I'm ready to be a beach bum!

Okay, not really. But my new home, my site for the next two years, is 6 minutes north of some of Costa Rica's most beautiful beaches. Which makes them pretty much the world's most beautiful beaches. Visitors, anyone? I will be living in a neighborhood called La Inmaculada, a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Quepos, a super touristy beach town full of gringos. I'm thrilled, because I will have tons of opportunities to work on youth development projects. There are a lot of drug problems, a lot of human trafficking, and in general a lot of crime there.  My (not so) secret Peace Corps dream is to start an after school program for the kids in the neighborhood that could maybe tie in with TEFL and teach English at the same time. Anyway, here's a map so you can see where in the world I'll be:

I have another volunteer, Claire, living literally across the street from me. She picked out my host family for me and has been super welcoming! I am excited to have someone nearby who already knows the ins and outs of my site. My housing situation sounds great so far, and I am excited to visit my site for the first time this coming weekend! 

Anyway, I am super excited to get to site, to meet my new English students (mostly elementary kiddos!!!), get to know my new host family, and get started on all kindsa fun projects with the kids in Quepos :)

Much love! Rach

Recharged

Yesterday was a MUCH better day than the rest of this week and really cheered me up from my rant mood. I had most of the day to myself to recharge, and my favorite part was leading the workshop with the girls at the Escuela Concepción. We talked about healthy living, exercising, and eating well, because that sort of education is sorely lacking here. Their excitement and seeing them learn really helped me cheer up and remember why I came here. At the end of every lesson, I have the girls journal, and I've been saving their writings each week. Yesterday, I started compiling it all into a book I'm going to print up and give them as a souvenir at the end of the program. Some samples of what they wrote:


No soy un estereotipo porque…
(I am not a stereotype because...)

“Yo quiero ser veterinaria porque me encantan los animales. Esto no es un estereotipo.”

(I want to be a vet because I love animals. That's not a stereotype.)

“Soy morena y quiero ser veterinaria.”

 (I am dark skinned and dark haired and I want to be a vet.)

“Yo voy a ser dentista cuando sea grande.”

 (I want to be a dentist when I grow up.)

“Quiero salir de viaje. Quiero vivir para toda mi vida.”

 (I want to travel. I want to live for my whole life.)

“Yo puedo jugar bola y muchos hombres dicen que no lo puedo. Quiero ser dentista.”

 (I can play ball and many men say that I can't. I want to be a dentist.)

“Estoy feliz y solidaria.” 

(I am happy and supportive.)

Rant Time: GO!

Let me preface this post by saying how much I love Costa Rica and how much I am enjoying my time here! I am blessed to have a wonderful host family and great friends in my Tico 23 group. Now, let me rant about a few things that have been bugging me lately...

1. Training sucks!

Okay, so training doesn't suck totally and completely, but it could definitely use some improvement.. First of all, I am getting SUPER sick of sitting in a classroom from 8 in the morning til 4 or 5 at night. I haven't done that since I was in high school and adjusting to it has been tough. Although there isn't a ton of homework outside of class, the pace is just tiring and it's really hard being scheduled every minute of the day.

Also, the Peace Corps is very poorly organized. For example, we'll be given a homework assignment to do, finish it, and then it will never come up again. Glad I wasted my time doing that! Or, my favorite example--the Peace Corps took us to San Jose to the PC office, where we heard a lot about safety and security. They told us not to travel with valuables, or with too much money, and never at night. Then, they sent us off, back to our training communities, after dark and carrying our super valuable passports and brand new bank cards! The examples of this kind of thing are endless, I swear.

2. Drama also sucks!

For the most part, our group has been pretty lucky and steered clear of inter-group drama. However, we've had soooo much drama in my Spanish class lately, which makes for a lot of tension three days a week! As far as I'm concerned, we're all here to do a good thing. Can't we all just get along?!

3. I don't feel that useful (yet).

Since most of what we do during training involves sitting in a classroom being bored out of our minds, I don't feel like I'm making a huge difference here. I do feel great about the English classes we have been teaching, as well as the workshop for girls that I blogged about before. But the amount of time I spend on those things, versus the amount of time I spend in training, is minuscule. I am really looking forward to finishing training and beginning my service, so that I can devote much more of my time to more worthy causes.

BUUUUUT, to end the post on a more positive note, the good news is that this Friday (FOUR DAYS, EEK!) we all find out our site placements for the next two years! I am super excited for that! :D :D

Okay, rant time over! All is well here. Much love!

Rachel

A Lesson in Empanadas

So, I technically wasn't there for the whole process...but here's what I did learn! 

Step 1: Cut the masa (dough) in little pieces

Step 2: My job (obviously the most important, hehe) flatten the masa so it basically looks like a tortilla.

Step 3: Fill the masa with the miel de chiverre (fruity filling).

Step 3: After you fill the masa,  fold the ends like so :)

Step 4: Coat with egg and bake for an hour

The finished product!