I know, I know, I´ll post more pics later.

Goal 2 of Peace Corps: Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.... We had an impromptu beauty shop session on Black hair with my host parents kiddos. :)
These are the puppies I helped deliver...read end of blog to see how it ended.

Written June 16th:

My counterpart who works at a local community agency took me to a nearby beach one Sunday. It was beautiful. I didn’t swim this time, but walked up the beach and into the beach’s park where I experienced different sand, beautiful shells, monkeys in the trees, and lots of sea creatures on the rocks. I feel so lucky to be so close to the beach. This beach we went to was only 45 minutes away on the bus. I can tell I am beginning to integrate into my community because now when I see “foreigners” they stick out like a sore thumb and almost get on my nerves because of how touristy and stereotypical American they act.

I learned that most of the beautiful land in the beach towns has now been bought out by non-Costa Ricans (mostly Americans and Europeans) and the land the Costa Ricans once owned, they now work for. There are two very different worlds going on in these touristy beach towns. One is the tourist life and the other is the behind the scenes/locals life. They are like night and day. Peace Corps would like for me to consider working in a few of these nearby touristy towns to work with locals dealing with child sexual exploitation, drug abuse of minors, domestic violence, drop out rate, and other issues. How about Costa Rica ranks waaaay up there on countries with the most child sexual exploitation?!? And who are their biggest customers? You guessed it --- USA and Europeans. It makes me sick to see old ass American men toting around CHILDREN as their “girlfriends”. I wish I could punch them in their face and take the young people away from there... but I know it doesn’t work like that. Right now, awareness is key. I talk to Costa Ricans all the time who are unaware of child sexual abuse, particularly commercial exploitation, being an issue in their own neighborhoods. So, that’s where we’ll start because it is right under their noses.

I am reading my 5th book now. So far I’ve read: Good in Bed, Songs Without Words, Three Cups of Tea, and The Memory Keeper’s Daughter. I am currently reading Cornel West’s Democracy Matters.

Two nights ago, my host family’s Rottweiler went into labor. It killed it’s first pup (very sad to see). So my host dad and his wife, along with me observing, helped deliver the next two puppies to make sure their dog wouldn’t eat her own puppies. After about two hours we thought she was done having puppies, so they went sleep and I kept the puppies in a box in my room. The dog stayed on the patio right outside my window... then it happened: I heard her howl then she had another puppy! I ran out, yelled for help, but had to take action because the dog was determined to do some damage to the puppy. I pulled the pup out of its sac, cleaned it up, cut the umbilical cord and put it with the rest of the puppies. I stayed up the rest of the night and did it over again two more times by myself! I helped that dog deliver three puppies! That’s wild isn’t it?!?!?! I felt like I was on an Animal Planet show delivering pups with my bare hands in the middle of the night. :)

I am learning a little bit of the Bribri language. Not many speak Bribri in the town of Bribri, but they do up in the indigenous communities. An old man who is really involved in the community and is Bribri taught me a few phrases:

To greet someone: Iz besh que nah
I’m fine : Gesh que nah bway
Thank you : Chi chi cratz ka
Come here, I’d like to talk with you: Jue kapa co kan beta


UPDATE on June 18, 2010

Sadly, all of the puppies died. Apparently they were all born premature and since the mama dog didn´t want them, they weren´t able to thrive. Poor things.

Changes, adjustment, changes

I wrote this June 6th, and am just now posting it. Sorry.

June 6, 2010

Hello All!

I’m finally settling into my new home of Bribri. My host family and counterparts are great. I live in a town surrounded by mountains, banana trees as far as the eye can see, and a river that serves as the border between Costa Rica and Panama. The center of town has everything I need: my bank, stores, the municipalidad, community agencies, and the elementary school and high school. I spent the first week meeting people, introducing myself as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and adjusting to the immense heat. The first few days here I got bitten by Costa Rican chiggars... or coloradillas. They are AWFUL!!!! I’ve never itched like that in my life --- and to top it off they bit me (27 bites) around my entire bikini line!!!!! AGGGGGHHHHHH! I didn’t leave the house one of those days because the people in town would have thought I was a crazy, sweating, miserable woman scratching herself in public. LOL.

Getting used to not having a packed schedule like we did in training, not knowing anyone, and being here alone without friends and family have all been challenges I’ve had and that every volunteer goes through. I’ve had days when I sit and think: “What the hell am I doing here?!?!?!? This is crazy!” But I’ve snapped out of the funks pretty quickly. I just text a fellow volunteer, email a friend, or talk to someone back home. (I’m lucky I have a cell, access to internet, and a landline in my house!)

Sometimes it’s draining to introduce myself over and over, explain what Peace Corps is over and over, and explain that yes, I am American although I am not blonde and blue-eyed over and over. But overall, people here are open, loving, giving, and kind. I met quite a few people in the community just in the two weeks I’ve been here. I stop by and talk to them and learn so much about their lives, their stories, their history. It’s quite humbling that people are so open to share (their lives, their home, and their food). It reminds me to be more open and not take myself so seriously.

My job for the next 3 months is to complete the CAT (in Spanish), which is a community assessment tool. It’s going to cover everything about the community-- strengths, weaknesses, needs, history, resources, and so on. From there, I will form a plan of action on what projects the community would like to work on. I’m still getting used to the idea of getting up every morning and doing whatever I want... Drinking coffee with a neighbor, eating lunch at a community member’s house, getting to know my host family, walking around town and getting to know people is all part of my job description. :)

And since I’ve moved to Bribri, I have had a bat fly into my room, a big toad hop in the living room, chickens walk into my room, along with numerous insects I’ve never seen buzz and crawl on me. I take a cold, refreshing shower every morning then, pat myself down with powder, sunscreen, and bug repellent. When I walk around town, I use my umbrella - rain and shine - to protect me from the elements. I’ve gone fishing in my host family’s tilapia pond (and caught fish!). We also went and saw the waterfalls about 10min away from where I live. Beautiful.
I miss everyone A LOT and think of you always. I’ll have a new address soon. In the meantime, you can send packages or letters to the Peace Corps office address on my blog. Feel free to send me a book or a DVD. :) I’ve read three books so far and on my fourth. (Just got done with Three Cups of Tea)