I feel like my feet are stuck in the mud, and I was trying really hard to keep walking, but now I have just given up and sat my ass down and started making mud pies. A strange analogy- but it is so fitting. I have projects in the beginning stages, I have community activities to participate in, but I also have an enormous amount of free time. There is rarely a meeting or community event before 3pm, because the kids are a school, the dads are at work, and the moms are cooking, cleaning and washing. So although my afternoons are the perfect amount of full my mornings are empty. It is a blessing. I know the value of free time, because I have lived my life in various states of busy-ness, some of which alotted me little to no free time. I remember how desperately I wanted just one day to sleep in, or one extra hour to work out, or the ability to waste an afternoon with a movie and a good friend.
Now that I am inundated with free time I find myself being wasteful. The enormity of my free time is crushing my motivation. So my newest challenge is time management- I think I have learned this lesson before...
Monday, October 31, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
I left site on foot, and returned in a Lexus.
This is the second time that I have typed this blog entry. The first time it kept deleting itself. I think its the ants that may be living in my computer. Or the computer has a life of its own. Either way, I am surprisingly unfased.
Lets start in the beginning and see where we end up.
-Before the All Volunteer Conference (AVC) a fellow PCV visited me for the weekend. We had a wonderful time cooking, lounging and sharing. One of my favorite things about having my new house is that it is the perfect place to entertain guests!
-(If you are my mother don't read this bullet, just skip to the next one, it will only worry you, and there is no reason to worry because everything has a happy ending) Because of a mix-up about buses we ended up leaving at 5:30am on foot. The nearest bus stop is 27 km away and we were hoping to catch a ride because walking would take us hours. And it was hot, and we had a weeks worth of bags on our backs. Not very far our of town I ran into a friend who said that his friend had a car and could take us. The man with the car had a flat tire, but he called his friend and his friend was going to bring him a tire within the hour. We waited. The tire showed up, and it was a monster truck tire. The car was an Isuzu Pup, in other words, the tire didn't fit. So we left on foot. No one passed us for 3 hours. Then finally the Izusu Pup, complete with monster truck tire passed us. We rode with them for about 25 minutes until one of the tires blew. Guess which one? Yep, you guessed right, the monster truck tire. We set off on foot again, got another ride shortly thereafter and finally arrived in the nearest town at 11am.
-AVC went really well. There were 130 some volunteers and it was great to meet new people, listen to presentations about projects and just pass time with people who understand so much of my life.
-I stayed in town an extra day to celebrate a friends birthday and go bungee jumping. Bungee jumping was quite a rush, I literally felt like I was flying. The best part though, was hanging upside down in the middle of the Costa Rican wilderness, alone, silent, and with a perspective that I will probably never have again in my life. It was a great experience. We had chocolate cake and stayed in a classier hotel for my friends birthday, it was the epitome of Peace Corps luxurious!
-Back in site I have been working on a housing project, and it looks like there are potentially 24 families that are completing applications to recieve homes from the government, which if everything comes to fruition, would be spectacular. I am also organizing a environmental club, english classes, and a workshop on project management. This weekend the church is holding an event and I am supporting them in fundraising and day of events. I am also going to the water board meeting later this week. So it feels like work is getting underway, which is reassuring.
-Sugar is lost. I am not going to say much here, because I still have not admitted the reality of the situation. Because it makes me too sad.
-I finally figured out the veggie schedule and today I arrived just in time to pick up fresh veggies from the Monday shipment. Which means that I have tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, onions, garlic, chiles, and cilantro. I will be eating well for the next few days. Too bad it won't last me the week (without a fridge things tend to go bad after a day or two).
For now I will leave it at that. I can't say that we have arrived at an end of sorts, but my pasta is done cooking and I want to eat it while its hot. Sending loves.
Lets start in the beginning and see where we end up.
-Before the All Volunteer Conference (AVC) a fellow PCV visited me for the weekend. We had a wonderful time cooking, lounging and sharing. One of my favorite things about having my new house is that it is the perfect place to entertain guests!
-(If you are my mother don't read this bullet, just skip to the next one, it will only worry you, and there is no reason to worry because everything has a happy ending) Because of a mix-up about buses we ended up leaving at 5:30am on foot. The nearest bus stop is 27 km away and we were hoping to catch a ride because walking would take us hours. And it was hot, and we had a weeks worth of bags on our backs. Not very far our of town I ran into a friend who said that his friend had a car and could take us. The man with the car had a flat tire, but he called his friend and his friend was going to bring him a tire within the hour. We waited. The tire showed up, and it was a monster truck tire. The car was an Isuzu Pup, in other words, the tire didn't fit. So we left on foot. No one passed us for 3 hours. Then finally the Izusu Pup, complete with monster truck tire passed us. We rode with them for about 25 minutes until one of the tires blew. Guess which one? Yep, you guessed right, the monster truck tire. We set off on foot again, got another ride shortly thereafter and finally arrived in the nearest town at 11am.
