Advice for a Newbie from an Oldie

It has been over a month since I was a Peace Corps volunteer, but I as I answer questions about my service it got me thinking about what advice I have for future Volunteers.  The Hubs and I brainstormed and came up with a few things we wish we knew before we started our service.  

• Bring a head lamp
• Bring a small towel-that way you don’t have to carry around nor wash a normal size towel (very heavy)
• Hard drive
• Water bottle that keeps things cold and doesn’t sweat (or hot if you are living in a cold country)
• Bring a huge supply of your favorite face was and shampoo/conditioner
• If you are missing an item you can’t get in your host country, don’t be afraid to ask people to send it to you
• Share the items on your hard drive with your fellow Peace Corps volunteers 
• a backpack that can hold a few days worth of clothes 
• think of what are things you love to do in the States and then brainstorm on how to do them cheaply and modified (i.e. exercise-I only ran in Peace Corps)

We still have the travel bug and keep crossing things off our bucket list

If any Returned or current Volunteers have more advice, write it in the comments

Evaluating my Peace Corps Service (PC style)

This blog was started in 2011 to document and share our experience with Peace Corps.  Our time as Peace Corps volunteers has come to an end.  I am struggling with wrapping my head around this fact.  While I plan and dream about our lives as grad students and full time employees again, I am struggline to grasp the fact that we are not returning to Costa Rica.  We have spent more time as a married couple and college graduates as Volunteers living in Costa Rica than in the States.

Officially Peace Corps Volunteers

The Hubs and I have discussed what we miss about our site, Santa Cruz.  Claro que sí, we miss the Ticos and Volunteers we have bonded with the past two years.  But thank goodness for technology because we are able to stay in contact with many of them.  But we also miss walking around town, the hospitality of Ticos, and their attention to detail.  We miss speaking Spanish and having a flexible work schedule.    

They let us all in 

As we closed up our projects, my counterpart (the local who I work along side with the whole two years of service) and reflected on what was effective in the projects we led together.  I was a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) Volunteer.  So my primary project was to aid local educators in improving their teaching methodology and their confidence in English.  My counterpart and I came up with different ways to achieve the TEFL goals.  We successfully implemented spelling bees that are now required for all schools to participate in.  We led 9 conversation clubs so that EVERY English teacher in my region had an opportunity to speak in English for 40 hours (and get a pay raise) that included mini workshops on teaching methodology.  

My counterpart and I 

Peace Corps also encourages volunteers to do projects that are outside of our primary project.  With my background in education, many of my secondary projects (projects outside my TEFL project) had to do with education.  I created a teaching blog aimed at TEFL teachers, privately tutored students, and co-led a (community conversation club) for young professionals.  I also led a women’s workout group for a couple of months. 

Throughout our service we were required to report our activities quarterly: who was involved in them and what was successful.  Because of this and reflecting on my service, I have evaluated my time there.  While my secondary projects are harder to evaluate, I still deem them successful. 

Our community conversation club 

The spelling bee demonstrated the importance of English and increased teachers’ and students’ confidence, vocabulary, and pronunciation. 

Interregional Spelling Bee 2013

The teachers’ conversation club allowed teachers the opportunity to learn new activities to use in their class,  to get a raise, to practice their English, and to get together as a department and share ideas.

Two of the conversation clubs

My teaching blog has allowed me to reach teachers that I don’t get an opportunity to see but once or twice a year.  It has also been a one stop shop for resources for the lessons they have to teach. 

The main student we have worked with has improved his grades and increased his confidence in speaking English.

The community conversation club has opened doors for job opportunities for some of our participants. 

The women’s workout group was a space for women to workout without feeling scrutinized.  It taught them basic exercises they can do at home. The workout group also gave them accountability partners to take care of themselves. 

While I haven’t completed a giant project or raised thousands of dollars for a project, I still believe my time in Costa Rica as a Peace Corps volunteer was extremely successful.  I believe I achieved the three goals of Peace Corps and the three of Teaching English as a Foreign Language.    

Success is not deemed by the size of the project but the effect on the person. - me

And just like that, they are letting us out

Recounting my Peace Corps service

2 years 3 months.

27 months.

7.6 earthquake.

2 host families.

9 conversation clubs.

50 spelling bees.

