Well, it is finally that time of year. Everyone is hustling and bustling around town, making their last minute Christmas purchases. I am happy to say that I just finished buying all that I am going to buy as far as gifts go. Today's purchases included a few photo albums, a Strawberry Shortcake picture frame for my Tica niece in San Jose and modeling clay for my Tico nephew here in Santa Cruz. I even bought myself a Christmas present. A Winnie the Pooh 2006 agenda book...because I have oh so much to fill it with!
The houses here in Costa Rica have been adorned with Christmas lights and artificial trees since mid-October. The holiday music followed soon after. I insisted that my family wait until both Halloween and Thanksgiving passed before we got into the Christmas spirit. Little did I know, there was little Christmas spirit to be had at the house where I live. After the first week in December passed, I asked if I could help put out the Christmas decorations. So we headed out to the shed to get the box with the artificial Christmas tree inside. A box that obviously hadn't been touched in the past 5 years. I broomed off all the dust and dirt on the outside of the box before attempting the inside where I was greeted by a few dead lizards. 10 minutes later, once the tree was put together, the one strand of half lit lights was strung, and the handful of ornaments adorned the tree with care, we were finished. I should mention that there is also a miniature Nativity scene sitting on top of the TV. Since that day two weeks ago, no one in my house has mentioned Christmas.
I do know that we will be traveling on a two hour bus on Christmas day to visit my Tico mom's family for three days. Everyone but my dad who must stay behind to maintain the pulperia. I am anxiously awaiting for this holiday season to be over. In the meantime, I have been holding sessions in my neighborhood for the kids to make cards for their families. Also, we have been playing lots of informal soccer games (called majenga in Spanish) since the children are on a two month vacation between school years.
Merry Christmas to all! It will be over with the blink of an eye...or at least I hope!
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Monday, December 05, 2005
Where is she and what is she doing?
A lot of people are probably thinking, what happened to Amy? Well, the good news is, I'm still here....soaking up life, sun and culture in Costa Rica. I didn't write for a while because nothing interesting was going on in my life. Now, so much stuff has happened I don't know what to include and what to leave out. I spent Thanksgiving without my immediate family for probably the second time in my 25 years. The first time was right after I was born when I was in the hospital for the first 4 months of my life. Both times now, I know I missed my mom's famous cooking. But truth be told, I was on a 3 day retreat with about 65 other Peace Corps Costa Rica Volunteers at a Boy Scout and Girl Scout Camp in the mountains near San Jose. Who would have ever thought that long underwear, wool socks and a sweatshirt would be needed in the tropics? At least I had access to the last of those aforementioned items. A fun time was had by all and I got to meet lots of the PCVs who have been in country longer than me. We all shared a really nice Thanksgiving dinner together which PCCR had catered as a going away dinner for the volunteers who are on their way out this month (they've completed their two years of service). So, I actually did have turkey and stuffing...and a pumpkin pie knock-off to boot.
The Saturday after Thanksgiving, I spent reviving my face painting skills while PCVs put on an all day event for the public in San Jose called Arte por la Paz (Art for Peace). This was an effort to showcase art work made by students throughout the country with a theme to promote peace. During the year, students learned about different types of violence and then made works of art to promote peace. At the Arte por la Paz event, there was an award ceremony, live music, hands on art stations, and booths for the public to pick up info about abuse and other types of public help services.
That afternoon at the event, my friend Dave Reichbaum, who I met during my years at JMU with Alternative Spring Break, met up with me. Dave had most recently been serving as a PCV in El Salvador. He made the 5 hour trip back to Santa Cruz with me where we spent the next 4 days together exploring the western coast of CR. I saw my first two snakes here in CR during my time with Dave. I now feel ready to host any family and friends who wish to come visit me (hint, hint!).
During the time while Dave was visitng me, I was also juggling my last hours with my dear friend and local PCV, Dearing Davis, who has now completed her two years of PC service here in CR. We attended lots of parties in her honor this past week. She was a great person to have living near me to show me the ropes as I adjusted to my first two months of life as an official PCV. She is going to be greatly missed as she returns to Nashville, but I know she is someone who I will know for the rest of my life. Best of luck in the future D!
With all that being said, I am now visitorless and friendless in my site in CR. I am not going to know how to act now. Perhaps I will have to start doing some actual work!
The Saturday after Thanksgiving, I spent reviving my face painting skills while PCVs put on an all day event for the public in San Jose called Arte por la Paz (Art for Peace). This was an effort to showcase art work made by students throughout the country with a theme to promote peace. During the year, students learned about different types of violence and then made works of art to promote peace. At the Arte por la Paz event, there was an award ceremony, live music, hands on art stations, and booths for the public to pick up info about abuse and other types of public help services.
That afternoon at the event, my friend Dave Reichbaum, who I met during my years at JMU with Alternative Spring Break, met up with me. Dave had most recently been serving as a PCV in El Salvador. He made the 5 hour trip back to Santa Cruz with me where we spent the next 4 days together exploring the western coast of CR. I saw my first two snakes here in CR during my time with Dave. I now feel ready to host any family and friends who wish to come visit me (hint, hint!).
