It seems so long ago I got the message from my parents that they had purchased a ticket for me to come home for Christmas.  I haven't been home to the States in nearly 650 days, haven't had Chipolte or Five Guys since February 2015, lost nearly 20 pounds, learned so much about Costa Rica, myself and my community, can fluently speak a second language, made amazing friendships, survived natural disasters and earthquakes, etc.  I have had days where I haven't left the house and days where all I wanted to do is get home and take 5 minutes to relax on my bed.  Days where I wanted to throw everything down and go home and days where I thought about extending or doing Peace Corps again in another country.  I have counted down every day since my parents told me I was coming home for the holidays not because I want to leave here and the friendships and relationships I have made but simply because there are so many comforts of being around whats familiar (whether it will actually be familiar now after so long is yet to be discovered), being around family during Christmas, experiencing a change in climate and, most importantly (sorry family), the food!!  

These 633 days since arrival in Costa Rica have been life changing and as of today, I only have 180 days left here.  Difficult conversations have already started; "are you ever going to come back?", "can you pack me in a suitcase to take me with you?", "what are we going to do on your last day?".  It begins to put everything I have done here in perspective; not so much the projects but how simply my presence has had an effect here.  If there is one thing I would say to prospective Peace Corps volunteers is to not worry about the projects you will complete, those will come naturally throughout your service.  Instead, focus on the people, the relationships and truly listening to the the community.  I have started to look back at my early entries, mainly the predeparture and training entries and what my concerns were.  I remember being the most nervous about being stuck in a community where there was no projects or I would be placed in an unstructured environment where I would have to come up with the projects.  Thankfully, Peace Corps does throw you into a community without giving you a structure or specific project where you have to start conversations with the community in order to identify the needs in the community and define your role in the projects.  We are not here as a bank, the "rich gringo" or here to complete million dollar projects but we are a professional human resource that knows how to navigate the internet, communicate with organizations that provide access to large funds and in some cases, we have access to small amounts of money to empower the community to make the change they see necessary.  I am incredibly proud to call myself 1 of the 120-something PCCR volunteers and 1 of 220,000 volunteers worldwide since 1961.

On to the update...that was a little drawn out.  This will likely be a small update because there hasn't been that much that has occurred since the previous update (besides a category 2 hurricane, getting evacuated, and a 5.7 earthquake...).  Project-wise, we have made some progress with the bus stop by washing it down and getting the aluminum roofing materials cleaned and prepped for painting.  We have started building a trashcan out of plastic soda bottles and hope to make visible progress, if not complete it, by next Tuesday.  I have started to write out a final report for the recycling grant (only 6 months late) to close out the small grant.  AND I have finally submitted the grant for the medical clinic for final review and approval.  Event-wise, as mentioned, there was a category 2 hurricane bearing down on us this time last week, Thanksgiving, and a 5.7 magnitude earthquake on Wednesday.

Recycling

This will be the majority of the update.  Last week we actually met TWICE in a week and were productive both days...I think thats a first with this group.  Tuesday we went and washed down the bus stop to prep it for paint and then went and washed the aluminum roofing materials and were going to start to paint them but ran out of daylight.  On Wednesday, we met again to start the preliminary steps to making a trash can out of plastic bottles.  The first step was the most time consuming but luckily we had around 8 members show up and help prep the bottles by making a hole through the top of the bottle, one through the bottom and one on each side of the bottle.  Even with that amount of people helping, it took us almost 2 hours to prep the 100 bottles necessary for the trash can.  The next steps are much quicker but require a little more concentration and know-how.  Using the metal wire we bought, we stick a straight piece through the bottle, top up and make a column of about 6-7 bottles.  Then once we have about 10-11 columns ready, we string another wire through the sides of the bottles with a hook at the end of the wire.  We string the horizontal wire through the hook, pull tight and voila...you have a trash can

I have started to write up the "mid-point" report for the grant even though it has now been nearly a year since receiving the funds but it feels good to have progress on the project and be able to report to the organization that there was some good that came out of their investment.

Medical Clinic

Only a small update here to say that I have finally went ahead and submitted the grant and waiting final review from the grant coordinator here and final approval.  Once its approved, you will be able to find it on this page:

https://donate.peacecorps.gov/donate/

Even though it isn't up there yet, I encourage you, if you are able, to donate to PC projects around the world.  You are able to read into the project and see more detail about where the project is taking place, the objectives, and who the project aims at helping.  These project on this page rely specifically on individual donations in order to fund the project so every amount really does go far.

We also got word that the organization that works with seniors will be coming into the community starting the first week of February.  I was beginning to worry as I had already sent two additional emails since submitting the application and had yet to hear anything but they instead contacted the project lead (the president of the EBAIS) in order to coordinate visits which makes my life so much easier!!

Thanksgiving "Week"

After getting home late in the week after the soccer game, I turned on CÑÑ Saturday or Sunday and saw a headline about a "tropical depression" forming off the coast of Panama in the Caribbean sea. The initial track was literally directly at my community, the first tropical storm to hit Costa Rica since the early 90s (I believe).  Well as the day went on, the storm was strengthened to a category 1 hurricane but the track stayed the same meaning my community in the path of the first hurricane in the history of Costa Rica.  My community, where the houses are made of rotting wood and tin roofs; where people make their living off extremely weak banana, plantain and yucca trees; where a large river runs along the edge of the community (and a couple dozen feet from my house). 

On Monday, a neighbor volunteer decided to visit (this was before there was any worry about the hurricane).  At 11 on Tuesday, we received an email from PC saying they were "recommending" ALL Limon volunteers to evacuate to San Jose ASAP.  A half hour later, we received another email saying that it was now MANDATORY for all Limon and Zona Norte volunteers to evacuate ASAP to San Jose where PC would put us up until the danger past.  Even though the hurricane wasn't supposed to make landfall until later Wednesday, it was strengthened to a category 2 and PC was worried if they waited any longer, some volunteers would not be able to make it out of site in time.  Not complaining, they put us up in the Crowne Plaza, complete with breakfasts,lunch, AC, soft, queen sized beds..the works. (I think i'm getting a little too used to luxury).

Wednesday, a group of 16 or so volunteers made our way to the house we had rented for the holiday.  The house was advertised as a "1970s style James Bond house"...the appliances at least were from the 70s which made cooking a lot more difficult.  But it had cable (complete with some English channels and football), Wifi and a Jacuzzi so again...can't complain.  Plus, the dinner was incredible!!  I managed to cook a pumpkin pie as well...somehow.

The storm ended up going a little further north than expected and left my community practically untouched but destroyed areas along the border of Nicaragua and left 9 people dead.  However, PC wasn't too sure of the area around my community and the river level so they put me up again in the Crowne Plaza along with all the volunteers from the Zona Norte who were still on the consolidation phase of the emergency plan.  

Anyway...cross surviving a hurricane in Costa Rica off the list.  And while we're at it, cross surviving a 5.7 magnitude earthquake off the list too.  It was actually tame where I was, just a little shaking of the house, but up in the mountains it was pretty strong and resulted in some structural damage.

Thanks for reading as always!  Only 12 more days until I am back in San Jose getting ready to board an airplane to the States for the first time in nearly 2 years!!  Happy December!!

-Conor