Tonight

Tonight, I sat at the kitchen table and watched my brother paint for his art class. I laughed as my sister bothered him and as our mom tried to tell him how to paint. It was a typical and hilarious night just hanging out. Unfortunately, I just got more and more sad about having to leave this family.

FAMILY PARTY

It has been a week of “lasts” and it began as we threw a party for our families on Sunday afternoon. We were told it might have been the best party in the course of Peace Corps Costa Rica family party history – complete with chips & bean dip, pizza, cake, BINGO, a slideshow, certificates, door prizes and a homemade piñata!

I not only invited my family, but I also invited my brother’s neighborhood friends (who have also been like brothers to me). My family and my herd of brothers really enjoyed themselves. The highlight of the party was definitly the slideshow. Each of us turned in pictures of our families and one of our volunteers made a beautiful DVD slideshow (which I have a copy of and I hope you will want to see it one day!). The pictures of my brother and his friends were RIDICULOUS and we pretty much laughed till we cried – they loved it.

The pictures above show my family; then our table at the family party that includes my brother, my sister, their friends, me & Jenna; and then a picture of the AFTER PARTY back at my house!

I know this family will continue to be an encouragement to me for the following two years and I am excited about being able to speak Spanish better and talk to them more and more! For now though, I am sad to be leaving them. It’s hard to say another round of good-byes a short three months after saying good-bye to all of you.

BUT HERE GOES NOTHING…Costa Rica here I come. Again. J

My Dog had Puppies!

Ok so in Costa Rica there are a lot of street dogs. One day a street dog decided to live in front of my house. Our Peace Corps Medical Officer told us to NEVER touch street dogs…so I didn’t. But the dog continued to sleep in front of the gate to our house. And it was a beautiful dog. In the morning it would walk me to class or to the bus station and it would always return to the house and sit outside the gate.

Eventually my little brother started feeding it, because he has a good heart. SO clearly, this dog was never going to leave and I BROKE. I started petting the dog. So then, our parents started letting the dog come in the front patio. It would sleep out there and I would always pet it and Marco (little brother) would always feed it. Finally, one Saturday we bathed it and got it some bug killing medicine.

Then the dog was allowed inside. The dog was house trained, very calm, and very smart. Seeing as I have never had a dog…I loved that dog. It would sit in my room and follow me from room to room. So the family called it my dog and they named it Lassie.

I told them from the very first day we saw it – “THAT DOG IS PREGNANT!” At first they did not believe me and Marco never believed me. But one night my dog became very restless and she would cry and cry – and she started burrowing herself under my bed and under my table.

AND THE NEXT MORNING – SHE HAD TEN PUPPIES!!!! My Costa Rican mom called me and said “You are a grandma! And you better get home and clean up this mess!” It was hilarious. So – I’m not saying I would like to be a dog owner and be responsible for 10 puppies, but it sure is fun to play with my dog Lassie and her puppies in the morning before I leave and when I get home in the afternoon!

Those are the pictures of my dog the NIGHT before she had the puppies and then her with the whole bunch.

Costa Ricans v. Americans

Before going to visit our new sites, we spent two days in the mountains with our “counterparts.” Our counterparts are the Costa Ricans who will be helping us integrate and who will be supporting us as we begin our work. We did an activity where the “the gringos” (Americans) expressed their impression of “the ticos” (Costa Ricans) and “the ticos” expressed their opinion of “the gringos.” I thought it was pretty HILARIOUS so I am just going to share some of the conclusions.

What GRINGOS think of TICOS:
-women do all the housework
-women wear TIGHT clothes, lots of jewelry and lots of make-up
-women wear high heels for everything (like walking in the mud or a mile on a gravel road)
-they have lots of kids who they take care of alone
-there is ALWAYS coffee
-there is always rice & beans
-there is no concept of time
-men watch tv – mainly soccer
-men have mustaches
-men drink a lot

What TICOS think of GRINGOS:
-wear informal and sloppy clothes – torn pants
-wear dirty tennis shoes or flat ugly sandals no matter the occasion
-always tie a rain coat around waist
-always wear a backpack
-always thinking about where we are going to travel
-always have dictionaries
-we don’t smile and we don’t like jokes
-MUCH BIGGER!
-dance like a broomstick
-TIME IS IMPORTANT! Always thinking about time
-we have a lot of money
-we always have lots of POCKETS on our pants
-always have water bottles
-wear the same thing NO MATTER WHERE WE GO
-lots of suitcases with wheels
-work is #1 priority! Spanish is #2. Travel is #3.
-we always have books

