Holiday Things.

The holidays are arriving. So that means all things Christmas related...parties, trees, holiday cafecitos, mass, etc., etc.

Soooooo, here's a quick image update!

At the sixth grade mass, cafecito and dinner where they recognized all the teachers and myself with little gifts for all our work during the school year:

Holiday cafecito:

José Alfredo and baby Ian:

Gearing up for the last week of school next week, then going to the capital to pick up my five visitors coming for Christmas from the states!

Until next time, readers.

Things Are Finally....

....lookin' up!

Buutttttt first, for awhile things weren't so hot. There literally were rocks in the road, and landslides. This kept me in Copey for almost two weeks...unable to leave on any of the roads, and most days without water.

It's hard to tell just hooooowwww big that landslide is, but it was huge.

In trying to walk over it with my friend Phillip, this happened:

More damage from the rains (yes, the river was thaaaaat high and washed out that rock and part of the railing on the bridge):

Mientras tanto, I was asked to move out of my house by December 1st. Didn't see that coming...with 5-6 months left, it's a little bit of a hassle. But don't worry, with some investigation I found a sweet cabin just outside of town (by my old host family's house)!

I know, I know what you're thinking. But I swear I'm in the Peace Corps. And just so you all know, the cabin will mostly be empty....so I'll still be roughin' it á la Peace Corps. I have a bed (plus a couple extra mattresses for visitors), a refrigerator, two wooden chairs, a small table and a gas cooktop, and lots of extra open space (dance parties, yoga???) - the basics. In other words, pleeeeeennnty of room for visitors.

In work news, I left working on one of my main projects for small-town political reasons, and have refocused my energy elsewhere. In forming some new relationships with women in town, we have some good projects up our sleeves! Stay tuned....

Some other random photos for your enjoyment.

Pre-schoolers gettin' ready for their graduation photo (so funny):

This is the back of my current house I have to leave behind...and sadly, my garden too (the light was literally that color, this was not altered):

And a scene from the inside:

Spending time with one of the families I'm closest with in Copey:

This is Nuri, she's the police officer in Copey:

Aaaaand then there's Oscar, a cobbler. He fixed my favorite red boots, for free:

And finally, I'll leave you with an image of some honey, whole-wheat bagels I made, yum:

Until next time, readers.

Rocks in the Road!

Who said this would be easy? No one. I don't know why I thought it would be. And when I failed to realize it wouldn't be smooth sailing all along, that's when things came crashing down, creating, perhaps a bigger impact than if I had been expecting it. Speed bumps appear, rocks in the road, mudslides. They're all there in front of you preventing you from achieving/experiencing/living what you want/need/think is best. And repairing the road can be difficult. That's where I am.

That's all I'm going to say for now. Don't really have much energy to write more....

Instead I'll leave you with some photos of things that make me happy.

Nice coffee shops in Costa Rica with fancy tea:

Lindsay:

The newest addition to my world, Nazzy.

Tressa, and her new bangs I gave her:

These Moments in Life...

Two deaths and a baptism are what I want to talk about...

But first, today I realized something. And it's nothing profound. It's nothing visionary. Not even ground-breaking.

In fact, it's something I've kind of already known, but never have really lived by or subscribed to, as I've often been so focused on what I do, how much I get done, accomplished. Though, I can't be blamed - I come from a work-driven society.

So to explain a little more, this is what I realized:

If I will take anything out of this experience (besides the spanish, besides the parasites, besides some bed bug bite scars), it will be the people I have known. It won't be the murals I painted. It won't be the talks I've given, the groups I've helped organize, nor the conferences or trainings I've attended.

It will be the people. The people in this tiny little mountain community in central Costa Rica that I never dreamed even existed just a year and a half earlier (and of course, my fellow PCVs, too). They will be what remains from this experience.

