Deep Thoughts By Kim

I was thinking the other day that COSTA RICA needs the exact same thing that Chapel Hill needs. A 24 hour, Hot & NOW, Krispie Kreme. Just a thought. I know that as a Peace Corps Volunteer a. I should be inherently against big US businesses stealing money from local businesses and b. that on a Peace Corps salary I could totally NOT afford Krispie Kreme doughnuts. But still….Krispie Kreme, can you hear me? Come to Costa Rica.

The School Year Wraps Up

Today was party day at the school. Today is the last day of school before graduation on Thursday – and so all of the classes had a party. There was music, dancing, clowns, balloon animals, piñatas, presents, rice and chicken, fried chicken, pizza, cake, ice cream, soda…whew. I am exhausted. And the teachers have to do it again this afternoon with the other half of the kids.

Thank goodness I have work to do and cannot participate. Ha ha ha…

Also...the picture above of the kids with sparklers was a kids party we had on Friday. In Costa Rica, it is common to celebrate Christmas with fireworks and the sort! So every night there is some sort of small firework display on the street! We got a lot of kids together and bought sparklers and went to the soccer field. It was a good time for all!

I will be headed to stay with my training family over the holidays! I am so excited to be in the cool, not humid temperature. I am excited to eat good food and hang out with my siblings and all their friends. I don’t exactly know what we will do to celebrate Christmas, but I know I will love it because there I feel at home. First Christmas not in North Carolina here I come…

The first week in January, I was invited to go to the beach with a family in my current community. I am really excited because they are a really fun family – with three kids ages 27, 25, and 24! So it sure to be a lot of fun!

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Happy New Year!

Talk About Busy

Needless to say I love my community more and more with each passing day. Projects are falling into place rapidly. The girls club has taken off. The girls absolutely LOVE it. They come with so much energy (sometimes too much energy!) and they really enjoy playing games and doing crafts. I am working on ways to have them settle down for the “teaching part” of the club.

This Wednesday we will be having a Holiday party and making Holiday crafts for our parents! And we will also be celebrating our SUNDAY success! On Sunday, CHICAS PODEROSAS sold cookies at a soccer tournament and we made 13,000 colones ($26). I thought that was pretty impressive off of cookies…and more importantly, I LEARNED SO MUCH!

1. You cannot buy bags of ice. But you can make your own if you know far enough in advance…oops.
2. I know who to borrow tables, chairs, and coolers from…
3. Selling coca-cola is a GOOD idea. (We did that! YAY!)
4. Invite people that you know will support you…for example: Not THAT many people who were at the soccer tournament were interested in cookies (also know your audience…should’ve sold beer…hahahaha…j/k), but I had invited a lot of kids and their parents from the community – and they came just to support us!
5. Give the kids MORE responsibility and EXPECT the best from them.
6. Ask for MORE adult help. Many women offered to make different kinds of food for our next fundraiser! I was honored by so many women wanting and offering their help for future projects!

People are the same all over the world. There is a large percentage of irresponsible people who will be late, unprepared, or never show up. HOWEVER, there is also a LARGE percentage of people who will do everything in their power to support community projects and the kids of the community. One of my most important lessons is learning WHO is WHO. And from that…I am attempting to teach the kids to be the RELIABLE type of people. There were a fair amount of girls who showed up on time and brought what they had signed up to bring. There were also a fair amount of girls who DID NOT SHOW UP and let their fellow club members down. They will be learning at this club meeting that there are CONSEQUENCES for our actions….

Girls Club!

We also had our first girls club! Sometimes, when I think about it, I think it sounds silly. I came to Costa Rica to start a girls club…BUT I AM SO EXCITED about how it really will change these girls’ lives. Just think about how they go to school for 4 hours a day and then they…..sit in their house and watch bad tv. There is no basketball team, dance classes, swim team, Odyssey of the Mind, Girls Scouts, art classes, music lessons, karate…there isn’t even a library for goodness sakes! So just think about what the kids do…they have nowhere to go and play organized games or even to have free fun in a safe setting.

