Now that I´m officially into my service, and without a schedule, boss, friends, office or (for all practical purposes) plan, I´ve had to perfect the art of allowing things to just happen. Which, as I´ve learned, is a lot easier said than done. So to get the ball rolling, I´ve been introducing myself to whomever I can find to talk to and participating in absolutely whatever activity is offered to me. Here are a few examples of how that strategy has worked out:
These are FIRST sentences of conversations I´ve had:
1. What religion are you? 2. What´s wrong with your skin? 3. How much do you weigh? 4. Do you have any children? (immediately followed by why not) and 5. You´re fatter than when you came (direct translation- this one happened in training)
Needless to say, not all of these chats blossomed into meaningful relationships...
On to activities:
Last week I was invited to an all-teacher 4 hr meeting, where I was teamed up with the pre-school staff to make 35 mini-dry erase boards for the school. Aside from sitting alone in awkward silence and being critiqued for the amount of glue I was using, things were going pretty well. Then it was time to laminate.
Anyone who knows me, knows that arts n crafts aren´t really my forte. So, needless to say I was pretty nervous. But, like every other daily activity here, I just went for it desperately seeking the approval of the group...
Wrinkles. Three in fact, and they were big. I quickly grabbed a scissors and tried to smooth them out (unsuccessfully) and shoved the board into the middle of the completed stack. Like a child trying to get away with spilling on the couch by covering it up with a pillow, Mom found out. Only in this case, Mom was a kindergarten teacher who held up the board for all to see before saying "how ugly! who did this one?!" If my face hadn´t turned 4 shades of scarlet, I may have gotten away scott free. I´m pretty sure that little stunt did not win the approval of the group.
But tomorrow was another day. And shockingly enough, I received another invitation from some of the teachers (not preschool) to play soccer on their league. Here was a chance to redeem myself. Well, we lost. 11-0. And apparently, I don´t understand as many Spanish soccer commands as I had thought. After the game, there wasn´t much high-fiving as they were reminding me to "mark my man." Thanks for the retrospective advice.
So fine, it had been 2 long weeks and I was really looking forward to laying face down on my bed when my counterpart invited me out to celebrate the administrative assistant´s b´day. Accept every invitation. So I went, and tt turned out to be a lot of fun! Granted I couldn´t understand 75% of what was being said because of the music, but fun! One of our friends even took pity on me and taught me how to merengue and salsa dance. After a few hours I was feeling pretty dang confident and like I really had it down. Finally, a chance to blow off some steam- things were looking up!
So feeling rejuvenated, I decided to go to the Municipality meeting this morning. Waiting outside of the meeting room, a police officer walked up to me and introduced himself as the boss of police for the region. Wow- an important person to meet and finally I didn´t have to initiate the intro!
"Were you out dancing last night?" he asked. "Umm (gulp) yeah." (my face returning to 4 shades of scarlet) "You´re not from here right?" "No, I mean, well I live here now but no I´m not actually from here." "ok, yeah. You know I wasn´t sure at first when I saw you last night because there are sooome white people here, but after I saw you dance, I KNEW you weren´t from here."
Balloon deflated... On to week 3.
p.s. I also found out that there will be a newborn in my house in 3 months. Yikes!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Some good-byes are easier than others
I'm sworn in! And have officially begun my 2 year journey in southern Costa Rica. It's so comforting when the transition between the intensely scheduled 3 months of training surrounded by close friends and staff, and the arrival in your new site alone knowing no one is smooth, calm, and free of unforeseen mishaps. I am still waiting for that comforting feeling.
Sunday morning I decided, somewhat last minute, to take the bus at noon instead of 8:00a.m. for San Vito. Why not take advantage of my last morning in San Antonio, reflect on the last months, and properly say all of my good-byes? And heck, while I'm at it, why don't I just go to the station early to buy my ticket so that I can arrive stress-free knowing I have a seat? So that's what I did.