8 cluster mates.

3 conference presentations.

36 Monday tutoring sessions.

2 sets of visitors.

3 trips home.

4 countries visited.

1 manicure and pedicure.

3 broken fans.

4 parades.

14 beaches.

3 Peace Corps trainings.

2 project working team meetings.

2 birthdays.
1 counterpart. 

2 graduations.

3 babies.

2 bee stings.

1 wedding band cut off.

3 allergic reactions.

141 teachers.

164 runs.

2 stolen items.

2 blogs.   

120 hours of language training

68 hours of Teaching English as a Foreign Language training

3 good bye parties

7 spelling bee meetings

Countless laughs

Countless hours waiting for a bus

Countless hours on a bus

1 (almost) Returned Peace Corps Volunteer

Our first day of being a PCV 

The first time we met our counterparts 

Content Wednesday

Today I am overwhelmed with gratitude about 

random facebook chats with friends 

dinners at my counterpart's house and playing with Mia the puppy 

a laughing husband in his school's uniform 

Spelling Bee meetings 

surprises from the host family 

Grateful Monday

Today I am grateful for 

the people that fill this office 

Beautiful views on my runs 

Landmarks directing visitors to our house 

Quick trips to Liberia for sushi, a movie, and air conditioning 

Movie rental store 

Random dinner nights with friends 

We went to a coyolera to try vino coyol 

Vino coyol is made from trees 

Thankful Tuesday

Today I am thankful for

Conversations between spelling bee kiddos from different schools.  

puppy time 

walks into town (they put molasses on the road to help with erosion and they dust)

grocery shopping and knowing the employees (notice how they put the carts in)

Gratitude Monday

The Hubs' Little Sister gave me a book by Ann Voskamp for Christmas a few years ago.  I devoured this book, and immediately started documenting the things that make me happy as Mrs. Voskamp encourages.  Then today I ran across this blog post by this cute couple's blog.   And just reading the short post about what she was grateful for put a smile on my face.

I have been wondering how I could document all my photos and memories from my Peace Corps   experience.  This blog is my story of this experience.  And while most post are dedicated to big events like the completion of conversation clubs, the next few will be about the little things I have come to cherish about my Costa Rica.

 This is my favorite road to walk or run down.  It is covered by overhanging trees and has a great view of the mountains. I like it so much I made my in-laws walk down it when they visited instead of taking the shorter path.  (It is not always this desolate, the Hubs was almost knocked over by a car on one of his runs here)

Seeing this dog everywhere.  Meet Three Tone.  He is a dog that we have seen wandering the streets for the last two years.  He was named as a joke towards me because I named a similar looking dog Two Tone when his coat was obviously  black, white, and brown.  (The Hubs and I tend to come up with names for random animals)

OUR ice cream shop.  The local Volunteers have started calling it that since this is the only place we take visitors for ice cream and smoothies.  The owner is extremely nice (he often gives me the leftovers from my small smoothie) and the prices are cheaper than others.   

Talking about Peace Corps

This week is Peace Corps week.  What is Peace Corps week you ask?  It is a week to celebrate the founding of Peace Corps March 1, 1961 (I didn't even have to look up the date!) as well as to celebrate those that are or have served in Peace Corps.  To me, Peace Corps week is a floor in which I can share what Peace Corps in the Hometown, in my site, and with friends and family.

Where I come from Peace Corps isn't really known.  Peace Corps is a 27 month commitment to work and live in another country.  The first three months of your service is dedicated to training you for your job, providing language training, and introducing you to the culture of your new home.  After three months, you are sworn in, saying the same thing Congressmen and women say, and move to your new home.

The time in your community is dedicated to the project you were chosen to do.  For the Hubs and I that was Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL).  You are also permitted to do secondary activities that have nothing to do with your primary job.  For us, that was tutoring sessions, community classes, and exercises classes.  While you live and work in your community, you also go to trainings provided by Peace Corps.  

As a Peace Corps Volunteer, your medical, food, living allowance (to pay rent and utilities) are taken care of by Peace Corps.  You get two vacation days a month for every month you serve.  So for two years of service you get 48 days of vacation.  (We utilized those days-check on trips to Panama, Nicaragua, and Colombia/Peru and home 3 times).  At the end of your service you get a reimbursement allowance to help transition back into life in the States.  

