tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65307198863344511262024-02-07T02:40:30.204-08:00DC to PC: Morgan in Costa RicaThis blog is for anyone that wants to be all up in my bizness during my service as a Peace Corps volunteer in Costa Rica.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-24285773356137271572011-05-17T12:05:00.000-07:002011-05-24T04:47:27.028-07:00Tech Week Madness<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtoJ6D-uoJSAMe7-r5aumY4NeHhnaxv09IULPNcxkeCUMBjz0hCUofq7VNxDMs6BNBrNfetaUVVRQnkwNrDrOUzP_zlrMccYG4KvBtt2Gfm8GB6T5-J_O9YQqXdga0L6bssR-CyFu-57w/s1600/DSCF1609.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtoJ6D-uoJSAMe7-r5aumY4NeHhnaxv09IULPNcxkeCUMBjz0hCUofq7VNxDMs6BNBrNfetaUVVRQnkwNrDrOUzP_zlrMccYG4KvBtt2Gfm8GB6T5-J_O9YQqXdga0L6bssR-CyFu-57w/s320/DSCF1609.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5608621878203564034" /></a><br /><br />In April my community and I were proud to host "Tech Week," in which 8 trainees came to live with families, shadow/observe projects, and facilitate their own non-formal educational workshops with youth here in Buenos Aires. In addition to the trainees my bosses and Peace Corps language teachers also spent the week here to observe the trainees interacting in the community and getting a feel for what type of communities would best suit them for their 2 years of service. Organizing the week was a pretty daunting task, however it all turned out successfully thanks to the coordination, patience, and flexibility of everyone involved.<br /><br />The first day started off with a Sunday morning meeting at the high school, where 84 11th graders and I had been working for about 3 weeks to organize a "rally." A rally is basically a physcial team building competition which puts participants through a number of team challenges which they must complete in the shortest time possible. In this case we had 15 teams of 8 (4 males, 4 females), and 15 team challenges.<br /><br />This was our final meeting before the big event, and there was a lot to do. You know you're in an active community when you can fill the high school with kids on a Sunday morning, and I was pleased to see that so many of the students showed up, even if that did mean the organization of the meeting would be more challenging. The group that had raised start-up funds allocated funds to the students who were in charge of purchasing items needed for the event, whike the administrative team worked to make name tags so that the rally participants cud be distinguished from students who needed to be in class. Another committee ran around the high school designating a place for each activity, and practicing each activity so that all of judges knew how to facilitate and score the challenge. I left feeling exhausted and a little unsure that we would be ready come the day of the rally, but I knew things always have a way or working themselves out in the end. Besides, when you have 84 teens working together with you it's pretty hard to feel down about anything.<br /><br />After a long morning of battling the inevitable disorganization when you work with that many people, we headed to my friend Chamisa's site, Volcan, to spend the afternoon. She and her women's group have an amazing greenhouse, so we checked out their project and then played with some kids at their new playground. They've got a beautiful river there, so before leaving we all took a dip in the chilly water, and hopped back on the bus to my town, which is about 40 minutes away.<br /><br />My group was already pretty tired after Day 1, and it didn't help that I had them going on a hike the very next morning. Several members of my community went with us to "the rancho," which is a mountain peak where a little beat up rancho used to exist, but doesn't anymore. We were a large group with lots of different ages/abilities, but eventually everyone made it to the top, and agreed that it was worth the early wake-up time and muscle power it took to get there. At the top we played some silly games and then everyone went home good and tired from the active morning. My boss, our volunteer leader (which is the position I'll have starting in June), and one of the Spanish teachers arrived just as we were returning from the hike. They would be joining us for the rest of the week observing and giving feedback as the trainees practiced giving workshops in my town and helped me to facilitate projects.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkU618VnIvCCwEzOfpe06r4ftNswD1BH5q0l-I2d_q3Nl0nJzh_RW6tEcICvTauhl5P-v_nfZlaW3JBUbLkie5ThZhTGhtCQKk-eXAamkSb1YGJiyhdlioj3M1M-FGXexGrenNiYs9TRo/s1600/DSCF1543.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkU618VnIvCCwEzOfpe06r4ftNswD1BH5q0l-I2d_q3Nl0nJzh_RW6tEcICvTauhl5P-v_nfZlaW3JBUbLkie5ThZhTGhtCQKk-eXAamkSb1YGJiyhdlioj3M1M-FGXexGrenNiYs9TRo/s320/DSCF1543.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5608477867655735362" /></a><br /><br />In the afternoon we hung out at the pool of one of my friend's while two of the trainees facilitated a workshop on communication skills with my favorite group of 12th graders. They didn't have school that day but did me the huge favor of showing up anyway so that the trainees could have participants for the session. That night we went to my friens Norma's house and had a fiesta with my English class. It was fun to see everyone interacting and practicing both languages, and my students did a little presentation about Tico culture in English. We ate traditional rice with chicken, danced and sang karaoke until everyone was about ready to collapse.<br /><br />The third day was by far the longest and most tiring, but also extremely productive and enjoyable. It started early with my 7 a.m. Kindergarten classes. The trainees facilitated recreational activities with them while I taught English, and in spite of some bloody scraped up knees my little ones had a BLAST. It is so exciting for them to have new people in town, because that basically never happens. Afterwards two of the trainees prepared to teach a sports workshop to a group of 5th graders while I took the rest of the group to the other school to help me facilitate a recycling workshop with 1st graders.<br /><br />One of the teachers and I are starting a recycling program at the school, so I recently created a very basic workshop that teaches kids (and teachers) about the 3R's of ecology (reduce, reuse, recycle) and the impact that recycling has on the environment. I haven't done a lot of environmental work during my service, and it is something that is extremely important to me so I figured I'd do my best to get a least a little something in before I leave. I am training all 137 students form first to sixth grade in order to hopefully leave the recycling program in the hands of students and teachers that have an understanding of the basics and a greater appreciation for the impact it can have on the community and the world.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGXobgV_Y21fhA61zIuqMXYIKJgat80MLwDcY465Orj6np0LTtcFF45fnDjR3cVLku0wQXqin7NiAiYajSog7A6lY0azXwaZ_tKYkHnQJ7CQZP11Sk8v7gor2a5y4GM94LlvY8QZVaGEE/s1600/DSCF1813.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGXobgV_Y21fhA61zIuqMXYIKJgat80MLwDcY465Orj6np0LTtcFF45fnDjR3cVLku0wQXqin7NiAiYajSog7A6lY0azXwaZ_tKYkHnQJ7CQZP11Sk8v7gor2a5y4GM94LlvY8QZVaGEE/s320/DSCF1813.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5608479165734528946" /></a><br /><br />After training two of the classes the trainees helped me to facilitate a session of "Hip Hop por la Paz" with my fifth graders. The project consists of 5 workshops with themes related to alternatives to violence, and and activity that uses one of the elements of hip hop (DJing, MCing, breakdance, graffiti) in order to get the message across. On this particular day we were talking about community violence and making graffiti walls that depicted what the kids envisioned when they thought of a community at peace. They then stood in front of a different group's work and were told to transform the peaceful community into a violent one. At the end, the returned to their original graffiti walls and needed to restore the peace by correcting the violence that had just been drawn by the other group. We used the activity to talk about how they felt drawing peace, how they felt drawing violence, and how it was for them to have to restore the peace once violence had entered their "community."<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl_miN6ihXnpBTXTf3Gec_zoK90j1NZfsfsFzjCz4Zqj9LMzLVSZh0ZIrch-d0r4lNOr_ZWCc7sOgB0x1eJR4hnMHAY-8VjVFYyHjB8j0lBkhgbwZJRAb3BrdOcBzuGTUOR3Bj4Unfzjs/s1600/DSCF1601.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl_miN6ihXnpBTXTf3Gec_zoK90j1NZfsfsFzjCz4Zqj9LMzLVSZh0ZIrch-d0r4lNOr_ZWCc7sOgB0x1eJR4hnMHAY-8VjVFYyHjB8j0lBkhgbwZJRAb3BrdOcBzuGTUOR3Bj4Unfzjs/s320/DSCF1601.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5608478540843457650" /></a><br /><br /><br />After the workshop I led dance auditions for the Arts Festival, which is a nation-wide performing arts competition starting at the local level in June. I had agreed to help the music teacher prepare a hip hop dance group, and today the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders had the opportunity to try-out. Some of the trainees participated in the auditions by dancing with the kids, and we recharged our batteries after a long day of facilitating sessions.<br /><br />In the evening my boss, Carolina, gave a workshop on alternatives to corporal punishment and the importance of setting limits to parents from my school. I had been trying to publicize the event as much as possible but it was hard to with all of the other coordination that had to be done for this week. I started to get worried when no one had showed up and it was time to start but luckily around 12 parents/teachers came, so it ended up being a success. The highlight was definitely during a dramatization when one of the trainees was acting as the child and one of the parents was the father, and while acting out a scenario that involved corporal punishment the parent took his role a little too seriously and ended up spanking the be-jesus out of the poor trainee. You gotta be tough in this town.<br /><br />The next day was the much-anticipated rally in the high school. After a hectic morning of getting the student organizers and participants in order, the event ended up being a huge success. We had 15 teams of 8, including the 8 trainees who were visiting me, and the 7 trainees who were visiting Chamisa, and Chamisa herself. In spite of them thinking I was a complete lunatic for having put them and the students through these ridiculous challenges, I think they had a good time. There were 15 challenges in total, including an upside-down rope climb, a soapy wet plastic slide, two different mud pits, an "electric" fence, a "lava" island, and many many more. You can see from the pics that these were not for the faint-hearted. The entire challenge took most teams about 3 hours to complete, they were total troopers! The first pic below is of me with my bosses, with whom I will be working to support volunteers in my third year. They are the primary reason I want to stick around for another year, and this pic pretty much sums up why! The second pic is special for me because it was taken with my very favorite group of high school students, all of whom I will miss so so so much!!!!! There are tons more pics on facebook so check them out.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNEsnxd39Gcj6f8bRSBqoY_k-Ugm02lJ7AUVtu4AVwOaYuDNpTDJNay0Je9T7dOOvwZzKhJ77yKx8LRZ_kNAiGBH85F0uSGusSTrZBLsO2R1h3nvbdJUzCyrOz5O5bcz2_Q3teC4jP6R8/s1600/DSCF1620.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNEsnxd39Gcj6f8bRSBqoY_k-Ugm02lJ7AUVtu4AVwOaYuDNpTDJNay0Je9T7dOOvwZzKhJ77yKx8LRZ_kNAiGBH85F0uSGusSTrZBLsO2R1h3nvbdJUzCyrOz5O5bcz2_Q3teC4jP6R8/s320/DSCF1620.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5608623999600387650" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVL2UfupkGKjojZ3HB6R0cVaZzyznOCoYbNSeNCO773Gfu8NFzUGXlQ2mPWs1MjQ_dJo1co_asuuhPcj3AfQfBaXp1mRfJSeqKpDAtQhBxfo-pHTZmE7mguGdDYvwRBQcSNHJ6tzLvtXw/s1600/DSCF1619.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVL2UfupkGKjojZ3HB6R0cVaZzyznOCoYbNSeNCO773Gfu8NFzUGXlQ2mPWs1MjQ_dJo1co_asuuhPcj3AfQfBaXp1mRfJSeqKpDAtQhBxfo-pHTZmE7mguGdDYvwRBQcSNHJ6tzLvtXw/s320/DSCF1619.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5608477449332717442" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKlb_LoLacwnB-br94FQK5INJHIP3hM1bBzDDG6owgRje6HiYI5MdDsvWhQ2iPai1xvTLd_A9MIiKHrq932UQ5ASnZCc7nxi3KXXA8aHuPhXxExQKJLux9i0yV5wc78deRRpBjcycCLxY/s1600/DSCF1548.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKlb_LoLacwnB-br94FQK5INJHIP3hM1bBzDDG6owgRje6HiYI5MdDsvWhQ2iPai1xvTLd_A9MIiKHrq932UQ5ASnZCc7nxi3KXXA8aHuPhXxExQKJLux9i0yV5wc78deRRpBjcycCLxY/s320/DSCF1548.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5608479924221920978" /></a><br /><br />In the afternoon after everyone had rushed back to their houses to eat and clean up (this was tricky because the water had been turned off in my town...bucket baths!), we returned to the high school where my other boss, Natalia, was giving a workshop to the 12th graders about educational opportunities after high school. The workshop went off without a hitch, and then we headed back to house of one of the host families for a party to celebrate the closing of tech week. It was nice to have some time with just the group of trainees and staff members, who really only get to see each other in a work setting during the training process and their service.<br /><br />The final morning we had a meeting with my coutnerpart at PANI (child protective services) and then everyone loaded onto their bus to head back to San Jose. It was a lot of work but definitely worth it to have everyone here, especially since I'll be working with them in my third year of service as a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader. The week gave us a great opportunity to get to know each other, which will be really helpful as I attempt to support their work this year. I'm excited about this new group and VERY excited to move to San Jose and begin my new position. I've got lots to say about this transition so once I gather my thoughts (which hopefully won't take months this time around) I will post a little about what's going on in this full head of mine these days. PEACE!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-47910454709365841672011-03-01T16:14:00.000-08:002011-03-01T16:57:23.402-08:00Feliz Cumpliaños Cuerpo de Paz!!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwf9Dr7d6TO_aOpimSfkkeu5qhLCuwWRwhhbyv2nA65cw3wdL898NBIe1cWPzvzXP3HvPxoXLKKimkBVlWMwMKG23DjhsfZlewah_u1OoA4CT8Gt9daSXdQJaIKzApI4ypUQi1hLr91Rc/s1600/bday.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwf9Dr7d6TO_aOpimSfkkeu5qhLCuwWRwhhbyv2nA65cw3wdL898NBIe1cWPzvzXP3HvPxoXLKKimkBVlWMwMKG23DjhsfZlewah_u1OoA4CT8Gt9daSXdQJaIKzApI4ypUQi1hLr91Rc/s320/bday.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579280117988375858" /></a><br />HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEACE CORPS!!!!!!!!! Today Peace Corps turns 50 years old. Many volunteers are currently celebrating with members of the embassy in San Jose, eating cake and wearing fancy clothes. I just ate a bowl of plain beans and am wearing basketball clothes. I'm happy for them though.<br /><br />Ok, next subject is C.O.S. It stands for Close of Service. I just returned from my COS conference, so I guess this means I'm actually about to close my service. Weird. My situation is slightly differnce since I am planning to stay a third year as a PCVL (peace corps volunteer leader), so I'm not freaking out as much as I would be if I was actually going back to the States, but still, it's a pretty crazy feeling knowing that my time living and working in this community is almost over. It became even more of a reality this week as I worked on work plans with teachers in the schools. I kept having to say, "Oh, I can't put that activity there because I won't be here anymore." I said it over and over again. Where did these two years go?!?!?!?