frustration

kids are always going to be kids- no matter the time, the place, or their company. we all know it but sometimes we have to continue to remind ourselves. i found myself in that situation this week, constantly getting frustrated and upset at our project. this week the amount of cuts, scrapes, and tears i saw was a little out of control. the kids have been really rough lately when playing outside...many of the older kids forget the size difference between themselves and the younger ones and end up being too aggressive, hurting the little ones physically and/or emotionally. then when the little ones end up in tears and in our arms, some of the older ones continue to bully and taunt them, making fun of them for crying. we were playing one game where we all twist around and run in a circle and start going really fast. it was fun until one girl got whipped into the side of a house (a jagged metal edge) and two other kids ended up on the ground with bleeding knees and hands. two videos of the game from kristy, one of the girls i work with:




i know that the bumps and bruises are a part of being a kid but it still breaks my heart to see this. sadly, we are only with the kids for a few hours a day so i would be interested to see how much of the tears and injuries go unnoticed.

this week has also been difficult because the attendance has been so irregular in the mornings we spend at the soup kitchen. it is known amongst the "neighborhood" that they open the doors at 9 and that is when we arrive to work with the kids. the program isn't really organized though so the kids come and go as they please until it is time for lunch to be served. some days there are kids waiting at the door for us to get there and other days we are sitting around waiting for the kids to come to us---one day this week, we were without kids till 10am :( it frustrates me because our time is so limited to work and play with them since the kitchen closes by 12 or 12:30 daily so there are days when i come home feeling like i wasted my time going there and no one really benefited from my presence.

i am trying to keep a positive outlook on things. each day is a new day with kids. the problems or struggles that we have one day are, more often than not, forgotten about the next day so i can only hope that next week will be better. as for now, i am treating myself to a getaway this weekend---2 friends and i are heading to samara beach for some fun and relaxation...and maybe some surfing lessons too :) pura vida!

same place, new face

before
after

the organization that runs the soup kitchen chose to change the name of our soup kitchen and the other kitchen that they run for children, that is much larger and has an actual "escuelita" (small 4 classroom school area) in it. they feel that a center like this should feel like a home to the children that go there...hence the new name "the house of the children". the ultimate goal is to teach the children about things like love, kindness, and respect. but also, they want the kids to feel all those things when they walk through the door. so that is what we are trying to make happen! :)

routine

i have found that i easily have gotten myself into a routine here. i get up each morning around 7am and have breakfast. then i have recently started walking into the city from our house, which is a good 35-40 minute walk. of course i have made "friends" with some people along the way that i see on a daily basis---some security guards and local vendors that are "manning their spots" each morning. it's kind of nice to have a few faces to greet each morning as i pass by. i come to maximo nivel (the volunteer office) where i meet the taxi that brings me to my project. this week i was fortunate enough to have two new volunteers join me at the soup kitchen. not only has it helped with the cost of the transportation, but i think the kids really enjoy having more than just one person there. i see such a difference in their enthusiasm each morning; since there are more of us "teachers", the kids each get a little more attention rather than just me trying to reach out to all of them. the past 2 days they have been painting the inside of the building so we have been playing outside with the kids all morning until lunchtime. let me tell you...it is tiring running around with a bunch of 5-10 year olds for 2+ hours. not to mention that it has been 80+ degrees all week so that just adds to the fun as well! :)

i have spent the past two afternoons down in the actual city of san jose. yesterday i took a bus but today i decided to be adventurous and walk...it only took me about 45 minutes! san jose is an interesting city....i feel like it's kind of a "trashier" new york, if that makes sense. the streets are filled with all kinds of knock off stores, many that have american clothes being sold secondhand or slightly irregular. then there are several areas with pedestrian only streets that are filled with vendors spreading out their blankets selling anything you can think of---dubbed movies, cds, jewelry, fresh cut fruit, hats, socks, shoe laces. definately some interesting characters around here!

in the afternoons, i have been walking home. the walk home is a lot worse because most of it is uphill. but i figure its pretty much the only physical activity i'm doing for three months, so its good for me and i should probably do it!

