June 1-7: 'Twas the Week Before the World Cup

On the heels of an extremely busy week, I felt like this one was productive, yet not quite as involved as the week prior. At the escuela, I didn't have any clubs or any additional activities this week, so I was singularly focused on PE classes. My students have been begging all year long to play soccer although I've tried to introduce them to other sports and games as an alternative. However, my convenient excuse was always that "We'll play soccer in June", due to the World Cup. I'm a man of my word, so as the calendar turned to June, I finally let my students go all in on soccer. Although I was a bit hesitant to let them jump into mejengas (pick-up games), they behaved well enough in drills that I let them play some intra-class matches. Fortunately, everyone was on their best behavior and the mejengas went on without any problemas. Everyone has World Cup Fever, despite Costa Rica not qualifying, and it's been exciting to share that passion with them. Meanwhile, at the colegio, students had pruebas nacionales (national exams), so I didn't get to hop into many classes. However, I worked with each of my community service groups on their projects; both of them are developing well and I'm excited for the students.


Over the weekend, I had a great time with my girlfriend Keily and her family. On Friday, her sister was proposed to by her boyfriend, and they invited me to be a part of the celebration. It was really special to be included as part of the family for an occasion so important. And then, on Saturday, Keily and I went to the local movie theater to watch a horror/psycho-thriller movie called "Backrooms". I'm not the biggest fan of horror films, but we are both movie lovers, so it was a fun time going to the cinema with her. 



Next week I'll spend the work portion of the week in Costa Rica before jettisoning off to the US to take in the World Cup with my family over the weekend. 


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