What I Do (Actually)

So now that you´ve read the theoretical explanation of my daily life, I´ll give you a dose of how it really is down here. When I first arrived at night, I didn´t even recognize my stop in the dark, so my mom boarded the bus to look for me! In the morning, I saw that the whole landscape had changed in two weeks. For those who don´t know about Costa Rican weather patterns, there are two seasons: summer and winter. Dry in summer, rains all winter. The rainy season had started so now it rains every day and will do so until December or so.With the onset of the rain, came the green wildlife Costa Rica is famous for, converting my site into a beautiful paradise.

I started out with a bang, attending 3 meetings in 3 days and interviewing the school teacher. I thought I was set, but then the activities drizzled down. My host family doesn´t leave the house all that often, at least not on a daily basis. That´s one of the biggest issues in the community. There´s nothing to do - no recreation, few community activities, etc. Since I didn´t have anywhere to go, it was difficult to leave the house. So I read like a fiend and tried to get organized. The first two weeks were hardest and the third week I just flat out decided that I would learn how to leave my house without having a destination. Thus started my family interviews. I ask people about the health, education, security, resources, etc, in the community and give them a chance to ask me some questions as well. I have spent several days simply going from house to house, introducing myself, and conducting an informal interview. Depending on how well I know the family and how much they like to talk, each visit takes between 30 minutes and 3 hours. It was on such an expedition to the furthest house in Jabillo that I got lost in the jungle.

I ended up in a mango grove with a troop of howler monkeys and let me tell you, they can make some noise! I had about 20 of the little dudes swarming around above my head and howling their little lungs out. When I continued, they only got louder, so I turned back to the last house. There I met a Tica who does not leave the house. She´s a old-timer and an animal lover, so much that she feeds the chickens, the dogs and even some of the pigs inside her home! After I explained why I came and she rambled on for about 2 hours straight, she offered something to drink... and she spiked it! I was wondering why fresco de piña tasted so bad until a neighbor came and called her out on it!

Anyway, every day is different as I have no set schedule yet. I go to soccer matches, visit other towns, tour the high school, attend catequesis class at the church, and meet as many people as possible. I go into the nearest town about once a week for 2 hours of Internet time. I have also made friends with another gringa, a World Teach volunteer in a town about 10 km away. I go for long runs walk around in my protective but surprisingly not-so-uncomfortable rubber black rubber boots. I´m the only woman to wear them in my town! At least that I´ve seen so far... I spend time getting to know my family and play Memory with my little host sister. When I met with the Association of Development, they wanted me to have a meeting in another community. (One of the other towns with which my town works.) So we set up a date for La Y Griega and I put some of my training exercises into effect. I didn´t expect to have help with the meeting, which was good because I certainly didn´t get any! I was worried no one would show up so I lobbied for a few days with house visits and interviews. In a community of about 150 people, 30 came out to hear me talk. We did a diagnostic exercise to recognize strengths and weaknesses in the community and brainstormed for possibly community improvement projects. I was really nervous about the meeting, but it went well and I was satisfied with the result. Luckily, that day the mailman on his motorcycle stopped me on the street (he didn´t have a problem recognizing the only gringa in town!) because he had real mail for me! Many thanks to the brave souls - my friend Megan, a fellow au pair in Spain and Eileen Smith, my former boss at The Emory Wheel - who sent mail to the sketchy address! Now (thanks to Eileen) if you send me mail, I can write you back on the stationary she included in her care package! That mailman was like my new best friend!