not much else is new here...there were a lot more volunteers that arrived the beginning of the week and many of them are here for longer times. the past few weeks, most people were only here for 1 or 2 weeks so i was making friends and then they've already come and gone. but it's nice that there's a handful of people that are here for 6 weeks, 2 months, etc now so i have friends to hang out with and take weekend adventures with :)

living with a costa rican family

living with a family here has made me realize how spoiled rotten we are in america. we always need the newest toys, the best of the best. i feel like it's much different here and life is simple. speaking from what i've seen and the family i am living with, they don't have any major luxuries--no computer, no dishwasher, no dryer. their entertainment is one 20 inch television and a stereo in the living room....no 40 inch flat screen with dvr, surround sound, etc. being here has made me sit back and kind of enjoy things a little more. i spend many afternoons sitting reading a book or writing in my journal on the porch or in a local park.
the family i am living with, as it appears is the case with many others, do not have a car and they rely on public transportation to get around. the father, jose, has a bike that he rides to and from work each day. he works as some kind of laborer. i'm not sure if it's landscaping or road work or what it is but he is out of the house before 7am, comes home for lunch then is home for the day around 5pm. the mother, maria, stays at home and takes care of everyone. she is a wonderful cook and makes quite a delicious variety of food for us. there was 2 of us volunteers living there and a 3rd student from switzerland here learning spanish, however amrita returned to the u.s. so it's just manuel and myself living with them. the fact of the matter is that we are spoiled! breakfast is on the table waiting when we wake up in the morning and our lunches are packed for us to take with us for the day. while we are gone, maria tidys up our room and makes our beds, changes the sheets and does laundry. sometimes in the afternoon she'll make us a snack and then we have a nice dinner around 7pm. i can't quite figure out their family structure though. generally people say that costa rica is very family-oriented but often times not everyone sits at the table or eats at the same time. especially when there were 3 of us "extras" here, the dad would never eat dinner with us at the table. one daughter (carolina) works a 3-11pm shift so she is never home for dinner but the other (fernanda) sometimes skips out on family dinner as well. it's kind of bizarre... but i am enjoying living with them. i think it definately adds a lot more to the whole experience of being in a different country.


my bedroom
the house...our 2 bedrooms and the bathroom are off the living room then the family's 2 bedrooms are off the kitchen (in the back behind the half wall)
kids!
and more kids!
new volunteer friends, adam and kristy!

where do i begin! saturday i went with my two friends, meghan and christina, on a cruise around the nicoya peninsula. we got on a bus at 6am in san jose, had a number of different pick up locations and a breakfast stop and by 10am we were boarding a 70 ft catamaran in puntarenas. the boat cruised for an hour and a half to tortuga island and it was there we spent the day on the beach, swimming, snorkeling and soaking up the sun. within an hour of arriving on the island, the staff transformed the picnic area into a 5 star dining location, where they served us a really nice 4 course lunch. we then cruised back to puntarenas in the afternoon and watch the sunset on our backs...truly a beautiful sight and a really fun and relaxing day!

70 ft catamaran that we spent the day on
the setup on the beach for our lunch
meghan, christina, and i on the boat
puntarenas sunset

sunday is a special day around here....very family oriented with many of the shops closed and most people not having work. so it took me a trip downtown, rather than a walk around the corner, to find some medicine for the head cold i've been fighting with the past few days. it was kind of nice to hang out at home with my host family though, as both parents and both daughters were around to spend the day with one another. we had soda, chips and ice cream with our lunch yesterday---3 things that i had not yet been offered in our house until yesterday! such little things but things that i notice, none the less :)

i am currently reading the book "three cups of tea" that my good friend meghan gave to me as a christmas gift. for those that are unfamiliar with the book, it is about a man, greg mortenson, that travels to pakistan and works to build schools. he comes to realize in their country, they drink three cups of tea to do business: the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, and the third you become a family. today i was reading in a local park and something really stood out to me and i thought was very appropriate for what i am currently doing....

