Thanksgiving

Tico Thanksgiving

Costa Rica Fact Check: What day is celebrated the 4th Thursday of November?
Answer: Well this year it was November 26th, very special as it followed November 27th.

In other words, Ticos don't celebrate Thanksgiving. This presented a problem for me, since I enjoy celebrating food, I mean Thanksgiving (really the same thing). So even though I would be celebrating Thanksgiving (and food) with a PCV friend on the day of Thanksgiving (see below), I wanted to introduce my English students to the joys of Thanksgiving - take that PC goal #2!

So after their first test, we had a Tico Thanksgiving! What can one expect to find at a Tico Thanksgiving? Glad you asked! I have the tantalizing menu here:

• Pumpkin Pie (this was my beautiful dish made possible by a can of pumpkin pie mix left by Ryan and one sent by Mom, Mom's pie crust recipe, and Pippa's oven) and since whipped cream isn't exactly easy to come by, for those who wanted, it was topped with condensed milk
• Chicken - deliciously seasoned (turkey's a little more difficult to come by)
• Gravy
• Mashed Potatoes
• Sweet Potatoes topped with melted multi-colored marshmallows (this was my fault for trying to explain that some people put marshmallows on yams)
• Absolutely delicious chocolate/coconut/caramel bars (which she calls slices) made by Pippa
  
• Fruit mold
• Some flan sort of thing
• Rompope (Eggnog, which is actually fashionable year-round here)

It was great time. I tried to explain where the holiday comes from, with mixed results. I think I left them with the impression that is a day that we worship food and has something to do with Native Americans and Pilgrims - I guess not too far from the truth (at least for me). But everyone enjoyed themselves and learned a little bit about the US. We even went around and said something we were thankful for. Quite a few said they were thankful for me as a teacher and for our English class. This was probably due to the previously mentioned first test they had just taken, and the fact that I would soon be grading it, but I take compliments, even bribe ones. ; )


Talamanca Thanksgiving

I was lucky enough to be adopted for a few days my my PCV friend, Katie's mom. So I met them in Tamarindo (or as some call it, Tamagringo) for a few relaxing days at a beautiful resort on the beach. It was a gorgeous place with nice bungalows, a pool, wifi, monkeys (the last two shown to the right, being enjoyed by Katie), a ridiculous breakfast (just ask the beautiful bird to the left, who stalks you til you get up for seconds...or thirds), and endless relaxation two steps from the beach. Tamarindo wasn't as overdeveloped and ugly as I was afraid of (although there is tons of construction going on, so who knows what it will look like in a matter of years), is quite charming, and has an amazing selection of food that is not rice and beans.

I arrived Thanksgiving afternoon, and after a tranquilo evening by the pool and beach, we sat down to a Thanksgiving dinner at the restaurant. Brianna and Jon (awesome PCV married couple) came up to enjoy it with us, since they are unfairly close to the beaches. We enjoyed turkey, gravy, green beans, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie (not as good as mine). It was amazing, and we stuffed ourselves til we felt ill - making those Pilgrims proud.

The next day we went to an amazing beach that is completely covered by shells. It is definitley one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever been. Great day in white sand and pristine blue water.

Then that night included the best salsa dancing scene that I have experienced in Costa Rica. There was a live band, no cover, free drinks for ladies, gringos, ticos, great dancers, beginners, a gorgeous beach view, and reggae and hip hop on the band breaks. It's like it was made for me! Suffice it to say that Katie and I had a blast.

The next day, we explored the river that leads to the beach and saw endless mangroves, herons, land crabs, a lizard, cayman, and monkeys.

That afternoon, we swam to the island in front of the hotel (that spec...ok blob in the picture to the right). Though Katie's mom was convinced that we just might not make it back, we made it to swim another day. It was challenging, but pretty amazing.

It was such an amazing vacation. And though I am ashamed to say it was my first trip to the beaches closest to me up here in the north (about 3 hours away), it definitely will not be my last!

Let's Try This Again

So when I said that I would try to update my blog every week, I guess the operative word was ‘try’. So I’ll try this again. I’ll do some catching up on old stuff spread out (so as not to overwhelm you or me) as well as new stuff. Added occasional bonus: Learning Moments.

New Stuff:

English Classes

Learning Moment: Saying “easy as a-b-c” does not apply in English class.

So I am an English teacher! Peace Corps Costa Rica (PCCR) has a partnership with an organization called Centro Cultural Costarricense Norteamericano (CCCN), which aims to develop the relationship between the US and CR (no wonder PCCR partners with them). One of the things CCCN does is some pretty good English courses. So they do a little bit of training for us on teaching English, make the materials (books, workbooks, and teacher’s book) available at a low price to the students, and then give certificates to the students who complete the course. Now, certificates may not sound like a big deal, but Ticos really love their certificates. There are some people who do all sorts of courses and collect certificates as if it were a hobby. So it is a very big de

al that I can offer a certificate at the end of the course, and CCCN is a pretty well known one.

I offered the course mostly to the small business groups first and filled in the rest of the spots with other community members and a few high schoolers for a total of 16 students. My friend Pippa graciously offered her classroom where she also teaches English classes, which is great since she has created a very stimulating English nook with tons of fun resources that I am sure I will make use of. It’s a 3-hour course twice a week and this first beginner’s course lasts about 6 months.

