Cross-Cultural Solutions

Buenos!

We finished painting the orphanage: the entire exterior, 3 bedrooms, and the living room. Wow! We said our good-byes to the boys and took LOTS of pictures. Afterward, we had free time all afternoon. A few people stayed around homebase and some of us went to the San Carlos Zoo. It was an interesting experience - some animals were allowed to wander around the grounds and trails (armadillos, deer, small rodent-like creatures, etc.) Of course I took pictures. Now we're all getting ready to pack up and saying our good-byes to the staff.

This will be my last post for the Costa Rica trip. It has been an amazing experience and I can't say enough good things about Cross-Cultural Solutions. The entire staff is awesome. If you wonder why you have to pay to volunteer, let me tell you why:

• They provide staff to advise you about which trip is right for you and help you each step of the sign-up process.
• They provide a plethora of information prior to the trip (cultural knowledge, what to expect at your assignment, etc.)
• The homebase is in a safe area with a 24-hour security guard to assist with any problems. (We panicked a little when the water got shut off the day everyone was sick. It turns out a pipe had burst down the block, but it got fixed without any major incidents.)
• There are several cooks who provide 3 meals a day. And the meals they cook are sooooo delicious. They cater to the most specific dietary needs, while still serving traditional Costa Rican cuisine. There is no need to go out and eat when the cooks prepare such decorative displays of fruits & food.
• Housekeeping provides fresh linens daily and keeps the homebase sanitary and clean.
• CCS hires people from the community to give cultural lessons (Spanish, dance, history, etc.)
• CCS works in conjunction with social service organizations to place volunteers where help is most needed.

I highly recommend CCS for anyone who wants to volunteer abroad and would rather transition into a culture, rather than go off on their own.

The rest of my group and I will be exchanging photos and hopefully I'll be posting those soon. :) (Just a side note: I cannot post pictures of the boys at the orphanage out of respect for the nature of their situations.) But I've got 130 pics on my camera, plus whatever the rest of my group has!

See you all state-side.

Love, Laura

Dancing, Farms, and Food

¡Buenos!

So last night we had merengue dance lessons! It was the first time I ever tried it and I loved it. We had a great teacher, Luis Diego, who didn't speak English but he knew how to lead. There wasn't a whole lot of space to do the full moves (we kept bumping into one another), but it was still fun to practice.

Today after work, we took a field trip to a farm up in the mountains. It was absolutely beautiful. We met Gerardo, Grace, and Presilla, who have given previous tours for volunteers. I think the vegetable they grew was called arracacha. Gerardo showed us how he processed and packaged it to sell at the market. *I must mention that his workshop smelled exactly like the shed at Pigeon Lake. It instantly took me back there.* We went inside the house and Grace cooked some of the arracacha for us (on a wood-burning stove!). There were tables set up and place settings for everyone to sit and enjoy the food - it was lovely. I also tried agua dulce, which is sugar cane water. I dunked some sweet breads in it and it was soooo good. :) Afterward, we went for a short hike (in the rain) and got some good pics of the town. (They live in a small village of about 300 people.)

Let me tell you about the food here:
There are fields of coffee beans and sugar cane everywhere. Coconut trees and mango trees are mostly what I see on the way to work; but the fresh fruit here is AMAZING! I've never had such perfectly ripe pineapples, mangoes, strawberries, watermelon, guvava, and mamon chino (aka rambutan). Black beans and rice are a staple at every meal and the volunteers get sick of it quite easily . . . but not me. Throw some vegetables in with it, a little side of fruit, and I'm good to go! There are also several panaderias (bakeries) around the homebase and the smell of fresh-baked pastries is irresistible. Costa Rican cuisine is definitely for me!

Love, Laura

Rainy Day

It was raining when we went to work this morning and it hasn't stopped since. Good thing I bought a raincoat for this trip! I've worn it everyday.

The day started with 5 out of the 11 volunteers getting sick . . . but not me. I feel great. We don't know if it was food poisoning, something contagious, or just general stomach problems. But we were very short-staffed for work. Somehow, the remaining 6 of us painted the entire second coat on the exterior of the orphanage. Now we need to paint the ceiling, part of the roof-overhang, and 2 bedrooms. The boys were supposed to go to school Wed., Thurs., and Fri., this week, but 3 of them got in trouble and were suspended. So they'll be at the house while we're working the rest of the week.

Today's culture lesson was another Spanish class. I'm really excited to continue the lessons at home - I'd really like to become more fluent for the next time I travel. I love working at the orphanage, but the language barrier is a big issue for me. I desperately want to talk to the boys, but I don't know enough Spanish and they don't know any English. Luckily, there are a few volunteers who are intermediate level Spanish-speakers and they have the most interaction with the boys.

