First impressions

I was planning on writing this post after a week in Ciudad Quesada, but the first three days have been so full that I should probably just dive in now. The butterflies in the stomach have all but vanished, only to be replaced by mosquitoes, stray dogs and some very hungry birds that love to hang around the home base.  My first day here, I noticed three not-so-new bananas resting on a small pot in the garden. After wondering for about five minutes what they could be for, a small bird (of some type we do not have in the States- a million shades of blue) flew down and starting eating them. Discovering the banana bird-feeder has been like a lot of my discoveries so far--sometimes it's just best to observe and figure things out, rather than ask a question right away.

That's basically the way of things at my volunteer placement, which is at a daycare called Llevando Luz. The kids get dropped off at Dona Karen's house every morning around 7am, and I help her watch them until I leave around noon, which gives her time to clean up from breakfast and prepare lunch for them. There are nine kids between the ages of two and five, and they are mostly a joy to work with, although there are definitely challenges.  I thought the language barrier would be my biggest obstacle, but my basic Spanish is serving me pretty well so far. A well-placed "siéntese" or "silencio" (and the occasional "no lo muerda") is really all I need to keep everyone in line.  The real challenge has been keeping my energy up, even just for four short hours.  I've only ever volunteered with children for a few days at a time, so 12 weeks should prove to be an interesting test of my endurance. I'm going to try to introduce a few structured activities tomorrow, but the environment is usually so hectic that I can only hold their attention for a few minutes at a time.  Even so, I know these types of daycares are a hugely important part of Costa Rican society. The parents who leave their kids with Dona Karen would have no other way of caring for their children while they are at work, and the meals they receive for breakfast and lunch are big and healthy.  It's amazing to me how much time Dona Karen spends cooking their meals (she usually starts lunch right after breakfast), when kids in  some U.S. daycares probably get by on peanut butter and jelly. Dona Karen gets some money from the Costa Rican government for running Llevando Luz, but the parents don't pay her anything.

After the kids have tired me out, I come back to the home base hungry and dying for a nap. Food here does not disappoint (highlights so far include yuca frita, carne asada, chayote and the best pineapple I've ever had), and my room has an oscillating fan, which may seem like a small detail, but these are the types of small favors that make living in a foreign country that much more comfortable.  At the end of the day, having a fan at the end of your bed, realizing you know your way home from the market or waking up to find that your roommate has put a cup of coffee on your nightstand can feel almost like curling up in your own bed after being away for a long time.

I think I'll be flopping down in front of that fan pretty soon-- another long day ahead tomorrow. I'll be sure to keep you updated (pictures coming soon, don't want to look to much like a camera-snapping tourist in my first week). Until next time, pura vida!