Por fin!

That´s me being sworn in as an offical Peace Corps volunteer. The ceremony was at the U.S. ambassador´s house, but unfortunately he couldn´t make it. Still, nice of him to offer us the place. He´s got a pool, tennis courts, and LOTS of bedrooms and bathrooms. The swearing is was really nice. All the volunteers cleaned up pretty well, and the host families and all the staff came. We sang the Costa Rican and US national anthems, then a bunch of people gave speeches in Spanish, included one trainee rep from each program, then we got called up one by one and got certificates and smiled for pictures. Much like any graduation, except this time we´re not really done but only beginning.

We spent the rest of the day that turned into a night of partying in San Pedro, the college town in San Jose that had really fun bars that served more than three types of beer, a falafel place AND a serve yourself frozen yogurt place. Needless to say, it was a wonderful celebration. The night before swearing in, the families in Tarbaca had a little goodbye party for us and gave us handmade gifts to remind us of them and Tarbaca, which was really sweet. So I said one more goodbye to everyone on Saturday morning and then was off.

I got into Quebradas last night (the trip always takes longer than you hope) and settled into my new room, which now has a Winnie the Pooh comforter. Today I spent the morning helping my host mom and her sisters in law prepare food for the 75th birthday party of their mother. My host father has 12 siblings, many of whom live here with spouses and children, so it was a BIG party. Okay my time just ran out at the Internet cafe, will write more later. As of now, I have two years with no real plans!

Team Tarbaca + Karina, honorary member

CED getting wild...

Not exactly Peace Corps brochure material, but...

Struggles with musical chairs

Me and my Tica sis at the family party

Lots of lasts

Three months of training have finally come to an end, and there were lots of events to commemorate the experience this past week. We spent Saturday at the feria in Asseri, this time not selling huevos but as big-time consumers. We had to shop for all the fruits and vegetables for our family party on Sunday, which would include all 17 CED volunteers and their families. We estimated this to be about 100 people and purchased accordingly. We came home with a car full of kilos and kilos of tomatoes, cabbage, avocados, papaya, pineapples, onions, chile dulces, bananas and apples all for 40 mil colones! We spent the afternoon on initial preparations (and by we I mean Brigitte and I while the boys napped) and then had Jake’s little sister’s birthday party and a night out in San Jose with Jackie, Brigitte’s mom. We went salsa/merengue/other Latin forms of dancing at a popular place called Castro’s, which I enjoyed because the dance floor was so crowded no one could see that I had little idea what I was doing.

Sunday morning we got up early to start cutting and cooking. We prepared three giant bowls of fruit salad, guacamole, and grilled onions and peppers. The other communities were responsible for the ground chicken for tacos and cookies and brownies for dessert. All the “gringo” food was a BIG hit, as were the various activities: musical chairs, limbo, and water balloon toss. For a party that was hardly planned with some last minute kinks including a call from the owners of the event space we hosted it at to say we couldn’t use their chairs, bathrooms, or electricity, it was quite a success and a good time was had by all.

Our final week of classes consisted of tying up some loose ends, ice cream, and movie watching, kind of like the final week of high school – wait, no, elementary school. Today for our last day with the whole CED group, we went to this beautiful finca in Jorco owned by a Tico that some volunteers befriended. He was born here but grew up in the US and then inherited this huge piece of land from his grandparents where he constructed a house made entirely of local wood, and he has a coffee farm, lots of hiking trails, and a zip line! We played there all morning and ate delicious food prepared by our Spanish teachers. No tearful goodbyes until tomorrow, though. Tonight we are making tamales with Jake’s family and then tomorrow at 9 am, we will be sworn in at official Peace Corps volunteers at the US Ambassador’s house. Then Saturday I leave Tarbaca for good and the real fun begins…

Quebradas pics

Albergue

FUDEBIOL

Rio Quebradas

My new room

Nazareth and Jose, Los Scouts

Mapless in PZ

I am now on the tail end of what was a fantastic site visit to my future home, where I will return on May 31st and, si Dios quiere, remain for two years. Saturday night I went out with my new friends Inez and Ritchie, the volunteers from Portugal and Spain, respectively. We went to a bar called Las Cascadas with big screen tvs and American music and it felt like we could have been in any college town, except the drinks were cheaper and the nachos were better. Sunday was filled with more family time. We headed back downtown in the morning for mass and to watch a parade of "caballitos de palo," which consisted of a bunch of cute little kids in western costumes riding on stick-horses. I still can't really follow what they are saying at mass, but I just try to do what everyone else is doing and look like I am deep in thought, and I think I fit in just fine. We spent the afternoon hanging around the house, playing dominoes, and I made guacamole to serve with dinner. Probably goes down in history as one of the most domestic days of my life.

