Playa Conchal...acabangado

So, this weekend my friends Matt and Stephanie from Arizona came to visit me. They took a vacation from their vacation from thier vacation, since they were in Guatemala and made a little side trip down to see me. It was awesome! But now that they've gone I feel way more homesick that I have thus far. My host family tells me that acabangado, is the word they use to say something akin to homescikness, or missing something. In any case, I'll tell you about the weekend trip, because it was amazing!

Matt and Stephanie's flight arrived on Friday, and I met up with them at the National Theatre in San Jose. We walked around the city, and met up with my new Peace Corps friend Mario at our hotel, Talamanca. The hotel was weirdly nice, with a huge bathtub and paintings of the coloseum anda terrace. When we walked in, it was kind of surreal. We joked about filming a talk show on the huge couches. All 4 of us went out to dinner and ate some pizza that tasted like nacho cheese (which did not detract from its deliciousness) and I discovered a love for Latin American beer. On Saturday, we got up and took the 8 am bus to Playa Conchal, in the Guanacaste Province. I had gone 2 days earlier to buy our tickets, and had gotten totally lost. -Everyone I asked for directions told me to go somewhere completely different. One woman I asked for help told me that I should give up, find a taxi, and get the hell out of that part of town because I was going to get mugged. I obviousl didn't heed that advice, and 2 rainy hours later finally found the nearly invisible bus station.

The bus ride took 6 hours, but it was worth it! We stayed in Playa Brasilito, then walked like 5 minutes down the beach to Playa Conchal. Playa conchal has bright blue-aquamarine water, and beautiful tropical fish (I know because I saw them when I went snorkeling). The sand is clean, and gorgeous. It is called Conchal because it is a beach made up of smashed sea shells. Everyone else thought it was the craziest thing ever that the beach wasn't soft sand (they don't have beaches like that in Costa Rica), and it was really pretty, but it also reminded me a lot of the sand in Rocky Point (minus the broken glass and hyperdermic needles). Apparently Mexico is where its at. I would show you some pictures, but my "waterproof" digital camera broke the first day at the beach (Note- Pucture to right is me using camera in water- a bad idea). Matt and Steph are taking it back to the states with them. It is new, so it will hopefully be under warranty. But for now, I am without picture capabilities, so I will need to get really good at desscribing things in writing. This picture I got off of the inernet, but really, it looks like that. Update- I stole pictures from Matt and Steph, so you have some idea of what it was like now.

We met up with 5 of Mario's Peace Corps friends, and they were all really nice. Between my two beach excursions, I have gotten acquainted with some seriously awesome people. We just had an all-around good time. Our hotel was nice and air conditioned, the restaurant was muy delicioso (if more expensive than I am used to paying for food here). I had the best hamburger of my trip, and maybe my life. They just don't usually do ground beef very well here. This burger must have been imported. We hung out, ate, drank, played in the ocean, and enjoyed ourselves. It didn't rain once, I didn't get sunburned or feel hungover, and have relatively few mosquito bites- I am pretty sure I found heaven. I was sad to leave on Monday morning, but still glad that we didn't miss our bus.

Matt and Steph were kind enough to come up to Santa Rosa with me for their last night and see how I live. Seeing thier reactions reminded me of how surprised I was when I first got there. It just isn't what you picture CR looking like. Seeing them off left me muy acabangado; it was nice to have people that already know the background for the stories I tell. It was also nice ot catch up in person and hear how everyone is doing.

I feel like if my first month-ish here is any indication of how the next 8.5 are going to go, then I am one lucky girl. I have seen two beautiful beaches on two different oceans, met a lot of really nice people, and even had some friends come visit me. I may be setting the bar for the rest of my stay too high. Veremos I guess.

Ciao

Buenas tardes. This has been an interesting week for me. Eric left for the U.S., so I feel like I am really getting started now, wokring on my own. The kids came back from vacation, and we have had a few days of successful class. They all say that I am more ¨brava¨than Eric, which means that I am meaner/more strict, depending on how you want to interpret it.

