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!