Considering that I had never really been a teacher before, I wasn’t all that sure if this would be the thing for me. But after 2 weeks of classes, I’ve actually had a lot of fun. And the students seem to really like it and are pretty motivated since they see the value in learning English for their own interests. Most classes go pretty great and it’s nice to have a teacher’s book that has things pretty planned out for me, but I sometimes have to add or change things around. Like the first day, we learned the Beatles song “You Say Goodbye and I Say Hello” to practice the greetings we had learned in an entertaining way – my mom would be so proud. And then when the alphabet came up, the teacher’s plan had us go over it briefly then launch right into spelling and listening to spelling at full speed. But since it was really like learning 26 new words for them, we ended up spending more time on the alphabet than planned. Now with the help of the alphabet song and extra practice, they are doing a lot better.

Lots of work, but lots of fun too and I think it will be a project I really enjoy and that the students will get a lot out of.

Lost iPod Shuffle and Ant Invasion

Learning Moment: There are almost always 2 ways of looking at things.

The pessimistic way: I misplaced my iPod shuffle for over a month, leaving m

e without portable music and podcasts for long bus rides and morning runs (which was actually a pretty big bummer). Then I realized that I had had it all along when I had to empty everything out of my backpack when ants infested it, and found the shuffle in a small pocket. So I missed out on a month of comforting music and podcasts (one of the ways I stay sane and somewhat updated on world news) when I had it all along and then had to waste 30 minutes dealing with annoying ants.

The optimistic way: After a month of disappointing shuffle-less bus rides and runs, some ants were kind enough to help me look through my backpack more thoroughly (and realize that I need to wash it perhaps) to find my long lost shuffle! And after this time without a shuffle, I appreciate it so much more and am even more motivated to go on runs since, after all, I have a shuffle to listen to!

I think I like the optimistic way – a lot more constructive, especially for these 2 years.

Old Stuff:

Caño Negro

Learning Moment: Mango pizza is delicious!

Caño Negro is a pretty well known Wildlife Reserve and also happens to be where a PCV friend, Mick, is located. It’s got swamps, heaps of birds, and even prehistoric fish. Caño Negro is an interesting case. Though it is so popular and probably among the top 10 tourist destinations in Costa Rica, it almost exclusively gets tourism booked from outside companies that bring in and take out the tourists, without leaving much benefits for the actual community of Caño Negro behind. (I guess it’s not all that much unlike my own site with Rio Celeste)

But of all that it has to offer, pizza finally got me out there. Another PCV friend, James, is in a sight between Mick and I and happens to count making homemade pizza as one of his many talents. Well Mick and James decided that perhaps teaching some community members how to make pizza might offer a possibility of income for them. So I joined in on the fun.

The pizza workshop went quite well. Not sure if anything will start up, but I was happy to be a part of a few Costa Ricans’ first experience with pizza (yay PC goal #2).

We also got to go on a beautiful tour of the lake. We saw plenty of caimán (alligators), birds, monkeys, and gorgeous vegetation and scenery. It was a very traquilo and beautiful tour (due to technical difficulties, no pictures to show).

Rio Celeste Adventure

Learning Moment: 25km is a very long walk (especially in mud and rain)

So Rio Celeste is that gorgeous tourist destination with the turquoise crystalline waters that I visited with my Tarbaca host family in July. This amazing natural wonder is very close to Bijagua, but it’s not in Bijagua. We took a 4-wheel drive taxi when I went with my host family. Well they are working on another entrance to the park that used to only be accessible by horse, and with the construction, is now even less accessible. This new road begins in Bijagua. It will cut a few km off the trip and most likely have quite an effect on Bijagua. (Really hoping this will not ruin Bijagua and it can still keep it’s real Costa Rica feel, but that’s another issue)

Ryan and I had been talking about making the journey on foot for a while and we finally decided it was now or never (we chose now). Even though we got some crazy looks when we let people know what we were doing, we set out on our adventure early in the morning. The weather started out pretty well behaved, which made the muddy sections a bit more manageable. It was a pretty walk as we crossed through cow fields and across rivers. But by the time we finally arrived to the park entrance, I was already pretty exhausted and my hip felt like it was going to say

“screw you” and jump off my body.

But after a rest, we made our way onto the park trail. We went down to the waterfall (yep, still beautiful) and as it had started to rain a bit, we took the shortcut to the hot springs. The springs weren’t as hot as before since the river level was higher, but it still felt pretty amazing with the rain falling as we sat in the warm water.

It was really hard to talk my body into getting out of the water, but I finally did so we could make our way back. The return trip was more of a challenge, with my body already on strike, rain falling, and the mud much more reluctant to let my feet (sometimes ankles and calves) go.

But despite my doubts, we actually did make it back. We had left 8am, got back 4pm and covered roughly 25km (more than a half marathon covered in a work day). Great adventure, but I think I might wait for dry season before considering another one.

A Good Week

Organic Farmers Market in Upala

Some other PCVs and I went to support the Feria that has started up in the nearby town. Even though it was their first one, it was a pretty exciting success. There were probably about 20 vendors, mostly produce but even a few artisans and a bit of other food. There were plenty of customers, despite the rain it started off with. I was so excited about all of the organic food, although another PCV did remind me that lots of farmers around here are organic by default anyways. And to top it all off, the prices were cheap for produce, let alone for organic produce. I got a head of lettuce, a bunch of spinach, 4 cucumbers, 2 small bags of momones (local yummy fruit), radishes, and mostaza (a spicy leaf) for less than $4, and delicious dark chocolate for $0.20 – all organic and locally produced. It was a very exciting shopping experience, especially since it is a real possibility that we will soon get something similar started up in Bijagua.

