Locked in Jabillo!

For the rest of August, I focused on finishing my community diagnostic in preparation for In-Service Training (IST). The community analysis tool (referred to in loving terms as the CAT) is a long process, one I won't really finish until December. I'm off to a good start but have a long way to go! Interviews are a never-ending process!

I was right in step with the rural community life, riding my not-so-fabulous bike all over the place from Juan de Leon to Coyote (sometimes in the rain in my rubber boots!), playing mejenga (pick-up soccer) with the guys, another trip to the beach with my World Teach friend Cedar, meetings with the kindergarten board planning a Toy Party (sort of like a baby shower for the kindergarten), planning the yearly Asamblea General with the board of the Association of Development, a meeting to try to restart the Health Committee, finishing interviews for the CAT, enduring the heat and waiting for the rain, teaching English, etc, etc... I have to admit, I love mejenga. It's up there in favorite parts of the week. There is definitely a strong presence of machismo in my town. While I thought this might present an issue with me playing men's soccer, instead they ask me if I'm coming the next week or if I missed it, they notice that I wasn't around. Now all I have to do is convince some other women to join in...!

I mentioned the Asamblea General, so I should explain that it's the yearly meeting the Association holds for all the communities to convene and discuss the next year's work plan. Since the Assoc. only reformed three years ago, they still have a lot of work to do as far as organizing the system for announcing and planning the assembly. That's where I come in, trying to establish a sustainable manner, a template they can use every year that includes community lists of affiliates, invitation letters, an example of the Labor and Economic informes, etc... Now it so happened that the week before I left for IST, that meant deliving many of those invitations to the 188 affiliates on my bike! While collaboration is definitely an important part of the picture, there's some things you just have to do on your own!

Having not left my community in so long, it was so strange coming into San Jose for IST and living in a city and being cold all the time! I myself find it hard to believe that I stayed in my site for over a month and a half without taking a personal night. There are a lot of reasons for my reclusiveness but I can't say I'm regretful... it was an enjoyable month and a half. Anyway, I came in early for IST to meet up with my friend Stephanie, a fellow volunteer. Though we had not spoken for nearly two weeks and had not finalized or confirmed arrangements, I registered us both for the Reto Gatorade 10km run in San Antonio de Belen... not really even knowing if Steph would show! We ended up in the right place together and made it to the race on Sunday morning. It was exhilarating, being in such an energetic, enthusiastic atmosphere! I ran the 10.5 kilometers in a bit over an hour and finished strong, so I was satisfied with the performance! Then it was time to rest up, finish some computer work on the CAT and prepare for a week of intense training with the Tico 14 crew!

El Día de Los Ángeles and MORE!

So August 2nd marks the day of the patron saint of Costa Rica, La Virgen de Los Ángeles, and thousands of people celebrate with a pilgrimage to the city of Cartago to visit the basilica.

For my sister Angélica and I, Cartago is quite a distance, so we opted instead to hike up the mountain to Los Ángeles de Nandayure. (In case anyone is noticing a pattern here, that´s becoming a frequent party destination!) I was still worried about the bike accident injuries, but I was able to aguantar better than my host sister and helped her trek up the mountain in a little over 3 hours. We met up with my compañera Anna and enjoyed the festivities, religious and otherwise! Anna´s town sure knows how to party... or maybe it´s just me and Anna. And we both like to dance! Regardless, fun times all around.

Back in Jabillo, I had a Sesión Informática for my adult English class. About 30 people showed up from several different communities to see what the deal was and how I was going to structure everything. They have until the end of the month to officially enter the course, so we shall see... If more than 20 register, I´ll have to separate them into two classes, so that will delay the process a bit, but assuming all goes well, I will have the books and be ready to go in mid-September.

On August 5th (Saturday afternoon), a volunteer from Tico 15 (the next volunteer group following mine) came out to visit me. For those who keep tabs, this is equivalent to the first time I visited Anna in Los Ángeles (who knew I´d end up her neighbor and travel there for fiestas!) To make things confusing, my visitor´s name is Ann and she is a part of the CYF program (Children, Youth, & Families). I work more with an organization called DINADECO (explained somewhere in some blog or another), while she works on behalf of PANI, which is an organization for children.

She´s pictured with my family on the mountain behind our house. I thought we´d do something fun before heading to work with the Asociation of Development on Monday, so Sunday we started out for the beach. Luckily this time we didn´t have to walk! We enjoyed the playa tranquila, taking advantage of the sun, sand, and surf. When we returned, some of my townsfolk commented on the fact that I was bien bronceada and paying me the compliment that I´m developing Tica skin. But poor Ann had a bit too much fun in the sun. She told me she loved our beach excursion, but I was just relieved that I didn´t kill her! She´ll be feeling the burn for a few days I´m sure, but my town can´t wait to have another gringo to visit! Hint, hint... ;) Anyway, I still managed give examples of some real work situations and participated in the Association meeting, where we set the date for the Asamblea General, which takes place once a year (and hence, needs to planning and preparation). It´s the chance for all the afiliados of all the communities of the Asociation to discuss the past year and create a Plan de Trabajo, or work plan, for the coming year. So I was able to expose her to more than those harmful, but beautiful rays!

