Hey all,
Since I don't have my cell phone in the U.S. anymore, you can't call me there while I'm home. Also, all my numbers were saved in that phone so I don't have most people's phone numbers, so it will be hard to call you.
My house phone is 891-0483. I'll be getting into Omaha very late December 23. Before, I was planning on heading back to Costa Rica January 2 but now that has changed and I won't be heading back until at least January 9!
Friday, December 21, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Still truckin'
Hey, it’s me. I’m hanging in here, counting down the days when I will be home for Christmas. Soon! Things are still winding down here with the school year ending. This last week one last push has been made by the teachers to get all their final reports in and give everything squared away, so it’s been pretty hectic. I’m more of an observer, and when I jump in to help, I most type and help fill things in but I don’t really understand what I’m doing.
Last night was a really great experience because I got to go to the graduation dinner of the 6th graders at the elementary school. Since here in Costa Rica there is only elementary school (kindergarten through 6th grade) and high school (7th grade through 11th or 12th, depending on the high school), a big deal is made about graduating from elementary. They get diplomas and have dinners and parties.
I can’t remember if I’ve written much about the lack of separation between church and state here in Costa Rica, but I still find it interesting (and very surprising to someone who grew up in the U.S.) that they pray in the schools and have memos sent from the principal to the parents saying “Bless you in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!” I have been to two graduation dinners, and at both we prayed. At the first, they kids lit candles and the principal talked about how it represented the Holy Spirit and how with a little flame a fire can spread and they can spread throughout each other. Pretty intense.
And then you have me sitting there, only used to this kind of stuff at “churchy” functions, looking around waiting for somebody to stand up and start yelling that since they believe that God is a tree or we are God or God doesn’t exist we can’t pray to Jesus. But that I know of, that doesn’t happen here.
Did I ever mention another thing that still startles me, although I am somewhat more use to it? The first week or two I was here in Costa Rica I was standing on the bus (as usual because there were no available seats) and I was enjoying the scenery outside the bus when I looked down at the lady sitting in the seat near me and she was breastfeeding her baby…no towel or shirt covering her up. My face turned red and I wondered if anybody else noticed.
And so, I learned that, for whatever reason, it is fairly normal to breastfeed in public here. Maybe it’s because of the long bus rides since most don’t own cars, or maybe it’s something different, but it’s normal here.
Also they charge in many public places to use the restroom, and they don’t drink beer out of the bottle (only Nicaraguans do that, I’m told) so they pour it into a cup with lots of ice. Who wants watered down beer?
Anyways I am here and living and fairly healthy and waiting, waiting, and waiting to come home. Some big things are going on here, so if you’re ever talking to God and you think of me, maybe throw my name in there.
Last night was a really great experience because I got to go to the graduation dinner of the 6th graders at the elementary school. Since here in Costa Rica there is only elementary school (kindergarten through 6th grade) and high school (7th grade through 11th or 12th, depending on the high school), a big deal is made about graduating from elementary. They get diplomas and have dinners and parties.
I can’t remember if I’ve written much about the lack of separation between church and state here in Costa Rica, but I still find it interesting (and very surprising to someone who grew up in the U.S.) that they pray in the schools and have memos sent from the principal to the parents saying “Bless you in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!” I have been to two graduation dinners, and at both we prayed. At the first, they kids lit candles and the principal talked about how it represented the Holy Spirit and how with a little flame a fire can spread and they can spread throughout each other. Pretty intense.
And then you have me sitting there, only used to this kind of stuff at “churchy” functions, looking around waiting for somebody to stand up and start yelling that since they believe that God is a tree or we are God or God doesn’t exist we can’t pray to Jesus. But that I know of, that doesn’t happen here.
Did I ever mention another thing that still startles me, although I am somewhat more use to it? The first week or two I was here in Costa Rica I was standing on the bus (as usual because there were no available seats) and I was enjoying the scenery outside the bus when I looked down at the lady sitting in the seat near me and she was breastfeeding her baby…no towel or shirt covering her up. My face turned red and I wondered if anybody else noticed.
And so, I learned that, for whatever reason, it is fairly normal to breastfeed in public here. Maybe it’s because of the long bus rides since most don’t own cars, or maybe it’s something different, but it’s normal here.
Also they charge in many public places to use the restroom, and they don’t drink beer out of the bottle (only Nicaraguans do that, I’m told) so they pour it into a cup with lots of ice. Who wants watered down beer?
Anyways I am here and living and fairly healthy and waiting, waiting, and waiting to come home. Some big things are going on here, so if you’re ever talking to God and you think of me, maybe throw my name in there.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Christmas in hot weather
For the first time since I arrived to San José de Upala I actually felt cold these last two nights and mornings. Apparently December is their coldest month. Although, cold for here is that now instead of sleeping with one sheet and only my shorts on when I sleep, I put a t-shirt and socks on, so it’s still not exactly cold. It’s amazing that in the day it’s still just as hot. It’s near 90 today, so I’m sitting here sweating like usual.
On Saturday the family bought a small little fake Christmas tree. Although it seems people celebrate Christmas here, there are a few differences. First, there aren’t a ton of evergreen trees here, and it never gets close to snowing. It’s a very different atmosphere. The weather is almost the same as it is the rest of the year, so although it seems people will be celebrating Christmas, not as many people have lights or trees, although some do have lights and trees.
The other difference I found was when I was talking to my old host mom, the one from training. I asked her about Christmas but she said Christmas isn’t a huge deal there for her. The reason is, however, that she is fairly poor and can only afford a little basket of candy for each of her grandkids. I know there are people like that in the U.S., but growing up in suburban Omaha, I didn’t know anybody like that.
With the end of their school year in site and classes ending in the next couple weeks, things are winding down around town. People still pressure me to teach them English, or should I say somehow channel it to them just while being in their presence (who wants to work to gain something anyways?) but with the school year ending, I’ve been telling them we’ll start in February. That gives me time to get the books and do some planning.
One thing that I can say positively is that my health has been good, and that is something I should be more thankful for. I think I wrote about it in another entry about my experience when I studied abroad in Costa Rica and how sick I was. Plus, since I don’t have good eating habits in the U.S, I’ve never felt really healthy as far as my stomach and food goes. But here, for the most part, I feel a lot better, health wise. I’m still used to eating rice and beans twice a day (lunch and dinner). I am eating so much though, and a few people around town have taken note that they can tell, at least in my face, that I’m gaining weight! I keep telling them after my two years I’m going to be fat.
Every moment of every day here is a struggle for me, an effort to push the “hard button.” It’s not enough to think only in today, that I will have a good day, for example. It’s a fight moment to moment as I struggle to determine which activities are best for the community and how to get community involvement. So many have their own agendas or want to use people or don’t understand sustainable development that it’s hard to know who to trust or who to work with each day. It’s really hard to keep the balance between rest and work, because I know that I could let myself slip into doing favors for people all day or overworking myself, and so that’s another struggle—taking the right amount of time out for myself.
Some really good, humble, and simply very nice people live here and have helped me tremendously through these hard times when I let comments from the negative people weigh me down. With the great people that are here, there are also people that seem to have few redeeming qualities, and sometimes it’s hard living and working with them.
With some low moments here I started looking through “Shattered Dreams” by Larry Crabb again. I read it earlier during training but depending on where we’re at in life, we can see very different things when we read or hear the same thing as before but now with different circumstances. What he talks about and what I’ve been thinking about lately has to do with trying to make sense of a seemingly unresponsive God, especially through our tough times. Although I don’t really understand the specifics, people I respect and look up to talk about how the hard times can be good for us—somehow we grow or learn or move forward. It’s really hard to see that right now in the middle of the storm.
One guy I’ve met will be entering his senior year of high school in February. He’s been a very good friend to me and he is very humble. He lives only with his mom in a house that has dirt for a floor and I don’t think any right angles exist in the house—I’m surprised the plywood is holding up. They are poor. Their only form of transportation is that he has a bike. They don’t have a car, landline phone, or cell phone.
He really stands out because he has such drive. Most people out here have little vision or drive to succeed, much of which is passed down from the parents. With little options for jobs in this place, it’s not a far fetch that people don’t have a lot of inspiration or incentive. But my friend (Oscar) has been teaching himself English for the last few years. His dream is to spend a week in the U.S. He wants to be a tour guide here in Costa Rica and he loves the English language and is so eager to see what the U.S. is like. He wants me to bring pictures back of anything—the streets, buildings, people.
I would really like to find an exchange program or a way to help him have his dream come true of spending a week (or more) in the U.S. One thing we take for granted, or at least I do, is that as a U.S. citizen we can travel to so many countries with ease. Yet here, there are so many people in Costa Rica that are turned down everyday for a visa to visit the U.S. And get this—it costs about $100 just to apply for a visa—and if they turn you down, that money isn’t returned. So there are poor people that have to save up just to apply, only to be turned down. Oscar can’t even afford a visa, but even if he saves up, I’m scared he will be turned down. I’ve noticed that exchange programs help, because once accepted, they take care of the technical stuff like visas, and everyone accepted into the program gets a visa and gets to travel. So the hard part is finding and getting accepted into an exchange program.
Anyways, I’m mentioning this story because I’d like to do more research in getting him a program or some organization that he can apply for that will allow him to do something in the U.S. Work or attend school or something. I figure enough people read this that somebody might know somebody who might know of an organization. Please let me know!
On Saturday the family bought a small little fake Christmas tree. Although it seems people celebrate Christmas here, there are a few differences. First, there aren’t a ton of evergreen trees here, and it never gets close to snowing. It’s a very different atmosphere. The weather is almost the same as it is the rest of the year, so although it seems people will be celebrating Christmas, not as many people have lights or trees, although some do have lights and trees.
The other difference I found was when I was talking to my old host mom, the one from training. I asked her about Christmas but she said Christmas isn’t a huge deal there for her. The reason is, however, that she is fairly poor and can only afford a little basket of candy for each of her grandkids. I know there are people like that in the U.S., but growing up in suburban Omaha, I didn’t know anybody like that.
With the end of their school year in site and classes ending in the next couple weeks, things are winding down around town. People still pressure me to teach them English, or should I say somehow channel it to them just while being in their presence (who wants to work to gain something anyways?) but with the school year ending, I’ve been telling them we’ll start in February. That gives me time to get the books and do some planning.
One thing that I can say positively is that my health has been good, and that is something I should be more thankful for. I think I wrote about it in another entry about my experience when I studied abroad in Costa Rica and how sick I was. Plus, since I don’t have good eating habits in the U.S, I’ve never felt really healthy as far as my stomach and food goes. But here, for the most part, I feel a lot better, health wise. I’m still used to eating rice and beans twice a day (lunch and dinner). I am eating so much though, and a few people around town have taken note that they can tell, at least in my face, that I’m gaining weight! I keep telling them after my two years I’m going to be fat.
Every moment of every day here is a struggle for me, an effort to push the “hard button.” It’s not enough to think only in today, that I will have a good day, for example. It’s a fight moment to moment as I struggle to determine which activities are best for the community and how to get community involvement. So many have their own agendas or want to use people or don’t understand sustainable development that it’s hard to know who to trust or who to work with each day. It’s really hard to keep the balance between rest and work, because I know that I could let myself slip into doing favors for people all day or overworking myself, and so that’s another struggle—taking the right amount of time out for myself.