Monday I ventured off on my own to get to know downtown San Isidro. My first order of business was to find a map and orient myself, but this was harder than I had imagined. I went into three different bookstores, two hotels, a travel agency, the office of tourism for greater Perez Zeledon, and the local library and NOBODY had a map. The worst part was that nobody thought it was strange that apparently a map of San Isidro, the biggest city in Southern Costa Rica, doesn't exist! I guess it is a relatively small city and Ticos aren't that into directions or street names anyways, but come ON...So I ended up walking in a lot of circles before realizing I had already been on that block, but after a while I felt fairly familiarized with the city. It is by no means glamorous, but definitely has everything I could possibly need, including many Internet cafes, beauty salons, a mega sports complex that soccer fields, basketball, tennis and squash courts, and a swimming pool that is free to the public, a library, and a few coffee shops that serve moccachinos and other American treats, such as the one I am luxuriating in right now, which also has WiFi and smoothies that taste strikingly similar to Jamba Juice.

Tuesday was an exciting day, because I finally got to see where I will be working and meet some community members. At 8 am, Jorge, my official counterpart, picked me up and we drove up to FUDEBIOL, the nonprofit environmental preservation organization that I will be working with. First of all, the drive is beautiful but a little longer than I'd expected, since I will have to walk or bike there most days. I will try to upload some pictures that can capture it better than I can describe, but the reserve is really beautiful and peaceful. There is an albergue (cabins) with a kitchen where educational groups or tourists can stay, a nature education center, an tiny office, and then a LOT of green. There are trails along the river to waterfalls and amazing vistas, a little lagoon surrounded by an herb garden, a mariposario (butterfly farm), and lots of little tables and benches to sit and enjoy the nature. The area has a lot to offer, but also a lot of room for improvement. I immediately understood why it doesn't currently attract many tourists who aren't part of educational groups, as it is very difficult to get to without a car, the website is barely functioning, there is nowhere to buy food, etc. But this means lots of work for me over the next two years! On our back down to Quebradas Jorge introduced me to a few of the women who are part of a group called AMOSA that makes recycled paper products and to the director of the local elementary school, both of whom I may also have the opportunity to work with. But the BEST part of the day was after I got back, when my host mom, Sylvia, and I spent the afternoon making cheese empanadas and cinnamon bread. Actually the best part was eating it right when it came out of the over, but I actually helped back these things and they turned out delicious! We now have a standing date to make a different kind of bread every week, which bodes well for my baking skills but not so much for my waistline...

I said goodbye to my new host family this morning and will be heading back to Tarbaca this afternoon for my last week and a half of training. It is going to be hard to go back to class after we have all been to our sites and are SO ready to get started, but it will be the last time to spend with my new Peace Corps friends before we are spread all over the country. It will be sad/weird to say goodbye to everyone, but I feel very lucky that I know I am heading to a beautiful community with no lack of activity and culinary delights!

QUEBRADAS!

