Quebrada Grande

In a fancy private country club in Alajuela on Friday May 8th, each member of Tico 19 finally learned their fate in terms of site location. You can imagine how much sleep any of us received the night before wondering where we would be living for the next two years of our lives. That morning the bus ride to San Jose felt longer than any other before it as we wound our way down the curving mountain road to the valley capital city. And the wait was prolonged even more when we loaded onto another bus to go to the wealthy suburb of Alajuela. I entered the place and felt like I was back in the States. People walking out with their tennis bags wearing Nike shirts and wrist bands, the glimmer of sweat on their brow from a workout. A giant pool lay in the center of the club, lined with sparkling tile. I felt like I was about to play in the Taos Open Tourney, but had forgotten my rackets. After a hurried breakfast served up in the dining area, we were herded to an outdoor area where a giant map of Costa Rica hung dauntingly in front of us. Tension and giddiness flooded the space as toes tapped impatiently and hushed whispers were shared between faces bright with anticipation. My fellow Jerico trainee Jessica happened to turn 24 on this day, and so she was given the honors of being the first to learn her site location. The staff blindfolded her, placed the marker on the map, then spun her around a few times. Then it was our job as the crowd to audibly lead her roaming hands to the correct point. After much feeling around she found it and discovered her site near Buenos Aires in southern Costa Rica. The pattern continued with several volunteers from each group being spun around in a similar game-like fashion, but soon the staff simply called each person up with a brief description of the site and then placed the marker on the map. We all screamed and cheered as each person made the discovery. I soon found that RCD volunteers were being called up in alphabetical order, so I waited with patience along with Danielle who has a 'W' last name as well. Together we were the conclusion of the session. I heard Moises FINALLY say, “and this next site is one where I see myself taking future vacations.” This was my introduction to my site in Guanacaste, and as I heard my name I rose with a giant smile on my face and a lightness to my step to see up close the marker he had just placed on the map. The site is two small communities; Quebrada Grande and San Bosco which are about 1.5km apart. The site is south of the larger town of Nandayure, or Carmona as it is sometimes called and is located in southern Guanacaste on the Nicoyan Peninsula. My site is about an hour and half ride south of Nandayure through rough mountain terrain. Many may not realize just how mountainous Guanacaste is throughout its center. It is known for its fine beaches of course, but its mountains too are something to admire.

A short week after learning our site location, we traveled with an assigned counterpart to the location for the final site visit of training. My counterpart's name is Oscar and he is the president of the ADI (the development group that exists in every community). It is important to have these counterparts as a sort of local boss- someone to turn to for help when needed and someone to work with on projects. I am very fortunate to have a very friendly counterpart who seems incredibly enthusiastic about me being in his community. After a day of meetings with the whole group- all volunteers of RCD, CYF, and CED and their counterparts- with Peace Corps, we each set off with our respective counterparts to our various destinations. And believe me, they did vary significantly. Daniel is as far south as you can get without being in Panama. He is in an indigenous reserve. Ashley is close to the southern border of the country, in a small farming community close to Nicaragua. And then I represent the farthest west in my southern point of the Nicoyan Peninsula in Guanacaste. There are volunteers scattered all over in between this in the Zona Norte, Zona Sur and Central San Jose region. My closest neighboring volunteer is from Tico 17 (meaning he will be leaving in September). He's in the town of Los Angeles about 30 minutes north of me. It is a larger town as he is a CED volunteer. Then Penelope, a Tico 19er is a little further north in Monte Romo. I wouldn't say I'm incredibly secluded like some. For example, Daniel must take a canoe for part of his journey. Yet, I am the furthest south on the peninsula and I only have a bus to my community two days per week; Monday and Friday at 5am with a return trip at 1pm from Nandayure.