During the time while Dave was visitng me, I was also juggling my last hours with my dear friend and local PCV, Dearing Davis, who has now completed her two years of PC service here in CR. We attended lots of parties in her honor this past week. She was a great person to have living near me to show me the ropes as I adjusted to my first two months of life as an official PCV. She is going to be greatly missed as she returns to Nashville, but I know she is someone who I will know for the rest of my life. Best of luck in the future D!
With all that being said, I am now visitorless and friendless in my site in CR. I am not going to know how to act now. Perhaps I will have to start doing some actual work!
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Happy Thanksgiving!
I want to wish all of my family and friends a Happy Turkey Day! I will miss Turkey in all senses of the word this year. ;-) Eat some extra pumpkin pie for me. Gobble, gobble!
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Things you might find interesting...
1. Usually there are no light fixtures, just light bulbs screwed into the ceiling (or the wall in the case of my bedroom).
2. There are multiple "General Stores" (called Pulperias) in neighborhoods where people can buy the basics such as rice, beans, sugar, coffee, bread, fruits, vegetables, even soda and ice cream, without having to leave the barrio to go to the supermarket. Even though these pulperias are more expensive and the selection isn't as great, most people shop here for the convenience. And they shop frequently....like multiple times a day.
3. The above being said, sometimes these pulperias run on the book system where they come and get what they want but they don't pay for the food. Instead the shopkeeper writes their total under their name in a notebook for them to pay later....which I can't imagine ever happens. Some people have big outstanding debts. This is done because the people need to eat but really can't afford to pay. So they might pay a small part each time but never the full bill.
4. If you go to the pulperia to buy a Coke in a recycled glass bottle, the Coke is poured into a plastic bag (think sandwich bag minus the ziplock) and handed to the customer to drink with a straw.
5. This same idea of serving drinks in plastic bags are also done when large numbers of people are being served and the drinks have been baggied-up ahead of time. Think of when you win a goldfish at a carnival and they give you your prize to take home in a plastic bag. Then you just bite that little plastic corner off the bag and suck the drink out. Pretty creative don't you think?
6. On the topic of food, when there are leftovers, they are usually thrown in the fridge on a plate but without any kind of plastic wrap or lids. Or sometimes the food is just left on the stove to be eaten the next day. Both are gross in my opinion. Usually the food in the fridge has absorbed the taste from the uncovered onion or what have you.
7. Ticos (as Costa Ricans are called) almost always take food with them to work to eat for lunch and sport insulated lunch packs. Exactly the opposite of the American way of lunch.
8. All children wear uniforms to school which is no surprise but usually school is held in turnos where the children might go to school one day in the morning but the next day in the afternoon. Or this similar system is implemented by the week. This is to accommodate the overpopulation at the inadequately small school.
9. There is no type of PC here. No matter what your decent or physical appearance, if you're any type of Asian you are called Chino, if you are black you are Negrito, speak English you are Gringo and obviously from the United States, and if you are even slighty less than skinny you are Gorda (fat)....yeah, I've heard that one enough!
10. Lots of people share beads here no matter what their age or sex. For instance in my house, my 50 plus Tico mother shares the double bed with her 18 year old son and 7 year old grandson. Thank God Peace Corps requires that volunteers have their own rooms!
11. There isn't always a separation of financial status in neighborhoods. You can find a nice two story house (which is really rare, most are just one story) next to a tin shack in some barrios.
12. These people have skill. They ride their bike while holding an umbrella in one hand and a cell phone or baby in the other. Or sometimes the baby will just be plopped in the bike basket.
13. Toilet paper doesn't go in the toilet. Nough said.
14. No one is shy, you will find a woman walking around with her boob hanging out while breast feeding around every corner and next to you on any public bus.
15. The cockroaches don't even have shame. I woke up one night to find one crawling in my cleavage!
2. There are multiple "General Stores" (called Pulperias) in neighborhoods where people can buy the basics such as rice, beans, sugar, coffee, bread, fruits, vegetables, even soda and ice cream, without having to leave the barrio to go to the supermarket. Even though these pulperias are more expensive and the selection isn't as great, most people shop here for the convenience. And they shop frequently....like multiple times a day.
3. The above being said, sometimes these pulperias run on the book system where they come and get what they want but they don't pay for the food. Instead the shopkeeper writes their total under their name in a notebook for them to pay later....which I can't imagine ever happens. Some people have big outstanding debts. This is done because the people need to eat but really can't afford to pay. So they might pay a small part each time but never the full bill.
4. If you go to the pulperia to buy a Coke in a recycled glass bottle, the Coke is poured into a plastic bag (think sandwich bag minus the ziplock) and handed to the customer to drink with a straw.
5. This same idea of serving drinks in plastic bags are also done when large numbers of people are being served and the drinks have been baggied-up ahead of time. Think of when you win a goldfish at a carnival and they give you your prize to take home in a plastic bag. Then you just bite that little plastic corner off the bag and suck the drink out. Pretty creative don't you think?
