sábado, 25 de diciembre de 2010

Costa rican christmas!

So i got to my site on monday. It was a pretty quiet week since schools out and a lot of people go to pick coffee in other regions. So i mostly hung out with my host family getting ready for christmas and the guests who have come through. One of the host brothers jaime came in with his family thursday night. So yesterday, on christmas eve we celebrated by making over 200 tamales. I learned every step and got a chance to make my own vegetarian ones.

At night we had several families stop by to eat tamales and exchange "carinitos" little gifts that they dont want to call actual gifts. Its was really nice to get to meet some of the families that i had heard a lot about and even wrapped all of their gifts. We drank ponche that reminds me of "coquito" that mom makes back home for christmas but with guaro instead of rum, thankfully it wasnt too strong because i really dont like guaro. We had cake while watching the kids finally get to open their gifts after being rowdy all day and begging to open even one. They were all so happy with what they got, and even though we opened them at 11 they all stayed up later playing with them.

This morning we headed out to the potrero to see the cows that my host dad had gifted to his grandkids. It was so much fun seeing the kids so excited. The ranch is right on the side of a gorgeously green mountain and although i see similar views every which way i still cant get used to the beauty. My host dad and siblings are always so excited to show me around and tell me the name of every flower and town we see. I especially love to see how happy my host dad gets to show me the view from every spot constantly asking me to take pictures from every which angle.

He took me in to where he had just corraled all of the cows and had me take pictures from in there while petting the loving ones who wanted attention. Staying clear of the violent ones standing near him because the cows know better not to mess with him apparently. Next, we drove over to where is farm is to climb the hill to where he has his garden where he plants stuff other than coffee and bananas. The views were just as incredible and we picked the most beautiful flowers to put on my new desk my host brother gave to me for christmas.

I had such a great christmas! I even got chocolate and two shirts, one from my training community family and the other from my new one. I feel so fortunate to have been welcomed into such a sweet and humble family just before the holidays. I miss my family so much of course but at least ive gotten a few phone calls and and am still getting updates. Ill settle in and watch a movie later in honor of my brothers and my tradition but in the meantime im going to go eat some more tamales. Im pretty excited for the vegetarian ones to run out pretty soon, hehe. Happy holidays everyone! Hugs and kisses, jenny

miércoles, 15 de diciembre de 2010

Last Week of Training!!!

Hey guys,

Sorry I´m so bad at posting regularly but training has been pretty intense.  But we are in our 10th and final week!  Sunday we had our Family Party which was really fun.  We made spagetti, sang karaoke and played with the kids.  The sweetest part was that we each said a few words to our families and handed them a diploma.  It´s a really nice gesture for them which I really appreciated. 

Yesterday we had our last training in Tarbaca high up in the mountains on the coldest day of the year here and we froze our butts off up there!  But we had a corny candle-lighting ceremony each of us thanking someone else for something and it turned out to be really cute and a nice way to close out our tech training. 

Today we came to Frailes the next big town over with all of the TEFL trainees.  We played cute games like Red Rover, Gigante, Bruja, y Enanito and a fun line one similar to the Human Knot.  It was especially nice because we did all of this right next to this really pretty lagoon and coffee all around us.  Then, we had a nice little lunch and learned the Costa Rican National Anthem which we´re going to have to sing at our swearing-in ceremony on Friday.

 Tomorrow we have our interviews with the Country Director, Program Manager, Tech Trainer and Medical Officer and have a session on Bicycle Safety!!!  The bicycle safety one is exciting because I´m so excited to finally ride bike!  Since my ankle gets funny I would much rather ride bike as my exercise and I´m so excited to start once I finally have time when I get to my site! 

Friday morning we swear-in in the morning!  Then, some of us are spending the night in San Jose to celebrate.  Saturday I´m going to meet my family in Heredia to spend the night with them at Vivi and Juanca´s house (my host-brother and his girlfriend who live in San Jose)!  I´m really excited to finally see their place!  Ok, off to my last times at home in our training communities! 

Excited to start working!  Sad I won´t be spending as much time with my friends.

jueves, 9 de diciembre de 2010

Site Visit

Site visit
So we had our counterpart workshop thursday and friday and i was still pretty sick. It was a little nerve-racking to finally meet the people were going to be working with for the next two years. But we had some great team building training which eased the tension.  