On my way home, I was the only person on the bus. How great to take my last ride in peace and quiet. As I was looking out the window, remembering all the happy times spent in each place with friends and fellow volunteers, I saw up ahead a fire truck and a couple of ambulances. Hmm. There was no smoke, no fire. Not even a car accident. Across the street there were gathered 50+ people all craning their necks to get a look at something on the other side. And that's when the good-bye to San Antonio became a little easier. A man had hung himself from a billboard along the main street in my town.
With a queasy stomach, I returned home, had my last breakfast with Dino, said my good-byes and was off. Awkward, bulky luggage in hand, I boarded the 6 hour bus still feeling a bit nauseous. So I reached into my backpack and grabbed out a little treat to take my mind of feeling ill. I mean, what better way to cure nausea than to eat dark chocolate covered coffee beans? A lot of them. In retrospect, this was not a good idea. I spent practically the entire curvy bus ride with my head between my legs dry heaving into my purse.
When we finally stopped for lunch, I could do nothing but find the nearest plastic table to put my head down hoping my head would stop spinning. That also didn't work. So, I boarded the bus once again and we continued for 3 more hours. That was when the transmission decided to stop working on the bus. Less than 5 miles from San Vito, the bus broke down and the luggage compartments would not open.
Two hours standing along a highway when you are not feeling good, feels longer than two hours- who knew? So, finally after much discussion and unsuccessful attempts to fix it, the driver called another bus and we grudgingly boarded without our luggage. Finally I arrived in San Vito, contacted my extremely worried host family, and stood in the rain with the worst headache of my life waiting for my sister to pick me up. That is when I leaned forward and puked.
But, I'm here now! And feeling a little bit better. The past days have been filled with lots of awkward meet n greets (including getting thrown under the bus at a UNICEF meeting when the representative asked me to stand up and explain Peace Corps), school visits, and watching Costa Rica spank the U.S. last night in soccer. It's been a crazy first week but I'm happy to finally be down with training and look forward to the next 2 years.
Sunday morning I decided, somewhat last minute, to take the bus at noon instead of 8:00a.m. for San Vito. Why not take advantage of my last morning in San Antonio, reflect on the last months, and properly say all of my good-byes? And heck, while I'm at it, why don't I just go to the station early to buy my ticket so that I can arrive stress-free knowing I have a seat? So that's what I did.
On my way home, I was the only person on the bus. How great to take my last ride in peace and quiet. As I was looking out the window, remembering all the happy times spent in each place with friends and fellow volunteers, I saw up ahead a fire truck and a couple of ambulances. Hmm. There was no smoke, no fire. Not even a car accident. Across the street there were gathered 50+ people all craning their necks to get a look at something on the other side. And that's when the good-bye to San Antonio became a little easier. A man had hung himself from a billboard along the main street in my town.
With a queasy stomach, I returned home, had my last breakfast with Dino, said my good-byes and was off. Awkward, bulky luggage in hand, I boarded the 6 hour bus still feeling a bit nauseous. So I reached into my backpack and grabbed out a little treat to take my mind of feeling ill. I mean, what better way to cure nausea than to eat dark chocolate covered coffee beans? A lot of them. In retrospect, this was not a good idea. I spent practically the entire curvy bus ride with my head between my legs dry heaving into my purse.
When we finally stopped for lunch, I could do nothing but find the nearest plastic table to put my head down hoping my head would stop spinning. That also didn't work. So, I boarded the bus once again and we continued for 3 more hours. That was when the transmission decided to stop working on the bus. Less than 5 miles from San Vito, the bus broke down and the luggage compartments would not open.
Two hours standing along a highway when you are not feeling good, feels longer than two hours- who knew? So, finally after much discussion and unsuccessful attempts to fix it, the driver called another bus and we grudgingly boarded without our luggage. Finally I arrived in San Vito, contacted my extremely worried host family, and stood in the rain with the worst headache of my life waiting for my sister to pick me up. That is when I leaned forward and puked.
But, I'm here now! And feeling a little bit better. The past days have been filled with lots of awkward meet n greets (including getting thrown under the bus at a UNICEF meeting when the representative asked me to stand up and explain Peace Corps), school visits, and watching Costa Rica spank the U.S. last night in soccer. It's been a crazy first week but I'm happy to finally be down with training and look forward to the next 2 years.
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