So, I´m outside of my host parents little store, and a lady rides up on her motorcycle. ¨come here for a minute¨she says. ¨me?¨ I have to clarify. ---I am always shocked when people ask for me, personally. It makes me endlessly happy when people remember my name and know a little about me, but when a total stranger knows about me, it makes me feel less invisible, and I know that I am making some kind of headway at making a name for myself in the community.----´
¨yes, you, are are Julia right, the Peace Corps volunteer?¨
holy crap she knows my name AND she knows that I work for Peace Corps.

this is a great start to the conversation. so we get to talking and she tells me that she works for World Vision, one of the biggest NGOs in the world of development and child services. They have a branch in Upala, which is where she works from. She, Mary, told me that World Vision wants to have an art workshop in Chimurria for the kids in the community while they are on vacation, and asked me if I would be interested in helping them.
(Really, she knows my name, the peace corps, and she is helping find ways to help the community, I am exctatic)
So, I get to lead an art workshop for the kids in my community, and World Vision supplies the art supplies and finds the space. We had our first little art workshop last friday, and we will sart again this wednesday. It is only for 3 days and we have two groups. One for 3 hours in the morning and one for 3 hours in the afternoon.
If you have ever seen me draw, you might doubt my abilities to lead an art workshop, but I am telling you it was so much fun, and the kids loved it. I am kind of short of ideas on what to do with them next class, I might have to resort to making turkeys from traced hands, or maybe make fortune tellers. So if you have any ideas on fun kids art projects, let me know!

side note- I am getting really homesick, and its hard to keep myself motivated some days. Some days I have fun art workshops to lead, and others I just wander around the community looking for people to talk to. This job, my life in Costa Rica, is harder than I anticipated. When school starts I will at least be busy enough to forget about my homesickness for a while. But keeping my mind off of something only works temporarily, it doesn´t really solve the problem. I think the only way to cure homesickness is to feel at home in my community. That will take time, I know, you can´t just arrive somewhere and make it home. but, I wish it were a little easier. They have told us from the beginning that the first 3 months are the hardest. I don´t think I really imagined how hard it would be. Being alone in my community is way different than being in training with all my friends. Well, at least I have one month down. Two more to go, right? I am putting a lot of hope on month 4. --

Until then, I am trying to take life one day at a time, and looking for joy in the little things. Any other ideas to kick homesickness and to feel more at home in Chimurria are more than welcome.

lots of love,
Julia

zombies and workouts

The most entertaining things about the past few days:

1) explaining zombies to my host family

2) going ¨running¨with my neighbor

Zombies:

I´m reading a book right now, World War Z, about a zombie apocoplypse and how the various countries around the world would respond. It´s mostly stupid, but its´s also funny. Anyway, I have the book out, and my uncle asks me what ¨war¨means in Spanish. And we start talking about the book I´m reading.

Salvador (my uncle): What is the book about?
Me: oh, its a book about a ficiticious zombie apocolypse.
(funny looks)
Me: You know, zombies. Uh. They are dead people who reanimate and feed of the flesh of the living...(I imitate a zombie)
Cousin: Oh, huh, I think I saw a movie about that once
Salvador: It has to be about this book!
Me: Anyway, the book hypothosyses what each country would do under such an event
Yanira (my host mom): Do you mean mummies?
Me: No, zombies
Yanira: Are they sleeping
Me: No, they are dead.
Cousin: OOOH, like I am legend with Will Smith
Me: exactly! Yes, Exactly like that
Salvador: I think I have that movie! I will go watch it tomorrow.


Anyway, the collective knowledge of zombies does not exist in Costa Rica. And it is way harder to explain in Spanish than my Spanish classes prepared me for. But that conversation had me laughing for days.

Running

I go running pretty frequently in my little town, and a neighbor told me she loved to run, and we decided to go running together one evening.

At the agreed upon time, she showed up at my house in jean capris, and a button up t-shirt. She was carrying a plastic bag with a water bottle in it, and was accompanied by her 6-year-old daughter. ¨I´m ready¨she says. I am doubtful, but go to change into my running clothes.
We get maybe 3 minutes into the run when the little girl needs a break. So, we walk the rest of the way, and pretty soon it gets dark and we head to the soccer field to run there, and do other exercises, and the little girl can be there and watch or participate if she wants. So we start running across the field, pretty soon another neighbor joins us. She is also wearing jean capris. Her dogs and her daughter come out to exercise, too. This turns into the most entertaining workout of my life. We would sprint across the field, they would stretch, and I would do some crossfit inspired exercise, then we would sprint again. Dogs, kids, jean capris, and all.
We are planning to meet up again tonight for another workout. Hopefully we can round up a few more participants.

PO BOX

Sometimes, I admit, I get lonely and miss home. So, in order to have better communication with my friends and family I have opened up a PO Box, here is the address:

Julia Lockamy
Apartado Postal 29-5707
Upala, Alajuela C.P. 21301 CR
Costa Rica
CA

You can send letters, packages, what ever to this address. If you send packages be sure to do it with the US Postal Service. It is cheaper and more likely to get to me. Fed-Ex packages get held up in San Jose and I have to take a 5 hour bus ride to get to it.

I am excited to have an official address, and this will be it for 2 years, so write it down!