Saturday I lucked out and was able to get a ride from Tres Rios in a buseta that the counterparts from Acosta (my county) had rented. So they drove us through San Jose to see our bus stop and treated us to breakfast which was really sweet.  Then they dropped us off in San Ignacio de Acosta the city whee I can catch a bus from to my town.  I hung out in the park until my new host-sister met me to show me which bus to take to my community -La Cruz.

La Cruz is about a twenty minute car ride or thirty minute bus ride on mostly unpaved roads. The roads are especially torn up after the bad weather with a ton of land slides and some pretty dangerous passes with water still sliding down. But on the other side the view is incredible! The mountains are greener than a North Carolina summer if you can believe it. The only break of green in sight is the occasional scarring of orange where the mud slid.  

My digs- dude... I have my own bathroom! With hot water!!! And my room is in the basement! The four year old playing can be loud if i wake up late but I'm sure I'll get used to it.  They said they're going to get me a desk and I cant wait to sit in front of the window with the most amazing view any of my desks has ever seen that's for sure!  

The family is really "buena gente." The dad Luis Calvo (lots of Luises) works is farm all day, the mom Aida in the kitchen.  My sister Elena lives next door with her husband Juan Luis and their two sons Pablo 4 years, and Emanuel 2 months.  Their two sons live in Parrita near the beach and I have yet to meet one. One of them is married with two kids, I'll update on them once i meet them at Christmas time.

The schools were great. Although they were already on vacation I got a chance to spend several hours with two of the three English teachers I'll be working with ane I'm super excited to get started! The director had me speak a few minutes in front of the high school kids on the spot and I'm hoping i didn't make a fool of myself!  I asked them to sign up if they wanted to form an English group over the break and ten minutes after i walked away they brought me a list of 15 students! 

Then i decided to walk to the pulperia after school finished and met the owner and chatted with him over the juice i bought from him. As everyone came in he introduced me and I had the chance to chat with a ton of people about what brings me to town. A lot of people were excited that I was coming to stay and new people I met had already heard about me which awesome, of course as I go I have to correct the stories heard through the game of telephone but it's all in good spirit! I'm so excited to get started!!!

miércoles, 1 de diciembre de 2010

Weekend Update


So we’ve had our two weekends out of community since training started and they’ve both been so much fun.  Our first weekend we went into San Jose and had lunch at a great Italian place and I had some amazing pasta right near our hostel.  Some friends went to the mall but our group decided to go check out the Central Market which is an indoor bazaar basically.  It reminded me a whole lot of the one in Fez with loads of stands that had spices and others with random little gadgets or touristy toys.  That night we went out dancing which was tons of fun and hung out at the hostel and a cool pastry shop called Spoon on Sunday.
The following weekend we rented our own bus and made our way down to Puerto Viejo, Limon with 36 of us trainees.  We made it there in about 4 hours and checked in to this awesome hostel!  We had planned on sleeping in hammocks and were excited about it but this place was just so cool.  They had 70 hammocks and two big areas for people to camp out it.  The walls and floors were laid with mosaic tiles and had great designs or quotes written in. 
We went out for lunch at this cool place right off the beach and tried going for a swim while waiting for our food but the lava rocks were too intense to go in deeper than our ankles.  So we went for a swim a little bit up the beach later but the rocks didn’t let us go further than shoulder deep.  I was going crazy not being able to swim more!  I felt like a Chilean miner not being able to get out!  We had some drinks at the hostel and went out dancing afterward. 
The next morning we had a delicious breakfast, I really love splurging on food when we all get together.  Then we walked for about 20 minutes in the rain to another gorgeous beach, but this one was where we should have been the whole time!  It was the surfer beach and tons of people were out there.  Most of our group had already taken to swimming out there and I immediately got out there and swam for hours in water that I couldn’t even find the floor in.  It poured the entire time and the ocean was the only place to stay warm.  When we weren’t body-surfing (getting torn up by the crazy waves) the girls and I were singing and dancing in the shallow water.  So much fun!  This is the first day that I have felt completely relaxed and in one piece since I got here.  I love the ocean so much.  This beach even had a gorgeous little island right off of it like the one at Hana Beach.  So worth the 6 hour bus ride we had to take on our way back home due to road closures because of more landslides.  All in all.  Amazing.
Jennay signing off.

Training Update

Hello again, 

So training keeps us pretty busy and I haven't had too many chances to upload this.  I do have a cell phone now with internet on it!  Imagine that, me finally having internet on my cell phone once I get to Costa Rica.  It's so much less expensive here since it's prepaid!  I'm checking my e-mail a couple times a day now so you guys can send me e-mails often and I usually check it a couple times a day! 