So far we are just starting so we have done just the basic things like “What is the purpose of this club? What will we do? When will we meet? Who is invited?” We talked about what a strong girl is, we read a little reflection about why a club like this is important, we played Guesstures with the theme of “Stong girls are…”, and then we did a “service project” and art project in one by making and coloring Christmas cards for all the teachers and putting chocolate in the cards!

This Wednesday, we are going to vote on who is the president, vice president, secretary, etc. and we are going to make some club rules. Then we are going to prepare for SUNDAY because we are going to sell food at a soccer tournament to raise money for the local Sports Committee.
OK! But I haven’t told you the best part yet…the best part is that I made friends! I have been friends with a 15 year old and when she saw me walking around handing out invitations and asking permission from parents of the younger girls to be in the club, she said she wanted to START a club with her friends too! So this we are beginning the adolescent version of the girls club! And they are going to help me with my OTHER project which is to paint a mural of the world on the school! It gets better – so I am also friends with the 15 year olds OLDER sister who is 22. (Pretty close to my age, right?) And she came out of her house during the passing of invites and said “I WANT TO HELP.” OMG! What a blessing from God. So basically, she is in charge of the Girl’s Club.

I speak Spanish, but seriously, I am never going to be a native speaker. I plan out everything, I explain it to her…and she takes charge. It’s awesome! And the 15 year old comes. So I have TWO women in the community who have already taken this project as their own….and that’s the WHOLE point. I can leave and there are two women who love it and love the girls. Whew!

The Week of Christmas

I brought a little American Christmas to the kindergarteners in Costa Rica! It might have been one of the most wonderful weeks here in Costa Rica thus far, but I also know that I do NOT want to be a Kindergarten teacher….especially in Costa Rica. Why?

1. The school system is set up so that each teacher has to teach TWICE a day. Imagine that teachers. If you didn’t have to do your job ONCE a day, but TWICE. So we gave the class to 26 kindergarteners in the morning from 7-10 and then to 26 kindergarteners in the afternoon from 12-3. (WHICH DOES NOT INCLUDE the preparation and clean-up)
2. Discipline here is….non-existent. So imagine 26 kindergarteners who are allowed to speak and move at will. They didn’t have to share and they didn’t respond well when I said “No.”
That sounded negative, but I loved it. We made Christmas cards, three dimensional stars, reindeer puppets, a giant paper Christmas tree which we decorated with ornaments that we colored…and we ended the whole week with a HUGE Christmas party for the kids and their families!

OH! And the most important part! I taught the kids to sing “Feliz Navidad” – the Veggie Tales version. This version is in both English and Spanish and there is an interlude where the kids played homemade maracas! It was so cute and wonderful!

I was and am very proud. It was a very successful week and I felt like a designed, organized and carried out a project that ended by blessing the kids with a fun cultural experience and time to share it with their families. It might sound silly, but we take for granted that kids in the United States get to participate in many activities that they get to be proud of…and us lucky ones have parents who support us and our proud of us as well. The sad part was that out of 104 parents who should have been there to admire the art work, the song, and share in a time of eating and supporting their kids…maybe 25 parents showed up. The parents who did show up…some came so late with their kids that they and their child missed the PERFORMANCE! (We’re talking like an hour late.)

The week was successful not because I did anything SUPER HELPFUL, but because I learned so much about how to carry out a project like this in Costa Rica and what to expect from the participants. It’s A LOT of work and only a select few are going to be HALF as excited about the outcome, but that’s ok. From this experience, I would like to propose a project to some businesses here for funding to do more family activities. This type of project could include anything that would encourage the parents to take pride in who their child is and what their child is accomplishing in school.

*some of you may be thinking about how we´re not allowed to celebrate holidays anymore in the US, but here the school system is very different and we did this as CULTURAL experience...how do some people celebrate Christmas in the US?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know that you are all waiting on a HAPPY blog entry, so I will tell you that I had a VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING. I am lucky in that some of the other Peace Corps Volunteers were DETERMINED to have a true thanksgiving meal this year – and they accomplished their goal and I reaped the benefits.

