You have 2 options

I wrote awhile ago, after finishing my first 10k, that I thought it´d be amazing to one day run a half marathon.  For me, a 10k was a huge accomplishment, and the idea of a half was more of a dream than a tangible reality.  I am not a runner, really.  Or at least I´ve never considered myself to be one.  I run in my site as a way to blow off steam, to pass time, or to just get out of my house.   I´m not necessarily any good at it, I don´t have a clue about form, but I´ve learned to really like going on runs.  Its amazingly affordable, and considering there is nothing close to a gym in Chimurria, running is the easiest most accesable form of exercise for me.  I also enjoy the challenge of it.  Maybe because running doesn´t come naturally to me, I feel even more compelled to do it.  I love the idea of pushing myself farther than I think I can go, and I love the endorphine rush after a hard run.  I love proving myself wrong...I think I can´t run 10, so I go and run 10k.  I think I can´t handel the hilly dirt road, so I take the hilly dirt road.  Writing it down, it sounds like an awful life philosophy...desiring to be uncomfortable, pushing myself too hard, constantly being on the verge of failure, but maybe maybe reaching an aribtrary personal goal so I can prove to myself that yes, I can make it to the top of that hill, or yes, I can run faster today.  So I got it in my head that I wanted to run a half marathon before I left the Peace Corps.  I had plenty of time to train, and Peace Corps has been nothing but me pushing myself to my limits, so this could be one final personal test.  I went online and got a training program, encouraged a few volunteers to train with me, and for 6 weeks I was a dedicated half marathon trainer.  I would go out when it was rainy, wake up early to do long runs before it got too hot.  Its not fun to run between the hours of 8 and 4 in Chimurria; its too hot and muggy.  Slowly but surely the other volunteers abandoned the half marathon cause.  Training took up too much time, or was too hard, they had other things to do, not enough money to travel for the race.  But I wanted it, and I was going to do it, I had it in my head that I was going to run a half marathon and if I had to run it alone, well, then I would run it alone.  The only way to sign up for the half marathon was to go into San Jose (a 6 hour bus ride just one way) to a specific store to sign up, so 2 weeks before the race I went into San Jose to sign up...and the race was full.  I was so mad at myself for not going in earlier, for not getting someone closer to San Jose to sign me up, for training for a race that I wasn´t allowed to run in!  I was frustrated and bitter. That same day I had said goodbye to one of my best friends, Courtney, who had spent an amazing 10 days visiting me in CR.  We were with another of my really good friends, Flora.  It was so good to see them, we had a blast together, and when they left it was tough.  On top of being separated from 2 of my best friends, all my dreams of running a half got thrown in my face.  In short, it was an awful day.  I took the 6 hour bus ride back to site, spent a week or so being bitter.  I thought maybe I could just run a half in site, why not?  But I didn´t have enough motivation to get up on my own and run it solo.  After I threw myself a substancially long pity party, I got my act together.  One of my favorite running mantras is: when it gets hard, you have two options: you can either throw in the towel or use it to wipe the sweat off your face.  I got another friend to sign up for another half with me, this time I knew to sign up plenty in advance, and went back to training.  It felt good to check off each day of my training calendar, and I knew that when race day came I would be prepared.  All that running for the unrun half marathon had to have helped me prepare for this new one. I could feel myself getting stronger, faster, and building endurance.  Long distances weren´t as scary, and picking speed wasn´t as exhausting.  My biggest fear for the half were the hills.  Chimurria is not an especially hilly town, its pretty flat actually.  There are some roads with rolling hills, but nothing resembling mountains.  The route I was to run for the half had some serious hills, and I was going to have to trust that my training would help me over them. 
Eventually the day came for the half marathon- the race started at 6, and the group of us running got up around 4:30 to get to the starting line on time.  Getting the race figured out was a challenge, we couldnt go to the store to pick up our race packets, we had trouble finding the starting line, we were a mess.  2 other volunteers and I ran the half and 2 of our good friends came and ran the 7k option.  The two other volunteers who were running the half with me are really fit people, and I was honestly intimidated by their athleticism.  One is a boxer and the other a marathon runner...I was definitely the rookie of the group.  At least running is only about beating yourself, my goals were to finish the race in under 2:30 and to keep running the whole time.  Pretty reasonable goals for my first half. 
Once the race started I felt amazing.  All my training definitely paid off and I was strong to the end.  There was one giant hill half way through the course, almost 3k long and pretty steep.  I was not going to let that hill get in the way of my goal of not walking, and I kept a solid pace to the top. Retrospectively I wish I had pushed myself harder, because when I got to the end I still had a lot of energy.  The race didn´t have any signage along the way so I had no idea how far I was or how much longer I had left, which made pacing a challenge. But!  I did end up running the entire time and finishing in 2 hours 19 minutes!  I was so exctatic when I got to that finish line.  It was such a great feeling.  The endorphine high was amazing, and I couldn´t stop smiling for hours afterwards.

