Tech Week

This past week, we took part in what Peace Corps calls Tech Week. After nearly a month and a half of classroom training with a few spots of community interactions, we were all shipped off to a handful of different sites - CED to the south and TEFL to various sites in Guanacaste and Limon - to live and work with active Peace Corps volunteers. 

Playa Preciosa, just before a storm blew in

            My group, six strong, was assigned to Puerto Jiménez on the Osa Peninsula, working alongside a married couple of volunteers, Luke and Brittany. Luke is a CED volunteer, while Brittany is a TEFL volunteer, and it was really cool to see them working as a team. Right off the bat, they showed themselves as incredible hosts. They planned out an entire *cough* week of work for us, both with local businesses and with the local high school. They were even able to find housing for all six of us.

            I ended up with the best of the housing options, if I do say so myself. I bunked with Luke and Brittany’s neighbor/landlord, Hector, and his family. I got to spend some really great time with Hector and his kids, Keilee (20) and Keiler (15). They both speak English (if I happen to have spelled your names incorrectly, I do earnestly apologize), and speak it very well. Keiler is actually heading to Washington, D.C., in May, for a three-week trip in recognition for his studies there in Puerto Jiménez. Keilee, meanwhile, works in a swanky tourist-laden restaurant nearby and has aspirations for more - including finding herself a nice Gringo with whom she can settle down in the U.S.

My host for the week, Hector, along with one of my group members, Jackie

My host sister, Keilee

             I can honestly say that an overwhelming portion of my positive experience in Jiménez revolved around my host family. Every night - and I do mean every night - we found ourselves lounging in the living room next to the fan with a game of some sort on. Most nights it was a soccer game, but there were a couple opportunities to share with them the beauty that is baseball (Peace Corps 2^nd Goal whaaaaaaaaa). Talk about a boost to my own Spanish: imagine trying to explain stealing a base, the balls/strikes count, and what it means to tag up before advancing on a fly ball. Thankfully, Hector and his family possess a near-infinite amount of patience, and they interestedly listened as I fumbled (pardon the cross-sports reference, please) through the vocabulary. Despite my own struggles to explain all the rules of America’s Pastime, Hector was super interested. He would ask new questions with every pitch and hit. The most confounding thing for him? The fact that there’s no time, that there’s no definitive start and end, that it all depends on the teams getting 27 outs (or 24, depending on the score). I had a genuinely great time with them, and I hope they did too. By the looks on their faces with every new question, they did.

            The community of Puerto Jiménez, in my pit-stained opinion, begins and ends with one thing: the heat. Even before my journey southward, I was hearing about it from seemingly anyone and everyone with whom I spoke concerning my destination. One conversation sticks out over all the rest: I was in the local sports clothing store chatting with the employees, and the topic swayed toward my trip. The moment the words Puerto Jiménez left my lips, both guys immediately lowered their heads in some strange reverent homage to those who still live under the burden of the heat. I was at once inundated with story after story of the heat: how it affected their jobs, how it made their friends and families sick, and how it eventually caused them both to move away to the cooler climate of San Isidro de Heredia.

             I really felt like I was prepared for it. I felt like, being from the Sunshine State, I could handle the heat. Dear heavens, I could not have been more wrong. I can honestly say I’ve never been in a hotter place. Of all the places I’ve been fortunate to visit in my life, Puerto Jiménez takes the cake. And that cake is burnt to a blackened crisp.  From the moment the sun rears its molten head over the horizon, the temperature seems to skyrocket to Satan’s oven, and it only gets worse as the day groans on. The only solace, seemingly, was the ice cream. Oh did we consume our (un)fair share of ice cream.

Another member of my group, Ed, holding a soon-to-be-opened coconut

            But here’s the thing: the heat didn’t get in the way of having an amazing week. I could continue to bellyache and conjure all the funny analogies about how freaking hot it was, but the fact is we dealt with it. More than that, we set it aside and lived in Puerto Jiménez for those few days. We helped teach schoolchildren how to tell time and describe their daily activities in English. We explained the necessity and process of both resumes and interview skills to a class of respectful, attentive seniors. We met with a group of women who run a recycling center and who are very passionate about their community, its people, and its environment. We met with a local agricultural cooperative with some very real needs, and we got to discuss some options for moving forward and offered a handful of suggestions for bettering their operations. We encountered a woman who owns her own artisanal shop with all kinds of handmade goods, and we had a chance to share with her some basic business practices that might improve her overall profit margins.

Some of our group members, Anne and Princess, working with the artisan

            Talk about a needed reprieve from our classes. Although I can say I’ve enjoyed an awful lot of what we’ve learned in our day-to-day training lessons, it was a massive boost to my spirits to use these tools in the community with real, live, breathing people. The looks in their eyes when they explained these things - their livelihoods - and then to have the chance to share with them a new vision, seeing the lights in their eyes get a little brighter, that is something I’m very, VERY excited about.

           On Friday, we were given an opportunity to reflect on our week and share our thoughts among our group with our host volunteers. We headed for the beach, Playa Preciosa to be exact, and relaxed in the shade while the waves crashed on the sand. We played a solid game of ultimate (got a sweet set of scrapes from an all-out dive into the tidewater sand and rocks!), dined like kings and queens on mashed pinto and tortillas, and even fit in a few hilariously fun games of volleyball. The whole day was much needed, and I found myself in agreement that the week in its entirety couldn’t have gone any better.

Beautiful day on the Southwestern Coast

            When I think about what I came to Costa Rica with Peace Corps to accomplish, it was almost all wrapped up in this one, sweaty week. Connect with the local people? Check. Enjoy the environment? Check. Find new ways to help those in need? Check. Come away with a new appreciation for a different people group? Check.

            I find myself much more prepared, so I feel, for my service after Tech Week. I’m grateful for my group members, my host volunteers, my host family, and PC Staff for helping organize the entire experience for us. I’m beyond excited to learn my site assignment next week, and I can’t wait to start planning, preparing, and learning about what will be my new home. 

Let’s just hope there’s some shade.