Sep 8-14: My 100th blog, Dia del Niño y más

Before I dive into my weekly recap, I wanted to acknowledge that this is the 100th blog I’ve posted since beginning my Peace Corps service in Costa Rica. That’s probably demasiado, (too much) so I really appreciate anyone who is still following along. It’s been fun for me to create this digital archive for the future, and I hope those who have read my blogs have learned something about Costa Rica and/or Peace Corps.

As August wrapped up, my counterparts at both centros educativos warned me that I may not be able to conduct my typical sessions throughout September because it’s such a chaotic time. I was a little skeptical, but their prediction has been proven true thus far. Despite the lack of normalcy, I’ve been kept plenty busy. 


Probably the most noteworthy day of the week was on Tuesday. In Costa Rica, the nation celebrates Día del Niño - or Children's Day. This isn’t a feriado in which the whole country gets the day off from school and work; rather, Ticos use the day to highlight youth and educate students on their rights and responsibilities. Most schools have an educational component to the celebration, but also make it primarily a fun day. At my escuela, they had recreational stations - it reminded me of “field day” in the States. I spent all day helping run mejengas for students, (mini soccer games) which is something they’ve been asking for all year.



Meanwhile, at the colegio, I hosted my first informal English charla (chat) on Wednesday during the lunch break. I didn’t market it too much this first time around because I wanted to have a practice run first, but I was glad a few students showed up and practiced their English. I also swung by a technical English class to help students learn about agricultural and farming terms. Finally, as sometimes happens in high schools, there was a big fight at my colegio this week, so I was tasked with helping observe students who had to provide written testimonies on what occurred before the police got involved. That was an important reminder that it’s not always fun and games working in education (whether in Costa Rica, the US, or another country), and I’ve promised to be as transparent and malleable as possible as a volunteer.



As much as I love traveling, it was nice not to move around as much this weekend, although it was a busy time in Costa Rica. I’ll probably expand on Costa Rica’s independence day traditions in a separate sidebar next week as I think they merit a more thorough explanation, but basically there are multiple days of celebrations leading up to the actual independence day on the 15th. So, despite it being a Sunday and not a school day, I’ll actually go to the escuela tonight to partake in some festivities. But, I’m posting this on Sunday afternoon to stay on schedule, so I’ll provide more details in the aforementioned sidebar next week.

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