I did it.  I ran a half marathon.  The lessons of this half marathon easily translate to my peace corps experience.  When it gets hard you have two options: you can throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off your face.  That mantra can be used for peace corps as well as running.  My service has been marked by peaks and valleys, highs and lows, and there were plenty of lows where I really really wanted to give up, pack my bags, and head home.  Not giving in to that voice that told me to quit, that I wasn´t good enough, that it wasn´t worth this much stress, not caving to that negativity, that is what has allowed me to reach the end of my peace corps service.  Now I look back at these 2 years, proud of what I have accomplished, what I have given, and how I have grown.  It is harder to let go, to head back, then I thought it would be.  Now that I find myself closing this chapter of my life I find myself overwhelmed with emotions of love for the people I´ve met along the way, with gratitude for what they have taught me, with sadness for knowing that this is all going to end.  I feel blessed for being given the opportunity to serve in the peace corps, and if I were to live my life over I´d do it again in a heart beat.  Once you´ve pushed yourself farther then you thought you could go, once you do what you thought was asking too much, you find yourself changed, different.  Leaving all this behind will be the last challenge Peace Corps demands of me. I am absolutely elated at the thought of seeing my friends and family in the states, but I am equally devistated knowing that the relationships I have built here, the life I have built here, will have to come to an end.  Of course it´s not so dramatic, I will be able to keep up with people through email and facebook, but I won´t be part of their daily lives, nor they of mine.  That intimacy will be lost.  Inevitably I knew this was going to happen.  Peace Corps service is for 2 years, and then you head home, that´s how the program works.  I am just glad that I have been able to spend the past 2 years here.  Its beeen an incredible, life changing experience.

One last thing...

Its so hard for me to start writing this post, mostly because I do not know where to start.  So much has been going on. I feel my time in country slipping through my fingers and I have been unusually busy this past month.  I had my COS (close of service) conference (finally!).  3 months before the end of our service, Peace Corps holds a conference for the group that is leaving.  It was almost a week long event where PC staff prepares on leaving Costa Rica, leaving Peace Corps, and entering the US and starting a new chapter in our lives.  It was a very bittersweet time.  My PC group has grown extremely close over the past two years, and it was hard to know that its coming to an end.

In site, I have been working hard to make my last months of service count.  I finally feel like I've got this whole "peace corps thing" figured out, and I've started my last project as a volunteer.  My friend Julia R and I have started co-teaching an English prep course for high school students.  We meet for 2 lessons a week, for 2 hours at a time.  The course is to prepare students for their exit exam in English.  Many high schoolers do not get to graduate because they fail this exam.  Its a tough exam, even for an advanced student, and passing it is crucial.  Holding a steady job in CR without a high school diploma is tough.  These students need to pass this exam, whether or not they intend to use English post-high school.  Our students are all night school students, mostly women (almost all are mothers), and most are Nicaraguan immigrants.  Julia and I are working with an organization in town that is known as la ventanilla, to organize the class.  La ventanilla is funded by the UN development program as a way to help immigrant youth get on their feet in a new country.  I like working with this program because the students enrolled in it are extremely dedicated, and the leaders of the program help us out with logistics (like finding a classroom rent-free).  I'm so impressed so far with the commitment our students have shown.  I am used to working with elementary aged students, and I was nervous about working with an older crowd.  Our students are between 16 and 27.  Our class last Tuesday really left me amazed by my students.

A student had called earlier in the week to say that her English exit exam would be Nov 5th.  This was problematic because when we planned the class we thought the exams would be at the end of November; we had the class scheduled until Nov 9th.  This meant that the students would be missing 3 lessons.  Julia and I decided that we would be forced to cut the course short, we would allow the students pick the themes that were most important to them, and give them work to do at home for the themes we'd have to skip because of the now shortened schedule.  I got up at the start of class to explain this to the students and one woman just asked "why can't we just do an extra day of class each week?"  I was sure that no one else would want to add a third 2 hour class block to their weekly schedule.  These students have jobs, families, night school.  They are already so busy.  We took it to a vote and 13/16 voted to have an extra class day.  3/16 wanted to just eliminate 3 lessons.  I was amazed at how serious and dedicated they were.  Julia and I decided to add a 3rd class day/week, but make it optional for them.  I think its worth mentioning that we give an hour of homework after every class.  We make our students work!  I was just astounded at their work ethic, and personally I felt glad that I could offer them something that they so clearly wanted and needed.  It was a good teaching moment for me.  My students helped ease my self doubts that what I teach isn't good enough, relevent enough, for what they need.  I am sure most teachers feel uncertain at times, and all Peace Corps volunteers at one point or another doubt their relevence to their communities.  I am glad that my final project can help me realize: yes, I am a relevent teacher and yes, my community needs and wants me!  Its a nice thing to be able to say after 2 years!

Old Wives Tales

One of the most entertaining cultural differences between Costa Rica and the US are the old wives tales pertaining to health.  I´m not sure why I find them so entertaining, but I really do.  I love talking about them with other volunteers and hearing their stories about making cultural blunders by breaking one of the many unwritten rules on how to keep the flu at bay.  Here are some of my favorite old wives tales and the stories that go along with them:

(1) Toad bones can kill:

One day my landlord comes over and knocks on my door.  He is looking extremely concerned and asks me seriously if I have seen that dead toad pancake in my yard.  Let me tell you, the costa rican toad population is out of control, and it´s worse in the rainy season.  It´s not uncommon for cars to squish toads at night on the road, and the next day or so they bake and turn into toad pancakes.  This happens ALL the time.  I had a toad pancake in my yard up by the road, had seen it, and didn´t think much of it.  My landlord, however, was pretty worked up about it.  -you know those toad bones are poisonous- he told me -if you step on a toad bone and it pierces your skin, it´s worse then a snake bite- he slowly drew his finger accross his throat to make sure I understood what he was talking about.  -The kids around here always play barefoot, and your dog could try and eat it and die, you really need to watch out for that.-  Then after I made the appropriate display of understanding and fear of the toad pancake, he left, and I went to throw the toad into the jungle growing behind my house.  I had head horrible stories about toads before, and I wasn´t sure if I should write this one off or take it seriously.  My host family during trainig told me that when toads get scared they screte a liquid that can blind humans and kill dogs.  My host family at site has similar toad fears, and I just assumed that tropical toads were just as dangerous as tropical frogs.  This new toad bone theory was a little too much for me.  I asked around and got mixed feedback.  Some people were terrified of toad bones and some just of the skin and the evil liquid that they secrete.  So, I went to my friend google for help. I found nothing to validify that toad bones are poisonous, but their skin/the white milky liquid they secrete is.  It won´t blind you, but it irritates your eyes, and it can really kill small animals.

