21-14!!

GO PACK, GO!!! Hoping to catch the game with my friend Josh at the Chinese restaurant in town... odds of that coming true? Either way it's a beautiful summer morning and I'm ready for a short stack of pancakes with fresh strawberries. mmmmm

After 3 weeks of galavanting, vacationing, visiting friends and family... I'm back in San Vito.

Summer is finally full blown and my teeny garden has reaped the benefits!! I have tomatoes, swiss chard, and basil growing like crazy. If only Danilo, the farm worker, didn't weedwack all of my cilantro. Oh well, thankfully I have more seeds and 10 more months to plant and enjoy.

After returning from the states, four friends and I went to Nicaragua to the Isla de Ometepe and Granada. I just uploaded some photos which will tell the story better than I could in a few short paragraphs. Overall, it was an excellent and relaxing trip with the right mix of adventure and sight seeing. The trip destroyed all preconceived notions that Costa Ricans have indoctrinated me with regarding Nicaraguans' supposed "laziness, dirtiness, and overall responsibility for all of their problems." The food has more spices, the people are friendlier, and the cities cleaner. Despite the loooong travel time to get there, it was well worth it and an excellent transition back to Central America.

Happy new year!

December 5th, 2010.

It's hard to believe within 2 weeks I'll be stepping off the plane and into the arctic tundra of Wisconsin winter... Summer is just beginning here!

This year I spent Thanksgiving with a family, the husband of which, works for the American Embassy. Every year many "embassy families" open their homes to volunteers so they can celebrate with fellow citizens and enjoy the comforts of home-a big bird, stove top stuffing, pumpkin flavored desserts, and green bean casserole. My friend Becca and I spent the entire weekend with this exceptionally hospitable family and had fun using such gadgets as an oven, and a stove, to make pumpkin pie with ginger strudel. Quite the treat. We spent a little time in the city and then visited our host families from training and snuck away for a day at Jacó beach where 25 other volunteers had rented a house for the holiday weekend.


San José at night


This weekend I visited a married couple's site about 3 hours north of here to help out with a local artisan fair that they had organized-2nd year running! Last year over 25 artisans participated after they had discovered the large number present in their community, providing a forum for selling their goods and forming a local group. It was a blast! We provided the entertainment for the kids- painting faces (for free-and it shows) and then had fun with water balloons. Check out their Christmas cactus!

Library Inauguration pictures now posted! Look for them under "November 2010."

Look what popped up on my bookshelf the other night... I let him "stay the night," then decided (after doing his business on my floor) that it was time for him to go.

October 26th-28th I went to a Peace Corps/Costa Rican Red Cross training on HIV/AIDS prevention in San José. Ana Yanci, the social worker at my school, and Daniel, a college student, came with me to satisfy the requirement of bringing 2 community members (one having to be a "youth") to learn and then replicate the workshops. (I think they were interested in it too...) Here we are!


I was surprised to come back to the two new bookshelves made and standing outside of the library at 7:00 on Monday morning. Little by little, it's coming along...

Upon seeing them, the preschool teacher said (and I quote) "Oh, Lindsay I have sooo many books at home that I'd like to donate. Lots. And now that I see this is a serious project, I'll bring them in."



Seven months it's been in the works...

Pura vida.

Here's the book club psyched about making posters for the library inauguration on the 17th of this month. The cleaning ladies torn down my poster.... soo I thought we'd make 18 new ones.