One very determined Volunteer found a HUGE house on the Pacific Coast called JUNGLEHOUSE (www.vrbo.com/55648) which I highly recommend. It only cost $10 a night and the owner graciously picked us up in his van at the bus stop. It was clean and with more appliances than I have seen since I left the United States! We’re talking satellite tv, a toaster and a toaster oven, air conditioners….and it was perfect for us. There were multiple ovens to cook our turkey and pumpkin/apple pies. We made stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and yams. We also had green beans, carrots, corn, salad, and rolls. We ate until our hearts were content…and you should have seen the leftovers!

In addition to the wonderful meal, I had two days in the sunshine and warm ocean water! And now I am like a new person. I am back in my site and determined not to leave until Christmas break. I have started creating a booklet with all my project proposals to show to my school. (It takes longer than you would think in Spanish!) I hope to have my cousin proof-read it tonight and my post-thanksgiving goal is: NO COMPLAINING because I’m the Peace Corps Damn it! (Sorry mom.)

Hope you all really enjoyed your Thanksgivings as well and thanks again for keeping in touch so well!

Four Things that May or May Not Be Driving Me Crazy...

1. So remember how at one time I was possibly complaining about the heat. Well…NEWSFLASH – it has been raining for almost 11 days straight. Lots of rain means that NOTHING dries ever and therefore, shoes, purses, hats, closets, and clothes grow mold. (Please refer to pictures above of mold. There are no pictures of the mold on clothes or in my closet BUT one day I had to wear a shirt that smelled like mildew all day. It was pretty gross.) If you have any tricks for keeping things mold free, feel free to send them to me. I would be grateful for anything.

2. The roads. Roads here are more like not roads. There are so many holes in the roads that it almost hurts to ride the bus, or the car, or a bike. Some communities are working hard to collect money to pave the roads, but still I am thankful for the roads in North Carolina. (EVEN I-40 in Greensboro and between Chapel Hill and Raleigh.)

3. In all honesty, it is very hard to return my site in Costa Rica after being away. After All Volunteer Conference and spending time with my first family, I had to return to my official site and faced a few days of being very unhappy. It was helpful to talk to other volunteers, who felt the same way, but Costa Rican culture leaves no room for privacy and so now my WHOLE Costa Rican family thinks I am depressed. And every morning when I wake up they ask me “How do you feel?”, and when I return for lunch they ask me “How do you feel?”, and when I return from work they ask me “How do you feel?”…and well, it makes me want to scream.

4. Lastly, someone started a rumor that I was going to give all the kids Christmas presents. (Just to give you an idea there are 400 kids between Kindergarten and 6th grade in my community.) So all the children AND all the parents come up to ask me if I can give them Christmas presents. It is not fun.

It´s Beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Don’t even roll your eyes. Costa Ricans do not celebrate Halloween and they do not celebrate Thanksgiving…so the stores decorate for Christmas in September! Home lights and Christmas trees go up FIRST week in November (or before). My first family put off decorating their house until I could be there to help – the second week in November! So we put up and decorated the tree, we hung icicle lights outside and so did all the neighbors! It’s a beautiful sight in my old neighborhood!

So I came home and thought about how happy I was to decorate for Christmas…and so I went out and bought a little Charlie Brown Christmas tree, silver and pink balls (clearly), white lights, and a silver star and we put it up in my room on Monday night. It’s a pretty beautiful sight. And I started listening to Christmas music before Halloween. I can’t fight the holiday spirit. I love the Christmas season.

All Volunteer Conference

Peace Corps Costa Rica is lucky in that we have one three day conference where every single volunteer in the country gets to be together. So 98 of us headed up to a Boy Scout Camp in the mountains near San Jose. It was our poor luck that there was also a cold and rainy front passing through Costa Rica at the time. We didn’t see the sun for three days and I was wearing 3 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of pants, and 4 sweaters at the same time….and I was still cold. And I felt like I was REALLY in the Peace Corps because for the three days, I didn’t eat, I didn’t sleep, and I didn’t bathe (the water was like ICE). Ok – clearly that’s an exaggeration but it felt like I didn’t eat, sleep or bathe. Above are some pictures to demonstrate the coldness that was Costa Rica for three days.