My new host family consists of Betty and Memo; a couple in their fifties with two daughters aged 21 and 26. Both are recently married and moved out to other bigger towns in Costa Rica. Betty says I fit right in as the “middle daughter” now. My room shares a wall with the main house, but has its own outdoor entrance and lock. We have three dogs, a parrot, and a whole bunch of chickens. All of these animals are friendly and talkative so to speak. The family owns several parcels of land as most do in the community. They farm coffee and oranges and are mainly self-sufficient with gardens and natural plants and animals for food. On the first night I arrived, my new dad and a neighbor slaughtered a pig and barbecued up the meat for all kinds of delicious dishes. I spent much of the time cooking with my new mom as she is an amazing cook and cooks very healthily as well. She uses veggies in every meal and doesn't use a lot of oil. She also loves to teach me all these recipes. We made mango bread at one point and it was amazing. Kind of like banana bread, but heavier and with mangoes obviously. That was another part of the trip that is unforgettable; the mangoes. There are mango trees everywhere and so many mangoes are simply falling off the trees, ripe and ready to eat. But there are not enough people, monkeys, and insects combined to eat them all. So, many just lay there rotting in piles. I am warned this will only last for another month or so while mangoes are in season. I of course pick up as many ripe ones as I see to take back to the house and eat. Betty and I hiked a lot and we would often whip out our pocket knives and slice up a mango as a snack on the go. I feel very fortunate to have been placed with this family. Betty has a very like personality to mine; social, active, and opinionated, while Memo is quiet, sweet and easy-going. I felt right at home very quickly and didn't hesitate to begin setting up my room. I left many of my things there since I will be back in just over a week after the final touches of training and of course the ceremony to swear in as an official volunteer.

As for my site, the community seems very welcoming to me in general. They had a little introductory meeting at which I introduced myself to the junta (community group) and listened to some community members speak about their positions in the organization. We also discussed some projects the community has in mind. In general, the women's association of the community is very organized. They even have a fairly extravagant orchid garden they work hard to maintain. They then sell these orchids to tourists when the season is right. The group would like to do more projects like this that can bring extra income and they are especially interested in projects concerning the environment such as a recycling program. As for youth, I am surprised to find very few children in the community. Only 6 kids attend the local school ranging from 2nd-6th grade. The colegio (7th-12th grade) is located in Los Angeles and brings the first exposure to English classes. So, there is definitely a need for English classes, and after meeting with the teacher of the school, I know they will be scheduled easily into the students' schedule. I also will have classes in the other smaller community of San Bosco. They have even a smaller school, but there is also an interest in English classes there. Adults too in both communities would like to take classes once a week or so. I was surprised at how many community members approached me on their wish to learn the language. It has a lot to do with how quickly tourism has picked up in the last few years and how many Americans now come through the town. In fact, over half the land in and around the community is owned by Americans. Most of them are never there, and many of them have fancy big houses which remain vacant much of the time. This can be looked at positively or negatively. Positively, the need for maintenance of these properties creates jobs and brings in extra economic stimulations when these people come into the country. On the other hand, the gap between rich and poor in our world is more starkly seen and a community with so many empty houses never bodes well. Either way, knowledge of English is a coveted skill and I hope I can be a good teacher.

Overall, my site is absolutely perfect. The climate is warm to hot and humid. There are beautiful views and hikes everywhere. I am living in the jungle, the mountains, a river valley, and I am a short 45 minute car ride away from Playa Cayote- a beautiful local beach that is not yet fully touristy. From many of the mountain tops you can see the ocean in all it´s wonderful expanse. The grueling steep uphill hikes are worth every step when you reach the top and can look over the mountains below and the sprawling coastline. Pictures cannot do this justice, but you can count on me becoming quiet the photographer in this beautiful landscape. I will also need to invest in some rain boots and some crocs (or rip off crocs) for the rainy season which is September through November. I´ve been told it can get pretty nasty with washed out roads and such with all the rain. Sometimes buses can´t even get in and out. That probably won´t be a high point as I enjoy being outdoors and rain dampens (haha) the mood for that. But there is rain throughout the country and I am quite content with my site assignment. On May 30th this will be my permanent home after two bus rides totaling at about 6 hours from San Jose. I am eager to begin this exciting new chapter.