It's Love

It's official: I am in LOVE with my new home. (Sorry, Alex. I just couldn't resist its charm! hehe) I arrived home to good ol' Concepción on Tuesday evening, after what were probably my four happiest, most blissful days in Costa Rica so far--which is saying something, since I am pretty much in love with this country as well!

My first glimpse of a Costa Rican beach!

I spent last Thursday and Friday at a project partner workshop put on by Peace Corps to introduce us to our counterparts (in this case, the teachers we will be working with at our schools) and help us facilitate conversations about schedules, co-planning, expectations, etc. Isabel, my co-teacher, is super cool. I think we are going to be good friends! Not to mention her English is amazing. She spent a year in the states on a scholarship and speaks incredibly well.

With my co-teacher, Isabel.

Early Saturday morning, Isabel and I took off on a 3+ hour journey to my new home on the Pacific Coast! She was kind enough to drop me off at my house and make sure I got there okay. My host mom wasn't there when I arrived, but my somewhat aloof host sister was. She promptly called her mom to ask what she should do because, and I quote, "the gringa is here." What a warm welcome--ha!. (Since then, I found out that I have to change host families...but more on that later). A few minutes after I got there, I went into the bathroom and found an iguana waiting for me! I should note that he was definitely NOT a pet. Life here is full of surprises!

In addition to the iguana, these little guys were waiting for me in my bedroom.

Anyway, I put my suitcases in my room and went over to visit Claire, a youth development volunteer who has been in site for about a year already. She has been great and really welcoming. It's so nice to already have a friend where I'm going! On Saturday night, I went with her to a silent auction/gala type event to raise money for the shelter she is opening for sex trafficked girls. It's an awesome project, and I am so impressed with all the work she has done on it. Check it out here: Seeds of Hope.

Me and Claire - I am SO short.

Sunday, I went with Claire to a Four Square Church, which, crazily enough, is the same church I went to in Gettysburg! I'm pretty sure it was meant to be. The service was great and it just felt so good to be connected with God. I just felt very at peace, and it was really nice to be at a protestant service for the first time in a long time (I've only been to mass since I've been here...I'm not a fan, even in Spanish). At the service, I met a Nicaraguan friend and her adorable daughter. I had a lot of fun translating the service for her. I've been trying to keep in touch with them a bit and work on developing friendships in Quepos right from the start. After church, we went to an event to raise awareness about sexual exploitation, another event for Seeds of Hope. In true Tico fashion, no one showed up until about 40 minutes after it was supposed to start, but it turned out perfectly. One boy admitted that he had been sexually exploited as a teenager and accepted Christ that day. It was pretty amazing to be there.

Claire presenting at the event. 

The rest of that night proved to be VERY interesting and also turned out to be the reason I am changing host families! I got home around 9:30 that night, and my host sister's husband came to let me in (since I didn't have house keys) wearing nothing but very tiny underwear. At first I gave him the benefit of the doubt and thought maybe he had been asleep or something. But then, he proceeded to get uncomfortably close to me, put his hand on my face, and tell me how beautiful I am. Yikes. I was taken by surprise, so I didn't say much and hurried off to my bedroom. I took a shower, and when I came out was welcomed back to my bedroom by a giant rat. Double yikes. I didn't want to run and tell my host family wearing just my towel since my host brother-in-law had already been so bold and creepy. So, I got dressed and went out the side door of the house where I thought I heard people talking. A dog jumped out and started barking and growling at me. So, there I was, out in the street in front of my house, unable to go back in because of the dog and with a giant rat in my room. I wandered back over to Claire's and she and our friend Maurice came to get rid of the rat. They mocked me mercilessly when the growling dog turned out to be a puppy--gimme a break, it was dark, I had no idea they even had a dog, and I was still creeped out by the rat. Anyway, I told PC about the incident with my host brother-in-law, and they decided that I need to move to a new family for safety reasons. I feel good about the decision and know that it's for the best and it's better not to wait and see what would happen if I were there longer...But I am still stressed about finding a new place to live, not knowing that the new family might be like, potentially not having as much independence as I would have had with the original family, where Alex will stay when he visits, etc., etc., etc.

The Rat, capital R. Please note the tail, ewwww.

I swear he seemed scarier at night!

Monday, I went for a super long stroll around Inmaculada to get to know the community. Needless to say, I got all kinds of lost and turned around. But that's okay, that's nothing new for me. Later in the day, I got to meet the English teachers where I'll be working and I got to see my two different schools. The best part was meeting with Isabel, the first co-teacher I met at the workshop, and the regional assessor for MEP (Ministry of Public Education). We talked about my teaching hours, but even more exciting to me, they were super supportive of my idea to start an after-school academic enrichment program (like El Centro!) for the kids in Inmaculada, because they have very little to occupy themselves outside of school and need a safe place to be. We even talked about finding a permanent place for it and making it a non-profit organization. I know it's still in the planning stages, but I could not be more excited to get started!

Finally, yesterday we had a family party for all of the host families that have taken us in over the past three months. It was a lovely time celebrating with all of our families. My favorite photo of the day with the three newest loves of my life:

Deyvid, Jordan, Cristel, and me <3 

Bueno, kudos to you if you read this far without giving up or getting bored! All is well here, and in just three days I will be sworn in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer!

Much Love ~ Rach