-AVC went really well. There were 130 some volunteers and it was great to meet new people, listen to presentations about projects and just pass time with people who understand so much of my life.
-I stayed in town an extra day to celebrate a friends birthday and go bungee jumping. Bungee jumping was quite a rush, I literally felt like I was flying. The best part though, was hanging upside down in the middle of the Costa Rican wilderness, alone, silent, and with a perspective that I will probably never have again in my life. It was a great experience. We had chocolate cake and stayed in a classier hotel for my friends birthday, it was the epitome of Peace Corps luxurious!
-Back in site I have been working on a housing project, and it looks like there are potentially 24 families that are completing applications to recieve homes from the government, which if everything comes to fruition, would be spectacular. I am also organizing a environmental club, english classes, and a workshop on project management. This weekend the church is holding an event and I am supporting them in fundraising and day of events. I am also going to the water board meeting later this week. So it feels like work is getting underway, which is reassuring.
-Sugar is lost. I am not going to say much here, because I still have not admitted the reality of the situation. Because it makes me too sad.
-I finally figured out the veggie schedule and today I arrived just in time to pick up fresh veggies from the Monday shipment. Which means that I have tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, onions, garlic, chiles, and cilantro. I will be eating well for the next few days. Too bad it won't last me the week (without a fridge things tend to go bad after a day or two).
For now I will leave it at that. I can't say that we have arrived at an end of sorts, but my pasta is done cooking and I want to eat it while its hot. Sending loves.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
And then there were three
What a happy family of three.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
the importance of articles
I was reminded today of maybe the funniest thing that has happened to me in Costa Rica. It was not funny in the moment, but in retrospect, hilarious.
I attend the local government meetings every two weeks and it usually consists of me and 5 men. We sit outside in a circle of chairs. On this particular meeting we are inside gathered around a table and I am guiding them through an activity. I have to do this for PeaceCorps, but I do acknowledge that the activity has value as a diagnostic tool. I am not able to effectively explain this in Spanish (remember this is only like week 3 in site). So instead I just say "Siempre tengo razon."
I don't know how much Spanish you know, so I will explain. In my head I was informing the local government that I always have a reason (Siempre tengo UNA razon). It seemed like a valid thing to say. But what I actually said is "I am always right." Yep. ALWAYS. RIGHT.
That is why articles are important.
I attend the local government meetings every two weeks and it usually consists of me and 5 men. We sit outside in a circle of chairs. On this particular meeting we are inside gathered around a table and I am guiding them through an activity. I have to do this for PeaceCorps, but I do acknowledge that the activity has value as a diagnostic tool. I am not able to effectively explain this in Spanish (remember this is only like week 3 in site). So instead I just say "Siempre tengo razon."
I don't know how much Spanish you know, so I will explain. In my head I was informing the local government that I always have a reason (Siempre tengo UNA razon). It seemed like a valid thing to say. But what I actually said is "I am always right." Yep. ALWAYS. RIGHT.
That is why articles are important.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
time passes differently when there aren't seasons.
Finally taped my pictures on the wall. Feels more like my house is mine. Its personalized and full of love and memories. And Sugar, without him I would just be talking to myself.
Yesterday I found a baby frog underneath my bed. I trapped him in a cup and took him outside. Then I found a cockroach twice the size of the baby frog hiding in my toiletries and I killed him with my flipflop. My murderous streak really has no rhyme or reason.
I have taken to spraying the ants with disinfectant because I ran out of Raid - its not nearly as effective. Did you know that ants here bite? I mean, I was well aware of that fact, but its one thing to have ants biting your feet when you are outside in their turf and another to have ants biting your hands when you reach in your purse. (They had discovered who knows what because there is no food in my purse)
Sugar yips and pretend chews food in his sleep. He also gets me out of bed at 6-7am. He puts his paws on my bed and whines until I get out of bed. At first I thought he just wanted to go outside and use the bathroom, but I have since discovered that he just is lonely and wants someone to play with. Well get ready pups, because once we have a kitten in the house I think you are going to miss your quiet alone time. Sugar was also refusing to eat rice and beans, which stunk because that is what he is getting for like 80% of his meals. I bought some dog food, buts its expensive and rice and beans are not. But I have since learned that his tastes are just finicky. Its not that he doesn't like rice and beans, he just doesn't like cold rice and beans. *Give me some blueberry pancakes bitch!* Only Mom and Dad will get that last reference, and honestly I have no idea what it is referencing, but I bet that Jordan was involved.
