So this is from a looong time ago (end of April) cause I havent been able to get online long enough recently. Enjoy!

Always Have a Plan D

So I just got back from my tech visit to Perez Zeledon in the southern part of the country. I will apologize now for not having pictures….my camera battery died and I of course did not bring the charger with me to Costa Rica. I will be stealing pictures from my fellow trainees though, so hopefully I will have some in a little while. The trip to Perez Zeledon was awesome…I can’t even describe the views from the bus…we drove through the mountains and just about every turn brought another amazing scene into view. We wound our way through the mountains for about 3 hours until reaching our destination last Saturday. Myself and the other 7 trainees met up with Alex and Farhat (the current volunteers we would be working with over the next week) at the bus station in San Isidro/Perez Zeledon. It’s good sized city with about every amenity you could want/need right there. We ate lunch and then headed to Farhat’s town (basically like a little suburb). She lives in Baidambu which is a pretty rural, all dirt road town about 20min outside of San Isidro. Each of us stayed with a host family in the community….I was with Dona Beatrice and her husband and 17year old daughter. They are just about the cutest family…so sweet and giving. And they were really excited to be hosting a trainee because this is their first time ever having a foreigner stay with them. Saturday afternoon we played soccer with Farhat and a gang of local kids and youth. We played on what will eventually become the town plaza, but right now its basically a giant dirt field. Needless to say, by the end of the game, we were covered in dust and dirt. My host mom, Beatrice and a couple other host moms stayed and watched the game. I think they got a kick out of watching the gringos try to compete with the local kids.

Sunday was a day for relaxation, we went to the beach!!! Finally, I got to see Costa Rican beaches! And they definitely live up to all the hype. We went to Dominical, which is about an hour and half by bus…in reality it’s only about 45min-1 hour away but because you have to go through the mountains, the bus takes a lot longer.

Monday we had to get to work…we started out with a meeting at PANI (Patronato Nacional de la Infancia) which is basically like child protective services in the states and is the counterpart agency for CYF….all CYF volunteers work in some capacity with PANI. Then we went to Alex’s community, Cocori which is also outside of San Isidro. It’s larger and more spread out than Baidambu. There’s also a bigger problem with drug addiction there. We went to the elementary school and got a tour of some of the projects he’s helped complete: they fixed up the bathrooms so they actually work (the school almost got shut down last year because the toilets didn’t work), improved the gutter system, build a ramp and a basketball court behind the school. It was amazing how much Alex has been able to accomplish. We also had Spanish class (just can’t escape it…). We also got to observe an English class. I do not want to teach English at all…however from what other volunteers have said and PCCR staff, I will definitely be asked to by a lot of people in my community. I guess it’s up to me whether or not to accept…I would be alright tutoring students or something like that, I just have something against teaching a set class once or twice a week for some reason.

Tuesday was a really busy day too: more stuff at the school in Cocori, more Spanish class, and our CYF training coordinator did a workshop on physical punishment to some parents from the school. It was a nice demonstration of how to use NFE (non-formal education – another one of those big PC things) because during tech week we have to give a NFE lesson to a group of students or adults in the community. We also got a tour of the dump in Cocori. I know, it sounds weird to visit a dump like it’s a tourist attraction but it was actually very interesting and educational. And the views from the dump are absolutely breath-taking, I can’t wait till I can post some pictures that others took. And right when you’re in the middle of the dump, its sooo quiet and peaceful, there’s just no noise (except for the stray dogs and vultures haha). There are also several addicts that live in the dump. More people come to the dump during the day to work – basically dig through the trash for copper, glass, etc to sell. Alex is friends with some of the guys who live there (I know, weird situation) so we got to talk to them for a little bit. They were really nice, I appreciated that they were willing to let a group of gringos into their homes basically to ask some questions. We didn’t stay long but it was still a powerful experience. It reminded me of the Guatemala City dump that I visited while there.

Wednesday we spent with Farhat in Baidambu so we didn’t have to travel as much. We spent most of our time at the elementary school there too. Jen and I gave our NFE presentation to the 5^th grade….which was interesting to say the least. First off, we thought we would be working with older kids (6^th or 7^th graders) so we planned a workshop (taller) on leadership. Had a great plan on paper too. So we get to the tech visit and find out we are actually working with the 5^th grade…..still thought no big deal, it’ll still work, be fine, etc. So we start, and we were pretty confident in our plan. And we ask who knows what a leader is. àNOTE: all of this is in Spanish! So we start to try and find out what they know, and we pretty much get bashful blank stares from all 15 kids in the room. Great. But we persevere! We prod them and encourage them for an excruciating 5-10min till we kinda get the ball rolling on what we were hoping to discuss with them. So then we get into the activity we had planned: a blindfolded maze where one kid has to lead their partner through the maze using on words (you know, being a leader). Explaining the maze and getting the kids organized went pretty well. The actual activity was good too, except that since we didn’t have enough blindfolds, we just had them all close their eyes and most of them cheated, and the “leaders” tried to move the obstacles out of the way instead of guiding the other kid around it! Hahaha but apparently they liked it because about ½ of the class wanted to do it again! We didn’t have time but it was at least good to know they liked it. I was really worried that the kids would come away not having learned anything, but at the end, they were all able to write down one way they would be a leader that week and that was pretty much the point. So, overall, it was a success. The idea of having a LOT of back up plans was definitely driven home though. Cause how we originally planned it definitely did not happen lol.

Thursday we got to play with the kids from the albergue (orphanage) at this large park. And then we went dancing! It was a lot of fun, though I was disappointed that they stopped playing salsa/merengue music like 1/2hr after we got there. And it was so cute, before I left on Friday, my host mom gave me bracelets a "rememberance" of them and told me how much she had enjoyed hosting me (it was their first time hosting an person from the US)....she even cried! It was so adorable, they are really sweet people. All in all a great trip, and it really prepared me for my service...I think I have alot better idea of what volunteer life is like.

Sorry the end of my post is rushed, I don´t have a lot of time left in the internet cafe....and I will try to post more recent happenings (like Site Assignment Day!!!) real soon....check facebook for the name of the town where ill be living for the next two years!

Almost there! Just about 2 weeks till I move to my site!!!