Home Again, Home Again

How I've Been Keeping Busy

Todd and I are sitting at Brisas, our favorite beachside bar in Potrero right now, enjoying a few cold beers and anticipating a beautiful sunset.  It feels great to be back here and out of the bustle of San José.  That being said, I wanted to say a few words about our time at La Escuelita.

Victor Reading "The Giving Tree"

Everyone Hard at Work

While we weren’t happy about our living conditions and feel that we should have been warned about the safety of the area beforehand, I did feel safe when we were home.  It was the coming and going that wasn’t safe for us.

Also, while we feel that we were misled into believing that there was a structured program being run in Proyecto Cristal and there was no structure at all, I do believe that the presence of La Escuelita in the community is a valuable one.  The children there have no where to go and nothing to do in their neighborhood apart from the two hours they get to spend at the Escuelita during the week.

Playing Nice

Even if they are just drawing pictures while they’re there at least they have something to do, at least they’re safe, at least they’re being kids.  It wasn’t what we signed up for but that doesn’t mean that what they do doesn’t mean something to the community.

Silvio

Finally, the director, Marcia, was wonderful.  In addition to giving us all the info we needed to know about the community, she invited us into her home every day for lunch.  It was quite a treat.  I wish her and her family the best of everything, they’re great people.

Marci Reading to the Kids

So, those are my final thoughts on our time in San José.  I didn’t want people to think that it was all bad or that it could  be categorized by the blanket of a “bad experience”.  In every experience there is good and something to learn.

Sorry about the weird formatting on this post…Wordpress has yet to figure out a good way to add multiple pictures to blog entries.

Surviving San José

We’re getting to the end of our time here in San José and this second week has been much better than the first.  Moving into the Mi Casa Hostel has been a welcome change of pace.  It’s a great little hostel with a nice kitchen, laundry, a pool table and darts and a little lawn plus, it’s very comfortable, quiet and safe.  Because of this we’ve been able to go out at night a bit which is helping us slowly get away from going stir crazy.

Life at La Escuelita has been pretty typical.  Puzzles, drawing, dress up, et cetera but one thing that we forgot to mention is that the kids like to “sled” down the “road” outside of the school.  By “sled” down the “road”, I mean that they grab a bottle, bucket or piece of cardboard and throw themselves down a cement hill.  It actually looks quite fun – and dangerous.  The closest thing to hit at the bottom of the hill is a parked car.  Here are a few shots of the kids tirándose:

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Pretty crazy, huh?

The last few days we’ve worked at the school only in the mornings.  This has given us a little time before it starts raining in the afternoon to explore San José a bit.  Yesterday, we went to check out the Teatro Nacional (National Theater) which was pretty cool.  It was built in the 1890s by coffee planters and from what we hear, it’s the pride of Costa Rica because it’s not only “the most important building in all of Costa Rica” but also the most beautiful.  And it definitely was pretty.  Today, we took some time to go to Sabana Norte park which is right across the street from our hostel.  The park was the main airport of San José in its former life and now is a huge green space with soccer fields, a running circuit, ponds, basketball courts and a rollerblading rink.  Anywhere with a rollerblading rink has to be pretty cool.

Last night, we went out to a belated celebration dinner at a Peruvian restaurant, Machu Picchu (how could we resist!?) that was highly recommended.  It was a really great meal and fun to have a nice dinner out after cooking lots of pasta at home.

All in all, this week has been so much better than last.  I’m really glad we made the move out of the dorm we were staying in.  It makes the days at La Escuelita more enjoyable too since we know that, at the end of the day, we’ll be safe and comfortable and able to sleep well.  Well, now it’s time to go enjoy what many claim to be the best Italian restaurant in all of Costa Rica and also home of pizza that is better than any pizza you can get in Rome.  I’m hoping these claims are true!

Getting Out of San José.