And now after today, one more important relationship that will remain was formed. A woman in my community by the name of Rocio asked me to be the Godmother of her son Ian who was born in January. I have become close with this family since the beginning, and was a part of their life during Rocio's pregnancy. They are an amazing family with four boys living in an extremely simple two bedroom house in the central part of Copey (meaning "downtown"). They are fabulous parents and their boys will go far in life. And for this reason, I'm so honored to be a part of their lives, now and into the future. Stay tuned for pictures of the baptism!

Baby Ian and his dad, Mario:

The family looking at pictures I printed for them:

And On to the first part of this title of this blog post - two deaths. My host sister texted me the other day notifying me of the death of one of their cousins, José Rodolfo. I had hung out with at family gatherings a few times. He had lived in the States for a number of years of his young life and we often talked about this. He was apparently very sick for a long time, and last Friday the sickness took over. I could tell it was incredibly hard on my host family. I went to the Pulpería (that they own) to pay my host mom a visit and drop off a sympathy card for the family. I could tell instantly how hard this had been for her. Immediately upon mentioning of her nephew, her eyes just welled up with tears. All I could do was hug her and listen.

The second death I speak about is that of a great aunt (not a Costa Rican one, a blood related one). We called her Aunt Cherry. But her real name was Clare - Clare Towler, a very distinguished name in my mind. She was 97, and lived a long, full life in San Francisco. A strong memory I have of her is how she always used to buy my siblings and I candy cigarettes. We'd walk to the corner candy store housed in an old, white house with a porch and a ramp up to it in Cross Plains, Wisconsin, and buy a pack of candy cigarettes. I still can feel the chalky, fake taste of them and see the fake smoke that puffed out of them as we walked home. I always felt so distinguished as an eight-year-old smoking candy cigarettes with my great aunt from San Francisco. Well, Tuesday she passed away peacefully and slowly under the care of Hospice. I have many good memories growing up and family visits to her three-story townhouse in the heart of San Fran. She was a lovely, elegant woman.

Aunt Clare, as an LPN in her early days:

On a visit to San Francisco in 1982 (long before the candy cigarettes):

And so these moments pass. And we celebrate, and we mourn, and we continue on.

May both José Rodolfo and Aunt Cherry rest in peace, and may baby Ian have a long happy life!

Culture Day!

Tuesday was culture day at my community's school. This means that kids get to dress up and dance! Soooooooo, they dressed up in a variety of costumes from indigenous cultures to chinese to spanish culture, and the assembly included some darn cute dances.

On that same note, I've begun to do a series of workshops with my counterpart on culture and tolerance in the school, so I think this day fell right in line with it. Hopefully, they made the connection.

At any rate, kids in costumes are cute.

On Dirt, Conferences, and Travel.

Forgive my absence as of late. There really is no excuse…exceeeeeept perhaps lack of material and creative inspiration in the writing realm, which I will go with.

Since I got back from the States, things have been….well, wet. The height of rainy season is upon us and in full force. With Hurricane Matthew affecting the coasts, the inner parts are not failing to see it's presence either, causing flooding and landslides all over the country. Luckily, the closest encounter I have had with either of those is some washed out trees, branches, bushes, etc. along the steep road to my community, and a constant thin layer of water in my front yard - not much, but just enough to slosh around in and make your shoes just a tad bit wetter than is comfortable when going out and about.

So I have ceased to go out and about. Hence, lack of writing material.

Okay, that's not entirely true. I DO leave my house. But these days it's far less often than during the months of November to May. With that being said, November is nearly upon us, and I'm looking forward to getting my garden up and running again. I just harvested the last crop of produce - some carrots, onions, lettuce and herbs - and begun to grow starter plants indoors so they will be ready in eight weeks for transplantation - arugula, artichoke, kale, eggplant, spinach, rainbow chard, and more.

A man in my town who produces charcoal to sell for biofuel (center)......

