Montezuma and In Service Training

The past couple weeks have been pretty crazy with a lot of different things going on. Things at my site have overall been going well, but for the past 10 days I have been around and about throughout Costa Rica doing a variety of different things away from my site.

This month I decided to go on a trip with 8 other volunteers to the beautiful beach area of Montezuma. It is located in the lower part of the Nicoya Peninsula. It is very hard to get to and require various different transportation steps to finally arrive. But the trip was well worth it.
We arrived late in the afternoon the first day, but that did not stop us from going to the beach. The beach was absolutely beautiful. Quintessential beach with long views along the coast lines, lined with palm trees. The waves were really strong that afternoon and we all played in the waves trying not to get completely pummeled by the waves. That night we went out to dinner at this beach side restaurant and feasted on steaks, pasta, and seafood. Then we took the party back to the hotel which was located literally on the beach. Overall it was an amazing first day.

The next day we hit the beach early and setup shop down the shoreline and took in some sun. My friend Andrew and I went on a 3 hour long hike up the coastline to progressively more and more secluded beaches. We also climbed up this river and found a small 10 foot waterfall which we hung out at for awhile. That night we went back to the same restaurant this we liked it so much. Then of course brought the party back to the hotel room, and then went to the club to go and dance the night away. Writing this entry reminds me of the ridiculous life I live.

The next day we woke up early and chartered this small private boat to take us to Isla Tortuga, a small island off the coast of the Nicoya Peninsula. My friend Andrew organized the boat, the 8 of us left on the boat for the 45 minute trek up the coast to reach the small island. We spent 4 hours on the deserted beach and just took in all that the island had to offer. Lots of sun, fun, and great swimming. On the way back we stopped at this snorkeling spot, which was pretty cool. Later 25 minutes into the boat ride back we noticed large spurts of water splashing in the ocean in the distance. The spurts of water were whales snorting through their blow holes. We ended up getting extremely close to the 2 massive whales which to me seemed to be humpback whales. It was insane to be so close to such gigantic creatures, especially being in such a small boat. It was an awesome experience, and our boat driver said we were very lucky to see them so close, closer then he had ever seen them before. We then came back late afternoon and went out to dinner to another restaurant by a river feeding the ocean.

The next day we woke up and hiked an hour to some insane water falls. They were really cool to see and a great place to just go an hang out at. At the second waterfall higher up, which required a climb there was a rope swing and a few other spaces where you could jump into pools of water. We spent hours just hanging out by the falls. It was an awesome time.

Later that day we took the last bus out of Montezuma to head to San Jose to begin In Service Training. In Service Training occurs after the first 3 months of service. It was held at a really nice hotel. It was great to have hot water, good food, and not be surrounded by farm animals.

For the next 5 days we took classes in learning how to teach English better, cultural classes, technical classes, safety and security classes, and medical information sessions. Overall it was very informative, but very intense as all Peace Corps training events are. There is always a lot of information to cram into a small amount of time. Right now I am writing this blog from the hotels fast wireless internet connections which is awesome.

During the past couple days I have had the opportunity to compare and contrast stories and experiences among the other volunteers in my group. It was really a treat to spend so much time with the other volunteers as well as receive valuable training. It has given me the opportunity to really think about my experience here.

At this point in time I am very happy with everything going on and my life here. I am thankful for the freedoms I have, as well as the responsibilities of living and working for and in a rural Costa Rican community. I feel I have the capacity to really complete some great projects in my time and hopefully leave the town with more resources and skills for further development. Everyday I look forward to the next days adventure and learning experience. The Peace Corps has truly to this date been an amazing experience with many ups and downs but overall at the end of the day I can still say Tuanis.

August is for Bicycles

Greetings everyone. Just thought I would toss in a quick blog. Nothing too wild has been going on in my site. I have been continuing with english classes at the school. Right now in the Kindergarten class we just finished up the letters L for Lion and M for Monkey. Pretty exciting classes. As well in my 1st through 6th class we are reviewing classroom objects, and of course we are playing alot of Bingo which is always awesome, fun, and takes up alot of time.

