A quick something or other from Amanda

Hello everyone
Just a very short and quick note about how this experience has been for me so far.

I am really enjoying both the experience of a new culture and the feeling that I am doing work that will actually impact and improve the lives of many people. I think it is also a good thing that we are going out into the world to see and work with different levels of poverty and get to experience the people of other lands from a different perspective. I am really enjoying my host family as well and I find it so cool that I can communicate with people who do not speak my language, and to put my years of spanish into practical use; with this family we are staying with, Alana and I have had many exciting adventures including nightly hours of playing uno, 80's music, and one frankly hilarious incedent involving an ant, a napkin holder, and hot chocolate. I really love the plant life and the wildlife here - everything is so colorful! The humidity is killing me, but apart from that it is one of the more amazing things I've done in my life. The place where we are working currently (as I´m sure all the other posts state as well) is La Promesa and working to better the quality of life for the women and their families there is really rewarding, wether it be making paths, digging, hauling rocks, plaing cards with the kids (which is a lot of fun, even when they cheat) or any number of other things. The food here is lovely, even though we are overloaded with it everytime we even hint that we are hungry. Well, that was my short entry that turned out to be not quite as short as I was hoping for; I guess I just had more to say than I thought I did. Anyhow, that's all for now. Hasta Luego!

-Amanda

Post by Alana Schaffer

Already the trip is half way over and I´ve gotten so used to the rhythm of life here. There are so many differences and so many similarities. I was struck by how much a community the people in Santa Ana live in. When they drive me to places, they honk and wave at almost everyone. On Saturday night I went with them to mass at the local church. They introduced me to so many people and were excited to show me their culture and way of life.

It´s so hard to know how to help people. And what´s so amazing about working with Gail is that she knows. When I see us making a difference and giving something back to the people of Costa Rica, it blows my mind. I feel like I´m actually making a difference.

Everything is so colorful here. So bright and full of new and exciting surprises and possibilites. We walked down a street in La Carpio and each house front was paintd a different color. To the people living there a sense of ownership and also maybe a feeling of being different and standing out. Rather than blending in with all the other hodge-podge house fronts made of anything they can find. And then I thought about how in the U.S. most of us paint our houses with light faint colors so as to bland in and not stand out. Something about this has always bothered me. Why don´t people paint their houses in bright colors? To me that is so much more beautiful.

Hi from Ana

Hey everyone!
This trip is amazing. I'm having the best time. I can't believe it's already been a week! I've been helping plan this trip for a year, and now here we are! Wow.
I've been working with the kids at La Promesa every day. It's so much fun. I can understand only about two-thirds of what they say, but I still have such a connection with a couple of them. I can't believe we only have two days left at La Promesa. It will be so weird never to see these kids again. They won't even remember me. But I know I'll remember this experience forever. Tomorrow I'm going to work at building and painting, because I want to do that once, but I know I'll miss hanging out with the kids even that one day.
My other favorite thing was probably the indigenous community we visited. It was such a calming, peaceful place. They're so connected to nature. I really wish it was possible for everyone to be so wise about how to live in relation to the earth, and to other people.
Yesterday we visited Las Musas waterfall. It was beautiful. We got to swim underneath the waterfall, which makes one feel incredibly alive.
We're busy constantly, which is why I haven't gotten a chance to email anyone, and all my postcards will get to Corvallis after I do, if I ever do write them. Every day seems to take about a week. But know that I'm having an amazing time here, and I'm thinking of you! (sometimes...)
Love,
~Ana

Still more photos

Here are some more pictures. Be sure to scroll down to my previous two posts to see the others.

The church in Cartago to which millions of Costa Ricans walk in pilgrimage to honor the day of the Patron Saint of the republic:

Inside our bus that takes us around the Santa Ana area: Ana at the fruit market:

Posted by Jacob

Pictures from costa rica

Some pictures from Costa Rica.Inside the basilica in Cartago

Ana holding Keyla. Keyla in a girl whose mom in currently missing.The woman of La Promesa dancing.

A wok for boiling raw sugar cane in.

The children of La Promesa playing in a puddle caused by a broken pipe.

At the sugar cane plantation.

Troy Schaffer

More photos

Here are two more pictures. Scroll down below this post for the previously posted photos.

Colleen with a parrot:

Squeezing the juice from sugar cane the way indigenous Costa Ricans have done for hundreds of years:

Posted by Jacob.

Hello friends!

Costa Rica is fabulous. We are so lucky to have the Humanitarian Foundation working with us. Through the foundation we have been able to take part in activities that normal tourists would have a difficult time gaining access to. Examples include: home stays, taking part in a major community service project along side some locals, visiting an Indian reserve where the emphasis on preserving ones inner spirit and working on natural healing go beyond anything most of us have ever experienced or red about, visiting a sugar farm, and last but not least visiting the poor area of Costa Rica (La Carpio) and seeing an entirely different lifestyle from the one we are familiar with today.

My family is great. From the cold morning showers to the wonderful food, I am really enjoying myself. Living alone with a host family is a golden opportunity for me and I am most grateful that I am able to speak Spanish with my family whenever we are together. My host mother, Isabella, tells me that she would love to take me with the family to see various parts of Costa Rica that are not on our current group agenda. An active volcano, a hill with a good view, and the Pacific Ocean are all on her list of places she would like me to see. For better or for worse, the very busy schedule that UURica has is making extra excursions more difficult than my host mother and I had anticipated.

A quick clarification: the phone cards that we have only last eight minutes, and they are expected to be shared by both youth staying at each house. Calling home is not the easiest thing to do here.

Story time! Last night Berry and Emily Black’s host mother picked them and I up from the ranch that our group was meeting at and brought us all to her house for dinner. I am a neighbor of the girls and because my mama Tica Isabella wasn’t home yet upon my arrival, I went to the girls’ house for dinner. Their father is a true prankster and everyone knows that about him. Naturally, he and I made friends quickly. While we were sitting at the table alone waiting for Emily and Berry to come downstairs for dinner, we decided to play a joke on who ever came down first. We decided to tell whoever it was that the potatoes looking vegetable on her plate was ¨colebra¨ or snake.

Berry arrived and asked me to ask her host father in Spanish ¨what is this¨ and pointed to her vegetable. I did so, and then replied ¨snake. ¨ The look on her face was one of pure shock. I tried to comfort her with the help of her father by telling her that the meat tasted good and by showing her that I had almost finished the generous portion that I had been given. She told me that she actually ate some of it before she knew what it was. I encouraged her to finish it! At that time, her host mother walked into the dining room and realized what was happening. With a laugh followed by a shake of her finger at her husband and I, she broke the news to Berry that the unknown substance in the cooked mixture was merely a vegetable. We all laughed hard. While the father and I tried to repeat the same prank on Emily when she came down from the shower five minutes later, our efforts came to no avail.

I hope all is well in Corvallis. Here I believe that with the exception of a few health related minor technical difficulties, everyone is having a wonderful time. How lucky we are to be able to have such a fabulous time here in Costa Rica while we learn rapidly about what the world is like. I am very much enjoying getting to know each youth and adult better. The ¨inherent worth and dignity¨ of each one makes our entire group unique and fabulous. Thanks to all of you who have made this trip possible for us.

Sincerely, Nathan

P.S. Kudos to Jamie Simmons for taking many great photos.