The Rain has been getting pretty fierce around here. It seems that everyday there is more and more rain and it is getting stronger and stronger. Everyday that passes gets deeper and deeper into the rainy season. My house is under severe construction right now so when it rains really hard it tends to rain inside the house as well since our rough isnt exactly ¨waterproof¨. But the constructions on my host families house is coming along really well, slowly but surely.
My classes are continuing as usual. The Kindergarden class is doing well. We are still covering the basics of ¨Hello, My name is Rosaura¨and classic phrases like ¨I like dogs¨and ¨I have 6 sisters and 3 brothers¨. But they are doing well, this past week we worked on the letters I and J. I for Ice Cream and J for Jeans. While they are coloring the pictures I spice it up a little and play some music on my ipod. I entertain them with classic tunes from Jimmy Hendrix, The Beatles, Bob Marley, and Pink Floyd to the greats like James Brown and Aretha Franklin. The kids enjoy the music as well as the coloring.
In my other class which consists of grades 1-6 I have been teaching them objects in the classroom, animals, and more advanced phrases. Like ¨I want 6 Giraffes¨ and ¨I don´t like Hot Chocolate¨. The class hit is when we play Bingo. Bingo is the answer to everything. They really enjoy it, it takes up a lot of classtime, and it is truly a learning experience. I havent experimented much with music with this class yet but their time will come.
Alot of the time after classes I hitch a ride with the Kindergarten teacher to the center of Buenos Aires so I dont have to walk 90 minutes to get there. One day when I was waiting for her to finish up I heard a mother in a nearby house tell her child to get the chicken. So a comical and lengthy chase pursued with the 10 year old boy racing around to catch the chicken. I thought nothing of it. Then 5 minutes later I saw a large group of children and I heard a squaking sound. The boy tied up the chickens legs with rope, tied it to a small tree and let the bird dangle from the tree. He then reached for his 2.5 foot machete, held the head of the bird, and slashed down on the chickens neck. The head went flying in one direction while the winds were flapping around for another 10 seconds after the beheading. I saw all of this from a distance of 25 feet. At first I was extremely shocked by the act which the 10 year old boy did but in reality that is just what happens to millions of chickens a day and nobody thinks twice about it. Maybe not the beheading but the murder part. Then I went to the back of the house and saw as they poured boiling water over the body and defeathered the chicken entirely. At the end it looks just like a normal chicken one would by at the supermarket. After that experience I told myself I would hold back from eating chicken for a while. For lunch today I had a chicken sandwhich.
At my site they have been also fixing up the roads which is great. Initially we had pretty poor and rocky roads but since the electrical company of Costa Rica is building a hydroelectric damn near my site they need better roads to move their big equipment around. So it is great that they are working on that.
As well the status of the water in my town is coming along slowly. Everyone in my site uses wells for their drinking water. Through my interviews people have said that water is the most important thing to them. I am working to get an aquaduct of potable water setup in my site. In some of my interviews people are drinking water out of streams. As well various health problems have arisen due to the fact that there is not clean water to drink. It is insane to think that in this day and age that it is not a human right to have access to clean and safe drinking water. Water is neccessary for life. Plain and simple and if Water is difficult to get and not safe to drink that makes life a whole lot more difficult. The situation at my site isnt neccesarily dire, like in some parts of the world that have severe droughts and terrible terrible water to drink, but nonetheless it is a situation that is important to everyone in my town.
Anyways that is all for now. I am hoping to meet up with some of my volunteer friends soon in early August and then toward the end of August I have In Service Training which last for a week in San Jose. That should be fun, and since it is held in a hotel you know what that means. Toilets, Comfortable beds, and Clean Hot Water ! YAYYY! Haha you gotta love the campo life.
Anyways that is all for now. I want to personally thank Ross Seiden for sending me three packs of Sour Starbursts, I am forever endebted to him. For the rest of you I can´t wait to recieve your letters and packages. Also if you dont want to send me a letter email me you address and I will send you one. We all know I have alot of time to burn down here. Haha.
I love you all. Tuanis. (Which is a more informal greeting then the very formal Pura Vida! Haha)
Rudy
Me and the Kindergarten kids chillin by the well at the school.
Porquito y yo.
