Sidebar #91 - Site Reveal: Patarra

Peace Corps requests that we keep our specific communities’ names private while serving in-country, primarily for security reasons. I wanted to respect that guidance as much as possible. After officially doing the “gong out” my service I thought that it might be fun to do a “site reveal” for the community I had the privilege of calling home the past 2 years.

My community is called “Patarrá”. The town sits just outside of the capital, San Jose, in Desamparados canton. In Patarrá, I served at two different public school institutions, an escuela (elementary school) as well as in a colegio tecnico profesional (technical high school. In many ways, Patarra reminded me of places I grew up in. Its population size (roughly 12,000 depending on which neighborhoods are included) is extremely similar to my hometown of Nixa, Missouri, and like Nixa, “Patarrá” is the only town of its namesake. Similarly, I attended college in Memphis, TN. Like Memphis, in many ways, Desamparados has garnered notoriety for reasons in which I don’t necessarily believe are fully justified. 



In Patarrá, I served in a much more urban setting than many of my peers. My service probably looked different than the image lots of Americans have of the average Peace Corps experience. I had access to a fully-stocked gym in my community as well as one of the nicest parks in Costa Rica, Parque La Libertad. I was so close to the capital that I could Uber when in a pinch. However, I don’t think that serving an urban community made my service any less meaningful than my peers in rural sites. Through serving a larger community, I was able to work with a larger pool of students, and I was able to tap into my community’s resources, like recreational spaces, to provide new opportunities for youth. 




Patarrá has some unique cultural events too. Its foremost celebration is the Fiesta of San Juan Bautista, or John the Baptist. Each town or city in Costa Rica recognizes its own patron saint, and San Juan Bautista is Patarra's. These celebrations are held June 24th every year and include parties, fireworks, parades with mascaradas, soccer games, and more. Additionally, a unique sport and pastime to Patarrá is called "Jupas", which is a version of 2-on-2 soccer in which goals can only be scored using the head. ("La jupa" is Costa Rican slang for "head"). Jupas tournaments are held weekly each year from September to November.



All in all, I’m incredibly grateful for the 2 years I spent in Patarrá. I truly feel like it’s become a second home for me and I can’t wait to visit again in the near future.






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