Aarghh! Sorry I have been so bad about writing updates! Im really trying to get better...
Everything is going pretty well. I love living here more and more every day. My spanish is continuing to get better and my work is coming along.
I just ended my beginner spanish class that was going since november because I only had 3 people and it just really wasnt working out. They werent motivated, didnt study, and didnt come to class regularly so it wasnt a good use of my time. I am still giving one-on-one classes for one girl who is a bit more advanced than the others were and is really motivated. She learns super fast and is studying in the university. I have hope for starting future classes though...there are pllllenty of people who say they want to learn english...I just need to find those who have the time and are willing to put in the effort.
I just went to San Jose to get training on how to teach basic computer classes (the basics of microsoft office and internet). All of the kids have computer classes in school so they know how to use the programs but the adults dont so I would love to offer classes for them. Mom - I wonder if you have heard of the Funcación Omar Dengo...this is the program we were trained on and all of the manuals that we received were made by microsoft in redmond so this foundation and microsoft are definitely linked.I also got trained on how to do Junior Achievement programs. There is one program that teaches kids in the last grade of elementary school about the benefits of staying in school. There is another that teaches kids in 8-10th grade about the basics of how businesses work. Then there is one more that I could do with 8'10th graders again where they actually form their own business for 18 weeks and learn all about how to run the business. I would love to do all 3 of these programs sometime during my 2 years.
School just started up again so I am all full of ideas for projects to do with the escuela and the colegio. I want to do a world map project in the escuela. We would paint a map of the world on a wall, side of a building, or on the ground (cement) and incorporate various activities to promote knowledge of geography. I would also like to do this in the colegio eventually.
Still working on the community newsletter. Im about to publish the 3rd edition in the beginning of March. My community has responded really well to the newsletter. People and business owners constantly approach me asking if they can place advertisements and suggesting topics for articles. This is great but I still havent been able to find a group of people to work with and train so that they can continue with the newsletter when I leave. I figure I still have a year and a half to find people.
My counterpart (the chamber of tourism) is still working on the project they have with the United Nations Development Program. They received the first installation of funds in september and were supposed to have spent the funds and presented a report to the UNDP by the end of November but they are still working on it. They have all the activities they need to do laid out for them and the amount of money they have to do each thing but they just cant seem to focus and organize themselves well. Meetings can be frustrating because they get off topic really easily and gossip a LOT. They are finally letting me help more and are taking my opinions and suggestions seriously. In the budget we have for promotion with the project we decided to make postcards with pictures of the nature that we have in Pejivalle. The idea is that they sell these postcards to nearby hotels, souvenir shops, restaurants, tourist agencies, etc. and generate enough funds to make more as well as fund other projects.
Members of my counterpart as well as members of the ecological group and environmental professors in the colegio (high school) are on a comittee and are planning an environmental festival for the end of march and beginning of april. This is basically like regular festivals with food, bull riding, mechanical rides, etc but also with an environmental emphasis. There will be tours of the community, workshops on environmental topics, expositions by community groups and local microenterprises. I have been working with some of the individuals that live in the community that have paid to rent a stand in the festival to sell things that they make. One lady makes pijamas and clothes that she will be selling, another lady will sell wall decorations, another lady wants to sell caribbean food and deserts, and there are others as well. The objective of the fair is that it promotes tourism, environmental education, and the community groups and microenterprises in Pejivalle. I will work with the individuals who have decided to rent a stand and help them prepare for the fair...decide how much materal to buy, how much to make, what prices to charge, how to decorate their stand, making business cards, etc.
Thats all im into right now....
I turned 23 on the 10th of February and my host family surprised me with a cake and a necklace. Also...one of my host dads cows had a baby girl on my birthday and they named here Emilita (see above pictures). awwww!
My mom is coming to visit in the beginning of April and we have tentative plans to go to Monteverde and Playa Samara as well as my community. I am soooo excited as these are places I have wanted to visit and have heard that they are amazing. Im really looking forward to spending time with my mom too!!!
Hope all is well! Talk to you all soon!
Emily