<br /><br />I am beyond content with my decision to stay another year. In fact, I can't imagine returning to the States at this point. Recently I've had more opportunities to spend time with staff members with whom I'll be working next year, and it's made me even more exicted about working in the office. To explain things a bit better, the role of a PCVL is to assist program managers and trainers to train new trainees, provide technical support to current volunteers, support staff on the administrative side of Peace Corps Costa Rica, and also spend 25% of work hours assisting a local organization or NGO in San Jose. I am still awaiting medical clearance to be officially approved as a PCVL, so I still don't know with which organization I will be working. <br /><br />Lots of exciting stuff is coming up in these last few months of service (my official last day is May 27). In March I will be planning, planning, planning, and writing, writing, writing. Gotta plan out these last projects carefully and coordinate well with community members, as well as write my final reports for grant money and peace corps administrative requirements. They aren't lying when they say that getting out of Peace Corps taked just as long as it does to get in! In April I'll be helping my friend with the Copa Indigena, the first ever indigenous soccer tournament which ahs been going on for the last month or so. My friend Josh has spent his ENTIRE service organizing this historic event, and I will be one of many volunteers at the final games which are to be held at the brand new national stadium. This is a BIG DEAL!!!! I'll also be getting a special visitor from the States - one of the high school students who came here on the service learning trip last June is coming back for more...can't wait to see her!!!! Also in April I'll be climbing Chirripo, the highest peak in Costa Rica. I'm stoked except that I don't have any appropriate clothing for cool or cold weather, which is going to be a problem. There are other fun things around the corner but they aren't official yet so I'm not allowed to announce them. I will soon though.<br /><br />The new trainees arrived in country today, which is pretty exciting. I really like getting to know new volunteers - everyone here is interesting in their own way, and it's fun sharing my positive experience with others, so I hope to have a chance to meet them soon! <br /><br />I'm thinking of everyone back at home lots these days, and hope everyone is well. As always, I'll try to actually update my blog more often, but as you can see I'm pretty bad at this game. Pura vida!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-45245759917559272732010-12-19T13:55:00.001-08:002011-01-12T10:43:08.802-08:00¡R.U.M.B.O. al Cole!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3hy739m2nPsfoYVrQdJ_bb2illqmeQbHL28VGqajn1Us-9qZQqkXY7_7I3WBUY41DZW5AcKJhq07PJkU6a1VTJH60y9MskXKl0BCnubW-HKW7juiBOwKHrHwlzeXjO6db5vSQbZPtlc/s1600/DSCF1296.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx3hy739m2nPsfoYVrQdJ_bb2illqmeQbHL28VGqajn1Us-9qZQqkXY7_7I3WBUY41DZW5AcKJhq07PJkU6a1VTJH60y9MskXKl0BCnubW-HKW7juiBOwKHrHwlzeXjO6db5vSQbZPtlc/s320/DSCF1296.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561368930696226994" /></a><br />For me there is no greater joy than working with young people. I spent last week in the high school with nearly 60 teenagers in what is by far my favorite project of all. It´s called ¡R.U.M.B.O. al Cole! "Rumbo" is slang for "let´s go" and the letters stand for "Recreando Unidos para Muy Buena Orientacion," which basically means "doing recreational activities for a good orientation" (this sounds lame in English but I´ve been told it sounds cool in Spanish). At the end of the school year in November I invited all of the graduating 6th graders (who will be entering high school next year) from 7 different elementary schools to participate in this week of recreational activities in the high school. I recruited a group of 25 eleventh graders, who will need to complete community service hours this year, and trained them in leadership skills and the facilitation of over 30 recreational activities. The 7th graders were the campers and the 11th graders were the counselors. I had the support of the high school principal, a P.E. teacher, and the school counselor, but we didn´t actually need any adults to run the camp (besides me, but whether or not I´m actually an adult is definitely debatable).<br /><br />One goal of the camp was to provide 7th graders with a positive orientation to the high school environment and allow them to meet and form strong relationships with older students. A second goals was to provide the 11th grade students with an outlet to participate in a service learning project, gain leadership experience, and earn their required community service hours. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the project got all of these young people out of the house for the week, which is where they almost certainly would have spent the time otherwise.<br /><br />Every day began with icebreakers and games done as one big group. A rotation of 3 different recreational/competitive activities followed, and each day ended with a teamwork challenge (kind of like low ropes course activities) and group discussion of their ability to work together to reach the intended goal of the challenge. The leaders were trained to encourage sportsmanship, teamwork and active participation in all activities, and groups that worked together well or were able to resolve problems in effective ways were rewarded though a point system that continued throughout the week.<br /><br />My service provides me with countless opportunities to reflect upon and appreciate the many blessings I have been fortunate enough to receive in my life, and having constant access to camps over the summer as a kid is one of them. My summers in the States were always jam-packed with activities, summer classes, and camps galore. Here in my community the kids generally have nothing to do during vacation time, except maybe work to help their families. Both the 7th and 11th graders involved in this project took this opportunity to have a healthy, fun, energizing experience and ran with it. I could not have asked for a more positive group of campers and counselors. The best news is that the school counselor and principal want to make it a permanent project for incoming 7th graders, to be continued after I am gone. I´ll be spending the next couple months working with the 11th graders on a manual that will give a step-by-step of the planning and execution of the project and it´s over 30 recreational activities. <br /><br />I´m so pumped and energized by this experience, I find myself missing it this week now that it´s all over. On the last day of camp one of the 7th graders said to me, "Why can´t we just do this every week?" and I´m starting to wonder the same thing....<br /><br />Check out the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4ej4zreAEI">video</a> of the camp activities!!!! Be well, pura vida.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-14452189896072164022010-12-19T13:27:00.001-08:002010-12-19T14:10:15.496-08:00Peaceful Toy ExchangeToday was a good day. I woke up at the usual 5:00 am, ran sprints in the pineapple fields, strength training with my body weight and a medicine ball made of a rock-filled coconut, cold shower, banana-and-coffee smoothie...and that was all before 8:00 am. A little later I walked my 6-year-old host nephew over to a neighborhood Christmas celebration in a nearby park. There was music, dancing, relay races, soccer games, and best of all...a nonviolent toy exchange. Yes, the police department sponsored a huge toy drive that allowed them to bring a huge number of nonviolent toys to the party, and any kids who has violent toys at home could bring them in and exchange them for a shiny, new, nonviolent one. I loved it, and so did the kids. It was beautiful to watch all the kids run to their houses, come back with fake guns, knives, and other atrocious-looking things, throw them away and get a nice board game or soccer ball instead.<br /><br />After the party my hsot nephew and I went on a long walk in the pineapple fields. As we walked we came upon en empty box that someone had thrown on the ground (very normal occurrence here). It was the box of a toy truck with pictures of the truck and others on it. Now, I don't talk about the economic situation of my host family very often, and you wouldn't know it by seeing the house that they rent, but they are actually quite poor. I nearly started crying as my host nephew RAN over to the box, squealed with excitement, and started hugging the empty box that he found on the ground. "Morgan, look! What a beautiful box! Can I take it home with us???" After checking to make sure it didn't have anything disgusting on it I told him we could (I mean, who's gonna say no to that request?) and we walked back to the house. We spent the rest of the walk talking about all the different things he could do with the box (cut out the individual pictures to make little playing cards, make a Christmas card for his Dad, make a poster to put on his wall....). Although part of this scenario made me sad, it's also one of those situations that happens to me every day here, that just makes me appreciate everything I've been blessed with so much more. It can be very hard not to take things for granted at times, but constant exposure to situations like this certainly makes it easier to appreciate everything. Here's a picture of him with the pictures he cut out of the box:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwwOJcTmimSuNXMRVYdqdO327GsC1UJ6Z7rPleDJNN8HY5eKT6KLF9c20rmJUD7HPSESGiVEVeavkFSukqlMkW1fVipMkD4TlWbgA8Sujda6ime4EfhHL_PdNXAuqjkyPLeu0RoSGDSZo/s1600/DSCF1095.JPG"><img style="float: center; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwwOJcTmimSuNXMRVYdqdO327GsC1UJ6Z7rPleDJNN8HY5eKT6KLF9c20rmJUD7HPSESGiVEVeavkFSukqlMkW1fVipMkD4TlWbgA8Sujda6ime4EfhHL_PdNXAuqjkyPLeu0RoSGDSZo/s320/DSCF1095.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552517800719795346" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Getting back into the swing of things after going home has not been easy, but slowly things are coming together and seeming normal again. It definitely helped to have a day to just enjoy being in my community instead of working all day. Once the rush of camps in January is over and the school year starts again in February, time is going to FLY!!!!<br /><br />Wishing you all a very safe, happy holiday, and hoping that everyone gets to do something to show their appreciation for all their blessings in life. Peace.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-20833308834946685012010-12-18T08:26:00.000-08:002010-12-18T08:27:32.100-08:00Just another conversation in the life....Host Sister (to my 18 month old nephew): Huguito! Come here and have a piece of chocolate!<br /><br />Host Mom (immediately after sharing her huge glass of coffee with him): No!!!!!! You can't give him chocolate, especially this late, it will make him hyperactive.<br /><br />Morgan: Mami, are you serious??? You have been giving him coffee all this time, and you're worried about a tiny piece of chocolate?<br /><br />Host Mom: You're right, go ahead Jaimie, give him the chocolate.<br /><br />Morgan: No, I wasn't saying he should also eat the chocolate, I was just.....oh jesus, never mind.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-61996504011905025622010-12-07T18:10:00.000-08:002010-12-23T13:26:34.131-08:00Going Home: Is it Worth the Pain?This title may seem a little harsh, but that is not my intention. I just got back from being the States for 2 weeks (OMG was it really 2 weeks????), and I must say that seeing so many people for such short periods of time was really tough emotionally. It was also wonderful, while it lasted, but it turns out there's a lot of people at home who I don't just like, but LOVE, a lot, and coming back to CR was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. It's not that I don't want to be here, because I do, but it isn't easy to leave everything behind all over again.<br /><br />I am already much more settled in than I was, but I thought I would be in the States yearning to return, and that wasn't so much the case. I could have used another month there, easily, but then it probably would have been even more difficult to come back. I spent much of the time at home talking to people about my plans for next year, which were still undecided. I have thought for some time now about staying a third year and working in our country office in San Jose as a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader. The job entails supporting my program manager and training coordinator as they train and offer technical support to trainees and current volunteers. I have really good relationships with and so much respect for our staff, and the opportunity to work with them on a daily basis has always been appealing to me. Before I came to Costa Rica, I would have laughed in your face had you even mentioned the possibility of me staying away from home for more than 2 years. It seemed like an eternity at the beginning. Now I realize what a unique opportunity it is to work for Peace Corps, especially Peace Corps Costa Rica, and while I miss home very much I'm not yet ready for this journey of personal and professional growth (corny, but so very true) to end. Am I ready to be with all my family and friends in the States again? Of course! But what it comes down to is that this opportunity to stay won't present itself again, and I know that once I go back to the States I will be there for good. <br /><br />Soooo, I turned in my letter of intent to stay another year just a few days ago. My bosses are looking for NGOs with whom I could explore my interests of community health and/or exercise science, and I'm looking forward to a complete change of pace in terms of working in a more scheduled, office environment, but with the variety and dynamic approach that is inherent in working for Peace Corps. Not only will I work in the office, but I will also travel to training sites to train new volunteers and do site visits to visit current volunteers and stake out new communities for future volunteer sites. I will also be in a bigger city, which I am beyond ready for. I have learned an incredible amount living in a small town, and I love my community with all my heart, but this girl just wasn't cut out to live in a little pueblo for extended period of time.<br /><br />So that's my story for next year. Stay tuned for project updates, including an HIV/AIDS prevention soccer tournament, a recreational camp for kids making the transition from elementary to high school, and basketball camp. January is gonna be busy!!!!! Peace.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-51600008153026207292010-10-21T19:59:00.000-07:002010-10-21T21:03:50.801-07:00An Update: Long Overdue<span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb6Sy9izsz-FZXNGBQ9RGx90NP33FJ870UtRuGVofyRhdZviGpO9wsiF5Bs39CjeRBfDAO1K88FakVXf5B12qSutGxEbs0bK6LKcWrMk6WqEAhCDdNqoygOfImW3r0MS6yI03JohUUJ2c/s1600/BOCAS+038.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb6Sy9izsz-FZXNGBQ9RGx90NP33FJ870UtRuGVofyRhdZviGpO9wsiF5Bs39CjeRBfDAO1K88FakVXf5B12qSutGxEbs0bK6LKcWrMk6WqEAhCDdNqoygOfImW3r0MS6yI03JohUUJ2c/s320/BOCAS+038.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5530710393461959410" border="0" /></a>Well, it's official...I am the worst blogger ever. I think about the blog off and on, but never seem to make the time to sit down and write any posts. This is sad because the times when I have the most to write about are exactly the times when it is hardest to make time to share them. Since AUGUST (when I last posted), a LOT has happened, and there is no way to share it all here. I went to Panama with a good Costa Rican friend of mine, and cannot wait to return. It is a beautiful country with very warm, friendly people. I ate the freshest seafood I have ever eaten, and made friends with an indigenous man named Salsa. The main thing that was missing...beans. They don't eat enough beans there. I only went for one full day, to Bocas del Toro, a relatively small group of islands. My next dream vacation - Panama City.<br /><br />We finished Youth for Peace, the service learning project with several different youth community groups. I have a lot of photos up on facebook. Our final event included presentations by all of the groups and the training of about 20 new community members in the design and management of service learning projects. Thanks very much to everyone who supported my Peace Corps Partnership project to make that final event a huge success!<br /><br />I also finished my adult English class, which will now become an open-to-all-ages-and-levels "English Club," which is probably the worst idea I've had during my service. It will basically be impossible for me to successfully teach a multi-level English class, when I question my ability to even teach one single level. But, oh well. This experience is all about doing stuff I am not prepared to do. Here's a picture of us celebrating finishing the text book:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWKiKfv7LwXv3MdsonzlJumQfj1I8wOu1pXJIySBW7cKJ-UjcMm4GGOPrNkGwv28IQgcJt5oFZfh1JfvRmG5tNSdtgWvCoNy-vUbtjR64kN_e2L56xnseVimlVN-RxtRqsqCRJVHnx2t8/s1600/DSCF0621.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWKiKfv7LwXv3MdsonzlJumQfj1I8wOu1pXJIySBW7cKJ-UjcMm4GGOPrNkGwv28IQgcJt5oFZfh1JfvRmG5tNSdtgWvCoNy-vUbtjR64kN_e2L56xnseVimlVN-RxtRqsqCRJVHnx2t8/s320/DSCF0621.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5530711474349011330" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Two world map projects have been completed in one of my elementary schools and in the high school, both of which came out pretty beautifully. I'm currently working on a third in an elementary school that is a few kilometers away.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjhXypzeFklU3JKP_fz7LGsvrr9c9FV44av8brv1ogpVp565LLYkQAhq2hPs5P4kg6YcLTYABPWnbDwwNC17XXPNz1jvgAFdVIWyYIj_cgWNy0ER4sTv8k75r_s11xzOROuBrAZNbiqyE/s1600/DSCF0627.