After our first week in San Jose, Kate and I are spending the weekend in Jaco, a beach town about 2 and a half hours southwest of the Capitol.  By all accounts, Jaco is the kind of place I normally hate: it is extreme tourism, Costa Rica version. What that means is: 90% of the people on the street are American, the place is lined with “surf shops”, the one-man Mariachi band doesn’t play for tips: if he plays at your table, it will cost you 1000 colones (~$2.00), and a least half of the tourists think they are in the middle of spring break, despite the fact that they appear to have last been properly on Spring Break 10 years (and 20 pounds) ago.

With that said, I could NOT be happier to be here.

As I said to Kate at dinner, there is a lot you’ll put up with in exchange for space, comfort, and good food, three things we have here that are in seriously short supply in San Jose.

This week was rough. After a wonderful experience in Potrero, we knew San Jose was not going to be as good. We did not expect this.

In a nutshell, we are working at a glorified day care center with poorly-behaved children, trapped (note: we moved out today and are staying in a hostel next week) in a truly awful apartment that we cannot leave because the neighborhood is unsafe after dark.  After going to a nice grocery store a 15-minute bus ride away, I felt like a real person again…only to witness a knife fight while waiting for the return bus.  As an added bonus, I learned that if your neighbor’s bass is loud enough, even concrete walls will rattle, and that 5 nights is not enough time to learn how to sleep through roosters crowing every 2-3 minutes from 4:00 a.m. on.

After much deliberation, Kate and I have decided to work in San Jose next week (while living at a hostel), before returning to Potrero next Friday, where we will spend a week running the Abriendo Mentes program ourselves while Drew and Meradith are back in the U.S.  We’re really excited to be heading back there, and still debating how to share our opinions with the organization in San Jose.

Have any of you had a bad experience while volunteering/interning?  We want to give honest feedback to the founders of the program in San Jose, who now live and work in the U.S., and explain to them that the program isn’t exactly the “after school arts and literacy program” they bill it as, while not sounding ungrateful/snobbish.   Thoughts?

Kidney Stone Emergency Plan

Due to a strange course of events, Tuesday night we created the following Kidney Stone Emergency Plan. Todd outlined the following points as key to successfully managing a Kidney Stone Emergency while living at our current apartment on the wrong side of the train tracks in San José, Costa Rica.

1) We’re going directly to the hospital.

2) We’re waiting until daylight to go.

3) Todd will attempt to make the 8-minute walk to the main road where we will find a cab.

a. If the 8-minute walk is impossible, Kate will venture out alone to try to convince a taxi to drive down the tracks to pick Todd up. Im/possibility will be determined before leaving apartment.

4) While Todd originally requested jeans, Kate talked him into the less restrictive option of shorts.

5) Passports are in the bottom of the backpack and Todd’s wallet is next to the coin purse. Apartment key is on the table – lock up.

6) Todd will require a raincoat.

7) Running shoes, not sandals. Kate will tie them.

8 ) After a long debate it has been decided that Todd will wear underpants.

9) Kate is bringing Mike & Ike’s both for nutritional purposes and as a supplement to the entertainment value of this experience.

If you are reading this, the Kidney Stone Removal Plan was not put into effect.

Life so far in San José

We’ve moved into our new quarters in San José.  They’re sparse to say the least.  We have twin size bunk beds and one other twin size bed, a small bathroom with a toilet and shower – no sink and a “living room” which is actually storage for La Escuelita de Esperanza.  That space also serves as our kitchen space and has a small stove a sink and a mini fridge that doubles as bathroom storage space.  We also have a multi-purpose table that is currently serving as our pantry, dining room table, laundry rack, extra storage space and desk.

Our Barrio

The barrio we’re in is literally right off the train tracks.  We have to walk down a dirt road next to the tracks to get here and the houses are on steep embankments perpendicular to the tracks.  Our dorm is the second story of the Escuelita so we have at our disposal loads of books, puzzles and about 15 sets of Uno cards.  This is quite a windfall since we don’t have a television or any real entertainment close by.

Our Living Space

We arrived to San José on the Fourth of July after attending a picnic for U.S. citizens.  The picnic was quite an experience and so here’s a haiku to sum it up:

Show your passport please.

Five dollars and you’re in.  Welcome!

So many gringos.