Some really good, humble, and simply very nice people live here and have helped me tremendously through these hard times when I let comments from the negative people weigh me down. With the great people that are here, there are also people that seem to have few redeeming qualities, and sometimes it’s hard living and working with them.
With some low moments here I started looking through “Shattered Dreams” by Larry Crabb again. I read it earlier during training but depending on where we’re at in life, we can see very different things when we read or hear the same thing as before but now with different circumstances. What he talks about and what I’ve been thinking about lately has to do with trying to make sense of a seemingly unresponsive God, especially through our tough times. Although I don’t really understand the specifics, people I respect and look up to talk about how the hard times can be good for us—somehow we grow or learn or move forward. It’s really hard to see that right now in the middle of the storm.
One guy I’ve met will be entering his senior year of high school in February. He’s been a very good friend to me and he is very humble. He lives only with his mom in a house that has dirt for a floor and I don’t think any right angles exist in the house—I’m surprised the plywood is holding up. They are poor. Their only form of transportation is that he has a bike. They don’t have a car, landline phone, or cell phone.
He really stands out because he has such drive. Most people out here have little vision or drive to succeed, much of which is passed down from the parents. With little options for jobs in this place, it’s not a far fetch that people don’t have a lot of inspiration or incentive. But my friend (Oscar) has been teaching himself English for the last few years. His dream is to spend a week in the U.S. He wants to be a tour guide here in Costa Rica and he loves the English language and is so eager to see what the U.S. is like. He wants me to bring pictures back of anything—the streets, buildings, people.
I would really like to find an exchange program or a way to help him have his dream come true of spending a week (or more) in the U.S. One thing we take for granted, or at least I do, is that as a U.S. citizen we can travel to so many countries with ease. Yet here, there are so many people in Costa Rica that are turned down everyday for a visa to visit the U.S. And get this—it costs about $100 just to apply for a visa—and if they turn you down, that money isn’t returned. So there are poor people that have to save up just to apply, only to be turned down. Oscar can’t even afford a visa, but even if he saves up, I’m scared he will be turned down. I’ve noticed that exchange programs help, because once accepted, they take care of the technical stuff like visas, and everyone accepted into the program gets a visa and gets to travel. So the hard part is finding and getting accepted into an exchange program.
Anyways, I’m mentioning this story because I’d like to do more research in getting him a program or some organization that he can apply for that will allow him to do something in the U.S. Work or attend school or something. I figure enough people read this that somebody might know somebody who might know of an organization. Please let me know!
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Crazy Life in Costa Rica
Hey!
Well I´m here at the usual place, an Internet café in the nearest town with Internet. I was thinking about being home for Christmas, and how it will be weird to be back in a house where we can use fast internet anytime we want. Crazy!
At the high school, we have been planning the new school year, which starts in early February. It looks like I will be teaching a few classes—a business class and a couple English classes. The business class is the one I have been sitting in on to get a better feel for it and how the schools work, and to get to know the people.
I feel like it will be very weird to be teaching at all. I already have been teaching English, a few times, more informally, with lesson plans made up from my head. And before joining Peace Corps, I knew that I may have to teach some English. So I´m still trying to avoid that or settle the people down that I´m not going to be teaching ton of English, hopefully. I have never felt a calling to teaching, and I don´t really like English.
I am, however, excited for the business administration class/starting your own business. This class is based not just on technical aspects, but on motivation that it is possible and what kinds of attitudes and behaviors to have. This is more what I thought I´d be doing when I joined Peace Corps, although not in a formal setting. I thought it´d be more with groups and cooperatives. I am working on one project with a women´s group, so the high school class will just be a little more formal.
Here it is very hard to determine how much time to put into these projects. I really have to learn how to balance many different things at once and manage my days. “Free days” sound really nice, but it´s so difficult because a lot of people see a volunteer and all they see is free labor. I am having trouble figuring out who is sincere and honest and who isn´t.
One thing that really gets me down in life is that it seems there are so few people who are authentic, honest, and passionate. So many people talk and promise. We are bombarded from all over with advertisements showing the best food, tv, computer, and beer that helps you get really hot women. We are pushed on all sides by people selling their religion, their view on life, their product.
And yet what it seems there is so few of is people who are living out what they believe, what they sell. We are all doing our best, that I have no doubt. But the narrow road really is hard to find, it seems. I know truth is out there, but so many people have hidden agendas it´s hard what to believe.
Having a good conversation in Spanish is hard…it takes somebody with patience and knows how to speak clearly. I find myself even avoiding certain people because they just get so frustrated with me. Then there are other people who I understand very well and they understand me! I try to spend more time with these people.
Even though Peace Corps started engraining it in my head from before I left, I still struggle with feelings that I´m not making a difference. Especially early on, they say, it´s hard to see progress. But apparently helping people is harder than I thought. We were taught not to do things for them, that we support and encourage and help along with them, and yet this process is slow.
In addition, many people don´t agree with this process. They don´t want a process. They want results. They see a volunteer who may not have an appointment on Monday, so why aren´t you teaching or getting something “done”? Why are you doing an analysis of the community? What a waste of time, they say.
Well I hope I´m not wasting my time here. Maybe I´m in that transition phase because it´s still early on. I´ve been in the community over two months now, so it´s just hard when on the surface, it seems I haven´t done that much.
Soon I will be finishing up my analysis and heading home for Christmas! I am so looking forward to seeing everybody!
Please pray.
-Nick
Well I´m here at the usual place, an Internet café in the nearest town with Internet. I was thinking about being home for Christmas, and how it will be weird to be back in a house where we can use fast internet anytime we want. Crazy!
At the high school, we have been planning the new school year, which starts in early February. It looks like I will be teaching a few classes—a business class and a couple English classes. The business class is the one I have been sitting in on to get a better feel for it and how the schools work, and to get to know the people.
I feel like it will be very weird to be teaching at all. I already have been teaching English, a few times, more informally, with lesson plans made up from my head. And before joining Peace Corps, I knew that I may have to teach some English. So I´m still trying to avoid that or settle the people down that I´m not going to be teaching ton of English, hopefully. I have never felt a calling to teaching, and I don´t really like English.
I am, however, excited for the business administration class/starting your own business. This class is based not just on technical aspects, but on motivation that it is possible and what kinds of attitudes and behaviors to have. This is more what I thought I´d be doing when I joined Peace Corps, although not in a formal setting. I thought it´d be more with groups and cooperatives. I am working on one project with a women´s group, so the high school class will just be a little more formal.
Here it is very hard to determine how much time to put into these projects. I really have to learn how to balance many different things at once and manage my days. “Free days” sound really nice, but it´s so difficult because a lot of people see a volunteer and all they see is free labor. I am having trouble figuring out who is sincere and honest and who isn´t.
One thing that really gets me down in life is that it seems there are so few people who are authentic, honest, and passionate. So many people talk and promise. We are bombarded from all over with advertisements showing the best food, tv, computer, and beer that helps you get really hot women. We are pushed on all sides by people selling their religion, their view on life, their product.
And yet what it seems there is so few of is people who are living out what they believe, what they sell. We are all doing our best, that I have no doubt. But the narrow road really is hard to find, it seems. I know truth is out there, but so many people have hidden agendas it´s hard what to believe.
Having a good conversation in Spanish is hard…it takes somebody with patience and knows how to speak clearly. I find myself even avoiding certain people because they just get so frustrated with me. Then there are other people who I understand very well and they understand me! I try to spend more time with these people.
Even though Peace Corps started engraining it in my head from before I left, I still struggle with feelings that I´m not making a difference. Especially early on, they say, it´s hard to see progress. But apparently helping people is harder than I thought. We were taught not to do things for them, that we support and encourage and help along with them, and yet this process is slow.
In addition, many people don´t agree with this process. They don´t want a process. They want results. They see a volunteer who may not have an appointment on Monday, so why aren´t you teaching or getting something “done”? Why are you doing an analysis of the community? What a waste of time, they say.
Well I hope I´m not wasting my time here. Maybe I´m in that transition phase because it´s still early on. I´ve been in the community over two months now, so it´s just hard when on the surface, it seems I haven´t done that much.
Soon I will be finishing up my analysis and heading home for Christmas! I am so looking forward to seeing everybody!
Please pray.
-Nick
Monday, November 19, 2007
Mystery
“With every step you take, remember that your footsteps fall where the presence of God has already gone before you, so you can step forward with confidence and faith. Even though we are miles apart, we are united in the oneness of God´s Spirit.”
Monday, November 12, 2007
Livin the Pura Vida
I just returned from the all volunteer conference (it was four days) where all 98 volunteers in Costa Rica met up in the mountains surrounding the capitol. We had some workshops and a fun time to hang out and meet some of the other volunteers that are also serving alongside us but all over Costa Rica. It was a very good time because I met new volunteers, played in a poker tournament (for candy—we cannot gamble! Apparently volunteers cant make money—who makes these rules anyways?), and watched the different talents of other volunteers in a talent show.
After the four day conference, two other volunteers and I had planned on taking a two day vacation to the Caribbean coast to enjoy the beach. We found out there was flooding and heavy rains, so the day of the trip we changed our plans and found some buses to the pacific coast. We found a nice little hotel (really just a house with an upstairs to ourselves—a kitchen, two bedrooms, cable tv! Whoo!) and stayed there two nights. The beach was so beautiful and it was nice to get away and also hang out with some good friends that I had met in training. Today me and one guy I was with went snorkeling and I was about 10 feet from a sting ray! This was my first time ever snorkeling and I was really scared at first. We saw some really colorful and bright fish and the guide took us to a secluded beach for a while afterwards.
Last night we went out late and had a bonfire on the beach. I love bon fires and sitting around talking. The only thing we did not have was smores and hot dogs…but hey, I am not gonna complain. It was a nice little two day vacation.
Tomorrow at 8am I have another English class, and the rest of the week I will continue gathering information for my community analysis paper. Thursday and Friday I will be up at the high school again for the business class, where I am learning more than helping. Its a really good class and feels a bit weird to be sitting in on a high school class. It also feels really weird to be teaching high school seniors.
The all volunteer conference was great because I love to see the different perspectives and experiences of the other volunteers. For example, a group just left at the end of September because they completed their 27 months. It was really helpful to have gotten to know some of them while I was in training, because they are where I will be in a couple years and they survived. They more than survived. I also like talking to the volunteers that are newer and are just a few months ahead of me (there is a group of volunteers that arrived here 3 or 4 months before my group). So last night my friend Ren and I sat around the bonfire (okay laid on the beach next to it) talking about life here and all the good (and hard) experiences.
Well tomorrow is back to the real world after a nice little vacation. Its good to be back in the hot weather (I couldn’t stand the cold mountains—mostly because everything is wide open and there aren’t heaters) and Im realizing how I do like the hot weather. Christmas in Nebraska will be a little crazy change, but I cant wait to come home!
After the four day conference, two other volunteers and I had planned on taking a two day vacation to the Caribbean coast to enjoy the beach. We found out there was flooding and heavy rains, so the day of the trip we changed our plans and found some buses to the pacific coast. We found a nice little hotel (really just a house with an upstairs to ourselves—a kitchen, two bedrooms, cable tv! Whoo!) and stayed there two nights. The beach was so beautiful and it was nice to get away and also hang out with some good friends that I had met in training. Today me and one guy I was with went snorkeling and I was about 10 feet from a sting ray! This was my first time ever snorkeling and I was really scared at first. We saw some really colorful and bright fish and the guide took us to a secluded beach for a while afterwards.
