I am officially halfway through with my Peace Corps service, 16 months into my 27 month commitment but because it is usually measured by time in site, I am officially 12 months into my 24 month commitment here in Linea Vieja.  It feels pretty strange to think I am only halfway done but at the same time, already halfway done.  Sixteen months have gone so quickly but another twelve months seems like an eternity but luckily I have projects on the horizon and I have technically started the countdown portion of my Peace Corps service (you count up to the first year mark and once you reach it, the countdown portion begins).  This time last year, I was one week into my service here, getting to know the community, figuring out how the hell to get in and out on the buseta and trying to figure out internet accessibility.  I was however fairly optimistic about my next 2 years in Linea Vieja:

"Well it has officially been a week since I arrived in site and I already feel a lot better about the community and living here for the next two years."

These past two weeks have been full of speaking English, great food, AC, comfortable beds, good friends, etc. but now I have to restart the process I started one year ago and get back into the swing of things once again.  But this year, I have great relationships with community members, know everyone here, have tangible projects behind me and have almost too much to do.  I went back to read some of my initial blog entries last year and it is truly incredible how far I have been able to come in just this past year.  I have established good relationships and lost some; started some amazing projects and never began others; learned so much more about Linea Vieja and myself through the process.  

During my Mid Service Training (MST), we had to begin to plan out projects for our last year here and listen to projects (successes and failures) of other volunteers.  This coming year I have the following projects in play: finishing the court and organizing an auction of the materials left behind by the team, completing the bridge application to Engineers Without Borders, organizing a Project and Design Management workshop for the ADI, helping the women's group design a project, finalize the recycling grant, sports camps with other volunteers, possibly trying to hold a small business class for colegio students.  Some of these projects are already in progress, some are just about to begin and some are just ideas that may or may not happen.  Regardless, I think this coming year will be extremely productive and busy for the community and myself.

Vacation with Ryan

Last Saturday as MST was ending, Ryan and his friend Patrick arrived to Costa Rica for a week long vacation here.  We spent 3 nights in an "all inclusive" hotel in the pacific beach town of Jaco where we spent days gorging ourselves, enjoying the beach and Pacific ocean, and an afternoon zip lining tour.  On top of all this, I barely had to spend a dime since Ryan graciously offered to pay for the entire trip.  While the food may have been a little lower quality than Ryan and Patrick were hoping for, it was absolutely incredible for me but I also realized how much I miss variety and all the food back home, while also realizing how much I enjoy the tico food here (I actually chose to eat gallo pinto, rice and beans, for breakfast rather than pancakes).  I am hoping that I put on around 5 pounds this past week with all the food I ate.

The next two nights were spent in beautiful Manuel Antonio national park in another beautiful hotel right along the beach.  We spent Wednesday exploring the national park, spending a few hours on the 15th best beach in the world, chasing away monkeys and raccoons trying to steal whatever they could and searching for sloths.  I have been to Manuel now 5 times but this was only my second time in the National Park, and first time since my trip here in 2008 and it was so much nicer than I remembered.  We also hiked a lot more of the park than I did the previous time and saw some amazing wildlife along the way.  The monkeys and raccoons are a lot tamer than they were before and the raccoons in particular would walk right up to your stuff and actually fight you for your food, even trying to bite people who fought back.

The final night was spent in San Jose so that there wouldn't be any trouble getting to the airport and for me getting to my only bus to site.  Again, another great hotel with AC, a pool, amazing breakfast and an incredible steak dinner paid for by Ryan, honestly one the best dinners I have had in a while.

Coming Back

It certainly has been a bit of a challenge coming back from these past 2 weeks and coming back to the humble living conditions here in Linea Vieja but it helps to know that the community has been looking forward to me coming back and waiting anxiously for me.  When I entered on a flatbed truck on Friday (the buseta was broken down), everyone I past smiled, yelled something at me, or welcomed me back as we past them.  I decided to take it easy this weekend instead of trying to get right back to "work" and spent the days playing basketball and hanging out with the family however I am looking forward to Monday when I can get back into the swing of the community and getting my face back out there.  Certainly lots to do and lots to look forward to this coming year but also so much to look back on and be proud of.  I have definitely come a long way and Peace Corps administration is proud that I was able to stick out the rough first three months and really make the best of a tough situation.  Here's to the next 359 days!!!

Thanks for reading as always!

-Conor