(2) Taking a shower immediately after you workout gives you the flu:

Well, doing anything that makes you cool down after you workout gives you the flu.  If you go outside the gym without a jacket on (yes, even in Upala where its never colder than 80f), if you go outside too soon after you workout in a gym, this also gives you the flu.  Basically anything where your body goes from hot to cold is gonna give you the flu.  This one I get crap for ALL the time.  I used to have a womens workout group that met a few times a week in the evenings.  We worked out in the community center (the building that is in front of my house).  We worked out in the evenings, when it cooled down to 80 and the sun wasn´t an issue.  I was constantly the only one who never brought a jacket.  More than a few times a concerned woman would take me aside and tell me that I was gonna get sick walking from the center to my house if I didnt have a jacket on.  I just couldn´t bring myself to put on a jacket, though.  Risking the flu because I was hot and sweaty and the last thing I wanted to do was put on a sweater, I would brave the tropical elements and walk the 45 seconds to my house in my workout clothes.  Oh, and then immediately take a cold shower. 

(3) Walking barefoot inside will give you the flu:

From the best of my knowledge, the fear of walking around barefoot inside comes from a legitimate fear of getting hookworm back in the day when people had dirt floors.  All but 2 or 3 houses in chimurria have upgraded past dirt floors.  But, still, there is a HUGE fear of walking barefoot inside.  Flip flops must be worn.  The logic is as follows: the flu bacteria that are on the floor will enter your body through your feet.  Now that I live alone I can finally walk around barefoot guilt free.  Living with host families I couldn´t because it would stress them out way too much if they saw me barefoot.  Seriously they would see me, repremand me, and immediately send me to my room for shoes.

(4) The beginning of rainy season gives you the flu:

One of the teachers I worked with explained this one to me.  During the dry season, all the flu germs and other germs settle into the ground.  During the first rains of the rainy season, these germs float up in the vapor after the rainstorms.  I explain this one this way: during rainy season people stay inside more, where there are more germs, are in closer contact with other people and other peoples germs, and could potentially be more vulnerable to the flu.

I know that in the states we have some pretty embedded old wive´s tales about health in our cultural blanket.  I´ve been trying to think of a few and here are the ones that makes me roll my eyes the most:

(1) going outside in winter then coming inside to a heated room will give you the flu.

I know you have all heard this one, and I used to cling to it pretty strongly until I sat down and thought about it.  The basic theory is that if you go from too hot to too cold it will shock your body and make you more vulnerable to the flu. Ok, think about a native american tradition of soaking in hot springs and then jumping in a cold water to shock your system and jolt it back to life...supposedly to improve your health.  There is also the tradition of sweat baths followed by cold showers, which is supposed to cleanse your body and soul.  As far as I know the leading western medical knowledge supports the theory that going from hot to cold can actually improve circulation and makes your immune response system faster and stronger.  People probably get the flu more often in winter because they are inside more (closer contact to other people, germs, etc) and less active (because they are inside more) both of which compromise health.  Going from hot to cold is actually good for you...

(2) Going outside in winter with wet hair will make you catch a cold

What did people do before hair dryers.  Probably they didnt do much because they were constantly sick with the flu.  This one works on the same logic as tale number 1 above.  I think that maaaaaaaaaybe it could be reasonable to not advise someone to go out in sub zero weather with wet hair because it could make you more vulnerable to pnuemonia....but this is not what people are worried about.  Wet hair is not gonna give you a cold.  Wet hair does not make the cold virus any more or less likely to be in the air around you.

Are there any old wives tales that drive you insane?  These are the top ones on my list. 

How I Met the President of Costa Rica

 This is the story of how I met Laura Chinchilla.

Every Friday I get together with Julia R, the closest PCV to me, and we have theme dinners.  We pick a country or another specific culinary category and make different recipes we've never tried before.  It's a fun excuse to get together and is always a test of our cooking abilities.  We've been having theme dinners for a while now, and our list of themes is dwindling fast.  This week was soup night.  This week I was also really strapped for cash (PC pays us around the 20th of every month, and right now I am running on about 6 dollars to get me to pay day).  All I had in my fridge were avocados from a neighbors farm and an onion and cucumber.  Avocado soup it is!  I was less than excited about dinner (mostly because I make myself avocado soup all the time and wanted to try a new recipe, but was too broke to buy all the ingredients, not because Avocado soup isn't delicious)  I decided that I would go into town a little early and spend a few of my remaining dollars at the internet cafe.  Right before I was to get on the bus, my friend Julia texted me saying that the President of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, was in Upala.  She was at a building caddy corner from Julia's apartment for the grand re-opening of a preschool.  It wasn't just the President either.  The VP, the Costa Rican equivalent of the surgeon general, the Costa Rican equivalent of my region's senator, and a few other big time government officials.  What??  I could not believe it.  The President has never been to Upala during her presidency, and didn't even campaign here.  Costa Rica is a small country, but I never imagined I'd get the chance to see the President in person.  She was scheduled to be in Upala for a mere 30 minutes, and lucky for me, my bus got me into Upala during that time frame.  A big part of her political platform is improving preschool care and child development in Costa Rica.  I met Julia R at the preschool and we hung out with the general mob of people surrounding the place.  We figured out that the building was open and that we could just walk right in.  Security was really loose.  Costa Rica is not a very violent country and not prone to acts of political violence, so Presidential security isn't even a tenth of the level it is in the states.   She had a few body guards, but they were just wearing polo shirts.  No bullet proof vests, sun glasses, secret microphones--just a few dudes to make sure no one bothered her.  It was easier to get into the same building as the President of Costa Rica than it is to get into a dance club in Raleigh.  I was wearing my backpack and everything, just walked on in in my street clothes.  We even got to get into the room where the Preschool committee was presenting their project to the President!  I took a bunch of paparazzi shots of her.  Both Julia R and I were really nervous about meeting her and we were talking to some of the event photographers about how we would love to shake her hand but were way to shy to actually go up to her.  As she was leaving the room, the photographer stopped the president and presented us and asked if we could get a picture with her.  She was incredibly obliging and nice.  She shook our hands and told us "mucho gusto" (nice to meet you) and then "hasta luego" (see you later).  I could have died.  Then, one of the doctors of Upala presented us to the Surgeon General and a camera crew was filming us as she told us how much she appreciated our work and how nice it was to meet us!!  At best I had hoped to get a glimpse of the president, I had NO CLUE that I was going to actually meet her and the Surgeon General.  Seriously the best theme night yet! 

