Sunday, July 24, 2011

Workshops, Tamales, & Montezuma

I can't believe another week is over, and I have only one more left!  This week we worked some more with the kids in Rio Azul.  I've really been enjoying serving lunch and getting to know the kids better.  We also went to the National Museum, ate some delicious Costa Rican tamales, and went to the playa de Montezuma on the Nicoya Peninsula.  This weekend is the celebration of the annexation of the region of Guanacaste of which Montezuma is a part.  The day after I leave is the celebration of the Patron Saint of Costa Rica, so I am planning a trip to Cartago this week to check out the pre-holiday festivities.  I need to enjoy every fleeting minute I have here before my plane flies out next Sunday!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Volcan Arenal

This weekend Amanda and i went to the town of La Fortuna at the base of Volcan Arenal.  Arenal is an active volcano, however it hasn't been spewing glowing red lava in a few months.  Nevertheless, i still found it to be rather majestic and mighty!  Praise God for volcanoes! We also got to spend some time in aqua termales (hot springs) while we were there.  A very relaxing weekend, unfortunately book-ended by some pretty gross bus rides : (  It is remarkable cheap and easy to travel this country in bus, but it is not very comfortable...pero yo todavia pienso que vale la pena!

Los Ninos

Amanda has been leading workshops with some of the kids (ages 9-12) at Casa San Lazaro, and i have been fortunate enough to get to help her.  We've covered the themes of feelings, goals, violence, and hope.  It has been really interesting to learn about these kids and their realities.

Some things that have stuck out to me:
   1) several of them know drug dealers/have been offered drugs
   2) one boy's biggest dream is to own a car
   3) several of them have failed grades in school
   4) most of them dream of traveling the world beyond Rio Azul

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Recently

Well last weekend we did, in fact, visit Volcan Irazu which has been inactive for almost 50 years but is still breathtaking!  I'll post pictures when i get a chance.  This week i started volunteering full time with an organization called Casa San Lazaro.  Basically this is a Christian ministry that serves lunch to almost 300 children every weekday in a poor neighborhood near San Jose.  They also provide tutoring, family workshops, and character development.   This is a really cool opportunity to give back to the community, to learn firsthand about some of the social conditions in this country, and to practice my Spanish!  So far it has been challenging, but i've been learning a lot too!

Recent Highlights:  
      1) going to the barrio church on Sunday with my host dad and little brother
      2) getting bitten by hormigas (ants)
      3) playing futbol (soccer) with the kids today!