Pippa & Donald’s Place

Ryan and I finally visited Pippa and Donald at their place and finca. When we arrived, we had to ‘work’ a bit for our breakfast. We each tried our hands at milking their cows, getting back to my farming roots that I never knew. Definitely wouldn’t call myself an expert, but I was excited to see any milk coming out. The breakfast that Pippa prepared was amazing – homemade tortillas, banana bread, eggs, cheese, fried platano maduro, lots of fresh fruits, and coffee (flavored with fresh milk from their cows).

Loaded with way too much food, we set off to their finca outside of town. We drove until the truck got stuck in the mud. Then it was time to put the rubber boots to use (one of man’s best inventions), walking through the river to get to the finca. Even though it took us 2 hours to go the 2 km, it was a gorgeous walk that I wish could be conveyed by pictures. Then we explored around the finca, seeing lots of beautiful birds, tapir tracks, and noisy monkeys, drinking straight from the spring that was the source for a small stream, and enjoying some beautiful nature all around. The walk back on the road in mid development was the hardest part – for one, the mud was deep and I got temporarily stuck at least a dozen times on the 2km trek back; but the much harder aspect was seeing the deforestation the road was bringing about, which lead to the erosion and horrible mud that we were getting stuck in and was washing straight into the beautiful river we had walked through. It is a project to make a new entrance to Rio Celeste, which cuts through the rainforest and would give much quicker access directly through Bijagua. This would increase tourism traffic in Bijagua, but it is definitely not helping the rainforest it is cutting through. It is also such a fine line as to how much additional tourism I hope for in Bijagua. It is such an amazing community right now, and while I want to see development and additional business, I don’t want to see it ruined by over development, if that makes any sense.

After 6 hours of walking through mud and rain, my first hot shower in 2 months was beyond amazing. Then after a nice dinner, we had a movie night slumber party. It was such a simple evening, but so wonderful to feel like I have a close friend to spend a relaxing night with.

Futbol!

After wasting the majority of the next day, Pippa called to let me know that there would be a soccer game at the indoor field at 830pm. Even though it sounded too late after being
lazy all day long and my bedtime is usually 10pm, I decided to go. It was such a successful turnout! There were 6 girls and 8 guys (a few more showed up later). We split up and subbed on an off. It was such a fun game. It sounds like we are going to try to do it every week, which is really exciting.

Despedida

We had a little get-together of all of the local twenty-somethings since the French volunteer, Justine is leaving, Ryan is leaving and it was the German volunteer, Marjorie’s birthday. It turned out to be a pretty fun night. All of the fun people I have become friends with were there. There was good music, some great food (Marjorie’s pasta, Kim’s pinto, cakes, etc), beer, wine, and great company. I even got a bit of salsa dancing in with my friend Maikol. The porch of a house is just as good as a club dance floor, as long as your partner’s fun. I would love to get some sort of regular latin dance class started up. The evening wasn’t a crazy time, but it was just a great night of hanging out with friends. And it was a great international house – Costa Rica, USA, Germany, France, Australia – with people switching between Spanish, English, French, and German. I loved it.

Project Updates

Ryan and I went out to El Jardin to check on the greenhouse after 3 weeks of school vacations. Surprisingly enough, the only real problems were 2 dead rows of cucumbers that we had planted from seeds, some ants, and some possible fungus on some plants. Other than that, it was an impressive sight, most of the plants had grown so much. I’m really excited about this project and the food that is growing each day including cucumbers, eggplant, lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro, radishes, and peppers. I’m a little less sure about figuring out how to help get the structure of cooperative set up with the kids and parents, but I’m sure it will work out.

The computer lab is great. I have 2 students that I tutor, and other community members use the computers or come in and ask for help occasionally. Not to mention the free internet for me.

We are really trying to get the Farmer’s Market started soon with whatever we have. Even though it may start out small, we can slowly add to it and make it better every week.

There is a lot of work with the ECCs (community banks). We’re working on improving the accounting in Excel to make the treasurer’s life better. It’s great to be able to bury myself in Excel formulas every once in a while. And we are trying to work on the regional meetings to get them some training and make the meetings worthwhile. There is also an idea floating around of a regional work center for those ECCs that don’t have computers as well as for a central training center.

So I definitely have a lot of fun and projects to keep me busy. So much for any fears of not having much to do for 2 years.

Altamira

I got invited to visit the home of one of the members of my counterpart, Edgar, his wife Maritza, and their kids Esmerelda, and Edward in Altamira. The trip up itself was beautiful, though long – 5km outside of (mostly up) town. Looking around, I realized just what a good name Altamira (high view) was for the barrio, especially from Edgar and Maritza’s land. I somehow didn’t think to bring my camera, so you have to picture it until I can return to take some pictures (the picture shown is where I went, as seen from central Bijagua). When the clouds permit, you can see both volcano ranges, and waterfalls flowing off of Miravalles. Though the clouds only permitted me to see one of the many waterfalls, it was absolutely gorgeous. I could sit there all day and stare at it.