Me and Julia so anxious just being in the same room as Laura Chinchilla

President Chichilla and VP Piva

And then we got to meet her and had a picture taken!

The Upala priest blessing the President before she left

Spanglish

Its no big secret that learning a second language takes a lot of work.  It requires an absurd amount of dedication and an even larger capacity for humility.  My ´primary assignment´ as a Peace Corps volunteer is to co-teach English in 2 elementary schools.  Yet I do way more learning than I do teaching on any given day.  I may have been living in a Latin American country for almost 2 years, but I still make rediculous mistakes in Spanish on a daily basis.  It´s easy and idealistic to think that total language immersion will miraculously result in language fluency.  It doesn´t.  I still have to study Spanish and while I´ve improved drastically since I´ve been here, I know that I have a lot more to learn.  I´m patient with my students who are learning English and they are patient with me as I learn Spanish.  The best coping mechinism for realizing my mistakes is humor.  I try and laugh it off, and its not that hard because my mistakes are generally hilarious. The following is a list of my recent blunders with the Spanish language:

(1) A few days ago I woke up early after a late night to travel back to my community. I had gotten only a few hours of sleep, was feeling pretty groggy, and took a taxi to the bus stop.  The taxi driver was cute and we were flirting a bit.  As I get out of the car to leave he tells me that he thinks I am beautiful, and I respond with "you, too, are a very beautiful woman."

(2) I like to get my students candies as prizes for class activities.  A few weeks ago I had planned a bingo activity as a review for the big test.  I wanted to get some lollipops for prizes.  Lollipop in Costa Rican Spanish is ´popi´ I asked the store owner (my host dad) if he wouldn´t mind selling me six ´pompis´ (a coloquial word for butts)

(3) I was running some errands with a friend, we needed to get 26 party bags for a school party.  As we were in the car I was counting the cookies we had got for the party bags and realized we only had 14.  I turned to my friend and told her in a concerned voice that we would have to go back to the store because we had only picked up ´diecicuatro´cookies.  Ugh.  Then she looked at me funny and I started cracking up. The Spanish word for 14 is catorce.  I had made a mistake that kids made in Spanish 101 the first week of class.

(4) **This one isn´t mine but my best PCV friend Kelsey´s, yet its a mistake I could have easily made**  She went to the store looking for ´jugo de pera´ (pear juice) and asks the cashier if they have any ´jugo de perra´(bitch juice)

(5) **Kels forgive me, but I have to share this one, too!** Kelsey goes into the store and starts chatting it up with the cute cashier.  She wanted to get some hand towells so she batts her eyes and flirtatiously asks him if he could help her pick out some `toallas` (sanitary napkins). 


And thats just a taste of the awkwardly funny things I get to say everyday.  What can I do but laugh at myself and keep on keeping on?

Running Around

I've started running recently.  I have always wanted to be able to run a 10k.  It was a goal of mine that I thought I'd never accomplish because I am not a strong runner, and whenever I started a running program I would inevitable get bored or frustrated and quit.  Running a 10k was one of those things that I'd dream about and then brush off.  Peace Corps for me has been a time to push myself, and I decided that it was time for me to tackle my dream of running a 10k.  I've gotten bored of riding my bike over the same 2 different bike routes over and over training for my bike-a-thon, and running seemed like a good switch.  Something to help me keep up my fitness and a personal challenge.

I started running regularly in March and my goal was to run a 10k at the end of May.  The race I had signed up for, with my PCV friend Julia, was in San Jose.  Both of us live in Upala where it is HOT and flat and the race in San Jose was over hills and in cooler weather.  When race day came around we were both so nervous.  We were worried about the hills, the distance, not falling, and most importantly-not stoping!  It was my goal to RUN the whole time.  Let me tell you.  We did it.  All 10k, running.  We have a few running mantras that we would yell out to each other as soon as the route got hilly. "See the tortoise, be the tortoise" is our favorite.  We are both slow but steady- tortoise like- but the tortoise finishes the race at the end of the fable!  I finally accomplished my goal of running a 10k!  It was such a good feeling.  I was extremely tortoise like as I finished the race in 1 hour 16 minutes, but, like the tortoise, I finished! 

This is me and Julia post-race

This is us going up a hill!

