70 degrees is cold...

March was pretty busy. I was working a lot on soliciting funds for 2 big projects at the grade school; the construction of an English classroom and the construction of a recycling center. I have really enjoyed working with my counterpart, the principal, on these projects. Together, we completed and submitted 3 separate solicitudes. It might not sound like a lot, but these things take a lot of time. They averaged on about 15 pages each, including annexes with budgets, timelines and more. Now the waiting begins. Hopefully I will be posting some good news in a few months.

Besides fundraising, I have been teaching a lot. I honestly never realized how much Id be teaching... but on the other hand I had no clue what Id be doing anways. I have found teaching to be rewarding and challenging. I truly enjoy each of the classes I teach. I feel especially proud when I see my students remembering and applying things that they have learned in class. At the same time, I find the classes challening in that you must constantly work to keep the group interested and motivated. That might sound like an "obvio.." comment.. but you dont think about it until you have to do it! Kudos to all the teachers Ive had. Especially the interesting ones!

Other than work, its all good in the campo. We are in the middle of summer time so it gets pretty toasty during the day. And when I say toasty I mean freakishly hot. I literally walked to and from the soccer field to watch a game one day, which is was a total of 20 minutes in the sun, and had a bright red burn on my nose and neck. I broke down the other day and finally used an umbrella. Its what most people in my town do.. just took me receiving a serious burn to walk around with an umbrella when it isnt raining. I used to think it was funny that everyone in my town got so cold when the temperature dropped the slightest bit.. but living in Costa Rica in the summer makes me understand... 70 degrees is cold these days!

Well Ill leave it at that for now. I am currently in an internet cafe at the border (I live by the border of Panama) so time to sign off and finish my errands. I came today to buy fruit for the recycling group to sell at a school event this week. We are waiting to hear back from a local cooperative as to whether or not we will receive the fund we requested for the recycling center. In the mean time, we are going to try to do occasional sales to build up our bank account. This week involves selling fruit at some soccer games. Little by little!

1 year update (wait, what?! 1 year??)

Summer vacations are officially over and its back to it. Summer vacation for the schools in Costa Rica go from mid-December to the start of February. It was initially weird for me to refer to these months as summer vacations because, even though it is hot and sunny here, it is cold and snowing in Ohio. But after living in Costa Rica for almost 1 year, January and February are starting to look a lot more like summer.

I was able to go home for a few weeks in December, which was a wonderful break. I don't know how I truly thought that I wouldn't miss home, because in the weeks leading up to my trip back to the states, I was missing it more than ever. It was wonderful being home with my friends and family that I love. But its always an interesting experience going between 2 very different places in a short period of time. Comte is small, rural and simple. I've grown to appreciate living a certain kind of lifestyle here. It was a weird (and indescribable, so sorry, I'm not even going to try to explain it) feeling being back in big cities surrounded by commercialization. But I have to say, it was nice being able to get to a location that is 10 miles away in less than 15 minutes, not over 1 hour.

I came back to my town after New Years Eve, right around the time that the community was in preparation for its annual festival. The annual festival is run by either the grade school and the high school and involves 2 weekends of food, soccer, bull riding, and dancing. The volunteer before me rode a bull so a popular question during the festivals was whether or not I would be making the same attempt. I had to disappoint with a definite "no." Not now. Not ever. But the festivals were fun and it was nice having an event that the majority of the community participated in.

So back to work. The recycling project received a donation from Kids to Kids in January and is currently writing letters to some local organizations for donations of the rest of the materials. We are hopping to construct a center to hold the materials in the next couple of months. I have also started working with the school director to solicit funds to build a classroom for English classes in the grade school. Currently, the students unfortunately receive English in either the kindergarten room or the church across the street. If all goes well, the project will be a great benefit to the school. Smaller, individual projects will remain the same; computer classes, english classes, etc. Things have a way of coming up, so I guess I will wait and see what 2011 has in store for me.

Other than that, if the Ohioans could send me a little of their cool weather, that would be wonderful. Comte is getting into the hot and dry season, which is pretty brutal. On a more positive note, I will be receiving my 1st visitor in April (Mama Kight), which I am very much looking forward to. Take care everyone. Pura vida.

And then there was rain..