6. On the topic of food, when there are leftovers, they are usually thrown in the fridge on a plate but without any kind of plastic wrap or lids. Or sometimes the food is just left on the stove to be eaten the next day. Both are gross in my opinion. Usually the food in the fridge has absorbed the taste from the uncovered onion or what have you.
7. Ticos (as Costa Ricans are called) almost always take food with them to work to eat for lunch and sport insulated lunch packs. Exactly the opposite of the American way of lunch.
8. All children wear uniforms to school which is no surprise but usually school is held in turnos where the children might go to school one day in the morning but the next day in the afternoon. Or this similar system is implemented by the week. This is to accommodate the overpopulation at the inadequately small school.
9. There is no type of PC here. No matter what your decent or physical appearance, if you're any type of Asian you are called Chino, if you are black you are Negrito, speak English you are Gringo and obviously from the United States, and if you are even slighty less than skinny you are Gorda (fat)....yeah, I've heard that one enough!
10. Lots of people share beads here no matter what their age or sex. For instance in my house, my 50 plus Tico mother shares the double bed with her 18 year old son and 7 year old grandson. Thank God Peace Corps requires that volunteers have their own rooms!
11. There isn't always a separation of financial status in neighborhoods. You can find a nice two story house (which is really rare, most are just one story) next to a tin shack in some barrios.
12. These people have skill. They ride their bike while holding an umbrella in one hand and a cell phone or baby in the other. Or sometimes the baby will just be plopped in the bike basket.
13. Toilet paper doesn't go in the toilet. Nough said.
14. No one is shy, you will find a woman walking around with her boob hanging out while breast feeding around every corner and next to you on any public bus.
15. The cockroaches don't even have shame. I woke up one night to find one crawling in my cleavage!
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Pictures!
I present to you Don Manuel and Doña Silvina. Below is my house. Actually, it is the small general store that Don Manuel runs and the house is actually to the right behind the big empty space which is the much used patio.
Friday, October 07, 2005
Week 1 in the life of a PCV
I've been in my new town for less than a week now and have already become so bored that I've resorted to the internet after only day 5. Ok, it's not that I'm bored, it's just that I have nothing to do at this point in time that my family probably thinks I'm a lazy Gringa. I sleep for 10 hours every night, eat (bad food), write mail, read on the porch (which is interpreted as studying here), and then hop on the bike and ride to the center of town for a few hours everyday just to make it seem like I have important business to take care of. Sometimes this is true, other times I'm just killing hours till it's time to go to sleep again or time to eat some more really bad food.
I've been battling a cold for the last week so that hasn't helped in making me feel comfortable in my new surroundings. Today when I told my dad that, "Yo siento como mierda!" He went roaring into the house to tell his wife the fax pau that I had just said. In an attempt to say, "I feel like shit", it came out as, I'm not sure quite right, "I feel like shit is about to come out of me." So everyone got a good laugh. As they usually do with my language goof-ups. Last night I was explaining how my brother and his girlfriend are now the proud owners of a dog (a Dacshaund) and I explained the dog as being a "perro caliente (hot dog)" instead of the correct term of "salchiccha (sausage)". Same difference, no?
It's been raining here a ton and since the streets in my barrio are not paved, there are tons of pot-holes filled with muddy water covering just about every inch of the road. This always makes for a really fun bike ride where it is absolutely inevitable that you will come back with mud splattered over every inch of your pant's legs. It'd be so much easier if you could just ride around naked and then shower the mud off when you got to your destination.
That's all from me this week. Be sure to watch the soccer game tomorrow night (Oct 8) when the US plays Costa Rica! Go Ticos!!
I've been battling a cold for the last week so that hasn't helped in making me feel comfortable in my new surroundings. Today when I told my dad that, "Yo siento como mierda!" He went roaring into the house to tell his wife the fax pau that I had just said. In an attempt to say, "I feel like shit", it came out as, I'm not sure quite right, "I feel like shit is about to come out of me." So everyone got a good laugh. As they usually do with my language goof-ups. Last night I was explaining how my brother and his girlfriend are now the proud owners of a dog (a Dacshaund) and I explained the dog as being a "perro caliente (hot dog)" instead of the correct term of "salchiccha (sausage)". Same difference, no?
It's been raining here a ton and since the streets in my barrio are not paved, there are tons of pot-holes filled with muddy water covering just about every inch of the road. This always makes for a really fun bike ride where it is absolutely inevitable that you will come back with mud splattered over every inch of your pant's legs. It'd be so much easier if you could just ride around naked and then shower the mud off when you got to your destination.
That's all from me this week. Be sure to watch the soccer game tomorrow night (Oct 8) when the US plays Costa Rica! Go Ticos!!
Friday, September 30, 2005
I'm now official!