In other news, I have a wildly successful community meeting on Friday with 30 people in attendance. Be impressed. Did I mention I live in a town of 50? Okay, well that's misleading, cause some people were from neighboring towns, but still, you should be impressed, trust me. I am working with the woman's soccer team to help them hold more productive and respectful meetings, with the youth group to get organized and active in the community and with any other group who will invite me to their meetings. When the local government has meetings I am working with them too, but you know how that goes, well you probably don't, but its a long explanation. This week I am going to give three workshops on how to be organized when managing a project, lets hope for a good turnout.
I eat an insane amount of onion and garlic. They are the only readily available veggies in town. Sometimes I can buy cilantro, red bell peppers, tomatoes and potatoes. But I can always buy onions and garlic. And produce is CHEAP here, probably because they actually produce veggies. Favorite meal from the week was a tomato, onion, garlic omelet. It was wonderful, and I have black pepper, which I know sounds hum drum in the states, but its a rarity here, and its so wonderful.
Success of the day: doing all my weeks laundry in the morning and bringing it in completely dry 15 minutes before the downpour. Clutch. OOHHH and I just remembered I got a lunch invite for beef soup tomorrow, which sounds like free food and variety all wrapped in a beautiful package.
Loves. Wishes for another wonderful week.
Yesterday I found a baby frog underneath my bed. I trapped him in a cup and took him outside. Then I found a cockroach twice the size of the baby frog hiding in my toiletries and I killed him with my flipflop. My murderous streak really has no rhyme or reason.
I have taken to spraying the ants with disinfectant because I ran out of Raid - its not nearly as effective. Did you know that ants here bite? I mean, I was well aware of that fact, but its one thing to have ants biting your feet when you are outside in their turf and another to have ants biting your hands when you reach in your purse. (They had discovered who knows what because there is no food in my purse)
Sugar yips and pretend chews food in his sleep. He also gets me out of bed at 6-7am. He puts his paws on my bed and whines until I get out of bed. At first I thought he just wanted to go outside and use the bathroom, but I have since discovered that he just is lonely and wants someone to play with. Well get ready pups, because once we have a kitten in the house I think you are going to miss your quiet alone time. Sugar was also refusing to eat rice and beans, which stunk because that is what he is getting for like 80% of his meals. I bought some dog food, buts its expensive and rice and beans are not. But I have since learned that his tastes are just finicky. Its not that he doesn't like rice and beans, he just doesn't like cold rice and beans. *Give me some blueberry pancakes bitch!* Only Mom and Dad will get that last reference, and honestly I have no idea what it is referencing, but I bet that Jordan was involved.
In other news, I have a wildly successful community meeting on Friday with 30 people in attendance. Be impressed. Did I mention I live in a town of 50? Okay, well that's misleading, cause some people were from neighboring towns, but still, you should be impressed, trust me. I am working with the woman's soccer team to help them hold more productive and respectful meetings, with the youth group to get organized and active in the community and with any other group who will invite me to their meetings. When the local government has meetings I am working with them too, but you know how that goes, well you probably don't, but its a long explanation. This week I am going to give three workshops on how to be organized when managing a project, lets hope for a good turnout.
I eat an insane amount of onion and garlic. They are the only readily available veggies in town. Sometimes I can buy cilantro, red bell peppers, tomatoes and potatoes. But I can always buy onions and garlic. And produce is CHEAP here, probably because they actually produce veggies. Favorite meal from the week was a tomato, onion, garlic omelet. It was wonderful, and I have black pepper, which I know sounds hum drum in the states, but its a rarity here, and its so wonderful.
Success of the day: doing all my weeks laundry in the morning and bringing it in completely dry 15 minutes before the downpour. Clutch. OOHHH and I just remembered I got a lunch invite for beef soup tomorrow, which sounds like free food and variety all wrapped in a beautiful package.
Loves. Wishes for another wonderful week.
Monday, October 3, 2011
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." Proust
Some of the thrills and wonders of living in my own home:
-When I find a tarantula in the shower it is my job to find a broom and either sweep it outside or kill it. Ok...well when I find a spider or bug I have that choice. When I find a tarantula I have to kill it, because have you seen how HUGE they are?
-Oficios! Sweeping, mopping, sanitizing, washing dishes, laundry, etc. I know that at some point in time I will disagree with the following statement, but in this moment I LOVE chores! They give needed structure and purpose to my days and downtime.
-There is no one watching me and judging how I spend my time. Even though I am living next door to the escuela, and the minute I open my blinds the kids are peaking their eyes in or knocking on my door. Its actually more endearing than annoying. This morning a little girl offered to help me mop the floor. Other endearing things about living next to the school, I am awoken in the morning by childrens' laughter. So much better than the damn roosters.
-Community members are inviting to their houses, teaching me cook and just stopping by to chat! On Saturday morning I was invited for sopa de gallina at a neighbors house, and on Sunday afternoon a community member stopped by in the afternoon to see how I am doing. I love have a space to invite people into and to be able to offer cafecito.
