Chepe Chronicles

Having previously studied abroad in Ecuador and Guatemala, where there are large Inca and Maya influences respectively, something that immediately stood out in Costa Rica was the lack of indigenous influence on a national level. Compared to almost every other country in the region, Costa Rica has a much smaller indigenous population. Estimates suggest indigenous peoples make up just around 2 percent of the total population. There are still indigenous Ticos and tribes living in Costa Rica; however, these people live much on the periphery of Costa Rican society. Many of these indigenous groups live in the far south or far north of Costa Rica in areas that are inaccessible to a lot of the public. Costa Rica officially recognizes 8 different indigenous groups including Briri, Cabecar, Chorotega, Brunka, Huetar, Maleku, Ngabe, and Broran. Despite living in Costa Rica for over a year, by nature of being in the capital city, I’ve had almost zero contact with Costa Rica’s indigenous culture...

Apologies for not uploading a blog during the last couple weeks. Between Peace Corps training, sickness, and a lot of social events, I simply did not have the time or energy to get blogs together and that’s on me. But, hopefully a more thorough 2-week recap will be sufficient.  The week prior was a fun, involved week at site before heading to a Peace Corps training this last week. At my schools, I continued with many of the same projects. The November deadline for my students’ community service projects is rapidly approaching, so they were even more highly motivated than usual to work on their activities. Because of that, I hosted 2 separate community run clubs on Thursday and Saturday to try and help them close out their required hours. I also continued with my other workshops at the escuela and the colegio . Then, last Sunday, I traveled to the suburb of Escazú for what the Peace Corps calls “MST”, or Mid-Service Training. This training is designed to give volunteers a time for ...

As you’d likely surmise, Spanish is the national language of Costa Rica and is by far the dominant way of communicating here. However, English usage is also on the rise in Costa Rica. In 2018, the then-President of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado announced an ambitious goal in which by 2040 all high school graduates would be bilingual in Spanish and English. English speaking is critical for Costa Rica’s efforts in tourism, business, and international language, and that is why the country has placed such great significance on it. Along with Youth Development and Community Economic Development, English Education is the third within Peace Corps Costa Rica because of its status as a national priority. From my experience, the levels of English literacy vary drastically depending on a person’s geographic and socioeconomic background. Those who live in highly-developed or tourist-heavy areas, more often than not, speak English with a high degree of fluency. However, in my community, which I’d des...

After a whirlwind weekend trip to the States, I was back in Costa Rica for a full week in my community. As mentioned in my prior blog, although I had a great time traveling back to Tennessee, I was ill pretty much my entire trip. Fortunately, on Monday, the schools had another congreso, (teacher’s union) so classes were out. I took advantage of this (and Peace Corps’ great medical care) to go to the Doctor’s and ensure everything was okay. They were pretty confident I had some variation of gripe (flu), and by the time of writing this blog about a week later, I feel much better. But, you never know what kind of bug you might’ve picked up, especially living away from home, so I’m glad that the Peace Corps’ medical team gave me the peace of mind to get it checked out. Classes resumed on Tuesday, and the rest of the week was pretty standard thankfully. Sadly, my Amigos sin Fronteras International Club came to an end on Tuesday. To wrap up their “world tour", students returned “home...

A joke I’ve heard on occasion in Costa Rica is that the country’s eighth province is New Jersey. The largest Costa Rican diaspora does live in the US, particularly in New Jersey; however, far fewer Costa Ricans emigrate compared to other neighbors in Central America, especially in the “Northern Triangle”. There are several reasons for this, but the lack of emigration can almost certainly be tied to Costa Rica’s strong economy, stable government, and democratic values. Because of this, you’re far less likely to see a restaurant specializing in Costa Rican cuisine in the US than you are to come across an establishment like a taquería or pupusería . Many Costa Ricans, or Ticos enjoy traveling to the US too. Most Ticos I know who have previously traveled to the US have been to places like (the aforementioned) New Jersey, Orlando, Miami, California, or Texas. On the other hand, many Costa Ricans haven’t had the chance to visit us stateside even though they’d like to. It is easier for Cost...

T his week was my busiest week in quite some time as the perfect storm of exams ending and personal travel collided. Sometimes it’s nice to have a little bit of time off, but in terms of Peace Corps service, I find these more productive and busy weeks much more satisfying. While I was in Costa Rica for the first few days of the week, I split my time at the colegio and escuela , per usual. At the colegio , I was able to host English sessions with teachers, the student body, and with a special education English group. At the escuela , I resumed PE classes and had another club meeting with my students who are interested in other countries and cultures, Amigos sin Fronteras . In PE, I introduced students to American Football. Some of them had familiarity with the sport because of family in the US, but it was by and large new for everyone there. Although I love football, I fully acknowledge that it is a violent and complicated sport, so I avoided anything but the absolute basics. (Even 2-h...

If you ever wondered if I chose the site in which I serve, although I'm very happy with it, I did not. Peace Corps Volunteers do not get any explicit say in where we are placed, nor do we have any idea where the possible sites are, with limited exceptions (previous sites). Determining where to send volunteers is an art more than a science, and it takes a lot of work. In the case of Youth Development volunteers, like myself, we all work in public education institutions through MEP, the Ministry of Public Education. MEP plays a significant role in determining regions where Youth Development volunteers may be needed the most. Once certain regions are determined, individual communities may request a volunteer. At minimum, there has to be academic institutions willing to welcome a volunteer, and host families willing to house the volunteer as well. From there, Peace Corps meets with teachers, families, and community members to finalize a list of sites. During our training, we had a numb...