May 26-June 1: Consistency and Confidence Creciendo en la Comunidad

I really don’t have a ton of interesting content to report this week, but that’s life as a Peace Corps Volunteer sometimes. In reality, I’ll take my lack of news as a good sign because I think that means because my projects and activities have become more consistent and that I’m in more of a rhythm as a volunteer. Highlights at the centros educativos included hosting some more PE soccer sessions and some workshops at the escuela and further developing community service projects with students at the colegio. My colegio is huge (over 1000 students), and I’ve been a little frustrated with my lack of headway in regards to starting projects and forging meaningful relationships there. So, I also spent time brainstorming other ways to get more involved in the building. I came up with a project proposal that I’ll present to the principal next week for approval.

In last week’s blog, I mentioned that the second leg of the Gran Final for Costa Rica’s first division of soccer was set to take place this Wednesday. Unfortunately, my team, Liga, lost to Herediano, who is now the back-to-back champion of Costa Rica. My students and host grandpa (a massive Herediano fan) loved giving me a hard time about the loss. Over the weekend, I met some other volunteers for lunch at a mall in San Pedro and ran in Barrio Escalante on Sunday with my running club, Club Secreto. The run ended at a coffee shop that hires exclusively women who are survivors of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. They always meet at cool cafes, but I thought that this cause was a particularly great one worth mentioning. Although this wasn’t the most eventful 7 days, I’m grateful to be more comfortable and confident in my experiences here with each passing week.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Home for the Holidays: Christmas in MO, New Year's in CR

Image
It's been a busy couple of weeks! Normally I try to post my weekly recaps on Sundays, but I figured it may make more sense to lump everything related to the holidays together in one blog.  On Dec 23, I flew back to Southwest Missouri to be home for Christmas with my family. This was the first time I'd been back in the Ozarks since I began my Peace Corps Service a year and a half ago (roughly 18 months). I was really excited to spend time with family, get some comfort food, and enjoy some colder weather. All three of those things occurred eventually, thankfully, although the latter wasn't until the end of my trip due to a record-breaking warm Christmas Day.  My time at home, was fun and much-needed, although it wasn't particularly relaxing. We had a number of Christmas celebrations and activities, so my time back home went by pretty fast. Some highlights of the trip included celebrating my Dad's birthday sharing a tomahawk steak, eating some Springfield-style Cashew ...
Read more

Sidebar #58 - 2026 Costa Rican Presidential Election

Image
Note: These are my objective observations of Costa Rica’s upcoming election as a foreigner living here, not my personal opinions. Additionally, these observations are my own and don’t reflect those of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps. This is a big week for Costa Rica. On Sunday, February 1, Costa Ricans will cast ballots for their next President. There are other elections, namely legislative, that are also happening on Sunday, but for the purpose of this blog, I’ll keep it simple and focus on the Presidential election taking place. There are several differences between the Costa Rican presidential process and our elections in the US. One of these distinctions is the sheer number of political parties, and therefore, presidential candidates. The election is Sunday (I’m writing this on Thursday) and there are still roughly 20 candidates in the race (with varying degrees of viability). In Costa Rica, the President cannot serve consecutive terms, meaning that there will be a new Pres...
Read more

Feb 17-23: Settling in at School + a Weekend in Puerto Viejo

Image
My first three or four months at site were a bit chaotic as I finished my diagnostic report, or “CASA” report, about the community. Fortunately, counterparts at my respective academic institutions were in frequent contact and communicated to me on the onset of each week how I should divide my time between the schools. However, since classes resumed in February, a more formal schedule has begun to crystallize for me. I’ll spend Mondays and Wednesdays at the high school, or colegio , and Tuesdays and Thursdays at the escuela , or elementary school. Fridays will alternate between them so that I can ensure I split my time evenly at each institution. Although having that schedule seems like a small development, it feels like a bit of a breakthrough in my service to establish more day-to-day consistency. Being the first Peace Corps volunteer in my town’s history, all of this is still relatively new for everyone involved, so getting all parties on the same page feels like a win. And not only...
Read more