Getting back in the groove

It was a wonderful and rejuvenating trip home for Thanksgiving. Ten days of family and friends, good food, warm water, my own bed, and getting to wear scarves and boots for the first time in 20 months sent me back to Costa Rica sad as always to say goodbye but also re-enthused to enjoy the final months of my service.

It is still not full-fledged summer like it should be here in December, but the major rains have halted and the roads are no longer a muddy mess, though there are a lot of new potholes. I received a warm welcome back from community members, especially those who I brought special-requested items from the United States, which included bird-watching binoculars, trail mix and Victoria’s Secret scented lotion. They were not, however, as enthusiastic about my new haircut (10 inches off my ponytail to make the upcoming summer heat more bearable), as long hair is kind of a rule for young women here, no matter what the weather is like.

Of course when I went to the school for what was supposed to be my last day of environmental education of the year, it turned out students were already out for winter break, even though it was the end of November and school doesn’t officially close until December 17. So Jacqueline, a British volunteer in Quebradas for a few months, and I ended up closing up the garden ourselves and bringing home some good-looking organic tomatoes and radishes. I was mostly disappointed because while I was home in the U.S., I had a chance to visit the Quebradas 5th graders pen pals at the Gabriela Charter School, and they sent them some great letters and made a video that I know the Quebradas kids will love, but it will just have to wait until their end of the year party next week.

Last Saturday, I spend the morning going door to door with the Scouts collecting money for the Children’s Hospital in San José through their annual Teleton, and I was pleasantly surprised by how generous people were. I think the Scouts doing a visual community service activity was good PR for the group, as we got lots of parents asking how their kids could participate. That afternoon, I went over to my friend Glenda’s house for a Tica makeover before her brother Bryan’s wedding. She went all out, straightening my hair and giving me a little poof in front, lip liner and heavy gloss, shimmery eye shadow and blush. Not exactly my style, but I got the surprised looks I was hoping for from people who have only seen me in my workout clothes and jeans, and people don’t me I didn’t look gringa, which I guess was a compliment.

The wedding was at a church in San Isidro, but it turned out to just be a regular mass, during which the priest married two couples, one of which was Bryan and Dayanna, who was in a full-out bridal gown. It was basically just their close family and friends and then a bunch of people there for regular Saturday mass, which I wasn’t expecting, but it was a nice ceremony and afterwards everyone went back to Bryan’s family’s house for a small party. The musical entertainment was the Quebradas school music teacher, and food was cooked and served by the family. Some new traditions I observed/participated in included: before the bride and groom exchange rings, they exchange a packet of 13 coins to symbolize a prosperous marriage; everyone threw rice at the bride and groom when they entered the party; after the bride and groom do their dance and their dance with their parents, it is a free-for-all but anyone who wants to dance with the bride or groom has to pin a 1000-colones or higher bill on their suit/dress.

On Sunday evening, I had my second annual Quebradas Chanukah party with some local PCV’s, where I got to use the beautiful menorah that Jarred and Morgan had gotten welded for me last year from a local artisan in their community. It was a fun time, and I think the latkes were better than last year. We had Chamisa’s homemade applesauce and natilla (kind of a watery sour cream) as garnish, and I couldn’t find a dreidle but we did play travel Scattergories.

This week since there were no classes and the kids are all just watching TV at home, I decided to offer a mini Junior Achievement course designed for 5th graders that goes over the basics of how to organize a business. I got 10 kids to sign up, and the great thing is that they are all kids I know and who actually want to be there, so the class has been fun to teach and easy to manage. They all seemed to enjoy the course, and it was a good thing to get me back in the rhythm of work here.

I also gave a more adult-themed charla this week to some teenagers in Quebradas. In honor of National AIDS day on December 1, Morgan organized a presentation on AIDS awareness and prevention. Through a grant she secured for six PCV communities in the region, the deal is that if we could get six or more kids to listen to the charla, they get to play in a soccer tournament next week at the Polideportivo in San Isidro, lunch, ball and uniforms included. I got seven kids to show up, two guys and five girls, and they actually behaved more maturely than I expected and asked questions and seemed curious about the theme. The highlight was getting to do the condom on the banana demonstration, which until then I had only seen in movies. Of course that entailed having to buy condoms from the local pulpería owner who is also a student in my English class. I awkwardly explained to him the reason, but I think he bought it, as he even offered to be the model if we needed one…

This weekend there are big community parties and a family ranch off the main road in Quebradas, and the Scouts are in charge of preparing and selling food, which is a big deal because we could make a lot of money from it, but it’s also a big responsibility. Since I have nowhere near what it takes to actually work the kitchen under such pressure (a job only for the very experienced housewives), I will be helping out with the bingo and general logistics of setup and cleanup. On Saturday night is the annual FUDEBIOL Christmas dinner, another rare chance to dress up in Quebradas, but I think I will do my own makeup this time…

P.S. Pìctures to come when I have a faster Internet connection