We're also having dance lessons later tonight, as part of our cultural learning. I'm really looking forward to it. I'll write about the details tomorrow. :)

Love, Laura

The Surroundings

¡Hola!

Today was the second day at the orphanage. If I just tell you that we painted again, this would be a very boring blog. So I'll describe the surroundings to you:

We leave homebase each day at 7:45am in a rickety, old van. The orphanage is in a rural area, and it takes about 30 minutes to get there. We take a dirt road through forests and farms, which have cows, goats, horses, and dogs hanging out by the side of the road. Today we drove through the forest/tree area and saw a sloth! How cool is that. But I couldn't get a good picture because he was too far away. We've seen so many different types of trees and flowers too . . . and bugs! I've got a few bites and stings, but now I'm borrowing bug repellent from another volunteer. (My bug spray got confiscated at DIA because it was 4 oz. instead of the 3.4 oz. regulation.)

We arrive at the orphanage around 8:15am and it's usually sunny in the mornings. Because they are in such a rural area, they have lots of open space to play. The views are incredible from there, but because there are constantly rolling clouds, you can never see the tops of mountains/volcanoes. We work in the sun, which can be brutal because of the humidity. I can hear lots of birds and bugs buzzing all around when I'm painting. Occasionally there'll be a monkey making some noises up in the trees. And the house across the street has a rooster that crows. There are lots of bugs everywhere and unfortunately they get stuck in the paint. Tomorrow we'll be putting the second coat of paint on the house and the bugs will be sticking to that layer too. Ugh.

The boys were great today. They helped us paint for the majority of the day. One of the volunteers brought his guitar and they loved it! I took some pics of all of them playing.

We got back to homebase for lunch, then had our cultural lesson: cooking! We made tortillas from scratch (it's pretty easy) and then used them for empanadas. The cooking lesson was followed by a game of futbol! Greivin had reserved an indoor soccer field for us and we had a great game. (I played goalie.) Good thing it was indoor, because the rain came as soon as we were dropped off. I also managed to check out a few shops nearby, got some good pics of the town, and a bunch of us just went out for ice cream. It's been another fun-filled day!

Love, Laura

Orphanage

¡Pura vida!

Today we met the boys at the orphanage and started working. There are only 4 boys there right now, and they were eager to have visitors and people to play with. We started with a game of basketball (they've got some moves!), then frisbee, and futbol. They really just wanted to hang out with us, so they helped us paint too. We got most of the exterior done with its first coat of paint and we're also painting 2 bedrooms.

We only work from 8-12, so we're back to homebase in time for lunch. Then in the afternoon we have culture classes - today was History (of Costa Rica) and I also took 2 Spanish classes. I've forgotten so much! I really just need to spend a month or 2 here and get immersed in it. ;)

I must say that this blog idea isn't working out as well as I had hoped. Computer access is difficult (there was a massive thunderstorm today that knocked the power out in the entire town). I will just have post all of my pictures on Shutterfly when I get back and put the link on here next weekend.

Much love,
Laura

Orientation

Today started with a cold shower and fresh Costa Rican coffee - I've never been more awake in my entire life. We went on the walking tour with Greivin, our program manager, and he gave us a lot of information about San Carlos (and Costa Rica in general). Unfortunately, almost everything is closed on Sundays, so the group decided to take a day trip to the hot springs nearby. It was amazing. There were 7 different springs at different temperatures and we also took a dip in the river that was there. Of course it started pouring rain toward the end of our day, but it was no bother since we were already in the water. (Apparently there are 2 season in Costa Rica: rainy and very rainy.) After dinner, we played a few card games and went out for ice cream. Tomorrow we're off to the orphanage.

Love, Laura

Travel Day

I'm here! :)

I got a solid 3 hours of sleep last night before getting up at 1:45am. My ride to the airport came with plenty of time to spare and both of my flights were on time. Smooth sailin'. I met up the volunteer group immediately after landing in San Jose and we took a 2-hour drive on the narrow mountain roads to get to the homebase. I didn't realize it, but the homebase is in the center of San Carlos; so we've got restaurants & shops all around. After settling in our rooms for minute, we decided to walk around and check out the area. We have our orientation and assignment schedule tomorrow. Now, I'm exhausted and going to relax in my room for a while. Good night all.

Much love,
Laura

I've created this space to share my traveling experiences with everyone. Enjoy!

First trip: Costa Rica . . .