You will be proud to know that since the 10k in May I've been keeping up with my running routine.  I go out 4x a week.  I go 5k 2 days a week, one 7k, and one 10k.  My 10k time is getting better and better, and I feel like I'm slowly being converted into a legitimate runner.  Well, maybe a jogger.  I enjoy my runs and they keep me entertained.  Honestly, going out on my runs is often the most entertaining part of my day.

Last week for instance:  I went out on a 7k, and my dog came with me.  She likes to go running with me now, she used to stay at home, but for the past two weeks she's gone out with me everytime.  Last week my run took me by a cow field.  My dog, Baby, gets nervous around cows.  They are really big and she is really small.  The cows in this cow field were not too close to the road, maybe 100m away.   Baby would look at the cows, make these pathetic whimpering noises, and then look at me with these sad puppy eyes.  She did not like that we were so close to us.  The cows noticed us, too.  Cows are herd animals and they usually follow the pack.  I guess Baby and I looked like part of the cow pack, and as we were running one of the cows started running with us at our pace.  Then two, three, four, and pretty soon the entire herd of cows was running with us (fenced in) for almost a kilometer.  It was so entertaining, especially because it made Baby so concerned!

I really like this new hobby of mine, and I'm glad that my Peace Corps journey has given me the opportunity to achieve my dream of running a 10k!  My new dream is to run a half marathon.  I'm still a ways away from that, but I know if I trained for it, that I could do it.  There is one in December in Atlanta right after I would return from Peace Corps, and I'm really tempted to sign up...

Puppy!

Yes, this is really happening.  You are in fact reading a new blog post.  Sorry for the past few silent months.  I went home to for a few weeks in March, had an amazing time, and came back to find my computer on her death bed.  It’s hard to say goodbye, and I haven’t quite given up on her yet.  But about half of the keys on the keyboard don’t work, the touch pad and left click don’t work, the arrow keys don’t work, etc. etc.  Well, I’ll focus on the positive and tell you that I can still get movies and tv shows to play off of my external hard drive.  I can still get itunes to open.  I’ve been going to the internet café to use internet, but haven’t had the patience to sit long enough to write a decent blog entry.  You see there is no AC in the internet café and it gets really hot.  But, for you, my dear reader, I write.

Biggest news: a dog adopted me!  And many more are trying to adopt me, but I’m trying really hard to only get suckered in once.  My neighbor’s dog had puppies in November when I first moved into my house.  The momma dog and the puppies would come hang out on my porch, and I may or may not have tossed the mom the occasional doggy treat.  I never wanted to get too attached to them, and just called the mom ‘momma’ and the sole remaining puppy ‘baby.’  Eventually ‘momma’ disappeared, and only ‘baby’ remained.  Soon after momma’s disappearance, my neighbor moved and left ‘baby’ behind to fend for herself.  Baby just parked her cute little self on my porch and I’ve been looking after her ever since.  She is a little dog, about 9 months old and barley 20 lbs.  She’s mostly black with a little white on her paws, chest, and the tip of her tail.  She is such a sweet little dog.  She follows me around everywhere.  She isn’t allowed inside my house, but will sit in front of my door and stare at me until I go out and play with her.  She walks with me to the grocery store and sits right in the middle of the door and waits for me to come out.  She also likes to go to school with me and watch me teach from the doorway.  I love having her as my pet, and I feel badly that I never gave her a proper name.  ‘Baby’ just stuck, once I started calling her that I couldn’t stop.  Bonus is its easy to say for Spanish speakers.  I’m training her in Spanish, in case I have to leave her behind…that’s a sad thought.  But I’ll know that I’ve given her a good life while I’ve been here.

Baby and the chickens waiting out the rain

Baby hanging with me on the back porch

Well, I've tried but I can't seem to get these pictures to orient themselves in the right way and failed.  But that's my little puppy dog Baby.  She's a cutie pie!

School Stuff

Good news! The parent/student strike is over! All the kids are attending class again, and we can stop reviewing old material and start teaching new stuff. As a result of the parent strike, there have been a few changes at the school. Classes are starting promptly at 7am (the official start of the school day), recesses last for scheduled 10 minutes (ok, maybe 15, but its a lot less than the previous 30), and the school lunches now include more fruits and veggies. The principal installed a bell, which sounds a lot like the tornado drill sound I grew up with, and she bought the school a coffee maker! I'm not a fan of the bell, mostly because I can hear it from my house, but it really does help insure that the school stays on its schedule.

Another change for this school year is that the 1st-3rd graders are going to be using English workbooks. I'm really excited to start using them. We will save sooooooo much time because the students won't have to copy stuff off of the board- they will all have their own copies of the materials all ready in their workbooks. We will also save time by not passing out photocopies, and the students will have a visual reminder of how much material they have learned. I think it will be really motivating and a great classroom tool. But, it was a controversial decision because the kids have to pay for their own workbooks. I think I've mentioned before that the English budget only covers the cost of photocopying the tests. Each workbook costs $7.00, and they only way to get them into to classroom is if each kid buys their own. That $7.00 represents a legitimate sacrifice on the part of quite a few parents- and some of the parents have opted to pay in installments. Hopefully we will have all our workbooks by the end of the next month. *I think it's worth mentioning here that students in Chimurria use workbooks for certain subjects in school, usually math and social studies*

La Maravilla, the smaller school that I work with, had its first PTA meeting last Thursday. The school has around 40 students k-6, and there were 16 parents at the meeting (14 mothers and 2 fathers). Considering that most of the students have siblings/cousins in school- nearly every student had a family member there to represent them. The critical points addressed at the meeting: who was willing to come to mow the school lawn, who was willing to chop wood for the school's stove, how much money each family had to give to the school (standard practice in public schools in Costa Rica), was there enough interest/money to have a soccer team this year.
The meeting went pretty smoothly, and it was encouraging to see how invested the parents were in the school.