During the three days, we had some Safety & Security refresher courses, a Medical refresher, received two shots (one of which was the flu shot – and two people, at least, did end up getting the flu!), talked about some existing projects, received small workshops from Fellow Volunteers, and learned more about specific smaller groups within Peace Corps Costa Rica (For example: There is a smaller group working to promote HIV/AIDS awareness within Costa Rica and encouraging the other volunteers to do smaller projects as well.) At night we had hot chocolate, a talent show, a dance party, a slide show, and good time to get to know the lives of some of the other volunteers. All of our lives are so different!

Kim´s Year of Peace*

And so now I am 24.

Not gonna lie, it would rank up there as one of the NOT BEST birthdays of my life. However, I do realize that I have had more than my fair share of AMAZING birthday celebrations so we’re just going to take this birthday with a grain of salt.

Anticipating the not so good conditions for a birthday here, my PC friend (who also celebrated a could have been better birthday) and I met in the CITY to EAT. We first went to an AMAZING restaurant where I ate grilled SALMON in coconut sauce. It was the best meal I have had since June. After that, we went to a movie. I’m not even going to tell you which movie we saw because all that mattered is that for 2.5 hours we could ESCAPE. So we ate caramel popcorn and forgot. Lastly, we found a café and ate APPLE PIE, ICE CREAM, and café mocha. That was the birthday present we gave ourselves. And it was worth the $50 American dollars it cost.

Then a couple days later on my actual birthday…well, let’s just say I’ve never actually appreciated “Happy Birthdays” via Facebook until my 24th birthday in Costa Rica. And from that, I’ll let you draw your own conclusions about my birthday. If FACEBOOK cheered me up…

My PCbff called a couple times throughout the day to check on me and THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH for the phone calls, packages and cards! All of these things made me feel so loved and also cheered me up.

And at the end of the day, Karli and Lauren called and it was wonderful to talk to amazing friends who have preceded me in entering their 24th year with NOT SO WONDERFUL birthdays. So don’t worry, I don’t blame Costa Rica or the Peace Corps for a bad birthday….I blame 24.

And in spite of a bad birthday, I know that this year is going to be a wonderful one. This will be my full year of life that I live OUTSIDE of the United States and it was named *Kim’s Year of Peace by Lauren Quartz DiBianca.

The Graduation Dance

My first family invited me to come to my brother’s graduation dance. It is the Costa Rica version of Prom, except the parents and families are invited. And because the classes are a lot smaller and it is only for those who will graduate, the party is a lot more intimate. I had a great time being with my family and dancing with my brother’s friends. These are few pictures….the best part. (1. My sister & my mom dressed to the nines. 2.After Marco saw this picture, he said about himself in all seriousness “I look hot.” Hahahaha…. 3. This is to show you what a Costa Rican prom might look like.)

It was a great week-end just being with my family, my puppies, my friends, and relaxing. I feel like I am in college and when there are breaks, I go home. And this is my home where my friends and family are happy, but not surprised to see me. And life is normal here with or without me. Eventually, the vacation ends and I have to leave home and go back to work.

P.S. ALSO! My family took me to the Costa Rican version of WAL-MART. It’s actually owned by WAL-MART and I didn’t know it existed. And I know that I am not suppose to like Wal-Mart, but I was SO happy to see John Frieda shampoo & conditioner, Dove body wash, Betty Crocker cake mix, Pillsbury icing, books, dvds with American tv shows, etc . that I started talking really excitedly in ENGLISH!! And my family cracked up…

The Days are Flying

The days are flying by. I cannot believe that I have been in my new site for almost a month now. My schedule is also currently PACKED through Christmas. I am so excited about all the projects that are taking shape here in my site.

I am receiving training on how to create a “School for Parents” to teach them alternatives to hitting their children as punishment, how to set limits, apply correct discipline, and maintain authority. I am excited because the training is solid and when I think it is perfect for my community.

I have a group of girls who are ready to start “Chicas Poderosas” (Strong Girls). In this club, we will clearly do fun things like make t-shirts, have bake sales, paint our nails and play games; BUT we will also learn about character, values, respect, as well as anti-drug, stay in school, and don’t talk to boys :).