I have been ramping up seriously my interviewing efforts this week. I managed to bag 15 interviews this week, which has been great. Excellent opportunity to speak to everyone one on one about this issue of the community. I have learned alot from them and look forward to implementing their recomendations. Recurring themes have been issues with Water, fixing the soccer field, Adult English Classes, Computer classes, Sources of Work, and Buses to and from my site to the city have been popular. The conditions of the houses which I have been to as expected have ranged from Cement floors with Cement walls, aka good quality house, to corrugated steel as walls and dirt floors, aka not so good quality. I have slowly come to learn that the house that I am currently living in right now is by far one of the best in my site. Although I didnt originally think that once I arrived. Everyone has a latrine aka hole they use to go to the bathroom as well to my suprise alot of people rely on rain water as their main source of water. Anyways I have been learning alot about my community through these interviews.

Today my director for my program in Peace Corps came. She arrived with a bicycle ! Which is awesome, and will hopefully cut my rigorous commute time to walk to school from 10 minutes to 3 minutes. But more importantly I can get out of my site probablty alot faster than the normal hour it takes to walk. But I am excited about the bike so it should be good.

Lately it has been raining like crazy here from basically from 4pm to 7 pm it downpours. With the days going by it is only getting stronger. Although it is very hot in the mid morning to afternoon which is alright.

Next week I will be going to the beach which will be fun and then I will attend In Service Training in San Jose for a week which should be a blast, hanging out with more volunteers.

Anyways that is all for now. I hope everyone is doing great.

Respect,

Rudy

P.S. I added a link so that you can page me on my pager. You can just send me a message to say hi, but I cannot respond back.

P.P.S. Keep the letters coming !

Liberia, San Isidro, and the Sun

Right now I am back at my usual internet cafe on top of the Supermarket surfing the net and hanging out with my friend Bill who came last night along with my other friend Andrew, both volunteers, to check out my site and experience my world one night in the campo. We had a great time just chilling out and enjoying the scenery, watching the chickens, eating pork, talking in english, and eating starbursts. Pretty much an ideal night. It was great to have them check out where I live. The night before that we went to the large ¨city¨of San Isidro for a night to celebrate Dia de Los Angeles. We ended up staying at a nice hotel with airconditioning and also to our suprise the hotel had an awesome pool which we enjoyed in the afternoon in the pouring rain. We later went out to a great dinner then hit the discotecque, where Bill sang a great Karaoke rendition of the ever popular song ¨Eres Tu¨. Overall it was a wild time and the four of us (Me, Bill, Andrew, and Alicia) were able to let loose a little and enjoy ourselves.

The weekend before this San Isidro trip I made my way up to the city of Liberia, with two other volunteers in my group. We ended up meeting up with several other volunteers from Peace Corps once we arrived in Liberia. Liberia is in guanacaste, and guanacaste is unbelievably hot. The Sun was pounding down on my all weekend, I managed to get a deep tan just by walking the streets. The fiestas were for the annexation of the part of Costa Rica called Guanacaste. Overall one of the largest parties of the year in Costa Rica. There were tons of food vendors, people selling everything from jewelry to livestock, several raised dance hall structures sponsored by the beer companies of imperial and pilsen, as well as different amusement rides. On Sunday there was a concert by the ¨Cumbia Kings¨. They are supposedly some famous group from Mexico. I was less than impressed by the music but nonetheless it was fun to party on the large lawn in front of the stage. I ended up staying with 10 other volunteers in a house rented out to us by another volunteers host sister. Overall you can imagine how crazy it got with 10 volunteers in a house, relaxing, party, and enjoying themselves after being isolated in their sites for a certain amount of time. The fiestas were awesome overall, and I also had the opportunity to meet new volunteers which was great.

Right now it is back to the campo life. Continue on with my Community Analysis and my town interviews. As well with my English classes. I have Inservice Training (IST) coming up so that should be cool to see everyone from my Tico 16 group as well come back to my site with some fresh new ideas for my site as well as additional training and knowledge to carry out bigger and better projects.

Lately I have been seeing alot of volunteers so It has been great to socialize with all of them. More and more I am getting use to my life as a volunteer living in a rural community. As the time passes things which at first were difficult, like using a latrine and being constantly covered and dirt, were difficult. But now I am getting use to it and comfronting new challenges everyday. Being a Peace Corps volunteer is a wild wild life. But I am glad to have made the decision to commit myself to the time I have here. I have been able to do a lot of self reflection on my life and the future decisions I want to make. Getting away from the hustle and bustle of the ¨9-5 work schedule¨ I have been able to construct my own schedule and do things when and where I want to do them. This is a very unique experience and I am definately relishing every moment.

Anyways I hope all is well with everyone. I miss you all and I look forward to hearing from you.

2uanis.