Last night we went out late and had a bonfire on the beach. I love bon fires and sitting around talking. The only thing we did not have was smores and hot dogs…but hey, I am not gonna complain. It was a nice little two day vacation.
Tomorrow at 8am I have another English class, and the rest of the week I will continue gathering information for my community analysis paper. Thursday and Friday I will be up at the high school again for the business class, where I am learning more than helping. Its a really good class and feels a bit weird to be sitting in on a high school class. It also feels really weird to be teaching high school seniors.
The all volunteer conference was great because I love to see the different perspectives and experiences of the other volunteers. For example, a group just left at the end of September because they completed their 27 months. It was really helpful to have gotten to know some of them while I was in training, because they are where I will be in a couple years and they survived. They more than survived. I also like talking to the volunteers that are newer and are just a few months ahead of me (there is a group of volunteers that arrived here 3 or 4 months before my group). So last night my friend Ren and I sat around the bonfire (okay laid on the beach next to it) talking about life here and all the good (and hard) experiences.
Well tomorrow is back to the real world after a nice little vacation. Its good to be back in the hot weather (I couldn’t stand the cold mountains—mostly because everything is wide open and there aren’t heaters) and Im realizing how I do like the hot weather. Christmas in Nebraska will be a little crazy change, but I cant wait to come home!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Being a tourist for halloween
First of all, Happy Halloween! Right about this time in the U.S. people are wondering the streets searching for free candy. If I was there, I would be doing the same. Even a few years ago I put on a mask (so the people with candy could not tell my age as well) and I went trick or treating. Hey, free candy people.
Most of Costa Rica does not celebrate Halloween. My host mom says that in certain places of Costa Rica some have started to celebrate because they like to imitate and learn things from the U.S. on some stuff. But nobody in my town celebrates.
This post is coming to you straight from a nice hotel! I traveled to La Fortuna today (about a 2 or 2 and a half hour bus ride from San Jose de Upala) to meet up with Howie and Diane, good family friends (they are family!). They are in Costa Rica on a tour guided trip and I got to go with them today through the jungle/rain forest on a guided tour and then we went to the hot springs! Wow, I am living it large! Now I am staying in the hotel for the night because there are no buses at night and I will return “home” tomorrow. What a great day! It was a little like déjà vu being at the hot springs because it is the same hot springs I was at over two years ago when I studied abroad here. I was so sick when I studied abroad (not sure what from—the water?) and the night we were at the hot springs, I was very sick with simultaneously throwing up and having diarrhea. At the same time. If you haven’t done it before, you should try it sometime. I mean I have heard that whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
Saturday I had a run in with some bats in an abandoned house. There is a protected laguna/lake near where I am living and there is a group of high school students trying to form a cooperative to reforest and help restore the area (some guy didn’t take good care of it). An abandoned house sits near the lake and so when we went in, bats were flying everywhere (we disturbed their sleep). I am learning to do what the Costa Ricans do (they live here after all and learn to survive) and they weren’t scared and just shrugged it off so I did my best to act cool. Hmmm so I wasn’t very cool about it.
I put some pictures up. They are of the two classes (Thursdays and Fridays) in the high school of the business administration class where they are taught how to start a business and be entrepreneurs. The teacher works with motivation and attitudes we should have to work with people and start our own business. This class gives students a third option besides leaving the community to work (1) or going to the university (if they don’t get in) (2). The universities here are hard to get in to.
Pictures:
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/561183624nlhVvM
That is all for now. Later! -Nick
Most of Costa Rica does not celebrate Halloween. My host mom says that in certain places of Costa Rica some have started to celebrate because they like to imitate and learn things from the U.S. on some stuff. But nobody in my town celebrates.
This post is coming to you straight from a nice hotel! I traveled to La Fortuna today (about a 2 or 2 and a half hour bus ride from San Jose de Upala) to meet up with Howie and Diane, good family friends (they are family!). They are in Costa Rica on a tour guided trip and I got to go with them today through the jungle/rain forest on a guided tour and then we went to the hot springs! Wow, I am living it large! Now I am staying in the hotel for the night because there are no buses at night and I will return “home” tomorrow. What a great day! It was a little like déjà vu being at the hot springs because it is the same hot springs I was at over two years ago when I studied abroad here. I was so sick when I studied abroad (not sure what from—the water?) and the night we were at the hot springs, I was very sick with simultaneously throwing up and having diarrhea. At the same time. If you haven’t done it before, you should try it sometime. I mean I have heard that whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
Saturday I had a run in with some bats in an abandoned house. There is a protected laguna/lake near where I am living and there is a group of high school students trying to form a cooperative to reforest and help restore the area (some guy didn’t take good care of it). An abandoned house sits near the lake and so when we went in, bats were flying everywhere (we disturbed their sleep). I am learning to do what the Costa Ricans do (they live here after all and learn to survive) and they weren’t scared and just shrugged it off so I did my best to act cool. Hmmm so I wasn’t very cool about it.
I put some pictures up. They are of the two classes (Thursdays and Fridays) in the high school of the business administration class where they are taught how to start a business and be entrepreneurs. The teacher works with motivation and attitudes we should have to work with people and start our own business. This class gives students a third option besides leaving the community to work (1) or going to the university (if they don’t get in) (2). The universities here are hard to get in to.
Pictures:
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/561183624nlhVvM
That is all for now. Later! -Nick
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Random Life Thoughts
Life is picking up here as I get to know the people better and start doing more things in the community. I taught my first class of English yesterday to a group of about 10 high school students, and tomorrow I will teach another class. They are graduating in December (the school year here begins in February and ends in December, and their summer vacation is December through February) so we are trying to squeeze in a few weeks of English for them, although in reality it takes years to learn English. But—little by little, right?
Sunday, October 14, 2007
The First Month of Peace Corps
Today is a beautiful and sunny day. I love road trips, preferably with friends and family, but my road trip on bus today was still good. The scenery calls your attention and it´s sometimes hard to take your eyes off the greenness and richness of nature here. My favorite is to listen to some reggae music, usually Bob Marley or 311, and drift off looking out the window. I left this morning at 4am to catch a bus from San José de Upala to Upala. From Upala at 5:15 the bus left for the capital city San José, and I arrived here a little after 10am.
We get a couple days each month that we can be away from our sites, and so I´m using tonight and tomorrow night to stay with my host mom from training. Today I will go visit her and her grandkids, who I grew pretty close to in the three months that I lived with them. Part of my trip´s purpose was also to visit Paula, but now I don´t think I will see her because we broke up Friday night. I learned a lot from our relationship and needless to say, my first cross-cultural relationship is over.
Now that I´ve been at my site for about a month, things are moving along in some ways. On Thursdays and Fridays I go to the high school where I sit in on a class on business administration. I really enjoy this class because the teacher focuses on knowing yourself, attitudes, and values first and then moves into more technical business stuff. We have decided that I´m going to try and teach English to these two classes on Mondays and Tuesdays, but I really have no idea what I´m doing or how it´s going to work. I think I´m starting next week! I have to come up with my own lesson plan and how to fill the two hours.
Another project, of sorts, is on Friday afternoons. I have been going to one of the local elementary schools and meeting with some of the mom´s of the students (sort of a women´s group—men are invited but no men come). I´m not sure where the group is going, but we´re talking about small businesses and I think we might throw some workshops in on values or relationships or managing money.
In addition to these projects, I have to work on my community analysis. This is a slow process but I´m trying to do it little by little. When it is finished I will know a ton about the community of San José de Upala.
On Wednesday, I went out to a kid named Luis´ farm. I met him one day at the elementary school and he is sort of an outcast so I was immediately drawn to him. I have since visited him a couple times and am getting to know the family. Their family is very poor. They have an old style house made out of some old 2 by 4s and their house is just a dirt floor. They don´t have potable water but do have a well out back, but I´ve heard it´s very bad for your health because the water is contaminated. They have an outhouse out back along with the “shower,” which is really just three pieces of tin standing up and a bucket you have to fill with water to wash yourself. They are a nice, humble family and I would love to do something with them, but I don´t know anything about agriculture and their dad just tries to farm his land.
Anyways, on Wednesday me and Luis went around and picked some apples and oranges and some other strange fruit that we ate along the way. A river runs through San José de Upala and runs through the backyard at Luis´s house, and so we went fishing. It´s a cord with a hook on the end and you throw the cord in the water by hand and just pull it in by hand. It was a ton of fun!
Overall, the first month was filled with ups and downs. Many days, I still don´t know what to do but I´m hanging in there. This is a crazy experience!
I want to say thank you so much for everyone who has been supporting and encouraging me! I have truly learned so much from you guys, about sacrifice and love and prayer.
We get a couple days each month that we can be away from our sites, and so I´m using tonight and tomorrow night to stay with my host mom from training. Today I will go visit her and her grandkids, who I grew pretty close to in the three months that I lived with them. Part of my trip´s purpose was also to visit Paula, but now I don´t think I will see her because we broke up Friday night. I learned a lot from our relationship and needless to say, my first cross-cultural relationship is over.
Now that I´ve been at my site for about a month, things are moving along in some ways. On Thursdays and Fridays I go to the high school where I sit in on a class on business administration. I really enjoy this class because the teacher focuses on knowing yourself, attitudes, and values first and then moves into more technical business stuff. We have decided that I´m going to try and teach English to these two classes on Mondays and Tuesdays, but I really have no idea what I´m doing or how it´s going to work. I think I´m starting next week! I have to come up with my own lesson plan and how to fill the two hours.
Another project, of sorts, is on Friday afternoons. I have been going to one of the local elementary schools and meeting with some of the mom´s of the students (sort of a women´s group—men are invited but no men come). I´m not sure where the group is going, but we´re talking about small businesses and I think we might throw some workshops in on values or relationships or managing money.
In addition to these projects, I have to work on my community analysis. This is a slow process but I´m trying to do it little by little. When it is finished I will know a ton about the community of San José de Upala.
On Wednesday, I went out to a kid named Luis´ farm. I met him one day at the elementary school and he is sort of an outcast so I was immediately drawn to him. I have since visited him a couple times and am getting to know the family. Their family is very poor. They have an old style house made out of some old 2 by 4s and their house is just a dirt floor. They don´t have potable water but do have a well out back, but I´ve heard it´s very bad for your health because the water is contaminated. They have an outhouse out back along with the “shower,” which is really just three pieces of tin standing up and a bucket you have to fill with water to wash yourself. They are a nice, humble family and I would love to do something with them, but I don´t know anything about agriculture and their dad just tries to farm his land.
Anyways, on Wednesday me and Luis went around and picked some apples and oranges and some other strange fruit that we ate along the way. A river runs through San José de Upala and runs through the backyard at Luis´s house, and so we went fishing. It´s a cord with a hook on the end and you throw the cord in the water by hand and just pull it in by hand. It was a ton of fun!
Overall, the first month was filled with ups and downs. Many days, I still don´t know what to do but I´m hanging in there. This is a crazy experience!
I want to say thank you so much for everyone who has been supporting and encouraging me! I have truly learned so much from you guys, about sacrifice and love and prayer.