But staring wasn’t the only thing the day brought. We had a delicious lunch, made almost exclusively from the produce they grow on their land. I learned a little more about their home during the meal conversations. They first bought the land completely undeveloped. After clearing some land, laying down the concrete for their floor, putting up two walls, and putting up a roof, they moved in to finish it. They put in everything from scratch, including the electricity and water. I really love the idea of being able to choose what you want the view from your window to be. Their home is so amazingly theirs, with all the wood, concrete, electricity, and water put in by them.

Then after lunch, it was time for an adventure. After years of not doing it, and not doing it all that well when I did, I got to ride a horse. It is a good thing that Edward was the guide, otherwise I think this adventure would have had a disastrous outcome. We went on a 30 minute ride with lots of green nature to look at. When we came to a little stream, the horse crossed it with little problem, but then there was a hill where walking alone, I would have had to choose my steps carefully. Now imagine you’re a horse. At one point I remember thinking what an oddly sprawled out position the horse was in and wondering if I could jump off before falling along with the horse into the stream. But somehow, the horse avoided disaster and made it up the hill. Of course Edward didn’t seem to give this all a second thought. After a short trail, we made our way through fences and through muddy non-trail on foot (not so gracefully on my part) to the river. It was definitely pretty, but after a quick break, we headed back. This time, when we got to the hill leading down to the stream, I decided to dismount the horse and take it on my own two feet. I just imagined me and the horse crashing down, my leg getting crushed, putting me on the next plane home to the US, ending my Costa Rican adventure. Even though it most likely would have been fine, as I watched the horse basically jump down the hill, I didn’t feel so ridiculous for worrying with my limited equestrian skills.

By the time we finally got back, I felt really sorry for both the horse and Edward who had done all of the work, neither of which probably would have made the trip if it were up to them. But both of them were very good sports and I was appreciative of the adventure they made possible for me. I didn’t dare mention how after such a short ride, my rear already could feel it. It was a great time.

After a delicious cafecito, Esmerelda took me on a tour of their finca. After just over a year, they have their land producing just about everything they need – cows (milk, cheese – sometime spicy, yogurt), pigs, beans, tomatoes, aracache, corn, platano, banana, cilantro, and lots more. It was impressive walking all their land and all their agriculture, thinking about how only Edgar and Edward care for all of it, and they feed themselves almost entirely from this land.

After my time there, I fell in love with it. It definitely is a harder life, but I would argue it is also more beautiful – the view and the quality.

Tarbaca Family Visits Rio Celeste

My host family from Tarbaca (Jacky, Stephannie, and Melannie) that I lived with for 3 months came to visit me in Bijagua. It was so great of them to drive 5 hours to spend a week of their 2-week school vacation with me. They stayed here with my current host family and me since they had hit it off so well when Jacky dropped me off the first time. It was so nice to catch up with Jacky and spend time with the girls. I didn’t realize how much I missed them until I got to see them again.

We went to Rio Celeste while they were here. Rio Celeste! I can finally answer ‘si’ when everyone asks me if I have been. It is the most famous attraction in the area for good reason. It is called Rio Celeste for the color of river that is an amazing blue due to some chemicals in the water. But on the 7km roundtrip trail, there is a lot more than just the famous waterfall.

First we made it to Mirador. It was beautiful to be able to see the whole range of peaks of Tenorio Volcano, up to 1916m. Then when we arrived at Laguna Azul, we were just about screaming with excitement with our first glimpses of the celest waters. We next visited Teñideros (the Stainers) where the different waters meet up and the celest color (due apparently to colloidal silica) begins. It was impressive to see how there is such a defined line where the color changes. Then we finally arrived at the hot springs. It was very different from the springs in La Fortuna. It was in the middle of the cold celest river, with just a little area set aside from the rest. There were various areas that would get really hot, with the cold water mixing it up – so nice. The smell was so odd, and it made you wonder if the combination of interesting minerals was a good thing or bad thing. But it sure felt great, and we all felt more relaxed as we started the walk back.

But still the walk back was not quite as easy going. The girls really started to get tired and Melannie kept on saying that she wanted to leave now, even though there were still a few km before the exit. But then we got back to the entrance to the waterfall, which we had saved for last. It was only 150m but very steep grade with really tall steps. The trail got a bit much for Jacky to handle with the girls so I left them about halfway to go the rest of the way. And what a beautiful sight! It was amazing to finally see live what I had seen so many times in pictures – which, as expected, just cannot really relate the beauty that you can only fully appreciate by seeing it for yourself. It was completely breathtaking. The waterfall is about 30m high (about 90ft) and it pummels down into the lagoon that is blue as ice. I tried to make sure that I got some good pictures, knowing full well that they would do it no justice.

VAC Regional Meeting

Volunteers Advisory Council is kind of like the PC form of ASB in school. Each region of CR has one to represent the PCVs of that region. Every 4 months the PCVs in each region meet up to talk about regional projects, raise common concerns for the rep to bring to PC staff, make announcements, share ideas, and just be able to hang out with other PCVs for a while. This time the meeting for the Naughty North was held in La Fortuna over the 4th of July weekend. La Fortuna is the little tourist town right next to Arenal Volcano.