I'm proud to announce that I am now an official Peace Corps Volunteer as of about 6 hours ago. We had our swearing-in ceremony this morning at the US Ambassador's house. It was quite the place. Swimming pool, tennis court, lot's of beautiful green grass. It was a beautiful sunny day with cool weather temps. All 31 of us (we had lost two early on) made it through the 11 weeks of training and are all ready to move to our new towns this Sunday. The swearing-in ceremony consisted of singing the national anthems of both CR and the US, a handful of speeches (in Spanish) from the US Ambassador (a RPCV), the PC CR Country Director, two of my fellow trainees and two heads of organizations that we will be working with during our time here. In the end, we took an official oath to defend our country (and no, this is not a military organization) and then we all received our certificates and kissed a lot of people. Many photo shoots followed. Our current host families were invited to the ceremony and I'm happy to say that my mom tica was able to attend. After the other guests left, PC put on a delicious American lunch for us with rotisserie chicken, salad, tortilla chips and tuna dip, chocolate frosted cupcakes and brownies. It was very much appreciated. Tonight, we will all be staying in the capital city together to celebrate our freedom from the Gringo training schedule, transitioning into the Tico lifestyle of Pura Vida.
(Me with Terry, the PC Costa Rica Country Director)
Saturday, September 24, 2005
This is it.
It's been just about 11 weeks now since I arrived here in Costa Rica and I'm happy to say that training is almost over and next Friday, I swear in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer. I have reached the level of an intermediate-medium Spanish speaker; the minimum required to swear in as a volunteer. That's a lot of improvement since I came here as a beginner-medium speaker.
On the 2nd of October, I will move to my official site in Santa Cruz. SC is about 4.5-5 hours away from where I am now. I went to visit my new town for 6 days about a week ago. I stayed with my new host family the Ugartes and had a pretty good time after I adjusted to the constantly high weather temperature. It was probably in the 90s every day and there is no AC. The sun is really intense and I battled headaches the first few days. After that, I kept myself really well hydrated and tried to stay in the shade during the sun's most intense hours. I also got bitten by more bugs on this visit than I have in my entire life. And this was a day when I had applied bug repellent 4 times already. Fresh blood. They should get over me soon I hope.
In my family I have a dad who owns a mini-grocery store which is connected to the house. He sits on the front porch from 5am-9pm everyday waiting for customers to come. He is also the President of the community's development association (hence the reason I am living there). My new mom is an "alma de casa", literally, goddess of the house, much like my real mom. This said, both of my parents will be home ALL THE TIME! I also have a 17 year old brother, Emillio, who lives in the house as well. Apparently I will be overtaking his room, sending him to sleep with his mother in her bed for the next year. And every other week, they are joined in the bed by my 7 year old nephew! It's a common thing here but I feel really bad about this arrangement since I am hogging a double bed in the next room. It is also so hot at night to sleep, I don't know how they do it. I think I am going to become a form of resentment to my new brother. Not to worry, I've had experience.
The roads in my barrio are unpaved and very gravely. Everybody from Estocolmo (my barrio) rides bikes to the center of downtown Santa Cruz (about 10 min. on bike, 20 min. on foot) to do shopping at bigger grocery stores, go to the bank, post office and what have you. There are also restaurants, hotels and two internet cafes. Once a week I will be working at an orphanage in the downtown. I went for two hours the other week and the kids were all over me. There are about 10 children all under the age of 10, many siblings, and they have all been the victims of sexual abuse. Very sad. They were so needy for attention and you could tell they had severe behavioral problems.
During my visit I took many walks and met tons of people who live in my barrio. There are about 2000 in all. I am really good at remembering names so this impressed people. I would come back after my walks and tell my dad (Manuel) about all of the people I met. He couldn't believe the list of people I'd rattle off as it took him 4 days to remember my own name. But everyone in my barrio was really friendly and look forward to my return in a week. Especially the children.
There were many special events during my 6 days in my new site. The first one being my birthday. I could only imagine how horrible this day was going to be in a new town where I had only been for 2.5 days. Missing all my family and friends. But much to my disbelief, I had a really good day. I actually escaped my barrio and spent the entire day with another PCV who lives in a neighboring barrio. I had only met her one other time before this day and then, it had only been very briefly. Her name is Dearing and she is from Nashville. She is just about to finish up her two years of service in Dec. I am really going to miss her after that. We visited my PANI office which is the host agency I will be working with during my time here. It is an agency run by the state and it is like our Child Welfare Protection Agency. So I met my counterpart who I will be working with and was introduced to other people in the office. For lunch, we went back to Dearing's barrio where we ate peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches, pringles, bananas and oreos for lunch. It was a real treat since I had not had any of that since arriving to CR (OK, minus the bananas). Afterwards, I attended a cooking class with Dearing which her host mom teaches at the local high school. We made "Drunk Cake" but unfortunately the electricity went out so we were unable to bake the cake. In the evening I went to a group that Dearing has put together as part of her PC service where she teaches pre-adolescents about abuse (sexual, verbal, physical, psychological, etc) and incorporates an art project into the lesson. For dinner she took me to a nice restaurant in Santa Cruz and surprised me with a necklace and earrings that she had made out of irridescent green seed beads. It was such an unexpected surprise since we didn't really know each other well. But she helped to make my day special and for her, I am thankful. She is a really sweet person.
