my first week of many

I don’t feel bad for waking up late 7:45, working out and taking my time at this breakfast nook… nope. And I'm not even sure I have a right to feel this way. But I'll justify it by explaining that I have had 4 relatively productive days, in a row! I met with all counterparts; devised a temporary work schedule for myself at least at the high school, and I have a date with most of the faculty in the high school in two weeks to deliver my not yet finished surveys. I have a tutor that has agreed to help me continue my Spanish learning and I initiated email correspondence with Hazel (best teacher ever) to further help me with my Spanish. I've been to the escuela everyday and the high school almost every day, been to the EBAIS and PANI and met with Laura, half for funzies and half cause we had our meeting with Enid at MUSADE. Every day I have had at least one meeting, one good conversation, or mini goal achieved.  My host mom and sister seem to think I'll have lots of friends in no time. Social, professional, personal development, check check check for this week. Again, I'm not sure I have the right to feel this way, I may just be justifying laziness and underachievement, but right now I'm enjoying it. I know other volunteers have given charlas, taught classes, are already famous in their towns! Ill get there, I have two neighborhood kids that call my name when they see me walking up the street. Poco a poco is how it goes. There are over 400 kids in the escuela, and over 800 in the high school, and I have two years to get in with them. So, basically I’m happy with where I ended up. All things considered, I feel accomplished. One bad thing, I totally forgot that I have objectives that I can fall back on to explain myself. When my new work partners at the high school look at me and ask what I need help with or what projects I'm interested in, I was too busy worrying if they realized I still have the post of my piercing in my lip. Note to self, I should start working my actual objectives into their (and my) understanding of why I'm really here. Tomorrow is an acto civico, at 7 am. First off who celebrates things this early. A 3AM march in Los Angeles? 7 AM community get-together at escuelas around the country for Dia de Cultura? Anyway, I have that tomorrow, should be fun, then an afternoon hanging out with Laura, maybe a mountain to climb? Vamos a ver que va a pasar!

the days keep coming...

Today was a day unlike but very like the rest. I woke up “late” around 730 and began the second piece of my present for my host sister, today being her birthday. I’m broke, and this being the case for many years, I have increasingly become more apt to making my gifts. Friendship bracelets it is! She is turning 11 and I’m leaving soon and although she gets her room back and her mom back, I’d like to think that she’ll at least keep me in mind. I know that I'll miss her either way. The rest of my day, almost in its entirety, was spent building and decorating a piñata. Tomorrow is our family party for our families and instructors. We were encouraged to bring some of our culture into the mix so its bbq themed with root-beer float deserts. Keeping in mind we are not actually in the States, we kept some Costa Rican traditions around, like piñatas and cafecito. There was an attempt at committees and planning, but then life happened and the balance of keeping sane between new experiences pushed it back until now, when it’s in our laps. I have faith that as long as the food is alright, and it doesn’t rain too much, we will be just fine. My piñata reminds me of a spongebob character but for a first attempt at hand making one, it’s not half bad. At least I’m expecting it to be destroyed. From now until Wednesday we are chock full of activities, none of which I think will give me the time to let it all sink in. Family party, final interviews, final language class, talk by the stand in ambassador, graduation, lunch, dinner, packing, gift giving, saying goodbye, and a bus ride. It’s fair to say that I have made it to the full-fledged  “homesickness” stage. KFC commercials make me both hungry and sad, the breeze puts me back in Vermont on my mountain side campus, laughing makes me miss my mom. It started as something I couldn’t believe, mostly because I don’t have specific home to miss, but I guess it’s about time I missed all of it. The things I once knew and were familiar with are fading into a background as something totally new takes up the space between my ears. A new language, new rhythm, new job, new people to meet, new tasks at hand and new expectations. It’s enough to make one miss KFC commercials and find a newfound appreciation for 80's pop music.