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjhXypzeFklU3JKP_fz7LGsvrr9c9FV44av8brv1ogpVp565LLYkQAhq2hPs5P4kg6YcLTYABPWnbDwwNC17XXPNz1jvgAFdVIWyYIj_cgWNy0ER4sTv8k75r_s11xzOROuBrAZNbiqyE/s320/DSCF0627.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5530705621487586578" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvtCJPlU4_HhkmnxIfBl_KT3YVPGqcndql-L-HakH7v0tUulUll7q4mfXaYZlOx07LyZb4cwOgrfa0dYtHnkfU9LmSUul0nylLlmIppAYBePaS7CQFobTGgqJzXMN8gVw8W8j8GjvOnn0/s1600/DSCF0632.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvtCJPlU4_HhkmnxIfBl_KT3YVPGqcndql-L-HakH7v0tUulUll7q4mfXaYZlOx07LyZb4cwOgrfa0dYtHnkfU9LmSUul0nylLlmIppAYBePaS7CQFobTGgqJzXMN8gVw8W8j8GjvOnn0/s320/DSCF0632.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5530706500871768930" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The chicken farm is completely self-sufficient and sustainable at this point, which is great. There are only about 4 people working there at the moment, but I know more people will get involved once they see the success of the brave pioneers currently running the show. The organization, World Connect, who provided the funds for the project are coming to visit in a couple of weeks, which is exciting because I feel like they will be really happy with what they see over there.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCLiLcfS5IwLzms-XhI0onQQZZd7z-CPEz-EVBOanzjDPWXi0fWW2MYoZ2nzyALUUnFYQ0VKMaOzpZaEZR1ORTxSQsUSumsgU81540aV4pqrgm8pV0zebr_cg_E_KiiDVLL48tgkF9LhE/s1600/DSCF0585.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCLiLcfS5IwLzms-XhI0onQQZZd7z-CPEz-EVBOanzjDPWXi0fWW2MYoZ2nzyALUUnFYQ0VKMaOzpZaEZR1ORTxSQsUSumsgU81540aV4pqrgm8pV0zebr_cg_E_KiiDVLL48tgkF9LhE/s320/DSCF0585.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5530715621821066354" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Tomorrow I'm taking some teens to a leadership camp about an hour and a half away from our community, where they will learn how to facilitate recreational activities with young children. This is all part of my plan to then recruit them to help me with a recreational camp during summer vacation, which runs from Christmas until the beginning of February. I am looking forward to working a little less and enjoying my community a little more during the break, but want to at least do a week-long camp with the kids here.<br /><br />Well, there's a VERY abbreviated version of some of the stuff going on around here...there is no way to talk about the millions of things going through my head right now as I face the last part of my service, but just know that it's a whole lot of craziness. I am not quite sure what is in store for me after May 2011, and am a little overwhelmed by the fact that I need to be making some big decisions to make that clearer in the next month or so.<br /><br />Time to get back to the "real" world now, feel free to send me an email if you want more details on anything, I'd love to hear from you!<br /><br />Pura Vida!<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-14490949735501168402010-08-10T20:02:00.000-07:002010-08-10T20:23:49.944-07:00This Picture Has Nothing to do with This Post....<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyzfRYtPXSj5wNBkT6XG_pisoESkcuB_HVc5s6AFeyb8WzAJ_4W-BmmxeahQfw_qPW5lJjvKDdaxmVwu6FmK94It202hb-ctKlaR_b-Otr1rJTbWNtL3Yju9AwLQWyJOW3vypfAWiVi9Q/s1600/DSCF0311.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyzfRYtPXSj5wNBkT6XG_pisoESkcuB_HVc5s6AFeyb8WzAJ_4W-BmmxeahQfw_qPW5lJjvKDdaxmVwu6FmK94It202hb-ctKlaR_b-Otr1rJTbWNtL3Yju9AwLQWyJOW3vypfAWiVi9Q/s320/DSCF0311.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503983811260428482" border="0" /></a><br />This post has nothing to do with my host nephew, I just think he's really cute, especially when he puts watermelon in the dirt and then eats it (as shown here). My initial inclination is to start this post by saying that the past few weeks have been difficult, but after being here and working in places like a shantytown I always stop myself as soon as that thought crosses my mind. Life here may present its challenges, but to say that it is difficult seems a completely ridiculous as soon as I remind myself that there are millions of other people who lead lives that are actually difficult. So, instead of saying that things have been difficult I’ll share with you a recent challenge that has presented itself, as well as the positives that keep me motivated and energized to keep working hard and learning more from such challenges.<br /><br />Jovenes por la Paz, my long-term service learning project, has been quite the adventure. I don’t know why I continue to make up my own projects when there are millions already written and prepared, step by step, but I am definitely learning a lot by making everything I do up as I go along. I won’t re-explain the project because I talk about it all the time on this blog, but I am currently trying to plan the closing event that is meant to celebrate the successful completion of the six different service learning projects. The problem is that I still have 2 groups who have yet to get their projects off the ground, so planning the celebratory event feels strange at the moment. They still have about 2 months, which is ample time, but it still makes me a lil nervous.<br /><br />Last weekend I met with the leaders of each group, which was both disheartening and motivating. The disheartening part was that the two groups who need the most help were the only groups who did not send a representative to the meeting (this was a BIG disappointment). The motivating part, however, is that the young leaders from the others groups, without any prompt from me, spent the majority of the meeting talking about how they could help encourage the other two groups and get them organized. After making a plan to help the other groups and reflecting upon their experiences from their own projects (what they learned, what were the challenges, how they can improve future efforts, etc.), I had all the group leaders write words of encouragement and congratulations on cards on each other’s backs. They got really into the activity and left feeling good about their efforts to improve their communities, and ready to help make an even greater difference. I had a meeting with one of the groups later than day and the group leader showed me that she had pasted her words of encouragement on the inside of her agenda to have it with her all the time.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh40fIeuKwSRC85zHKttS71zBB3tVc8m42r7nLXS0l9sdAReM_72hQ19wSAgnETG33SB6rNRxTM3MaVbZAh2sXDamFv1G3Ic2ERiErNGkyIMf1ZRnRw66WQOJ8p0wSLp9rbgjvidx2Lkc/s1600/DSCF0300.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh40fIeuKwSRC85zHKttS71zBB3tVc8m42r7nLXS0l9sdAReM_72hQ19wSAgnETG33SB6rNRxTM3MaVbZAh2sXDamFv1G3Ic2ERiErNGkyIMf1ZRnRw66WQOJ8p0wSLp9rbgjvidx2Lkc/s320/DSCF0300.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503986611481398162" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Hopefully we can get these last two groups going so that all 60 youth involved can celebrate their successes at the closing event. I’ll keep everyone posted on how it all turns out, and I’m looking forward to seeing all the groups come together in order to help each other finish their projects. The fact that some of the groups are struggling just makes the experience more real, and hopefully everyone involved will learn even more as a result of the hard times. I know I sure will!<br /><br />More to come soon on a project I just started with sixth graders in my smaller elementary school called <a href="http://www.jacostarica.org/">Junior Achievement</a>, and an Art for Peace workshop I did using art as a medium to discuss intra-familial violence with a group of kids who are finalists in an community-wide anti-violence art competition. In other news, check out the photos of the chicken farm on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2245167&id=21303616&l=5f876a0ebe">Facebook</a>. The women are working their butts off and have already built everything. We should have chickens in less than 2 weeks. I agreed to learn how to kill them, so I probably won’t be eating chicken again for a REALLY long time after that happens.<br /><br />Hope everyone is well, send me an email if you have questions about anything that is going on here, or if there’s anything particular you’d like me to write about. My head is often so flooded with ideas that I end up writing none of them, so it would be nice to get feedback from others. Email me at pleasant.morgan@gmail.com. Peace!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-67918307029046799672010-07-12T12:29:00.000-07:002010-07-17T12:36:59.300-07:00Wilson Service Learning Trip: Cultural Exchange at it's Finest!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbRfy19UJ0PpeUUKSbC_F-Xj3aR0_bsyt7LFVXP10U0ZvtabPkg4-c1G6UU0NHo8mvxbTY7PhjunTLXhSmZaM5B7jabuB0APW2gpsgTg2Owa2_yUnOYxqdAF44z65DKuKySy44sI666lI/s1600/DSCF0126.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbRfy19UJ0PpeUUKSbC_F-Xj3aR0_bsyt7LFVXP10U0ZvtabPkg4-c1G6UU0NHo8mvxbTY7PhjunTLXhSmZaM5B7jabuB0APW2gpsgTg2Owa2_yUnOYxqdAF44z65DKuKySy44sI666lI/s320/DSCF0126.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493503380432557602" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Last Sunday morning, while most people were either sleeping or at church, I was anxiously and excitedly preparing to begin one of the busiest and most fruitful weeks of my service. As I boarded don Marvin’s private mini bus, I was both relieved to be traveling in something other than the crowded public bus, and pleased that this trip was supporting the independent transportation company of someone in my town. This wasn’t just any drive to San Jose. Don Marvin and I would soon greet 12 high school students and two teachers from my beloved Woodrow Wilson High School. Unlike many of the young people who travel to Costa Rica, these kids weren’t coming for the beautiful beaches or the big volcanoes. They (or their parents, rather) had actually paid money to travel to my hot, land-locked community to work with at-risk youth (which constitutes essentially all youth in my town). The teachers and I had worked together to plan a week filled with service learning, which is only my favorite thing in this world (along with TCBY blueberry soft-serve ice cream with chocolate chips). I didn't even know most of these kids yet and I already loved them all.<br /><br /><br />First of all, let me just say that this is one brave group of gringo teenagers. Not only were they traveling abroad to a marginalized community that spoke a different language from their own, but they were going to stay with host families. While there is no doubt that this makes the entire experience more enriching for both the host community and the students, it is not an easy or comfortable situation to be thrown into. I remember how nervous I felt at age 25 when I was first dropped off at my host family’s house in San Jose, so I definitely felt for these youngsters as we took them immediately from the airport to their home stays in Buenos Aires. I had no doubt that the kids would adore the host families I had selected, and that the families would love having them in their homes, but I also knew that the situation could present its challenges. The kids and their families could not have responded better to the challenges, and I think everyone’s expectations were exceeded in their host family experience. Throughout the week, the kids from the U.S. frequently debated who had the best host family, everyone arguing that theirs was superior to the others.<br /><br />I decided to break in my new troops early on, with a hike to a nearby mountain on the very first morning. This is a hike I often take with groups of youth or members of my exercise class, and the peak provides an excellent view of Buenos Aires and the surrounding area. At the top we played a game that I learned while waiting for them at the airport (another camp-like group was playing it). It involves everyone chopping each other down like trees and making ninja-karate-chop noises, so obviously that went pretty well. I won’t lie and pretend like the entire hike went without complaints of being hot, tired, and thirsty, but I think everyone felt a sense of accomplishment upon reaching the top of the mountain, and it was a nice way to bond the group before they began a week filled with working as a team to reach their service learning objectives.<br /><br />That evening the real work began when we all went to my English class. My English students had prepared short presentations about Costa Rican culture, in English, while the kids from the U.S. had prepared cultural presentations about Washington DC, in Spanish. Everyone learned a lot about Obama, coffee, go-go music, cumbia and meringue, Frisbee, jacks and elastics, and much more. The fact that both groups were presenting in their second language made for a very comfortable, pressure-free environment which allowed everyone to relax and have fun learning about different aspects of each other’s cultures. The U.S. kids had brought a DC/CR banner and everyone took pictures in front of it at the end.<br /><br />The second day began with a trip to the indigenous town of Boruca, which is the largest indigenous group in Costa Rica. We received 5 brief workshops about how the people make their extraordinary and elaborate masks and textiles. I was in awe of the work of these strong, patient women, who spend days and months carving and painting masks and creating textiles from scratch. I was inspired by their firm belief that nature does not exist to serve them, but that they exist in order to serve nature. The trees in the community provide wood for their masks, drums and weapons, and leaves to dye their textiles. We learned about the process of turning the cotton plant into the yarn made to make clothes and bags, and then the different plants used to dye the yarn different colors. I felt like the most spoiled brat ever after those workshops. When I want a shirt, I just go to a store and buy one. Or in the States I would just order it on Amazon and it would arrive at my door. Omg. So embarrassing. We ended the trip with a short hike to the community’s beautiful waterfalls. We were ready to cool off after walking around the steep hills of the community, so the cool river water was a perfect way to end the trip.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKek8yllPLkf0nmsbj5PPf9xVuMFj3BNo-dpcsZ-pcMq6NZkAwCqoTbZGP0l_jZ8ODXIeVHRsZlITiH_KJQ6ACQy0vpAvSBWhf12DJyI2bWArtFfN71IyAGV5JxcaxR-8f1YuAIkfG1Rs/s1600/DSCN0814.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKek8yllPLkf0nmsbj5PPf9xVuMFj3BNo-dpcsZ-pcMq6NZkAwCqoTbZGP0l_jZ8ODXIeVHRsZlITiH_KJQ6ACQy0vpAvSBWhf12DJyI2bWArtFfN71IyAGV5JxcaxR-8f1YuAIkfG1Rs/s200/DSCN0814.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493401787719607522" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Upon our return to Buenos Aires, the kids spent quality time with their host families and enjoyed their delicious home-cooked meals. They couldn’t stop talking about how good the food was, which made me very happy. My host mother was hosting two of the girls, and she nearly died of joy when they told her she should open a restaurant in the States. She still brings up the compliment on a regular basis (and she SHOULD…that lady can cook!). Unfortunately we were supposed to paint a park in the afternoon, but the rainy season put a damper on those plans. Instead of painting the park, the students came to the field across the street from my house to climb trees and play soccer in the rain with the neighborhood kids. I have never seen so many people fit in one tree before!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkqpFf-FLoiEUkwgW04gzAVL7-HLEBFFBIXivn3rs3MYHxTkKdTLy27K9LkI3lzIZ4oNsMA9DLLMQIciYqiPoHbfXnk8thPpx6Oz_enpvCwOe0FD_KmhYr52ijQg3Y0WaYmQctPn1-FpU/s1600/DSCF0028.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkqpFf-FLoiEUkwgW04gzAVL7-HLEBFFBIXivn3rs3MYHxTkKdTLy27K9LkI3lzIZ4oNsMA9DLLMQIciYqiPoHbfXnk8thPpx6Oz_enpvCwOe0FD_KmhYr52ijQg3Y0WaYmQctPn1-FpU/s200/DSCF0028.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493405854698208066" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />At night the entire group came to my exercise class, which for me was fun because we filled the entire room (or shack) where I teach. All but one of the boys tired out after about 5 minutes, but most of the girls hung in there for the entire class (I had coached a few of them in soccer back in the States, so they were a little more used to the torture). Those who tired out quickly played jump rope and rode bikes with kids for the remainder of class. Perhaps one of my favorite quotes from the week came from the one guy who hung in for the entire class. He later told me, in the most genuine way possible, “Yeah, I actually really hated you the whole time you were teaching that class.” Made me a little teary eyed (not in a sad way of course).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWCAR8cy_qMf5OXrmYTOcCiD3jYZZrafKcDNB0wq1bMOvOigCsKqTqzTsOtUgaWKMKFBA-v6VN3I3_HqmVZTc5HgMxs5ma_zEH6l3EK1r3b1IIyIr1YhJe72zSZsNTyE7i8aXfiYHz5tU/s1600/DSCF0040.