Friday, October 5, 2007
The Poor and the Rich and Coincidences
¨Our deepest joy comes from right relationships—with God, neighbor, and the earth¨ I´m realizing that´s one reason it´s been rough here—I did just move to San José de Upala less than three weeks ago, and since my relationships, at least with neighbors and family and friends, are somewhat lacking, the joy has been lacking too. I´m reading ¨Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger¨ by Ronald Sider and he said the above quote in his book. I may have talked it into the ground but I´m realzing here how important my relationships back home were and are. Having a safe place to share your thoughts and know you will still be listened to and loved is a great feeling, and for the time being, I´m still just getting to know these people here in Costa Rica. It´s a slow process, but little by little I am finding some friends to talk to. I am already learning my lesson about small towns—people blab everything about anyone and a gringo is no exception.
I´ve been thinking a lot about the poor and rich and everything in between. For my birthday, one night my host family had their friends (the guy from Switzerland, his wife, and kid) over for a little get together. That same weekend, Paula and her friend Ennio made the 8 hour trek up to see me, and another Peace Corps volunteer that lives about 20 minutes away from me came up to the party too. So the setting is all of us, sitting outside on the porch, telling jokes and cooking food and some people singing karaoke.
They started giving me some advice. ¨If I was 24, knowing what I know now…¨ type advice for the birthday boy. One of the suggestions, from the dude from Switzerland, was to invest now. Don´t wait for my two years to be up before I buy Costa Rican property! This reminded me of accounting classes (and finance classes) where they told us how compound interest is one of the most powerful things on earth, and so we should invest now so our money can compound radically. It´s no coincidence that a few days later, in ¨Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger,¨ Sider quotes C.S. Lewis—
¨Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I made every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of.¨
Some good (but crazy and full of mystery) stuff has been happening. I don´t believe in coincidences and I´ve had a couple of moments with my host dad. Okay so they may not be that big of a deal to you, but they were a big deal to me.
First, the same time I was waiting for my book ¨The End of Poverty¨ to come in the mail, my host dad happened to buy it here in Costa Rica (his copy in Spanish). It gave us some common ground and I´m starting to realize there is a reason I was placed with this family. My host dad and I can really relate and we have a ton in common.
Before this happened, my uncle Pat had recommended a few good books that I should check out. One was by Herman Hesse called ¨Siddartha¨ and I had it written down on my desk to think about getting that book. This week I was looking at my host dad´s (Fabian) books and saw that he had an old copy of Siddartha (in Spanish) on the shelf. He received that book when he was about my age. We had been talking about me starting to try and read in Spanish instead of all these books in English and so now I have started to read Siddartha in Spanish!
Despite many great experiences here, a few things I have had to get used to include Costa Ricans (Ticos) perception of the U.S. and people from the U.S. On the funnier side of things is that people often think I´m working for the CIA. They bring it up in a joking way that we are spying on Costa Ricans and people in other countries through the Peace Corps. So that is something that has put a smile on my face here. We only wish we were that important!
Something, however, that actually makes me get a little mad is that many people here think I am here because I´m avoiding the military. They think that in the U.S., we have to join the military or join the Peace Corps. I´ve had a few different people say, you´re here because you didn’t want to go to Iraq, right?
Another thing I just thought of yesterday, and it´s been somewhat on my mind today. The new slogan of Peace Corps is ¨Life is Calling. How far will you go?¨ But their old slogan was ¨The toughest job you´ll ever love¨. Anyways, the reason I´ve been thinking about that is because things have been pretty tough, at times, here. But somewhere deep inside, I know there is a reason for being here and this is where I´m supposed to be. It´s a crazy feeling, amidst sadness and some pain, to realize that you have some purpose here.
I was going to write some stuff I am learning about community and sharing and giving (some good stuff from Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger) but I´m tired. Maybe I´ll write about it later, or maybe I´ll spare people the boredom.
New pictures are up!
http://community.webshots.com/album/560948381WciwOk?start=0
I´ve been thinking a lot about the poor and rich and everything in between. For my birthday, one night my host family had their friends (the guy from Switzerland, his wife, and kid) over for a little get together. That same weekend, Paula and her friend Ennio made the 8 hour trek up to see me, and another Peace Corps volunteer that lives about 20 minutes away from me came up to the party too. So the setting is all of us, sitting outside on the porch, telling jokes and cooking food and some people singing karaoke.
They started giving me some advice. ¨If I was 24, knowing what I know now…¨ type advice for the birthday boy. One of the suggestions, from the dude from Switzerland, was to invest now. Don´t wait for my two years to be up before I buy Costa Rican property! This reminded me of accounting classes (and finance classes) where they told us how compound interest is one of the most powerful things on earth, and so we should invest now so our money can compound radically. It´s no coincidence that a few days later, in ¨Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger,¨ Sider quotes C.S. Lewis—
¨Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I made every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of.¨
Some good (but crazy and full of mystery) stuff has been happening. I don´t believe in coincidences and I´ve had a couple of moments with my host dad. Okay so they may not be that big of a deal to you, but they were a big deal to me.
First, the same time I was waiting for my book ¨The End of Poverty¨ to come in the mail, my host dad happened to buy it here in Costa Rica (his copy in Spanish). It gave us some common ground and I´m starting to realize there is a reason I was placed with this family. My host dad and I can really relate and we have a ton in common.
Before this happened, my uncle Pat had recommended a few good books that I should check out. One was by Herman Hesse called ¨Siddartha¨ and I had it written down on my desk to think about getting that book. This week I was looking at my host dad´s (Fabian) books and saw that he had an old copy of Siddartha (in Spanish) on the shelf. He received that book when he was about my age. We had been talking about me starting to try and read in Spanish instead of all these books in English and so now I have started to read Siddartha in Spanish!
Despite many great experiences here, a few things I have had to get used to include Costa Ricans (Ticos) perception of the U.S. and people from the U.S. On the funnier side of things is that people often think I´m working for the CIA. They bring it up in a joking way that we are spying on Costa Ricans and people in other countries through the Peace Corps. So that is something that has put a smile on my face here. We only wish we were that important!
Something, however, that actually makes me get a little mad is that many people here think I am here because I´m avoiding the military. They think that in the U.S., we have to join the military or join the Peace Corps. I´ve had a few different people say, you´re here because you didn’t want to go to Iraq, right?
Another thing I just thought of yesterday, and it´s been somewhat on my mind today. The new slogan of Peace Corps is ¨Life is Calling. How far will you go?¨ But their old slogan was ¨The toughest job you´ll ever love¨. Anyways, the reason I´ve been thinking about that is because things have been pretty tough, at times, here. But somewhere deep inside, I know there is a reason for being here and this is where I´m supposed to be. It´s a crazy feeling, amidst sadness and some pain, to realize that you have some purpose here.
I was going to write some stuff I am learning about community and sharing and giving (some good stuff from Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger) but I´m tired. Maybe I´ll write about it later, or maybe I´ll spare people the boredom.
New pictures are up!
http://community.webshots.com/album/560948381WciwOk?start=0
Monday, October 1, 2007
Quick update and cell phone
My time tonight on the Internet is very short, so I will have to make this fast. I got a cell phone this weekend! The area code for Costa Rica is 506 and my number is 370-5068. The cool thing about the government run cell phones here is that all incoming calls are free, so when people call from the states, it´s free for me to receive it (although you still have to use a phone card to call me). I would love to hear from you. (Thanks for calling tonight grandma!)
Although I barely know the people here, they are really doing their best on my birthday and doing their best to make me feel at home. Thanks so much for the packages and letters! They mean so much. I wish I had more time but I will write more when I can.
We took some more pictures and I will put those up later. There are some great ones of the volcanoes and I went back to farm and saw the alligators again, and my host dad got a couple good shots of them.
I miss you!
Although I barely know the people here, they are really doing their best on my birthday and doing their best to make me feel at home. Thanks so much for the packages and letters! They mean so much. I wish I had more time but I will write more when I can.
We took some more pictures and I will put those up later. There are some great ones of the volcanoes and I went back to farm and saw the alligators again, and my host dad got a couple good shots of them.
I miss you!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
What Am I Doing Here?
Sometimes my new entries come from a happier, more content and peaceful place, and sometimes they come from hardships I may be feeling. Today comes from a rougher patch I´m going through, so this is just to let you know where I´m coming from (in case my thoughts seem a bit crazy).
Today it really hit me how much I miss talking to people about life, about love, about God, about how to actually live what Jesus talked about so many years ago, about how He speaks to us in our culture and time today. It´s a struggle here because I am not very close to anybody here in Costa Rica. A place deep within me longs and misses spontaneous and random (but full of life and passion) talks with mom, Jeremy, people from challenge and CSF, and my good friends. There´s something about connecting with people in a safe place where you can really be yourself and talk about what you are feeling deep within.
Last week a friend of my host family visited them. He invited me to see his farm and eat lunch with him, so the next day he picked me up and we went out to his farm, a couple miles from where I live. The man is from Switzerland and speaks Spanish and French. He has a huge, beautiful farm and a really nice house. Running through his farm is a creek and so he took me down there, being careful to watch for snakes. He said there are a number of poisonous snakes around, but I didn´t see any, that day. What we did see were a couple baby alligators (crocodiles? I don´t know the difference) and a bigger one, about 15 feet in front of us. I think it´s the first time I´ve seen a live one outside of the zoo!
Yesterday I had another first time. It was the first time I´ve seen a snake in the house. I will try and put a picture up on here but they are also up on my webshots.com page. I also uploaded some new pictures I took with my host family´s camera. They are of the host family, their house, my room off to the side of the house, the elementary school next door, and the street where I live. Here´s the website again--
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/560825722dUvlqd
Tons of geckos run around at night all around my door and around the house. The other day when I was walking up to the high school I saw some monkeys playing in the trees. They make really loud noises, so when you hear the noises you think they are big gorillas, but the ones I saw were pretty small. Anyways, for those that come to visit we will hopefully get a glimpse of these, and hopefully not a glimpse of scorpions or tarantulas! Luckily I haven´t seen a tarantula yet, but I´m guessing within two years I´ll probably see one.
One thing Peace Corps as us all doing the first few months is called a CAT—Community Assessment Tool. We write it in Spanish, anywhere from 20 to 100 pages of an in depth assessment of the community. It´s one way to get integrated because we have to learn everything about the community. I started that today but it will be a long process.
What is really hard is that the high school principal wants me ¨working,¨ in the traditional sense of the word, right away. Also, my host family is asking me what I have been doing all day. Lots of my training focused on getting to know the community and the importance of this. The training focused on sustainable development, meaning that the work will continue in the community after the volunteer leaves. This focuses on helping the people help themselves and empowering them to take control of their own lives. Peace Corps emphasized that the process is just as important as the end result, and it´s important we don´t rush into projects without first knowing the people. So this has been a challenge for me because I am trying to get to know the people. For example, having coffee at someone´s house and talking about life, the community, family, and culture is considered getting to know the community, and an important part of work. This I love, but it´s hard figuring out how to do this and get to know the community.
My family here is super humble and caring and my host mom cooks great food. I am already used to eating rice and beans at every meal, something I didn´t think I´d ever get used to.
I am realizing how much I took for granted connecting with people and how I need other people to put me in my place. I am realizing, also, how selfish I really am. C.S. talked about how he never had an unselfish thought in his entire life. That´s how I feel. Everything seems to come back to me. It´s like Donald Miller wrote—I am starring in my own movie because I am in every scene. What interests me is trying to get away from this, but the more I try, the more I just think about myself.
