I actually don't have a whole lot to update on even though its been around 20 days since the previous update.  There are no new projects and the current projects are relatively in the same place as they were last update.  There has been a couple steps forward, I got to attend the USA-Costa Rica soccer game on Tuesday (not the greatest result), attend a PCV viewing party of the elections (an even worse result...) and begun to think about what the hell I am going to be doing this time in 6 short months.  Thanksgiving is only 6 days away, i'm only 25 or so days from headed to the states for the first time in almost 2 years and around six months from completing my assignment here in Costa Rica.  Anyway, this should be a fairly short update but in order to shorten the time in between updates and not be stuck trying to get too much information into one update, I decided to go ahead and write a quick entry.

Recycling Update

Alright we have made it 20 days without having any major issues; so far so good!  In fact, this previous Tuesday, the committee actually met and planted some trees and washed the new bus stop (more on that later) without me or the science teacher being present.  Last Tuesday, we met with to install 2 of the 6 new signs that we purchased with the remaining grant money.  We didn't get started until around 3:30 because people showed up late (at least they showed up...) but with the help of another adult in the community, we ended up working until well past dark and install all 6 signs in a single afternoon.  It was really great to see the committee really enjoying working together and the experience of doing something for the community.  Four of the signs promote recycling or caring for the community and the other two were purchased separately by the science teacher to advise drivers they are approaching a school and slow down.  Already multiple people have told me how nice the signs look and are wondering how we can get a couple more near their house or community building.

We also met two weeks ago to install the repainted sign that identified where the recycling center is and it looks GREAT!  We had a smaller turn out that day because of school exams but we were still able to finish painting the sign and installing it in a much more visible place and have some plans to further beautify the area around the sign by painting the rocks around the sign and planting flowers around the base of the sign.

Finally, throughout the past two weeks we have gone a couple times to plant trees around the soccer field and even had a couple of other students from the escuela come and help with the project which I used as a base to promote the committee and protecting the environment.

Bus Stop

The other big update is that Linea Vieja almost has a bus stop (a bus is a different story) and within the coming week it should be complete.  What started as a copy of the benches turned into a bigger idea when the ADI got involved last month.  I had originally planned to go to houses and the pulperia and ask people to support the project by donating whatever they could but the ADI had almost all the materials leftover from previous projects and since the president is incredibly supportive any project offered to donate whatever was necessary as long as I coordinated labor (which is always the harder part since most people would rather donate 2 bucks than donate an hour of free labor).  Luckily, the president of the recycling committee (a student) knew someone in the town over, Don Juan, that knows how to weld and managed to get him to agree to donating a day of labor to come and finish the rest of the welding the pastor was unable to complete.  Between the ADI president and the pastor we had enough materials and equipment to complete the final steps to the bus stop and with the help of a couple other people in the community, we went and installed the bus stop in the ground.  Over the next week or two, I plan to go with the recycling committee to wash the roofing material and paint the bus stop with aluminum paint then coordinate with the ADI to screw in the roof material and VOILA we have a bus stop.  The next step will be communicating with the bus service that we have completed the stop and finalize plans for a bus to come into the community at least ONCE per week.  It certainly is the small things here.

Soccer Game

All I can really say is that it was a good experience to actually attend the game in the stadium but the game was a bit of a blowout...USA lost 4-0.  My host mom told me when I got back that all the high school kids in the house watching the game were looking for me on TV and every time a "gringo" appeared they all thought it was me.  I've received my fair share of trash talk since coming back but it was a great experience.  On top of that, one of my buddies here used a bunch of his Hilton points and was able to get us a room in the Hilton (complete with a roof top pool overlooking the stadium) for only $20 each.  I have stayed at nice hotels before but that hotel was NICEEE, really hard to leave that luxury.

Final Updates

The soccer team has grown to 6 members, still too few to play but at least I am able to interact more with the kids and give them something to do.  Honestly more older kids are showing up at the practices and asking if they can play which I am now considering since they would probably be less of a headache to train.

The medical clinic project is still in limbo since after updating the budget, the woman who went to get the budget done brought back a list that didn't have any of the unit prices of the materials, only a final amount which doesn't really do me any good.  Also, the anti-drug organization has yet to contact me and the organization for seniors has yet to give me a response after seeming so interested at the beginning.  The big problem with this is that two of the grants objectives focus on working with these organizations and without their support, the only option I have is to do the presentations myself which is way out of my comfort zone and Spanish ability.

I'm also attempting to grow tomatoes in my windowsill...so far I have three small plants making an appearance.  I used compost to mix with the soil and am trying to grow them from seeds which is a lot harder than I expected and now that rainy season has arrived (been pouring 2 days straight) I am not expecting too much. 

In only 6 short days I will be back in San Jose for Thanksgiving with a group of around 16 other Peace Corps volunteers.  Last year after doing the traditional PC thing and attending dinner at the directors house, we decided that this year we would rent a house and cook our own dinner (fingers crossed someone actually knows what they're doing).  After that, only 20 more days here in Linea Vieja and I'll be back in San Jose getting ready to get on a plane back to the States.

Thanks for reading as always!

-Conor