I am getting pretty comfortable in the community. Doña Marta and I made bread on Tuesday, and it was delicious. We also went and visited some of the fmily members. Marta is just a really cool older lady. She was telling me about hwo she got married at 14, and that her dad chose her husband for her. Luckily for her, Poncho is really cool. She was telling me how she is very anti-making your kids get married, and how women should have rights, and how it is fine ifI invite boys over. It was all quite cute. She is really progressive for someone who had to drop out of school at like 9 to work, and whose dad wouldn´t let her got to church without permission. SHe reminds me of my real grandma- really awesome.

The dramatic event of the week was that a horse died in Las Rosas (the Habitat housing community). My 4 year old host cousin came over to my house to tell me all about it, in pretty graphic detail. He wasn't sure exactly what it died of though, only that there was a lot of blood. I think this is rather an odd coincidence, because quite a few of the residents had been complaining to me about how a horse kept getting into their yards and gardens and messing stuff up. Foul play perhaps? Probably not, but it makes my life seem more dramatic if I pretend it was murder. I am pretty sure it fell down and broke its leg.

I went out for the first time in Heredia (where I stay on Wednesday nights when I work at the office) last night. I hung out with Mario, a boy I met at the beach in Cahuita, who lives in Heredia as a Peace Corps volunteer. It was weird, because I got carded to get into the bar we went to. You never get carded in Costa Rica! Anyway, I don't carry my passport around, but I had a copy and that sufficed. They show the weirdest things on television here! In the time we were at the bar, we literally say a man light his genitals on fire, and another one get a piercing in that same part of his anatomy. I don't get it. In any case, we ate dinner and had fun, and am excited to have made a friend.

The plan is to go the beach at Playa Conchal this weekend. Matt and Stephanie are coming to visit me, as a side trip from Guatemala, and it's gonna be fun. I'll let you know how it goes.

Who knew that Michael Jackson was still cool? I sure didn’t

Heeeeeyyyyy. So, it’s Wednesday, which means I’m in the office again. I feel justified in writing my own personal blog though, because the internet is down right now, so most of the work on the Habitat website that I SHOULD be getting done, I can’t do right now. This last week has been good. Pretty laid back. Eric was gone all last week translating in another province, so I had the chance to hang out in the community by myself. It was kind of nice. I spent a good deal of time with Doña Marta, drinking café and watching novellas (they’re like soap operas, but not just in the middle of the day). She is helping me get caught up on a couple of them, so maybe, one day, I will actually be able to follow the plot. I am still waiting for my refrigerator to show up; it’s been two weeks, and we can’t get a hold of the guy who has it. Maybe he stole it? More likely, he just operates on the Latin American clock, where things happen when they happen. Pura Vida I guess. Linguistic side note… Pura Vida is the national slogan, which literally means Pure Life. It is used as the generic reply to everything. Example: ¨How are you?¨ answer: ¨Pura Vida¨. I was also really excited, because Habitat issued me a laptop to use in the village. That way, I could write blogs and work on stuff there, and then just come into town to put everything on line. However, I used it exactly one and a half times, and it stopped working. We’ll see if I ever get it back. I have my doubts. Pura Vida.

I also officially took over teaching English to the adults. It is going pretty well. I gave them an exam on Monday, and most got decent grades. One of the girls told me that I’m much more ¨brava¨ than Eric, which I am pretty sure means that I am more strict, and put up with less crap. There are two boys (13 years old-ish) who come to the adult class and are ALWAYS TALKING, and joking. They’re funny, but it’s pretty disruptive. My first day, I taught them the words be quiet and quit talking. Now at least, when they get on my nerves, I can chastise them in English, and they’ll know what I mean. I also taught them no cheating before the test, however, I have my doubts about whether they all followed those instructions. Actually, I’m pretty sure that a few of them did copy, but since it’s a class that they elect to come to, and their grades don’t really count for anything, it’s their loss if they choose not to learn the material and cheat instead.