......has begun to mix it with his soil in which to grow his crops. Interested in this idea (a bit similar to the hydroponic method of growing in that they both incorporate charcoal in the process), he offered to give me some bags of this "biochar" as I found out it is called a few days later, for my garden. Those "few days later" was when I came across an article called 'The New Black Gold' in Ode magazine that discusses the advantages and disadvantages of this fairly new concept of biochar. Though, according to the article, evidence found by archaeologists show that in the late 1800s the discovery of deep, dark, nutrient rich soil with fertile microbial activity in the Amazon was not a fluke of nature, but rather evidence of a vibrant civilization that had discovered biochar many, many years earlier. So, it's not an entirely new concept. According to the article it's resurged, and farmers, soil scientists, biologists, and even regular ol' people are declaring its effects as a type of gold that can increase crop yields and fight climate change.

With that being said, once I get my sweet little garden going, not only with I be fighting climate change, but I will also hopefully have double the crop yields and be up to my ears in produce. Not totally likely, but hey, a Peace Corps volunteer's gotta dream.

And soooooooo I'm dreaming about my garden.

In other news, just got back from an All-Volunteer Conference, my second and final. Much like every other Peace Corps gathering, I think it's more of a time to give us a little dose of sanity so we remember what life outside of our sites and outside of our monk-esque lives is like. This time I remembered well.

People on computers. Yea.

The ambassador and Peace Corps country director. Talking about stuff.

After dancing.

People have talents. And it shows.

Free time during the conference.

And some of the time we actually work. There's a handful of what are called 'project fairs' where various volunteers present on some project so people can network, get ideas, etc. Sooooooo, I was asked to do a lil ol' presentation about kids' camps at the conference. Apparently, I'm an expert, since I've done………..ONE. If anything I hope I gave some folks some ideas for how to control and keep occupied 11 pre-pubescent rugrats for a weekend.

On the way home, the ride was longer than normal. A long, circuitous route due to landslides led my bus through back roads and vast rolling emerald hills shrouded in fog, mist, and dampness in the air. I didn't mind so much this longer route, as it gave me extra time to think with pristine beauty passing by just on the other side of the glass windows. Theres not a whole lot more wonderful than being able to sit without other obligations and just be as the beauty that we sometimes fail to notice passes by. There's something romantic in it - in bus travel, train travel, car travel, plane travel and just plain TRAVEL - seeing these moving landscapes. Always makes me want to go home and reread On the Road, The Motorcycle Diaries, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and Travels with Charlie. Though I got home a tiny bit later than excepted, I didn't mind this extra time to reflect.

The next three months until the end of the school-year on December 17th will be full - full of projects such as workshops, talks, murals, school gardens, art classes, volunteer coordination at the new community center, photo projects, cooking classes, etc, etc. With the arrival of Julia, Lynn, Matthew, Brendan, Kendra, Clayton, and Lindsay (friends from my Intercultural Youth and Family Development Masters program) for Christmas and New Years, and then a trip to Nicaragua in January, I know the time will fly by. After that, I'm down to a mere 4 1/2 months left.

I know this is something I have to savor.

So, until next time....

I'm off to savor!

Me oh my, where have I been?!?!?!

........the States!

That's where. And it was absolutely fantastic. That's why you may (or may not) have noticed my month-plus absence on this ol' blog.

But I'm back in Costa Rica and on Costa Ri(bec)ca too. And mainly because my retired father diligently and lovingly checks this blog every day, and I have failed to pull through for the last nearly forty days. Sorry Pops. (But I waaaaasssss with you the last 20 or so).

But unfortunately, even in this post, I am only going to post some photos from my trip home....photos Pops has already seen. Sorry again, Pops.

First, being an epicurean, my main favorite reason of going home to the states is the variety of foods I have access to in America (and in this wonderful time of year!) and more importantly, in my parent's kitchen, and spice shelf.

Of course, that first reason is only second to that of seeing friends and my somewhat odd family (my brother's wedding was the main reason for going back to the US, among other activities):

family.

family.