First week of school

Today is the 6th day of the school year. Class has already been canceled twice- once for a regional meeting and today because the national teacher's union has organized strike.

The students in Chimurria are on strike, too. Over half of the students haven't been coming to school because their parents have issues with the principal. Half of the teachers want to switch schools. The whole feeling at school this past week has been tense. Everyone is on edge and nervous, anxious to see how this whole thing will end. I've been trying hard to be as uninvolved in the drama as possible. The organizers of the parent/student strike are some of my closest community friends. I work alongside the principal and she is one of my biggest supporters as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I think both parties are being too extreme, but there is no way that I'm going to speak my mind and get mixed up in this mess. I understand where both sides are coming from, and where both of their faults lie. I've decided that the best road for me to take is to duck and cover and wait for this whole thing to blow over. I don't want to mess up my professional relationship at the school with my principal and with the other teachers. I don't want to cause any tension with my friends in my community. So, I'm doing my best to keep my mouth shut- which is hard- and remain a neutral party. I think in another week everything will be resolved, my fingers are crossed.

Needless to say, teaching at Chimurria has been a challenge. With only half of the students coming we don't want to go over too much material because we know the other kids will eventually come and need to catch up. The kids who do come to school are perceptive of the anxious tension in the air and are being more timid than usual. But, silver lining, I have a whole goodie bag of new teaching supplies that the students at Evergreen sent down! So I have a lot of ideas and new activities to use with the kids who are coming to school. We are mostly doing review stuff (greetings, goodbyes, basic introductions). So far the most successful tool I've used has been a cd of children's songs by David Grover. I've used 2 of his songs to review greetings in 1st-3rd grade, and they've both been a hit. I've also been using the cd as background music for games like "hot potato." The songs are incredibly helpful in lightening up the classroom and taking the kids out of their shells. Thank you Evergreen Community!!!

Teaching at La Maravilla has been entertaining. La Maravilla is tiny- less than 40 students in grades 1-6. The vibe there is much more relaxed. Last Thursday the kindergarten teacher bought a full grown chicken from another teacher and the transaction took place at school. During school said chicken was tied to a tree so that she wouldn't run away. At one point the chicken hid herself under a bush and the kindergarten teacher got worried that she had escaped. In order to keep a better eye on her, she put her in a rice bag and decided that the best place to hang her would be in the classroom where we were teaching English. So all during English class there was a chicken hanging from the wall in a rice bag. The chicken was too traumatized to make any noise and I think the students weren't really phased by it. I was the only one who was distracted. I kept worrying about the chicken, thinking that if she got scared and started moving around too much that the bag could fall to the floor. Thankfully, she never fell, and now she's out of the rice bag at her new home at the kindergarten teacher's house.

It's been a weird week.

Shack Attack

This is my first take at a video blog. I don't know why this didn't occur to me earlier. Here is a video of my house. Well, there are two videos. The sound didn't work for me when I played it in divx, but it worked fine in windows media player. I'm not really sure why- but hopefully you can get the sound to play.

Part 1




and

Part 2





That's my little house!

I moved in last November and am still fixing stuff up. Maybe in a few more months I'll have done something with my extra room. What I really want to do is get a table/desk and turn it into an office. Where I can work on lesson plans and make materials for classes. I really hope that these videos work. Let me know if you are having issues seeing them or hearing them.

Lazy Daze

It’s been a week since I got back from Panama, and there is still another week before school starts. Our first day of class is February 8^th. Things have been pretty slow around Chimurria. People are all in vacation mode and lots of folks are out of town visiting relatives and friends. I don’t have any secondary projects going on right now and don’t plan on starting any up until school is back in session. So what do I do when there’s nothing to do?

I usually spend these lazy days baking ridiculous things and cooking for hours making gourmet meals for one. I read some, do laundry, sweep my house. I spend time with my friends in my community. I write letters to my friends in the states. In the evenings I sit with my can of Raid and wait for the spiders to come out, probably while watching a movie on my computer. The days are slow and have a tendency to roll right on into each other. When my days are free they have their own way of filling themselves, and I sometimes find myself in unexpected places.

For instance, a few days ago, when I was just about to embark on a bagel making endeavor, one of my 5^th grade students knocked on my door. She said that she needed me to come over to her house to help translate. There was a man there from the states who didn’t speak Spanish. She asked if I was busy (I wasn’t) and if I could come over (so I did). Honestly, I couldn’t believe that there was a foreigner in Chimurria. Since I’ve been here the only foreigner’s who’ve been to Chimurria (on purpose) have been my friends and family. So I unplugged my fan and headed over to my student’s house to see the alleged foreigner for myself.

Wadayaknow! There was a man from the states in her house and they legitimately needed me to be a translator. The man, Gary, was a missionary for the Methodist church in Upala. He had come down to help build a parsonage. He’s an architect and had drawn the blueprints for the new building. Gary was with the pastor and the pastor’s wife- who had taken him to Chimurria so that he could see the river and spend time with my student’s family (they are active members of the Methodist church). The pastor’s son is a high school English teacher and he usually helps translate, but for some reason he couldn’t be there, thus I was summoned. The pastor and the pastor’s wife were relieved when I got there. They really wanted to be good hosts and show Gary around Chimurria but were struggling with the language barrier. I was glad to help- and although my translating skills are miserable- its fun to practice.