This same week, was Costa Rica's Independence Day (Sept. 15) so there were lots of events going on leading up to this day. The same night of my birthday, the "Entorche" was passing through Santa Cruz so we watched that after dinner. The Entorche is an event every year where a torch passes through towns, like a huge bike race, throughout all of Central America before it arrives to it's final destination of San Jose on the 15th. The following night thousands of people gather in the streets with their children who carry hommade lanterns that hold a candle as they parade though barrios and downtown Santa Cruz. It reminded me of Halloween for some reason. It was neat to see all of the illuminated lanterns. Then the next morning, the big day of the 15th, all the children from all the area elementary and high schools gather in downtown Santa Cruz, dressed in their school uniforms accented with their country colors of red, white and blue to dance and perform in a parade for all the townspeople. It was quite the event. Very hot and lots of pushy, rude people. Kinda reminded me of inauguration time in DC. Low and behold, I was glad when it was over and it was time for me to prepare my bags to head back to San Jose for my last two weeks of training.
So, here I am, about the finish week my last week in the San Jose area. Tomorrow we are having a huge thank you party for our current host families. There will be about 200 people and we (the trainees) have planned it all. On Tuesday night I have my last meeting with my group of pre-adolecent girls and we will be having a mini party as well. It will be sad to leave our current families but I am really looking forward to getting to my new town and getting integrated. Signing out from San Jose, I'll update you next from Santa Cruz. Thanks for all of the cards, love and support. XOXOXO
On the 2nd of October, I will move to my official site in Santa Cruz. SC is about 4.5-5 hours away from where I am now. I went to visit my new town for 6 days about a week ago. I stayed with my new host family the Ugartes and had a pretty good time after I adjusted to the constantly high weather temperature. It was probably in the 90s every day and there is no AC. The sun is really intense and I battled headaches the first few days. After that, I kept myself really well hydrated and tried to stay in the shade during the sun's most intense hours. I also got bitten by more bugs on this visit than I have in my entire life. And this was a day when I had applied bug repellent 4 times already. Fresh blood. They should get over me soon I hope.
In my family I have a dad who owns a mini-grocery store which is connected to the house. He sits on the front porch from 5am-9pm everyday waiting for customers to come. He is also the President of the community's development association (hence the reason I am living there). My new mom is an "alma de casa", literally, goddess of the house, much like my real mom. This said, both of my parents will be home ALL THE TIME! I also have a 17 year old brother, Emillio, who lives in the house as well. Apparently I will be overtaking his room, sending him to sleep with his mother in her bed for the next year. And every other week, they are joined in the bed by my 7 year old nephew! It's a common thing here but I feel really bad about this arrangement since I am hogging a double bed in the next room. It is also so hot at night to sleep, I don't know how they do it. I think I am going to become a form of resentment to my new brother. Not to worry, I've had experience.
The roads in my barrio are unpaved and very gravely. Everybody from Estocolmo (my barrio) rides bikes to the center of downtown Santa Cruz (about 10 min. on bike, 20 min. on foot) to do shopping at bigger grocery stores, go to the bank, post office and what have you. There are also restaurants, hotels and two internet cafes. Once a week I will be working at an orphanage in the downtown. I went for two hours the other week and the kids were all over me. There are about 10 children all under the age of 10, many siblings, and they have all been the victims of sexual abuse. Very sad. They were so needy for attention and you could tell they had severe behavioral problems.
During my visit I took many walks and met tons of people who live in my barrio. There are about 2000 in all. I am really good at remembering names so this impressed people. I would come back after my walks and tell my dad (Manuel) about all of the people I met. He couldn't believe the list of people I'd rattle off as it took him 4 days to remember my own name. But everyone in my barrio was really friendly and look forward to my return in a week. Especially the children.
There were many special events during my 6 days in my new site. The first one being my birthday. I could only imagine how horrible this day was going to be in a new town where I had only been for 2.5 days. Missing all my family and friends. But much to my disbelief, I had a really good day. I actually escaped my barrio and spent the entire day with another PCV who lives in a neighboring barrio. I had only met her one other time before this day and then, it had only been very briefly. Her name is Dearing and she is from Nashville. She is just about to finish up her two years of service in Dec. I am really going to miss her after that. We visited my PANI office which is the host agency I will be working with during my time here. It is an agency run by the state and it is like our Child Welfare Protection Agency. So I met my counterpart who I will be working with and was introduced to other people in the office. For lunch, we went back to Dearing's barrio where we ate peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches, pringles, bananas and oreos for lunch. It was a real treat since I had not had any of that since arriving to CR (OK, minus the bananas). Afterwards, I attended a cooking class with Dearing which her host mom teaches at the local high school. We made "Drunk Cake" but unfortunately the electricity went out so we were unable to bake the cake. In the evening I went to a group that Dearing has put together as part of her PC service where she teaches pre-adolescents about abuse (sexual, verbal, physical, psychological, etc) and incorporates an art project into the lesson. For dinner she took me to a nice restaurant in Santa Cruz and surprised me with a necklace and earrings that she had made out of irridescent green seed beads. It was such an unexpected surprise since we didn't really know each other well. But she helped to make my day special and for her, I am thankful. She is a really sweet person.
