This past October marked one year since I started this Peace Corps adventure so its only fitting I post a blog in remembrance of my one year anniversary. So far I have traveled through 3 different continents, 4 different countries, learned 2 different languages, went through 2 different trainings and moved a total of 6 times; what a year it has been! The last move being into my very own place
Unfortunately my last host family did not work out due to sexual harassment by my host “dad”. Fortunately Peace Corps was very supportive and understanding and quickly had me removed from the home. I found a small studio apartment about 3 blocks away that is just perfect for me. There were some difficulties at first, like getting my landlord to fix the huge hole in my front door, but it seems a frantic crying gringa gets people moving! After finally getting my door fixed my internet USB which allows me to have internet in my apartment stopped working; actually it’s the monopolized governmental phone company ICE. Seems there is something wrong with one of the towers only in my town, so I can access internet everywhere except in my community. Ok, I finished my rant
. Although things have been a bit of an emotional and stressful rollercoaster for me I am still grateful for the opportunity and know that there are many more great things to come.
Life on my has taken some getting used to but I can honestly say I am enjoying it for the most part. Although I lived pretty much on my own while in NY, it is still a different experience especially cooking every meal for myself. At times I miss the convenience of take out and a microwave but in a country bountiful in fresh fruits and vegetables I am kind of like cooking all my meals.
Other that adjusting to life on my own “work” has been changing as well. This week marks the last day of my English class which has gone through quite a transformation. I started out with 2 classes, about 15- 20 ppl in each class and in the end I have 1 class with about 3 faithful students! Looking back and seeing how over 100 ppl signed up and in the end only few stuck it out to el fin, lets just say that was a learning experience for me as well. It was my first project and I am happy I did it, other than getting the opportunity to teach it also helped me to get to know people within the community. So even if people don’t know my name, it still brings a smile to my face to hear people call me “teacher, teacher”. My next couple of projects I hope to get of the ground is my dance class (hip hop por paz/hip hop for peace), a world map mural painted on the wall of one of the elementary schools and the big one, a grant to build a playground.
Well I leave it at that for now before I start to ramble on. I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks since I will be on vacation. My lovely mother will be visiting me here in Coasta Rica and then off to the West Coast for Thanksgiving. Since I will probably not write again until after that Happy Halloween and Happy Thanksgiving to all. I hope you are keeping warm out there, cause its still hot over here
lol.
