Chepe Chronicles

I e njoyed this week a lot, because it was the second week since restarting my workshops for the year, and thus it felt like a productive week in which I finally started to settle into a bit of a rhythm. Over the course of the week, I hosted several PE classes as I wanted to rotate through each group of 4th through 6 grade classes before they go on school break next week. A pretty big breakthrough that occurred at the escuela this week was that the school’s administration created an official schedule for me for the remainder of this year. Previously, I’d scheduled sessions with each individual teacher and tried to host a PE or life skills workshop with each group at minimum each month. However, with this new schedule, I’ll be able to facilitate a PE class with each group once a week, barring any exams or special events. I’m pretty excited about that. Additionally, at the high school, I popped into a couple of customer service English classes and helped them practice some role play sce...

I ’ve referenced Guanacaste on a few occasions when talking about the Annexation of Nicoya, trips to the beach, or American influence in Costa Rica. And that’s for good reason - if I had to guess, Guanacaste is probably the province in which Americans have the most contact. Guanacaste is home to Costa Rica’s other international airport, in Liberia, which provides much easier access to beaches and other tourist destinations than the primary international airport in San Jose. In 2025, most major airports in the United States boast direct flights to Liberia, so it makes the most sense for a lot of travelers to just fly into Guanacaste and never make the trek down to San Jose. Guanacaste is also one of the most unique provinces in Costa Rica. I’ve written previously about how Guanacaste chose to join Costa Rica instead of Nicaragua. Because of this, Guanacaste has a sense of sovereignty that many other places in Costa Rica lack. When traveling through Guanacaste, you’ll see Guanacastecan f...

After around a month or so of prep, this week was a big step forward for the rest of the year. On Tuesday, I finally kicked off my workshops for the 2026 academic year at the escuela . Over the course of the week, I hosted 4 different physical education classes for students in 5th and 6th grade. We played kickball, something none of my students had ever played before. Since the concept of kickball was foreign to my students, there was a bit of a learning curve. Overall, I think they enjoyed learning something new and did well working as a team. Meanwhile, at the colegio , I went to all of the 11th grade homeroom classes to pitch my ideas for community service projects, as part of servicio comunal estudiantil . Fortunately, I successfully recruited a group of 6-8 students to continue the community running club that I started last year, also as part of servicio comunal estudiantil . The most notable development at the schools this week wasn’t anything I did in class. Rather, I hosted my ...

Limón, which means “Lemon” in Spanish, may be the most distinct province in Costa Rica. It is located on Costa Rica’s eastern coast and comprises the entirety of the country’s access to the Caribbean. This Caribbean influence is robust in Limón. Many Jamaican immigrants settled in Limón and brought with them foods and traditions. There are several dishes unique to Limón such as Caribbean-style rice & beans, pati, plantinta, agua de sapo, and more. In my opinion, the food in Limón is the best in the country. Limón also celebrates Carnaval every October and has its own unique calypso music. Puerto Limón, or Limón city is the capital and main hub for transportation, although most visitors go to the beach town of Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. If you ask a Tico their favorite beach town, more often than not they say Puerto Viejo. And with reason, because I think it is mine too. The attitude there is even more laid back and “Pura Vida” than the rest of the country, it is cheaper than most ...

This was the last week of buildup before I really get going on my projects next year. These first few weeks of the school year are dedicated to everyone finalizing new schedules and getting through orientations and diagnostic exams, but we finally we are through that period and ready for some normalcy. While my workshops were still in a bit of a holding pattern, I put the finishing touches on my lesson plans, studied English with a teacher at the colegio preparing for an upcoming exam, scheduled workshops with teachers for next week, and helped organize the library. I’m looking forward to finally getting to teach again in a couple days.  Outside of school, things were a bit slower over the course of this week. On Monday, I came down with a stomach virus or food poisoning or something, so that knocked me out for about 24-48 hours, and I tried to take it pretty easy the rest of the week to recover. One of the realities of Peace Corps service (or just living abroad in general) is that...

Alajuela is located to the northwest of San Jose and is another incredibly important province in Costa Rica. Many visitors to Costa Rica travel to Alajuela province both knowingly, and unknowingly. They may arrive "unknowingly" in a sense, because although the international airport is for “San Jose”, it is actually located in Alajuela. Outside of the airport, there are several other major travel destinations in the province. La Fortuna is probably the most notable of these places. La Fortuna is a beautiful town known as the gateway to Arenal volcano. There are also lots of thermal baths, waterfalls, hanging bridges, and adventure activities in the area. Alajuela also is home to many other unique sights such as Zarcero, a charming mountain town, Poas volcano, and Starbucks’ coffee farm, Hacienda Alsacia. Finally, my favorite soccer team in Costa Rica, Alajuelense, is based in the city of Alajuela so that is my personal favorite aspect of the province.

This week was a multi-country whirlwind. I started and ended the week in my Peace Corps community outside of San José, but there was a lot of action in between. On Monday, I woke up early and headed to the airport to take a flight to Miami. One of my dreams is to someday become a Foreign Service Officer in the State Department, and to do so, one must pass the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT). Oftentimes, the exam is offered at various embassies and consulates around the world; however, it was not offered in Costa Rica. The closest and most cost-effective option was for me to take it in Miami, so that’s where I headed. After landing stateside, I took the metro to downtown Miami, where I ate a delicious Cubano sandwich and explored Bayfront Park, Bayside Market, and the Kaseya Center. Unfortunately, due to the nature of my trip, that’s as much sightseeing as I had time for. I spent the rest of the night studying, before waking up early the next morning to take the test and immediately...

This week marks the 65th Anniversary of the Peace Corps. The agency asked that volunteers participate in celebrating the occasion, so I figured writing a short sidebar would be a nice way to commemorate the milestone. Peace Corps was founded by JFK on March 1, 1961. To this day, Peace Corps remains a big part of his political legacy, an equally, Peace Corps is frequently associated with JFK. Being connected to one of the US’ most iconic presidents continues to give Peace Corps tremendous legitimacy and name recognition in the 60+ countries where volunteers serve around the world.  Although the image of the traditional Peace Corps service may have changed a bit in the 65 years since its founding, the mission is largely the same. The US sends college-educated volunteers around the world to assist in the development of targeted sectors. In a political landscape marked by rapid change in foreign policy and international development (particularly USAID’s elimination in 2025), it’s remar...

After a little over 2 months "off", classes in Costa Rica's public schools resumed this week. My colegio , or high school, didn't ease me in either. The first 3 days of classes this week were some of the longest days I've had as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Youth Development. From Monday and Wednesday, I, along with 3 other teachers, facilitated PE classes from 7:00 to 4:00. During these three days, we worked with every single student (1000+ total) at the  colegio. Fortunately, the activities were pretty simple (tag, basketball, rock/paper/scissors, etc) but it was pretty taxing to be running around for 9 hours a day. Although I'm used to teaching PE at the elementary school, those are 40 minute sessions at most twice a week. At one point, A student in a special education class even mentioned to me that "I looked like I needed to drink some coffee", so that was pretty humbling. On Thursday, I finally was able to make it to the escuela , where I began t...