Tests are everywhere here, and I am only beginning to realize it. This selfishness one is just one of many that is trying to get me down. I´m not really sure where I´m going with that thought but it´s just something I´ve been thinking about lately.
Friends and family, you have shown me how caring and giving people really can be. I have felt so encouraged here by everyone back home, and I want to say thank you and I miss you tons. You are showing me love and service in new ways.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Brokenness, Hope, Joy
“Brokenness is the realization that life is too much for us, not just because there is too much pain but also because we´re too selfish. Brokenness is realizing He is all we have. Hope is realizing He is all we need. Joy is realizing He is all we want…
“I have spent so much of my life hearing that sort of teaching and thinking of it as true but not immediately necessary to grasp. I now see it differently. I am beginning to understand that the loneliness I have for so long tried to relieve by marrying, by developing friendships, by writing books, by thinking of funny things to say at parties, is really a hunger for God.”
Larry Crabb writes this in his book “Becoming a True Spiritual Community” (thanks to mom for sending it to me!) and as I have been reading it, this is just one of the things that really hit me. I love him as a writer and almost all his books impact me greatly, and this is just one of the things I have been thinking about lately.
Four days ago I arrived at my new site. In Costa Rica the people often end their sentences with “Si Dios quiere” which means “if God wants it”. For example, I say “See ya tomorrow” and they answer “If God wants it”. So we from the U.S. take that to mean that it may or may not happen. Like, hey I´ll be there tomorrow, unless God doesn´t want me to do the work, then I won´t show up. Naw, but I don´t think they mean it that way. It´s interesting because they don´t have a separation between church and state here so people talk about God much more here.
So I tell people I arrived four days ago and will be staying for two years, “Si Dios quiere.” I gotta throw in little things like that so I can try and fit in with their culture.
It´s really hot here and I walk around all day with drops of sweat on my face. I don´t think it´s any hotter than Nebraska in the heat of summer, but they don´t have air conditioning here.
I am settled in to my new room. It has a single bed and a single shelving unit with three shelves. Also, I have little neighbors all over one wall—ants. But they don´t bother me and for now haven´t entered my bed. It´s amazing how I´m not as scared of bugs or spiders anymore. The people live with them here and they survive, so I figure I can do the same. I bought a string to try and hang up in my room so I can hang up some clothes, and I bought some tape to put some pictures up on the walls since everything is bare. If anyone has posters or pictures or anything cool to put on the wall, I´d love you to send it!
Monday I visited the high school. The high school has four main project ideas right now. First, the entire town of San Jose de Upala has no trash pick up. This is supposed to be the responsibility of the nearest town, Upala, but apparently in many rural areas they don´t have the funds or resources to pick up trash. Therefore, every household and school has a pit in the backyard where they throw everything and either bury it after a time or burn it. It´s very bad for the environment. So we are going to try and start a recycling project, but it´s very hard here because people grow up their whole lives throwing trash wherever. It´s hard for people in the U.S. to imagine because we grow up, mainly, throwing trash in the trash can.
The second project is possibly teaching computer classes to the high schoolers, and the third project may be teaching English, although they already have four English teachers. The fourth project is really about 50 projects in itself. Pedro is an agriculture teacher and wants to plant a ton of crops and start a student run cooperative to teach them business and hopefully keep them in the community to start businesses or their own. I talked to a couple kids today and there just isn´t work in San Jose de Upala and so they all want to leave after high school, if they even finish.
Tuesday and today I visited the elementary school that is located right next to my house. I´m actually writing this from the house of the principal, because she invited me over to Upala to her house to use her internet. She´s really nice! I may be teaching computer classes at this school or possibly English.
I´m trying to take it slow and get to know the people. The Peace Corps stresses getting to know the people first. Why do they want to do this project? Will it be sustainable so after we leave the people can continue? After a few weeks are they still talking about this project? For this reason I´m taking it slow and trying to get to know everyone. It´s a little overwhelming but so far, I´ve met a lot of people. My host mom cooks really well and I think I´m going to be fat by the time I return to the states.
Tomorrow I have a meeting with a different elementary school. I think I mentioned it before but San Jose de Upala is made up of about 20 smaller neighborhoods or communities, all very spread out. So tomorrow I will go to the elementary school in La Unión and visit with the parents. They are interested in starting a business. A few mentioned a bread store because they don´t have one in the town. I´m pretty scared for this meeting!
I have to keep reminding the people I´m not here to DO the things for them but to share experiences and learn from them and do the things WITH them. A challenge will be motivating them and empowering them to take ownership of the projects. It´s a bit overwhelming and with so much on the plate, it´s sometimes hard to know where to start eating.
I was thinking today about how overwhelming it can be. But I realized that I am here because I believe one person can make a difference. A teacher I met at the high school talked about Alyssa, a Peace Corps volunteer that lived in her town (Upala) in the early 1990s. This teacher told me all about Alyssa and her projects. This teacher made me realize how much impact one person can have, that 15 years later this woman is still talking about what she learned. It gave me hope.
“I have spent so much of my life hearing that sort of teaching and thinking of it as true but not immediately necessary to grasp. I now see it differently. I am beginning to understand that the loneliness I have for so long tried to relieve by marrying, by developing friendships, by writing books, by thinking of funny things to say at parties, is really a hunger for God.”
Larry Crabb writes this in his book “Becoming a True Spiritual Community” (thanks to mom for sending it to me!) and as I have been reading it, this is just one of the things that really hit me. I love him as a writer and almost all his books impact me greatly, and this is just one of the things I have been thinking about lately.
Four days ago I arrived at my new site. In Costa Rica the people often end their sentences with “Si Dios quiere” which means “if God wants it”. For example, I say “See ya tomorrow” and they answer “If God wants it”. So we from the U.S. take that to mean that it may or may not happen. Like, hey I´ll be there tomorrow, unless God doesn´t want me to do the work, then I won´t show up. Naw, but I don´t think they mean it that way. It´s interesting because they don´t have a separation between church and state here so people talk about God much more here.
So I tell people I arrived four days ago and will be staying for two years, “Si Dios quiere.” I gotta throw in little things like that so I can try and fit in with their culture.
It´s really hot here and I walk around all day with drops of sweat on my face. I don´t think it´s any hotter than Nebraska in the heat of summer, but they don´t have air conditioning here.
I am settled in to my new room. It has a single bed and a single shelving unit with three shelves. Also, I have little neighbors all over one wall—ants. But they don´t bother me and for now haven´t entered my bed. It´s amazing how I´m not as scared of bugs or spiders anymore. The people live with them here and they survive, so I figure I can do the same. I bought a string to try and hang up in my room so I can hang up some clothes, and I bought some tape to put some pictures up on the walls since everything is bare. If anyone has posters or pictures or anything cool to put on the wall, I´d love you to send it!
Monday I visited the high school. The high school has four main project ideas right now. First, the entire town of San Jose de Upala has no trash pick up. This is supposed to be the responsibility of the nearest town, Upala, but apparently in many rural areas they don´t have the funds or resources to pick up trash. Therefore, every household and school has a pit in the backyard where they throw everything and either bury it after a time or burn it. It´s very bad for the environment. So we are going to try and start a recycling project, but it´s very hard here because people grow up their whole lives throwing trash wherever. It´s hard for people in the U.S. to imagine because we grow up, mainly, throwing trash in the trash can.
The second project is possibly teaching computer classes to the high schoolers, and the third project may be teaching English, although they already have four English teachers. The fourth project is really about 50 projects in itself. Pedro is an agriculture teacher and wants to plant a ton of crops and start a student run cooperative to teach them business and hopefully keep them in the community to start businesses or their own. I talked to a couple kids today and there just isn´t work in San Jose de Upala and so they all want to leave after high school, if they even finish.
Tuesday and today I visited the elementary school that is located right next to my house. I´m actually writing this from the house of the principal, because she invited me over to Upala to her house to use her internet. She´s really nice! I may be teaching computer classes at this school or possibly English.
I´m trying to take it slow and get to know the people. The Peace Corps stresses getting to know the people first. Why do they want to do this project? Will it be sustainable so after we leave the people can continue? After a few weeks are they still talking about this project? For this reason I´m taking it slow and trying to get to know everyone. It´s a little overwhelming but so far, I´ve met a lot of people. My host mom cooks really well and I think I´m going to be fat by the time I return to the states.
Tomorrow I have a meeting with a different elementary school. I think I mentioned it before but San Jose de Upala is made up of about 20 smaller neighborhoods or communities, all very spread out. So tomorrow I will go to the elementary school in La Unión and visit with the parents. They are interested in starting a business. A few mentioned a bread store because they don´t have one in the town. I´m pretty scared for this meeting!
I have to keep reminding the people I´m not here to DO the things for them but to share experiences and learn from them and do the things WITH them. A challenge will be motivating them and empowering them to take ownership of the projects. It´s a bit overwhelming and with so much on the plate, it´s sometimes hard to know where to start eating.
I was thinking today about how overwhelming it can be. But I realized that I am here because I believe one person can make a difference. A teacher I met at the high school talked about Alyssa, a Peace Corps volunteer that lived in her town (Upala) in the early 1990s. This teacher told me all about Alyssa and her projects. This teacher made me realize how much impact one person can have, that 15 years later this woman is still talking about what she learned. It gave me hope.
Monday, September 10, 2007
The Big Move, again
When I left the states on June 25 I was fairly mentally and spiritually and emotionally prepared to come here. I had been thinking and talking with people for over a year about it, so when the time finally came, I was ready. What made me realize how anxious I was when something came up at the last minute where I thought I might not be able to come, so in that moment I realized how sad I would have been if I couldn´t have come.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
New Address! (and sickness)
I just opened up a P.O. box here in the next town over from where I will be living. Another volunteer and I opened it together and we´re hoping that Peace Corps will reimburse us. What do we look like, rich gringos? Anyways, this town is about 15-20 minutes away from my town, so I hope to come in once a week (maybe a little less than that, we´ll see) to check my P.O. box and to use the internet. Unfortunately, there are no landline phones in San Jose de Upala where I will be living. There are three payphones and the people have cell phones, so I will have to figure out what I´m going to do. Here is my new address where you can send me letters and packages from now on-
Nick Norton
Upala apartado postal 33-5707
Upala, Upala, Alajuela 21301
Costa Rica
Centro America
Today finishes up my site visit. Tomorrow I will take the six hour long bus back to the capitol city and from there catch the other bus to my training town, another hour and a half. Buses, buses, buses. Some things I am getting used to, like cold showers. Somehow, they aren´t so bad anymore and I can handle them. But as far as waiting an hour for a bus that drives slow and is hot and stops all the time and half the time there are no seats so I have to stand—that will take some getting used to.
My new family is very nice. The parents are almost 40 and they have three daughters. The daughters are also very nice and I have been playing some with the five year old as she is home during the day, while the mom takes care of the three month old baby. My room is like an apartment and is off to the side of the house in a different building. The family has four other bedrooms that they rent out to people. I met my neighbor, who is a 22 year old school teacher and he´s really cool.
Most people in San Jose de Upala are school teachers or they are farmers. Of the school teachers, most only leave there during the week in rented houses and they return to other towns hours away on the weekends.