It was great to meet another non-tourist foreigner. We got to talk about our different experiences in Costa Rica and compare stories about culture shock. Gary has been to Costa Rica once a year for the past 5 years and has a deep network of friends in the Upala area. He travels to different churches in the area and helps them with their construction projects. His Costa Rican experience has been vastly different than mine and it was interesting to hear about it.

We spent some time talking in the house, then we all went down to the river. I stayed on the river bank and gossiped with the pastor’s wife and my friend while everyone else splashed around. After a while a rain cloud showed up and scared us back inside. Once the rain passed we went out to the soccer field to watch the community pick up game. That evening they invited me to a pizza dinner. A new pizza place opened up in the neighboring town and we had to try it. Not a bad way to spend the day!

When school’s out and my schedule’s free it’s fun to see where the days take me. I have really been enjoying the freedom of this past week- being able to focus more on myself and sustaining my relationships with people in Chimurria. I’ll be excited for school to start, but for now I’m content with my extraordinary amount of free time. It means I have time for life’s random adventures- like being an impromptu translator for a missionary, or crafting the most delicious carrot coconut soup. It’s all in the journey.

The Bike Ride

I'm pleased to say that our border to border bike ride was a success. (short story: I helped organize a cross country bike ride to raise awareness about healthy lifestyles. For the long story check out this and my previous blog entries) So we did it! and here's how it went:

Day 1, Jan 5th

The day before the bike ride begins everyone met up in Upala. We had 8 Peace Corps volunteers and 4 staff members to start out with. Along the ride we gained and lost riders.

That evening 5 of us lead a drug awareness workshop for a marginalized youth population in Upala. We talked to them about the effects of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and cocaine on the body. Then we opened up the conversation to the effects these drugs have not only on individuals but on families and communities. The workshop was done in partnership with a local organization thats funded by UNICEF and works with marginalized youth. At the end of our workshop they were able to talk to the participants about services that they offer to youth in Upala and a few of our participants joined up with them. Overall we were really pleased at how the workshop went. The youth asked really good questions and our group conversations were productive and relevant. It was the perfect way to kick off our bike ride.

Day 2, Jan 6th (Nicaraguan border to Monterrey)

We woke up early, intending to leave at 6. We didn't actually hit the road until 7. It's funny how PCVs constantly complain about people showing up late to their meetings and events yet when it comes down to it we are the most notoriously time-flexible group of people that I have ever known.
Once on our bikes we ride 10k down a gravel road to the Nicaraguan border. At the crossing there is a knee high stone beside a tattered Nicaraguan flag. The stone has a small plaque that labels the border. On the other side of the road there is a Nicaraguan border patrol officer sitting on a wooden bench and holding a very large gun. We took a group shot at the border, turned around, and headed south to Panama.

The first 2/3 of the day were mostly flat. We rode alongside pineapple farms, past an indigenous reservation, and then we hit our first hills. The last 1/3 of the day were serious uphill. Costa Rica is a fairly mountainous country and there is really no way to avoid climbing up some hills if you want to bike across it. Luckily we had a nice overcast day and there was a light misting to help keep us cool. Avoiding the sun was a blessing. We got to our destination exhausted, but safe. That night I had planned on making myself a pb and banana sandwich to save money, but was so tired that I caved and ordered a casado (a typical rice and bean dish) at a local restaurant. It was delicious and so worth it.

That evening we had a group meeting, went over the game plan for the next day, and went to bed early.

Day3 Jan 7th (Monterrey to Venezia)

This time we only left 45 minutes late. We biked through some hills in the morning and the hit a nice flat stretch. That day we had a workshop scheduled at 10am in a volunteer's community, Platanar. He lives only 6k off the route. The workshop was scheduled to be about health and nutrition and 2 of the volunteers leading it had run marathons and one had previously worked as a physical therapist and is incredibly knowledgeable on all things health and nutrition. I was really excited for the community of Platanar and excited to do our 2nd workshop. Unfortunately only two participants showed up for the workshop. As PCVs this has happened to all of us and I think we've become jaded to our intended workshops failing before we even have a chance to give them. So we got on our bikes and rode on to Venezia. We had another workshop there in the evening and another shot to talk about health and nutrition with our Costa Rican counterparts.
The nice flat valley abrubtly turned on us and we encountered the wost climb of the entire trip, 4km of straight uphill under a fierce Costa Rican sun at 1 in the afternoon. The hill to Aguas Zarcas was mean and at the top everyone sat down for a good hour and a half to recover for the last 12k into Venezia.
The last 12k were hilly, but not as bad as getting to Aguas Zarcas.

A volunteer, Katherine, lives in Venezia. She played hostess for us and the PCVs camped out in her yard.

That evening we had our 3rd scheduled workshop. It was also scheduled to focus on health and exercise. We were going to do it in the community center, but, there was a double booking with a wedding reception and we had to relocate to another building. We didn't have enough time to spread the word, and, again only two people showed up. We gave them some information, had a really informal conversation, and headed off to bed. Again, this wasn't the first or last time I'll experience low numbers and logistical problems while I'm in Peace Corps. I'm disappointed, but not devastated, and focus my energy on resting up for tomorrow's ride.

Day 4 Jan 8th (Venezia to Guapiles)

We get ourselves together and on the road a mere 20 mintues behind schedule. The first 15k of the ride are rolly polly up and down these steep hills, and then we hit a long downhill. Our car driver is Jose, he's one of our bosses and super friendly and encouraging. He was our cheerleader the whole time and it was fun to ride with him and have his support. In his youth he was on the national champion Costa Rica bike team and he has (obviously) a lot of experience and advise to share with us. I learned so much with him guiding us up and down the hills.

