Chi Chi Chi Cha Cha Cha....

The nights in rural Costa Rica are not the most fun-filled and exciting in the world. In fact, its kind of like being a kid at camp. Now, I have never been to camp, but I have seen many camp-related movies including Ernest Goes to Camp, Camp Nowhere, Meatballs, and Friday the 13th. There are definitely some similarities and differences between these 80´s VHS classics and my experience here in Central America. For example, my ´camp´ is lacking a goofy over-the-hill counselor, but we do have large, masked, machete-wielding men.

The point is that at night, there is nothing to do, so you begin to revert back to your childhood. I have completed many puzzles of varying difficulty (1000 pieces, son!), played Dominos, and learned many new card games. At first, I thought this was boring, but the longer I´m here the more fun it becomes. My host-dad and I play Poker every night for 2-3 hours and it has become a good time for us to talk about our days, and for a bit of an exchange on the differences between US/CR living. He now believes that Las Vegas is possibly the wildest place in the world and has made it his mission to someday go there. On a side note, this reminds me that I am going to put a link to my friend Nick´s blog on this page. He makes a living playing online poker and thus gets to live all over the world and have crazy adventures. What a lucky bastard.

In other news, I have started working on a map of my town for my CAT (Community Anaylsis Tool). The CAT is a document that Community Development Volunteers use to show other development organizations in order to introduce their town and get funding. Even though Costa Rica is a very small country, most people that live here do not know our towns because of how small and rural they are. This analysis will include statistics, town history, necessities, community resources, and possible projects. It will also include photos of the town and the map. It is a big project but has proven very useful and effective in the past. It is also a good way to integrate and meet your community.

Finally, last week I had the worst bowel problems I have ever had in my entire life. I tried many different medications and nothing seemed to work. Eventually, my host-Mom went to get an old lady and she came and rubbed this weird oil on my legs, arms, and neck. I don´t think it helped the diareha, but it was nice to get a free massage.

More to come directly...

Bill

I itch.

This week my host-dad asked me to go with him to his farm in the mountains. I had already heard about how beautiful it was and how many exotic animals there were to see, so naturally I was excited to go. A few hours before we were about to leave I began to pack. I wasn´t sure what to bring so I asked my host-dad. The conversation went as follows:

Me: What should I bring to the mountains this weekend?

HD: Just your boots...and maybe a flashlight.

Me: What about my mosquito net? (which I use religiously every night)

HD: There are no mosquitos there. Besides, the house is closed off.

Follwing his advice, I left my green reppellant-impregnated net at home. MISTAAAAAAAAAKE! Not only is the house is located on about 20 acres of marsh ground i.e. stagnant water, it is also halfway constructed. The house is on stilts and there were holes in the floorboards that allowed easy access to mosquiotos/other crazy bugs. Needless to say, I was eaten alive by a variety of blood sucking insects and as a side note, used a 2/4 as a pillow. I did, however, get to see a lot of toucans which I was told by my host dad are carnivores. That just seems so wrong doesn´t it?

In other news, this past weekend, my counterpart and I went to San Jose to talk to ICE which is the government´s phone/electricity company. The meeting went well and afterwards, I got to enjoy cable TV which included watching Back to the Future II. This is the best of the trilogy because it encapsulates the best moments of BTTF and presents us with a strange 80´s version of what the future would be like to Steven Spielberg. I mean c´mon, Jaws 13? Dehyrdrated Pizza Hut?? Robot infused super bullies???

Time for us to head back to site. This blog is dedicated to my good friend and volunteer, Rudolph Becker. Respect.