Last week it rained gatos (cats) here, which is the equivalent of raining cats and dogs. The south of Costa Rica literally saw nothing but rain from Tuesday until Saturday. Flooding, landslides, roads closed, the works. Due to the condition of the roads, buses werent running, meaning no school. I guess you could compare that with a snow day in the states.. although not quite as fun because you dont really go out and play in the rain. Oh, and Comte reached a record low of 75 degrees last week. I guess thats what happens after 4 days of rain and no sun. It was quite exciting.

Things have been moving along here in Comte. 2 weeks ago I had my first class of basic english class for adults. In the class there are 17, 15 adults and 2 students from the high school. The first 4 classes were a lot of fun. The group gets along well and everyone is eager to learn english. We started with the alphabet, numbers and basic classroom directions and items. We are currently working on the verb "to be" and basic conversations. I think that the hardest part for my students will be the pronunciation. I never really thought about how difficult it is for people learning english as a foreign language, because the sound of a word can often be different from the way it is written. But so far everything has gone smoothly. I was actually really nervous about starting classes, mainly because Id never taught a formal class before and I am teaching adults. I was feeling this way up until the very start of the first class, but the minute I started speaking in front of the group, I felt right at home. About a month back we had a t-shirt design contest for Peace Corps Costa Rica shirts for the volunteers. A t-shirt design that one of the volunteers created that I liked read, "Peace Corps Costa Rica: Creating Unofficial English Teachers Since 1963." I think that sounds about right.

Along with english classes, work has been good. I am still teaching computer classes in the grade school and enjoying my time spent with the kids. Something that I enjoy about the classes is seeing their progress between week 1 and week 10. We are currently at the point where I can give them small projects using Microsoft Encarta, Word and Paint. Last week we discussed endangered species, which we researched in Microsoft Encarta.

Other work-related things I have been doing involve english coversation classes with the english teachers at the grade school and high school, helping the cooperative at the high school create a website and working with the recycling committee of the grade school to plan and implement a recycling project in the schools and community. I am still hoping to find a group of community members interested in working on a microentreprenuial project or a community credit union. I have presented in 2 community meetings, but nothing has yet to come of that. Even though it is not in my project goals, I think an important project I work on will end up being the recycling project.

So on another note, time flies. I have currently been in Costa Rica for 8 months, but it certainly doesnt feel like it. It makes me realize that I need to take advantage of my time here and the opportunities that this experience presents. Up to this point, I havent had much of an opportunity to travel. Since being in site, almost every month there has been a Peace Corps related activity in San Jose. I am hoping to travel more next year.

I think that sums up things for now. Heading back to Ohio in December for Christmas and looking forward to seeing everyone. Love and miss you all. Pura vida.

Independence Day

Costa Rica celebrates its independence September 15th. This past week marked celebrations, festivals and bands, lots of bands. On the 14th they had the running of the torch and lighting of the faroles (I dont know how to translate this, but its esentially a decorated box with a light inside). So in the morning the high school ran the torch from a town about 7 miles letter and then meet with the grade school that ran it through the town. In the evening, everyone went to the school for singing, typical dances and walking through town at night with the lighted faroles. The next part of the traditional celebration involved a soccer game. During the day I was told to bring a flash light and rain boots to play soccer later, which I didnt quite understand why. Around 7 pm, it all made sense. At 7 pm in Costa Rica, its pitch black. Furthermore, living in a very rural town, there arent many lights on the streets at night. So as the tradition goes, the football game starts at night. You wear boots because its the rainy season and you are playing on a muddy field. You bring a flashlight so that you can see the ball. And out of bounds doesnt really exist either. It was my favorite game of soccer that Ive ever played.

The celebrations continued the next day, with a parade through town and then a festival at the border. I think one of the most enjoyable parts of Independence Day in Costa Rica was seeing the town united. It was a good feeling to see everyone coming together to show their pride for their country. Its interesting being a part of traditional celebrations in foreign countries. Its hard to explain, but I felt pride for my community while at the same time reflecting on 4th of July celebrations in the States and feeling a renewed pride for where I come from.