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWCAR8cy_qMf5OXrmYTOcCiD3jYZZrafKcDNB0wq1bMOvOigCsKqTqzTsOtUgaWKMKFBA-v6VN3I3_HqmVZTc5HgMxs5ma_zEH6l3EK1r3b1IIyIr1YhJe72zSZsNTyE7i8aXfiYHz5tU/s200/DSCF0040.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493405883726130498" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />The nonstop movement was only enhanced on the third day of the trip. This was one of our full days at the small, crowded, resource-deprived elementary school in my town. My junior Peace Corps troupe could not have been more helpful, getting a lot done in a short period of time. While the majority went to the field to play Frisbee, soccer, duck-duck-goose, tag, and Indian chief with over 100 kids, a couple of the girls came with me to my hyperactive kindergarten class. We tried our best to wear them out and then sent them off so we could help the Kindergarten teacher to fix up her deteriorated classroom. All day long kids from the school helped the group from the U.S. to wash toys and paint the classroom.<br /><br /><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ErBORb8-QYznNRWc8_xwe1tYeHqILNethTK1oUAPf_UiyK9Fx5ylJQW57Bty-E2-VWL6xNANfM5DnoNmTwj7rZ6R1BXrMKA00-4s5PqL0Zs5Rv9zlh7dDnrShUVSaekNc0Ajf5ntU_8/s320/DSCF0055.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493503358090920322" border="0" /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE6mE92e1QgiEIBacnyplGNMDJJm7hCqoxTGy0gQ4jj4W-AUOxFeZsPBY7tzqs4x2P4EYnIeMPpXBPrmXG02nX_IcRaOG-kDydjzK3XdDm19YwSSNfbeczVL244P0cvxxJXoTsn2tU3_E/s1600/DSCF0050.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE6mE92e1QgiEIBacnyplGNMDJJm7hCqoxTGy0gQ4jj4W-AUOxFeZsPBY7tzqs4x2P4EYnIeMPpXBPrmXG02nX_IcRaOG-kDydjzK3XdDm19YwSSNfbeczVL244P0cvxxJXoTsn2tU3_E/s320/DSCF0050.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493503348994601330" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtCsNtrOHLv_WzY7AHFbfABxdKpaYnSthrJk9aZb-WYxtj3aGBMG8StbgrvQj61RAJF59ECbwei54OZtFgT8cITAxM1_PADBnOZ2V-mbTcvOKXubqpLNALFRJ3-ym_jKAf9dFPryLLKeE/s1600/DSCN0826.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtCsNtrOHLv_WzY7AHFbfABxdKpaYnSthrJk9aZb-WYxtj3aGBMG8StbgrvQj61RAJF59ECbwei54OZtFgT8cITAxM1_PADBnOZ2V-mbTcvOKXubqpLNALFRJ3-ym_jKAf9dFPryLLKeE/s200/DSCN0826.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493110804479516306" border="0" /></a><br /><br />So many local kids wanted to help that I needed to start turning people away and telling them to go play outside with the other volunteers. The director of the school had about 40 tree seedlings that he wanted to see planted, so in addition to the kindergarten work and recreational activities, a couple other volunteers planted trees with the sixth graders in the blaring sun.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg67wIfVui5gbrczZZ3H2dRVk77r6eTXWltEfwL876je8lV3bK-8Fj8gkm2dsRIFvcmZQP8R4vHzdw3pceHj9UXZke1HDGvezBYLpSV17yywRh7_emPXlfJoFQvp9BWkQIzE1qcEL5fH34/s1600/DSCF0057.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg67wIfVui5gbrczZZ3H2dRVk77r6eTXWltEfwL876je8lV3bK-8Fj8gkm2dsRIFvcmZQP8R4vHzdw3pceHj9UXZke1HDGvezBYLpSV17yywRh7_emPXlfJoFQvp9BWkQIzE1qcEL5fH34/s200/DSCF0057.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493405922205187106" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Once we finished painting the kindergarten and putting the toys away, we moved on to the fifth grade classroom, which was also in need of a paint job. We finally finished after all the kids and teachers had been long gone, and everyone hobbled their tired bodies home to rest up for the party with my English class which was to happen that night.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikLAZudUbrs5KfDMyRKnzX79MRNc5HCHSGdE3jXy5tXgWtDu2aoJ_fBYX-jHdKbUvMQSY7binwUcp-sxnVSnDW60mnk_-ddJ7EnuHLalHbTVTJq_pVo2bz0LBBLw3hoO1eq2w1-I93Cd0/s1600/DSCN0861.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikLAZudUbrs5KfDMyRKnzX79MRNc5HCHSGdE3jXy5tXgWtDu2aoJ_fBYX-jHdKbUvMQSY7binwUcp-sxnVSnDW60mnk_-ddJ7EnuHLalHbTVTJq_pVo2bz0LBBLw3hoO1eq2w1-I93Cd0/s320/DSCN0861.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493503380548151378" border="0" /></a><br /><br />My English class had planned a party to celebrate the successful completion of their presentations and enhance the intercultural exchange between the groups. The Tico students provided Latin dance lessons and traditional Costa Rican party food (chicken and rice, pejibayes, tortilla chips with refried beans), while I brought a big gringo batch of chopped raw vegetables and taught a hip hop line dance to everyone. People had so much fun that it didn’t even matter that we couldn’t fit in the house and had to stand outside in the mud. Most importantly everyone got lots of food, language practice and got their dance on, so overall the event was a success.<br /><br />The kids received a well-deserved break on their fourth day when they traveled to Manuel Antonio national park for their day full of sight-seeing and beach time. I stayed in Buenos Aires to prepare for the next day’s events, but heard that the trip was a blast, filled with monkey-sightings, bird watching, wave-riding, and sun-burning. They came back stinky, dirty and tired, but totally ready for whatever was to come their way the next day.<br /><br />Day five of the trip was similar to day 3 in that it was spent all day at the elementary school. The volunteers got a taste of the difference between U.S. and Costa Rican elementary schools as they participated in the fiestas the day before the kids went on their 2 week vacation. While kids in the States often have parties before vacation, there is often some structure and organization to these parties. The party at my elementary school included a little less structure, and a little more blasting music, screaming children running everywhere, wrestling for piñata candy, crying, and bruises. In spite of the injuries the kids LOVE this madness. The volunteers did a GREAT job entertaining the kids – helping me teach dances, leading cheers, playing group games, and helping the teachers with the piñatas (which is quite possibly my least favorite activity ever, but apparently I’m just weird in that I don’t like greed, crying, punching, or high fructose corn syrup). In addition to entertaining the kids ALL DAY the group also finished painting the second classroom and the kitchen, which made the teachers very happy.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmHLChkqc7tUYTahfCd9m6dzpfPyqprC271CkTr93C7QUSUjS8L8-upas8UQHe-IRSaO4VRx7PDqDKDbYB5HoecG7QtelzCXGNpafPKEhIqn1GhHm0Fe8uNQu5qVHimOkQrCEPcU2ppiY/s1600/DSCF0066.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmHLChkqc7tUYTahfCd9m6dzpfPyqprC271CkTr93C7QUSUjS8L8-upas8UQHe-IRSaO4VRx7PDqDKDbYB5HoecG7QtelzCXGNpafPKEhIqn1GhHm0Fe8uNQu5qVHimOkQrCEPcU2ppiY/s320/DSCF0066.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493503368084188770" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The final full day of service happened at the high school. While the volunteers were at the beach some of my students and I had drawn and painted the humongous rectangle that was to serve as the background for one of the largest Peace Corps world maps ever (I actually have no idea if it’s one of the largest ever, but it’s ridiculously big). Before putting the two groups together, the teachers had a long reflection meeting with the students from the U.S. while my Tico group and I prepared the activities for the day. Relfection is critical to the process of service learning in that it allows students to share what they have gained from the experience. It is important to discuss not only how the work affects the people being served, but also how the participants have grown both personally and as a group.<br /><br />After reflecting upon their week of service, the students from the States joined my group of 13 Tico youth and worked diligently all day to draw a world map mural. And I mean the WHOLE world. Like, every country, drawn to scale. This is no joke. And it's big. Really big. Because there were too many of them to all fit in front of the map at once, those who were not drawing were busy playing games like Jenga, Gran Banco (Tico Monopoly), Uno, and soccer. While both groups were a little tentative at the beginning to mix and test out their language skills with people their own age, I basically had to tear them away from each other by the end of the day.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlVb1QEItXCV_oXl8IRdKlOEy6QjSfN3p3ynoXwkviQkv_hGqE5Z-Kmi7E8hIF7f3hihBoxNDrhqKutQd6SaxLw7DNgcnLMVJEWpsOlyb66OtZdYC7m9TqKY0Onjyg-iJRsdQ68ISmboA/s1600/worldmap5.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlVb1QEItXCV_oXl8IRdKlOEy6QjSfN3p3ynoXwkviQkv_hGqE5Z-Kmi7E8hIF7f3hihBoxNDrhqKutQd6SaxLw7DNgcnLMVJEWpsOlyb66OtZdYC7m9TqKY0Onjyg-iJRsdQ68ISmboA/s320/worldmap5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493512155157750930" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIvpkF2axOjDJhPYXY304yHpNRgOSa3H8lc1qbul7H4Q8NHSoMm4kaIToL6sX_cfc9B1DiiwOQYwJlXWP1Fq5MBhSZNY3W9JAREemc45JLX5_YRifHgHH5wT6YqbTJPCIcMz7hoC_Hdsk/s1600/worldmap4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIvpkF2axOjDJhPYXY304yHpNRgOSa3H8lc1qbul7H4Q8NHSoMm4kaIToL6sX_cfc9B1DiiwOQYwJlXWP1Fq5MBhSZNY3W9JAREemc45JLX5_YRifHgHH5wT6YqbTJPCIcMz7hoC_Hdsk/s320/worldmap4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493512151303669586" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6qYb8-uUsqXgxXBAtgKoy-Pbi6Oz_7ozZoh1e3TuzdDx5mLIOmSWSVfPwkPzxLCSDMmYjehKQif6ECdeckeGX87hEDcK44cTqYBcauBEU2OExSWwOsVw7XiqZMxqzrrpgXDA3Ljmi9-k/s1600/worldmap1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6qYb8-uUsqXgxXBAtgKoy-Pbi6Oz_7ozZoh1e3TuzdDx5mLIOmSWSVfPwkPzxLCSDMmYjehKQif6ECdeckeGX87hEDcK44cTqYBcauBEU2OExSWwOsVw7XiqZMxqzrrpgXDA3Ljmi9-k/s320/worldmap1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493512141847804498" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8dbjx708y1Cq-Dzn7mIulh43KoaTCh113_jCvbXaTO5QVJyiHD97yR5jYzbxp7j5WfvIoTJSw_ypHGIBnzrY30d4F5esuIYaU7hb10sBGxIEAzYRDtlIz0STYqj3KB9kqMPG508UHnMY/s1600/worldmap2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8dbjx708y1Cq-Dzn7mIulh43KoaTCh113_jCvbXaTO5QVJyiHD97yR5jYzbxp7j5WfvIoTJSw_ypHGIBnzrY30d4F5esuIYaU7hb10sBGxIEAzYRDtlIz0STYqj3KB9kqMPG508UHnMY/s320/worldmap2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493512131100383250" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTRX6el-pees4D_FhUmYRiEEEDXlRuZjkZYfKaR9PG1kmZyoXkH2qB2f1IroFbQ01nlEAiajB67K4yL9rNzP1-A8MC1ZBP8vu6c9-k1uVQUlzGS2HS_-drijrZvjz-3V6uMNE3MqliJi0/s1600/worldmap8.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTRX6el-pees4D_FhUmYRiEEEDXlRuZjkZYfKaR9PG1kmZyoXkH2qB2f1IroFbQ01nlEAiajB67K4yL9rNzP1-A8MC1ZBP8vu6c9-k1uVQUlzGS2HS_-drijrZvjz-3V6uMNE3MqliJi0/s320/worldmap8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493512122874967010" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />We eventually left the Tico kids to finish up the map drawing and walked in the pouring rain about 30 minutes uphill to spend the rest of the afternoon in the shantytown. We arrived soaked, tired and muddy, but again this didn’t stop these energetic teens from giving it their all as we approached our last service project of the week. Half of the group played soccer with kids in the muddy, slick road, while the other half headed over to the “salon” (a.k.a. shack in front of someone’s house) to teach community members how to make friendship bracelets. Within 10 minutes the entire space was filled with women, men and children making knots with the colorful string brought from the States. Several community members decided they could use this in the future to sell the bracelets in order to help their families and give themselves and their families something productive to do in their free time. Everyone was sad but satisfied when the last of the string was used up and it was time to go.<br /><br />The young volunteers spent their last night with their host families, and shared teary eyes early the next morning as they said their goodbyes and boarded the bus for San Jose. You’d have never known they'd only been living with these families for a week if you’d seen the attachments that were made and the relationships that had been formed. I was sad to see everyone go, but very proud of the courage they had shown in coming here and the hard work they put in to bringing positive change and LOTS of smiles and happiness to the people in my town. I learned more from this experience than I ever could have predicted, both personally and professionally. The most powerful impact came from simply watching the students from the U.S. interact with members of my community. When I first arrived to my site and did not have projects in progress, I spent lots of time just playing, or talking about nothing, or sitting and observing. Now that I have many projects in progress, I am constantly "doing" instead of just "being," which is just as important. While it is my job to do all that I can do work with community members and promote community development, I can be a much more effective volunteer if I take time away from working to just play or spend time drinking a cafecito with people here. A goal of mine for this second year of service will be to take time each week to engage in some activity as though I was a volunteer coming in for just a week. Writing work plans, holding meetings, and engaging in long-term activities is all fine and good, and creates sustainable development, but relationships are made stronger and batteries are recharged when we step back from all the long-term stuff and play a game of pick-up soccer or sit on the porch and drink a good cup of Tico coffee. So, I thank the kids from the U.S. for giving me this insight.<br /><br />If anyone out there is planning on or interested in doing an exchange like this, my primary piece of advice is…DO IT! Here are some things that I did (and others that I didn’t do but wish I had done) to make the most out of this experience:<br /><br />- Plan for groups to teach a skill or craft that the community can use (crafts that result in useful items made from recyclable materials are the best)<br /><br />- Ask school principals, teachers and other community leaders for specific projects that they would like to see and help them get organized to ensure that the project is ready when the group arrives. Have the volunteer group raise money and/or become trained to execute the project while they are still in the States.<br /><br />- If groups bring donations for the community, have them sell some of the products with members of a group that is trying to raise funds for a particular project that can benefit the entire community.<br /><br />- Have brief reflections at the end of each activity.<br /><br />- Have reflection with host country group (e.g. map group) after the exchange.<br /><br />- Use fun ice-breakers that make everyone feel comfortable with each other at the beginning of inter-group activities.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-31993523594373914612010-06-19T06:16:00.000-07:002010-06-19T06:17:33.298-07:00Write on Your Blog When You're Stuck on a PlaneI hate to fly. Except for the shorter travel time, there is nothing about the process that I enjoy. They don’t even give out peanuts anymore. I am writing this post 30,000 feet in the air, after going to bed at 1:00 am and waking up a 3:00 am to get to the airport, trying not to freak out about the bumpy air we are currently experiencing. A stupid movie is playing on the TVs, and I’m watching first class passengers get served hot towels and champagne. While I realize that millions of people can only dream of ever having the opportunity to fly on an airplane, so I should really just be grateful to have the opportunity, I must admit that I think this sucks. That aside, I am trying to be a more positive thinker, so I will say that being trapped in this germ tube of an aircraft does provide me with the perfect opportunity to post on my poor little neglected blog. I haven’t written in a while ironically because there has been too much to write about, and therefore too little time. So, it’s good to be stuck for a few hours in order to reflect upon the last couple months of work and share that with you all.<br /><br />First of all, I’m on this plane because I just visited the States for the first time, after being away for a year and three months. It was wonderful to see lots of family and friends, to sleep in my own bed, and to eat a million different foods that I don’t have access to in Costa Rica. The time went by too fast, and even though it’s hard to leave again I am ready to return to Costa Rica because my life and my focus are there now, and I know there will be plenty of time to be in the States in the near future.