Awkwardly blogging after neglecting to for nearly a year.

 TL;DR (Stands for: Too long, didn't read. Basically a synopsis of the blog post): I'm doing fine in Costa Rica. Sorry I haven't posted in nearly a year. I've done some stuff since my last post, and I will be visiting for Christmas.




So, hey people at home (or whoever is reading this).

I meant to keep the blog going throughout my service. I really did. But social media (facebook mainly) and being able to call the US for free (use Google hangouts. seriously it's FREE) have sort of made it easy for me to neglect my blogging duties. So after 11 months or so of not formally blogging my life in Costa Rica, here it is.

Just a recap of major events (some personal, some project-related) have happened since my last blog:


-Moved into my own place! Well, it's attached to another house, but I'm basically living on my own. I have definitely missed living with my host family and am grateful for everything they have done for me, but am also glad to have been able to give my host brother his old room back, and have my own space. I still visit them from time to time mainly because they are wonderful people and wouldn't trade them for any other host family.

The kids at Jumpstart Laurel English Camp 2015 (January)

 

-Successfully implemented and facilitated a month long English Camp for 6th graders called JumpStart! One of my most rewarding projects yet. The kids really seemed to enjoy it, and seem to be ahead of the game now that they have started high school (starts in 7th grade here).

 A few Tico 27ers and I at Playa Uvita celebrating 1 year in-country (March 2015)

-Traveled and experienced many different sides of Costa Rica! In the past 11 months or so I've been able to help other volunteers with cool projects, see many beaches, try different foods, hike a bit, and experience different cultures that make up this unique country. Costa Rica, for a tiny tiny country, is made up of a ridiculous amount of biodiversity and micro climates which makes traveling to very different parts of this place pretty easy (even from the little corner of nowhere where I live).

Volcan Arenal on a clear morning (left) and when we made it to the top of a near by trail when it was not so clear (right) [May 2015]

And those have been the major things worth mentioning. There are still the daily tasks of going to various meetings, attempting to find eager people to help with my park project, helping out in the escuela, tutoring students, among other things. I've been somewhat busy, for which I'm thankful for. It's made missing home and all of you not as difficult as it could be.

But this really hasn't been easy. Not to be too negative, but it has been hard missing so many important events in peoples' lives and I wish I could be there for all of them, especially the birth of my nephew Corbett. He's gonna be huge by the time I get to see him (already looks enormous in his pictures) and I can't wait to meet him. BUT, I will be coming home to visit for Christmas! I miss everyone back home and I am thankful for the support over the past year and a half. Hope to see you all in 3 months or so.



Until next time,

Tyler



PS:
Apologies for the tortuous post, but it's sort of hard to focus while trying to cover nearly a year's worth of things unsaid.

Mae, (insert random phrase), mae.

Hello friends, family, and potential strangers who may read my blog (but probably not),

To explain the title of this post, "Mae"is a slang word the kids (especially boys) like to use in basically every sentence here. It more or less means "dude". Having a teenage host brother, I can sometimes hear this word up to 100 times a day (not an exaggeration).

Woke up to this guy hanging out on my mosquito net. Thankful I put this baby up.

I have been extremely lazy when it has come to updating my blog since I have been in my site, so I apologize. All is (pretty) well here in Laurel. Way too much has happened since I last updated my blog so I'm going to try to recap it the best I can.

My host family has been really good to me, and I'm lucky to have them. Joel is my host dad, Mixdalia, my host mom, and they have a son (my host brother), Kendall, who is 16 and goes to the colegio (high school) in the next town over. Joel is a taxi driver, and also drives a school bus, and seems to be friends with just about everyone in town. He'll stop and joke around with anyone. His favorite pastime is when I'm with him somewhere, he'll introduce me as his son, just to see the person's reaction (we look completely unalike). Mixdalia is a very sweet woman who always seems to be in a good mood and happy. She's lived in Laurel her entire life and has definitely helped me meet people around town and integrate. Kendall is your average soccer-loving teenager. I think he enjoys having me around, and it's nice having a brother for me as well.

 My host family and I in Grecia.

So what the hell have I been doing the past few months? That's a great question.

Me assisting the vet while he prevents more stray puppies/kittens

Mainly spending time with my host family, eating rice and beans (a montón of rice and beans), teaching a community English class, prepping for an English camp for 6th graders that will be in January, working with youth, working with an older adults group, and working at spay and neuter campaigns around the region. Oh yeah, I forgot sweating, there has been a lot of sweat put in to all of this.

 Traditional dances (above) for Costa Rican Independence day and the Independence day parade in my town (below).

Making my students very uncomfortable by making them speak aloud in class *Gasp*

I have also had the opportunity to visit a couple of beaches, and spend a bit of time with fellow volunteers, which has been nice. Speaking and thinking in Spanish 24/7 can be exhausting so hanging out with fellow Norteamericanos is a nice break. Not to mention these people are some of my closest friends now, so getting to see a few of them once a month or so is nice.

