primer mes de entrenemiento

I’ve officially been in Costa Rica for a month now, so 1 month down 26 to go.  It’s been a really fun and busy month.  Somehow I’ve managed to visit 6 out of the 7 provinces of the country, probably due to the fact that the country is tiny, comparable to West Virginia I think.  I moved in with my host family 3 weeks ago and they’ve really been the best part of the experience so far. They are so loving and warm and have really made me feel at home.  My host mother is hilarious and an amazing chef, and I’ve gotten to go with her a couple times to her Monday night cooking class. My host dad works for Costa Rica’s main bank and is very sweet and always teaching me something new about the country. I have 3 host siblings, one 20 year old host sister who works at a preschool and is getting her BA in education. My other host sister is 17 and is just starting to study law at the university in San Jose. She has a 2 hour commute each way since they don’t teach law in the university nearby.  I’m really impressed by her dedication to study law.  My host brother is 13 and is really funny and an aspiring rock star.  All of my host siblings are very sweet and a lot of fun to hang out with.

My host family has really taken it upon themselves to show my around the country.  Two weekends ago they took me to check out Volcano Poas on my first day off after 2 weeks of intensive training.  I really appreciated getting out into the natural environment and checking out a cloud forest for the first time. 

Then last weekend they surprised me Sunday by taking me to Limon, the province on the Atlantic Coast of the country. It was a 3 hour car ride, and there was a dramatic temperature change from the cold and cloudy weather of Heredia where I live to the balmy heat of the Caribbean.  We went to go see their soccer team Heredia play Limon’s team.  Heredia won 2 to 0. My host mom was hilarious and although surrounded by Limón fans screamed her head off for Heredia and wouldn’t let anyone shush her and lost her voice for the next 2 days. 

This past weekend I went to go visit a current TEFL volunteer who lives on the Osa Peninsula.  It was great to get further insight into the life of a volunteer.  Peninsula Osa is also a really interesting place, it contains 3% of the worlds biodiversity.  We went for a hike in the rainforest and took in the beautiful beaches both days.  It was a 9 hour bus ride to get back to the capital today and I had to get up at 4am so I am officially exhausted. 

Training in general has been an interesting process.  Monday, Wednesday and Friday we have intensive language classes. Tuesday is technical training where we learn some tips on how to teach.  Thursdays are general Peace Corps classes where we learn PC protocol and information about Costa Rica.  Last week I observed a 4^th and 5^th grade class on Wednesday and this week I’m going to start helping out. Also hopefully we will be able to start a short community English class in my training community San Isidro.  In another month I will know where my site will be for the next two years, and I will let you all when I find out!

en costa rica por fin!

First off I think most people are wondering why is Peace Corps still in Costa Rica?  And to be perfectly honest, that was my first reaction when I opened up my placement envelope.  It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting from Peace Corps after growing up with my mom’s stories of service in Afghanistan. However, training has put my mind much more at rest about that.  USAID pulled out of Costa Rica in the late 1990’s and Peace Corps was going to pull out as well. However, the Costa Rican government asked for the Peace Corps to stay. It has become more clear to me that it is good that Peace Corps is remaining in Costa Rica as they go through this process of national development.  It is great that the peace corps is present to see the process through and not cutting and running as soon as things started to improve.  Regarding my project of teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL), in 2007 then President Arias stated a country goal of being bilingual by 2017.  As our country director comically put it, President Arias requested that the Peace Corps send 200 TEFL volunteers and in return they got 25.  It just makes me feel that I am going to be doing something that is really desired by the country and that will be effective in assisting the country in further development.

These first couple days of Peace Corps have been some of the longest of my life. With 12 hour training days my brain feels crammed with new information.  However, I  have been getting very excited about moving in with my first host family on Sunday and starting service!

                                We flew into country on Wednesday. We had to get on the bus for the airport at 2 am for a 7 am flight, so we ended up arriving at the airport an hour and a half earlier than the airport staff even arrived. It turns out this is some sort of peace corps hazing ritual they do to most trainees probably to see how we react to high stress situations while tired.  After we arrived in the capital San Jose we were taken by bus to a training center in Heredia, a region right nearby which is higher up and has a cooler climate.  We had time for a coffee and then we delved right into the training curriculum after a solid 2 hours of sleep the night before.

                We’ve mostly been having classes on the logistics of peace corps service, safety, and meeting the extensive staff. We had our diagnostic Spanish test yesterday and it was just so great to get talking in Spanish again. I had been using Spanish a good amount while I was nannying but it had kind of gone to disuse the last month before my departure.  There’s something pretty exhilarating about talking in Spanish for me.  As corny as it sounds speaking in another language really does feel like it opens up a new world as you get to have conversations with those wouldn’t have interacted with otherwise.  That thought really excites me and makes me feel like the world is still such a big and unexplored place for me. 

                I got placed at an “advanced low” level, which was exciting to know that my dedication to Spanish is starting to pay off.  It’s also equally exciting to know that I still have a lot to improve on and living here in Costa Rica for two years will give me the opportunity to get to a higher advanced level.  What my trainer said is true though, it’s easier to move from novice to intermediate, but once you start getting to a higher level it takes even more time to refine you language skills and achieve fluency.

pen pals?

So this is it, I’m at the SF airport waiting for my flight to Dallas where we will have Peace Corps staging. Staging is basically just a day long get to know you with all the other volunteers in my project and a whole lot of paper work….I’m really excited to meet all the volunteers, and equally not excited for paper work haha. 

I literally have my weight in baggage so it should be very entertaining to see how I manage trying to roll my giant suitcase down Costa Rican dirt roads.  Surprisingly I’m not really feeling too nervous yet considering I’m about to ship out for 2 years. Who knows when the nerves will hit me, it may not be till I’m on my flight to Costa Rica, or who knows it may not be till I pull up to my host families house next Sunday.  Mostly right now I’m just really excited to start this adventure and explore a new and beautiful country.  I’m also excited to continue on with my passion for the Spanish language.

I would love to have some pen pals while I’m living in Costa Rica, because as great as skype and facebook are for staying in touch, getting some tangible snail mail is always great.  So send me your address as well.

Below is my address

Tara Apriletti,PCT

Cuerpo de Paz

 Apartado Postal 1266-1000

San Jose, Costa Rica

P.S. also as a side note for people who are thinking about coming to visit me in Costa Rica my parents have some education books etc, for me so if you have extra space in your bags hook it up J

Van Gogh Reproduction - winter 2011

Prints from Spring of 2011

 

3 color wood reduction-block print, based on photo I took in a monastery in Besalu, Spain

poem and image I printed in memory of my grandmother Mari Fertig

Bachan

1996

Wisteria hangs off the roof of your house on Keonkrest Drive.

In the garden, overgrown with reeds, we pick persimmons and pink camellias.

After school, we sit, drenched in sunlight, on tatami mats that smell of straw,

and play games without names.

I crawl through your loom, as if it were a jungle gym woven by spiders.

 Later, waiting for Mom and Dad to pick me up,

I listen to you spin stories about the organ-grinders monkey,

and drift into sleep.

2004

You don’t live there anymore:

strokes have robbed you of that.

You forget what decade we are in, but you never forget my name.

I visit you every week after school, and wheel you out to the patio.

You tell me, this is the purest form of happiness.

Drawings for my figure drawing course Winter 2011

These are images for a figure drawing course I took, they are rendered in charcoal, conte crayon, ink wash, and water color.

we spent a section of the course focusing on the figure and the skeleton

self-portrait, white charcoal on black paper

ink wash and water color