Onto the work front. Last Monday was the parent-teacher conference in the grade school. Previous to the meeting, I had requested from the director a time to speak so that I could present the idea of a recycling project in the school. I would just like to note that public speaking is hard. Especially in a foreign language. I was a little nervous. Not just from the speaking in front of 50 parents in Spanish, but more that there would be 0 volunteers to help with the project. So I presented the project, receieved heads nodding in approval at the idea and then crickets when I asked if there was anyone interested in being a part of the committee. But eventually, thankfully, 1 by 1, hands started to raise, and when it was all said and done I had 6 volunteers. Awesome. More than I was expecting. We will have out first meeting next week and Im looking forward to having a concrete group of people ready to work on the project. Step 1, find a group of interested community members, check.

IST in San José and trying to get to a soccer game

Two weeks ago marked the end of my first 3 months in site. During this week, all of the PCVs from Tico 20 headed to San José for our first session of training as volunteers, known as In Service Training (IST). The idea of IST is to give the volunteers to share and receive feedback on their community diagnostic, as well as attend classes related to future work in the sites. The classes were helpful, especially now that I have a better idea of what projects I will be pursuing in my community. Some of the sessions involved resources for teaching ICT and EFL, funding opportunities and general health and safety. Beyond classes, IST meant a chance to relax, share stories and receive some generally needed support from fellow volunteers. I have to admit that the first 3 months have been difficult, what with being a new member in my community, trying to better my Spanish and attempting to lay the groundwork for future projects. It was good to listen to other volunteers stories and see that were all in the same boat.

Speaking of the word boat, today I was at someones house and I told them that since its the rainy season I should buy a boat (bote) to help me get around. I meant that I should buy boots (botas)... It rains a lot here, so I guess both would work.

So the week of IST passed well. I had a great time with everyone and took away a lot of valuable information. As much as I love San José, after a week out of my site, it was good to return to Comte. A man that owns a motorcycle repair shop by my house asked me the other day why he hadnt seen me in such a long time. I told him I was in training in San José for the week, to which he replied, "oh good, I thought you were lost. But now youre back and Im content." Yes, its good to be home.

So its back to the grind in Comte. Back to teaching computer classes, working with the english professors in the community, trying to get new projects started.. and back to soccer. Lots of soccer. Last weekend our team went to a nearby town to play in some matches against other local womens teams. I call the next part of the blog, "trying to get to a soccer game." So my friend calls my house at 8 in the morning to let me know that theres a game that day. She says to be at her house by 1130. The game is supposed to start at 12. At 1130, I arrive at the house. Nobody has yet to arrive. 12 pm, still waiting. At 12 pm, my friend, another girl on the team and her mom get into a rickety 2 door red jeep to drive around and look for the other members of the team. We go to one house after another, picking up all of the teammates. At 1230, most of the team is in the car.. there are 17 of us.. in this 1 little red jeep. It is so packed that a woman in the front literally yells to the back, "Hannah? Are you there?!" I yell back, "Yes!" She replies, "Oh good, I wasnt sure!" Ok, so we are off. Just kidding, because after picking up the last group of people the car wont start. Did I note that the ignition is basically a wire hanging from the side of the steering wheel, which she starts with the help of a screw driver? Oh, and while we are sitting there waiting for the car to start, someone on the other side of the street starts burning their trash, causing piles of smoke to enter the car through the windows. I want to close the window, but its so hot outside that I decide the smoke to be a better option. Ok, so car starts, finally. Everyone cheers. As we are almost outside of town we come across 1 last girl on the team. We literally discuss having her enter through the window, which might possibly easier than using the door. Around 1 we arrive. Nobody is there. We are informed that the other teams arent showing up. We wait about an hour, and bit by bit some girls from the town come to the soccer field and we finally end up playing around 230. We win. To get home, we start the car by pushing it down the street as fast as we can. So that was my Saturday. And the thing is, I wouldnt have it any other way.

Ps if I could snap my fingers and kill every mosquito in the world, I would do it. Ants too.

Pura vida.

