I have officially begun Peace Corps service as a Peace Corps volunteer. Tico 19 swore in as volunteers on Friday, May 29th on the beautiful sprawling lawn of the US Ambassador's house in the suburbs of San Jose. We all donned our finest clothes (for most of us, the only nice clothes we brought), and prepared to make one of the biggest commitments of our lives. The ceremony included speeches from important people within the Peace Corps and Costa Rican government, as well as some volunteers. Most significantly though was when we raised our right hands in the air and repeated the strong words of commitment that officially made us volunteers. The Ambassador read us the words and we repeated each line with heads high and proud, promising to uphold the commitment of Peace Corps and the United States as we serve the next two years of our lives in Costa Rica.
Shortly after this day I said heartfelt goodbyes to the family that hosted me for the three months of training in Jerico, San Jose. We exchanged contact information and gave teary-eyed embraces. Then I set off to my new home in Guanacaste. Again I took the 7am bus out of San Jose and approximately 4 hours later I arrived in Nandayure, one of the larger towns of the Nicoyan Peninsula. I had a two hour wait until the bus to Quebrada Grande departed, so I explored my new hub town, identifying the location of the bank, post office, a hardware store, and what can best be described as an office supplies store. Although this town is an hour and a half bus ride from my site and can only be reached two days per week, it is where I will have to take care of most of my shopping, mail, and banking. At 1pm I loaded onto the “microbus” with my bulging luggage and rattled and bounced my way to Quebrada Grande up and through the mountainous jungle of southern Nicoya. The distance is hardly anything when you look at a map, but you must consider the winding mountain roads and the fact that all the roads are dirt and rock and full of giant holes for which the bus often comes to a complete stop in order to bypass. After and hour and half and a few other stops, the bus halted in front of the Quebrada Grande pulperia and I hauled my bags off and entered my new “Hogar Dulce Hogar.” Many habitants of the small village recognized me from my site visit a couple weeks before, but not surprisingly, I was an object of curiosity, especially as I struggled to lug my giant pink suitcase up the steep rocky hill to my house. But I knew I was definitely home when I unlocked the outside door to my room and stepped in. Betty had put a soccer blanket on my bed after she discovered my love of the sport. She had also posted on the wall the pictures of family and friends I had brought and left when I first visited.
After unpacking and pretty much settling in, a new and strange feeling came upon me; I am here basically as my own boss, with my own schedule to make and my own goals to set and reach. The strange mix of instant freedom and my type A active personality jolted me for a time. It was an especially new feeling after three months of very intense training that included a packed schedule nearly every day of the week. It was also a big change to be alone in a sense. No more group projects of training, sessions in classes with my other trainees. Here I am, the sole representative of Peace Corps in this small place. Yet, after the initial shock, only excitement, enthusiasm, and ideas for my work here filled my mind, and now my biggest challenge is simply to not move ahead too quickly and actively in my projects.
But here's what has already begun to take shape: Starting the week of Monday June 1st I will be teaching English classes in the primary schools in Quebrada Grande and San Bosco. My site has a slightly interesting geography as San Bosco is a tiny village about a mile away (over another small mountain) houses a primary school as does Quebrada Grande. And strangely, the majority of students attending the San Bosco school commute from their homes here in Quebrada Grande. Therefore, I have 8 students at the San Bosco school and 6 at the Quebrada school ranging from 1st -6th grade. I will therefore be teaching two days per week at each school; Mondays and Wednesdays in Quebrada and Tuesdays and Thursdays in San Bosco from 1-2PM. I hope to occasionally plan activities that will bring the children of both schools together for field trips or other special events. The kids at both schools are very enthusiastic about starting English classes. I never remember being as excited about any class when I was their age. But I have had several of the kids approach me in town, eyes bright and questioning, and ask when I'm starting. It goes to reveal the life in the Costa Rican countryside a little bit more. There just aren't that many activities available to kids out here, and traveling to bigger places is expensive.
This leads to my next project. I have begun a girls soccer team that meets to practice and play every Tuesday and Thursday. I feel this project is important on many levels. First of all, womens sports are pretty much non-existent here. Boys play soccer every chance they get and there is a soccer field in every town, no matter how small. As much as life revolves around soccer here, it is starkly obvious that it is an activity of men. Of course, girls are big fans of the sport, and cheer vigorously along with the men when watching the games on television (very much like American football, wouldn't you say?). Yet, there is no organization for women and girls in terms of the sport. In addition, a girls soccer team promotes girls self-esteem as they realize they too have the ability to be an athlete, lead a healthy lifestyle, and organize themselves for something fun. So, at 3:30 (or 4... this is “Tico Time”) every Tuesday and Thursday, a little group of young women and girls forms behind me as I trot down the the long dirt road carrying my soccer ball to the soccer field in the valley below. If we can get enough people and become organized enough, I may even try to contact other small communities in the area to see if a game can be scheduled.
My next project is a facet of the incredibly organized Asociacion de Mujeres (Women's Association) here in Quebrada. The group already meets twice per week to care for the green house of orchids they sell to tourists when the season is right. Many of the women mentioned to me that they truly enjoy getting out of the house for the orchid care-taking both for the fresh air and bit of exercise as well as for the socialization. After some discussion with various ladies, I have scheduled a women's aerobics and walking group for Wednesday afternoons. (I have found that afternoons are the time to schedule events in this farming town.) The Rancho is a perfect place for aerobics. It's a nice flat new tile floor with a bamboo leaf roof and no walls- which is perfect in the tropical climate. It's something right out of a vacation movie scene and the community is very proud of the recent addition. The Women's Association raised the money to fund it. So I have begun sharing my experience of my last few years of attending cardio boxing, yoga, aerobics, step, and other exercise classes for about a half hour in the Rancho as a warm-up to a hike around the beautiful community. There is never a lack of caminatas (hikes) here as all the roads weave through jungle terrain and take you to some beautiful destination like the view of the coast from the top of one of the mountains, or a gorgeous little waterfall in the river below.