"that day, haji ali taught me the most important lesson i've ever learned in my life," mortenson says. "we americans think you have to accomplish everything quickly. we're the country of thirty-minute power lunches and two-minute football drills. our leaders thought their 'shock and awe' campaign could end the war in iraq before it even started. haji ali taught me to share three cups of tea, to slow down and make building relationships as important as building projects. he taught me that i had more to learn from the people i work with than i could ever hope to teach them."

amrita and i inside the soup kitchen
this is maximo nivel, the volunteer organization office that i go to daily for spanish classes, using the computer, planning trips with other volunteers, etc



i don't know if it's because i didn't go to my volunteer project on monday, but this week flew by! i find myself getting more and more attached to these kids the more time i spend with them! how can you not? whether i'm here or working in schools at home, i constantly find myself get easily connected and attached to kids! i guess that means i chose the right profession, right?!

before i came here, people would tell me costa ricans have such a happy, laid back attitude towards life, and now being here i am seeing it first hand. it amazes me how nice everyone is! people are constantly saying "hola", "buenas", "pura vida", usually to complete strangers that pass them on the street. you may think it sounds a little crazy but to me, its been really welcoming. just this morning was the perfect instance of how genuinely kind people here are. the project director's friend came to the soup kitchen to put on a little puppet show for the kids. after, she had them draw pictures of the story and then she had some prizes for the "best pictures". (the kids absolutely loved it and were so excited for the "audience participation" and of course, the coloring!) well this woman spoke, obviously, fluent spanish and when she realized i only knew a little bit, she kept trying to explain herself in english and asked me for my dictionary so she could at least show me in print what word she was trying to say. she even invited me to come visit her at her house with our project coordinator at the soup kitchen! this made me realize how accomodating the people are...the language barrier has been a struggle for me but i realize more and more that when people see i'm struggling to understand, they slow down their conversation and some even throw in some english words here and there. it's really kind of cool.

along these same lines, i've learned a few things about life in costa rica...
- rice and beans are a part of virtually every mean
- pedistrians don't have the right of way on the streets. costa rican drivers not only are obsessed with using their horns but they also think they own the road and that no one should get in their way
- don't flush the toilet paper...the septic systems can't handle all the excess paper so that's why you'll find a little trash can next to every toilet
- it's "normal" to have 2 or 3 locks to unlock before entering your house
- hot water comes in small amounts---use sparingly.
- many houses aren't up to date with the times...many don't have computers, dishwashers, dryers...hence why my clothes were hung over the porch balcony to dry
- the water is safe to drink
- cross your fingers when taking the bus that a. it's the right bus b. you'll make it home alive in the hands of your road-rage-driven bus driver and c. you recognize where to get off the bus (since there's no street signs or addresses)

i'm sure there will be more to add as time passes but that's what i have so far...this weekend takes me on an adventure to the nicoya peninsula where 2 friends and i will board a 70 ft catamaran and cruise around 7 small islands for the day tomorrow (check it out.... calypsocruises.com) hasta luego :)

sending prayers to haiti

so many paths that wind and wind, when just the art of being kind is all this sad world needs

when i first starting working at my volunteer project, i couldn't stop thinking about how bad i felt for these kids---thinking about how little they had, what poor circumstances they live in, with their families barely getting by each day. then i see something like the earthquake that hit haiti, taking away everything from people--their houses, belongings, and for many, their lives and their loved ones.

so maybe the kids in costa rica don't have it as bad as i think... i realize that they're lucky to wake up every morning, have clothes on their back and a shelter over their head. i realize that i too am lucky to wake up each morning, to be here in costa rica giving up some of myself to help people in need. the more time i spend here, i realize how happy i am to actually be here, to be giving back and doing things for someone other than myself. there have been days in the past two weeks that i question why i'm here or if i'm really "helping" these kids but i have to realize that if i don't show up in the morning, these kids are just running in the street and not learning anything. not practicing writing and reading, not learning new words, not coloring or playing games.... all it takes is giving up even just a little bit of yourself and you'd be surprised at how far is goes. the same goes for the tragedy in haiti---a little bit goes a long way so do anything you can. even if it's only sending $5 or saying an extra prayer for those affected, every little bit helps.