We arrived to La Vigen de Sarapiqui at 7am. The workshop wasn't scheduled until 10, so the big group went on while the workshop leaders hung back and waited to give the workshop. There were three workshop leaders, myself and two other good pcv friends of mine. One of them, beth, lives in La Vigen, and we hung out at her house and stretched and relaxed for a few hours.

At workshop time, only three women showed up. We soldiered on and gave the workshop despite the low numbers and it was a hit! The women were really into what we had to say and learned a lot. Us three workshop facilitators worked really well together. We had a good energy and complimented each other perfectly. We were all in the same training community before we swore in as volunteers and have had practice co-facilitating together. It was fun to reuinte and work with them again.

At the end of the workshop the three women participants were interested in having Beth give more workshops in a retirement community and in the elementary school in La Virgen. There is also talk of starting up a yoga class! The workshop was small but had ended on a really positive note.

Nicole, Beth and I then got on our bikes and caught up to the big group.

That day we went to the bus terminal and bussed it from Guapiles to Limon. The staff was really worried about the safety of the group riding on that particular stretch of road. It is heavily trafficked, full of tractor trailors, and there is basically no shoulder. As a group we decided to abandon that leg of the trip. As sad as it was, it really was the best decision we could have made.

We put our bikes and bodies on the bus and that night we slept in Limon

Day 5th Jan 9th (Limon to Cahuita)

The most beautiful and enjoyable bike ride of my life. It was a flat 5ok almost entirely alongside the Caribbean coast. We woke up early so we could bike and watch the sunrise over the Caribbean. I was riding with 3 great friends and we complimented each other perfectly. We rode as a team, each person took turns riding up front to break the wind for the rest. Thinking back on this ride the best word to describe it is: joy. I was so happy to be where I was, to be with the people I was with, and to be doing what I was doing. For me, right then, all the work that I had put into this bike trip was worth it. I was so proud of what our group had accomplished.

The day got even better once we got off our bikes. We had the majority of the day to lay on the beach and walk around Cahuita National Park. The park was as close to paradise as I could imagine, and we were all in high spirits basking in the endorphin rush that follows heavy exercise. Essentially-it was bliss.

That day we had another health and nutrition workshop scheduled. It was our last workshop of the trip. Unfortunately, because we had to change our bike route at the last minute, we were unable to give the workshop. There wasn't enough time to notify everyone and we had to cancel yet another workshop. It was disappointing to have that workshop canceled. Facilitating the other workshops had given me so much motivation along the trip and the workshops we had given were all successful. I felt like our message had been received and there was promise in each community for the ability to continue working with Peace Corps Volunteers to promote healthful living. I hated to have lost one more connection with yet another community, but I know that I did the best I could to make it happen and couldn't have done anything differently. A lesson I'm still learning is not to take things personally when plans don't pan out as expected. I'm getting better at it, but am still working on it.

Day 6 Jan 10th (Cahuita to Panama)

The last leg of our trip and incredibly bittersweet. We went through another indigenous reservation, up our last hill, past all the Chiquita banana plantations, dodged hundreds of pot holes, and biked right onto the Panamanian border at Sixaola.

We made it. All the way from Nicaragua to Panama on our bikes. Everyone safe and accounted for. We helped teenagers in Upala understand the risks of drugs, we taught women in Sarapiqui about nutrition and the value of exercise, we encouraged and inspired each other. We did it! We promoted healthful lifestyles in Costa Ricans and PCVs- and we had made national news. That day, La Nacion, the most prestigious national daily newspaper for Costa Rica, featured our trip in an article. My Spanish literate friends can check out the link here:

http://www.nacion.com/2012-01-10/AldeaGlobal/miembros-del-cuerpo-de-paz-recorren-el-pais.aspx

Getting to the Panama border was such a great moment for me. It was a struggle- every bit of it was hard- logistically planning a bike trip across a country, organizing and supporting the participants, and the actual physical doing of it. It was nothing but a challenge! When I got to the border I was so proud of all that our group had accomplished. We biked across a country together! I still can't believe that I made it all that way and in case you can't either here is the photographic proof: beginning, middle, and end.


At the Nicaraguan border


biking through Costa Rica


On the Panama Border

Ride for your Life!

Tomorrow I’m going to ride my bike to the Nicaraguan border, turn it around, and head south to Panama. By next week, I should be passed out on an island in Panama. That’s my plan, at least.

I’ve been reluctant to talk about this trip with friends and family from home. I’ve been too scared that I’ll jinx it or that something will fall through. But it looks like it’s actually happening, so I’m making this very public announcement to let you all know where I’ll be and what I’m up to.

For the past 4 months my friends Marissa, Katherine, and I have been organizing a cross country bike trip for Peace Corps staff and volunteers. We have 2 goals: (1) to inspire healthy lifestyle choices in PCVs and Costa Ricans and (2) to ride our bikes across Costa Rica. As we bike across the country we will be stopping in various communities to give workshops on nutrition, exercise, and drug awareness. There are about 20 staff and volunteers who plan to participate in the trip. And if all goes right we should reach the Panamanian border at the end of 6 biking days. We start our trip about 40k from my community and will bike over 425k of Costa Rican roadway to the Panama border crossing at Sixaola. The route crosses over some steep mountains, but luckily the last few days are relatively flat.

The PC Costa Rica office has been incredibly supportive of this idea. They are offering us 2 (yes, 2!) support vehicles that will accompany us. So, mom, I don’t want you to worry. The staff has got our back and will be there in case we get sick, run into bike trouble, or forget to put on our reflective vests.

I’m so excited that all the planning is behind us and all the riding is up ahead! It’s been a lot of work- and I can’t wait to get my bike on the road tomorrow.

Wish us luck because here we go!