Love these people. (Playa Brasilito, Guanacaste)

Well, I won't bore you any longer, but I will actually try to keep this thing updated semi-regularly from now on so you know I'm not dead.


Tyler

Lo siento, pero no lo siento.

Good afternoon/evening/night everyone,

I have been seriously slacking on this blog thing, but I am trying to keep it going so here's another entry.
So so much has happened since my last post and training seems like it's gone on forever, but in reality, it's only been not even 3 months.

Couldn't have asked for a better Spanish Facilitator.

One of the more important things that have happened, is that I found out where I'll be living for the next 2 years, beginning Thursday, June 5th. It's Panama! Not really, but it might as well be in Panama. It's called Laurel, and is located in the province of Puntarenas, literally minutes from the Costa Rican/Panamanian border (about 7 hours away from San Jose, the capital). I took a trip there last week to kind of feel things out, get introduced to my new host family, etc and that went pretty well.

My site is the very bottom right (Laurel).

One thing about where I'll be living is that it's HOT and RAINY. That'll take some getting used to, but hopefully it won't take too long. The town itself is around 2000 people, which is actually really large for a Peace Corps site. Because it's close to the border, there are malls and stores near by that have everything for suuuper cheap. I believe they bring products over the border and somehow don't pay Costa Rican taxes on them.

The people there are pretty nice, but it's a little frustrating because they all have accents much different than where I've been living and they all speak super fast, so needless to say I had a hard time understanding them. But they seem eager and willing to start working with me to develop their town. The second day I was there, I had to introduce myself and tell a bit about why I'm there in front of every development group of the community (Indigenous, Women's, Farmers, etc) which was nerve-wracking and intimidating, but they seemed to understand my so-so Spanish, and appreciate that I'm there to lend a hand.

As always my family here in my training site has been great. I'm really going to miss them when I leave next week. They have spoiled the hell out of me but I'm definitely going to visit in the future.

Also, me going to my site means leaving all of the amazing other volunteers I've gotten to know these past 3 months. Somehow I've grown really close to a lot of these guys over just a couple months and it's gonna be hard being so far away from all of them. Okay, enough sad stuff.

Obviously, I miss you all back at home, but the internet will be pretty accessible where I'll be living, so I'm really not much more than a Facebook message or Skype away.


Peace, Love,

Tyler



PS- My swearing-in ceremony will be on June 5th at the US Ambassador's house here in Costa Rica and will be streamed/archived at this website if you want to see. http://www.livestream.com/usembassy

El Castillo y Zarcero

Hola a todos!

This last week has been crazy busy and eventful. Last Sunday, My and Derek's families went to to El Castillo Country Club where we went swimming, went through a haunted house, and generally just spent the entire day relaxing. Super fun day/weekend before the grind of the week. The weeks here are super busy with having to go to San Jose twice a week for training, Spanish the other 3 days and quite of bit of homework on top of trying to improve at Spanish.


This past Saturday, fellow trainee Theo and I went to visit 2 (a married couple) seasoned volunteer's site in Zarcero in order to experience life in an actual PC site. After I told my family where I would be going, they told me more than a few time to take pictures and that I'm so lucky because it's so beautiful and they weren't lying. Zarcero is a decent sized mountain town with a super comfortable climate, and a ton of natural beauty. The couple we stayed with are really awesome PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) who will be closing their service in a few months. They cooked really rico food for us - quesadillas one night and some good ole American cheeseburgers the other. They also helped Theo and I get a better idea of what we might want out of our future sites when the time comes and future projects we may want to pursue. I hope I can accomplish half of these guys have done in their service in Zarcero.

Sunday, they took us on a 10(ish) mile hike outside of the town and to a waterfall with one of their local friends here. I've never really hiked much, but this is something I could definitely get in to. Not to mention the waterfall was just unbelievable.

Musico Electronico y Estoy lleno

Hello everyone-

So I figured since I had a little time- I'd update you all on the last week or so.

Last Sunday, I went to a Electronic Music Festival (called Pazland) in San Jose with my amigo Derek (and fellow volunteer), brother Jesus, and Derek's host sisters Kathy and Daya. What a day. Being in the big city and taking the buses for the first time was such a culture shock. San Jose is a very busy metropolis with a lot of culture and so much to do and see. At the music festival - a couple of ladies approached Derek and I and assumed we were Argentinian for some reason. They were super surprised when I told them we're from the States and said my Spanish is very good. The music was really good and it was interesting to see the type of people that a free concert in the biggest city in Costa Rica attracts. Later- not really knowing exactly what was going on - we were pretty late for Mass that night and rushed to change clothes and basically ran to the church still sweaty and disgusting from being in the sun all day at the festival. I've never been to a Catholic church before, but it was pretty interesting having to sit and stand every 2 minutes and trying to understand the sermon.