-The kids have been bringing me fruit, which is probably the way to my heart in Costa Rica. In the past 4 days I have received mandarins, oranges, mamones (lychees) and bananas. In return when they are playing soccer in my backyard I always keep the back door open and some plastic cups by the sink. So when they are thirsty they can come in and help themselves to water.
-I can cook for myself! This weekend my fellow volunteer and friend Biiftu came and spent the weekend with me, and we made so many wonderful foods- pancakes, french toast, spaghetti and cheese-less pizza. Also I am learning all about cooking arroz y frijoles and how to live and cook without a fridge.
-I am actively working on making friends with the bats. They are fruit bats and they do not bite, they also eat bugs, which is wonderful. So far I just talk to them when they are flying circles around the room. I think we will make great amigos as long as they never fly into me.
-When it rains my bathroom roof drips, which means that their is a small flood in the bathroom and the toilet gets soaked. I choose to find that entertaining. Kind of like when you move into a old house that is 'charming' which really just means that it has odd quirks that you can either interpret as malfunctions or as unique. I choose unique.
- I am composting, which is a beautiful thing. It makes me feel better about burning my trash, which I feel awful about. So far I am storing up recyclables in hopes that before I have an unmanageable amount of recyclables, my recycling program will have taken off.
-I am going to try to start a garden project for selfish purposes. Because I want more veggies. Of course I will share with the escuela, and can incorporate a garden into a workshop with the kids on nutrition and on the environment.
-Sugar lives inside of the house with me. And sometimes, when I am watching movies in bed at night, I put a special shirt on the bed and let him snuggle with me! Don't tell the Tico's, they will vote me off the island. I also have a kitten on the way, once he is done breastfeeding he is going to come live with me and Sugar. What a family!
Off to make lunch and then write out some invitations for a community meeting to introduce my work plan :-)
Sending loves!
-When I find a tarantula in the shower it is my job to find a broom and either sweep it outside or kill it. Ok...well when I find a spider or bug I have that choice. When I find a tarantula I have to kill it, because have you seen how HUGE they are?
-Oficios! Sweeping, mopping, sanitizing, washing dishes, laundry, etc. I know that at some point in time I will disagree with the following statement, but in this moment I LOVE chores! They give needed structure and purpose to my days and downtime.
-There is no one watching me and judging how I spend my time. Even though I am living next door to the escuela, and the minute I open my blinds the kids are peaking their eyes in or knocking on my door. Its actually more endearing than annoying. This morning a little girl offered to help me mop the floor. Other endearing things about living next to the school, I am awoken in the morning by childrens' laughter. So much better than the damn roosters.
-Community members are inviting to their houses, teaching me cook and just stopping by to chat! On Saturday morning I was invited for sopa de gallina at a neighbors house, and on Sunday afternoon a community member stopped by in the afternoon to see how I am doing. I love have a space to invite people into and to be able to offer cafecito.
-The kids have been bringing me fruit, which is probably the way to my heart in Costa Rica. In the past 4 days I have received mandarins, oranges, mamones (lychees) and bananas. In return when they are playing soccer in my backyard I always keep the back door open and some plastic cups by the sink. So when they are thirsty they can come in and help themselves to water.
-I can cook for myself! This weekend my fellow volunteer and friend Biiftu came and spent the weekend with me, and we made so many wonderful foods- pancakes, french toast, spaghetti and cheese-less pizza. Also I am learning all about cooking arroz y frijoles and how to live and cook without a fridge.
-I am actively working on making friends with the bats. They are fruit bats and they do not bite, they also eat bugs, which is wonderful. So far I just talk to them when they are flying circles around the room. I think we will make great amigos as long as they never fly into me.
-When it rains my bathroom roof drips, which means that their is a small flood in the bathroom and the toilet gets soaked. I choose to find that entertaining. Kind of like when you move into a old house that is 'charming' which really just means that it has odd quirks that you can either interpret as malfunctions or as unique. I choose unique.
- I am composting, which is a beautiful thing. It makes me feel better about burning my trash, which I feel awful about. So far I am storing up recyclables in hopes that before I have an unmanageable amount of recyclables, my recycling program will have taken off.
-I am going to try to start a garden project for selfish purposes. Because I want more veggies. Of course I will share with the escuela, and can incorporate a garden into a workshop with the kids on nutrition and on the environment.
-Sugar lives inside of the house with me. And sometimes, when I am watching movies in bed at night, I put a special shirt on the bed and let him snuggle with me! Don't tell the Tico's, they will vote me off the island. I also have a kitten on the way, once he is done breastfeeding he is going to come live with me and Sugar. What a family!
Off to make lunch and then write out some invitations for a community meeting to introduce my work plan :-)
Sending loves!
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