some of my favorites

Because I know everyone is eager to see milk squirted in my face and some of the other wonderful things from today...here's the best of the best (kind of). I probably won't get the slide show up until Monday when I get back. It's gonna be A LOT of work uploading pics if I continue to take pictures the way I do. I took over 150 today! But can you really blame me?

so much fun, so many pictures

I will be posting a slide show of all these pics real soon, but it's very time consuming to upload them all in a large format. But I want to recap this week so far for all my family and friends:

I love it here! I love all the women here, sharing in this adventure with me. All the people working for and with CCS are fantastic. Are casa is so nice and cozy. I am sleeping well. I'm exercising daily and eating healthy... it's amazing.

I'm working with amazing people at CAIPAD. Before my time here is through, I will be posting the "bios" of all the fabulous students at CAIPAD. I really like working with them all, such kind and generous souls---all of them. I get to play games and exercise with them and help them make crafts. It's pretty much the perfect job for me here. I do hope I get the chance to experience something a little different once or twice, but at present I'm very content.

As for adventures, I've had quite a few so far. At the beginning just exploring Cuidad Quesada was wild. Since I speak such little Spanish and understand less when being spoken to, even going to the market for a calling card is tough. But it's cool. The locals see me, the blonde or "macha" and know I probably don't speak Espanol, so it works out ok. And they like to use what English they know too.

At the casa we recieve 3 great meals a day. Spanish lessons. and Wednesday night we had Salsa and Merigue lessons. It was so fun and a great work out too! I certainly have been sweating a lot!

Today was the best of everything so far though. We went to La Fortuna, which is about an hour away. All we were told is that we were going to a farm to milk a cow and learn about cheese. I was game for anything. When we got there we were pleasantly surprise that our tour of the farm consisted of so much more. Not only did we meet some cows, we got to feed them--- we learned all about what makes "a happy cow". We got to milk one. I was lucky enough to be squirted in the face with milk straight from the teet. It was so funny. We all tried fresh milk from our cow friend, "Cinnamon". it was actually really good and warm. Then our guide, the son of the farm owners, taught us how they make cheese. Very interesting stuff! After our lesson he took us on an unexpected tour of the rest of their property, which is nestled at the base of the Arenal Volcano. It was amazing! We "saw" a two toed Sloth. We heard lots of parrots. We were shocked by all the huge ant trails and their shear "ant power". And we saw the red jeans frog (I think that's what it's called)... It was beautiful and oh so poisonous. We hiked all around and just really enjoyed the scenery.

After our tour we were search fresh fruit and some yummy fried cheese, as well as some of best iced tea I've ever had. It was all in all stupendous!

Tomorrow all the ladies and I are headed to Tamarindo for our weekend excursion. I'm sure there will be lots of stories to tell after all that. So stay tuned!

PURA VIDA!

CAIPAD San Carlos

I have so much to share regarding my first day at CAIPAD, my job placement here in San Carlos. I met some many lovely, friendly people. But before I go into more detail about each of them I really want to get to know them better. Presently language is a barrier. I am the only person who speaks English there, so communication is challenging at times. They really want me to learn Spanish and are eager to talk to me no matter if I understand or not.

The students there are all special needs and very sweet. I really enjoy the staff there. They are funny and caring and seem to really enjoy their job (which I think is so important).

I have been assigned to work in Arts and Crafts which is tremendous. As many people know, I am very skills in A&C. They have asked me to come up with some A&C ideas that can be used with the program and to give them a list of materials. I already have like 12 ideas. Plus if I have recipes that would be easy to teach, they would enjoy that too. Basically I will be aiding in teaching them life skills (crafts to earn money) and cooking so that they can cook for themselves. They also have a recreational period with exercise and games, and I will most certainly be able to pitch in and help there. I know lots of games and can definitely lead group exercise. It keeps them and healthy and me too. It's very much about self-sufficiency.

I know I will learn Spanish quickly since I am being fully immersed. They want to learn so much about me and I about them. I will be taking lots of pictures and creating a bio for all my new friends. I think this placement is perfecto!

More to come! Pura Vida!

Geckos Chirp

I am learning so much already about Costa Rica and love love love it!

Today started so smoothly, with a yummy breakfast and good coffee. Laughter and smiles were abundant with all my new mates.

At 8:00 AM we all met for our official tour of Cuidad Quesada. The city has a population of 30,000 and our CCS home base is right in the middle of it. Our walking tour was only about 45 minutes but we saw a lot and didn't really have to go very far. We saw a view of Arenal Volcano, the parqe, the banco (very important), the mercados, the best ice cream stand, the big Catholic Church in the center of town (oh my did they have a big Jesus! I have to go back when Mass is not happening and get a good picture.), and then we saw another Volcano view. All within 1/2 mile of walking. Pretty great! After getting back we had a decently long meeting regarding the rules, dos and don't, of our stay here and our work. There were some very good topics discussed and lots of useful information.