The Development Association is working towards having a Community Center, paving the roads (desperately needed!), and instituting trash pick-up and recycling programs. I would really like to help with these desires as well as help with finishing the half-built basketball court.

I am also working with the church that is practically in my front yard. They really have a heart for the community and already have a project going to provide food for those who can’t afford to eat. They also have a great group of children, young adults, and adults who really care about and want to be active in the community.

I actually love the Costa Rican pace. I do not feel pressure to MAKE these projects take form IN A MONTH or have RESULTS tomorrow. I am following the lead of the community in hopes that the projects will form naturally as a result of the needs of the community and therefore be long lasting. I am spending a lot of time getting acquainted, meeting people, and gaining acceptance from the community. And I am loving it.

I am learning to say “No.” I am learning to set boundaries and limits. I am learning to be comfortable with being WEIRD. I am learning to be comfortable with being LAUGHED AT and TALKED ABOUT. I am developing a tough skin about personal appearance because if I have acne (which I do here A LOT), EVERY SINGLE person asks “WHATS THAT?” I am learning more than I could write here…and I suppose I will only continue to learn more and more.

(Side Note: Peace Corps Medical Officers visited me yesterday and it was so exciting to have people from the United States in my house and people who wanted to know all about my experience! And the most exciting part was that they brought my BIKE! I rode it in to town today. And it’s so exciting!)

Three Reasons Why This Has Been A Great Week

1. The Holiday: Monday was a holiday and my brother was in town. So, he took me to a river. And just to be doing something in nature, with someone my own age was like a gift from God. And furthermore, he is really patient with my Spanish and use to foreigners…so life is less frustrating with him.

2. The Soccer Game: My kids at the school were in a play-off game to go to the National Tournament and I got to go and cheer them on! They are really good players and I really enjoy watching them play! Afterwards, we got to take the kids to the pool to celebrate! (I LOVE THE POOL!)

3. The Birthday Party: One of my other kids turned 11 on Thursday. It’s a tradition here to throw eggs at the birthday girl/boy. So…at 4:30, we ALL met in the plaza and threw 25 eggs at the birthday girl. Throwing eggs is a BEAUTIFUL tradition and I plan to bring it back to the United States. Watch out Birthday Girls/Boys.

A Little More Insight Into My Life

After some thought, the reasons why life is harder here:

1. Here, I am an adult. There, I was a child. Here, I work. There, I spent my days studying, learning, and hanging out with other volunteers and my high school siblings & their friends.
2. Here, it is HOT and humid. There, it was warm, but fresh. Let’s be honest when you are uncomfortably hot and sweating, smaller problems seem bigger.
3. Here, I am like a movie star with NO privacy and nowhere to hide from the masses of people who want to talk to me. There, I was one of many volunteers and so masses of people didn’t hunt me down to ask for English help. (That happens here.)
4. Here, there is no tension breaker. There, I had tons of tension breakers.
For example: At the moment when I could not handle Spanish ANYMORE, my pcbff would come over and we would laugh. OR when I was feeling lonely, my brother and ALL his friends would suddenly be there dancing around the house. AND every day I looked forward to sharing coffee and a cookie with my family and neighbors, because that was their tradition. Here the family is not as much a part of the community and I miss adolescent siblings and other peace corps volunteers…so there are no tension breakers. (makes a huge difference!)

Also, it’s the little things every day that effect life:

1. To have privacy, I can’t just go home. I have to lock myself in my room, shut the curtains, and turn up the music very loudly.

a. If I leave the door open -- People come in and make themselves comfortable. OR better yet, people gather in the doorway to STARE at me.
b. If I leave the curtains open -- People sit outside my window and stare at me. (NOT KIDDING or EXAGERATING) Also, people from the community know I am home because they can see into my window and so they all stop to talk to me.
c. If I do not turn on music -- People will try to talk to me through my window or over the walls.

2. My brother happens to be in town! Just the fact that there is someone in the house my age that kind of understands what it is like to be this age and living here makes life better.

