So, I’ve been thinking a lot about my site and my service here since I have a lot of time to think, and I realized that my relationship to my community is very similar to an arranged marriage. Why is that? Well, firstly I didn’t choose this community. In fact by the time I met this community, I was already committed. My project team did their best to find a community that would best match up with my personality and abilities and this is what they found. It’s a blind marriage. And now I’m in the middle of a transition period trying to get to know my new spouse and make this thing work. Sometimes, it can be very frustrating and I think, “Shit. What did I get myself into?” I have crazy in-laws with whom I have to put up, I no longer have the same freedoms that I did before, and now everyone has these crazy expectations. I then meet up with my friends and we all bitch about our spouses. On the flip side, sometimes I think, “OK, this isn’t so bad. It could be worse. I can do this!” For example, I have someone doing my laundry (I would rather do it myself, but it saves time and I don’t understand how these crazy machines work. They’re a bit different from home.), someone is cooking fairly healthy and tasty meals for me, I go to work and get stuff done (sometimes I go to work just to get time to myself), I seem to be liked by the people and I feel that there’s a lot of room for some personal growth and on top of that I might actually accomplish a few good things. OK, so I’ve never been married before. I have no idea what marriage is like. I obviously have more positives to figure out. Sadly, I feel like there are probably a lot of marriages like that out there. Lesson….don’t get married until I am 100% certain I can hang with that person. Hahahaha! Who am I joking, I can’t even commit to dating a person unless I’m fairly certain I can put up with him. Anyway, I digress.
Speaking of marriages, I was surprised to learn last week that most people here aren’t actually married. What happens most of the time is that a girl gets pregnant so she moves in with her boyfriend and they start referring to each other as their spouses. I guess I just found it really bizarre that people have families of like 4 kids and they never got around to getting married. I’m not saying that these things don’t work out, but for a country that is so Catholic, you would think that they would want it to be official. Guess not.
This weekend I went into the bigger town with Rocío and she basically pointed out everything that I would need to know. This was a much better tour than the one my host mom did on my site visit. I now know which panderia is the best, where to go if I need school supplies, what is the best heladeria, and so on and so forth. Also, she told me at the park in the center of town, there are two-toed sloths that live there. I have yet to see them, but I’m looking out.
The next day I met up with a couple of Tico 20-ers. I’m a Tico 22, so that means that they belong to the group 2 before me. Actually they came a year ago, so they had a lot of insight and advice to give. It was actually really cool hearing about experiences from people mid-way through their service. We talked about smiling and how smiling can make a difference just because hope and happiness can be just as contagious as despair. The fact that they both live more or less an hour away is really nice. It’s always great to feel connected to my peers.
Yesterday, I got a desk in my room. I realized that I really needed one so that I can go on the computer, read or work when I’m at home. Yes, I have my bed, but with the mosquito net, it is very difficult getting in and out. I basically only get in at night when I know I’m going to go to sleep. Anyway, my host family is letting me borrow my host brother’s desk since he doesn’t use it. This is really nice because I really didn’t want to have to pay for a desk. However, if he ever needs to get a desk while I’m living with them, I will probably have to bite the bullet and invest in a desk. I don’t mind though. It makes a huge difference. That sounds ridiculous, but it really changes things. I now can spend time in my room and have a little bit of privacy, which I am coming to realize is very difficult to come by in that house. Privacy is key to my sanity. Haha. Typical introvert.
Another thing that’s happened in the last week is that I’m starting to feel like part of the school. I now have good relationships with the teachers and feel like I’m part of the staff, even though I’m really not. The English teacher and I are helping each other out with our language barriers, and everyone else is pretty cool. They all seem to want me to go visit their houses and meet their families. This is awesome because it helps make me feel like I belong here. I’m going to try to watch the local soccer team this Sunday. One of the teachers here coaches soccer on the weekends. That is amazing for the community because it is basically the only recreational opportunity that the youth have here. The kids here need more opportunities and options where they can invest their energy so that they can build self-esteem and stay out of trouble. I’m thinking that I’ll probably have to do some projects to give kids a safe positive space to be kids.
So, that’s all I’ve got for now. See ya next time.
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