This same week, was Costa Rica's Independence Day (Sept. 15) so there were lots of events going on leading up to this day. The same night of my birthday, the "Entorche" was passing through Santa Cruz so we watched that after dinner. The Entorche is an event every year where a torch passes through towns, like a huge bike race, throughout all of Central America before it arrives to it's final destination of San Jose on the 15th. The following night thousands of people gather in the streets with their children who carry hommade lanterns that hold a candle as they parade though barrios and downtown Santa Cruz. It reminded me of Halloween for some reason. It was neat to see all of the illuminated lanterns. Then the next morning, the big day of the 15th, all the children from all the area elementary and high schools gather in downtown Santa Cruz, dressed in their school uniforms accented with their country colors of red, white and blue to dance and perform in a parade for all the townspeople. It was quite the event. Very hot and lots of pushy, rude people. Kinda reminded me of inauguration time in DC. Low and behold, I was glad when it was over and it was time for me to prepare my bags to head back to San Jose for my last two weeks of training.
So, here I am, about the finish week my last week in the San Jose area. Tomorrow we are having a huge thank you party for our current host families. There will be about 200 people and we (the trainees) have planned it all. On Tuesday night I have my last meeting with my group of pre-adolecent girls and we will be having a mini party as well. It will be sad to leave our current families but I am really looking forward to getting to my new town and getting integrated. Signing out from San Jose, I'll update you next from Santa Cruz. Thanks for all of the cards, love and support. XOXOXO
Friday, September 02, 2005
And the fortune cookie reads...
You will move to Santa Cruz near the NW coast of Costa Rica on the 2nd of October. Don't drink the water as it is contaminated. Also, beware of deaths due to automobiles at the entrance of the barrio. Much potential for working with youth as there are no resources for them outside of the school.
Anyone want to come visit? The beaches are only an hour away!
Anyone want to come visit? The beaches are only an hour away!
Friday, August 26, 2005
A day in the life of Amy
I've received many questions as to what I do here in CR on a daily basis. I know I have been holding out on everyone. So to deter any of you from thinking that I spend my days on the beach soaking up the sun (I haven't even seen the beach yet) and my nights at the bars, I figure it's time to tell you the real deal. I've joined a convent! Or after two years here, it might feel like I have. OK, ok.....no really. No more chisme (gossip). On a good day, I wake around 8am after my mama tica has gone to work in the cafeteria at the local high school. Usually she has prepared me breakfast...some assortment of scrambled eggs, rice and beans, bread and butter, yogurt or fresh fruit that isn't so fresh, and tea or juice. Usually not all on the same day. I'm starting to teach her that I don't normally eat that much for breakfast. After showering in the shower that now has a shower curtain and taking my good old time getting ready for the day, I usually study Spanish to prepare for my afternoon class. From time to time, I accept phone calls from my mom in the States during the morning hours while I have the house to myself. I don't feel as rude speaking English if no Spanish speakers are in the house. My mom tica comes home around noon and prepares me a big lunch...usually some kind of meet, rice, salad, and something else that is fried on the stove like plantains, potatoes or another kind of carb. I scarf this down before running to my 1pm Spanish class which is held in a community building in my barrio about a 10 minute walk from my house. Spanish class is semi-private with only one other girl from my training group, Rebecca. Rebecca has become a good friend during training and we usually hang out when time permits. When class ends at 4pm, I head home for "cafecito" with my mom tica. I usually take tea. Basically it's just an excuse to talk and eat. On Wednesday nights I have a girls group that I facilitate at my house. This is a group of about 12 girls between the ages of 8-12. I'm supposed to be teaching them something worthwhile. Preferably about self-esteem or the like but usually I just struggle to get my point across in Spanish and try hard to understand what they are saying. This girls group is just a trial run for groups I will be facilitating in my future site. Which btw, I find out this coming Monday (Aug. 29) during a day in the country with my fellow PC trainees and the PC CR staff. So that is my average day with lots of Spanish studying in the off time.
On a bad day (every Friday and usually every other Saturday), I wake around 5:30am to catch the bus at 6:30am to make it to my PC training at a medical university in San Jose by 8:30am. Yes, 2 different buses and about 2 hours of time. Training is all day on a multitude of different topics such as the politics, economics, and culture of CR, job training for my future site, some kind of medical lecture on STDs, HIV or malaria, and always a shot or two to boot. The day ends at 4:30pm. It is after this time on Fridays that I can usually find a little bit of time to use the internet for free at the medical university. By the time I get back to my house in a suburb of San Jose (Dulce Nombre....the name of my barrio), it is usually 9pm and I am ready to crash.
Field trips to local vocational schools, museums, and health facilities round out the week. This entire training experience has been punctuated by two field visits and soon a third where we go visit current PC volunteers in their sites and see what kind of work they have been up to. But those are all stories in their own and will have to wait for the next blog.
On a bad day (every Friday and usually every other Saturday), I wake around 5:30am to catch the bus at 6:30am to make it to my PC training at a medical university in San Jose by 8:30am. Yes, 2 different buses and about 2 hours of time. Training is all day on a multitude of different topics such as the politics, economics, and culture of CR, job training for my future site, some kind of medical lecture on STDs, HIV or malaria, and always a shot or two to boot. The day ends at 4:30pm. It is after this time on Fridays that I can usually find a little bit of time to use the internet for free at the medical university. By the time I get back to my house in a suburb of San Jose (Dulce Nombre....the name of my barrio), it is usually 9pm and I am ready to crash.