3. I come home to eat lunch. 25 people interrupt me to ask me to give their children English classes. When I am not available (because already I am very busy during the weeks), they want me to give lessons at 9pm at night or on Saturday and Sunday. While it is in my job description to work on the week-ends as this is appropriate for working with kids, it is NOT in my JOB description to work from 7am-10pm Sunday-Saturday. Then when I have to say NO, I FEEL SO GUILTY.

4. My cousin, the medical doctor, is 26 and lives here during the week! She is GREAT! And she understands how this hard for me. And she lets me vent to her! She is always happy to see me and I am always happy to see her and she is my FRIEND! So I always look forward to when she comes home from work. (Unfortunately, she spends the week-ends in the capital city.)

(the picture is of my cousin, me, my sister & my brother-in-law...one night before we went into "the city" to eat fried chicken....oh my life!)

My New House

OK – so for those of you who are really interested…I’ll take you on a tour of my house. First, refer below to DENGUE to see the front of my house. That is the OUTER gate that protects us from thieves. You walk over the concrete bridge and enter the front yard. When standing in the front yard, if you look straight ahead, you see the main house and the main front porch. The main front porch is the first photo.

Also from the front yard if you turn right, you see the side porch which is the second photo. My room has a window out to that side porch. The next photo is the hall that leads to my room, my cousin’s room (where currently the extra family is living), the grandparents’ room, our shared bathroom, and finally, the backyard. All the rooms are on the right side of the hall and the left side of the hall is the main house with the den, the kitchen, and where everyone else lives.

So as you walk down that hall, if you turn into your first room, you will see the NEXT picture. This is my bedroom looking in from the hall. Please note how the walls do not go up to the ceiling. The walls just sort of end at about 7 ft. This is my bedroom when sitting on my bed and looking out toward the hall. OK 1st – do not be fooled by the television. It doesn’t work. (And for those of you who know me, this is like the worst possible thing to have in my bedroom. Junk is my biggest enemy and having this big space taker upper to stare at me everyday…. I just want to throw it away so bad. :) Second, please note the wires and cords that adorn my room and you can also see how the wall just stops before it hits the ceiling. :) This is my window and my wall decoration that consists of pictures of you guys. (Note that the window looks out onto the hammock. Also however, do not be fooled by the hammock. It’s broken. I’m strongly considering buying a new hammock…maybe I could order one of those Pottery Barn Hammocks. Hahahaha…and corrupt Costa Rica. :) This picture is to show you my mosquito net. That dark green thing that is tucked behind my headboard gets unraveled and tied to the other wall to make a giant cube around my bed. And unlike in the United States, my mosquito net is not for decoration…without it at night, I wake up looking like I have chicken pox. Every night I tie it up and every morning I take it down. I love my mosquito net.

So that’s a tour of my house for now. I know I am lucky. I know that I have more than so many Peace Corps volunteers. And my heart goes out to them, because it’s hard. And it’s hot. And I appreciate the little things.

Dengue

I would say it’s highly possible that you have never heard of this mosquito transmitted virus called Dengue. BUT in my region of the world, Dengue is highly feared. The one good thing about Dengue is that it’s NOT Malaria. It only lasts 7-10 days and is marked by high fever, vomiting, and feeling horrible! Luckily, I have not gotten dengue, but many a Peace Corps Volunteer has.

To prevent the spread of Dengue, the commonly have their towns fumigated. Men in dark jumpsuits carrying big leaf blowers enter all houses, schools, and businesses to spray this white powder and smoke all over everything. Then when you reenter the home or business, there are dead mosquitoes everywhere. It is quite the experience. It looks like the whole TOWN is on fire. The first time I was in the main city and I saw the “smoke” everywhere I wondered why everyone looked so calm.

The pictures above show my house being fumigated. This is one of those things about the culture that is really confusing to me. The family covered the dishes and spoons with dishtowels to protect them from the fumigation, but I asked about the curtains, our clothes, and our beds, but apparently it is perfectly SAFE to sleep in fumigated sheets and wear fumigated clothing. I am trying to accept it.

My Life is So Weird

I haven’t posted on the blog since I have moved to my new home and I think the reason is because I have no idea even where to begin. I talk to Jenna (pcbff) on the phone at least every other day and during our brief but packed conversations we repeatedly say, “My life is so weird.”