*Clearly these are stereotypes on both accounts. But their view of Americans cracks me up because it is clearly based on the fact that their MAIN connection with Americans is travelers. And of course when Americans travel to Costa Rica they don’t track over the country in their high heels, jewelry and make-up! So it just makes me laugh to think of all of the US walking around in torn jeans, dirty tennis shoes, a backpack and a water bottle at ALL times. Hahahaha….

i´ll put a picture of my counterpart on here soon! i have a really cute one, but someone else took it, so i have to get it from their computer!

HOT

I spent 5 days with my new family in Cariari. And I just want you all to know that when I move there on September 16, I will officially be changing from the Posh Corps to the Peace Corps.

Living Conditions: Don’t get me wrong – I have everything I need. I have my own room with a door that closes and locks. My family was so sweet to provide me with a full size bed and a little piece of furniture to store my clothes. I have electricity and an indoor bathroom. I have more than a lot of people in the world. I am still spoiled. I know.

Weather: But, it is soooooooooooooooooo HOT. Between noon and 3 o’clock, I literally could not move. I sat in a chair and I sweated. I thought to myself "I could read." or "I could write a letter." or "I have that Peace Corps work to complete." – but I could not. It was too hot to inspire myself to move, much less be productive. A fan – didn’t help. Still sweating. A cold shower - helped while I was in the cold shower, but as soon as I put on clothes – SWEAT. So, I’m about to be VERY VERY hot for the next two years.

Mosquitoes: Let’s suffice it to say it looks like I have chicken pox. Even on my face and neck. It’s awesome. I will most definitely be sleeping under a mosquito net for the next two years. J

Privacy: There is none. The house is open air. The rooms are divided by concrete walls, but the walls don’t connect to the ceiling. So during the day when there is noise and everyone is busy –its not really noticeable. But at night, when anyone’s light is on, when anyone is snoring, when anyone goes to the bathroom, or when anyone rolls over in bed – I know it.

In conclusion: I have already started experiencing, "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times." For instance, the first day when I practically couldn’t breathe because it was so hot – RAIN CAME and made everything fresh and clean. And my sister and brother took me on a walk through the banana fields which were beautiful. My brother climbed trees and picked me different fruits to eat. In the course of an hour, my life went from "Can I do this for 2 years?" to "I get to do this for 2 years!". The whole five days were like that – one minute I was thinking "What is going on?!?" and the next minute I was so excited and surprised and happy!
This post only brushes the surface – I can NOT wait to get started. I am excited for the challenges and for the life that is about to be mine in less than 2 short weeks.

(P.S. The picture above does not in any way capture the feel of my five days in my new site. It was a picture we took to display our MOUNTAINS of luggage before we separated! One more thing – before I left for the PC, I read a piece of advice that said "Pack all your luggage and make sure you can run around your neighborhood with it all." I laughed out loud – hahahah – what an exaggeration. Yeh, not an exaggeration at all. :) )

I Know Where I WILL BE living for the NEXT TWO YEARS!

Friday, August 24th was SITE ASSIGNMENT DAY! It was a weird day because all the volunteers were a WEIRD mixture of nervous and excited at the same time. The next two years of our LIVES were about to be determined…

As for me, I will be living in CARIBE DE CARIARI. Hahaha. I am sure your reaction is the same as mine was….”Great. What does that mean?” Hahahaha. OK so Caribe is located in the Caribbean side of the country and in the province called Limon. I am about one hour (by bus) from the Caribbean Sea and the tourist area of Tortuguero and only two hours (by bus) from the capital, San Jose.