Also, in America, I got to drive my old Suby which still oh-so-patiently awaits my return in my parents' driveway. Also, I got to lie in perfectly manicured, green grass, i.e. what my father proudly calls his 'carpet.' Barefoot.

friends.

Then I went hiking with friends. Yay, hiking. And in Montana too. I went back to Montana...my old stompin' grounds. And as I biked around Missoula on an old red cruiser with chipped paint with the wind in my hair under a borrowed black helmet with a skull on it, and passed by town characters I used to know, it was if time had stopped while I was away. I don't know if that's a good thing or not. Everything felt the same. Minus a few important people who were no longer there. None the less, I had a blast.

And in Montana, we went to a rodeo! Yeeee hawww. I love rodeos. I love rodeos eeeeeveeen more in Montana.

Aahhhhhh yes, that was my time in America. It was three weeks of non-stop, truly American activity. That's where I've been. Now I am back in my site to crank out these last 7 months of my Peace Corps experience. America left me rejuvenated, motivated, and at peace with where I am right now in life. Funny how certain things can give you perspective.

Until next time, readers.

Walkin' On....A Religious Pilgrimage, of Sorts

Last year on this date, something very important in Costa Rica was cancelled due to the H1N1 virus - the Romería. The Romería is a religious pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Los Angeles in Cartago to celebrate the following, that was plagiarized from another blog, "On August 2, 1635, the small statue of the virgin was found at the site of the basillica by a native woman. As the story goes, when this woman tried to take the statuette with her, it miraculously reappeared back where she'd found it. Twice. Finally, she and the other townspeople gave up and built a shrine there where La Negrita had originally been found. In 1824, the statuette was declared Costa Rica's Patron Saint and thus began the annual pilgrimage where people from all corners of the country and beyond come to say their most serious prayers on bent knees." Millions of people walk the route to Cartago from all over Costa Rica and even other Central American countries to arrive for the celebration on August 2nd.

So, being that this will be my last August 2nd in Costa Rica, I set out with two friends on an extremely last minute, spontaneous trip to attempt the walk from a location near my site, but still 40 kilometers away from Cartago. Two of us rushed away from my house Sunday afternoon after running a girls' outdoor leadership camp all weekend (post on that to come soon) to meet another volunteer to begin the walk around 3 pm….a bit late for a full 40 kilometer walk, but we figured we'd walk what we could before it got dark (even though many people walk through the night, we chose not to be walking after dark).

Yeah, that's right, that's Laura Chinchilla, Costa Rica's current and first female president. I'm pretty sure she's waving at me. ;)

We walked. And we walked. Along the highway, cars zooming past us in both directions of the Inter-American Highway, passing groups of other pilgrims along the way. Three hours passed and the sun was completely gone, the rain had begun and it was very dark. So, we ended our walking part of the pilgrimage right there about 15 kilometers short and decided to grab a bus the rest of the way. Arriving in Cartago around 7 pm, the city was hustling and bustling with people from all over Costa Rica, there to get a blessing from Our Lady. We quickly grabbed another bus to a quiet little city tucked in a beautiful valley surrounded by coffee plantations just outside of Cartago where we stayed for the night.

The following morning we enjoyed a European breakfast at a german-run lodge - coffee, tea, croissants, baguettes, fruit, granola, yogurt. Delicious. Simple.

Then we were on our way to the basilica back in Cartago. We arrived just at the end of mass, complete with big screens, crowd control, vendors offering to take your picture, aaaaaaaaand a Laura Chinchilla sighting, up close and personal - Costa Rica's current president and first female president. A quick stop on the basilica to see Our Lady of Los Angeles, and we were back in our way to explore the rest of festivities.

An afternoon latte and pastry finished things off before we got our buses back home.

Arriving home tired, and feeling juuuuuust a bit more spiritual, I was ready for another day in my little ol' life here in this little ol' village.