5/16/09

Okay, where to begin. On Thursday morning Team Tarbaca boarded a 9 am bus to San Jose equipped with about half of the belongings we brought to Costa Rica, which we had to lug down crowded streets until we arrived at the Museum of National History, where all the Tico 19 volunteers were to meet our official counterparts who we will be working with for the next two years. One by one, everybody started pairing off and talking and laughing or standing awkwardly with their counterparts, until there was a small group of rejects left in the middle, forlorn and counterpartless, me being front and center. After waiting an hour, we had to give up on the no-shows and all boarded buses and headed to the retreat center in Tres Rios where we began our journey in Costa Rica, this time speaking slightly better Spanish and playing host to 50 Ticos from all over the coutry who we had never met and who did not know each other. Unfortunately, there is no work for awkward in Spanish. Even worse, as part of its budget cuts the US government decided it will no longer pay for employee meals, so the Peace Corps staff was not allowed to eat with us in the dining room, meaning pressure was on us to entertain. I ate lunch with the other rejects and then on my way to the bathroom saw a man with crazy eyebrows and a mustache who looked kind of lost, so I went over to help him and indeed, he turned out to be my counterpart, Luis. Luis works for the Costa Rican government as a planner in San Jose, so he was running late from a meeting. But we immediately hit it off and he told me the whole history of Quebradas, my site, and the organization that I will be working with, FUDEBIOL, which he helped found. He was thrilled to hear that I am both an economist and political scientist, which is apparently your title if you kind of studied these things at a liberal arts undergraduate institution, as well as a journalist. He had a million ideas for projects, many of which I had already been thinking of as well, such as starting a recycling program, a community newsletter, and helping FUDEBIOL with its marketing and organization to expand into eco-tourism. The big bummer is that Luis doesn’t live in Quebradas so he is only really there for the monthly Board of Directors meetings, which are the first Sunday of every month at 8:30 am…awesome. Anyways my counterpart day experience turned out to be a big success even though it was off to a rocky start, until…

Luis didn’t stay the night with the other counterparts who were accompanying their volunteers back to their sites, so I was on my own to get to Quebradas. Jake’s counterpart, a 21-year-old Columbian who will also be Jake’s host brother, offered to drop me off in San Isidro, the city 5km away from Quebradas, on their way to Sierpe in the south. This sounded like a fine idea since it meant I wouldn’t have to lug my suitcases on multiple buses or pay the allotted fare that Peace Corps gave us. So we made merrily on our way around 10 am and stopped in San Jose to pick up one of his friends, then we headed back to Tres Rios to visit some fellow Columbians. This seemed a little inefficient, but they were very welcoming and fed us delicious arepas, so no complaints. We finally got on the road around noon and took the Interamerican Highway all the way to Zona Sur, by was of Cerro de la Muerte (the mountain of death), about which we had already made many jokes. Once we had gotten through the worst part – apparently it got its name because there didn’t used to be a road and people tried to climb it to get to the south and froze to death – it started to rain, and Juan’s car skidded and hit a car coming the other direction. Gracias a Dios, no one was hurt, but there were some angry German tourists in the other car who spoke no Spanish and very little English, which made for a messy situation. Both cars were too messed up to drive, so a nice guy who saw the accident took the German man and Juan’s friend to the nearest pay phone (no cell service on the Mountain of Death) to call the police and the German’s rental car company. Well, apparently in Costa Rica, the transit police are different from the regular police who are different from the International Security Organization, and all any of them could do was issue reports and tell us they’d be there soon. Two hours later, I was wet and anxious because I had not gotten in touch with my new host family, so our new friend Christian drove me to the payphone and I called Jorge, the Executive Director of FUDEBIOL and only phone number I had, and explained the situation. Forty-five minutes later, he was there to rescue me, which was a solid start to what I hope will be a fruitful partnership…I only hope Jake and crew are no longer waiting next to their broken car.

We arrived in Quebradas at sunset, coming down a dirt road with a view of all of San Isidro, the main city in the district of Perez Zeledon. The city is in a fertile valley surrounded by fincas and coffee farms, and Quebradas is just north of the center. I was greeted by my new host mother, Sylvia, 10-year-old sister, Nazareth, and 13-year-old brother, Jose. I got a tour of the house and immediately questioned whether this was really the Peace Corps, because they live quite comfortably. I’m talking two tv’s, a computer, a lovely back patio with a hammock, about 20 chickens, 10 parrots, two dogs, a tortoise, and a grave for their hamster that once was. My room is in the back of the house and is all wood-paneled so feels like a little cabin, very cozy. Nazareth’s room is covered in Hannah Montana paraphernalia and Jose’s with WWF. From the moment I walked into the house, they were very welcoming and seem like a fun-loving family excited to have a new member. Douglas, my host father, got home from work about an hour later and we sat down to our first family dinner: beef with caramelized onions, rice, and, wait for it, banana casserole. I managed to take a few bites, but I have to admit the taste is really not growing on me. After an episode of Los Simpsons with my new siblings, it was time for bed.