The weekend was pretty eventful, starting with the trip out there. It just happened that Pippa (the Australian who lives in my site) was going out to La Fortuna the same weekend with her husband Donald, some volunteers in town for the month, and some visitors she had from Australia. We took a scenic back road that took us through beautiful Costa Rican countryside, past wind turbines, and out to Lake Arenal. Once we were back on paved road, it was still very low traffic. Unfortunately, that did not stop us from witnessing a horrible accident. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. A man ran to cross the road, but not fast enough to avoid the car just in front of us. I didn’t believe I was actually seeing a man fly feet first above the car and then go crashing back down to the ground. We were all sure at first that he must be dead, but he made a movement to get out of the road, so Pippa went to help since she had had first aid training as a teacher in Australia. She got him in recovery position, kept the woman who knew him from freaking out and trying to move him, and applied towels to the bleeding. Though he had moved, he was definitely in bad shape. The windshield had been broken, he was bleeding from his head, and we had no idea what kind of internal injuries there could be. Donald had called the ambulance and the police and helped keep the woman’s brother who showed up to the scene from punching the driver of the car in the face. The rest of us stayed in the car, not wanting to further crowd the scene when we could not help improve it. When they had done all they could, we left, still not quite believing what we had witnessed, a little shook up by the whole thing.

So we continued on our drive around Lake Arenal, appreciating the gorgeous scenery, and trying to not think about the accident. We stopped in the quaint little town of Arenal Nueva, which was new because the old one was under water from when they had dammed the lake. We didn’t spend too much time there, but we did get to enjoy the delicious, yet overpriced German bakery that was there. Even though I could have gotten a whole meal for the same price in a typical place, I definitely enjoyed the Apple Strudel I finally decided on. We were now entering tourist area and the accompanying prices.

The rest of the trip was beautiful, and I arrived in La Fortuna much more comfortable than if I would have come by bus. I easily found the awesome little hostel that was a converted house that I was staying in with the other PCVs for the weekend. And since there were about 20 of us, we just rented out the whole thing, leaving the kitchen, TV (which had shows in English!), and BBQs to us.

Well that day being 4th of July and us being a big group of Americans, we made a patriotic party of the night complete with hamburgers, hotdogs, corn on the cob, and topped it all off with fireworks! It was a pretty decent celebration and nice to share it with some PCV friends.

The next day was full of fun as well. We walked just out of town to a beautiful river that had the most perfect rope swing. Well I wasn’t planning on going in the water, but after seeing how perfect the rope swing was, I just couldn’t resist - and I have to say it was a good decision.

For lunch we ate at a delicious and touristy (read - expensive) lunch before launching into our official meeting. We talked about regional projects like supporting organic agricultural, supporting improvements in Nicaraguan immigrants’ rights, and starting an environmental committee. We also talked about any common concerns that we had as PCVs and PC announcements.

Hot springs were the activity of the night. God really knows how to make a good jacuzzi. There was even a little cascade that served as great jets to relieve some PC tension. It was perfect since it was a cool night.

The next day after some homemade crepes made by James for breakfast, it was already time to go home. But at least we got one more good look at the volcano before heading out. Unfortunately we left one day before the volcanic activity started up. But even though we didn’t get to see fumes going up and lava spilling down, it was a great view nonetheless.

1 Month Down, 23 To Go

After a month in my new home, it seems like time has gone by so quick, and has been laid-back yet busy. I have been very pleasantly surprised at how my initial time here has already been full of new friends, projects, and nature. See below for examples of said fullness.

Projects:

English in El Jardin
Ryan and my new Australian friend, Pippa, have been teaching English classes in the escuela in the barrio El Jardin every Friday. They teach 3rd through 6th grade. I have been tagging along and done a few of the activities, slowly feeling a little less awkward.

El Jardin Greenhouse
In the same escuela, Ryan helped get a greenhouse started with the kids. Thanks to some great donations and lots of hard work, it’s already looking pretty green. It is really exciting to think of all the good that could come out of this project, especially since it is organic. It encourages local agriculture, will generate some income for local families, make healthier options available at school, and give the kids some great business and agriculture skills not to mention some pride.

Tourism Farmers’ Market
This is just starting up with meetings and planning, but should be something really great for the whole community. The agricultural products will give small farmers a place to sell their product, encourage local food, and make cheaper produce available to the community. The art will allow local artisans to sell their works and attract tourists. Tourist stands will allow the local business to promote their business and draw tourists. I really think this could be an amazing project, but it will also be a big challenge to do it right.

Computer Lab
A computer lab with 6 computers donated by the government opened up 2 weeks ago. They run on Linux, which I hadn’t ever really used before, but have always been interested in open source programs. After playing around a bit, it looks like most of the programs are almost identical to Windows. I’m watching the lab and tutoring people at least one afternoon per week. I already had my first lesson with my host dad, Rafa, who had never even touched a computer before. And I’ve helped people open their email and search the internet. I’m excited about this project for all the possibility that exists to teach, not to mention the free (although slow) internet I will get.

Community Credit Enterprise (Agua y Sol)
Of course I will also be working with my counterpart, Agua y Sol. They are doing pretty good, but there’s still plenty of potential for improvement. Helping to keep all the socios buying acciones to grow the business, getting higher quantity and diversity of loans out, growing the kids program, and enhancing the capacities of the members are just some of the possibilities.

Camp Green
I will be helping Pippa put on a day camp for kids in 3rd to 6th grade during their vacations during the next two weeks. It should be a great camp, combining some English with environmental topics. We’ll be taking them on nature hikes, to a butterfly garden, a local farm, a sports day, and planting some trees, all here in Bijagua. It’s already past the 60 kid capacity that was set. It should be a really fun project.

