Costa Rican Camp Counselor, Say WHAT?!?

In Costa Rica, the schools are technically still on “vacation” until February 11, but…I have been so busy it has not felt much like vacation. I spent a week being a Costa Rican summer day camp counselor and it was exhausting. In the morning, we had ages 3-12 and I was assigned to help with ages 10-12. The most difficult part was that I was expected to take attendance! YOU TRY SPELLING THESE NAMES IN SPANISH! Yaxciry pronounced Jacksiree, Geisel pronounced Hasel, Xotshinl pronounced…I never figured that out I just called her Toti. (seriously, I did.) In the afternoon, I was a TEAM LEADER for 12-18 year olds and I might have been MORE than a little competitive. Unfortunately my team lost, but I hope I taught them how to be good leaders. I made them shake hands with the other team and say “Good game Good game” – in English. It was GREAT!

I actually think the day camp was one of the most beneficial things I have done since I have been in Costa Rica. When I came to Costa Rica, I had a lot of culturally UNITED STATES games, songs, dances, and ice breakers…but sometimes those techniques don’t work in Costa Rica. Sometimes you have to know how to play “ENSALADA DE FRUTAS” (Fruit Salad) to get the kids attention. Sometimes you just need a well known kids song to get the kids singing “Habia un sapo, sapo, sapo, Quien nadaba en el rio, rio, rio…” (There was a frog, frog, frog, who swam in the river, river, river…)

I also learned a lot about working with other Costa Ricans and the Costa Rican style of camp. It’s hard to explain, but the cultural differences in carrying out a project so similar to a day camp are IMMENSE! When and how things get done are different. The order of completing tasks is different as well…It’s hard to explain and I can’t currently think of a specific example. The only way I know to describe it is that Costa Ricans PRIORITIZE differently due to a different value system. (For example, they value relationships more than they value work and so in an office environment – FIRST we have a coffee, chit-chat, solidify the friendship, and then we have the business meeting.) In this sense, the tasks that WE might complete FIRST a Costa Rican might leave until second or third. I learned to much!

Finally, my Costa Rican camp counselor experience was INVALUABLE because I built new, stronger, and funnier relationships with the kids, the adolescents, other “counselors” my age!, and other adults and families in the community. It was a great week and I hope you enjoy the pictures of me DANCING and with my kids!

Christmas: I would say that Costa Rica is a lot less traditional than United States. My brother and sister received their gifts on the 22nd and when I insisted that they be wrapped and put under the tree – they just looked at me like I was crazy. However, it did feel like Christmas since all we did for three days straight was play with their new toys…we stayed up way to late and slept way to long in the morning…but it was a beautiful thing. Actual Christmas was celebrated by staying up until midnight, and at midnight everyone said “Merry Christmas” and kissed all the others. Then we set off fireworks and ate. And on Christmas morning, NO ONE IN THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD woke up until 11:00 because everyone had stayed up late the night before partying.

Gifts: I told you before how the church I attend is very involved with the community and serving them…well, the Pastor of the church worked really hard to find Christmas presents to donate to a nearby, VERY POOR, community. Then the church worked VERY HARD to provide a special Christmas party with games, candy, puppets, songs, food, and finally, ONE BEAUTIFUL Christmas present for each child. To me, it was wonderful in many ways:
1. The church wasn’t helping just people at their church. In fact, it benefited NO ONE at their church – it was a definite outreach and act of love. They raised money to provide a Christmas for people who have nothing. I have never seen 10 year old boys SO happy to receive a soccer ball.
2. There was also a second party, but this party was for a community of children who all have either physical or mental disabilities. Whoah…it was also a really special Christmas party. To see the faces of these kids receiving a new shirt, a remote control car, a Barbie…I was really honored to be a part of it.

New Years: I spent the day cleaning and resting, but around 6:00 I took a shower and got dressed up. My family had a little church service on the porch and then we ate refried beans and rice with hot dogs and potato chips. It might sound weird, but it was actually really good. Then we all stood around and talked for awhile. At 9:30, I went to another party with friends. We celebrated with their family by eating (again), watching the kids go CRAZY for a piñata, and setting off fireworks. Then there was no countdown, all the sudden someone said “Oh it’s here!” Hahahaha…so we all got up and said “Happy New Year” and kissed all the others. Then we had a little church service. Everyone said what they were thankful for from the year and had a little reflection for the coming year. Costa Rica is definitely a more religious country than the US – at midnight the radio stations played a song that was something a long the lines of “How Wonderful is God.” I attended two impromptu church services without even meaning too.

All in all, the holidays were much better that I anticipated, possibly because I had no expectations and I spent them both with people that I genuinely love.

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?