It has been a bit overwhelming since last Thursday when I started counterpart day and then came here to my site. Two high school teachers showed up for counterpart day, where Peace Corps drilled them on the rules (I can´t ever be caught on a motorcycle or Peace Corps sends me home!) and what our roles are in the community.
We arrived here Friday night where I met my family. Saturday morning, the town priest (who is also the principal of the school) brought me to a meeting and introduced me. Sunday I went to church with him where he introduced me and I had to stand up in front of the church and stumble through in Spanish who I am and why I´m here.
Yesterday and today I have visited the high school a couple times and I visited two elementary schools. The people here have huge ideas and keep introducing me as an economist. It´s crazy. The good thing is that they have great visions and there are big opportunities for me. The bad thing is that they are looking to me to do some huge stuff, so that´s why I feel overwhelmed.
At the high school, one of the teachers is really pushing some big agriculture projects. He wants to produce most of their food there for the cafeteria, like rice, fruits, and veggies and eventually, he wants that the students start a cooperative and business to sell to the community.
Also at this high school there is a high dropout rate. The kids, so I´m told, aren´t very motivated and don´t have visions for the future so we may be working on that.
In one of the elementary schools we already have a meeting set up for the week I move here, the week of September 17. There is a women´s group that is interested in starting a small business so we are meeting to talk about options and what they would like to do.
Crazy huh? I am very excited for all this but hopefully I won´t get too overwhelmed. The weather is very hot here and I am sweating like crazy most of the time. The town is very beautiful with the view of two volcanoes in the background and a river runs through the town also. The people have been very nice to me!
The day after I arrived here I starting coming down with a sickness, and they are saying it´s because of the climate changes. Whatever the cause, I have been feeling like crap because of my throat, head, and my body has been hurting, so I hope when I return here September 16 I don´t get sick again. Where I have been living these past two months is a bit colder because it´s in the mountains, but here in San Jose de Upala is it much hotter and very humid.
I would love to write more but I´m not feeling too good. I can´t express enough how awesome you guys have been in encouraging me. Things here are very up and down here and all the support, letters, encouragement, and prayers have given me so many boosts and it´s been great to here from you. I miss you and look forward to talking to you soon!
Nick Norton
Upala apartado postal 33-5707
Upala, Upala, Alajuela 21301
Costa Rica
Centro America
Today finishes up my site visit. Tomorrow I will take the six hour long bus back to the capitol city and from there catch the other bus to my training town, another hour and a half. Buses, buses, buses. Some things I am getting used to, like cold showers. Somehow, they aren´t so bad anymore and I can handle them. But as far as waiting an hour for a bus that drives slow and is hot and stops all the time and half the time there are no seats so I have to stand—that will take some getting used to.
My new family is very nice. The parents are almost 40 and they have three daughters. The daughters are also very nice and I have been playing some with the five year old as she is home during the day, while the mom takes care of the three month old baby. My room is like an apartment and is off to the side of the house in a different building. The family has four other bedrooms that they rent out to people. I met my neighbor, who is a 22 year old school teacher and he´s really cool.
Most people in San Jose de Upala are school teachers or they are farmers. Of the school teachers, most only leave there during the week in rented houses and they return to other towns hours away on the weekends.
It has been a bit overwhelming since last Thursday when I started counterpart day and then came here to my site. Two high school teachers showed up for counterpart day, where Peace Corps drilled them on the rules (I can´t ever be caught on a motorcycle or Peace Corps sends me home!) and what our roles are in the community.
We arrived here Friday night where I met my family. Saturday morning, the town priest (who is also the principal of the school) brought me to a meeting and introduced me. Sunday I went to church with him where he introduced me and I had to stand up in front of the church and stumble through in Spanish who I am and why I´m here.
Yesterday and today I have visited the high school a couple times and I visited two elementary schools. The people here have huge ideas and keep introducing me as an economist. It´s crazy. The good thing is that they have great visions and there are big opportunities for me. The bad thing is that they are looking to me to do some huge stuff, so that´s why I feel overwhelmed.
At the high school, one of the teachers is really pushing some big agriculture projects. He wants to produce most of their food there for the cafeteria, like rice, fruits, and veggies and eventually, he wants that the students start a cooperative and business to sell to the community.
Also at this high school there is a high dropout rate. The kids, so I´m told, aren´t very motivated and don´t have visions for the future so we may be working on that.
In one of the elementary schools we already have a meeting set up for the week I move here, the week of September 17. There is a women´s group that is interested in starting a small business so we are meeting to talk about options and what they would like to do.
Crazy huh? I am very excited for all this but hopefully I won´t get too overwhelmed. The weather is very hot here and I am sweating like crazy most of the time. The town is very beautiful with the view of two volcanoes in the background and a river runs through the town also. The people have been very nice to me!
The day after I arrived here I starting coming down with a sickness, and they are saying it´s because of the climate changes. Whatever the cause, I have been feeling like crap because of my throat, head, and my body has been hurting, so I hope when I return here September 16 I don´t get sick again. Where I have been living these past two months is a bit colder because it´s in the mountains, but here in San Jose de Upala is it much hotter and very humid.
I would love to write more but I´m not feeling too good. I can´t express enough how awesome you guys have been in encouraging me. Things here are very up and down here and all the support, letters, encouragement, and prayers have given me so many boosts and it´s been great to here from you. I miss you and look forward to talking to you soon!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
New address coming soon (hopefully)
Tomorrow I leave for a week long trip. The first two days we are at a retreat center (I think) with our counterparts. If I understand correctly our counterpart is the person who helps get us started at our site, although volunteers usually branch off and work with other people and other groups during their service. So I will (hopefully) be meeting my counterpart, who is a teacher at the local high school in San Jose de Upala. On Friday, I will travel with him and all the other trainees will travel with their counterparts to their respect future sites for a five day visit.
I hope all is well there with you and you are in my thoughts.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
The Wait is Over...
Yesterday we all found out where we will be living starting September 16 of this year through 2009. I received a whole packet of information and I will let you guys know some of the exciting and scary info. below!
The new site, San Jose de Upala, has about 5,000 people with warm temperatures and high levels of humidity. My information says their main source of income is agriculture, like beans, corn, and cattle. I will be located fairly close to three volcanoes!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Penguins?
Although I have had tons of changes lately, it feels as if the big one is to come. Or at least one of many big ones. On Saturday I leave for Cano Negro, a little town in the north central province of Costa Rica. It is very close to Nicaragua in about the far north central part of Costa Rica. I will be there from Saturday (whenever I arrive) until Tuesday. I am not looking forward to the bus trips, where I will change buses three times and it will take about 6-7 hours to get there. I heard it is really beautiful there (okay where isnt it beautiful in Costa Rica?). A few other volunteers have been there and they said there is a big river and lake, where you can swim and take boat rides. Apparently alligators are in the water so I doubt I will be getting in, but we will see.
All 35 of us trainees are going to different places, alone, so I just happened to get assigned this site. We are each visiting a current volunteer who has been here at least a year. I think mine has been here two years. We get to hang out with them for a few days, see their work and projects, meet the people they live with and around, and ask any questions we want. It should be really cool to see another volunteer hands on and ask some questions of an actual volunteer, as opposed to the Peace Corps staff here.
But this is not the big change I am talking about. I am still waiting to find out where I will be living, starting September 15. I get back Tuesday from the trip to Cano Negro, then have a couple interviews with the business staff, and on Friday, we all find out where we are going. I am super anxious and excited to find out where I will be. Probably by my next post I will know where I will be for two years! My stomach is kind of churning thinking about it.
It feels weird to think that the school year and all that comes with that will be starting soon. For the first time in my life I am not going back to school in August (first time since before pre-school?) but yet it does not feel like work to me here. But this is good, to me, because I still feel like I can make a difference, so I hope that it continues to feel like a great, mysteriously awesome thing where it is a "job" but does not feel like one, if that makes sense.
From the other posts you probably know I have been reading much. I am even going back through some books I have read in the past couple years that were my favorites and I always wanted to go back and read them, but never took the chance. I am now going through "Blue Like Jazz" by a guy named Donald Miller, and I love it the second time around too.
In one of the chapters he talks about how he saw (on public television or something like it) a program on penguins. He explains to his friend, over coffee, that the penguins have this big pilgramage (spelling?) to far away from their homes, and they start making these noises. The noises are to find a mate. So, they find their mate and have their penguin sex (this is the title of the chapter) and then the mom lays the eggs and leaves. I guess she just leaves for a while and the men stay and take care of the eggs, their kids.
The crazy part, he goes on to explain, is that a few months later the mom randomly comes back, right before the eggs are hatched. So they take this long hike to this place, mate, the mom leaves, and then finds her way back miraculously right before her kiddies are born. What a good mom (and dad).
So Miller talks about this internal radar the penguins have to just get there and back, a radar that cannot really be explained. Earlier in the book he talked about love, and light, and beauty, which are all rational things people believe and feel, but cannot be proved scientifically. But they are real. He used this to describe his faith, and I really like how he talks about it. He says that these penguins have this radar to mate and find their kids, so maybe he (or we?) have this radar towards our Creator, to God, that many times we cannot explain.
I really like that.
Before I go I wanted to say how awesome it has been to hear from you. Yesterday was the influx of mail (the first time in a week and a half--so sorry if it takes so long!) that Peace Corps brought us. So you can send a letter, two weeks later it gets here, and a week later Peace Corps gets it to me. But I still love letters. Again thanks so much for the support. I will talk to you soon!
Also, my camera is dead, I think. I had it in my backpack during a downpour of rain (which happens practically daily) and it got wet, so it does not turn on anymore. This is to say that I hope you enjoy the pictures that I have posted here and on the webshots.com because it may be a while before we get anymore. At least over 100 are on webshots!
I miss you guys and I hope to talk to you soon. Until after the trip, Nick.
All 35 of us trainees are going to different places, alone, so I just happened to get assigned this site. We are each visiting a current volunteer who has been here at least a year. I think mine has been here two years. We get to hang out with them for a few days, see their work and projects, meet the people they live with and around, and ask any questions we want. It should be really cool to see another volunteer hands on and ask some questions of an actual volunteer, as opposed to the Peace Corps staff here.
But this is not the big change I am talking about. I am still waiting to find out where I will be living, starting September 15. I get back Tuesday from the trip to Cano Negro, then have a couple interviews with the business staff, and on Friday, we all find out where we are going. I am super anxious and excited to find out where I will be. Probably by my next post I will know where I will be for two years! My stomach is kind of churning thinking about it.
It feels weird to think that the school year and all that comes with that will be starting soon. For the first time in my life I am not going back to school in August (first time since before pre-school?) but yet it does not feel like work to me here. But this is good, to me, because I still feel like I can make a difference, so I hope that it continues to feel like a great, mysteriously awesome thing where it is a "job" but does not feel like one, if that makes sense.
From the other posts you probably know I have been reading much. I am even going back through some books I have read in the past couple years that were my favorites and I always wanted to go back and read them, but never took the chance. I am now going through "Blue Like Jazz" by a guy named Donald Miller, and I love it the second time around too.
In one of the chapters he talks about how he saw (on public television or something like it) a program on penguins. He explains to his friend, over coffee, that the penguins have this big pilgramage (spelling?) to far away from their homes, and they start making these noises. The noises are to find a mate. So, they find their mate and have their penguin sex (this is the title of the chapter) and then the mom lays the eggs and leaves. I guess she just leaves for a while and the men stay and take care of the eggs, their kids.