Fun Stuff:

Hanging Bridges
I’ve gone a few times to the hanging bridges nearby. I have to figure out how to talk my US family members with a slight dislike of heights into crossing the bridges that hang about 90 feet in the air when (not if) they come visit. It’s awesome to look around on the same level as the treetops. I haven’t seen the monkeys that are apparently common. But I did see a sloth with her baby once and another time a boa snake.

Laguna Danta
There’s a longer trail up by the hanging bridges trails that leads up to an extinct crater on the Tenorio volcano. It is completely overgrown with trees, so you can’t tell it’s a crater, but it is still awesome. It is completely different depending on the rain. The first time I went up there, it was full. The second time, it was just a few puddles. It was neat when it was dry since we could see a ridiculous number of tadpoles that looked like some sort of huge single organism. We also found tapir tracks, which is where the laguna gets its name (danta is tapir in Spanish). My friend also saw a coral snake on the trail. The trail itself is pretty impressive. There are times when I felt like I was rock climbing, except it was tree roots instead of rocks.

Bijagua Waterfalls
I finally got to make it out to one of the local waterfalls. I set off one morning with Ryan and the French volunteer, Justine (who is working with a local hotel on sustainable tourism for 3 months). It took us a little less than an hour to arrive at the entrance to the trail. On the trail itself, I probably would have turned back quite a few times if it weren’t for Ryan insisting there was a trail beyond the huge fallen trees, figuring out which of the forks would lead us to the waterfalls, and deciding that after crossing the river, there would be a trail of some sort. And luckily I trusted him enough, since we did finally end up arriving at the first cascades. There was a nice little swimming hole and the freezing water was great after the long trail. Then as we explored in different directions, we only found more and more gorgeous nature. We walked up to the biggest waterfall that was made even more beautiful by the tree that had fallen in the middle of it. Unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of this one since we had to swim to it. Then we rock/waterfall climbed shoeless and cameraless to another waterfall on the other side. With some exploring, we found a trail that led up to the top of the big waterfall which revealed the rest of the series of cascades and waterfalls. There was an amazing wall of small cascading waterfalls along the way that was beautiful. Then we followed the least trail-like walk of the day to see yet 2 or 3 more cascades. It was a work out to get to all of the waterfalls, but it was all very much worth it. No picture could do all of that beauty justice. I am most definitely planning on returning (who wants to join me?).

And I still haven’t seen the most well known Rio Celeste nor the other waterfall in Rio Zapote. Yep. I’m spoiled.

Fiesta
The other weekend was a Bijagua fiesta to raise money for the high school. So while all of you San Diegans were enjoying the Del Mar Fair with its concerts, corn on the cobs, and deep fried everything, I went to a surprisingly hoppin dance, saw a rodeo, and ate delicious tamales and ice cream, and not so delicious churros. The dance was a very encouraging event. Even though I had been told that most dances would have nothing but cumbia, the night featured salsa, merengue, hip hop, reggaeton, techno, and only a little bit of cumbia. And there were quite a few good dancers, even though I only got to dance with 2 partners. But the place was packed, and it apparently went until way past 3, much longer than I lasted. So perhaps once I make a few more friends, these occasional dances can keep me going on the salsa front.

The rodeo was an interesting cultural experience. I had been to a rodeo in the US, but in a huge stadium, in the nosebleed section. The nosebleed section doesn’t exist in Bijagua and every other tiny community that may not have a bank, but it has a small rodeo stadium. So everyone is right above the action. So I got a really good view of two guys being trampled by the bulls (one left in an ambulance). Then after the cowboy is bucked off, there are dozens of guys waiting to prove their manhood by jumping into the ring and trying to get the bull to chase them, then jumping up the side of the stands to get away from it when it comes after them. It was an interesting experience, but even though they don’t kill the bulls, they don’t treat them very well, so I’m not sure if I will be attending in the future.

I’m happy with the family I’m living with, love all the nature, am slowly making more friends, love the community, and am already staying pretty busy. So with 1/24 of my time in Bijagua (4/27 in Costa Rica) done, I am pretty content.

Big News

So much has happened since the last time I wrote – I am officially a Peace Corps Costa Rica Volunteer, I had REAL froyo, and I am finally in my home for the next 2 years!!! All very big news in my life.

Swearing in

First and foremost, as of Friday I am an official Peace Corps Volunteer instead of a measly trainee! There were 50 of us then-trainees at the US Ambassadors house, even though he was not, to go through the ceremony. Not too shabby of a house with tennis courts, swimming pools, and enough space to hold an event with hundreds of people. It was a nice day, with our host families and PC staff there. Even though it was just the formality of the truly meaningful events, it was still a good day. The truly meaningful events took place during the travels that opened my eyes to the rest of the world; deciding to live in, learn from, and work with a foreign community with Peace Corps; the year-long application process; accepting my anxiously awaited invitation to serve in Costa Rica; packing, saying hard good-byes, and boarding a plane to Washington then on to Costa Rica; and living three months with a Tico host family, learning more Spanish, getting accustomed to the Costa Rican culture, learning about the endless PC rules, and getting some glimpses and training in what I might be doing in my community over the next two years. But it was a good day anyways.

Fro-yo

To some, eating froyo would seem a strange event to count among my accompanying big news, but not to those who know me.

