I am officially into a routine in Costa Rica, just to be uprooted in 2 months to start again at my site, but I am feeling really good about everything. I have had a ton of questions coming at me and I know I've been a little MIA, so I am going to try to address most of them in this one post. If it's too long you can take it in chunks, or don't read it all. I'll never know.
HOUSING: I am living in the town of San Miguel in the Province of Heredia. It is a smaller town, but still pretty big compared to others. We have Pali grocery store, a large Catholic Church, two elementary schools and a high school, and a bunch of little shops (pulperias), bread stores (panaderias), and ice cream hang outs (heladerias). It is pretty chilly because we are up in the mountains a bit, and it is super windy.
I live with a host family in a small but nice house. There is Dona Luz, her daughter, Raquell, and Raquell's son, Angelo who is 6. Raquell goes to work in San Jose every day while Dona Luz looks after Angelo and me, and sells prepaid phone cards out of the house. There are a ton of people that stop by every day to put minutes on their phones so that has been a really easy way to meet people in the community.
FOOD: I'm gonna get fat. I have really enjoyed everything I have eaten and I know I should knock on wood because other volunteers have not had great experiences, but Dona Luz is a pretty good cook. There are definitely lots of rice and beans, but I'm still liking it as of week three. I've also had a nice variety of soups including a chickpea soup with chicken yesterday that was delicious. We also have a ton of vegtables in my house that are usually cooked a loads of butter, which I love. To be honest, I think everything is cooked in loads of butter which is why I like everything, but also why I am going to get fat. I think I need to take up running...
SPANISH: Oye. The dreaded Spanish. Well, we, the volunteers in my group, were divided into living commmunities based on our language abilities. That means that all my "novice-high" peeps live in San Miguel as well. There are 3 of us. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays we go to the Salon Comunal, a big open room, and have Spanish classes with our Language and Cultural Facilitator, Emilia. I did not feel very good about my language situation for the first week or so, but I can tell it's getting better. I know I need to be patient, practice speaking in Spanish, and be willing to make mistakes, but it is pretty frustrating at times. I have so much to say and can't get it all out! But, it is coming along and I am thankful for that and excited to see how much more I'll know by the end of training.
TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS: On these days I travel a 20 minute bus ride to San Isidro, a bigger city, for TEFL and Peace Corps training. It has been really interesting learning about what we are actually going to be doing at our sites. The overall objective of the TEFL program is, "Costa Ricans will improve their English." Pretty straight forward and I feel good about having an effect on at least one person improving their English. We will be working with two or three Costa Rican English teachers to co-plan their classes to make them more didactic, and to give them general feedback on how to effectively teach English. This is where TFEL training comes in real handy because I am not a teacher. But we are also encouraged to do community classes, coversation clubs, and camps. Basically, whatever our community wants from us. It is really exciting and it seems like people want to learn English which makes the job a little easier.
I am going to visit a PCV in Acosta this weekend and am incredibly ready to get out of San Miguel and see where a real, live volunteer is and what she does. I was told to be prepared to walk and to bring a bathing suit. I'll take it! It will surely be an adventure getting there, but I am traveling with one other person from my group so it should be ok.
I've already missed some pretty big events back at home, and I think that coming to terms with that fact that everyone's life goes on while I'm gone is going to be harder than I origonally thought. Congrats to Cait and John! I am so happy for you!! Coco, you need to send me a pic of your dress. Meg and Jay, keep me updated. Rest in Peace Corey. You were an amazing boss and influenced my life tremendously. John, Meg, Kait, Mike, Ben and Cait, I hope one of you took a video of at least one song at that concert and you can send me a video.
With all that said, I have recieved a tremendous amount of letters, packages and love. Everyone in my group is totally jealous. Keep it coming!!! I love it!
I love you all and miss you tons.
