GO PACK GO!!
I'm off tomorrow on the 7:30 bus for San José to cheer on the beloved Green Bay Packers to a big win for Super Bowl XLV! Sunday kicks off with a friendly 5-on-5 Peace Corps flag football tournament in a beautiful park outside of the city. Shortly after I'll be donning my Rodgers' jersey and drinking overpriced American refreshments. It's officially the last weekend of "summer vacation" for all students. Back to work!
Enjoy the game! And the 1 time Masterlock advertises each year.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Due to the recent (sad! and unexpected!) death of my beloved, underwater camera, I do not have a plethora of new pictures to accompany an update this week... my apologies.
This, however, is a picture another volunteer took on a trip we were on to the "Isla de Caño" off the Pacific Coast a couple weekends ago. About once a year, Peace Corps' version of "student council" organizes a fun trip for our quarterly meeting and this was ours! We went to Uvita beach for the weekend and Saturday had the option of surfing or taking an hour boat ride out to this remote island. On the way we saw 3 humpback whales including a mama and her baby! It was incredible. Once on the island we snorkeled for an hour seeing schools of mantarays, starfish, a whitetooth reef shark, and lots of coral and other unidentifiable fish. We had a couple hours on the actual island for exploration, lunch, and relaxing before a second hour of snorkeling and the boat trip home where we saw a giant sea turtle! The trip was excellent.
(more to be shared once/if I can get them off of my own camera)
Summer vacation continues which means lots of sun for my garden. I finally have 4 tomatoes growing! All my composting, pruning, watering, and daily staring has really paid off. The beating sun has also made drying my clothes and linens a cinch again! No longer must I wish and hope it'll all dry before molding.
This time has also be good for project planning for the year. I have plans (and a written manual!) to continue the book club, the school library, start a group for teenage girls entitled "Voces Valerosas" which discusses taboo social issues and focuses on leadership and empowerment, utilize my HIV/AIDS training I received from the Red Cross with two counterparts, and play volleyball on a women's team! I was asked if I wanted to join about 3 weeks ago and have been playing once a week ever since. It's a blast and all of us are of very similar ability level so we can get some good games going.
I can't believe February is nearly here!! I'm really starting to feel my time here counting down...
This, however, is a picture another volunteer took on a trip we were on to the "Isla de Caño" off the Pacific Coast a couple weekends ago. About once a year, Peace Corps' version of "student council" organizes a fun trip for our quarterly meeting and this was ours! We went to Uvita beach for the weekend and Saturday had the option of surfing or taking an hour boat ride out to this remote island. On the way we saw 3 humpback whales including a mama and her baby! It was incredible. Once on the island we snorkeled for an hour seeing schools of mantarays, starfish, a whitetooth reef shark, and lots of coral and other unidentifiable fish. We had a couple hours on the actual island for exploration, lunch, and relaxing before a second hour of snorkeling and the boat trip home where we saw a giant sea turtle! The trip was excellent.
(more to be shared once/if I can get them off of my own camera)
Summer vacation continues which means lots of sun for my garden. I finally have 4 tomatoes growing! All my composting, pruning, watering, and daily staring has really paid off. The beating sun has also made drying my clothes and linens a cinch again! No longer must I wish and hope it'll all dry before molding.
This time has also be good for project planning for the year. I have plans (and a written manual!) to continue the book club, the school library, start a group for teenage girls entitled "Voces Valerosas" which discusses taboo social issues and focuses on leadership and empowerment, utilize my HIV/AIDS training I received from the Red Cross with two counterparts, and play volleyball on a women's team! I was asked if I wanted to join about 3 weeks ago and have been playing once a week ever since. It's a blast and all of us are of very similar ability level so we can get some good games going.
I can't believe February is nearly here!! I'm really starting to feel my time here counting down...
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
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!
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!
Sunday, December 5, 2010
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!
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