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!