(From Left to Right) Jesus, Me, and Derek stopping by El Estadio Nacional on the way to the festival.

All week I've been super busy with Spanish class in my town (San Rafael) and technical training with the rest of the volunteers (about 1.5 hour bus ride to San Jose). I am usually super exhausted by the end of each day from having to think in Spanish for about 6 or 7 hours and also when I get home for dinner. I think (and hope) my Spanish is steadily improving but we shall see.

If you're wondering what my living situation is like, I think I've got it pretty good. I have my own (pretty spacious) bedroom, and share a bathroom with the rest of the family. My mom cooks 3 (muy rico) meals a day for me and the rest of the family. The foods been great, but I really hope I don't get tired of gallo pinto (rice and beans) any time soon because we eat it with almost every meal. The best parts are that our house has hot water AND wifi. I think I may be a bit spoiled and am dreading the day when I move to site and probably no longer have these luxurys.

Tonight my and Derek's families (we're related. My mom is his mom's daughter) got together for a big meal of a type of spaghetti with sausage, salad, and wine to celebrate my and Derek's first week here in San Rafael with them. I love this family. They are so close and have already accepted Derek and I as one of their own even though we don't understand what they're saying sometimes. Tomorrow we are going to some type of club that has pools and other things to do (not sure exactly what it is, but I've gotten used to not really knowing what we're doing).
                                              
 (From left to right: My abuelo, my dad Adrian, my mom Adriana, Aunt Kathy, Me, Derek, and Aunt Daya. At the bottom is my little brother Adrian.)

Also - I have since gotten a chip for my cell phone so you can feel free to call me (best if it's in the evenings or anytime on the weekend). From the States you would dial: 506 8725 0830. If you want to send my letters or a care package, don't use the address I had up before. I've since learned that this PO box address is better and the items are less likely to end up in customs:

Tyler Dickerson 

Cuerpo de Paz

PO Box 1266-1000

San Jose, Costa Rica

Pura Vida!

Retreat y San Rafael

Hola a Todos!

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, and this one may not make total sense because I am completely drained from our Tico 27 retreat in San Jose this past week, and meeting my family today (and half of their extended family,which was still around 25 people, at a birthday party as soon as I arrived at their house).

Starting at staging in Dallas, TX, (and into the retreat) I met and have gotten to know 41 of the most awesome people on Earth. I am really not sure how lucky I am to have other volunteers in my group that are some of the most genuine, friendly, and open people I've ever met. The past week has been a blur of icebreakers and endless information about safety, espanol, etc. Although it was extremely exhausting, I was sad to leave the entire group when we moved into our training areas today.
                                 
                                         Tico 27 (Me and my giant sunglasses are on the right)

As soon as I arrived into San Rafael (the town where my small group is), mi familia met me at the bus stop, took me to their home and we proceeded to go to one of their niece's birthday party in which I was overwhelmed with smiling faces and (unfimilar) spanish words and phrases. Although tiring, it was a great time and good to meet some of my family.

A bit more about my host family - my father, Adrian, is very nice and amable, and thank goodness he is patient with my Spanish. My mother, Adriana (yep Adrian and Adriana) is super sweet and really wants me to understand everything she is trying to convey, so I am thankful for that as well. Also they have two sons - (Jesus - 14, and Adrian - 10) who are really really nice and hilarious. I really lucked out with my family.


I am definitely feeling a bit of culture shock, but I'm sure that will wear off eventually. I will try to post more often as more things happen, but until then, Pura Vida!

                                            (The view from the retreat site in San Jose, CR)






PS- If you want to mail me a letter or a care package with delicious american snacks, here is my address for the next 3 months.

Tyler Dickerson
Cuerpo de Paz
PO Box 1266-1000
San Jose, Costa Rica

Starting this thing up

Hello everyone,

I'm not anywhere close to leaving for my Peace Corps service in Costa Rica (I leave March 10th, my birthday!), but I thought I would go ahead and get this blog started so I don't have to worry about it later.

Just a little recap on my timeline in case you were interested:

Applied: August 02, 2013
Nominated for CED (Community Economic Development): September 05, 2013
Legally Precleared: October 29th, 2013
Invited to serve in Costa Rica: November 6th, 2013


And I will have Staging (which is basically meeting all of the other people in my group going to Costa Rica) on March 10th, and we will depart the next morning. Luckily my application process wasn't even that long (about 3 months), compared to others' (have taken up to 2 years).

I've got so much to do in the next few months, but the excitement and anxiety to leave for my service is helping cope with the stress.

Anyways, I'm going to try to keep this blog as up to date as possible once I go to staging and eventually land in CR. Talk to you all soon.


 Pura Vida! (means basically "take it easy")


PS: Here's a map if you don't already know where exactly Costa Rica is