So training has its ups and downs.  We constantly have something to do, and when we don't we have to spend as much time as possible with our families which leaves very little time to relax.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore my family.  That's probably the best part about training is becoming part of this family.  Creating my own place in it which is really going to stink when I move away in a couple weeks. 

The teaching training we get can get a little redundant, but we got a chance to organize some classes here in our community recently.  Our group decided to teach a couple classes for elementary students and another for adults.  Both of them went great.  But it was especially fun for me to work with the adults who had so much fun learning English.  Some of them had very little experience with the language while others knew a good bit.  All of them enjoyed our classes and commented on how great the format of it was which is what we're hoping for.  This session with the adults seriously reinforced why I'm here and I just can't wait to get started. 

We also have some really fun days at training especially when some of our friends co-teach the sessions.  Yesterday we had one on scaffolding and we had a whole dance lesson with each person teaching 4 dance moves and building off of that.  Oh it was so much fun!  So basically, it's tiring, but we always make fun of the lessons needed to be learned.  But I still can't wait to get started.

martes, 9 de noviembre de 2010

National Emergency


Rio Conejo - the river rushing muddy through my town

11/08/10
 This has been a week of relaxation and patience.  On Tuesday when I got home they told me that one of my host-dad’s cousins had died as he was trying to dig a hole to prevent a loose boulder from falling on a house and was crushed when it fell.  So my host-grandmother Mamita , uncle and his wife came for the funeral on Wednesday and were not able to leave until Sunday because of what followed.  It did not stop raining from Tuesday until Friday.  Within these days various parts of Costa Rica were struck by mudslides and flash flooding since the land has not had a chance to dry up.   Everyone agrees that Costa Rica has not seen anything like this within the last 55 years. 
As of Thursday night we did not have electricity and most of my friends here that have water from the next town didn’t have for days.  We all got electricity back Friday afternoon though and it blinked in and out within the next few days. 
Mauricio, Virgita and I enjoying our cookies in our kitchen
The roadways out of Rio Conejo in all three directions were blocked in by fallen trees and mudslides.  In the town where all of Tico 21 meets up for training twice a week I’ve heard that a tower has fallen and still four days later that route to San Jose has not opened up.  I have a feeling that the road to Cartago is not fully clear but the one through San Juan has been running since Friday although pobrecita Mamita who headed back to Perez Zeledon on Sunday had to get off the bus and walk two blocks through over one of the mudslides in order to board another bus which took her to San Jose.  Then, their bus ride to Perez was delayed about five extra hours because of the care that all of the buses and trucks had to drive over the bad roads.  It was really tough to constantly be seeing the destruction on tv and not be able to do anything about it. 

Raque and I out celebrating her birthday!

Here at the house we’ve mostly been relaxing waiting for the rain to stop.  And since Saturday it has been gorgeous outside.  The sun is constantly out with a beautifully cold breeze blowing.  We’ve all spent a lot of time outside and living like the days after a hurricane in Miami without much mobility out of our town but with electricity and water.  So we’ve watched movies and entertained people.   Friday I even made Raquel chocolate chip cookies for her 18th birthday and had a chance to share them with everyone who came to visit.  And Saturday we went out to celebrate her birthday with her friends from school which was tons of fun and added some normalcy to the weekend. 

Mamita, Raquel, Virgita and I

We finally have class tomorrow although not in Tarbaca.  It was so nice to have three additional days without class to catch up on our homework all though haven’t had a chance to interview an English teacher which was due tomorrow which I guess has to be postponed.   Hopefully off to the gym later. 
Relaxed and happy. 
Jenny