<br /><br />Now, going back in time before my trip to the States, a lot of projects are really taking flight in my community. Several months ago I received a $500 grant from Kids to Kids, and wonderful organization founded by two young girls, and powered by young Americans who raise money to help children in other countries. The money will be used as part of a program I started called Jovenes para la Paz (Youth for Peace). The project began by training leaders from 6 different community youth groups in the concept of service learning and the design and management of service learning projects. Following the training the group leaders were to pass the information from the training onto the rest of their group members. In total, there are about 100 young people involved in the 6 groups combined. <br /><br />The participants recently turned in their work plans and project timelines, and each group was provided with an equal share of the grant money in order to get their projects started. I could not have been more pleased with the project plans. Two groups are working on cleaning up the environment, but they are going about it in different ways. One group is launching a dengue-awareness/prevention campaign, getting members involved in cleaning up the trash that breeds the disease-ridden mosquitoes, and making them aware of preventative techniques. The other trash clean-up group has already completed a trash collection at the local soccer field, and is now soliciting help from the municipality to install permanent trash cans and city clean-up at the field. In addition, they are planning a community-wide pick-up which includes activities that foster environmental education to participants. Two groups from the high school are planning very different, and dynamic projects. One groups is going to use recyclable materials to make exercise equipment for the physical education department at the high school. To add an additional educational component to their project they will also plan and execute a recreational camp for elementary-school aged children during their July vacation. The other high school group is painting a world map mural in the high school. They will work with a group of students from my high school in the U.S. to paint the mural, and will plan several activities which promote intercultural exchange between the two groups. This project combines a number of learning objectives that deal with art, geography, foreign language, and intercultural studies. Another group of young people are planning to start a monthly family movie night in the center of town. They will use the funds to purchase some very basic materials such as a large cloth to serve as a movie screen, and black materials which will block out light and convert the large community center into a movie theater. They plan to show a family-appropriate movie and prepare discussion questions for a forum afterwards. The entrance fee for the movie will go towards a different cause each month, and they will also be able to sell goods to support their own group at the event. This month they chose to invite families to bring a food or clothing item instead of charging an entrance fee, and these items will be donated to a very poor family with 5 children and a father who recently lost their mother/wife to an illness. The final project comes from a group of youth who live in the housing project near my house. They have two playgrounds that the government built along with the houses, but the community has not cared for these spaces properly, leaving them in need of several repairs. They will use the grant money to put on a fundraiser in order to earn money for the more expensive materials that they need to fix the park.<br /><br />The groups will spend June and July executing their work plans, and in August we will have a closing event during which each group will do presentations about their experiences, sharing what they did, what they learned, challenges faced, and their plans to make the projects sustainable or to continue providing service to their communities in the future. I have been very pleased with the work of these young people and admire their commitment to service learning, which is a relatively new and unfamiliar concept in Costa Rica. <br /><br />In addition to Jovenes para la Paz, I have also been busy training the 98 11th graders in the high school in the concept of service learning, and in the same methodology for designing and managing their own service learning projects. I’m sure as the school year goes on I’ll have plenty of interesting projects to report on from this work as well. Eleventh graders in Costa Rica are required to complete 30 hours of community service, so my goal with these trainings is not really getting them to participate in service, but to structure their projects in a way that they are gaining as much from the experience as the people they are helping. We work together so that their projects are meaningful to them, and to ensure that they are reflecting on their experience, and monitoring and evaluating their progress in order to be as successful as possible.<br /><br />I love working with service learning, especially with adolescents because it it the most sustainable way to go about helping communities to help themselves. If young people are instilled with a value for service and solidarity, they will grow to be adults that can incorporate these values into their daily lives and work, and can pass on that same value to their children. I see so many examples of the cycle of violence in my town, it is really refreshing to see these young people so energized to do work that works to break that vicious cycle and I am convinced that they can ultimately change the world!<br /><br />I’ll post more soon about my other projects, including a grant to build a chicken farm run by women in the shantytown, and a computer lab/office space for the development association in my town. I hope all is well with everyone, thanks for taking the time to read this post! Paz!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-39261318374944983372010-05-10T09:30:00.000-07:002010-05-10T09:37:24.879-07:00Just another social interaction in another culture...Here's a little recap of a typical moment in my life here, which happened the other morning: <br /><br />Host Mom (yelling, in the shower): Ahhh! Morgan, come here, quick!!!<br />Me: Whats wrong?<br />Host Mom: Turn off this light for me...blah blah blah blah (I didn't understand this part)<br />Me (as I turn off the light, and get electrocuted): Oooouch!!!!<br />Host mom: Be careful! The switch is all wet and it's giving off an electric shock! That's why I didn't want to do it!<br /><br />Oh Mami...gotta love her.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-34443058742687995362010-04-23T19:39:00.000-07:002010-04-23T20:12:33.593-07:00Global Youth Service Day (April 23-25)<a href="http://gysd.org"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2uw7EA1enWaCKDa6onduyImuHdK18tjADQVyMDZ78lO0uwrg2rmH9jnYDyU2BX-4cOjrcTLtqp0PZMY1SNoWZhswHAXoyWFi7LWiacuxGKlybS9RLY02_S1vyS1HFbygdlOlr6RiehXY/s1600/global-youth-service-day.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 164px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2uw7EA1enWaCKDa6onduyImuHdK18tjADQVyMDZ78lO0uwrg2rmH9jnYDyU2BX-4cOjrcTLtqp0PZMY1SNoWZhswHAXoyWFi7LWiacuxGKlybS9RLY02_S1vyS1HFbygdlOlr6RiehXY/s200/global-youth-service-day.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463532798234494530" /></a></a><br /><br />Happy <a href="http://gysd.org">Global Youth Service Day</a> everyone! I haven't found time to post recently because lots of things are happening at a VERY rapid pace, most of them having to do with service learning. While I still don't have time to share all that's going on here with service learning, I at least want to inform everyone that April 23-25 is Global Youth Service Day (or days), and that you might want to take a minute to check out some of the fantastic projects going on around the world to celebrate this extremely important movement at http://gysd.org. My project should be up there soon (I was a little late getting the submission in) under Costa Rica (it should be easy to find because there aren't any others registered in the country at the moment). Anyway, I encourage you all to do something out of the goodness of your heart with some young people this weekend. Even if it's as simple as picking up trash in a park, take a minute to reflect on what you did, why it was important, what you learned, and how you can provide follow-up to make what you did more sustainable in the future. Here's a few quotes that have inspired a lot of my service learning efforts here, I hope you find some inspiration in them as well...peace!<br /><br />"I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand." ~Chinese Proverb<br /><br />"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." ~Margaret MeadUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-12039237401120214652010-04-06T13:49:00.003-07:002010-07-14T07:03:17.562-07:00Fresh Mountain Air and the Power of Poop<span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:100%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpw2sam7ThgrsQXcnONGKhbOB0ktQH41V8HOPHs_iT6SdkyEvaXgUajKhwOrQFQmUpt2Q9e41jMBDGLzBbUqnfU8UQ0MQx5i3ggf7QJZsPsCEb4mbNvcH5j6bkjw7XmY8azgFzZSw-4w0/s1600/100_3723.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpw2sam7ThgrsQXcnONGKhbOB0ktQH41V8HOPHs_iT6SdkyEvaXgUajKhwOrQFQmUpt2Q9e41jMBDGLzBbUqnfU8UQ0MQx5i3ggf7QJZsPsCEb4mbNvcH5j6bkjw7XmY8azgFzZSw-4w0/s200/100_3723.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457130106229467842" border="0" </a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ4QxunkqG9XJdoyzYbGB0AyiILLoU1YH-ngG75CdJucxpP5LfarzwmGlo0Ay_AVYxDHMkKQ_OJaEN40H6UTHymLI_57plfqPCFlqFQwR3SyQ2tTrqJ7KSOokU1C6GnBK6BgKg2P2XlIk/s1600/100_3753.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ4QxunkqG9XJdoyzYbGB0AyiILLoU1YH-ngG75CdJucxpP5LfarzwmGlo0Ay_AVYxDHMkKQ_OJaEN40H6UTHymLI_57plfqPCFlqFQwR3SyQ2tTrqJ7KSOokU1C6GnBK6BgKg2P2XlIk/s200/100_3753.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457130860817199074" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4VcOgNCKYihgzlEpUGHQpjCPntSz_nx-pMShBjwGjWLi5kPQwTEHkwSgKjaEcFRhg1cayPZ3JO5xgEF4Fqzu7HXUnvtuwyGhHRVpFX0AAAYIhscofGQAW9_KueEDvRnnoNNGIlHSwwok/s1600/100_3730.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4VcOgNCKYihgzlEpUGHQpjCPntSz_nx-pMShBjwGjWLi5kPQwTEHkwSgKjaEcFRhg1cayPZ3JO5xgEF4Fqzu7HXUnvtuwyGhHRVpFX0AAAYIhscofGQAW9_KueEDvRnnoNNGIlHSwwok/s200/100_3730.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457131403489009330" border="0" /></a>
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@font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:1; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-priority:99; color:blue; mso-themecolor:hyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1</style><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: verdana;font-size:100%;" >Ah, Semana </span><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: verdana;font-size:100%;" >Santa (Holy Week) – Apart from going to Mass, basically a week during which no one does anything…seriously.<span style=""> </span>My original plan for the week was to stay at home at plan, organize, clean, plan, and plan.<span style=""> </span>This worked relatively we</span><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: verdana;font-size:100%;" >ll until about Wednesday, when I started to get restless and the extreme heat began to make me want to cry. <span style=""> </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: verdana;font-size:100%;" ><span style=""> </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:100%;" >
<br />
<br /></span><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: verdana;font-size:100%;" >So, I decided to head up to the mountains for a few days, with the hopes of still being productive and working on workshop planning and grant proposals while at the same time being in a place where no one knows me, eating nothing but fresh, raw fruits, veggies and eggs, and occasionally needing a sweatshirt to keep warm (keep warm – I don’t even know what that means anymore).<span style=""> </span>My </span><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: verdana;font-size:100%;" >destination of choice…<a href="http://www.ecojoya.com/">Ecojoya Organic Farm</a>, located in the mountains outside of San Isidro (about 2 hours from my town).
<br /><o:p></o:p></span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >My first morning on the farm began with a run at sunrise, which is a beautiful thing anywhere, but even more so when you’re at the top of a mountain in one of the most beautiful counties in the world.<span style=""> </span>As if this wasn’t good enough, I was also accompanied by Osito (“Little Bear), the farm owner’s adorable golden retriever/spaniel mix.<span style=""> </span>The rest of the morning was spent learning about the various chores on the farm (feeding the free-range chickens; milking the goat, Betty, and giving leaves to her husband, Billy, and her </span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >baby girl, Bambi; watering the wide variety of plants in the garden, etc.).<span style=""> </span>Ben, the farmer (for real that’s his name), is very clever in his attempts to make the farm as self-sufficient as possible.<span style=""> </span>All food compost that doesn’t go to the chickens goes into a big, covered bin which attracts all of fruit flies to come and set up tent.<span style=""> </span>They stick around long enough to morph into worms, which then walk up a ramp Ben built on the inside (knowing they would want to get out at this stage) and fall right into a bucket (or as like to call it, “death bin”) which then gets taken out to the chickens for their dining pleasure.<span style=""> </span>Other self-sustaining projects that are in progress include tilapia pond and aquaponic garden which will provide each other with everything they need to make delicious organic produce and fish, as well as a system that will turn all the poop in the house to electricity (mmm…yummy).<span style=""> </span>I was fascinated by every inch of the farm really, from th</span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >e miracle plant (of which every part can be used for something different), the solar powered water heater, the sloths and tucans in the trees, and the presence of delicacies such as kale and sweet potatoes which I hadn’t seen since leaving the States over a year ago.<u><o:p></o:p></u></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><u><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></u></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >In addition to enjoying the lovely weather, running company, breathtaking views and heath/environmental wake-up call, I was also able to get a lot of work done for my projects.<span style=""> </span>I was definitely inspired to find as many ways as possible to utilize all the materials mother earth has given me, base my diet on local food sources, and overall just try to do a little less damage to this planet while I am on it, so that it can be around for more people, plants and animals after me.<span style=""> </span>Coincitentally, I am also currently reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, which is another great reminder to buy from local food sources and how everyone can make the world a better place by becoming a little bit more aware of their consequences of their eve</span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >ryday actions.<span style=""> </span>I highly recommend this book to anyone who eats or needs food in order to survive.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><u><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></u></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >Things back here in Buenos Aires are good (besides the hot, dry weather), and I feel a new, positive energy which will hopefully get me through the next couple months of hard work which are ahead of me.<span style=""> </span>I hope everyone at home is well, having now been in country over a year the homesickness which was really only heavy in the beginning is starting to creep in every now and then.<span style=""> </span>While I miss home I never for a second doubt my decision to be here, and couldn’t be more content having the opportunity to do this work.<span style=""> </span>Peace and love, and keep sending me emails so I know how everyone is doing (mom, I know you’re the only one reading this…so email me please, thanks).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHd90sWG0gr8oVB1F26BiJZA2sefE5RDp_BNrvuMF_1j1yhHvGWtf1LoE5bSEzHG_GZqSr7gvbSkna2xMBSvT5vNJqjbaLka3X3e2pLyS7LesvM9aNCiIow8p1YNiawG4hWQsv2SnNgpw/s1600/100_3748.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHd90sWG0gr8oVB1F26BiJZA2sefE5RDp_BNrvuMF_1j1yhHvGWtf1LoE5bSEzHG_GZqSr7gvbSkna2xMBSvT5vNJqjbaLka3X3e2pLyS7LesvM9aNCiIow8p1YNiawG4hWQsv2SnNgpw/s320/100_3748.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457129786887227906" border="0" /></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Ok, so as you can see I still have not mastered putting pics up on Blogger, so the disorganized array you find here shows (from top left to bottom) the view in front of the farm house before my run at sunrise, the 80 foot waterfall I walked to (there are 4 on the property), the farm house, and me sitting on the basement stairs after tangerine picking (I couldn't wait before getting up the stairs to start eating...soooo good!).