"at each stage of learning, we must give up something, even if it is a way of life that we have always known"

.:pura vida:.

if you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it... anything you want to do it...want to change the world? there's nothing to it

pura vida. this is the common greeting/phrase used in costa rica that literally translates as "pure life." it refers to the laid back attitude towards life that the locals have her--no worries, don't sweat it, just sit back and relax. this saying became a reality to me this weekend on our trip to manuel antonio. it was great to get out of the city and escape to the beach for a long weekend.

the 3 1/2 hour bus ride was beautiful in itself. costa rica doesn't believe in highways so instead we drove up and down through the mountains, passing through many small underdeveloped towns. when we finally arrived at the becah, i was in absolute heaven! let's be honest...who wouldn't be?! 80 degrees, on the beach, in the middle of january. how could that NOT put a smile on your face??

the weekend as a whole was exactly what i needed--time to relax and unwind and get to meet/know some really great people, all while enjoying being in a beautiful place. we had a lot of fun sitting on the beach, enjoying happy hour and sunsets, venturing into the national park, taking a nice hike through the mountainous terrain near the beach, finding monkeys, and just relaxing and enjoying being here together.

a view from our hike through the manuel antonio national park


















one of the many beaches in the park

i could get used to going to the beach in january :)

monkeys for jimmy!

nothing better than imperials & the sunset

this is the street where the soup kitchen is located and where the kids spend most of their day playing

this is the soup kitchen where i work with kids each day, playing with them and teaching them some english

this is the house where i stay while in costa rica

it's all a matter of perspective...

yesterday i came to realize a few things...

first is that there is few things worse than being lost in a foreign country. not only do i not speak good spanish but every street looks the same and no streets have names or signs. addresses are given in relation to major landmarks instead of with numbers and street names---it's very difficult to understand, especially when you're trying to tell someone where you're trying to get to! so tonight when i got on the wrong bus and rode around san jose for over an hour, it was the most frustrating and nerve-wracking feeling ever. i came to realize as one by one everyone got off the bus, that i was not in the right place and that i have absolutely no idea where i was or how to get home. fortunately, the bus driver spoke a little english and was nice enough to let me ride back to the central avenue with him for free and start back at square one and find the *correct* bus to take home....and an hour and 20 minutes later, i arrived home for dinner!

i also realized today that as i am struggling a lot with the language barrier, so are others---and not only just tourists but the "ticos" (as native costa ricans are called) are feeling the same way too. after dinner last night i sat down to do my homework for my spanish class and fernanada (one of the girls that i live with) sat down next to me doing her homework for the english class she is in. we went back and forth quizzing each other with spanish and english words and it made "studying" entertaining for us both and we could learn from each other.

these two incidents made me realize that life is all about perspective....yeah, we all have a lot going on in our own little "bubbles" but if we take a minute to look around, we realize that many others face the same struggles as us and that more often than not, there is someone there to help you overcome those struggles.

::placement::

in life's opportunities and experiences, you need strength, courage, faith, and above all, love.

i heard this quote on my flight to san jose from the wise king of pop, michael jackson himself, in his movie this is it and i realized how true it is and how fitting it was to the journey i was beginning. today marked the first day of my placement in my teaching english program. i feel they use this terminology loosely, as you will soon understand...for the next few months, i will be working in a soup kitchen teaching children english. sounds a little bizarre, right?

each morning i will be traveling to the san jose soup kitchen, located up a very narrow dirt road, in one of the many poor neighborhoods of san jose. i haven't even been here 3 days and somehow i have already managed to figure out how to get around. my house mother took us (myself and my "housemate" amrita) on the city bus the first two times to kind of "show us the ropes" but this morning, she walked me down to the street level from the house and sent me on my way to venture alone. the bus stop is about a 5 minute walk up the street then it is 205 colones one way to get downtown, which is equivalent to about 50 cents and about a 10 minute bus ride. then i come to maximo nivel (which is the costa rican partner volunteer organization i'm working with) and take a local taxi out to the "boonies" of san jose which is another 10-15 minutes and about 2000 colones (roughly $4) one way. i'm hoping that i'll always have someone to share the taxi cost with or else this is going to get to be a pretty expensive gig!