My Peace Corps experience has exceeded everything that I thought it would be. It has been challenging, eye opening, life changing, tearful, joyful, and fun.  

I know that when I return I will be asked questions about my experience.  At our Close of Service conference, we were encouraged to write down what we wanted to tell people about our experience on a flash card.  I will have to work on that before we return in April.  

In honor of Peace Corps week, please watch this video that two fellow Youth Development Volunteers made to show you a glimpse of Costa Rica.  Our home. 

click here to watch

Celebrating 2 years in Costa Rica

Saturday marked two years of creating a life in Costa Rica.  While I don't have a huge post planned, I didn't want it to pass without acknowledging it.

We celebrated our two year anniversary by going to Uvita beach with the group we swore in with.  Our group started this adventure with us two years and 4 days ago.  We struggled to understand the customs and language of Costa Rica together.  We struggled with finding our purpose within our Peace Corps service together.  We relied on each other.  We asked each other's advice.  We visited.  We talked.  Cried.  We laughed a whole lot.  These people became our family.

First day in Costa Rica....babies

Old pros now

Before our trip to the beach we attended our Close of Service (COS) in San Jose.  What is a COS conference?  It is a conference to prepare to finish up projects in country and to help us navigate going back to the States.  We had sessions on reporting on final projects, reverse culture shock, medical options after Peace Corps, job options after Peace Corps, interviewing, and how to write a resume.  We also had a chance to share our experience with the staff through videos, sticky notes, and games.  

The post it notes behind us represent things we have done like how many students we have reached, how much gallo pinto we ate, and how many hours of conversation club we facilitated 

Attending this conference means that we are now in the process of returning to the States.  What a weird feeling that is!  We have labs, medical appointments, final interviews, Spanish test, signatures, three major paper reports, and good byes between us and going back to the States.

Check out our legacy video...this is a glimpse into our lives while serving in Costa Rica...watch here! (if the video below doesn't work)

The Hubs and I will be returning soon!  In April!  

Posting an Update

Who can believe we are at the end of January???  I thought the days and months were supposed to drag on after the fun of the holiday season!

February means the Hubs and I have been living in Costa Rica for two years!  We moved February 22, 2012 (the Little Brother's birthday).  February also means that we official have 3 months left in our quaint little town.  With only 3 months left we can no longer take vacation (which is fine since we used all 48 days+ 2 leave without pay days).  It means we are finally following through with promises to visit friends' communities.  Finishing up projects, helping our counterparts prepare for the year without us (we have some major things happening in our school and area!), enjoying our 1 1/2 hour bus ride to the beach, fresh fruit, walking everywhere, and saying good bye.

But I want to save the official reflect and goodbye posts till a later date.  Today's post is to fill you in on what we have been doing in January.

January is still our summer vacation time in Costa Rica.  The Hubs and I had no real plans on how to spend it.  Many of our fellow volunteers held a camp called Jump Start. Jump Start is a month long intensive English camps for incoming 7th graders.  High schools in Costa Rica start with 7th grade.  While Costa Rica is striving to be bilingual, with a focus on English, many of our elementary schools do not have English classes.  This is because of funding, smaller schools do not have the funding to have anything but the regular teacher(s).  So Jump Start is to help offset the inequality of English in the 7th grade schools.  Since many schools feed into the same high school, there will be students who have had the full 6 years of English, no English, and somewhere in between.  The camps are currently led by Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV) and supported by public school teachers.  The camp is free to all students who make their way to camp by foot, bike, or bus.  The students receive fun and engaging lessons on basic English, and they walk away for the experience with irreplaceable confidence and knowledge of the language.

Picture from a Jump Start last year

The Hubs and I decided to be more in a supportive role for these camps instead of hosting our own.  There is a camp with 40 students being hosted at the large high school across town by our geographically closest volunteer (she is about 15 minute bus ride away).  She is helped by a couple from the States (who willingly paid to come and volunteer in a camp AND live with a Tico family) as well as two Tico teachers.  The Hubs has been going to the camp when he can to relieve the PCV of teaching so she can accomplish any administrative tasks she is called to do.  We also visited another PCV, who lives and works about 1 1/2 hour bus ride away, to interview her little darlings.  Part of this project is to track the progress of these students.  So all little darlings are interviewed at the beginning of camp, again at the end, and possibly throughout the school year.