<br /></span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-62114158737704523762010-03-30T12:18:00.001-07:002010-03-31T18:16:30.979-07:00All the Cool Kids are Doing It: Service Learning<span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhshTuieKwcobf5o69Gs2Oyapd_SYhTjuXxFsLKtmbamjETTtDoE0JDLo2rBe8qdCpQZ0yQcfWJrjXL0Q815xFCEY0jpErknDU98ZVnwVeyTbaQB1VPAh1mrCp6venP27z94TeyUj1E4yg/s1600/globe.hands.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 130px; height: 93px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhshTuieKwcobf5o69Gs2Oyapd_SYhTjuXxFsLKtmbamjETTtDoE0JDLo2rBe8qdCpQZ0yQcfWJrjXL0Q815xFCEY0jpErknDU98ZVnwVeyTbaQB1VPAh1mrCp6venP27z94TeyUj1E4yg/s320/globe.hands.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454856480012564850" 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</u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:lsdexception> </u4:latentstyles> </xml><![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:100%;" ></span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:100%;" >"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;font-family:georgia;"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;font-family:georgia;"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:100%;" >
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;font-family:georgia;"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:100%;" >April 22 marks <a href="http://gysd.org/">Global Youth Service Day</a>. Here in Buenos Aires, we be gettin' our volunteerism on early this year....<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;font-family:georgia;"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:100%;" >
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:100%;" >Today was one of those days when I felt genuinely proud to be a Peace Corps volunteer, and reassured me that perhaps something impactful and sustainable can come from a collaboration between myself and my community. This job provides me with countless opportunities to share meaningful and dynamic experiences with young people, and I am truly thankful to be able to observe and learn from their creativity and fresh perspective. For the past few months I have been working on a service learning training program which combines several of the resources being used by Peace Corps today, but in what I hope to be a more comprehensive, user-friendly manner. My ultimate goal is to have a document (or set of documents) that can be given to any other peace corps volunteer, community leader, teacher, or young adult, and allow him/her to train others in the design and management of service learning projects. Service learning is different from community service in a number of ways, namely that it involves a much more involved process of assessment, research, analysis and follow-up than simply completing an act of community service. As a result, participants are able to achieve more profound learning objectives and gain much more, both personally and intelectually, from the experience.</span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:100%;" >
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:100%;" >The materials I've been working on were put into use for the first time today. Along with the help of my friend and fellow volunteer Chamisa, we trained 19 leaders from 6 different community youth groups in the concept of service learning and the design and management of service learning projects. The idea is that they will go back and train the rest of their respective youth groups in the methodology, complete a project action plan, execute their projects, analyze the results, and come together in July to share what they did and what they learned with all participants from all of the other groups by means of creative presentations. The final event will also be a way to celebrate their successes and discuss follow-up plans for the projects.</span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;font-family:georgia;"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:100%;" >
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:100%;" >The training today went extremely well, and even though it lasted for 5 hours, the most commoon feedback I received from the participants was that they wished it had been longer! It was inspiring to wacth these young people working so diligently and in such a collaborative manner as they made plans to improve their communities. So often society tries to take power away from them, and with so few opportunities to do something positive with their time it's almost no wonder they seek refuge in drugs, violence and unsafe sex. It pains me to hear adults complaining about the negative behaviors displayed by young people here, as if those same young people are completely at fault. In most cases, it is the adults who are at fault for neglecting to provide these youth with opportunities to make positive contributions to society. If young people are not given this power they are not likely to become aware that it exists on their own (and in this adult-run society I cannot blame them). Okay but before I get too off topic, what I loved most about this workshop was that the young participants were so participative, articulate and creative with their ideas, excited about the potential to make positive changes in their communities, and enthusiastic about sharing the information with their peers. I am definitely looking forward to providing support to all of the groups as they train their other members and design and execute their projects, and I expect the closing activity in July to be something quite memorable for all. Together the 6 groups cover every different part of my own community, plus Chamisa's neighboring community, so the hope is that the projects cover a lot of ground.</span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:100%;" >I have several more trainings to do (including all 98 11<sup>th</sup> graders from the technical high school and all of the teachers from three different elementary school), and getting the first one over with has been an extremely beneficial experience (the stress nearly killed me, but I'm a firm believer that what doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger). I hope to write soon with updates on my other projects. It looks like water and definitely a bridge will be coming soon to the shantytown (fingers crossed! Knock on wood! wear your pajamas backwards!…..), and my 150 kindergarteners are probably going to be fluent in English by the end of this year (that was a lie but the stuff about the shantytown was true). Lots going on as usual, but I plan to make service learning my focus in this second half of my service. Pura vida!</span><span style=";font-family:";font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><o:p></o:p></span> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-60530661581444630482010-03-13T02:53:00.000-08:002010-03-13T03:13:24.742-08:00Any Given SundayThere are lots of good reasons to do interval training: boosts your metabolism, burns up calories, improves speed and endurance, gets you to the next level, blah, blah blah. When I came here and hurt my hip and wasn't able to run long distances anymore, I pretty much became hooked to interval and body weight strength training workouts. Then, right when I thought this type of exercise couldn't get any better, I discovered that most people were fascinated (and definitely confused) by the local gringa's crazy, spastic, motions in my backyard, and that they secretly wanted to join in on the fun. So when you walk by my house on any given day, at some point you are very likely to see something like the following...enjoy.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxRxieZ3MZpr0GNIBEg1J4AaNN1gsYevNr4fSxwkU4L0wtzX3TKTDi6dBq8l7gKidPtUWfPZx-vlVfI-PX4iQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-29998198869597357322010-03-08T01:00:00.000-08:002010-03-08T03:17:18.709-08:00Día Internacional de las Mujeres<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkNxGpp-4eoTuwttRc1JvZANENNfLNZZlHtsuaiXdYPAk32WJaIrRD8_oC6ykbDinObF0_WTW0_YPuEI2bso8hR8Mw3uegPoU8n7ZbuNMCYELIkaNvQ2O_83msgy63G7dqeR03mozNM88/s1600-h/laura.thug.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 270px; height: 231px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkNxGpp-4eoTuwttRc1JvZANENNfLNZZlHtsuaiXdYPAk32WJaIrRD8_oC6ykbDinObF0_WTW0_YPuEI2bso8hR8Mw3uegPoU8n7ZbuNMCYELIkaNvQ2O_83msgy63G7dqeR03mozNM88/s320/laura.thug.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446220415412448290" border="0" /></a>March 8, 2010<br /><br />¡Feliz Día Internacional de las Mujeres! Happy International Women’s Day! I hope everyone takes a minute to celebrate or at least think about the economic, political and social achievements of women in the past and today, and what we can do to secure equal rights for men and women everywhere in the future. Many of you probably know that Costa Rica recently elected its first female president, Laura Chinchilla. This is a big deal, especially given that Costa Rica is notorious for its machismo culture. Laura didn’t just win- she basically beat the pants off of her male competitors.<br /><br />Disclaimer: As a Peace Corps Volunteer, I am not allowed to promote any one political party over the other. My decision to recognize her on my blog does not in any way signify that I support her politics, but the fact that the people of Costa Rica elected a female president does represent an achievement on their part, particularly given the disparity between men’s and women’s rights in this country. Therefore, I found this day to be an appropriate forum to provide people at home with some quick facts about Costa Rica’s new president-elect, Laura Chinchilla:<br /><br />1. Her birthday is the same as my host grandpa’s…March 28. It’s comin’ up!<br /><br />2. She served as the current administration’s Minister of Justice and one of the two vice presidents to President Oscar Arias.<br /><br />3. As the National Liberation Party’s 2010 candidate, she won 46.76% of the vote.<br /><br />4. After receiving her undergraduate degree from the University of Costa Rica she headed to the best city in the world, Washington D.C., to receive her master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University.<br /><br />5. She’s big on safety, anti-drug and anti-crime policy reform, and is a supporter of free-trade policies which were a big focus of the current administration.<br /><br />6. Her husband is OLD!!! I mean, he’s a handsome and smart, successful dude, and they seem very happy together, but he definitely looks like her Papa instead of her Poppa.<br /><br />7. She is a social conservative (one would be hard-pressed to find a social liberal in office here). Last year she participated in the church-organized “March for Life and Family,” which voiced opposition to the legalization of abortion and granting recognition for civil unions to same-sex couples. Civil rights leaders, not so amused by this. Oh and if you’re looking for a morning after pill don’t ask her for one. I plan to talk about all of this with her next time we do coffee….<br /><br />8. She looks and sounds like she’d be good at arm wrestling.<br /><br />9. Like most Ticos, she says church and state are like peas and carrots (or rice and beans, cuz they don’t really eat peas and carrots mixed together).<br /><br />10. Regardless of her politics, she worked her butt off to get to where she is today, and is an inspiration to many women and girls in Costa Rica who now feel more powerful or capable of following their dreams.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-81858027893238886002010-03-05T16:56:00.000-08:002010-03-05T18:53:23.686-08:00Gallo Pinto and Ruining Delicious Foods<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7VeDd0EONd9XUAy3IcnHu_dl9HvQKpb81bvkNnPLZe15oP1oRzWnSWtdoASLAUr43IdzekUNnjmLzMVC4RfKAVANdL3iW3f2yyDIzfm7lC2sddbXHaPWEXMFrqtKh4IN9nxXm5ufj3P8/s1600-h/Gallo+pinto+1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7VeDd0EONd9XUAy3IcnHu_dl9HvQKpb81bvkNnPLZe15oP1oRzWnSWtdoASLAUr43IdzekUNnjmLzMVC4RfKAVANdL3iW3f2yyDIzfm7lC2sddbXHaPWEXMFrqtKh4IN9nxXm5ufj3P8/s400/Gallo+pinto+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5445348427667479666" border="0" /></a>
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mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/MORGAN%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.png" alt="" /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >Rice and beans – when cooked with some garlic, onions, peppers, cilantro and </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.costaricaproducts.com/salsa-lizano.html"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Lizano English Sauce</span></a></span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" > even the hungriest, most active person is nourished, satisfied, and still left with enough money to buy that weekly lottery ticket.<span style=""> </span>This is probably why “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallo_pinto">gallo pinto</a>” is part (or all) of nearly every tico meal.<span style=""> </span><i style="">Gallo pinto</i> is the most traditional of all Costa Rican dishes.<span style=""> </span>The word <i style="">gallo</i> means rooster and <i style="">pinto</i> means speckled/spotted. <span style=""> </span>When the broth or <i style="">caldo</i> from the beans is mixed with the rice, the combination is the color of a speckled rooster.<span style=""> </span>It is often served with fried plantains (which sometimes have squeaky tico cheese melted on top) and an egg that is fried or scrambled.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >Another look at these ingredients might cause one to ask, “If Ticos live mostly off of rice and beans, why are diabetes, heart disease and cholesterol problems so prevalent?”<span style=""> </span>It’s all about the ways things are cooked here:<span style=""> </span>fried, fried, and fried a lil more.<span style=""> </span>Gallo pinto, for example, is usually prepared in the morning using the rice and beans left over from dinner, but instead of leaving it as is to heat it up, it is fried in oil or margarine. <span style=""> </span>It pains me on a regular basis to see people ruining foods that are healthy and delicious in their natural form by cooking them in a way that destroys their nutritive value. Not only is it unlealthy, it's more expensive!
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >Just take the preparation of white rice, for example.<span style=""> </span>Most Ticos have a rice cooker, the advantage of which is my opinion is that you can make perfect rice without having to add any fat.<span style=""> </span>You just add water, right?<span style=""> </span>A tico would tell you, “wrong.”<span style=""> </span>My host mom adds a half stick of margarine AND vegetable oil AND lots of salt to the rice cooker.<span style=""> </span>The rice tastes good, but I would argue that it would taste just as delicious minus the 3,000 added calories.<span style=""> </span>I’d rather get those extra calories from some ice cream and cookies.<span style=""> </span>I went to a friend’s house for dinner the other day and she was making her own tomato sauce for pasta.<span style=""> </span>I was stoked about the sauce until I saw her pull out a tube of lard and put half of it in a saucepan. <span style=""> </span>I thought to myself, “Surely she’s not gonna….”<span style=""> </span>I then watched in shock and sorrow as the delicious and healthy tomato sauce died a slow, painful death in the hydrogenated animal fat.<span style=""> </span>It took all my strength not to scream out, “No!!!!<span style=""> </span>Why?????? <span style=""> </span>Why????????”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >Why does this happen?<span style=""> </span>I would argue for two main reasons:<span style=""> </span>strong tradition and failure to actively seek out quality information.<span style=""> </span>I love and fully respect that tradition is at the core of the Tico value system.<span style=""> </span>Families are united, children learn to respect their elders and help around the house (well, girls do anyway), and everyone takes pride in all things and activities that are purely “Tico.”<span style=""> </span>While having strong traditions is all fine and good, but it can get one into trouble if new ways of doing things are not also taken into consideration.<span style=""> Besides the trashy newspapers, </span>people in my town basically never read, and while I cannot speak for other areas of Costa Rica, I’ve been told that this is very true throughout the country.<span style=""> </span>It’s not that they cannot read (the literacy rate is over 97%), but it is not a part of their daily lives.<span style=""> </span>Most of the information they receive comes from the television, which we all know is not the best source for accurate information.<span style=""> </span>Today my host mom provided the perfect example of how misinformed people are about food due to what they hear on TV (she actually provides perfect examples of this all the time, bless her heart): She put a stick of margarine in a saucepan to make mashed potatoes and literally said to me (exact translation), “This doesn’t have any fat.<span style=""> </span>It’s a healthy alternative to butter.”<span style=""> </span>I politely told her that it did in fact have fat, and she gave me her usual, “Do you think so?” as though I was offering an opinion and not a fact.<span style=""> </span>This type of conversation happens ALL the time here when it comes to conversations about food and exercise.<span style="">
<br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" ><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >I guess my point is that it's a shame that Costa Rica, which is a Mecca of a million fruits and vegetables, has the potential to offer its people the healthiest of foods at a very low price, has medical professionals, large corporations, and a government that just don't seem to be making the necessary effort to provide people with the information they need to live healthier lives. I know this happens in the States as well, but even in some of the poorest areas back home there is better access to accurate information about nutrition and exercise than there is here. There are also more fast food restaurants and opportunities to live an unhealthy lifestyle in the States, but at least the information to life healthier is in exsistence.