Free hot dogs and drinks;

Popcorn, ice cream and free beer,

Cotton candy too.

Square dancers spin ‘round.

Games for kids and a rock band

Celebrate the day.

Uncle Sam at the July 4th Picnic

Also, later that night after we started getting settled into the dorm I heard what sounded like fireworks in the distance.  Sure enough, over the rooftops you could just see fireworks going off on the other side of town.  That was a nice welcome.

Another fun fact about our barrio is that it is loud.  Here’s an example of one minute’s worth of sound in the morning when I am not ready to be awake yet and trying very hard to stay asleep:

Cock-a-doodle-doo!  A plane takes off overhead.  “Mami!”  Honk. Cock-a-doodle-doo!  Chug-a-chug-a-chug-a-chug-a. Rattle, clack, rattle, clack – a train comes down the tracks.  Birds start to chirp, almost in response.  Hoooooooonk. Cock-a-doodle-doo!  An iron gate scrapes open somewhere in the neighborhood. Cock-a-doodle-doo!  A dog barks in the distance.  “Kate, are you sleeping?” “Trying.” Cock-a-doodle-doo!  “Ahhhhhhhhh!”  “What’s wrong?” Cock-a-doodle-doo!  “I hate that rooster!” Cock-a-doodle-doo!

We’re adjusting though.

We made it!

We arrived in Costa Rica last night around 8:30 PM.  We spent the night at Hostel 1110 in San José and woke up early this morning to catch a 6:00AM flight to Liberia…too early. After showering and packing everything up, backpacks on our backs, we realized that it was 3:30 AM, not 4:30AM.  At 3:31AM, we took our first nap of the day.

This morning’s flight was delayed because the airport was closed due to low visibility.  Their solution?  Drive us to San José’s main airport and have us fly out of there.  Once we got to the other airport and boarded our tiny, tiny plane we were delayed again by about 15 minutes due to, you guessed it, low visibility.  Once we got up in the air, the flight was definitely worth the wait but more about that from Todd later.

A shuttle met us in Liberia and took us straight to Villagio del Flor Pacífico, our home for the next month.  Our little casita is just as adorable as the pictures we’d seen.  It’s a great two-bedroom cottage with a nice front porch for reading and relaxing and just 100 yards from one of Villagio’s pools.

Already we’ve had a few surprises since getting here:

1)    A great surprise!  As soon as we got settled into our hostel in San José, I got an email from my friend Pam saying that she and her fiancé, Kevin have booked tickets to come visit at the end of June.  We are thrilled that they’re going to come stay with us!

2)    During that same email check I received a message saying that power in Playa Potrero was going to be out today from 8:00AM – 2:00PM.  A nice welcome surprise for us.  Really though, other than the air/fans not working in the house it hasn’t been bad.  It’s definitely warm but the pool outside of our doors is a godsend.  We spent most of the afternoon working on our second naps of the day anyway.  We are still waiting for the power to come back on.  It is now 3:58pm.

3)    Not a complete surprise since I/we’ve spent time in Latin America before but, traffic laws are just for kicks.  Here in Costa Rica the main ideas seem to be: A- Avoid anything in your way, you can always find a path around it.  B- Get to where you’re going as fast as you can.  And most surprising,  C- Red lights are a suggestion; as long as no one is coming through it from the other direction, there’s no need to stop.

In addition to those mini-events, we had the chance to walk into town.  It’s definitely a small town and I think it will be really easy to get to know the community.  We also had the chance to meet Meradith and Drew, the co-founders of Abriendo Mentes.  They gave us a quick rundown of how the program is running now, the lay of the land and some ideas of things to do and places to see while we’re here.  They’ve been so helpful with our trip preparations and it was great to finally meet them.  We will start working at Abriendo Mentes tomorrow afternoon and I’m so excited to see how everything goes.  It sounds like Friday tend to be arts and crafts or fun days so that will be a great way to spend our first day there.

That’s all for now, stayed tuned!

*Power came back on mid-way through dinner around 6:00PM.  Our air is finally working!  🙂

** Pictures to come – internet is a bit spotty.