After the swearing-in, all the volunteers went to celebrate in San Jose. A group of us made our way to San Pedro, a college town, which was perfect since we all felt a little bit like we were in college/high school during training. On our way to one of the many bars that line a street full of fun, I spotted it – Wanayog. We had a good time in the bar, then went for dinner and my favorite, dessert. I couldn’t hide my excitement – there were multiple flavors, candy and fresh fruit toppings, and you stacked up as much as you wanted and weighed it all to pay. While this is something that seems to be showing up on every corner in San Diego, it is the very first I have found in CR. I was so far beyond thrilled, and the poor workers must have thought I was crazy with the excited questions I was asking and the stupidly exultant look I had on my face. And I definitely put my feelings to action when I filled my bowl up. I spent more on dessert than I did on dinner but it was worth it without a doubt. After such a great find, I feel more confident that I can make it through these next two years much more easily. Any time I’m feeling extra homesick, bored, or just fed up, I can meet up again with Katie and Adrienne there, and feel at home once again. See – big news!

Trip to Bijagua

The next day, it was off to my new home – Bijagua. My Tarbaca mom/sister never ceases to surprise me with her generosity. She decided to drive me the 3-4 hour drive to my new house and spend the night! This not only made my life much easier, not having to take the bus with all of my luggage, but it was a great to spend a little bit longer with the family that has done so much for and come to mean so much to me.

The drive went well, and we arrived safely. Then after some very impressive bargaining by Jacky, we decided to stay in the nice new hotel, at a lower price than the cabinas. It was a relaxing evening.

The next day we were hoping to go to the famous Rio Celeste, but we were informed that Jacky’s car would not be able to make the trip (and our wallets couldn’t handle a taxi). So thanks to some help from a new friend in Bijagua, we made other plans.

First we stopped by my new house, so my Tico families could meet each other. They hit it off great. And as they were talking, I realized how blessed I was to get not one, but two awesome families to support me in my adventure.

Then we went to see a 600-yr old tree. I didn’t realize it was on a farmer’s property, but when we arrived, one of the boys was nice enough to take us on the 20 minute walk/hike to the tree that we never could have found on our own. The walk itself was gorgeous, going from cow fields to dense rainforest in mere seconds. Then the tree itself was very impressive, measuring 60 meters (I guess about 180 ft)!

Then we went up to Alberque Heleconias – Jacky’s car somehow making it despite warnings that we would not. We went on a beautiful hike through the dense rainforest, crossing 3 hanging bridges that were about 30 meters (about 90 ft) above the forest floor. It started to rain (it is a rainforest after all) so we ran the last part to save the cameras. But it was a beautiful walk/run.

After waiting out the rain for a bit, we went back to my new home. After a cafecito with Alcira, it was time for goodbyes. It was definitely hard, but what made it much better was knowing that we were only going to be a car/bus ride away and we plan on visiting each other often. Melannie, Stephannie, and especially Jacky have all become so important in my life and have done so much for me that I know they will remain an important part of my life, especially while I will still be relatively close these next two years.

But now begins the next chapter in Bijagua, since I’m an official Peace Corps Volunteer and all (with the certificate to prove it). Wish me luck!

My new home for the next 2 years

…is Bijagua, and I’m pretty excited about it!

So I went to visit Bijagua this past week to get the lay of the land, meet my new host family, and start to poke around a bit. Short version: Bijagua, my family, and possible projects are all awesome! Long version:

The community –
Bijagua is a rural town in the north of Costa Rica, pretty close to Nicaragua. It is located between two volcanoes – Tenorio and Miravalles! It is at the heart of the biological corridor of the two volcanoes, which also means that there is lots of wildlife around. It sounds like I will have neighbors such as monkeys, sloths, poison dart frogs, lots of birds, and of course a fun mix of bugs and even scorpions! And on the volcanoes, there are hot springs and lots of waterfalls and rivers (disclaimer: water pics are not mine – have not been there but will right that soon enough). There’s one river called Rio Celeste that is named for its beautiful blue waters that are due to the minerals that mix with the water. And there is just so much beautiful nature all around with great hiking. In other words, lots of extra incentive to visit me!

One of the harder things to deal with will probably be this non-stop rain that I’ve heard about. But I figure I’ve worked up a lifetime rain deficit while living in southern California, so it will be good to work some of that off. And it is also the reason why everything is so green and beautiful, so vale la pena. And besides, it will be a great excuse to sport some stylish rubber boots.

There are fields with cows and horses all around but there is a bank, internet cafes, primary schools and a high school, a few markets, hotels, etc. It is also pretty accessible by bus, right on a main road – short 4-hour bus ride to San Jose. I really feel like I’ll have the best of both worlds – a rural town with bastante resources.

(I didn’t take many photos this week, but I’ll post more once I do)

Living Situation –
I will be living with an older couple about the same age as my parents. They are a really nice couple and a hard working team. Alcira (my new mama tica) is an artist and her art is painted on the wood pieces or within the wooden frames that Rafael (my new papa tico) creates. Alcira plans on teaching me some art while I’m there. They also sell different homemade corn products (cornbread, empanadas de chiverre, etc) every day throughout the community that they bake in their outdoor concrete fire oven – yum! On that note, I will definitely be well fed while I am there, as Alcira is a great cook. If you are reading this blog you probably know that my happiness is pretty connected to food. La cocina is another art that Alcira will be teaching me. I just will have to make lots of use of all the beautiful trails so as not to double my weight while I’m there, eating so much good food. Their children are grown and out of the house, but one of Alcira’s daughters has a daughter and they come by often as they live in the surrounding barrio. It will be nice to come home to a tranquila house with some good food after a long day.