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >I always try to incorporate nutrition and exercise information in my projects and daily conversations when appropriate, and take advantage of the fact that people often seek me out for this kind of information. It's a slow process but there are lots of people in my host family, exercise classes, and schools who have taken big steps to become healthier and are thrilled about the results. Women in my exercise class are now showing up 30 minutes BEFORE class to jump rope with me. My host newphew who never used to eat anything that wasn't white rice and egg now LOVES fruit (apparently because his gringa auntie does). My host parents caught on to my addiction to apples, and often reach for those instead of a fried empanada in the afternoon (they still eat plenty of empanadas, but still...it's something).<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >To get off my soap box, here’s a <a href="http://cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com/2009/05/gallo-pinto-and-happy-accidents.html">healthy recipie for making gallo pinto</a>, which really is delicious. <span style=""> </span>Costa Ricans usually make it with black beans, but sometimes with red beans (which is more common in Nicaragua). <span style=""></span>Go all out and have it with plantains and an egg. <span style=""></span>Hot sauce is also an excellent choice. ¡Buen provecho!<o:p></o:p></span></p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-15814097996866869522010-02-04T18:15:00.000-08:002010-02-08T19:44:56.205-08:00English, English, EnglishIf I'm being completely honest, I would have to say that I do not like teaching English. I have an adult English class, and I adore them, and once I am in class I thoroughly enjoy myself, but if the work I did was completely up to me and not a function of community needs I would not teach English. Seeing as every single day about 5 new people ask me to teach them English I think I deserve it to the community to at least offer it a lil bit. I have my adult class (which also has some high school students) and my kindergarten classes and I try to leave it at that...until recently, that is.<br /><br />These last few weeks have marked the end of summer vacation for the kids here, which means that the new school year is about to begin, which means that anyone who didn't pass a particular subject has one last chance to pass by taking an exam the week before classes begin. Seeing as English classes here are often taught by people whose English needs a lot of work (I give them all the credit in the world for their attempts, but I've gotta tell it like it is), lots of students struggle with the material. Many depend on the "last chance" exam at the beginning of the year in order to move on to the next grade level, and now that there is actually a gringa in town they turn to lucky ducky me.<br /><br />Most of the students waited until mere days before needing to take the exam, so I was already committed to other work and could not help them, and others came earlier but lost steam after a while and I don't know what happened to them. One student, however, made all of the hours spent on my not-so-favorite topic completely and totally worth it. We will call her Mari.<br /><br />When Mari first came to my house to study, I could not believe she was about to enter the 8th grade, not because she wasn't smart, because she obviously was, but because it meant she had been taking English since first grade (as do all students here) and appeared to have never learned a single word. I had my work cut out for me. We started going over all of her past tests and I taught her every study skills trick in the book. I often notice that kids here really just aren't taught how to study. The concept of notecards, for example, was completely foreign to Mari, and she couldn't believe how quickly she learned the vocab once we started using them. It was fun for me to watch her progress, and althogh I must admit I was not always excited about another English lesson, her persistance and work ethic inspired and motivated me to work hard for her. I became just as determined as she was to pass this exam, and we knocked out session after session, often studying for 3 hours at a time without stopping.<br /><br />The day before her exam she came for one last tutoring session. She was nervous and although I certainly didn't tell her, I was too. She had come so far in just a few weeks, but was it really possible to learn all the material from the year in that time? I showed her nothing but unwavering confidence as we put everything away at the end of our session, and told her to go home and relax and not study anymore. <br /><br />The rest of that day and the day of the exam I was completely distracted, dying to know how it went. In the afternoon she came to my house to deliver the news...she passed!!! She was literally shaking with joy. Not only did she pass, she got a B, which was WORLDS away from the grades on the old tests we studied. Seeing how proud she was of herself after such hard work was a beautiful thing, and I felt every ounce of her happiness. The usually quiet and timid Mari suddenly couldn't speak fast enough as she rattled off all the details of the day, from her nerves and prayers the night before, to her excitement and shock that she only had to look up 4 words in the dictionary during the test, and the anxiety-ridden hours of waiting between taking the exam and finding out her grade. She was adorable about thanking me for helping her, telling me that she was still going to make me something and give me a card, but she couldn't wait until she finished those things to tell me how it went.<br /><br />I think that maybe after this experience I can look at teaching English in a different way. Even though it is not something I particularly enjoy as a job in itself, nothing is more enjoyable than doing work that affects others in a positive and meaningful way, and if teaching English does that, then how could I not feel motivated to do it? Will this make teaching Enligh my new favorite job? No, but it does help me to stay positive about it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-32472505010663121672010-01-30T09:01:00.000-08:002010-02-20T19:11:13.133-08:00It's the Simple Things: Watching the Moon<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBrbyL2k5-lVBAhFvtukJNqp3ipB4WbmZgKVWIWElMHKdpOIefqh7JSYMV1j1d7spitUZ1krDpTsAFRQFbFNbezqBqGVmIH9t3RlKCNvRu3nqbHdiem3LTrOIGwBN8XbGykltfdpZyDJ4/s1600-h/moon.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 98px; height: 85px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBrbyL2k5-lVBAhFvtukJNqp3ipB4WbmZgKVWIWElMHKdpOIefqh7JSYMV1j1d7spitUZ1krDpTsAFRQFbFNbezqBqGVmIH9t3RlKCNvRu3nqbHdiem3LTrOIGwBN8XbGykltfdpZyDJ4/s320/moon.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432586435623962066" border="0" /></a><br />The other night I was in my house, feeling angry with myself for not doing enough work this holiday break. My head was flooded with ideas for projects, but instead of organizing them into a concrete plan I just continued to ruminate and obsess, which was obviously getting me nowhere. As I stared at the pile of manuals in my room, knowing that all of them could help me but not knowing where to begin, the electricity suddenly went out. The usual screams from the children in the neighborhood came and went rapidly and then there was nothing but silence and darkness. I started to reach for my flashlight when I noticed that outside of my window the street remained dimly lit. Intrigued, I forgot about the flashlight and my work and stepped outside. Directly in front of our house, nearly at eye level, stood the largest, brightest moon I have ever seen. I was struck by its beauty and size, and for a while could do nothing other than stand there, staring. I quickly felt the stress and anger and negativity I had been feeling melt away, leaving me in peace. <br /><br />Just then, my host nephew came over and without saying anything gave me a big hug. We walked over to abuelo’s big rocking chair on the front lawn and sat together, memorized by the enormous globe in the sky, which was made all the more apparent by the fact that there were no other lights as far as the eye could see. Then, as if I wasn’t already happy enough, my host nephew says to me, “Morgan, did God turn off all the lights so we could see the pretty moon He made for us?”<br /><br />At that point I had taken a complete 180-degree turn from frustration with myself to realization that I am not only here to work, but also to live, and be, and in that moment I felt more alive than I can ever remember. Pura vida.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-56895239284821455022010-01-28T06:12:00.001-08:002010-02-06T10:24:52.672-08:00First Lesson Learned in 2010<a style="font-family: georgia;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrwp5efG6eeqjPFAhSdLyfNDr_46yMSFA2NN42M5s4qVBY_QXvjgY2FGp7Ta4SXoNhG4gSShzW5rzBtbNFdXn4VsBMa5fnUb4qtApeg8dfD0gnTMZmUldMc5d1QEgC17HBUPgmlY9Pkk4/s1600-h/cancha+007.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 161px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrwp5efG6eeqjPFAhSdLyfNDr_46yMSFA2NN42M5s4qVBY_QXvjgY2FGp7Ta4SXoNhG4gSShzW5rzBtbNFdXn4VsBMa5fnUb4qtApeg8dfD0gnTMZmUldMc5d1QEgC17HBUPgmlY9Pkk4/s320/cancha+007.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435197286982108866" border="0" /></a><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >First lesson learned in 2010:<span style=""> </span>Do not try to bike to the top of a mountain when you 1) have no cycling skills 2) have no brakes 3) are by yourself 4) have no cycling skills and 5) are using your PC issued bike made of lead. <br /><br />It was not funny to me at the time, but anyone watching me the other morning would have had a real good time. I think I actually rode about 40% of the entire trip, and that would (sadly enough) include the descent. Only one of my brakes even remotely worked (and just barely), my bike chain was bone dry, and the bootleg road was composed of nothing but loose rocks which caused my wheels to slide anytime I so much an inched<span style=""> </span>the handlebars to one side or the other. <o:p></o:p></span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >I had never taken my bike on this route but when I hike this mountain the best part of the journey is to turn around and enjoy the beautiful view of my entire town.<span style=""> </span>Not this day.<span style=""> </span>My goal when I started was to actually cycle (using the pedals and stuff) to the top, however my butt hadn’t seen the seat since I reached the base of the mountain.<span style=""> </span>On top of my disappointment in myself, I saw the cavernous rocky structure that lay ahead of me to make my decent on the other side.<span style=""> </span>Taking these into account, instead of enjoying the view I said out loud (all by myself on a beautiful mountain top), "%^&* the view," and started the decent, which was much worse than the climb.<br /><br />I forgot when I planned (or neglected to plan) this little outing that the other side of the mountain is not exactly bike-able (especially, again, with no cycling skills or brakes).<span style=""> </span>The first part is purely made of deep craters and high grasses where, of course, all the poisonous snakes like to play.<span style=""> </span>Due to the craters I had to carry the 4 million pound bike on my shoulders and, due to the possibility of snakes, ran (although you prolly can’t call it that) down the steep, uneven slope to reach the “road,” which was not close-by.<span style=""> </span>I did this while making whimpering noises and nearly passing out from panic because if a nasty snake did bite me I was pretty sure that the only other animal besides me on this mountain, a big white bull, was not going to help me. Once I arrived at the at the road I destroyed my wrist trying to use the one brake that sort-of-but-not-really worked, which also made the most awful sound (if you listed closely almost sounded like, “you are duuuuuuuuuumbbbbb for doing this!!!!”).<span style=""> </span><br /><br />I'm glad I didn't die that morning. I should prolly get a different bike, and stronger legs.</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-71801125655552223542010-01-09T11:45:00.000-08:002010-01-09T11:45:33.708-08:00The Road to Water: First Step, Throw a Party<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW4PbXcT8iBxC3W3ChA6XuUk46__uESHIJRPEksFpihS2D1Id69plolw_2i00ow536UM_INDl17tBWxQWut79Ac33Bvhh6E2QcuNOMZoFtjap5COq4IdSliQV0RUntK03bkG9XuhhnaUs/s1600-h/fiesta+navidena+020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW4PbXcT8iBxC3W3ChA6XuUk46__uESHIJRPEksFpihS2D1Id69plolw_2i00ow536UM_INDl17tBWxQWut79Ac33Bvhh6E2QcuNOMZoFtjap5COq4IdSliQV0RUntK03bkG9XuhhnaUs/s320/fiesta+navidena+020.jpg" /></a><br />
</div>This post is slightly out of order, as it happened the week before Christmas, but I wanted to share how I spent the tail end of 2009. As I’ve previously explained, the people in the shantytown and I are working with the municipality in order to get running water for their community (nearly 300 people share just 2 tubes of water in the street). A couple of months ago I brought members of the municipality to the community and they set up a commission so that the needs of these people are actually brought to the attention of the local government (this community had been completely forgotten by the municipality and hardly anyone in my town knows it even exists, so this was HUGE). The process of attaining water is very long and complicated and anyone that would like more details is welcome to email me. The bottom line is that the community is going to need to raise a lot of money that they don’t have in order to have water. Fundraising here is a lot different than where I grew up. People back home have money at their disposal to give away. People here use their entire paycheck each month, and not to buy a tenth pair of shoes or to go out to a nice restaurant (or any restaurant for that matter). It is used to buy rice, beans, eggs, milk, and diapers (and the occasional fake plant or statue of the Virgin Mary) for their family. This means that local fundraising takes a lot of heart, soul, guts, energy, and most of all – motivation and teamwork. While I consider the acquisition of water in this community my highest priority, I knew that something a little off the topic needed to be done in order to build a foundation for success. That’s right – we needed to have a Christmas Party. <br />
<br />
Many people who live in the shantytown are ready and willing to work, and that is great, but people willing to work do not always successfully work together. In order for them to raise enough money to get water in their community, they are going to need to work together as they never have before. I decided that a Christmas Party would be a good practice project for testing out our teamwork skills. Everyone would need to pitch in to raise money for food, games, decorations and then to cook, find materials for and facilitate activities, set everything up, take everything down, etc. When I presented the idea to the community they were definitely all on board. One idea that got thrown in was to try to find presents for all of the children. I knew this would be an incredible amount of work, but if they wanted to work together to find presents for the poorest children in my town, I wasn’t about to turn down the idea.<br />
<br />
In Peace Corps, we are not allowed to privately solicit gifts/donations, so my role became the motivator/cheerleader to get people moving and organized (which is in fact slower, more difficult, and quite frankly more frustrating than asking for donations myself, but it builds character and stuff). Peace Corps does this in part to ensure that all the development is coming from within the community. For the same reason, we have very heavy limitations on soliciting funds from the United States (we are to train and motivate local people to fund their own projects, not to write letters home to grandma and grandpa asking for handouts). <br />
<br />
Keeping these regulations in mind, I got together with my partner-in-begging-for things, Guiselle, and we came up with a list of every business in the area. We also made a list of people we personally knew in the community who could help us out. Guiselle also works for a development associasion, and (because I am not allowed to) they wrote letters asking for funds from local businesses. We then held a meeting with the people in the shantytown in order to divide up responsibility of going to the local businesses on the list to ask for their support. <br />
<br />
I got my adolescent group involved, and helped them to ask local people for support. They were very much a part of the party, which is great for their own experience in service to their community and also is a way for other people in the shantytown to see that their young people are doing positive things (they didn’t always have such a positive reputation among their neighbors). <br />
<br />
Sparing you the painful details of the nearly month-long preparations, we were able to assure that every child received a present on Christmas. The best part is that we did not solicit the gifts from “Rich Uncle Bob” in the States, or from any single big corporation or foundation (not that there is anything wrong with that). All of the help and support came purely from local people, most of whom did not even know that the shantytown existed in their own community. In addition, we acquired enough food so that EVERYONE in the community was able to eat rice with chicken and pork (the most traditional of Tico party dishes), tortillas, cake, and refreshments. <br />
<br />
The kids got their faces painted, played pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey and pin-the-nose-on-the-clown, received goodie bags, had sack races and foot races, and enjoyed ice cream cones donated by the municipality. My group of adolescents served as DJs and helped run the activities. My favorite part of the whole day was in the morning when I arrived to help set up and found about 10 women in one family’s kitchen, cooking more food than any of us had ever seen all at one time. Seeing the smiles on their faces and the beautiful colors of the tomatoes, green beans, rice, beans, cilantro, onions, garlic, carrots, and spices was by far one of the most special moments for me as a volunteer. Many of them also appeared very anxious, but even that made me happy because it showed how much they wanted this event to be a success. I spent the morning making signs for all of the activities with the younger children, decorating and setting up the sound system with the teenagers, and making sure that the women cooking and other people helping to decorate had everything they needed.<br />
<br />
