December: I had my first Costa Rican Christmas, it wasn't like Christmas at home, but it was interesting and filled with my big 300 person community family. Also, my host sister graduated high school!
January: My mom came and visited. We had so much fun, we went to Dominical beach, on the list of the top beaches in the world, it is beautiful. Then we came to Fila Tigre in our rental car and my mom got to meet my host family, stay in the cabinas, eat typical Costa Rican food and hike to two beautiful waterfalls. The first was a relaxing hike with the end being a huge waterfall where we could swim all day. The second hike was a little different and consisted of us hiking 4-5 hours in pure rainforest. No trails. Cold weather. Rocks falling. In the end, it was worth it, we arrived to a gorgeous waterfall in the middle of the rainforest. Nobody would ever be able to find it if they didn't know it was there. After our adventures in Fila Tigre, we took my older host sister with us on our journey back to San Jose. We stayed on the beach one night and in San Jose another where we saw my mom off. Also this month I went to a Project Design Management workshop that Peace Corps put on with one of my community members. Also, my counterpart's baby was born :) His name is Aslan and he is the best.
February: Tyson came! He was here for two weeks and the start to our trip was in Uvita. We spent four days there and we had surf lessons, swam, walked on the beach and just relaxed. We then came to Fila TIgre and hiked to yet another waterfall which was just as beautiful but very different from the others I had seen. We went on a couple more hikes, one where our tour guide was my little 8 year old host sister who got us a little lost but didn't tell us until after, a true tour guide. After Fila Tigre we took the 10 hour bus ride to San Jose for the Super Bowl and a few days of just hanging out. Tyson got to meet many of my Peace Corps friends, we ate great food and then he was off. Goodbyes are the hardest thing of my Peace Corps adventure.
March: Dana and Dad came! They rented an apartment in Quepos for the month and I got to see them a couple weeks of it. I visited them and relaxed on the beach, hiked, went zip lining at night and cooked great food. Then they came and visited Fila Tigre (now my whole family + Tyson knows where and how I live...they are a lot more comfortable with my being here after seeing how safe it is). While they were here we built a garden bed and planted herbs and vegetables, which are now growing like crazy, then we hiked a little, talked a little and visited some cool nearby places with my host family. Later this month I went to another workshop with a community member, this one was on making bio digesters. We learned about the whole process and are now implementing this in Fila Tigre. This is where I found my new love of my life, Gabby the puppy. I fell in love, took her home and now she rules my life here. Who knew a dog would be so much work?! (I guess most people probably)
April: This month was a work month plus visiting my friend at his site in Puerto Jimenez. Puerto Jimenez is on the Osa Peninsula and one of the most beautiful areas in the country. It was great seeing friends and his site. My host family, some local friends and I took a trip to a river to swim, play in the sand and eat. It was also Gabby's first time swimming.
May: I went home!!! As many of you know I was boppin around Minnesota for a few weeks. Tyson graduated medical school, yay! I enjoyed MANY different foods I have missed so much here and got to see so many friends and family. I was in Minneapolis for a while, Brainerd for a while longer, Duluth for a wedding, Gooseberry Falls and so much fun, back to Brainerd, back to Minneapolis, then it was time for my flight. The trip flew by but I had the time of my life and it was very very hard to leave...just another goodbye, I have way too many of those in these two years!
June: June marked our one year in Costa Rica! This month was a lot of readjustment to Costa Rican life, it was like I was starting over again after my trip home! It's crazy how a few weeks at home can really set you back and get you used to your old life again. However, with time I'm getting into the lifestyle here again. This month a few of us went to Volcano Arenal to celebrate our one year in country. We hiked to a waterfall, swam, ate great food (of course...when isn't food a huge part of my life story) and we went to Baldi Hot Springs. I had visited here in high school so it was cool to see it again a few years later. This was a great trip to celebrate our time here.
July!!: Here we are in July! This month has flown by but also dragged on just like the others. The days go slow but the months go fast. The first week of July I went to Haley's site to help her with a youth camp, it was a lot of work but a ton of fun. Then we went to Uvita to meet some of the new Costa Rica volunteers and celebrate my birthday, my friends always give me the best birthdays here :) Also, I am working really hard with my counterpart to build a bio digester for our elementary school. We are writing a grant for $3500 and I really hope we get it. We have been working so hard on the details and how it would all be built, which is what I will explain now. For those of you who don't know, a bio digester is a big bag basically. It collects manure from farm animals, for example pigs or cows, and makes methane gas that you can use to cook and even produce electricity. We are going to build an 8 meter bio digester and use the pigs the school already has to produce gas to cook the students meals and heat the school's pool. We will be building the pig sty, storage shed, bio digesters and all of the tubing and cementing necessary to finish. After the manure is used to produce the gas, it leaves the bio digester and we are going to make an organic fertilizer to use in the school's garden to grow vegetables and herbs for the food. Methane gas, if not used correctly, can be very harmful to the enviornment, however, after it is burned and is being used correctly, it is better for the environment than traditional cooking gas. With this project we are hoping to reduce deforestation (the school uses a wood stove to cook now), teach students and community members about recycling, helping the environment, alternate sources of energy and how to form and complete a project. The whole thing is a long process but I am hoping to have it finished by September! Other than that, I am continuing with English classes in the school and soon for the community again. I am also working with a few advanced English speakers individually to practice their English. I had three friends visit me this weekend, it was a lot of fun. It is so great to be able to show off my community and what I am doing here. It was, of course, hard to say goodbye but we had a great time (other than the time my phone got stolen at the hot springs...oops).
That's it for now! I'm going to try to try really hard to update my blog once a week (or even once a month would be an improvement) so it's less list like and I can tell you all funny stories that happen every day here and interesting things I have learned. I added a recipe to make arroz con leche in the recipes section, it is delicious!! I recommend making it :) Talk to you all soon!! Below are a few pictures from the last 8 months :) Sorry for any typos in this post..I will revise the next a lot better
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| Host sister's graduation |
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| Mom's visit to the hot springs |
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| My host sister and I at the first waterfall we hiked to with my mom |
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| Uvita with Tyson |
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| Our waterfall hike |
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| We made everyone eggs benedict |
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| When I first found Gabby at the bio digester workshop...what a cutie |
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| In Quepos with my dad and sister |
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| After we made my garden |
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| At the river |
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| Puerto Jimenez |
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| Wedding in Duluth |
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| Tyson's graduation |
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| Just hanging out with my best friend...finally! |
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| Gooseberry Falls |
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| Cooking with dad again :) |
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| The girls after a full day of shopping :) |
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| At Arenal celebrating our one year |
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| Haley's Youth Camp |
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| Celebrating my birthday in Uvita :) I got presents, a doughnut cake and all!! |