Field trips to local vocational schools, museums, and health facilities round out the week. This entire training experience has been punctuated by two field visits and soon a third where we go visit current PC volunteers in their sites and see what kind of work they have been up to. But those are all stories in their own and will have to wait for the next blog.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Mi Casa Es Su Casa
Ok, I realize now that I should not have referred to my current living situation as a shack. It is not a shack. I have now seen "real" shacks and have learned that my house is far from it. So here is the situation. I live in a house that is layed out very much like a one level apartment in the States. After you cross the moat (ok, it's not a moat, it's a drainage ditch about 2 feet deep along the side of the road) and unlock the chain and enter the front gate you enter the palace grounds which are adorned with beautiful palm trees. Within the palace walls are a living room, kitchen, three bedrooms (only two of which are being used), and two bathrooms (only one of which is serviceable or has been serviceable in the last five years). Upon exiting the house out the back door which is off the kitchen, you meet the lovely "Doggy" (a semi-friendly German Sheppard) who keeps us protected at night. The back of the palace grounds are enclosed with a large metal gate (think large garage door) and a cinderblock wall which is trimmed in barbed wire. On the day of my arrival, I was surprised to find the royal throne seatless. Did they expect me to squat for my three months here? That changed qucikly and there was a beautiful seat adorning the throne the very next day. Hey, at least it wasn't just a hole in the floor! I'm still waiting for a shower curtain. Really does remind me of my Florence experience (remember how I had to mop the floor up after every shower?). My bedroom is a little bigger than a closet (OK, OK I'm exaggerating, it's about a 7X7 foot space) and I'm happy to announce that I've only encountered one univited guest in my room while I've been here. That cockroach felt really good to the sole of my shoe. My only complaint is that my closet and the shelving in my closet that I've been provided to store all of my things...clothes, books, stationery, personal items...reak of mold and give off a wonderful musty scent to my entire room. The strangest thing that I've probably encountered while living in this house in CR is that we store the silverware in the refridgerator....to keep it from tempting the cockroaches! At the end of a long day in San Jose, I am always happy to return "home".
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Mi familia
So, I bet you've all been wondering, why hasn't Amy told us about the family she's been living with? Well, I wanted to give it some time just to make sure I was going to stay....j/k! I'm not going anywhere. On Sunday, July 17th, I moved in with my Tico mom, Sara. Funny, same name as my real mom (even though it's spelled differently) and this one is just about the same age....give or take a year. I was a little disappointed at first that I was only living with one other person, much like my study abroad experience in Italy. I was looking forward to a family with children but in the end, I think this is the best situation. Sara has three children between the ages of 22-31 who are all married and have children (well, almost). The oldest daughter Rebecca lives around the corner from us with her husband Wilkyn and two children Marcella and Marco ages 5 and 4 respectively. On the day of my arrival they came over for lunch to meet me and the first thing my niece and nephew did was give me kisses on the cheek. I felt like royalty. Could you imagine making your children kiss some stranger from another country who you didn't even know? In about the first 3 minutes we came to the conclusion that Marcella and I share the same birthday (Sept. 13th in case you forgot....lol!) and that I didn't understand a lick of Spanish. Fortunately for me, my brother-in-law, Wilkyn, knows a little English....better than my Spanish actually....and it is so much easier to communicate with him. I see that family often. Next there is my sister Auxiliadora, 27 who has lived in Nashville for the past 5 years actually and is expecting her first child in February. I get to talk to her on the phone each week though the connection is really bad and all I manage to get out is that her mother is great and is taking good care of me....which is the truth. Josue, 23 lives in the next barrio over and is married to Evette. They have a 2 year old son named Dylon. I see them about once a week. If you're wondering about the man who pays the bills, that would be Jose who left Sarita (my Tico mom) about two years ago for another woman. He pays the water, electric and half of the phone bill. I do enjoy the long, hot showers! J/k. No, actually I've met him on two occasions now and have met his entire family. His mom and like 5 sisters live a few houses down from us and for some reason, my mom is still in touch with all of them. We actually went to this 100 person 50th birthday party on Friday night which was for the husband of the sister of my mom's ex-husband. Try imagining that. It was a really formal party with assigned tables and I'm happy to say that on the seating chart under my Tico mom's name it read: accompanied by the "Gringa"! I'm used to it now. So, in a nutshell, that is my family. They are all really great, especially my mom who cooks me great food and washes and irons all my clothes. My real mom must have told the PC the living arrangements I was used to at home! Thanks mom. ;-) That's all for now. I usually only get to the internet about once a week. Next time, I'll tell you about the shack I live in.
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Pura Vida!