I went to my first Costa Rican party on Saturday. Dixie (Eric’s host sister/ my host cousin/ the community leader’s daughter) turned 19, and invited me to come celebrate. It was like a party in the U.S. in that there was lots of drinking (one girl flat passed out on the front lawn), food, and inter-gender drama. There was also, less typical of an American house party, lots of dancing. They rocked a lot of electronica (it all sounded the same- may have been multiple songs, or just one REALLY long canción) and then we switched to Salsa. I have always wanted to learn, and I got my chance. Nelson, one of Dixie’s friends, taught me the basics. I can now do the standard steps, plus some twirls, and even a little bit of combo-dip action. It was really fun! I can’t wait until the next event where I can practice my mad salsa skills. I had to do a bit of fending off of male attention, but it was all in all a good night.

Speaking of music, funny story. I was visiting families with Eric on Sunday, and met pretty much the funniest Tico (Costa Rican) I’ve yet encountered. He is the dad in one of the Habitat families, and he’s a part time DJ. I know this, because he had us sit in his kitchen for a good 2 hours watching old music videos. Michael Jackson was definitely cooler when he was still black. I can make an informed decision on this matter because I was privileged enough to watch a good number of his music videos, spanning from black and good to alien and not so good. He was also pretty excited to hear about how much I like Phil Collins (I know, I’m weird), and regaled me with some music videos from him too. I was trying really hard to keep a straight face when he asked me if I knew who Michael Bolton was. Fantastic!

On a more serious, actually work-related note, last Thursday, I was able to travel to Cartago with the other members of the Child Care Center committee to see a functioning Guardería that a woman there started on her own. It was really enlightening. It helped me to see her setup, and listen to her suggestions for getting started. Her best advice seemed to be ¨start small¨. Right now, we are still looking into funding a new building on a spare lot that was gifted to us for the purpose of a day care. In the meantime, though, we would like to start a community home in Doña Rosario’s house. Here, we could start with a small service, watching a few children, meanwhile pursuing the construction of the bigger childcare center. That way, at least a few mothers would be able to have their children well taken care of while they went to work. It is gonna be a lot of work, but if we can make this child care center happen, it will really be a big help to the families in the community who could really use 2 incomes, but where the mom has to stay home and watch the kids.

The pictures are just for fun. One is of a bunch of cows that live next to my house. The other one is a Tucan. They have this weird zoo-ish place up the hill from my house, where they have 2 monkeys, a peacock, and a Tucan. I would think they'd get cold... but who knows. Ok, I’m gonna think about working for a bit. Love y’all

Teaching English

So, I thought it was about time I posted something pertaining to the work I´m doing here. One of my responsibilities here is teaching English class. I have a 5th grade class, a 6th grade class, and a class of high schoolers and adults 3 nights per week. The fifth and sixth graders are on vacation for 2 weeks, but when they come back I will start teaching them alone. I´ve been helping Eric teach for the past 2 weeks, so the kids have started getting to know me, and I have gotten idea of how Eric ran the class. On the last day of class, we had a party! It was a U.S. themed party (since its an English class); we made Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and ate oreos (a pretty American combination). At first, the kids were really grossed out by the idea of PBJs, but by the end of the class period they were (literally, and with Eric´s encouragement) eating the Peanut butter straight out of the jar with their hands. See pictures (ps, I was taking the pictures, so I'm not in any)

The nightime class is a different story. They are older, quieter, and for the most part more focused. They don´t have to come, so they seem to be much more interested in actually learning when they´re in the classroom. There are definitely a couple of high school boys that goof off, but its a good group. I took over the adult class on Monday. Eric is out of town this week, so I had the opportunity to teach my first solo class. I spent a lot of time (maybe more than neccessary) preparing the lesson, and walked up the hill to the school. The system here is weird. They don´t make keys to the school, for anybody. Pretty much only the director and the janitor have them. So, every night before class I have to stop by the janitor´s house to get teh keys. Monday, she was out of town. So was the rest of her family. We had no place to hold class. I enlisted the help of one of the adult students, and she helped me find the janitor´s sister´s house (I think it was the sister). That was who told us they were out of town. So, we ended up sitting outside in the park reviewing for the test that I had planned for Thursday.