I also attend the meetings of the Junta (community organization) that consists of a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and two vocals. This is where the serious business comes up, and I only hope I can be of as much help as I know these community leaders hope I can be. Right now they are very much in need of a new aqueduct system for the town. The water currently shuts off randomly as the system is verging on 20 years old and is inconsistent and unreliable. The community is also in need of a new floor and lighting system in the salon comunal (central meeting hall). Currently there really is no floor, it's simply dirt. Also, the EBAIS is very inadequate for the population size. An EBAIS is a doctor's office provided by the country as part of the health care system. In small rural communities a doctor visits once or twice per month and he or she and an assistant use the facility to see patients. All the files of patients are also stored in this building. The one day I saw the doctor visit proved the need for a new facility. People lined up out the door waiting to be seen in the small office and the assistant was frantically working the books to get people seen. Obviously, it is not only the building that is to blame for the the situation, even though there is an obvious need for structural improvement. Socialized health care, like privatized health care has it's very negative aspects. Finally, the junta is very determined to open a computer center here in the town. There is a Costa Rican government organization that provides computers, computer equipment and set up all for free for those communities that officially ask for it and meet certain requirements. While I have been here I met with two men from the organization who came to inspect the community and determine if we are eligible. The surprise to me was that I am part of the requirements. First, a community must display the need for the technology, second, it must have a place to house the computers that is temperature-controlled, and third there must be someone in the community capable of teaching the other members how to use the computers. I am that someone it turns out, though I have always considered myself technologically-challenged, and I expressed very thoroughly my limited knowledge of the extensiveness of computers. Yet, after speaking to the representatives, they seemed very happy with the fact that I know basic programs such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Windows in general. I guess my expertise comes from being part of my computer-saavy generation, even if I rank low on the totem pole compared to my peers at home. The only barrier of the junta in moving forward with this project is the location. There is a house in mind that is for sale and would be perfect for a computer center as well as offices for the association. Buying it is the next step. And there's a theme here; All of the aforementioned projects of the junta require money that just doesn't exist right now both in the community and the country in general. There are many organizations in Costa Rica that exist to support community development, but the junta president informed me they have sent proposals several times and been denied, as I'm sure many communities have been. They are hoping not only that I can help them “find” the money, but that I can also be influential in approaching organizations that would grant the funding. So yes, I feel a bit pressured, but I also know the community members and the junta members are aware of my purpose here, which is very much separate from finances and funding.
Finally, it would not be a hogar dulce hogar without me adopting a kitten. The cat of a couple in town had kittens a few months ago and they offered me one after seeing me ooh and ahh over the cute little things. His name is Mani (with a long 'a' meaning 'peanut' in Spanish). I love him very much and he has provided some companionship as someone to speak English to. My only slight disappointment in this situation are the rules regarding animals here. It's partially cultural, and it's partially just that this is the country, but animals are simply not allowed in the house, and the treatment of dogs and cats is very disciplinarian and physical, which has been difficult for me. I would love to cuddle with Mani in bed, but that is totally out of the question and he is forced to sleep outside in the dirt with the dogs. So he's dirty and has more chance for diseases and bugs in my opinion, which is part of the reason people don't let animals indoors here in the first place. Anyway, after years of having house cats, it's definitely an adjustment for me, but at least I have a mascota (pet). Speaking of animals, one day I was sitting in the living room with Betty watching Walker Texas Ranger in Spanish (a new favorite pastime for us), and the door to both my room and the front door were open, as most doors into homes are here in this climate. Also for clarification, most homes here are built with a room that is not actually in the house. It shares one wall with the house, but has its own outdoor entrance next to the front door, giving the impression of two front doors. My room is this outdoor room in our house and as I was sitting on the couch with Betty, I happen to glance out the door to the patio area and right then a long brown snake, probably three or four feet long, slithered silently into the my room through the open door. It happened so quickly I thought I imagined it and didn't react. But when I got up and walked out to look, there it was, under my bed, slithering around. And I'm ashamed to say I screamed like an absolute girl. At the last minute I attempted to muffle it, but it still came out at a high pitch shriek and of course Betty came running asking me what was wrong. And I forgot the word in Spanish for snake in my hysteria so I just kept kind of pointing a shrieking. And then I remembered the word- serpiente- duh. And Betty looked and also got a little freaked out by its size. We called across the street to the neighbor and he came over with his machete, reached under the bed and chopped off its head. Lovely. Then he pulled it out and deposited it in the open jungle. A few of the neighbors had come out of their homes to see what I was yelling about, but when they saw the long brown snake dangling from the machete, they just laughed at me in a friendly way. The sad part is, everyone told me this type of snake- a sabanera (I don't know what this translates to, but sabana is sheet)- is not a poisonous snake and just eats rat and rodents, which is actually good. So, I was sad we hadn't tried to get him out alive, but I also had no intention of trying to do anything. Ah, Peace Corps adventures.
This first three months of service is supposed to be the most challenging simply due to cultural integration, project start-up, and a general adjustment. I'm sure there will be bad moments and bad days, especially when I find myself missing family, friends, and activities I became so accustomed to at home. But I also feel the beginnings of a new and wonderful home here in my jungle paradise.