My House: I’ll spare you of all the REALLY WEIRD details for now…and just start out with the fact that, currently, there is an entire EXTRA family living in my house. OK. By whole extra family I mean – mom & dad, two kids (2 yrs & 6 yrs), three aunts (16 yrs, 18 yrs, & 20 yrs), a grandma, and one of the aunt’s children (8 yrs). So that’s NINE, count ‘em NINE, extra people who are living in my house. You may be wondering, where exactly do these NINE people sleep? Well, I’ll tell you. THEY ALL SLEEP IN THE ROOM RIGHT NEXT TO MINE. These nine people are in addition to the SEVEN people who ALREADY live in the house. So SIXTEEN PEOPLE TOTAL who eat, sleep, and bathe in my house. But let’s not stop there, let’s also mention my sister and her husband who at the house during all daylight hours, my 33 year old brother who is also at the house whenever he’s not working, my mom’s ex-husband who eats all meals with us, and finally my 22 yr old brother who lives at the house one week out of every month. Grand total: 21. I live in a circus. And I didn’t EVEN mention the animals. :)

My Work: I love my work. I am partnered with a wonderful school that has active teachers who truly desire the best for the children of the community. I have quickly introduced myself to the kids of the school and THEY ALL KNOW ME. This may sound like a plus, but let’s imagine living WITH 450 kids who all WANT to know you. Let’s imagine that from 8 am to 8 pm there are kids pacing in front of your house waiting for you to come outside so they can ask you to play soccer, or visit their house, or come to church or….anything. It’s awesome. And what I wanted. Let me just say: Be careful what you wish for. Don’t get me wrong. I love my kids. More than anything I want to give them good things, but there is only ONE of me. You might say I am VERY overwhelmed.

My Family: They are good people. They have good hearts and they want good things for me. But it’s a hard relationship. I feel that they respect my work and that they respect me as an adult, but maybe because I can’t speak Spanish well it also means that: I don’t know how to peel fruit correctly, or operate a cell phone, or walk to town, or take the bus, or ride a bike, or take a shower, or purchase my own food. The word NO is not really respected. And it is very hard to explain why I do and do NOT do certain things. It’s like I speak and the words come out and they don’t listen. And I know it’s not my Spanish because other Spanish speakers understand.

Needless to say…I have finally become frustrated. :) I retreated to old family for two days and a night. It was beautiful. I hugged my four year old boyfriend. I watched my brother play in a soccer game. My brother’s friends had a pajama party for me. My mom made me tres leches. Some of my cousins even visited. It was like old times. And I might have cried when I had leave again.

But here I am. In this wonderful, beautiful, crazy life I’ve chosen. My life is so weird.

The Chicken Story

One morning when I woke up, my mom here smiled at me and said, "We´re going to make chicken soup for lunch.¨" I smiled back and said, "Oh how wonderful!"

The next thing I knew, my grandma was in the backyard chasing chickens. When she caught the right one, she killed it. Yes, my 86 year old grandma killed a chicken. Then my mom de-feathered the chicken and cleaned.

My grandma then cooked it outside over a fire. And, true to their word, we had chicken soup for lunch.

This is my life. Please refer to pictures.

We All Cried

I cried. They cried. We all cried.

The night before I left, my family had a going away party for me and all my brother’s friends came. Basically, I borrowed all of his friends the whole time I was in his home. At the party, we had food of course there was dancing, then we all sat in a big circle and had a discussion (i.e. everyone said something nice about their experience with me!). And it took everything in me not to cry. It was so sweet of them.

The next day, my family decided to drive me to my new home, which was so generous and made my life 1,000 times easier. But my brother Marco wouldn’t come…he said it’s because he had to study, but we all know it’s because he didn’t want to CRY.

And thus the good-byes began: I went to say bye to the neighbors, who were like another family to me, and as soon as I walked in the door to say good-bye I started crying.

Then I had to say bye to Marco. So I cried again.

