"Life in the Peace Corps will not be easy. There will be no salary and allowances will be at a level sufficient only to maintain health and meet basic needs. Men and women will be expected to work and live alongside the nationals of the country in which they are stationed - doing the same work, eating the same food, talking the same language.
But if the life will not be easy, it will be rich and satisfying. For every young American who participates in the Peace Corps - who works in a foreign land - will know that he or she is sharing in the great common task of bringing to man that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace." - JFK

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Halloween, Puerto Viejo, & Katsi

Well, as many of you know, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.  Just like when I was in Australia, my Mom went to great lengths to make sure Halloween wasn’t forgotten in my host country.  And also just like Australia, her package encountered quite a few problems.  When I went to the post office to pick up the packages she sent down here to Costa Rica, I was instead met with quite a few forms that I eventually realized said I had to go to the customs office in Puntaranus to pick up my packages.  It’s about 2 ½ hours by car and I had no idea where I was going to take a few buses, so this was going to be a lost cause.  But that weekend my host family wanted to go to the fish market down there anyway, so off we went to get this package.

But of course, this is Costa Rica, and things are not as simple as they are in America.  After waiting at the office and looking at the things in the package, it was off to the bank about 10 minutes away to pay a fee of roughly $2.  Then drive the 10 minutes back to the office, wait again, fill out some paperwork, wait a bit more, and then receive your package.  Oh and then drive the 2 ½ hours back home.  All in all, the trip was about 9 hours to receive the package so while I appreciated the brownies, Mom, no more please!  I will be very happy with pre-packaged food that will not be taken by customs…

Well, since I now had this fantastic Halloween package, there had to be a Halloween party of course!  So a bunch of us PCVs gathered at a friend’s house in Santa Cruz and the below pictures are the result…

                                                                        

                                              










Shadow was quite the hit!










It was a fantastic night and it was great to not just be sitting alone in site during one of my favorite holidays J

The fun continued and the next morning it was off to San Jose, switch buses, and then off to Puerto Viejo.  For reference of the amount of traveling I did in a day, here is a map…

I live outside of Santa Cruz (top left) and headed a little north of Bribri (all the way on the right).

So yes, I traveled to basically the complete opposite side of the country.  I spent a fantastic weekend in Puerto Viejo with friends before traveling to a PCV friend, Esteli’s site in Katsi to help with a JumpStart camp for a week.  Here are a few pictures of the travel (bus to Bribri, switch buses, walk a bit to the river, cross the river in canoe, then make it 7km more to Katsi).










It was a great experience to visit the indigenous region of Talamanca, get some experience with JumpStart (the camp I was planning on doing in January), and spending the week with Alicia at Esteli’s site.  Esteli whipped up some great meals without having a refrigerator and we spent plenty of afternoons relaxing at 2 of the gorgeous rivers near her house.  I’m so glad I made the trek out and before we knew it, it was back to San Jose for 2 days of JumpStart training before heading back to site.  After being gone for so long, it really did feel good to be back and jump back into doing my community class, going to school during the days, and organizing and facilitating the two remaining conversation club lessons we had in Santa Cruz.

Here are some pictures of my time in Katsi...







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