“Human beings have always been prepared to work hard to enhance a natural ability. We doubtless learned to run and jump in order to escape from our predators, but from these basic skills we developed ballet and gymnastics: after years of dedicated practice men and women acquire the ability to move with unearthly grace and achieve physical feats that are impossible for an untrained body. We devised language to improve communications and now we have poetry, which pushes speech into another dimension. In the same way, those who have persistently trained themselves in the art of compassion manifest new capacities in the human heart and mind; they discover that when they reach out consistently towards others, they are able to live with the suffering that inevitably comes their way with serenity, kindness, and creativity. They find that they have a new clarity and experience a richly intensified state of being.” Karen Armstrong

I like that quote. I am working on compassion and intention this month. Because the chickens shit in my room. And I can’t kill the chickens.

A week in review:

I joined the women’s soccer team and we have games on Sundays. My cousins told me the games were supposed to start around 11ish. We began playing on Sunday at 4pm (this is what we call Tico time) when the other team finally showed up in their bus. We played in the rain in the jerseys that the men’s team had just finished wearing. I kept telling myself that the jersey was wet with rain and not sweat. Mind over matter. *Side note: Mind over matter also served me well with the pigs feet. They were in the fridge and one day after lunch when I checked they were no longer in the fridge. Mind over matter* The game was a ton of fun! I am not very good, but I’m learning. And my cousins and extended family are very supportive.

Monday I spent the day in the closest larger town with a few Peace Corps friends. The only bus leaves at 530am and the stop is about 45 minutes away, so I left at 430ish. I got into town at 7am and caught the afternoon bus home at 430pm.  During the day I used the internet, had breakfast and lunch at a restaurant, bought supplies for my English class and went to the bank (which is air conditioned!!). It was great to see Peace Corps friends and spend the day in the ‘city’. We also met up with a volunteer who was finishing her last week in Peace Corps, it was so strange to talk with someone who was finished her service when we are all just starting. Right now 2 years seems like a lifetime.

In the middle of the week I got sick, just a little cold, but I decided to stay in bed and rest up. There are so many changes I think my body needs some more time to catch up. The best part about being sick was when my host mom told me in the evening that the kids from the school had come to the house to see if I could play soccer with them. It was so great to hear that the kids were actually coming looking for me!

Wednesday I went to my uncle’s house for dinner. I played a pick up soccer game with my 3 cousins were are quickly becoming wonderful friends. (they are all in high school mind you, but also very kind and helpful) After the soccer game they held a dance lesson for me in their living room. I learned cumbia and merenge. We had a great time, although I don’t think I have sweat that much ever in my life. It was great to spend the evening in a family environment with so much energy and activity.

Thursday I was planning on cleaning up the teacher’s house with is vacant and is going to serve as my classroom for English classes. I roped my cousin into helping me, but I thought it was just going to be the two of us. So we found the keys and went over the school to grab the cleaning supplies. The school kids were playing soccer in the field behind the school and they quickly asked if I would join them. I said that when I was done cleaning I would love to. Then I invited them to help clean. All 12 of the kids pitched in, and with the CD player that the neighbor brought it was just like a dance party. We took everything out, and cleaned the place from top to bottom. It looks so much better now, but more than anything I was so thrilled with the support I got from the community. It makes me extremely hopefully about my prospects for a youth group. Oh! And there were bats in the house, which may be the first time in my life I have actually seem a bat close up. Apparently if you kill one bat the others will ‘get the idea and leave’. So as the bats are flying around in circles and the kids are swinging the brooms at them as though part of some twisted game of baseball. Highly entertaining if you aren’t afraid of bats. I still am, afraid of bats that is.

Today is Friday and I’m going to head over to the school to chat with the teacher about how I can help out in the school. Wish me luck! …later that evening… Went well. I gotta ask for permission next time I wanna use the empty teachers house, but I can do that. And I am going to teach English classes and have an Environmental club every Friday from 11am-1pm in the school. I am excited and so are all the school kids. It is great to be wanted! This afternoon I went horseback riding with my counterpart. Today is his birthday, so he took the afternoon off from planting. We rode down to the river and rode along the river for about 3 hours. It was really beautiful and natural. There were monkeys in the trees and crocodiles in the river. He told me it was a great river for swimming, and that the crocodiles don’t bother you. Hmm, not sure its THAT hot here. It was a lot of fun riding horseback and seeing some of the natural beauty that is so close. He told me I can use his horse whenever I want, so I think I may make a habit of riding down the river and reading in the afternoons, pretty picturesque.

That’s all for now. Sending love and peace.

Chelsea