Pura Vida! These are words chanted around the country. It´s the catch all phrase. How are you doing? Pura Vida! How do you feel? Pura Vida! How was your night? Pura Vida! Thanks for asking. I am finally here in my barrio of Dolce Nombre de Coronado de San Jose. If you think that is confusing, try asking for directions or an address around here. CR does not use street addresses. Rarely do people even know the name of the street they live on. Instead, they base the location of something off of the location of someplace else. 300 meters to the left of where the old Catholic Church used to be and then turn right, then 4oo meters ahead on the left is where my house is located. OK, that´s not really how to get to my house, but that is how they address mail around here. Next time I promise to write about mi familia and my mama Sarita who is very good to me.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Excursion #1
Hola friends and family! I am finally here in CR. Today is day #3. After two days of pre-training in Washington, DC where I met my 32 newest friends and learned many rules and operations of the Peace Corps, we all headed out on a 4 hour flight to San Jose early on Wednesday morning. The flight went really well and I was surprised to not have even shed a tear as we left the USA. I guess I'm just overwhelmed with all of my new friends. It's amazing that we all get along really well. So many of the PCT (Peace Corps Trainees) are from CA and other states out west. There is one married couple and they are actually from VA like me. They just graduated from UVA in May. Everyone is very young too. A majority of us are between the ages of 21-25. 4 are 26-29 and one girl is in her early 30s. We are about 12 guys and the rest girls. It's a very young group they have told us. Everyone is super nice and I have met some really fun and crazy people...namely my roommate in DC named Kelley who is from CO and my current roommate at the retreat named Zoey who is from NYC. These are crazy kids, let me tell you.
Fresh off the plane, we were taken to a cabin retreat in the mountains near San Jose for the first 4 days. Here we have been meeting all of the PC CR staff, sitting through long lessons about how PC CR works, being given shots, taking language placement oral exams, eating lots of good food and drinking even more coffee. I actually kinda like it. One thing is for sure, we do not go hungry. Today we have taken our first trip away from the cabin retreat where we've been staying. Unfortunately it is pouring and it was hard to see out of the bus windows as we made the 20 minute bus ride to the town of Heredia. Of course the first thing we have all done was stake out an internet cafe. It's been days! LOL Tomorrow is our last day of the retreat and we will find out which town we will be living in for the next 11 weeks. We are all very excited (and nervous) to learn of our host families and which 4 of our new friends will be in our towns with us. It is all based on our language skills and what projects we will be working on eventually...I will be working with Children, Youth and Families (CYF). So, by Sunday afternoon I will be in my new home with my new host family. Be sure to tune in soon to how that experience goes. Love to all.
Fresh off the plane, we were taken to a cabin retreat in the mountains near San Jose for the first 4 days. Here we have been meeting all of the PC CR staff, sitting through long lessons about how PC CR works, being given shots, taking language placement oral exams, eating lots of good food and drinking even more coffee. I actually kinda like it. One thing is for sure, we do not go hungry. Today we have taken our first trip away from the cabin retreat where we've been staying. Unfortunately it is pouring and it was hard to see out of the bus windows as we made the 20 minute bus ride to the town of Heredia. Of course the first thing we have all done was stake out an internet cafe. It's been days! LOL Tomorrow is our last day of the retreat and we will find out which town we will be living in for the next 11 weeks. We are all very excited (and nervous) to learn of our host families and which 4 of our new friends will be in our towns with us. It is all based on our language skills and what projects we will be working on eventually...I will be working with Children, Youth and Families (CYF). So, by Sunday afternoon I will be in my new home with my new host family. Be sure to tune in soon to how that experience goes. Love to all.
Monday, July 11, 2005
Adios America!
And I'm off. After packing all week and repacking again last night, I was finally able to fit two years worth of personal belongings into these three bags. What a tough feat! Thank you to everyone who visited, emailed and called me yesterday and today wishing me buena suerte. I was fortunate enough to spend my last week at home amongst my family and friends and for this I am greatful. It's off to DC I go for Staging. We fly out on Wednesday morning. Hasta luego!
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Hairspray
This is me back in March after I cut off all of my long locks. I thought shorter hair would be easier to care for in CR. Little did I know, this hairstyle took more work to achieve perfection. Now, I'm more into just letting my hair air dry b/c we all know I will not have time for such a regimented hair routine very shortly.Prep Time
This Blogger idea is going to be a great way for me to keep my family and friends updated on my world in Costa Rica. Thanks to Maria and Michael for the grand idea. So I leave in just about two weeks for my PC staging in Washington, DC. Hey, don't I already live there? Yes, but this will be different. Have I actually ever stayed the night in the city? No. So it will be fun to experience DC in a different way than normal with all of my new PC friends.
I am ready to go. Well, mentally anyway. I still need to buy a few things yet and actually pack. Finishing up my job at Bombay would probably be a good idea also. I wish I could figure out a great gift idea for the two host families I will be living with. Something travelable and inexpensive yet nice with America written all over it (OK, well not literally). Any ideas?
I am ready to go. Well, mentally anyway. I still need to buy a few things yet and actually pack. Finishing up my job at Bombay would probably be a good idea also. I wish I could figure out a great gift idea for the two host families I will be living with. Something travelable and inexpensive yet nice with America written all over it (OK, well not literally). Any ideas?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