This community was working together, and all of these materials and food were here because of that teamwork and the generosity of other people in our town. We partied all afternoon, and then I stayed around to clean up and enjoy the company of the people and bask in the success of our hard work. The whole day was long and exhausting, and planning this event was filled with lots of stress, running around like a crazy person, and things falling through, but it will forever remain as one of my best memories during my time here. They may not have been thinking about how this would help us gain water in the community, but it was very much on my mind throughout the process. I am now even more confident that we will be able to work as one unit in order to achieve this bigger, more complicated goal, as the experience of planning and executing the Christmas party gave us good practice and a chance to make mistakes on a smaller scale. Now it’s time to learn from the mistakes made and find success as we fry this much bigger fish – running water for 300 people. BUISINESS TIME!!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-92086833250334948872010-01-02T08:02:00.000-08:002010-01-02T08:07:57.762-08:00How to get "muffed up" in Costa Rica<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIU3ZFZ-70axgucrH5mlRR1agWLil5HJjzXni0Sn0qBrbcYPn6jUAH3N_HT61xbepiUuoJFtXuGQetJ4sIvGfr26qwiBH_NdJKUI55q-r5_Tihvyab5rm2s8H4ONgM-pXo7G6H0XoXcZI/s1600-h/DSC01421.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIU3ZFZ-70axgucrH5mlRR1agWLil5HJjzXni0Sn0qBrbcYPn6jUAH3N_HT61xbepiUuoJFtXuGQetJ4sIvGfr26qwiBH_NdJKUI55q-r5_Tihvyab5rm2s8H4ONgM-pXo7G6H0XoXcZI/s320/DSC01421.JPG" /></a><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Happy holidays everyone, I hope that you were all able to spend time with loved ones and reflect upon the past year with fond memories and ideas about how to make the next one even more “pura vida.” I was lucky enough to have four of the most special people in my life come to visit me last week. My aunties Margaret and Mary, my uncle Ed, and my brother were all here to help me celebrate. Before arriving in Costa Rica, they had read about the history and culture of Costa Rica, and also about the many dangers that this environment can present to visitors (or, as Mary put it, “The many ways you can die in Costa Rica”). This post is inspired by (and plagiarizes) an email written by one of my aunts upon her return to the States: <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">They read about all of the ways one can encounter death in Costa Rica, but when my aunts, uncle and brother came to visit me for Christmas last week, they never anticipated that the biggest threat to anyone's life would be posed by something rather different than coral snakes, earthquakes, heatstroke, flooding, landslides, freshwater sharks, normal sharks, driving on narrow, mountainous roads with hairpin turns inches away from enormously high cliffs, crocodiles (we went to one river that has 125 crocs for every 1 kilometer of water), jaguars, or the deadly fruit and bark of, and air surrounding the manzanillo tree. Although we nearly died of laughter when my aunt Margaret would tell people, “No te quiero” (I don’t love you) or “No te quieres” (You don’t love yourself) when she meant to say “No quiero” (I don’t want any), this was still no match for the greatest threat to most dangerous occurance of the trip, which involved none other than a fold-up couch in our luxurious beach condominium. Travel book authors take note, because this oversight on the part of my aunt’s travel books nearly cost us her life. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">It all happened in the “snore room,” which was reserved for our sleepers with special habits. My aunt Mary was sound asleep on the pull-out couch when her efforts to roll over were interrupted by a malfunction in the foldable bed. There was nothing she could do as her legs were forced into the air towards her chest, and she found herself trapped in a death grip between the back of the couch, the spiky bed springs and the mattress, which flew up into the air as she struggled to position herself near the top of the bed. The airborne mattress then left room for her legs to become ensnared in the bedsprings that once lay underneath it, making it impossible for her to pull herself up. Next came the relentless Charlie-horse leg cramps and she began to yell for Margaret (the resident nurse) to come to her aid. Confused and blinded in the still-dark room, Margaret fumbled her way to the disaster site and seeing the gravity of the situation called for backup from Ed. The two of them worked to pry the bed back open and help Mary (who was without the use of her legs due to the cramping) out of the pit of death. When I asked my aunts how is the world they were able to do that without laughing they said they knew that neither one would survive if they allowed laughter to take over and that Mary would never be removed from the situation. Once Mary was free and everyone went back to bed (exhausted from the rescue efforts), the brief silence was broken by Ed when he said, “That was actually pretty funny.” At that point all bets were off and the three of them broke out into uncontrollable laughter, which nearly resulted in a different type of emergency as they struggled to breathe and gain control of themselves. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It was very special for me to have my aunties, uncle and lil bro here to meet my new family and my community, which is the reason for which I am here. Every day I think about how grateful I am for my friends and family, and for the opportunities that I have either found or been presented with in this life. Again, happy holidays, and may you have many moments that bring you so much laughter that you feel sick to your stomach and lots of pain in your face muscles. Pura vida.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-6427111808232732952009-12-08T13:53:00.000-08:002009-12-08T14:02:52.457-08:00This post has no central theme and therefore no title, sorry.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsKMUJGuhym_9-_Jp5io1Bl5Mb3MV52SbXJfVQZ_aWpRmSpps2l3PU28SSG5atOVQAJbUb8laOwwyxEysWZyv6VbpNFdvL9bLDwLW94LC33eRkUX6hW927BYNEF2KrSqTIs8XZvCr0l1g/s1600-h/DSCN2410.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsKMUJGuhym_9-_Jp5io1Bl5Mb3MV52SbXJfVQZ_aWpRmSpps2l3PU28SSG5atOVQAJbUb8laOwwyxEysWZyv6VbpNFdvL9bLDwLW94LC33eRkUX6hW927BYNEF2KrSqTIs8XZvCr0l1g/s320/DSCN2410.JPG" /></a><br />
</div>I just completed 6 months in my site (9 months in the country), which means that one quarter of my service is already over. That is weird because although I feel like I’ve been away from family and friends for a long time, my work here is only just beginning. These first 6 months in site have been like running really fast on a treadmill at a steep incline. I’m working very hard at a very constant pace, very sweaty, and burning calories like crazy, but I haven’t really gone anywhere. One notable difference is that replacing those burnt calories with greasy rice and beans is difficult while running on a treadmill, but very easy in Costa Rica, so I’m not as buff or heart-healthy as I would be if all this running around was on a treadmill.<br />
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Peace Corps service lasts at least 2 years for good reason: the first year is about figuring out what the *$&% you are doing, forming relationships, and making mistakes, so that in your second year you are more comfortable about what you’re doing, utilizing the relationships formed, and learning from the mistakes previously made in order to facilitate community-based development that is (most importantly) sustainable. Teaching kids hip hop moves or giving a group of teens activities during the weekend are all fine and good, but let’s face it, the majority of my work right now is not sustainable when I leave. It is time to change gears.<br />
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In Peace Corps Costa Rica, our various projects are typically categorized on one of three levels: work with individuals, work with service providers, or work with community groups/organizations. Most of my work has been done on the individual level thus far, and while that type of work is lovely and most enjoyable for me, I can reach more people by training service providers and collaborating with community organizations. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of getting more involved on the community group level. <br />
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I recently started working with a community development association, the members of which are introducing me to people in the municipality and other community leaders who have more pull (and access to funding) than the average Jose. I will be helping them to turn the community’s new basketball/soccer court (built with the help of the PC volunteer I replaced) into a multi-use space with a roof, electricity, water, etc. Not only will kids be able to keep playing during the rainy season, but we will be able to hold community dances, meetings, exercise classes, and a host of other activities with the new additions. They also want to construct a small computer lab with internet access and a playground so I will be supporting those projects as well in the new year. <br />
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The government just installed lights and a fence around the court which is to be locked every night to keep the area safe from up-to-no-gooders. This upset a group of young people who like to use the court at night. One group of young people started to vandalize part of the court in response to the new regulations, which is quite unfortunate, but the Association’s response was priceless. Instead of upping security and trying to catch the valdals and get them into trouble, they decided to invite all of the adolescents that hang out there at night to have a dinner on the court and talk to the Association members in order to come up with a peaceful solution and compromise. The (adult) members of the Association spend all afternoon cooking chicken and rice, and sure enough the teens showed up for the free food offer. The Association took advantage of their captive (and hungry) audience by laying out the problem and asking the young people for their input and support in coming to a peaceful resolution. The two groups came to an agreement on the hours during which the court would be open, and even made priority hours for littler and bigger kids. In the end everyone enjoyed dinner together and there haven’t been any more problems (knock on wood) since the meeting about 3 weeks ago. I loved the idea and the way it turned out.<br />
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My biggest project right now is organizing a Christmas Party for the children and families in the shantytown community near my house. The biggest challenge is obviously getting donations, because the community itself has zero funds. The municipality is going to give me a sound system and ice cream for the nearly 100 children. My youth group (which consists of adolescents who live in the shantytown) helped me deliver over 60 letters to different businesses in the area, so I’m hoping that at least 10 will actually come through and donate something. I am also trying to work with the company that is working on a HUGE hydroelectric project here in the south of Costa Rica to see if they will donate a toy to each child (they have a LOT of money for social projects because they are destroying so many communities and killing so much wildlife in the process of creating enough hydroelectricity to fuel the country’s rapidly growing need (it baffles me that we aren’t powering the country with solar power instead, but that is a whole other topic).<br />
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I have 2 weeks left of working as hard as I can before I take my first official vacation days to relax in the mountains with my 2 aunts, 1 uncle, 1 (and only) brother, and a partridge in a pear tree for Christmas. At the end of this week I will work with 4 other volunteers in the south to bring about 30 kids together for an activity called Arte por la Paz. Another volunteer and I will talk about the history of hip hop and how it started as a nonviolence movement of a young generation, and then teach the kids some choreography. Other volunteers will work with the kids on making/playing instruments and painting a peace mural. We have all been working with these groups in our own communities on different workshops related to themes of peace, and this event will be the culmination of their hard work. It should be (as we say in Costa Rica) “tuanis.”<br />
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Over vacation I will try to post about more specific projects that I have going on (a community service camp and the construction of 2 small walking bridges are 2 of the new ones), but for now my head hurts because they just fumigated the school to kill all the mosquitoes and stop the rapid spread of dengue which is taking over my town (as a mosquito flies right in front of my face). I can feel my brain getting smaller by the second as a result of the chemicals…que rico.<br />
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Peace, love, and pura vida!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-77367781127622112542009-11-25T08:26:00.000-08:002009-11-25T08:36:33.264-08:00Tico Time: Kevin (aka "Kevie")<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcBA9QYCpGZ0T0Ulu8CeN3WYqY5Z82p58tRVCRSYo8J33IV8o-SrWRUfOD0OEmQ8dQC86ByFZB5f9GqwIZuawgbyxF2-8TYzZdAP0zFKYUeENfGZyLhUCfdZmn5RxHS7_zpo5kahMxzi4/s1600/blog+pic.kevi.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcBA9QYCpGZ0T0Ulu8CeN3WYqY5Z82p58tRVCRSYo8J33IV8o-SrWRUfOD0OEmQ8dQC86ByFZB5f9GqwIZuawgbyxF2-8TYzZdAP0zFKYUeENfGZyLhUCfdZmn5RxHS7_zpo5kahMxzi4/s320/blog+pic.kevi.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408080940889410738" /></a><br />I’ve decided to start including person profiles on this blog, so that in addition to my own personal stories, you also get a quick glimpse of different people in my community, straight from the horse’s mouth. For my first interview I was very lazy, and didn’t leave the house. Here’s what my 5 year old host nephew, Kevin, had to say to a host of random questions:<br /><br />Do you like living in Costa Rica?<br />- Mmhmm<br /><br />Why do you like living here?<br />- Because I like to live.<br /><br />If you could be any animal what would it be?<br />- A tiger (he says with ZERO hesitation).<br /><br />Why?<br />- Because tigers don’t bite.<br /><br />Umm, tigers don’t bite, ever?<br />- No (like “you big dummy”), they just walk around up there, and when they hear something they put their heads up and listen, like this (he demonstrates).<br /><br />What is your favorite food?<br />- Egg with rice<br /><br />Do you like any fruits or vegetables?<br />- I like the apples you always have and when you give them to me. I do not eat broccoli or salad. And I like ice cream but mom says I can't have it now because I am sick and it will do damage to me. I can only eat hot ice cream.<br /><br />Do you like having a gringa auntie?<br />- Do we have any hot ice cream?<br /><br />No. Do you like having a gringa auntie?<br />- Yes, because I am happy all the time when you are here (as he buries his head in my pillow with embarrassment).<br /><br />If an American child came to visit you here in Costa Rica, where would you take him?<br />- To Costa Rica, or to the United States<br /><br />I then clarified the question…<br />- I would take him to pre-K, a forest, my house is nice, your house is nice, all of the houses are nice. To Mass at the church.<br /><br />Have you ever been to Mass?<br />- No.<br /><br />What is your favorite sport?<br />- Costa Rica (I’m sure he said this because the only sport he knows of is soccer, and this is obviously his favorite team).<br /><br />What do kids here do for fun?<br />- Ride bikes, live in their houses, sleep at night, eat bananas, cereal…what else? Memeitos (these are like little corn chips), ice cream, popsicles, food, rice, rice pudding, beans, rice and beans, plantains, that one and the other one.<br /><br />If you were a hot dog, and you were starving your you eat youself?<br />- Ummm, excuse me?<br /><br />If you were a hot dog, and you were starving would you eat yourself?<br />- Ay Morgan (which sounds more like “Moah-ghan”), you really do say the dumbest things. Next question.<br /><br />If you could take a trip anywhere, where would you go?<br />- To the mountain or the river (Yes, we live in a small, small world here, and I have never seen geography taught in any way, shape or form).<br /><br />Well, you heard it here first, everything you could ever want to know about Costa Ricans. Now you know everything…you’re welcome.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6530719886334451126.post-44720323607260314592009-11-17T12:41:00.000-08:002009-11-18T07:07:43.396-08:00ReubenLast week a friend of mine lost her husband to leukemia. I just met him about a month ago, 8 days after he received his diagnosis, when my English students and I went to visit him. He was on bed rest and exhausted from chemo, but the state of his health did not shadow his glowing, positive attitude and caring, good-natured manner. I remember feeling so confused and sad and angry that this was happening to him, and could only think that he was going to get better – that there was no way he could leave us so soon. The other day I attended the Mass and funeral service held in his honor. Hundreds of people came to mourn and celebrate his life. Visiting Reuben in his house the one day I knew him, hearing the news of his death, attending his funeral and talking and being with his loved ones has filled me with more emotions than I am able to express in a normal blog post. I am not by any means a poet, and in fact this is the first time I have ever written a poem (if you can call it that) outside of school, but the night of his funeral I had an urgent need to write what I was thinking about, and it kind of manifested itself like this:<br /><br />Never underestimate the power of first impressions.<br /><br />I knew him for 30 minutes. <br /><br />Smile so strong you’d never know he couldn’t lift himself from the bed. <br /><br />He just received a death sentence but made me feel welcome and comfortable in his home (in his bedroom, actually). There was no reason for me to feel comfortable there. But I did. <br /><br />Chances are the chemo won’t work, but there’s no way the cancer can survive while this father-of-five radiates positive energy so bright. Right?<br /><br />Then I saw her. Just when I was sure he must be the strongest person in this world, I saw her. Ten weeks ago she gave birth to their baby boy. They thought blessings didn’t come any bigger than those four daughters, but now a son too? Things couldn’t get better. So they didn’t. <br /><br />Anguish was behind her eyes, but hidden. Not because she felt like she had to hide it, but because it would not defeat her. She was too tough for that, and knew too well the needs of those kdis. She found refuge in her understanding that a Plan had already been made.<br /><br />Chances are the chemo won’t work, but there’s no way the cancer can survive while this father-of-five radiates positive energy so bright. Right? Right???<br /><br />One week later they moved him to San Juan de Dios.<br /><br />I was saturated in doubt. Where’s the power of positive thinking? People’s heads hurt from all the positive thoughts sent to his family. <br /><br />What happened to the power of prayer? The Buenos Aires air is thick in it, and my knees which never before knew a pew are bleeding after knowing this man. Why isn’t he getting better? I’m willing to forgive everyone and anyone for this horrible, metaphysical mistake, just fix it!<br /><br />They told me he was in his final moments, but I was certain the good he exuded was too strong to die. When I arrived at Mass, I realized my ignorance. Of course it was too strong to die. <br /><br />The church was saturated in his positive attitude, his love for his wife and children, the values he learned and passed on to others. <br /><br />Her dark brown eyes were red from the pain, but they carried his light. Her tranquility was contagious, and put her children at ease. She controlled the room. <br />Her composure and calm allowed everyone to not only mourn but also celebrate life.<br /><br />The illness may have taken his body but it was no match for his spirit, for it will remain forever in the hearts and minds of everyone who knew him. And I only knew him for 30 minutes.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1