On Tuesday before class, I again went to get the keys; they were home! Yay! However, I was promptly informed that, since the kids are on vacation, we aren´t allowed to use the school at night time either. I kind of wished that someone had thought to tell me this before, but ok. Again with the help of Grace (the same adult student who came to my rescue on Monday) we tracked down the keys to the community center and held class there. Plus, Grace fed me dinner, which was nice. We held class in the Salòn communal, sans chalkboard or any other teaching device. I guess the upside of all these complications is that I had to move the test back, and they get more time to study. We played some FRUIT BASKET UPSET to practice making sentences (thank you drama class) and everything went pretty well. Today at the office, I wrote their tests, and even made a kind of study sheet summarizing all of the concepts we´ve learned- Don´t tell Eric though. He´s really big on being environmentally conscious and saving paper, and he´ll probably be mad to know I printed fifteen copies of the study sheet =)

I have also become somewhat of the family tutor. One of my host cousins (Anjoletta) is in college, and comes by some nights for help with her English homework. She´s really nice, and I´m hoping we can become friends. Also, yesterday two of my 9 year old cousins showed up at my door, notebooks and pencils in hand, saying ¨teach us English¨. I let them come in, and we had a little English lesson at my kitchen table. They can now greet people, say goodbye, and say a few polite words like ¨bless you¨. They´re really cute. They informed me that they´re not allowed to be in the same class in school anymore because Gerard got caught cheating and copying Frander´s work. Random people on the street are always yelling ¨Hello¨or ¨Goodmorning¨. They´re all very proud of what English they know. I think I´m really gonna like the teaching part of this assignment. They´re all so excited to be learning that its really hard for me not to be excited to be teaching them.

Weekend in Cahuita

So, here is an update of my long holiday weekend; I was miserably sick to start off with. On Wendesday, I lost my voive completely, and had the worst cold ever. On Thursday, we went to the Habitat office, and I was miserable all day, but was toughing it out. Then, near the end of the day, all the skin around my eye started puffing up, and by the time we got home on the bus I looked like a cyclop because I was sick, couldn´t breath or speak, and one eye was swollen nearly shut. I get the weirdest hives (we call it ¨the itchy¨) at the weirdest times, often when i get a cold. So, I trecked out from Helen´s house in Heredia on Thursday night, found a pharmacy, and bought some benadryl. Interesting fact about Latin Ameircan pharmacy service: you can buy just one pill. I know this now because the pharmacist asked me how much benadryl I wanted, and i replied on (thinking that he would hand me one PACKAGE, of 20 or something) but no, I got one pill. I had to complete a second trasaction to get 10 pills. So, I went straight to bed, super drugged up, hoping that i could recover before our 4 hour bus ride to the beach the next morning (Friday, the 4th of July)

I woke up Friday a little improved, but not totally. I was pretty upset, because Eric and I were plannign on meeting some of his peace corps friends at the beach, and i didn´t want ot be trying ot make ne wfriends looking like a one eyed alien. However, a few benadryl, some ice, some big sun glasses, and a 4 hour bus ride later, I stepped into Cahuita presentable and ready to celebrate.

This weekend ended up being really fun! We decided to celebrate the 4th of July in true American style: by congregating with as many other Americans as possible, having a bonfire, and drinking =) Cahuita is on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, south of Limon. For you Source friends- it's just about a 30 minute drive north of Puerto Viejo where we did our mission trip in 2005. Anyway, Cahuita is gorgeous! There are two beaches, one in a national park with white sand, and another really awesome, secluded black sand beach. We stayed on the black beach the first night, then moved to a hotel closer to town on the second night.

