My first "work" week

So Monday morning I woke up and wasn't really sure what to do. FUDEBIOL is closed on Mondays so I couldn't go up there, so I decided to go for a run. About a half hour after we got back, Richie, the Spanish volunteer, came by the house to see if I wanted to take a 3-hour hike up a mountain with him, and of course I accepted. We stopped on the way at a finca with 400 pound pigs and lots of cows and horses, just kind of hanging out. We made it to La Cruz in about an hour and a half, and from there we could see the entire Valle Del General and all the rivers and mountains that surround it. It is really amazing how green everything is here. Maybe I'll get used to it eventually, but right now, every time I walk outside I am totally amazed at how beautiful the scenery is, how fresh everything smells, and how clean the air feels. After our hike I stopped by the local elementary school to meet with the director, who is interested in having me teach environmental education once a week. She said we could plant a garden or start a recycling program, both of which I'm super excited about. I just realized after that coming up with things to talk about for a few hours every week to 1st-6th graders about protecting the environment is going to take some work.

Tuesday I went up to FUDEBIOL with Ines and Richie. It takes about an hour to walk up there, which is fun right now but could get old. We stopped on the way at the home of a women's group, called AMOSA, that makes crafts out of recycled paper. Ines and I spent a couple hours making the paper with them, and we are going to go back on Saturday to help paint. She is actually a good artist so I think they assume all volunteers are artists in Quebradas, so explaining to them that my strengths lie more in organizational planning and business development could be tough. We spent the rest of the afternoon at FUDEBIOL, planning a project to redecorate the classroom and design an office for all the volunteers that come through, and we managed to squeeze in a hike to a waterfall. On Tuesdays and Thursday Ines and Richie teach English classes to 13 students of all ages that live nearby, so I sat in and helped out a bit with that. It's tough because the age range is 10-39, and some definitely have more experience than others. The saddest part is that a few of the kids don't go to school at all, so this is their class for the whole week.

Wednesday I climbed up to FUDEBIOL again, and this time we spent the morning in the herb garden weeding. About 5 minutes in I got knicked by Richie's machete, and no major damage was done but that WOULD happen to me. We spent the afternoon painting new signs for the hiking trails and then I hiked down for a 4pm meeting of ASOFEQUE, another women's group that works with FUDEBIOL to prepare food and accommodations when guests visit as well as hosting other community activities. This week's meeting was about the Father's Day celebration they're planning, and somehow I got put in charge of designing the invitations (ie I let it be known that I have a computer and that was that), so my next quest is to find somewhere to print for cheap in San Isidro. After that was straight to another meeting with AQUA, a group of artisans in the community that all use recycled or organic materials for their work. The meeting was held in this amazing open cabin in the woods, made entirely of wood, with cool sculptures and crafts cluttering the walls. We had coffee as the sun set and I felt like I was in an enchanted forest. Then I came home to the Costa Rican soccer team whooping USA butt, but fortunately no one gave me too hard of a time for it.

This morning I got up with my family at 5am to go to the feria in San Isidro. It was AMAZING. Like 1000 times better (and cheaper) than Whole Foods. It's held in this big open warehouse space and there are just rows and rows of fresh produce, many fruits and vegetables whose names I don't even know in English. Needless to say, I will be a regular there, even if it means waking up super early on Thursdays...

Anyways I probably won't be giving as thorough a play by play of my days as time goes on, but this is just to give a sense of the range of work I'm going to be doing and all the exciting new things I am encountering every day!