Today was a great day. I got up and went for a run and was overcome by the beauty and tranquility of my future home. There is a river that runs through the town that you can here and sometimes see from the main road, and everywhere you look there are mountains dotted with plants and livestock. I ran past a tilapia farm, lots of mango and orange trees, and lots of other cool-looking vegetation. But 20 minutes into my run I arrived at the crossing of the big city. So it’s a great combination of getting to live in a small, beautiful town but having very close access to additional entertainment and resources. This month there is a big festival honoring the patron saint of San Isidro, so we went downtown to help set up a bazaar that raises money for their church. After lunch Jose took me on a bike ride to see more of the town, including the school, internet café, supermarket, and local bar, as well as some good spots to swim in the river. Then we had cafecito and arepas and were back in action on the soccer field majengeando (there is actually a verb here for playing pick-up games). I think I found my match in terms of hyperactivity, I am totally wiped out. BUT I met two other volunteers that are living in Quebradas until August from Spain and Portugal and they invited me to go out with them tonight, so the fun continues. I figure at this point, living in a new town where I know no one and sort of speak the language, it’s best to start out accepting every invitation that comes my way, within reason. I’ve only been in Quebradas for 26 hours and two years is a long time, but as of now I can say I think I will be very happy here.

Like waiting college acceptance letters all over again

All last week, it was that same feeling of excitement and anticipation, knowing I was about to find out where I was going to spend the next two years of my life but having no control over it. It's weird because when you apply to Peace Corps you agree to be sent anywhere in the world, and I already struck gold with Costa Rica, but finding out what my site would be within Costa Rica felt of much greater magnitude, maybe because it means this is for real now and I am actually going to be living here for the next two years and the three month summer camp of training is coming to an end.

So on Friday morning, the whole group met in San Jose, allowed to wear flip flops and shorts for the first time since training began, and we were bused out to this country club/rec center about a half hour outside the capital with a pool, tennis courts, soccer fields, ping pong (guess where I spent my afternoon), etc.  We all scarfed down our eggs and gallo pinto to get to the main event as soon as possible. Then we were ushered into a big circle with a map of Costa Rica in the middle, and the Training Directors gave a quick overview of how site selection was carried out but I think they could feel the anxiety pulsing in the circle so they kept it quick. The first three trainees to get their sites (one from each program) were blindfolded and had to pin their names on their location, at which point we all rolled our eyes and resigned to spending the rest of the day around the map, but after that they just started announcing our names and sites. I was toward the beginning because it turns out I am replacing Porter, the current Peace Corps Volunteer Coordinator, so we all know him and know a little about his site and were excited to find out who was replacing him. I am going to a town called Quebradas, population 1188, right outside the city of San Isidro in the south of Costa Rica. My counterpart is called FUDEBIOL, a biological preservation organization run by the community that protects the water source for the surrounding area and promotes sustainable development and eco-tourism. It sounds right up my alley and Porter said as soon as he met me he thought it would be a great site for me based on my interests and personality, so I am trusting his judgement. The other information I have about the site so far is that there are two women's groups and an artisan group, a community development organization, an elementary school, an Internet cafe, a mini supermarket, a soccer field, and a bar. One of the women's groups runs an exchange program for volunteers who I will be working with at FUDEBIOL, and here is the link that seems to offer the most information I've found so far about the town and the organization:

http://aci-cr.org/content/view/30/9/lang,/

This Thursday, we will go back to the retreat center where we started our journey and meet our counterparts and then travel back with them to our sites for a 5 day visit, so I will have much more information after that. I am going to be pretty close to a cluster of other Peace Corps volunteers around San Isidro, which should be really fun, though Team Tarbaca is strewn throughout the country. Brigitte is heading up toward the Nicaraguan border, Mark is on an island between Guanacaste and Puntarenas, and Jake is way down south on the Osa Peninsula. It will be sad to part BUT it means I will have lots of great places to visit!