Eric and I got into town at about 2 in the afternoon on Friday, and met his friend Ana at the bus station. Then, we went out, found a hotel, and headed straight to the beach. There, we met up with some P.C. kids, and swam for the rest of the afternoon. As I was getting introduced around, we were saying where we are from, and where we live in CR, and one guy named Marcus asked where in Arizona I was from. It turns out he's from Sierra Vista! (about 30 minutes from Benson). We know some of the same people. Small world. There was also another boy on the bus to Cahuita wearing a U of A shirt; turns out he went to the U of A. Craziness. The water was warm, and it was sunny, but not grossly hot. We all went to dinner at a really awesome pizza restaurant (I guess that's close enought to American food to count as celebrating our independence, right?) and then headed back to the beach for a bonfire. We all hung out and drank and talked and ended up jumping in the ocean. It rained, and there was even some biolumenescnece in the water. All in all, awesome. Only down sides: something in the water stung me (no big deal though) and I got eaten alive by mosquitos. Plus, there's a dengue outbreak in the area (one of the peace Corps volunteers had it. sounds awful). However, it´'s been a few days and I don't feel dengue-ish, so I think we're in the clear.

All in all, it was a really awesome 4th of July. I hope that you all had fun! Miss you!

About a week in

Hola again! Today is Wednesday, so I'm "working" in the office all day. I have actually just been checking email. I'm supposed to have a meeting in a little bit though, so we'll see. They gave me a laptop to use while I'm here, which is gonna be super useful. The tech guy- veni, is really nice and helped me set it all up. This weekend, Eric and I are gonna go to the beach (theoretically) so that we can celebrate the 4th of July.
I moved into my own house this week, which looks really empty, since I have no stuff. I'm going for a minimalist decorating scheme. My refrigerator is supposed to come today. It's nice to have a little bit of privacy, but I've still been going over to Marta's house (which is like 8 feet from mine) every day to visit. She's the sweetest, most grandmotherly person ever. I have a cold, and last night she made me soup. Souper awesome!
I have been helping Eric with the English classes, and getting to know the families around town. I have met a few of the families in the Habitat housing project, and they're all very friendly, always serving me coffee and fresh baked bread. A lot of them have little kids, who are cute. A lot of them are still a little wary of me, but some of them have started talking to me. I've been talking to them, trying to get an idea of what kinds of projects they'd be interested in participating in. I have a lot of freedom to start projects that I think up, so I'm brainstorming things that will benefit the families.
On Sunday, I went to a festival in San Pablo (the next village up the mountain). There were dancers from a high school on the Carribean, and drummers. It was fun. Yesterday I went and walked around Cartago by myself, so that I could find out where everything is. I need to make sure that I can navigate by myself once Eric leaves. I saw some cool places; they have really pretty ruins and a church in the middle of town.
All in all, I'm really liking it here. I think that I am at an advantage in the village, because I know what its like to come from a small town where everyone knows eachother. I like it =) Every single person you walk by says "buenas" or "adios" (which is like a passing greeting here). I get a lot of attention from the teenage boys around town, but nothing bad, I'm different, so I guess that makes me interesting. Everyone here asks me at least a few of the same 4 questions: 1- Are you cold? 2-How do you like the food here? c- Do you have a boyfriend? 4- Are you Catholic? I think that usually, they're content with my answers, and most people have ackowledged that its ok if I'm not Catholic, as long as I'm a Christian. The moms of the village are always excited to hear I don't have a boyfriend, and are pretty eager to set me up with their son/nephew/godson/friend/grandson/etc. I have become failry proficient at saying "I'm not really looking for a boyfriend" in Spanish =)
I should be getting some pictures up soonish. Keep an eye out.
muah!