The Climate is a changin'

     Many Costa Ricans are talking about how the weather is so different in the past several years.  This is supposed to be the "rainy season" also known as "winter".  We've had many days without rain, and as a result, guess what; we don't have water!  We're going on 8 days of water rationing.  We get water from 5 -10 am; so we're keeping bottles, pots and pans, pitchers and buckets full of water for all purposes.  Dinner dishes don't get washed until the next day, and toilets are flushed with buckets of water that we filled outside.  What we're hearing is that the aqueduct gets filled from underground springs, and they just haven't been filling up.  This doesn't sound hopeful for when the "dry" season approaches, but that's a long way off and probably in a few blogs from now I'll be talking about all the rain!  In the meantime, it's again a personal reminder of the value of water, our role in conserving it and always appreciating it!

On the last blog I talked about our hiking group and since then, we have had the opportunity to take hiking in Costa Rica to a new level.  It was more like a scene out of "Survivor" and reminded me of a certain adventure I took with a group while in Guatemala.  I should have been suspicious when 2 of the hikers showed up with ropes, but once we started going down the mountain, I realized how the
ropes would come in handy.

We walked down along a creekbed,  bouldering our way through waterfalls and mud (only in the reverse direction),  trying our hardest to stay dry.  So, in trying to keep to the rocks,  we found ourselves slipping a lot, though in the end, Francis ended up smack in the middle of the creek; good thing for quick dry shorts!  I mentioned to the guy who planned this hike, that the next time I would like to know more details about the hike, prior to going so I could make an informed decision about my choice or at least to know what I'm getting myself into.  He seemed surprised that I wouldn't actually choose to do this kind of hike if given the choice!  That's what I like about outdoor adventures you always learn something about yourself!

A week later, we showed our favorite hiking spot in San Marcos (Cerro de La Cruz) to Lauren and Ken, 2 new PC trainees who spent a few days with us.

     I also had the opportunity to do a lot of reflection when talking to them, sharing our ups and downs, the successes and challenges.  I find myself,  going round and round trying to figure out what is the best combination of where I think I'm making the most difference, while doing something I really feel passionate about.  The good thing is that we really do have choices here, and I need to keep reminding myself of that.  I've also decided that the Serenity Prayer makes for a good PC mantra. God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the Courage to change the things I can and the Wisdom to know the difference.

Our 10th grade Servicio Comunal finished their service project at the CEN, and here are some of the final results:  They plumbed the sink, they have lettuce growing in the raised garden beds they built, and this in one of the 2 murals they painted.
 

Eight of these same kids that we worked with in this project, formed an all girls "experimental band" and we got to see them perform the other day at the school, during the Festival of the Arts.  I have really gotten attached to this group of kids, and felt so proud watching them perform! 

Vilma had a new playground built at her school with a grant and the help of another PCV.  Francis and I helped her paint some of it during the July break.  

It turned out to be quite colorful and apparently "the boat" is the favorite of the young kids!

Since learning English is one of the Ministry of Education's goals, the schools all put on an English Festival every year in order to demonstrate skills and to challenge the kids (on a national level) through different activities like: Spelling Bees, Reader's Theater and Impromptu Speech.  Francis and I were judges again recently and had a lot of fun watching and listening to even the 1st graders try and say a few things about a topic that they learned about in school.   After looking at a picture they had 20 minutes to draw their own ideas (since they haven't learned how to read or write English yet) and then tell us what they knew about the subject, standing at a microphone, in front of an auditorium full of parents and classmates!   Their choices of topics were: family, greetings, weather or daily routines.  Many chose family and in 1 minute said (for ex.):  "Hi, my name is ___, I am 6 years old, I go to Manuel Blanco School.  My mother's name is ____, she likes to water the plants, baby brother likes to take a nap and grandmother likes to cook.  Thank you." (or something similar to that).  It was really cute.  A great start to their language learning!  The 6th graders impromptu speech of course was a lot more developed and the winner was able to talk about different illnesses and how to treat them, in 1 1/2 minutes.

Another activity at the schools this month included traditional dancing during the celebration of the Annexation of Guanacaste (the northwestern part of Costa Rica, which is home to many of the beautiful beaches of CR, in the Nicoya Peninsula).

  While the Festival of the Arts is one of the reasons that classes are cancelled, there are many other reasons as well, and for this I have most of my greatest frustrations.  Obviously it requires a great amount of understanding to live and work in another culture without placing judgements on everything you see happening around you.  I hope my understanding improves over time, because as Francis always says: "expectations are the foundation of the greatest disappointment".  In the meantime, I have to practice putting aside my values and judgements and work with the system as it is, as difficult as that is.(see Serenity Prayer above)  I have to admit, it's not one of my strong points.  So in this way, I need to 'choose my battles'.  

For this reason, it is very important for us to find ways to manage the stress (WHO doesn't need  to manage their stress)?  While the hiking serves that purpose well, so does working on mosaics.   These are some of my latest projects; they were BD presents for Vilma.

This is a plant stand made from a wire spool.

Vilma loves plants, so I covered this pot, which now holds a cactus, and made this butterfly, which can be hung or used as a coaster.

I'll close with these photos of a very cool art exhibit that was in San Jose a couple of weeks ago.  Know that you are in our hearts and on our minds often!  The next blog will be all about our time with the family:  they are coming next week!