A Change in Pace

One thing I am learning about, appreciating, hating, and loving is the pace of life here in Comte, and Costa Rica in general. An important key to success for being a volunteer, and not pulling your hair out, is to maintain the mindset that you are here to work at the pace in which the community wants to work. If you arrive at your monthly meeting with the development association and they decide that on that day, they prefer to relax and drink coffee, you relax and drink coffee. If they want to work, you work. If nobody shows up.. well that happens too. Like I´ve mentioned before, "a productive day" has taken on a different meaning for me. And I enjoy this aspect. I am often asked if I miss the United States, the answer obviously being yes, which is followed by the question of what do I miss. I usually explain that while there are things that I prefer about the U.S., I appreciate the tranquility of my day to day life in Costa Rica. I appreciate sitting on my porch and reading a book, or walking over to the neighbors to bake, or riding my bicycle down to the beach with a friend. I appreciate that I spend my days with people who are content to spend the afternoon at a family members house, laughing and sharing stories. No cell phones, no televisions, no computers (I realize the possible irony, seeing as I´m typing this post on a computer). My point is that it´s good to change your perspective every once and while and look at life from a different angle.

To those are my deep thoughts at the moment.. onto a minor update of what I´ve been up to. As I´ve mentioned, I´ve been finishing up my community diagnostic while continuing work with some smaller projects in town. The diagnostic is pretty much done.. it only lacks an interview with an employee at the local health clinic, which it turns out, is extremely difficult to do! One of these days... I will be traveling to San Jose in about a month for my first in-service training session. I am hoping that the town meeting relating to the projects I will pursue can take place before this, so that I know which training sessions to attend. The past couple of weeks have also been pretty busy with lots of activities in the school. I started computer classes and library time, helped cook and decorate for a culture fair, helped to clean up the property, and more.

On the topic of the culture fair, it was a really cool activity. They had schools from the area come to Comte, where each school represented a province of Costa Rica (there are 7). Each school had to share typical food, dance and clothing of the provice, among other things. They also had a section for "extranjeros" (foreigners), because there are a lot of foreigners that live in the beach communities. So it turned out that nobody came from the beach communities.. leaving me to be the only foreigner at the festival.. and therefore when the time came for the extranjeros to present, I am finding myself in front of a hundred or so people with a microphone in my hand. I was asked to speak about my experiences in Costa Rica as a foreigner. I still feel like I can´t properly describe my feelings on this subject in English.. so here I am trying to do it in Spanish, not an easy task. But I reflected on the question before I spoke and came to the conclusion, which I shared with the room, that it´s a beautiful experience, because as seen in the fair, many cultural differences existed not only between the States and Costa Rica, but in Costa Rica itself, from the provinces, to the communities, to individuals. And while yes we are very different, we are also very much the same. We are people who love, who care, who laugh, who cry, and who fight on a daily basis to better our lives. And it´s a beautiful thing.

Sitting on Peoples´ Porches Drinking Coffee

I have been informed that I am being a bad blogger.. so I will try to pick up my game. Things have been pretty relaxed these last few weeks. The schools are currently on vacations, which is their mid-year break. In Costa Rica, the school year begins at the end of January and ends early December (though I´ve heard that November is the unofficial end of the year). So my last week in town has been relaxed, as will the next.

I have been continuing to get to know people in town, and have been enjoying spending my afternoons in the houses of neighbors and friends. I can´t sufficiently express how friendly the town is. I especially adore the kids from the grade school that run to give me hugs whenever I´m out walking around town. One thing in particular that I am enjoying about this experience is that by spending an afternoon on a neighbor´s front porch, I am essentially doing my job, because I´m learning about Costa Rican culture, sharing my culture and through general conversation I am learning what types of projects interest people in my town. I particularly love the aspect of learning about culture here, because everyone is so excited to share their lives. People are particularly amazed at the common things I have never done in my life, such as killing snakes and milking cows. All in due time...

For the 4th of July weekend I traveled to San Jose to celebrate Independence Day with the other volunteers. We found out that their is an annual picnic (50th year this year!) in San Jose, which was a lot of fun. Normally I am not a fan of corny typical holiday celebrations but I think 4 months outside of the States has made me start missing some of the things that I love about the states. We enjoyed an all you can eat/drink, live rock band, traditional games and sports kind of day. Though I have to note, that after being around 4 months of energetic latin music and dance.. the optional square dance lesson wasn´t my cup of tea. But it was good to be back in the city, see close friends and visit my host family.

8 hours by bus later and back in Comte... I am looking foward to the next month from a work stand-point, because I will be starting computer classes in the grade school, finishing up my town diagnostic and holding a community-wide meeting to discuss potential projects that we can work on over the next 2 years. I see a lot of potential and looking foward to the meeting as a jumping-off point for larger projects.

As always, much love to friends and family in the states. Pura vida.