For having prepared myself to leave and work abroad for two years and for the almost year and a half application and assignment process, I slept very well the night before I boarded the
plane to DC for Staging, the event that brought all 31 of us together. The year and a half leading up to this was spent thinking of the
things I would be doing around the world, Kenya, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, who knew? Since February however,
I had spent my time in disbelief and waiting for someone to tell me it was a typo or wrong email. Costa Rica
you say? That’s just a joke, no one gets that lucky. 2 weeks in at this point
and I still say its all a dream.
I left FLL around 8 am and said good bye to mom and dad at the airport, something I hadn't done in years. I made it safely into DC
around 1130, all things accounted for. I took a cab ride with a man from Egypt and we
talked about politics, the massive protests going on and how when people are oppressed for so
long, they could and will fight back. He
did most of the talking, rightly so. Being American I have realized, we only get worked up about short term injustices, and televise them for a few months before we all return to normal. Alyssa was the first person I met and we
shared a room. We wondered around to get food before our official orientation began at
1230. We waited in line and struck up conversation with our soon to be
colleagues Laura, Jessica and Kiara. Staging was a mix of getting to know you activities
and explanation of expectations from our side of the fence as well as the Peace
Corps outlined list. After staging, we set a time to meet back up and go out
for dinner. As per usual I was late, but this time only by 2 minutes! Still, I
was two minutes too late so I talked with my mom and Jason on the phone and
pretended that they were with me as I sat at the restaurant/ bar in the hotel,
ate a giant cheeseburger and had a glass of whiskey on the rocks before heading
to bed; my final fling with my North American cuisine. I don’t think I was sad at actually being
alone. I think I was sad more at the concept of being alone the night before I
leave the country. All's well that ends well, I had a nice chat with Alyssa
before bed upon both our safe returns and we napped for a few hours before we
had to meet downstairs for check out at 230 am…flight leaves at 6. The
expression “hurry up and wait” never fails to be accurate in so many instances.
Fading in and out of dreams, I remember thinking to myself, hey Marlee remember
that day you are supposed to fly to Costa Rica, to which I quickly realized my plane was already headed that way.
The ride to
Costa Rica was a few hours and let me tell you how excited I was to see
mountains again, real mountains; I knew, even if it was still a dream it was a
damn good one. After we landed and got our things we were shuffled around the
small airport until we reached our buses and were whisked away
to Tres Rios for orientation week. It was beautiful there. We didn’t get to see
the three rivers the name boasts about but we saw plenty of romantic city
lights in the valley below and spent the better part of those four days bonding
over food, soccer, giant moths, lack of language proficiency for some of us and
the state of awe we were all still in. Even when it rains in Costa Rica, I
smile. Four days came and went and we were once again shuffled out and onto the
buses that would take us to our new families. The night before however we celebrates by dancing and showing off our talents and or
lack there of. There was juggling and nun-chucks and dance lessons, it was nice to hang out all together in such an atmosphere.
The day we got to our family felt to me, and some
agreed, like a team reveal day at an orphanage. We were all homeless and going
to be completely dependent on our new families for quite a few many things
until we got the hang of it…if we got a hang of it. Christopher, Ramona, and I
were placed carefully in the boundaries of our new community and in a few short
meters, I was home. My new family has a beautiful home, open for family and
friends alike; and to me it is quite cozy. I have a lovely mother who is a
wonderful mom to her three kids, two boys 17 and 19 and one girl, who is 10 and
my best little teacher. My host dad is also a wonderful dad; being able
to be an outsider it isn’t hard to tell that there is a lot of love
here. I feel akin to the littlest one, probably because we are both growing
into own at the same time. My first night was a little overwhelming as they had
some family over, including kids and because I couldn’t keep up with the
adults, I hung out with them and they taught me some Spanish. The little one
also wrote me a note of which I’ll probably keep forever. I am so very
grateful for my family here. They remind me of the way things were for me when
I was about 14 or 15. There are lives and girlfriends and plans and, well no
cell phones in my day ;), but us kids had lives of our own and yet home was
where we all orbited each other and the force that tied us together. My family
has made me feel more than comfortable, which perhaps I should keep in mind. I
feel safe and although I am miles and miles away from home, there is a very
familiar feeling, like I really haven’t gone all that far.
Indeed, there is much more of my North American/ western roots here
than I planned on seeing and in some ways it makes me sad to see such a heavy influence.
Where at the same time, progress takes on many forms and it has been welcomed
from what I can tell thus far. People I have encountered are incredibly hospitable, sincere, and willing to help; even when my Spanish sounds more like Chinese for all they or I know. In the mean time, I am learning the language, poco y
poco, and I’m finding my way around. Every day is a new lesson, a new
adventure, a new story shared and a new one to tell.
