Top 15 Peace Corps lessons I've learned

1.       How to be patient

o   Things don’t always go the way they should, but they eventually will, so be patient and enjoy the ride.

2.       How to enjoy time alone

o   Sometimes you just need to be alone, and that’s okay. It’s important to be able to be alone with yourself and have hobbies or interests that keep you happy and occupied. Whether it’s drawing, reading, meditating or exercising, some ‘you’ time is important in life to keep you grounded and to remember who you are and what you need and want out of life.

3.       Family is number one

o   This one is basic. Family is your lifeline, they will always catch you when you fall and love you no matter how low you are.

4.       Real friends will be there for you no. matter. what.

o   This is one of the biggest, most important and hardest things I’ve learned. Friends are people who accept you for who you are, flaws and all.

5.       Eating healthy and exercising is vital to living healthy and happy

o   Although I have many many cheat days, I stay healthy overall and am happy with how I look and how I am.

6.       Learn something from everyone you meet, everyone is beautiful in their own way

o   In these two years, I have met so many different people and they are all completely different, but one thing they all have in common, they’re beautiful. Not one person in my Peace Corps group or in Costa Rica is the same and I love them all equally. Each of them has qualities that make them unique and beautiful and I truly believe each person has this and everyone should take some time to find it.

7.       Do what makes you happy

o   If you don’t, you will feel like you missed out on life.

8.       Being vulnerable is okay

o   I have never been so sad, excited, stressed, happy, bored, relaxed or anxious in my whole life. All of these emotions can make you extremely vulnerable and I have realized that I need to vent sometimes! This is so important to keep you sane in any situation and if I didn’t have my support group of family and friends, I would have been out of Peace Corps by month 3. So if it’s breaking down and crying sometimes, it’s okay! It helps in the long run.

9.       Being a good listener is one of the most important qualities you can have

o   This relates to number 8; be there for your friends and family to vent to. Sometimes all people need is to talk about themselves without any interruptions or opinions.

10.   Less is more

o   Whether it’s with clothing, food, TV shows, things to do or whatever, appreciate what you have. While being in Peace Corps, I have seen families live off nearly pennies a day, but they are happier than anybody else in the world. They appreciate what they have, use what they have and don’t take advantage of what they have.

11.   Never settle for less than you deserve

o   Whether it is with a job, relationship or friendships, you need to realize how amazing you are and all that you deserve in life. I have done this a lot in the past with all three of these things and I never ended up feeling good about myself or happy with the choices I had made. It may sound cheesy, but I really have realized what I want and what I deserve in all aspects in life and I intend to get them. Confidence people, you are beautiful!

12.   You have to know and be happy with yourself before you can be happy with someone else

o   This relates with number 11, "All of me” by John Legend is a really romantic song that many may think tacky but I think it’s beautiful and I hope everybody in a relationship feels that about their partner.

13.   Music really can soothe the soul

o   I have learned this through many days and nights sitting in my cabina, bored out of my mind and wishing I was home. This lesson may not apply to everyone, because I know my sister relies more on books while I am a sucker for music, but listening to some good, meaningful music can calm you down, make you cry, make you laugh, dance and so many other emotions, it’s incredible!

14. Nothing is impossible, but you have to make moves to get there, not just dream

o   I have learned this throughout my service, but most recently by a fellow volunteer, let’s call him Clive (haha). We were in a conference and had to talk about how we have changed throughout Peace Corps. He said he was less of a dreamer, while I said I thought I was more of one. Then he proceeded to explain that he is still a dreamer, but he has realized that dreaming is great, but if you don’t take initiative and start to do rather than just dream, it’s hard for your dreams to come true. This is very true, we see it all of the time in Peace Corps. Our communities have so many fantastic dreams, but nobody wants to take the lead to start them, which is part of the reason why we are here. My friends are truly amazing.

15.   It’ll be okay!

o   We all have our demons and we are all scared of certain things not working out, but it will. Even if it is different than you had expected/hoped.