The crazy part, he goes on to explain, is that a few months later the mom randomly comes back, right before the eggs are hatched. So they take this long hike to this place, mate, the mom leaves, and then finds her way back miraculously right before her kiddies are born. What a good mom (and dad).
So Miller talks about this internal radar the penguins have to just get there and back, a radar that cannot really be explained. Earlier in the book he talked about love, and light, and beauty, which are all rational things people believe and feel, but cannot be proved scientifically. But they are real. He used this to describe his faith, and I really like how he talks about it. He says that these penguins have this radar to mate and find their kids, so maybe he (or we?) have this radar towards our Creator, to God, that many times we cannot explain.
I really like that.
Before I go I wanted to say how awesome it has been to hear from you. Yesterday was the influx of mail (the first time in a week and a half--so sorry if it takes so long!) that Peace Corps brought us. So you can send a letter, two weeks later it gets here, and a week later Peace Corps gets it to me. But I still love letters. Again thanks so much for the support. I will talk to you soon!
Also, my camera is dead, I think. I had it in my backpack during a downpour of rain (which happens practically daily) and it got wet, so it does not turn on anymore. This is to say that I hope you enjoy the pictures that I have posted here and on the webshots.com because it may be a while before we get anymore. At least over 100 are on webshots!
I miss you guys and I hope to talk to you soon. Until after the trip, Nick.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
True to Yourself
“The thing inside of me was so strong I had to act on it. Can you relate to this feeling? That sense that there is something deep in the fiber of your being that you have to do, and if you don´t do it, you will be violating something…or somebody?
Better to try and fail, because at least you are being true to yourself.”
Well this is one of my inspirational quotes for this week. I´m reading through another book by Rob Bell, this one is called “Velvet Elvis.” Before this quote Bell is actually talking about his vision for a church…a church where people actually want to be there, where they are alive and full of passion and happy, and this is was his vision when he started a church—to pursue what living like Jesus taught was possible would look like. However, I like to apply the quote to my experience here in Costa Rica. Being here is just something I had to do that in some ways I can´t explain (others I think I can). This keeps me going—that I know I´m here for a reason. And I have to try this, going out with a bang and taking a risk so I can be true to myself and live with few regrets. I guess I wanted to write this to remind myself but also to give people a glimpse of why I´m here…because I do miss everyone so much!
I think I´m getting addicted to coffee, because my host mom here has a huge cup waiting for me every morning when I wake up. If I´m home later in the afternoon, Costa Ricans (ticos for short) usually have a coffee and snack then also. But this coffee addiction has replaced my previous pop addiction, mostly. So that makes me feel better.
Now for a few things I have been up to. I think I wrote in another post that we change language facilitators (fancy word for teacher) every four weeks or so, for various reasons. Well we (me and the three other gringos in my town) were supposed to have one Spanish class last week and one yesterday, but neither time did our new teacher show up. Today we found out he quit. So I missed two Spanish classes, but I think I´ll be okay. I really enjoy talking with the people around town more. You learn so much by being forced to listen and speak in the language you are trying to learn! But that was interesting, and nice to have the day off yesterday. I spent it playing with Josue, the 7 year old grandkid. We played soccer and also a game where I chase him and pretend he´s a monkey and I get to throw him around. I didn´t see him at all this weekend and realized how much I missed him.
Also I´ve been doing my coaching activity where I sort of shadow a local small business owner and learn from him while also trying to see where I can put my business stuff to the test and see where he may be to improve. We are becoming friends as he took me into San Jose with his son last week! He has a really well run little shop where he sells odds and ends like pop, food, ice cream, milk, coffee, and other stuff. His dad has his own store in town so they have some entrepreneur blood in the family.
This past weekend I went into San Jose along with the other 35 trainees for a project fair. There were six current volunteers that we went around to and talked to about their projects. What I think is really cool about the Peace Corps is that what we work on is mainly up to us. For example, one of the volunteers has worked on starting an internet café in his town. Two others worked a lot with women´s groups, like on making their own jewelry to provide income or starting an ice cream shop. Sounds like fun! And yummy. Another volunteer and his wife teach a ton of English classes. Lastly, one volunteer works mostly with kids. It was really encouraging to see that I can focus where my passions are. Of course these volunteers do other things, but they were presenting our possibilities as future volunteers. That´s good to know if I really want I can work a ton with kids, or if I want I can teach a ton of English (not likely) or work mostly with micro entrepreneurs or even various community groups.
This week isn´t too busy. I checked our schedule, and now that we are at the halfway point (a little more) for training, the rest of training gets intense. Not this weekend but next weekend we all go to visit a current volunteer. Unlike last time, we all go to visit a volunteer one on one, just me and the other person. We spend five days with them! The after that, two weeks from this Friday, we find out our own sites. Right after that we go for a five day visit to our future site and meet our future family. We return to our communities and September 14 we swear in as official PC volunteers. I hope to keep updating in the next few weeks, but I will be out of town a couple times and be busier, so I will do my best. Thanks everyone for all the letters and emails and messages! Don´t be afraid to keep them up even if I haven´t updated for a while!
“Better to try and fail, because at least you are being true to yourself.”
“And the worse thing would be to live wondering, what if?”
“…Because without pain, we don´t change, do we?” –Rob Bell
Right now things are a bit tough, which I haven´t really shared, but at the back of my mind I´m not wondering “what if I did the Peace Corps?” because I´m here. Thanks so much for everyone for encouraging me to step out in faith and take a risk with this journey. It´s not easy now, although there is much to love, but I´m here.
Alright we´ll see if this works. I heard about this website from other trainees called webshots.com where you can upload pictures for free and other people can view them! Try clicking on the link below. I uploaded all 116 pictures I´ve taken so far, so hopefully this works. Also, if they work, apparently there are 8 videos. Check below and let me know if it works!
http://community.webshots.com/album/560204070aVlHqC
Better to try and fail, because at least you are being true to yourself.”
Well this is one of my inspirational quotes for this week. I´m reading through another book by Rob Bell, this one is called “Velvet Elvis.” Before this quote Bell is actually talking about his vision for a church…a church where people actually want to be there, where they are alive and full of passion and happy, and this is was his vision when he started a church—to pursue what living like Jesus taught was possible would look like. However, I like to apply the quote to my experience here in Costa Rica. Being here is just something I had to do that in some ways I can´t explain (others I think I can). This keeps me going—that I know I´m here for a reason. And I have to try this, going out with a bang and taking a risk so I can be true to myself and live with few regrets. I guess I wanted to write this to remind myself but also to give people a glimpse of why I´m here…because I do miss everyone so much!
I think I´m getting addicted to coffee, because my host mom here has a huge cup waiting for me every morning when I wake up. If I´m home later in the afternoon, Costa Ricans (ticos for short) usually have a coffee and snack then also. But this coffee addiction has replaced my previous pop addiction, mostly. So that makes me feel better.
Now for a few things I have been up to. I think I wrote in another post that we change language facilitators (fancy word for teacher) every four weeks or so, for various reasons. Well we (me and the three other gringos in my town) were supposed to have one Spanish class last week and one yesterday, but neither time did our new teacher show up. Today we found out he quit. So I missed two Spanish classes, but I think I´ll be okay. I really enjoy talking with the people around town more. You learn so much by being forced to listen and speak in the language you are trying to learn! But that was interesting, and nice to have the day off yesterday. I spent it playing with Josue, the 7 year old grandkid. We played soccer and also a game where I chase him and pretend he´s a monkey and I get to throw him around. I didn´t see him at all this weekend and realized how much I missed him.
Also I´ve been doing my coaching activity where I sort of shadow a local small business owner and learn from him while also trying to see where I can put my business stuff to the test and see where he may be to improve. We are becoming friends as he took me into San Jose with his son last week! He has a really well run little shop where he sells odds and ends like pop, food, ice cream, milk, coffee, and other stuff. His dad has his own store in town so they have some entrepreneur blood in the family.
This past weekend I went into San Jose along with the other 35 trainees for a project fair. There were six current volunteers that we went around to and talked to about their projects. What I think is really cool about the Peace Corps is that what we work on is mainly up to us. For example, one of the volunteers has worked on starting an internet café in his town. Two others worked a lot with women´s groups, like on making their own jewelry to provide income or starting an ice cream shop. Sounds like fun! And yummy. Another volunteer and his wife teach a ton of English classes. Lastly, one volunteer works mostly with kids. It was really encouraging to see that I can focus where my passions are. Of course these volunteers do other things, but they were presenting our possibilities as future volunteers. That´s good to know if I really want I can work a ton with kids, or if I want I can teach a ton of English (not likely) or work mostly with micro entrepreneurs or even various community groups.
This week isn´t too busy. I checked our schedule, and now that we are at the halfway point (a little more) for training, the rest of training gets intense. Not this weekend but next weekend we all go to visit a current volunteer. Unlike last time, we all go to visit a volunteer one on one, just me and the other person. We spend five days with them! The after that, two weeks from this Friday, we find out our own sites. Right after that we go for a five day visit to our future site and meet our future family. We return to our communities and September 14 we swear in as official PC volunteers. I hope to keep updating in the next few weeks, but I will be out of town a couple times and be busier, so I will do my best. Thanks everyone for all the letters and emails and messages! Don´t be afraid to keep them up even if I haven´t updated for a while!
“Better to try and fail, because at least you are being true to yourself.”
“And the worse thing would be to live wondering, what if?”
“…Because without pain, we don´t change, do we?” –Rob Bell
Right now things are a bit tough, which I haven´t really shared, but at the back of my mind I´m not wondering “what if I did the Peace Corps?” because I´m here. Thanks so much for everyone for encouraging me to step out in faith and take a risk with this journey. It´s not easy now, although there is much to love, but I´m here.
Alright we´ll see if this works. I heard about this website from other trainees called webshots.com where you can upload pictures for free and other people can view them! Try clicking on the link below. I uploaded all 116 pictures I´ve taken so far, so hopefully this works. Also, if they work, apparently there are 8 videos. Check below and let me know if it works!
http://community.webshots.com/album/560204070aVlHqC
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
A few pictures
I dont know how these pictures are going to show up...to the right of my typing, to the left, above, below...so I will attempt to describe them. The one with all the people--on the left is my host mom, Carmen. Her grandson who I play with a lot is named Josue and is in the middle, in the green shirt. The others are family friends!
The other picture with me in it has my host moms grandson, Jorge Andres. He is 12 and that day we went on a hike with our friend Grettel. She took us all around and it was really cool. Hopefully later Ill upload more pictures.
The other two nature pictures are of my two visits a few weeks ago to see two volunteers. So I dont live at either of these two places, but I liked the pictures.
Three weeks from this Friday and Ill find out my site placement, where Ill be living for 2 years! So im excited about that--to find out if ill be near the beach, the mountains, a volcano, near nicaragua or panama, and finding out if ill be in a community of 300 people or a couple thousand.
My health is a lot better and im feeling great, as far as health goes. Its a little crazy that im used to getting up before 6am and going to sleep around 8 or 8:30. I get three COOKED meals a day...crazy! Who would have thunk people cook three times a day. No fast food! But i like it. I feel healthy and good.