About Caribe de Cariari: Located in the lowlands region (alt: 100 meters), it is very hot and humid. The rolling hills and wide open spaces make Caribe unique amongst all the other PC sites in terms of geography (copied that directly from my packet of info J). Most of the people work in banana and pineapple plantations. Caribe has a population of 2,000 and is about 2km west of the large commercial town of Cariari which has a population of 8,000-10,000.
-Basically, I get the best of both worlds because I live in a BEAUTIFUL area where I can know everyone (I mean honestly, I can totally know 2,000 people in 2 years!) and still be only a 10 minute bike ride from everything I might need.
-However, my favorite sentence of my packet of information says: “It is said that there is internet service in Cariari, but this is unconfirmed.” Hahahaha…

About my family in Caribe: I don’t know much and as is the case with a lot of volunteers…everything could change or be completely different when I arrive in Caribe – but for now, I know that I will live with a mom, grandparents, a 30 year old disabled nephew, and a 13 year old adopted brother. I also have a 24 year old niece who is a medical doctor and a 21 year old brother who works in tourism who apparently visit the house frequently. OK – so I am sure you will hear about how much I love them soon, and the description says: “This is a busy and active household that often has guests, and grown children returning from visits.” YAY!

About my house in Caribe: My FAVORITE part of the description of my new house goes as follows: “Though the backyard is much like a zoo, the animals do not seem to get into the house area.” YES!!! I’ve never had pets! “There are plenty of fruit trees in the backyard, and some nice places to sit in the shade.” And “just outside the PCV room is a small patio with a hammock and a quiet independent sitting area.” You should all probably start being jealous.

Other good news: Caribe is only 1.5 hours from where I currently live and my family and neighbors here have already started planning trips to visit me.

The only bad news: I am VERY far away from my other PCbffs. Jenna is about 5 hours south of San Jose – so say 8 hours to get to her…if all the traveling goes smoothly. And Glenn is basically in Nicaragua. And Jenna & I have a couple good friends in the other program and they live in such rural areas that there is ONLY one bus a DAY that goes their sites! So we’ve all started prepping ourselves for TRUE immersion.

Finally, on Thursday and Friday, we have a retreat to meet the Costa Ricans with whom we will be working for two years. Then on Saturday, I will leave to go alone to my new LIFE for four days!

Soccer Saturday

I told you there is a lot of soccer here...

So my brother Queso, was in a soccer tournament for his high school...and it is hard to explain how impressive that really is because Costa Rican schools are NOT big on organized competition. So basically high school kids in the area organized their own tournament, invited other schools and even organized their own trophy system... My brother´s high school did not even support him and his friends playing in the tournament, but they LOVE soccer - so they played anyways. AND THEY WERE THE CHAMPIONS! They won the whole tournament and it was really exciting! And he even let me come to the tournament game...and I was so proud. Just like a big sister! (The picture is of his team...and he is the one in the back with the curly hair...that knows how to smile!)

As soon as that championship ended, I met up with some other volunteers and we went to a professional soccer game! We saw the team called SAPRISSA played the team called HEREDIA. No one had any goals until their was 5 minutes left in the second half - and then OUR team - SAPRISSA scored TWO goals and it was awesome to watch the fans go WILD! (The picture shows me and my friends Jenna and Glenn infront of the field.)

I might be a sports fan now...

A Few Afterthoughts...

*thanks for the blog comments! i LOVE them.

*thanks for the mail! my pcbff & i definitly get the most mail - and just so you know...i save it and read it at home where i can REALLY enjoy it for days to come...

*i have a NEW way to communicate - i COPY all emails onto my USB and respond from my home and then at the internet cafe, i just COPY and PASTE! So I have a lot more time here and I feel like I get to better communicate with you guys!

Also to be emotional...

Things that are Hard:
1. I definitely do NOT get the recommended number of hugs to make a happy and healthy person. And those of you that know me…I’m a hugger. I’m definitely in HUG deprivation.
2. I feel guilty for not understanding people when they talk to me. I want to participate and they want me to participate, but sometimes it’s too much to explain everything to me and to try and figure everything out…
3. Everything is going to change in about a month. So just as we get settled we are going to have to pick up and change everything – it is hard to mentally prepare for another change just as we are settling into a routine here.

Things that are Wonderful:
1. Costa Ricans really do know the meaning of “chill.” There is always time to just sit together and enjoy life. I love just sitting. There is no pressure to be productive because there is no concept of “wasting time.”
2. Costa Ricans really do know the meaning of “generosity.” My family would give you the shirt off their backs if you asked for it. And when they offer you food – they really mean it. In the US, it is polite to turn down food when offered because we don’t want to put people out, HERE – NO! You say yes to the food. ALWAYS!
3. COFFEE. There is no shortage.