We spent the weekend celebrating our placements with the whole group at Jaco Beach. Literally all 50 of us showed up for two days and one night, which was pretty impressive.  And 42 of those 50 crashed at a 12 person house on the beach. I'm not really sure how it worked, but I somehow managed to snag a bed so no complaints. It was great weather, the water was perfect temperature, and I enjoyed some of Jaco's finest fish tacos and gelato, so no complaints (it has been noted by various blog followers that I manage to describe at least one meal in every post so I must keep the tradition going). We also experienced a little touristy Costa Rican nightlife at a classy establishment called Monkey Bar, where every night is Ladies Night. Enough said. Anyways it was a great time though not exactly relaxing, and now I have to rest up before my next big trip and prepare for a whole new round of introductions, first impressions, and awkward misunderstandings...

Poas pics

View of Alajuela from Hotel Xandari

Just like the CR tour books

Waiting for the fog to clear...

There it is!

Los Angeles pics

The gang of 9

 

View of the Nicoya Gulf

Getting my protein fix

My first visitor!

It has been a fantastic few days since I last wrote. After a fun final afternoon of roasting cashews and pick up soccer in Los Angeles, we took off on the first and only bus at 5 am the following morning and made it back to San Jose by 11. There I found my way to the Holiday Inn, the most Americanized part of the city I had seen so far, where Dan was waiting. After a joyful reunion and a failed attempt to sneak me up to his room for a hot shower, we met up with two other volunteers at Vishnu, a health food restaurant that had been recommended to us. The three ladies were THRILLED to find whole wheat pita and granola, though the only hamburgers on the menu for Dan were made of fake meat. After a requisite stop at Pops, we made our way up to Tarbaca, where he received a warm welcome (ie group hug and secret handshake) from Geraldo and family. Then we took a short hike before sunset which Geraldo offered to accompany us on but we politely declined and hit up Donde Alcides for dinner with Brigitte, Mark and Jake, where Dan finally got his fix of real meat.

The next day the two of us headed back to San Jose early and caught a taxi to Poas National Park for our fancy one night getaway. We arrived at our hotel, Xandari, before 10 and made the most of our two days there. At first, I was totally overwhelmed by the luxury of it all: hot showers, delicious organic food, a pool, an amazing view of Alajuela, the nearby city, but by the time we had to leave I was a little too used to it! We spent the afternoon hiking around the grounds past coffee farms and a few small waterfalls and rivers. The vegetation there is really rich and colorful. We saw pineapple and banana trees and heard lots of exotic-sounding birds, though we didn't actually see much wildlife. We finished the day with dinner and most importantly, chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert and a viewing of episode 8 of The Wire Season 2, and I, for one, was VERY content.

The next morning we got up early, as advised, to see the famed Poas volcano, because apparently the clouds come in heavily in the afternoon. When we pulled up to the park, the lady working the gate who took our $10 entrance fee said something to the driver to the extent that we weren't going to see sh*t because of how foggy it already was. But we figured we had come this far so we were going to give it a try. The second we stepped out of the car in our shorts and tshirts, we were both miserably cold, so our first stop was the gift shop, where we purchased overpriced sweatshirts and fleeces with cheesy tourist symbols on them...a fine souvenir. Then we made the 15 minute walk to the crater and looked out, as predicted, at absolutely nothing. We could hardly see a foot in front of us. We decided to try our luck with the lagoon, another site in the park which was a bit more of a hike. We finally arrived and it looked exactly like the crater, invisible, but this time at least there was a picture of what we should have been seeing. We did a return loop and ended up back at the gift shop, where more people were arriving and tour groups were heading toward the crater, so we decided to give it one more try. This time we could see a faint outline, so we sat around for a while and then all of a sudden everyone started gazing intently off of the overlook and there it was! A giant crater with an acidic lake in the middle and smoke fuming out of it. Very cool.

It was a triumphant return back to the hotel, and we had our last meal (chocolate macadamia nut cake this time for dessert) and headed out feeling like it had been much more than a night there. Back in Tarbaca, we had family dinner with Brigitte, Jackie (her host mom) and Jackie's two adorable daughters, Melanie and Stephanie, who literally have an endless supply of energy. We had the pleasure of camping out on Melanie's floor amidst pizza-carrying Elmo and many baby dolls. I said goodbye to Dan the next morning and recently learned that he arrived safely in NYC. It was a short but fun-filled visit.

This week begins the countdown to Friday, when we will FINALLY find out where we will be spending the next two years of our lives! It feels like waiting for college acceptance letters all over again...will share the big news as soon as I have it.