As you can see, many of these ‘lessons’ are similar to others. Everything in our lives is connected and if one part of our life is off balance, it is very hard to find a balance with the rest.

The end is near

I was talking to my dad last night and he made me realize it’s about that time for a new blog entry! My sister has been telling me to write a new one for months, but I figured I haven’t written one in a while, why write more? Thanks to my dad, he realized I was writing one before about every 6-8 months, so it’s perfect timing! A lot has happened in the past…10 months (Okay, maybe I’m a little past the 6-8 month writing mark, but oh well). So prepare yourselves…this is going to be a long one!

I just got back from our Close of Service (COS) conference in San Jose, which is meant to get us all ready for the crazy adjustment we are going to go through when we return to the US. COS was a week-long conference which included medical appointments, dental appointments, lab tests, blood taking, long trainings, emotional conversations, crying, interviews and more. Just the conference itself was emotionally draining, thinking about leaving all of my friends who have turned into family and readjusting to the fast paced lifestyle in the US. I will get to talking about this more later, but for now, here I go on the past 10 months in one blog post…highlighting my favorite and most important memories.

The end of 2013 was an exciting time, I went home for Christmas, got the money for my Biodigestor grant and started a women’s group. The Biodigestor has been a long, sometimes painfully slow, process that we have been working on for the past year or so. At the end of December I was told that I was going to receive the money needed to build it and I was beyond excited. This was my first really big project and I was excited to provide this opportunity for the elementary school. If you don’t remember, a Biodigestor uses the manure of farm animals to produce methane gas that you can cook with and then after make organic fertilizer with what comes out of the Biodigestor. The school still uses a wood fire stove, which compromises the health of the students as well as the cook, so this is a great organic solution to this. We are finally finishing up the building process and should start producing gas within the next month. All of the construction has been done by volunteers in the community, they have done an amazing job and I am so grateful I live in a community with such fantastic people willing to donate their time and skills.

The women’s group has been my Peace Corps dream all throughout my service, but it wasn’t until December that I found someone who wanted to take charge and start it with me. The original idea of the group was to form a group to grow organic vegetables that they could do a barter system within the group and the women wouldn’t have to buy vegetables anymore, since they can be expensive and nearly impossible to get in Fila Tigre. We now have about 20 women who are active in the group and I (along with my sister for most of them) have given nutrition and health courses to them to really emphasize the importance of a healthy diet and exercise. The women have started growing their organic vegetables with organic fertilizer that we made as a group. The group, MEFIT (mujeres emprendedoras de Fila Tigre) is amazing at working together, coming to every meeting and thinking of ideas for fundraising to eventually be able to build nicer greenhouses. These women are so motivated and amazing! I am proud of all of them and know that this group will grow and excel long after I leave.

After my visit home in December, Dana came back with me to help, support, travel and work with me for the first three months of 2014. These were the most amazing three months of my service. Peace Corps is a very solitary job and you don’t realize how nice it can be having someone to collaborate and work with. I realized in these three months many things; how amazing my sister is, how well we work together, the importance of having at least one person who you can completely trust in your life, along with endless other things that I cannot put into words. Dana and I are so lucky to be best friends who are interested in the same things. During her time here we got the chance to travel to Nicaragua and Limon together, both of which were amazing. In Nicaragua we traveled with four other Peace Corps friends of mine and went to Isla Ometepe on Lake Nicaragua, Granada and San Juan del Sur. My favorite place was Granada, who could not love a city that is full of culture, beautiful buildings, amazing sites and fantastic food?! I would highly recommend going there if you are ever presented the chance.

When we traveled to Limon, we went to Cahuita and Puerto Viejo. In Cahuita we relaxed, hiked in the national park, saw many monkeys, raccoons and birds, ate traditional Caribbean food, worked out on the beach and swam in the ocean. The food of Limon is delicious; they use coconut milk for their most popular dish, rice and beans. Sounds boring? It’s not. It is rice and beans slowly cooked in coconut milk that result in the most amazing flavors. I’m am going to practice making it and bring that knowledge home, for anyone who wants to try it, just let me know. I have many Costa Rican recipes I am anxious to share with you all! Puerto Viejo was our next stop on this vacation; while we were there we rode bikes down the coast to the most beautiful beaches Costa Rica has to offer. Our favorite was Punta Uva, this beach had white sand and the most clear, turquoise water you can imagine.

