March 1st, 2011 I began my journey here in Costa Rica. 1 year later- March 1st, 2012. Instead of sharing my lessons learned, I thought to celebrate this anniversary I would share with you the new norms of my life. You have traveled with me on my path to adjustment, but where has that path lead me? Here are a few of the norms of my current life:
-Once (well, ideally twice but sometimes the heat makes me lazy) I hand wash my clothes in the sink. Now this is something that I expected to do during my Peace Corps service, but I never imagined the battle that I would have to wage against mold. It probably doesn't shock you, that in a tropical climate with high humidity a lot of things mold. That statement sounds normal enough, seems predictable. But what threw me for a loop was the plethora of places where mold can and will grow. And mold is not scared a little elbow grease. But now when I put a t-shirt on, and it has that all to telling white circle I just throw it in the laundry without a second glance. New norm: All things have to be hand washed, and all things that will be hand washed will probably grow mold.
-Another general Peace Corps expectation is the battle with two, four, six and eight (and hundred) legged critters. I remember my first encounter with a tarantula, I was sitting on the couch at a friends house and she told me not to look behind me. To which I of course jumped out of my seat and whipped my head around to see what was behind me. Cue large and (surprisingly) hairy tarantula. We ended up calling her host mom to come help us, who killed it with a gas poison pump contraption. Thinking back to that story, I laugh at my squeamish self. If only I knew the critters that I would encounter in the upcoming year. Well after the rats, bats, centipedes, spiders, scorpions, termites, grasshoppers and other creepy crawlers I have grown a thicker skin. New Norm: Always look first, because chances are if you don't, the bug will get to you before you get to it.(oh yea, and flip flops are the BEST method to kill just about anything)
-Waste management and the accompanying measures that one has to take when there is no organized system to dispose of trash. I am lucky, I am not referring to liquid waste, although many people in my community still use septic tanks and because of the smell have to have their bathrooms in separate structures set away from the house. I have a toilet inside my house, that flushes (when there is water) just fine. I also have what you could call a shower (PVC tubing shower head) that flows with wonderfully cold and refreshing water. The waste that I am referring to, is garbage. I have to burn it or bury what can't be burned. At first this made the liberal environmentalist Seattlite inside of me cringe with guilt. After a year, its just another part of the normal routine. Although I will say that knowing that I have to burn everything that I buy and don't eat (packaging, etc) I make wiser purchases and I reuse or repair a lot more often. Because who wants to burn an old pair of headphones just because the cat chewed the cord and they don't work anymore. New Norm: Buying it means burning it, if its broken it can be fixed or repurposed.
-Acceptance. One word that encompasses so many new norms. I have accepted the pace of life and other unchangables - the heat, the water and electricity coming and going, the lack of phone signal, the monotony of rice and beans and a multitude of others. But I have also come to accept some changables, I have learned to pick my battles in life. Some things are worth putting up a fight, but most of the time, its better to just let things slide off. My bathroom leaks when it rains, meh. Most of the people in town show up late for meetings, but hey, at least they show up. New Norm: Tranquila.
-I play soccer at least 3 times a week. I enjoy it, and (not to brag) but I'm not so bad anymore. You'd be surprised. Only those of you who know me well can fully appreciate this, because you see, you play soccer with your feet, and I am not so great with my feet. Actually, it has been said more than once, that I am downright clumsy. So imagine, I am running, I am stopping the ball with my feet and kicking it again, WITHOUT falling. Its pretty impressive. New Norm: Coordination... (that may be taking it a little too far)
-Sleeping! This is a glorious new norm. I average 10 hours of sleep a night. Generally I head to bed around 10pm and sleep in until 8am. 10 hours of sleep, every night. Its beautiful. The downside, of course is that I go to bed at 10pm every night because there I have no night life, which per chance is not ideal, but the sleep - its glorious. New Norm: Well rested, ALWAYS.
-I guess the final norm would be my adjustment to the isolation. Being the only foreigner in my community, living alone, and having my nearest town be 2 and a half hours a way - that took (and takes) time to adjust to. I bounce around my house happily now. With dance parties one night, yoga the next morning, afternoon reading in the hammock, movies with popcorn the next day, and LOTS of talking to my animals. I am comfy alone, it feels stable, free, enjoyable! New Norm: Solitude.
Well, that's all for now, off to swing in the hammock and work on the next stripe in my blanket. Sending loves,
Chelsea
Congrats on the anniversary and your integration!
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