Then it was lunch. OMG... the food is good. I may get sick of rice and beans, but so far I'm really enjoying it and I'm not having issues with gas (as some people might think I would be---me included). Maybe it's because everything is so fresh and tasty and we eat outside... whatever it is, I'm glad to be fed well.

In the afternoon we had small chats about our placements. I'm really excited about mine. I learned that no one at my placements speaks any English. No better way than to learn than getting thrown into it, right? Plus body language is underrated and I'm pretty good figure things out that way.

Although I do the opportunity to take an hour long class, twice a week, with my fellow No Habla Espanol mates to learn some. So along with good food, good people, nice accommodations, and a good atmosphere, we also have the opportunity to take useful and well taught classes? Rock on! We also can take sign language classes and dance classes. I will most certainly be taking the dance classes. We also have a chance to go on weekly field trips. I believe this week we get to go to a dairy farm. Fabulous!

I have also learned a few random things. I sleep above a bakery. It smells good. too good. There is a pet store across the street. There are puppies barking all the time. Seriously, someone buy the puppies and take them somewhere else to bark PLEASE! I was awoken this morning by barking puppies. Not so awesome, but it was "time" to get up. It was 6 AM. The sun comes up earlier and sets earlier here... or so it seems. By 6 PM I'm hungry for dinner but also ready for bed. Maybe it's the rain plus the darkness but it seems late either way. There are packs of wild dogs all over town. They are funny, dirty, weird, and sad all at the same time. Watch out for crocodiles while swimming in the ocean! I guess it's mating season and male crocs are fighting for turf. The losers swim into the ocean to find another delta. Recently two surfers were attacked. Thankfully not near where I'll be surfing this weekend (Tamarindo!) Catholics are abundant in Costa Rica. Not really a surprise, considering it's a Latin based country; but I was interested to learn that it's the official religion of the country, written into their Constitution and it's taught in the schools (that means prayer in school and no talk of condoms or birth control... can you say unwanted teen pregnancies anyone?)

Lastly, I also learned that Geckos chirp. who knew? not me. I think it's cute though. I'll have to find one and take a picture, so I can put a face with the chirp. Pura Vida!

Cuidad Quesada Sorority House

I arrived in Costa Rica a little before 11 AM Central American time today (10/5/08). The sun was shining and even from the airport I could tell I was going to LOVE this country. After customs and baggage claim, I was met by our CCS driver and one of my new friends, Erica (Spokane, WA). She and I waited for awhile and then were joined by Mattie (from Ont, Canada). Gradually after a few hours of people watching and chit chatting we were joined by the rest of group (6 women total) and we headed North to San Carlos. It was about a 2 hour drive from San Jose to Cuidad Quesada (that town in which we are based.) As we drove through town there was a parade happening... what a great welcoming!

It began raining shortly before we entered San Carlos. And by rain, I mean POURED. Thunder, lightning, cats and dogs... the works. But it was nice. I like it. It just feels so fresh. We pulled up to the CCS house and we were greeted by all the women who were already here. So nice! The front has a courtyard with pretty flowers and sitting area. All the windows and doors are open, so the breeze and the rain is part of the home. However, that doesn't mean we are lacking in safety; there is a large gate surrounding the property. There is a large sitting area in base where we can all gather (and where the wi-fi works). So really it's quite nice and homey.

After getting settled in it was clear that there were only females in the house. 15 women total. So it's pretty much a sorority house. Which is fine by me and everyone else. We are gonna have a blast. After getting to know each other and discuss what we want to do while we're here (besides our volunteer work at orphanage, schools, colleges, centers for people with disabilities and day cares) we all decided that Tamarindo would be the spot for the upcoming weekend. So that means beaches, surfing, discos and fun fun fun! The women who have been here for awhile are planning the trip and I trust them to design a weekend that will make us all happy (and be cost effective). It's almost like having a home based travel agent!

I'm sharing a room with 2 other women and we all have bunk-beds. How campy! All the more reason this feels like a sorority. This isn't lavish living by any means. There is no AC but plenty of fans around to blow the air around. We dine outside, al fresco, which I love. Of course there is a roof over the dining area, but it's so nice to enjoy weather and the beauty of the area while eating. mmm mmm good. There is also NO HOT WATER. I found that out after dinner when I decided to shower. Brrrr! I'm sure after a real hot day though it would be quite refreshing.

Tomorrow AM begins our orientation to San Carlos and the Costa Rican culture. We will also be given a more detailed description of our jobs while we are here and the location(s) of our placements. Besides our placement jobs we have the option to take Spanish lessons twice a week. We can also take dance lessons and sign language lessons. All of which is excellent in my book. I want to get as much as possible out of this trip (that I am so blessed to be on).