Marco sent in his place my OTHER brothers: Tony, Kenneth and Coco. And we traveled about 3 hours to my house. When we arrived, they all came into my room and tried to fix it up because clearly they are all SUPER worried about me. So the boys climbed around and fixed my mosquito net and my mom fixed my bed. And they told me to BE REALLY CAREFUL.

Then they had to go. And my sister and I bawled. And then my parents cried. And then the boys looked at me with lots of sympathy and said “Don’t worry. We’re going to talk soon. And we’re going to visit you.” And then they drove away.

Then I went to church. There is a church practically in our front yard so I thought it would be better to go to church than to cry all night long.

And here I am. I am here in my new home, and I am starting all over, and I hope that in three months, I love this place half as much as I love my first Costa Rican home. And to end on a happy note, I AM SURE I WILL LOVE THIS PLACE!

It´s Official

Our swearing in ceremony was very little in excitement compared to our day to day life, BUT since it was like a graduation of sorts…I thought I would give it a paragraph. The director of Peace Corps spoke, the directors of our official counterparts spoke, two volunteers spoke, and the ambassador spoke. We each got called up to receive a certificate (which was pretty hilarious because they took a picture of each one of us with the ambassador –so we each had to stand their awkwardly in front of everyone waiting on the picture) and then we all swore to protect the country against all enemies foreign and domestic.

My Costa Rican mom and Jenna’s Costa Rican dad came and they got to enjoy a nice reception, but the volunteers were shuffled from picture to picture, to meetings, and to sign random papers, etc. Then it was over. But –I guess it was the official moment that we TRANSFERRED from trainees to volunteers so here are the pictures!

1. The whole group with the US Amabassador - The Excellent Mark Langdale.

2. My Costa Rican mom - Nina

3. Jenna & me - bc we´re hot.

4. No matter where we go Ryan and I will always represent THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL. (we´re making a unc if you can´t tell. )

Rain is My Friend

My last day in Costa Rica as a trainee was better than I could have ever imagined. My brother’s friends, Tony & Kenneth, (who have been like little brothers from the beginning as well) took Jenna and me to the mountain close to our town. And by close, I mean, it took us 15 minutes to get the TOP of the mountain! Jenna and I MIGHT have been mad that they waited till the last day to show us the trail, but ALL the same – it was an AMAZING day.

ONE: I felt so integrated into the community because no one in my family was involved. One of MY friends offered to take me on a hike. And then OTHER friends wanted to come…even though I am the silly American who cannot speak or understand their language!

TWO: It was beautiful. We went up and sat on a rock and just looked at our town and the capital city. Tony took pictures! My dog, Lassie, came with us and was a GREAT dog. She was like a farm dog – no need for leashes. She could run free and she always came back to her owner. It was just a wonderful day.

THREE: As we were up on the mountain, we could HEAR the rain coming. So…Tony and Kenneth looked at me and said “Let’s RUN!” So we did. And then – as with most trails where there is a downpour – the trail turned into MUD. So...instead of running down the trail – we just sat down and slid down the mudslide. It was pretty WONDERFUL.

FOUR: When we got to the bottom, Tony & Kenneth said “Kim, do you want to play soccer?” And clearly I did. So we played soccer in the rain – soaking wet and muddy. We splashed in the puddles, we laid down in puddles, Lassie played keep away…it was a pretty amazing day. Please refer to the pictures to see how much fun Jenna, Tony, Kenneth and I had on the last day as a PC trainee.

Costa Ricans are SO Funny

P.S. At the family party, the PCT’s, we wanted a picture of all of us. So we took a couple sorority girl group poses – one smiling, one silly...and we were done. However, our Costa Rican photographers were NOT done. They told us to get in ONE long line on the floor. Jenna and I looked at each other like “That’s not how you take a picture.” But reluctantly, one by one we got in a long line on the floor. They wanted us to be positioned with one knee up and our hand on that knee. At this point we were just HUMORING them to get the picture over with. THEN the next thing we knew – the guy on the end pushed us – AND WE FELL LIKE DOMINOES. It might have been one of the funniest things ever to watch 17 silly Americans fall over like dominoes. We fell right into the trap – and above shows the picture that came from it. Costa Ricans are HILARIOUS.