January is a busy month in Santa Cruz.  We have our annual fiestas which include fair rides, bull riding, vendors, concerts, loud music in general, greasy good food, and drinking.  We tried to go out everyday at some point.  Sadly, we did not cheer on the bull watch the bulling riding very much this year.  But we enjoyed seeing friends and volunteers while eating and laughing until our hearts were content.

Again from last year.  I need to get on this picture taking thing

We celebrated our favorite six year old's birthday.  Our neighbors'/landlords' son turned six this month.  We partied hard.  haha  He loves the payasos (see picture below), so we had a parade with them leading up to the party area.  We dressed as good Guanacasticos do and "helped" the kids get the candy from the piñata.

Those tall, masked things are payasos

CANDY!

That joyful boy in the middle is the birthday boy with his family and friends

Last week we spent time in the capitol for a spelling bee meeting with the regional English leaders and for the National Teaching English Conference.

Three years ago, the spelling bee was a dream and now we are preparing for an opportunity for a nation wide competition next year.  We are also readying everything to give the responsibility to the leaders and teachers soon, oh so soon.  What an opportunity to talk to the leaders and vice minister about a project our organization created!  Many leaders were excited to get this project started in their district.  My counterpart and I even got to share our experience of leading 24 schools in our first ever spelling bee last year!  

This is my second year to present at the NTEC Conference.  I thoroughly enjoyed it!  Last year, the Hubs and I co-presented, but this year he decided he would rather volunteer with some of the behind the scenes things.  This year I had one presentation on classroom procedures and the other on classroom management.  I had a blast (and the Hubs even said I was goofy and funny-win)!  The teachers were responsive and full of ideas.  What a great experience all around. 

Now that we are saying "Adios!" to January, we are welcoming Febuary with the annual Super Bowl party.  Don't worry we will be streaming the game live on a computer to see the commercials.  Then we will help with a few Jump Start activities next week as they finish out their camps.  Beach trips are in order this month.  And our Close of Service (COS) conference to round out the ever short month.  

Here's to 2014!  

Caring for your Volunteer

This post comes from almost two years of experience of living and serving abroad.  This post comes after talking to other Volunteers about what we wish those we left at home knew.

  We miss you.  Some days we don't want to get out of bed and face what the day might hold without our friends and family.  But sometimes we surprise ourselves and realize while we still miss everyone back "home" we also call here "home".  We learn we have two homes.

We try not to show you our dark days, our failed projects, or our frustrations.  But sometimes those slip out.  We need to be able to talk about those at times, but we have great days too!  Ask us about what went well that week, month, or day (however often you talk to us).  Ask us about what is our favorite thing, funniest thing, greatest achievement!  That helps us in many ways as well as connects you to Peace Corps and our host country.

Initiate the conversation.  Send the first text, facebook chat us first, or send a card/care package for no reason.  We love to be reminded that we are remembered even though daily life gets in the way here and there. We LOVE having something in our mailboxes!  There is something special about snail mail.

We try to do the same.  But sometimes mailing a card is expensive, our internet is finicky, or we have no money on our phones for a text.  But we try to bring you into our world.  We are missing so much by being here.  Graduations, babies, marriages, deaths, and knowing your daily life.  We want to be a part of that.

We carry you with us where ever we live.  We talk to other volunteers about you like they know you.  Our neighbors have seen your pictures.  Our students have sung you happy birthday.

Recapping 2013 and welcoming 2014

Goodbye 2013...what a year you have been!  The best yet!  You brought tears, smiles, joy, frustration, achievement,, and love.

January- We started the year off right with our community’s feistas.  Then the Hubs and I presented at the National Teaching English Conference, celebrated the 50^th anniversary of Peace Corps in Costa Rica, and went with a small group to cheer on the Costa Rican national at the national stadium later in the month.

One of the rides at the fiesta

the Hubs and I at the 50th anniversary

Vamos Sele!  

The crew who cheered 

February- I had to say goodbye to a dear PCV friend who went home.  And our group celebrated 1 year in Costa Rica by visiting the active Poás volcano.

