SITE ASSIGNMENTS!

Jabillo de Nandayure, Guanacaste. This will be my home for the next two years. A small community of about 150 people, they work with several neighboring towns. There was once a PC Volunteer there 30 years ago, but the person left after a mere 3 months. (Let's hope this means nothing in present day circumstances!) The cluster of 6 towns - Coyote, Moravia, Y Griega, La Pampa, and Juan de Leon - sum to a whopping 400 inhabitants. "As many rural communities in Costa Rica, the towns are struggling with developing and increasing their organization and education," according to my site information guide.
I´m terribly excited! Perhaps too excited... As I have never been to the community and don´t know what to expect, I am trying not to form any preconceived ideas and false expectations. But I can still get pumped!
Some info: as far as transportation, there is a direct bus to San José. This is huge as sometimes volunteers need something like 2 buses and a boat to find their sites. The down side: it leaves Jabillo at 3:30am. Other nearby towns include Jicaral (25 km, almost on the Gulf of Nicoya coast), Carmona (60 km, main source for Internet, bank, post office, etc), and the beach is only 20 km away!
The local ADI (Association of Development) is excited about having a PC Volunteer and there seem to be a lot of prospective projects including: forming new groups (womens, youth, etc), creating youth recreation opportunities, fundraising for a salon comunal and a bridge (there is a river that floods in winter and makes transportation difficult), beginning a computer program, teaching English, etc...
Resources in Jabillo include la cancha (soccer field), one pulpería (small general store), a primary school (24 kids), and a health center that visits every 15 days. On the map, I will live more or less where the red dot is on the west coast peninsula. Although it's 20 km from the beach, apparently you can see the ocean from the community and the view is supposed to be spectacular!

Semana Santa

...la playa! Finally had the chance to go to the beach. After a big lunch at home with all the family in the area, my host sister Dunia, her boyfriend Damian, and I took a trip out to San Rafael de Tamarindo. Another sister and her husband, Anna and Joaquin, had purchased a lot there and just finished building a house. I use the word loosely, more appropriate for description is cabina, as it was basically a large one-room, open-air establishment with an indoor bathroom (as opposed to the outhouse the neighbors had) and mattresses in every corner (and in the middle of the room as well!) Arriving late on Holy Thursday, we left early the next for Playa Tamarindo, which they wanted to show me, but didn´t want to stick around all day because it is a bit touristy for Tico taste. At midday we packed up and headed to Playa Avellana, with darker sands and fewer people. By this time, I was nicely toasted as I had forgotten to pack sunscreen and so had everyone else. (Instead they slapped tanning oil on me... ugh!) I spent the afternoon in the shade to minimalize my tomate effect!
The following morning we drove down to Playa Ostional, which must have been at least 130 kilometers round trip. Now that might not seem that far, but keep in mind that Costa Rican "roads" are very different from roads we are all used to, especially in more rural areas! We´re talking Guanacaste summer-dusty roads (it´s the driest region in the country), so we´re choking on the dust clouds. If the road actually happened to be paved, cars would often drive on either side of the road in order to avoid the potholes (the word does not do justice to the missing sections of the road)! Finally arriving to an isolated paradise with dark sands and rough currents (no one else would swim with me!), we de-dusted and relaxed from all the road turbulence. Ostional is a turtle reserve and I was encouraged to eat the eggs, an offer which I furtively refused. (I had to... for those from Florida, think about what would happen if mentioned eating baby sea turtles - it´s a crime!) I later learned that a Peace Corps Volunteer lives in the community, and there is truly such an over-abundance of turtles nesting that they are legally allowed to sell the eggs - the only place from which such sales are legal. I caught some great pictures of the beaches and the howler monkeys (they really make some loud noise!) we saw from the dusty road-that-never-ended, as well as the cabina - all of which my little nephew promptly deleted upon arrival at home due to my carelessness! Oh well, we´ll just have to have another beach excursion!