So Far Behind!

So as I have more activities in my site and less opportunities to leave it, I am way behind on updating you with my life! Here´s the lowdown on what I´ve been doing and how...

Back in June, I went to my very first Costa Rican baile, a Maribel event in San Francisco de Coyote (about 10 km from Jabillo). There´s a World Teach volunteer named Cedar who lives there and another named Sara who lives in Jabilla (don´t confuse that with my town, La Jabilla is actually on the beach - it´s a common mistake even down here!), so we were a little troop of gringas on the town for the some dancing! Let´s just say that if one gringa attracts a substancial amount of trouble, a trio is three times the attention!

For some good old-fashioned American Independence Day celebrations, I headed back to the capital city (San José) for the 4th of July party hosted by the American Colony Committee. Basically it´s a chance for gringos in the country to celebrate with hot dogs, beer, popcorn, frozen yogurt, and live music, among other luxuries... best part is it´s all free. The flip side is that events start at 7am... so I didn´t really take advantage of the beer. But I assure you, the coffee and bagels were delicious!

I spent the rest of that week in Los Ángeles de Nandayure (if the name sounds familiar, it´s because I travelled there back in April for my "volunteer visit" with Anna, a fellow volunteer. Her site has an event called Semana Cultural or Culture Week, in which there are all kind of sports and cultural events, organized into a community-wide competition. Anna requested some outside help with the daily events, so four of us rose to the call and headed into the Guanacastecan mountains. It was a whirlwind of food and alcohol sales, sports events, exercises with the elderly, bailes, and more... it was great to see such community organization and smooth functioning of events. It gave me a picture of the possibilities and new ideas for little Jabillo!

I came back to my town rejuvenated from all the festivities, but wasn´t quite done travelling, even though I wanted to be! After one day of rest, I headed to Liberia for the first time for a meeting with all the volunteers in Rural Community Development in Guanacaste and our counterpart, DINADECO (for those who can´t keep all the acronyms straight, and it´s understandable, this is the organization that governs all the Development Associations throughout the country.) The meeting itself was decent; it was a training session on project proposals. Necessary administrative stuff, but a bit on the boring side. As Liberia´s quite difficult for me to travel to (about the same as going to San José or 6-7ish hrs), I had to stay overnight, along with several others. (I may say that like it was a chore, but I´m loving every minute with my fellow Guanacastecan volunteer friends!!)

Continuing the meeting theme, the day after arriving in Jabillo again I went to Pueblo Nuevo (and thus saw all the beach towns) with my counterpart Omar Mora, the pulpería owner for a different meeting with DINADECO. The following day we headed to Nandayure for yet another meeting for the Regional Directiva in the cantón... whew!

In the Escuela Jabillo, I´ve started my first real project: English class for students. I divided the school into two classes: 1st and 2nd grade (10 kids) and 3rd through 6th (9 kids). We´ve had two classes so far and the older kids are fabulous! Although they are a bit shy about speaking, they are motivated and really want to learn English! The younger kids are more difficult to focus, but it´s a matter of restructuring my class format to better suit their learning level... I have a lot to learn too!


For the Day of the Guanacastecan Anexation, the schoolkids dress in traditional clothing and sing and celebrate el orgullo de Guanacaste, the pride that we have has a region to be both Guanacastecan and Costa Rican. (This holiday celebrates the province ´s break away from Nicaragua and joining to Costa Rica.) The kids were adorable!

For those who remember my FODA meeting in La Y Griega, I facilitated the same diagnostic exercise in another nearby community that´s also part of my Association, Juán de León. I spent about 4 days announcing the meeting and conducting interviews. I visited every single house in the community, all 34 of them. And in the end 21 of the 87 adults came to hear me speak and express their opinions on community improvement. I was impressed with the turnout and we actually covered significant ground in the discussions! The down side was my bike crash on the way home! I scraped up an elbow and a knee, some bruises... but nothing too serious and I was up and running pronto. Note to future visitors: it´s not a good idea to fall off your bike on a gravel road!

So there´s always more to tell, but I think that´s long enough for now... Stay tuned for the next saga... pura vida!

(Pictures updated on the 31st of September. And don't worry, the bike wounds healed! A bit of scarring, but it will fade!)