The house itself is a lot more typical of rural houses, with walls that don’t reach the ceiling, less sealed off from the outside, and cold showers. The last one is probably the one that is a little harder for me. But I’ll just have to plan my exercise around my showers to warm up beforehand. More encouragement to keep off those cornbread pounds!

I will be living with them at least for the first 6 months of service (PC CR rules recently changed from a year to 6 months required to live with a host family). After that I can move out on my own if I find a safe and affordable place. It would be nice to have a place to call my own, but I also appreciate the time with a family, learning the culture, practicing my Spanish, integrating into the community, eating well, etc. We’ll see how I feel and what I find when 6 months rolls around. But I think it will go really well.

Project Work –
I am really excited to be able to report that it sounds like I will have a plethora of possible projects in Bijagua.

One fabulous resource that I have for my first 2-3 months is named Ryan. He is the PCV that I will be replacing. After his 2 years in Bijagua, he has tons of projects already going that I can continue to work with such as the Empresa de Credito Comunitario (ECC) (Community Credit Enterprise) – a micro credit institution where the community members pool their money to loan to themselves and therefore there is a much better repayment rate and the interest from the loans goes right back to them. He is also helping a co-op to start up at the school in the neighboring community that will sell organic produce and fertilizer. He also has projects with women’s groups, the schools, and lots more.

But even though Ryan has done so many projects, there is still a vast potential for projects that I can help with. We’re going to try to get a farmers’ market started up, work with environmental groups, and help develop the tourism industry even more. Then there are possibilities of teaching business, English, or technology classes.

I expect it to be challenging, but at least there is lots of potential and a plethora of interesting projects that I am passionate about. Now I just can’t wait to get started.

So now we are back in our training communities for our last few days. Our official swearing in will be May 29 at the US Ambassador’s house. Then it’s off to our new homes. Exciting stuff!

Peace Body

I got back from our Tech Visit last Friday. We visited Kayla in San Mateo – awesome site and amazing volunteer. It was a whirlwind of a week, chalk full of activities so I’ll just give the highlights.

This area is known as the fruit region so it wasn’t surprising that one of our first visits was to a family who does just about everything you can with mariñones, which I had never heard of before I got to Costa Rica. So first we tried the fruit itself, experiencing its full bitterness. Then we all tried our hand at the mariñon-crushing machine they invented to process 10 times the number of cases as they had by hand (love the ingenuity). The juice that came out was immediately poured into glasses for us – talk about fresh. Then they showed us where they process the crushed mariñones to dry them and we got to try those as well, which were sooo delicious. And to finish it off, we got to sample the product that I actually already knew and loved but never knew the source – cashews! Cashews are the seeds of mariñones, which grow outside the fruit (I believe the only such seed). It was amazing to see how many delicious products come from the same fruit and are all processed by this small family.

The next day we toured an old mine, complete with bats flying in our faces, which I felt so well prepared for with my handy dandy head light. Then we spent the rest of the morning splashing around in the best natural water park ever. There was

a rock water slide that was too perfect to be naturally formed, rocks to jump off of, and a swing to jump into the water. It’s so funny how we instantly search for things to jump off of.

We also visited the Fabrica de Semillas de Mariñon (cashews) where they crack and peel organic cashews by hand. So delicious. The visit with the Artesanas de San Mateo was also awesome and made me want to do sculpture. They were such a talented group of women.

We attempted to teach English at the Telesecundaria in a neighboring community with mixed success. First of all, a Telesecundaria is a rural community’s version of a colegio (high school) when they don’t quite have the resources for a colegio. It is generally low on teachers and resources. And like many Telesecundarias, this one was in the Salon Comunal, with four different classes all in the same room. Combining the noise of the other

classes, the melting heat, the often fatalistic attitude of the students, the fact that a relatively high percentage of the students are already parents, and the lack of resources doesn’t make the teachers’ (or students’) job an easy one. But nonetheless, Leah and I taught a bit about how to describe someone. They all had to describe another student in the class. And though we gave them about 20 words, everyone ended up being ugly, fat, and stupid. It’s refreshing to know that 12-14 year olds are the same everywhere.

But then we also visited the colegio técnico in the town center, which was a world away. They have a computer lab, specializations to study (tourism, cooking, accounting, etc), and lots of projects (mariposera, compost, sell food, etc). It was much better off than my high school in the US. The tourism students even took us on a hike to the river. We saw monkeys along the way and ended up at another nice river, where we found some more tall stuff to jump off of.

A visit to the Ancianos place was an entertaining endeavor with singing, dancing, and even some magic. It was also the best Welcome sign yet (direct translation of Cuerpo de Paz).

We also got to teach an ICT class to some local business people. We taught Publisher to the librarian who made a library schedule and posted it immediately. How’s that for immediate results?

The last night we had a rockin’ party with all the host families and the rest of the community. There was salsa, cumbia, reggaeton, hip-hop, and more. It was a great way to end the week.

The next day we ‘debriefed’ our experiences from the week at the beach in Jaco. Such a nice and much-needed vacation…I mean debriefing. Though Jaco is over touristy and a little sucio, it was a relaxing day with some swimming, sun bathing, reading, and nice food (I had been missing fish tacos dearly). The whole day just wet my palate for this weekend, when our whole training group will be taking our one vacation night together there.