Before we said goodbye

Poás volcano

March- Uncle M came to visit, and he took us to wonderful hotels as well as feed us delicious food.  We celebrated Holy Week with parades and spent Easter with A and T at Brasilito Beach. The Hubs and I started a community conversation club AND started tutoring a boy that goes to a local bilingual school this month. Oh, and we dealt with an invasion of ants.  

Zip lining with Uncle M

Host niece in the parade

My friend as Mary Magdalene 

Our landlady and her daughter

Happy Easter!

No matching outfits this year

The massacre 

April- The Hubs and I celebrated 5 years of being together with a dinner out at a favorite local restaurant. We hiked a giant hill in Nicoya with one of our community conversation club participant’s family, and had tech week with 3 new TEFL volunteers.  We also visited another volunteer’s site.  Spelling Bee and my second round of MEP conversation clubs started this month. 

We have been together for a long time, ask him

We reached the top!

They really did work that week

Visited this beautiful girl and her site

 May- The Hubs and I met saw  President Obama!  We also battled a giant moth.  And our cluster had to say goodbye to two of our volunteers. 

 

The man, the myth, the legend 

Proof we were there 

Much larger in real life 

June- We celebrated 3 years of marriage at our favorite hostel and beach.  My third round of MEP conversation clubs started, we attended our 1 year training session in San Jose,  and held a baby shower for the other couple in our group (as well as said goodbye to them).  And we welcomed 4 new volunteers into our cluster!  

Year 3 for the books

Baby Nugget's shower

MST (Mid-Service Training) became Mustache Service Training

July- I had waited a long time for this month.  Semester vacations…yes! July brought the end of the institutional and circuit spelling bees, my family visited, and a trip to Nicaragua. To end it we celebrated the annexation of Guanacaste from Nicaragua with parades (that the Hubs was in) and rodeos. 

These dominated the beginning of 2013

He is famous...in a parade AND on TV

We zipped, ate, hiked, swam, snorkeled, and laughed 

The crew that dominated Nicaragua 

Beautiful view of the lagoon 

Eat my dust! I was the fastest volcano boarder that day

August- I presented at another English conference, we walked about 8 miles for the Romeria, and the Hubs danced in his school’s talent show.  And we had our regional spelling bee! 

Apparently we could have taken a bus 

Speaks for itself 

September- We celebrated Costa Rica’s independence with what else… but parades!  And the Hubs started his English bachillerato (high school exit exams) review course for seniors.  We checked Machu Picchu  off our bucket list when we visited Peru and Colombia.   

Isn't he cute teaching?

We love parades 

Colombia salt mines

Cuy in Peru

Machu Picchu 

We hiked a mountain, no big deal

October- The landlady’s daughter had her first communion, Lumi had her last set of puppies which included Shadow (who we are fostering), we hosted a Halloween party, and said goodbye to another volunteer.  And started my last round of conversation clubs.  Oh yea, I got stunk by a bee on my ring finger.  

She is pretty inside and out

Saying bye to S

Please take any rings off if you get stunk on your fingers other wise your hand looks like that and your rings have to be cut off

Happy Halloween!

Shadow's brother 

November- The interregional (national) spelling bee where we dominated! We also were able to visit the States for Thanksgiving and to take the GRE.

Our participants at the spelling bee 

My beautiful mom and her boys

My fam bam 

  

Our traditional Thanksgiving family photo shoot

Some of our favorite people

Another of my favorite people 

December-  We were lucky enough to get to visit the States again for Christmas but we rang in the New Year Tico style back in Costa Rica (grilling on the front porch and watching fireworks and payosos). 

With the Hubs and his siblings

Harry joined my birthday celebrations...we were excited to have him

Proof my side of the family got together

They won the jackpot

Mr. Cars spent Christmas with us 

Tradition, we match every year 

Reading the letter Santa wrote back to Mr. Cars on Christmas morning 

He was excited

We were definitely the oldest people at Elevation 

Proof Boomer likes his uncle 

The grill master  

Heading to the fireworks 

First picture of 2014

   Hello 2014… you will include some big changes for this nomadic family.  We will be ending our Peace Corps service in a few short months, moving back to the Hometown for a small time, and then moving to where the Hubs will be attending grad school.  I will be going back to work as a teacher and then applying for grad schools for the next fall.  Can’t wait to see what else you have in store 2014!