I had lunch with Claire, Maitreya, and Melissa J before having to take a cab to the bus terminal. It was actually convenient because Claire had to go to the same terminal, which ended up working out so that we could share a cab.

When I finally got to my site, I was exhausted. It rain really hard that day. I have to say, when it rains here, it really rains. I mean, I have never seen rain like that in my life. It’s so crazy. Then you add the lightning and thunder and it’s something else. When you’re inside and don’t have anywhere else to be, it’s kind of cool. It’s definitely hard to hear anything because with the tin roofs, it sounds like you’re sitting underneath a waterfall. However, when you’re trying to get somewhere, it’s a pain in the butt. It’s basically impossible to stay dry if you have to go out in the rain. However, it does stay a lot cooler when it is raining. I guess like everything in the Peace Corps it has it has ups and downs. Welcome to rainy season.

So, yesterday as I was trying to get out of my mosquito net covered bed, I dropped my cell phone and broke it. Now I need a new cell phone. My new host-sister, Laura, is trying to see if I can have her husband’s old phone. That would be awesome because I really don’t want to have to pay for another phone. Especially since I just dropped a load purchasing a data card for internet yesterday, I really don’t want to buy a phone. However, I don’t know when that will happen and I really want to have a phone soon. It just makes life a lot easier to stay in contact with my counterparts, the Peace Corps, and the other volunteers. It sounds so lame, but I feel even more isolated without that invisible cord to everyone else. I’m just glad that I have internet now, so I’m not completely cut off. I think the signal here can be sketchy though, because it can be incredibly slow. Either that or the network is busy. I’m on a 3G network.

That brings me today. The first time I have felt productive since getting here. I’ve written my blog, and I have talked to the lunch ladies about the other school and discovered a few things that I didn’t know earlier. It’s a small accomplishment, but it’s something. All I can do is cling on to the my successes no matter how small they are. Otherwise I would go insane. Hahaha. Now the hard stuff begins. Welcome to the Peace Corps. Catch you later.