27 Months of La Pura Vida

Well its almost been a month since my last update and I am again in the position of trying to fit everything that has happened this past month into a concise update that doesn't go on and on.  This past month has seen a lot of little steps towards completing the medical clinic project, a refreshed and functioning recycling group, coordinating further visits from the social worker, organizing a workshop for the elderly group, a visit from Peace Corps to explain the process of receiving another volunteer next year, a regional meeting, a trip to an amusement park with the community and an amazing 3 days in Bocas del Toro, Panama!!  So as you can tell, I have a lot to talk about but not too much space so I will get right into it.

Recycling

I will start with this project since it has been one that has been a constant source of pride and successes but also a huge pain and source of frustration.  Last month, I called a meeting with the remaining 5 members of the committee (down from 12!) to say I was tired to putting my energy into the project and not seeing any real commitment from the group.  Meetings were called, no one showed up.  We would agree to start a project but that's as far as it would go. $250 was still sitting in the bank and we couldn't even decided to spend it.  Now its not fair to say we haven't done anything with this group but the big problem is we will work for a month and then everything just falls apart the following month.  However, we are in one of our crest periods where work has started again, there are 5 new members and we have made some decent progress in completing some projects.  

Last week we decided to use the remaining grant money to buy a series of signs that promote recycling, care for the environment etc. to be placed around the community.  Rafa went and coordinated with a local business in Gaupiles to have the signs made and hopefully this coming Wednesday or Thursday, we will have them brought into the community and installed.  We also went with the committee over the past two weeks to clean and repaint the sign of the recycling center and will be installing that in a more visible location this coming week.  To hopefully counter the crests and valleys that we have experienced so much, we decided to make shorter term goals, revise the work plan monthly and hold one planning meeting a month and three monthly "work" meetings where we collect materials, install signs, etc.  We also had Jorge come and fix the bicycle pump and it is working perfectly! Although you have to really pedal hard to get water out...

Medical Clinic

The objectives are finally complete and the budget is nearly done but we still need a few more details in order to complete and submit the project which is rapidly approaching the December deadline.  However, we are coordinating further visits with the social worker for 6 more sessions to the elderly group about living a healthy lifestyle in old age.  We are also coordinating with a woman Ligia met to hold a workshop for the elderly group about how to make bags and small flowers out of plastic grocery bags and tabs from aluminium cans.

Soccer Teams

A surprisingly frustrating project.  After a whole bunch of kids said they were interested in a weekend soccer team, not a single kid showed up to the first practice last week.  Monica, my host sister, and I are hopeful for today since a couple kids asked me this past week to see whether there is practice this week but its certainly less kids than I had thought and apparently many of the girls were not given permission by their fathers to participate which is so hard for me to understand but what can I do...

Bocas del Toro, Panama

One of the most amazing places I have seen in my life.  Crystal blue water, completely transparent, great food, US brands, cheap beer, cheap tours that last all day, white sand beaches, and an amazing mix of cultures and peoples. 

Following two nights in Cahuita in Costa Rica for a regional meeting and workshop the following day, myself and three other PCVs headed down to Panama on a private bus on the way to Bocas crossed the border, finally got some stamps in my Peace Corps passport and then went on our way to the boat launch for the 40 minute ride into Bocas.  The town itself is fairly developed for being a small island; grocery stores, great variety of restaurants, a bank, bars, hostels, etc.  Once you are on the main island, most everything is by boat which in my opinion makes it even better.  One of the other volunteers, Matt, and I paid $30 each for a seven hour boat tour to see dolphins, hang out on an amazing white sand national park to the entrance to the islands, snorkeling, a trip to "Sloth island" and finally to a small area where tons of starfish inhabit.  The following day we stayed on the main island and took a $2 shuttle ride across the island to visit another beach.  After getting off the shuttle, we took another small boat ride to starfish beach where we spend the day hanging out in a secluded beach with a whole bunch of starfishes.  Each day we headed to a bar called Aqua Lounge that has swings and rope swings into the water from the deck of the bar.  Beers were only a $1 or $.75 if you were playing beer pong.  The staff was made up of really friendly volunteers from all over the world and the food was a welcome change from the usual diet from site.  It was definitely hard to leave this part of paradise after only three short days but its on the list of places to visit again, hopefully sometime soon!

Peace Corps Visit

This past Wednesday, Don Luis Mata, the head of the CED program in Costa Rica, paid a visit to Linea Vieja to hold a short presentation to the leaders of the community about the process of requesting a new volunteer for next year, what is required from the community and how to improve their chances of receiving a volunteer.  Peace Corps requires a minimum of 12 people at these presentation so Olger and myself were scrambling to find 12 people that would be willing to take an hour of their time on a Wednesday at 10 am to attend.  After a bit of a scare, we ended up getting 15 people to attend the meeting and Don Luis was very content with the participation and attendance from the community.

Amusement Park Trip

Yesterday, I got to go with about 25 other people from the community to Parque Diversiones in San Jose.  A woman here in the community organized a trip and transportation to the park and a "special pass" that allowed us to ride all the rides an unlimited amount of times (the other option is buying individual tickets and using those to ride the rides).  We left the community in a private bus at 5 am and didn't get back to the community until 10 pm...I was exhausted. I started out babysitting Michelle and other younger kids but luckily one of the other moms took over and I got to go around with some of the high school kids and go on the bigger rides.  The park itself is a lot smaller than parks in the US but was a fun experience nonetheless.  

16 days until I go to the Costa Rica-USA soccer game, 26 days until Thanksgiving, only 46 days until I am freezing back in the USA for Christmas and as incredible as it sounds, I only have 7 more months left here in Linea Vieja.  Last night on the bus ride back to the community, one of the parents started talking about when I am going to leave, whether I will ever come back and how hard it will be to say goodbye.  7 months out and even thinking about having to leave this life behind is hard to comprehend.

Thanks for reading as always!

-Conor