I will leave you with an image of Mau´s daughter (my niece!!) and I


Site Visit - Garabito de Aguas Zarcas -

11/02/10
My site visit was fun and relaxing.  I had to catch four buses to get to Garabito de Aguas Zarcas.  I met Daniela there who works with the Rural Community Development project.  As soon as I got there we went to an environmental fundraiser in which she and her friend dressed up as clowns and the three of us painted faces.  Later, we waited for the adult party to start and it was a full out Halloween party!  I was so excited to see everyone arriving was fully dressed for the occasion!  There were even 33 mineros de San Juan (which is the town we were in) with fresh statements on the backs of their shirts – so funny!
The next day we went to play soccer with Daniela’s neighborhood team the next barrio over.  We watched two men’s games and chatted with everyone who mostly knew everyone else and many of which are related as is very common in rural areas.  People watched drinking beers talking chiste, it was a great experience since I haven’t been out much with my family to events like this.  Then, their team didn’t have enough players so I played with them.  For it being my first time in about seven years playing I didn’t play all that badly, but of course hesitated when I had a chance to shoot and botched it.  I have a huge bruise a week later from these tough Tico women who are just as vicious as the men playing! 
We took a tour of her town the next day which is pretty rural.  It’s a tiny town but was cool to see where all the people I had met the day before lived and then we crossed the river on this huge tree laying from bank to bank.  She hopes that they can build a bridge there for cars to bring more opportunities to the town.  She also helped them create their own development organization within this last year and now they have to wait another year before they can get federal assistance which was great to see Peace Corps in action in a community, motivating a town to keep to it.  The trip back was long and rainy and when I got back to my area I could tell it had been raining tons with the river through Jerico flowing fast with muddy water.  It was so nice to get to relax this weekend!  And back to work tomorrow!
Excited to see my friends tomorrow!
Yenny

martes, 2 de noviembre de 2010

Comida Costarricense – Week 4 of Training

Buenas!

So I’ve gained some weight since I got here.  One volunteer assures me that everyone gains weight during training but I cannot handle it anymore.   My mom cooks so much!   I always walk in and I’ve finally convinced her that I can serve myself so she tells me to and I serve myself rice and black beans.  But here it comes… magically, she brings about eight different dishes from nooks and crannies all around the kitchen.  Salad and fresco from the fridge, yucca casserole from the orno de leña, picadillo de papas from the gas stove top and an egg from the pan.  This is exactly what we had for dinner tonight.  It was cool today because I traveled for about six hours on four different buses but on a normal Tuesday it’s just way too much food for lunch!  

That’s enough complaining because I love the food so much!!!  The other day I got home to Arroz con Leche, and Mom (in the states)… you have some competition.  Virga made it just like yours but it was just a little more liquidy and had more big chunks of canela rather than just some sprinkled on top of each serving.  To make clear Momma – I still prefer yours!!!

Gallo Pinto, papas and tortillas are my main diet and eaten at least once a day.  Can you imagine how heavy I feel?   But constantly being full might be the reason why I still haven’t come down from the honeymoon phase of getting here so I’m not quite sure when I’ll actually start serving myself smaller portions.  For now though, you might not get as many pictures of myself!         

I can´t figure out where else to put this... The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps.

Bienvenidos a Rio Conejo, Costa Rica (Notice: not on google maps but you can find Rosario)

Hey all!
So this is my first blog!  I only have access to the internet for about an hour every week so I will try to keep this up to date and keep up to date with my e-mails.

Costa Rica is… gorgeous if you hadn’t heard already.  I live about two hours south of San Jose about mid-way up in these mountains so it gets chilly but some of my friends are in chillier places.  We get lots of fog that rolls through which is SO cool and I’m still not used to it.  It rains pretty regularly but the rainy season should be ending soon and it’ll be getting hotter.  Enough about the weather!

My family is amazing and it’s so nice to have a good foundation to come home to and talk out my day. 
Training Site Host Family includes:
  • Mom – Virgita or “Virga"
    • House wife, sweetheart and amazing chef!
  • Dad – Jeremia or “Jema”"
    • Works his fields which are mostly coffee
    • Turns out he acts in an improve troupe which I never could never have guessed!
  • Oldest Brother – Juan Carlos or “Juanca” – 31 years old
    • But he lives with his girlfriend in Heredia
    • Is a great artist and art teacher
  • Next Brother – Mauricio or “Mau” – 29 years old
    • He and his girlfriend have the only granddaughter in the family, the oh so adorable Fabiola who is currently in her terrible two’s so she’s pretty chiniada but still adorable!
    • He also lived in New Jersey for about three years working so he can chat a little in English
    • Drives a chapulin for the next town’s coffee factory
  • Youngest Brother – Josue or “Tatu” – 24 years old
    • Works as a mechanic about 15 minutes from here
    • Long-term girlfriend, kind of quiet and loves novellas
  • Only and Youngest Sister – Raquel or “Raque” – 17 years old
    • Is in 11th grade – no boyfriend and doesn’t talk about boys very much
    • Studious and hopes to go to Universidad de Costa Rica after she finishes high school
I love my family so much, especially my mom who is always here and loves talking to me and asking me my opinion on everything.  Ok this blog is getting long!  That’s all for now!

Adios from Rio Conejo, Costa Rica!!!