Chepe Chronicles

For my next several “sidebar” blogs, I’m going to highlight all of the provinces in Costa Rica on an individual basis. Fortunately, I’ve had the chance to set foot in all of them; however, I’ll admit that my expertise in each varies quite a bit. San José is undoubtedly the province in Costa Rica that I possess the most familiarity with. Peace Corps Costa Rica has volunteers scattered across all 7 provinces, but during my entire time in Costa Rica, both while in Pre-Service Training and at site, I have lived in San José province. San José province most notably contains San José, the capital city of Costa Rica. San José is colloquially referred to as “Chepe”, and someone from the area can be called “Chepeño” or “Chepeña”. San Jos é is undoubtedly the most urban of Costa Rica’s 7 provinces although it extends down to the more mountainous Pérez Zeledón region of Costa Rica. In Pérez Zeledón, you will find Costa Rica’s highest elevation: Mt. Chirripó. Many Peace Corps Volunteers climb Chir...

Tomorrow begins my final school year here in Costa Rica! This “Summer Break” was the last extended time off I’ll have during my Peace Corps service, so I tried to take advantage of that free time as much as I could by spending time with my girlfriend Keily, traveling, applying to jobs, hosting a PE camp, and completing miscellaneous Peace Corps tasks. I feel good about having a productive summer. There weren’t many times that I felt bored or that I wasn’t doing much; however, I’m here to work in the schools, so I’m ready to get back on the job full-time starting tomorrow.  I began the first couple days of the week studying for the Foreign Service Exam and working on some other administrative tasks while I still had some extra flexibility in my schedule. Then, on Wednesday, I traveled south to the beach town of Uvita on the Osa Peninsula. I’d previously gone to that area with my parents over the summer, but this time, I went there to meet up with a good friend and former cross count...

The Costa Rican School Year will start back up after one more week, on Monday, Feb 23. This means the prior month or so has still been a little less busy as it will be in the coming months. Because of that (and the fact that I didn’t have my computer last week) I decided to lump the last 2 weeks’ worth of updates into one blog. The most significant development in my Peace Corps service during February occurred last week. Last Monday, I ventured out to a small village of around 200 in the cantón of Turrialba. There, in the cloud forest, I co-facilitated a Peace Corps project at a fellow volunteer’s site. Since the beginning of our service, he and I have discussed collaborating on a cross-sector project. He’s a community economic volunteer and I’m a youth development volunteer, but his community has requested more volunteerism within the school system. Working together on a kids’ camp in his community seemed like a really natural fit. Last week, we made that vision a reality. Over the c...

One of the main things I’ve come to appreciate about the Peace Corps is the agency’s approach to development. My graduate studies were much more focused on general international relations education than on international development, so our training in development, and specifically how the Peace Corps approaches it, was really fascinating. Growing up in Southwest Missouri, many of my friends went on mission trips, so that was my first exposure to the idea of "international development". I’ve always had some healthy skepticism about missionary work in developing parts of the world. Not always, but oftentimes, mission trips offer short-term help to a population or community, in the name of religion, before departing. Frequently, this kind of work is centered around doing something FOR a community rather than WITH a community. This dynamic subsequently creates a dependence tied to religion. This means that communities may be given some amenities to improve their lives on a tempo...

The Panama trip was fantastic, and because Costa Rican students and teachers are still on school break for another month or so, I didn’t immediately have to rush back into work the following week. Although it would be nice to just kick my legs up and relax during this time, (I’m doing a little bit of that too) I’m trying to take advantage of this free time as much as possible knowing that it’s the last extended break I’ll have while I’m still in Peace Corps service. What does that look like? I spent my week, and will likely spend lots of time going forward, preparing for the upcoming year as well as my post-Peace Corps service life. I planned some activities for an upcoming PE camp I’m doing in a couple weeks, studied for the Foreign Service Exam, and started the process of flagging potential job opportunities that I can apply to over the next several months.  When I’m not focusing on my professional future, I’ve appreciated having the extra time to hang out with my girlfriend, Kei...