Quick note--if you send a package (hint?) send it through regular U.s. postal mail, not through FedEx or whatnot. Some people here have received some packages and they come through customs fine (no payments or holds) through regular U.S. postal mail!
Today I started my coaching activity. This is to identify a local entrepreneur-micro enterprise owner and meet with them once a week to learn about their work, prices, distributors, and everything. Today was really fun and I learned much! Also today we had another visit with the local principal of the elementary school. Discipline here is way different--ill have to write about it sometime. i sat in on a math class and observed and it was really interesting. The idea was to sit in on a class because probably when i get to my site ill be teaching a couple english classes. yikes.
My spanish is improving!
Alright this session has to be short, as it seems it usually does. I hope everyone is doing well! We will talk soon.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Life
Let me just say that sometimes I have to catch myself. Whatever I´m doing—eating rice and beans, sitting in class, playing with the little kids, thoughts racing through my tiny head—I sometimes realize, WOW, I´m in Costa Rica. It´s a really cool feeling. A crazy wacky feeling. So much is going on here it´s easy to get caught up. I know things will settle down in September when I get to the site I´ll be at for two years.
Can you believe I´m finally here? As many of you know, I was going through the application and interviewing and medical stuff and waiting…and waiting for over a year. It´s crazy to think that I´m finally doing the Peace Corps! Well right now I´m just in training. But I´m here.
I wanted to say thanks for the support through this whole process. The past year was filled with emotion and I appreciate so much everyone who supported me in this sometimes crazy decision. I miss you guys!
I must say I´m a little tired of talking about myself so much. It´s so good to hear from people through letters or anything so I can hear about you guys too. But for now, I´ll write a little about what I´ve been up to, hopefully without boring anyone too much.
Wednesday was a national holiday here. Guanacaste is the name of the northwestern most province here in Costa Rica, and Wednesday was a celebration of the day that it became a part of Costa Rica. I´m a little fuzzy on if it was a part of Nicaragua before this, or if it was it´s own country, or what. Anyways, Wednesday our class visited the elementary school in Vuelta de Jorco. The kids did traditional dances and had a huge ceremony. It was really, really fun and I was amazed. These kids had so much fun—everyone did. The kids are fascinated with us gringos. Somebody got the idea that they wanted our autographs, and so for about 20 minutes the four of us, plus our teacher, were signing our names on paper for the kids. I don´t think we´ve ever felt so much like celebrities (or ever will?)—all for what? Simply for being ourselves. It felt pretty nice. This is why I love kids—they look up to you no matter what. Even if your Spanish isn´t good, or if you are nervous, or don´t know what to say. Kids are awesome.
Yesterday we visited the technical high school in the next town over for a presentation from Banco Nacional (one of the banks that the Costa Rican Government runs). They have academic high schools and technical high schools here. Do we still have technical high schools in the states? I think we used to. I guess there wasn´t enough room for all us 18 business students at the bank, so they held a presentation at the high school. In each Peace Corps program, they have what they call “counterparts”—organizations that work with Peace Corps volunteers in their communities. Banco Nacional is a possible counterpart for us. For example, they help us with loans or with general community development. So I suppose that´s why they put on a presentation to us over micro businesses. Then they fed us lunch! Yum.
Today a local came to class to talk about the history of the town. What was most fascinating was his passion. I´ve only seen a couple people in my life with this kind of spark in their eye—that´s the only way I know how to describe it. It´s that glare, that look in their eyes like they are about to cry. All because they are so passionate about what they are talking about—life. He is in his seventies and talked to us about the history. Costa Rica has changed so much! It was really cool to listen to this guy.
Tomorrow I´m taking a little road trip to visit my host mom´s son. I´m going with my host mom´s grandkid (the son of her son) about three hours to a national park, where the dad works. He invited me a couple weeks ago, and since we have the weekend free, we´re leaving tomorrow morning and coming back Sunday morning. I don´t know what awaits for us there, but I heard it´s beautiful.
Monday is a holiday here too! So if I understand this correctly, in Costa Rica when a holiday falls during the week, employers and the government in general give the people the free day the following Monday. This way everyone has a three day weekend with their families. So, although the actual holiday was Wednesday, everyone gets this Monday off. So Monday I´m going hiking with some people I met here, some locals! That should be fun. Maybe some other gringos will go too. All us trainees are planning different stuff for our three day weekend, so we´ll see if anyone is around to hike with us.
Okay so that´s some stuff I´ve been up to and will be up to. But, although it´s great to keep people updated, I love so much having a personal relationship with everyone. Although I haven´t been able to respond to everyone individually through internet, I´m looking forward to some letters that people said they were writing! I am already having fun keeping in contact with some people I love. Don´t hesitate to write me! I love letters and I love writing letters.
I´m looking forward so much to when people can come visit. I can´t remember if I wrote this already—but one day one of the current volunteers was talking to us and we realized his family was here visiting. I teared up because I can´t wait to see everyone, or at least the ones who can come visit. I know it will be worth it!
The last couple nights I have been waking up in the middle of the night. I look out my window and see the bright moon and some awesome stars. I love looking out at the sky, especially at night. It reminded me of star gazing with grandma in Colorado! Man I love Colorado. Also, I love the movie “Joe Dirt.” Do you remember when he looks at the moon and says he often looks at the moon and wonders if his parents (who he hadn´t seen since he was a kid) were looking at it too? He was comforted by the fact that everyone in the world, no matter where they are, sees the same moon. I was thinking about that with you guys. It´s cheesy but hey, that´s life.
Before I go, I have to tell everyone something. I´m reading this book called “Sex God” by a guy named Rob Bell. I can´t do it justice by trying to explain it. But, I read a lot and I have a huge list of good books—but I must say, this book is amazing. Maybe it´s because I´m in the middle of it, but I can´t recommend it highly enough to ANYONE. It´s what, $10-20 and you won´t get those hours back of your life that you are reading it. But it is well worth it. I think it´s a life changing book. Please read it, share it, or write me about it. It´s really leaving a lasting mark on me. Hey, you´re on the internet now, so at least read a description of it online. But that can´t do it justice.
That´s my little plug. If anyone has any prayer requests (how can you not? We all have hopes, aches, scars, love…) please write me or leave a comment or something so I can start thinking about others for once. I´m trying to do that more. Okay I have to go! I miss you!
Can you believe I´m finally here? As many of you know, I was going through the application and interviewing and medical stuff and waiting…and waiting for over a year. It´s crazy to think that I´m finally doing the Peace Corps! Well right now I´m just in training. But I´m here.
I wanted to say thanks for the support through this whole process. The past year was filled with emotion and I appreciate so much everyone who supported me in this sometimes crazy decision. I miss you guys!
I must say I´m a little tired of talking about myself so much. It´s so good to hear from people through letters or anything so I can hear about you guys too. But for now, I´ll write a little about what I´ve been up to, hopefully without boring anyone too much.
Wednesday was a national holiday here. Guanacaste is the name of the northwestern most province here in Costa Rica, and Wednesday was a celebration of the day that it became a part of Costa Rica. I´m a little fuzzy on if it was a part of Nicaragua before this, or if it was it´s own country, or what. Anyways, Wednesday our class visited the elementary school in Vuelta de Jorco. The kids did traditional dances and had a huge ceremony. It was really, really fun and I was amazed. These kids had so much fun—everyone did. The kids are fascinated with us gringos. Somebody got the idea that they wanted our autographs, and so for about 20 minutes the four of us, plus our teacher, were signing our names on paper for the kids. I don´t think we´ve ever felt so much like celebrities (or ever will?)—all for what? Simply for being ourselves. It felt pretty nice. This is why I love kids—they look up to you no matter what. Even if your Spanish isn´t good, or if you are nervous, or don´t know what to say. Kids are awesome.
Yesterday we visited the technical high school in the next town over for a presentation from Banco Nacional (one of the banks that the Costa Rican Government runs). They have academic high schools and technical high schools here. Do we still have technical high schools in the states? I think we used to. I guess there wasn´t enough room for all us 18 business students at the bank, so they held a presentation at the high school. In each Peace Corps program, they have what they call “counterparts”—organizations that work with Peace Corps volunteers in their communities. Banco Nacional is a possible counterpart for us. For example, they help us with loans or with general community development. So I suppose that´s why they put on a presentation to us over micro businesses. Then they fed us lunch! Yum.
Today a local came to class to talk about the history of the town. What was most fascinating was his passion. I´ve only seen a couple people in my life with this kind of spark in their eye—that´s the only way I know how to describe it. It´s that glare, that look in their eyes like they are about to cry. All because they are so passionate about what they are talking about—life. He is in his seventies and talked to us about the history. Costa Rica has changed so much! It was really cool to listen to this guy.
Tomorrow I´m taking a little road trip to visit my host mom´s son. I´m going with my host mom´s grandkid (the son of her son) about three hours to a national park, where the dad works. He invited me a couple weeks ago, and since we have the weekend free, we´re leaving tomorrow morning and coming back Sunday morning. I don´t know what awaits for us there, but I heard it´s beautiful.
Monday is a holiday here too! So if I understand this correctly, in Costa Rica when a holiday falls during the week, employers and the government in general give the people the free day the following Monday. This way everyone has a three day weekend with their families. So, although the actual holiday was Wednesday, everyone gets this Monday off. So Monday I´m going hiking with some people I met here, some locals! That should be fun. Maybe some other gringos will go too. All us trainees are planning different stuff for our three day weekend, so we´ll see if anyone is around to hike with us.
Okay so that´s some stuff I´ve been up to and will be up to. But, although it´s great to keep people updated, I love so much having a personal relationship with everyone. Although I haven´t been able to respond to everyone individually through internet, I´m looking forward to some letters that people said they were writing! I am already having fun keeping in contact with some people I love. Don´t hesitate to write me! I love letters and I love writing letters.
I´m looking forward so much to when people can come visit. I can´t remember if I wrote this already—but one day one of the current volunteers was talking to us and we realized his family was here visiting. I teared up because I can´t wait to see everyone, or at least the ones who can come visit. I know it will be worth it!
The last couple nights I have been waking up in the middle of the night. I look out my window and see the bright moon and some awesome stars. I love looking out at the sky, especially at night. It reminded me of star gazing with grandma in Colorado! Man I love Colorado. Also, I love the movie “Joe Dirt.” Do you remember when he looks at the moon and says he often looks at the moon and wonders if his parents (who he hadn´t seen since he was a kid) were looking at it too? He was comforted by the fact that everyone in the world, no matter where they are, sees the same moon. I was thinking about that with you guys. It´s cheesy but hey, that´s life.
Before I go, I have to tell everyone something. I´m reading this book called “Sex God” by a guy named Rob Bell. I can´t do it justice by trying to explain it. But, I read a lot and I have a huge list of good books—but I must say, this book is amazing. Maybe it´s because I´m in the middle of it, but I can´t recommend it highly enough to ANYONE. It´s what, $10-20 and you won´t get those hours back of your life that you are reading it. But it is well worth it. I think it´s a life changing book. Please read it, share it, or write me about it. It´s really leaving a lasting mark on me. Hey, you´re on the internet now, so at least read a description of it online. But that can´t do it justice.
That´s my little plug. If anyone has any prayer requests (how can you not? We all have hopes, aches, scars, love…) please write me or leave a comment or something so I can start thinking about others for once. I´m trying to do that more. Okay I have to go! I miss you!
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