First Week as a PC Volunteer, officially

Things that have happened in my life in the past week:

-I packed up my possessions and moved over halfway across the country of Costa Rica.

-I finished moving into the house that I will be living in for the next while.

-I said goodbye to all of my fellow volunteers and training family members. Which was very sad and I won’t lie- there was a lot of crying.

Some things that are newly a part of my life:

-Heat, heat and heat. Someone with more resources (or more mathematical intelligence) than I can translate this into Fahrenheit, but in Celsius the low is 24 degrees and the high is 28 degrees. Just to give you an example of the heat- I drip, it’s a whole new level of sweating. And that  just when I’m sitting still.

-Chickens, pigs, horses, dogs, hidden puppies and toads

-I also live in a house that contains a public payphone. Which means the phone rings constantly and there are always new people coming over to use the phone. 

-Dr Oz. My host mom (90 year old women I live with) watches Dr. Oz every night from 6-7pm. Its very comical – the situation, not the show.

-An intense amount of time. My only project for the next three months is to learn about the community and write a diagnostic. Learning about the community if a process and I can’t force it, I just have to be here.

-Reading on the porch time. Speaking of, if anyone has book suggestions I am open!

-Answering personal questions when meeting strangers: do you have  boyfriend, what religion are you, etc. This is commonplace here and not considered invasive. I’m working on my answers but so far my favorite response is “Mejor sola que mal companera” which means “Better single than bad companion”

Some things that are no longer a part of my life:

-Access to Internet

-A supermarket

-Regularly scheduled transportation

-A personal life (sad, but a reality of Peace Corps professionalism when living in a town of 72 people)

-Access to a post office

-Ability to add prepago (prepaid) minutes to my phone in town

To quote a fellow PCV who just swore in: OH MY GOD We are Peace Corps Volunteers! Its kinda like being a real person again, but with limited language skills. During training I felt like we were overgrown toddlers, but now its like we are adults again, with an asterisk. 

Chelsea

Peace Corps Volunteer*

*unable to effectively communicate in any language.