this morning, my friend rachel, who is assigned to the same project, and i walked into what basically is a big cafeteria-type room that has 6 or 7 long tables with benches on both sides, all plain white walls, and a small kitchen area that stretches across the back of the room. i was taken back by this initial sight because it virtually is a large cafeteria. and they expect us to teach english here? no chalkboard. no easel or chart paper. no substantial school supplies. the children sitting there, which was about 10 of ages varying from 5-13, each had a small notebook and a pencil in front of them. i thought to myself---wow. these kids come here each day with hopes of getting a hot meal in their belly but also to learn and interact with others. what i would give to show some of the kids i work with back home this environment and show them the excitment on the kid's faces when they saw 2 boxes of crayons, a box of colored pencils and a new ball to play with this morning. not to mention that these 4 things were shared with a group of 30+ kids! it is truly amazing to go from working in two such drastically different environments with children.

as lunchtime approached, the room quickly filled and the manageable group of 10 grew to almost 50 hungry children coming in for something to eat. the 3 workers there have the system down to a science and each child has their place to sit so it was really interesting to see how quick of a process it was to feed all the children and get them outside running and playing (in the dirt road, where all the cares and trucks come zooming around nonetheless). it was difficult and frustating to me, coming from a teacher mind-set because as the number of children grew, my sense of order and control grew smaller and smaller. on top of all that and what i am at a constant battle with is the language barrier. just as i have found it incredibly difficult to communicate with my host family, it is also very difficult to communicate with the children. coming into this program, i was expecting to be placed in a classroom with a local teacher so i would have a "go between" person, fluent in both english and spanish. however (and unfortunately) this isn't the case so it is difficult for me. it absolutely broke my heart to tell these 4 and 5 year old children that i can't understand what they are saying but i did sit with my spanish-english dictionary, trying to translate and understand some conversation.

above all these frustrations with the language barriers, i can only look at the positive... even from spending just 5 short hours with the kids today, i could tell how much they enjoyed having us there and playing and coloring and talking to us and that is what makes me so happy and why i truly wanted to do something like this. if i can put a smile on just one kid's face each day, i feel that i have done what i came here to do. "it is not what you gather, but what you scatter, that tells what kind of life you have lived."

arrival !!

i should have realized that my traveling couldn't work out perfectly----my venture began yesterday morning, leaving the cape at 3:30am in a snowy mess. long story short, my flight out of logan was delayed 2 1/2 hours which made me miss my connecting flight to san jose. continental was nice enough to reroute me---leaving me a solid 6 hour layover in houston. so there i sat, with a jack and ginger in my hand, conveniently watching the patriots game at one of the airport bars. and after a few hours, a few cocktails, and meeting several fellow costa rican travelers, i was on my way to san jose....

once i made it past the panic of lost luggage and through immigration and customs, i found the taxi driver holding my name and was on my way to my home stay....finally arriving at 11pm! (talk about a long day of traveling!) i was again put in a mode of panic when i found that the mother and one of the two daughters i was staying with spoke no english whatsoever. luckily, the one daughter, carolina, is pretty fluent and serves as a good translator for us all. i guess this is going to force me to start learning some real spanish and learning it quick! an hour into my sleep, i was woken up by another visitor arriving to the house--a roommate and fellow volunteer thru IVHQ!

it was nice being able to wake up and go through the first day of orientation already knowing one person and throughout my day today, i have met many different people---including 2 girls from MA and 2 other girls that go to school at wellesley college. small world, huh?

the past 2 days have been a whirlwind of emotions and thoughts running through my brain and i keep thinking to myself---did i really do this? am i really in costa rica for the next three months? what did i get myself into?! i can tell already after just sitting through our orientation today that this will be quite an adventure and i'm excited to be able to share it all with you :)