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.