Other than travel, Dana and I worked on the Biodigestor, women’s group, English classes and worked out like crazy! If anybody wants a new workout plan that is fun and SUPER effective, go to blogilates.com, it has changed my life. Also, Dana and I have many business plans we are eager to make a reality, our ‘business’ is starting with Instagram, so follow sistersconsuerte to keep up with our adventures #AWESOME! (I’m not the best with hashtags yet…that’s Dana’s area of expertise, turns out I’m a little bit behind on the new and popular, not to mention confusing, social media practices)

We now fast forward to April 1…my mom arrived! My mama, sister and I got to travel together for a week to the Osa Peninsula, for those of you who don’t know, the Osa Peninsula is considered the most bio diverse place on earth and is breathtaking. We spent a night in Puerto Jimenez, where my volunteer friend CJ was a volunteer, so he showed us around town. After that, we brought our rental car into the roughest terrain it has probably ever seen. The lodge we stayed for the next week was an 1 ½ hour drive into the rainforest with dirt roads, pot holes and river crossings to survive until we finally arrived to our gorgeous lodge, Luna Lodge. This lodge is a yoga retreat/honeymoon destination/most relaxing place in the world. It is right by Corcovado Park so of course we took a day trip to the park. CJ and his friend (who is also a guide) Felix, took us on an amazing adventure where we saw spider monkeys, squirrel monkeys, a tapir, a poison dart frog, a snake, scarlet macaws, whale bones and hundreds of birds…all in a matter of 6 hours! It was breathtaking and I hope each of you have a chance to go someday. I also recommend Luna Lodge, it is pretty expensive, but they provide you with a beautiful bungalow, three meals a day (plus appetizers!), a pool and optional yoga classes each morning. After this great vacation, Dana took off, went back to the US and left my mom and I to our next adventure to Uvita for a week.

We rented a house in Uvita that was high in the mountains and overlooked the ocean. My mom got to meet many of my Peace Corps friends, which is always fun because I like to show off how awesome they all are. The house and beaches were beautiful, we spent our days on the beach, playing Scrabble and Yatzee, relaxing, reading, cooking and enjoying out time together. After this we headed back to Fila Tigre for almost two weeks to celebrate Easter and spend time with my host family. We left Fila Tigre with an extra passenger, Gabby! We headed to Playa Hermosa for two nights, Gabby’s first trip to the beach. After, we headed up to San Jose and I saw mom and Gabby off, hours later, they were both in Minnesota after an exhausting plane ride for both of them.

Since my mom and Gabby left, I have been occupying myself by working with the community more on our projects and spending as much time as possible with my host family; guava hunting, cooking, talking and hiking. My host family has been one of my biggest supports throughout my service, they are now considered my family and we treat each other as so. It is a relationship that is so beautiful and I am so grateful that they are in my life.

Now for the moment you have all been waiting for…the official date I am going to be HOME FOR GOOD! Drum roll please…….July 25! So mark your calendars because I want to see every single person! Leaving will be a bitter sweet experience and I think a hard transition time as well. Fila Tigre has become my home and whenever I come back here from San Jose, it surprises me how calm and relaxing this place really is. I will miss this place so much but I am overly excited to be home with all of my family and friends. Peace Corps is truly a life changing experience and I am so thankful I have had the opportunities I have had the last two years and make the friends that I have made.

Here's a little bonus quote that I love:

"If you only do what's expected of you, you become someone else. If you do the unexpected, you become who you are meant to be."
- My philosophical sister, Dana Hanson

I think we should all strive for doing what we love and being who we are meant to be. With this experience, I have become closer than ever to this and I hope all of you do the same! Love you all :)