Los Ángeles de Nandayure - Volunteer Visit

The bus ride out to Guanacaste was somewhat long, about 5 hours but not stressful in the least. Other trainees had to travel for nearly 9 hours, while my total trip time was about 6.5 hrs. I had my "bag of fun" packed with a book, magazine, iPod, journal, water, and fruit, for whatever I might be in need of. On our second official site visit, all the trainees go alone to see a current volunteer. I saw Anna Myers of Tico 12 [I belong to Tico 14], who lives in a community where you can see both the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Nicoya - it´s gorgeous! I was travelling during Semana Santa, which is a huge local holiday, and Anna´s community likes to party hard. The beers started coming in the afternoon at the soccer game, and then they just wouldn´t stop! I felt a bit like the gringa showcase, but it was an interesting affair.
The next day (while experiencing the first hangover of my life) we hiked down the mountain to a posa (swimming hole) in the river, right above a waterfall. Even if I wasn´t feeling top notch, the hike was beautiful and the river was relaxing. Anna´s family shared their special Tico trick for a queasy stomach - drink down some guaro ! (Guaro is the local licor, made from sugarcane, and I decided against heeding the advice!)
Although the visit was short, I learned about the region, Anna´s site, and various projects she´s been working on, including English classes, Junior Achievement programs, writing grants for an aqueduct project, and prospective projects like Chicas Poderosas as well. This is what training is all about!

Una boda a la Tica!

So Andrea Vargas Bustamante, my younger sister by a mere 5 days, officially became Vargas Martínez on April 8th. After a bit of stress due the priest´s late arrival, the wedding procession hit the church and mass began. The basic format of a Costa Rican wedding is the same as in the States. The Catholic services consist of a normal mass and sermon, with the bride and groom sitting or kneeling for the most part. This wedding was an intimate affair, with lots of family and a few close friends. Pictured are Andrea and Randall, the bride and groom, with their parents immediately after the ceremony. (You can´t tell, but they´re all dying of heat! Imagine a 1pm wedding in this tropical sun!)
Afterwards, we all trooped over in several rented buses to the reception hall (where, yes, there were horses parked out front). Here, after waiting for a while for who knows what, we opened celebration with the brindis, or toast to the new couple. (The MC definitely made up names in the introductory procession, but I didn´t even know til much later...) Another long wait and some merengue and salsa dancing later, dinner was served. You guessed it... RICE & BEANS. Granted they were classy, with some vegetables, chicken, and meat thrown in, but you can´t have a Costa Rican meal without your staple food! The most interesting tradition was the "baile de billetes," where the newlyweds open and dance and all guests are invited to cut in, provided they pin money to the bride or groom! Here´s Andrea with her newfound wealth. I had to skip out early for a PC volunteer visit, but I was lucky to be able to go and celebrate with the happy couple. (And not that you can notice, but the bride is 4 months pregnant! Who would ever guess...)

La escuela de Bustamante

Last week the Bustamante group (there are four of us - Dan, Jacob, Steven, and myself) headed over to the Escuela Bustamante to learn about the Costa Rica education system. As we ended up actually giving an English class instead of observing one, we got more than we bargained for! We arrived on time at 8am, but typical to Tico culture we were invited to take cafecito before entering the class. When we were finally ready at 9:15, the school director starts off by showing us where they are in the English book! (The idea was to see the everyday classroom life.) Well, we took it in stride and made a presentation of the family tree thrown in with a repaso of food vocab. It was a learning experience because instead of being just a few children, we had the whole school! (Granted it wasn´t huge - about 40 kids, but it´s the principle of the matter.) Kids in general can be shy at first, but Costa Rican children are the most timid I´ve met! We had the "stand up & say you name" ice-breaker, but some would barely lift their heads to whisper! They were adorable nonetheless and a few brave ones did muster the courage to ask when we would be coming back!
Afterwards we had an interview with the director and got the low-down on education organizations, books, and funds. Then it was time to go, but the Tico hospitality hit us again and we all stayed for lunch at noon (though we´d all brought our own because the whole appointment was supposed to end at 10am)!

There & back again...

So I was in Atlanta for a weekend, due to a family emergency, but back in Costa Rica before I could even adjust to taking a hot shower! It was wonderful to see my family and a few good friends, so thanks for your comfort and love.

I´m so sorry I couldn´t make it home earlier, but happy for the time I was able to spend with you. Teresa, Debbie, and everyone, you better keep in touch! Special thanks to Tony and Melissa, you know why...
And thanks to everyone who gave me great food... Talk about reverse culture shock - I haven´t been sick to my stomach once here in CR, even after all the rice and beans I´ve eaten and local water I´ve had to drink. But my first meal out in Atlanta and I almost vomit at the table! Too bad, it was a good Oriental salad...

Now I am back in the land of rice, beans, & Imperial...
mountains of green, barbed wire fences, questionable roads, a place where the earth itself seems alive.