Wednesday was the 7th birthday for my host niece, Kamila.
She had been reminding me for weeks and was SO excited to turn 7 on the 7th
and to celebrate the day, her mom threw her a birthday party at school. Both
Kamila and Karelly are obsessed with Frozen, so it was no surprise that the
birthday theme was Frozen. In the morning, I helped my frenzied host sister
with birthday preparations. She taught me how to sew homemade lasos, or bows, complete with a ribbon
around the center and then we put them in plastic packages for each child. We
also stuffed the GIANT Elsa piñata, picked up the cake, and made goody bags.
The party was, well, a party of a bunch of 1st graders, and
therefore crazy, but very fun.
“Don Miguel’s grandson picks ant larvae (escamoles) off the tray as grandpa sorts the larvae from the guacal (nest material). Observing the harvesting process, done properly, helped in preparing presentations and materials given to other campesinos in the region as part of a project on habitat management and sustainable harvesting of edible insects.”
“This photo was taken during the first organized event of the San Nicolas Women’s Group. Six women came together to sell pasteles (a traditional dish, deep fried dough stuffed with potatoes) in the middle of our small community. During our two hours of work we were surrounded by curious children, and while many younger girls jumped in and helped us cook, the boys sat far away, unwilling to participate since cooking is seen as women’s work.
This photo shows one young boy, who, despite his friends taunting and laughing, decided he wanted to learn how to make pasteles. Here, with the help of a member of the Women’s Group, the boy is learning how to flatten the dough, the first step. The following Sunday, when the women got together to sell pupusas (a typical Salvadoran dish) the boy joined us again and helped us sell the food all over the community, using his bike to make deliveries.”
“I was put in charge of the face-painting station at the English Center Celebration. Snakes were a popular request.” -Peace Corps Nicaragua Volunteer Robin http://bit.ly/1io79HL
“A paint brush in one hand, a baby in another, a young mother manages to multitask and participate in a craft-making course offered in Membrillo, Panama, while taking care of her child in order to empower herself and her family.”
“This picture was taken on Wednesday, March 19th, 2014, in Guatemala, on the village’s celebration of its Patron Saint José. Here are Catholics parading around the town with the saint held high.”
This photo was taken during a soccer tournament in a pueblo close to Lislique, El Salvador. Two little girls triumphantly climb a goal as the team from their pueblo wins the match.
http://bit.ly/1ifc8dG
Today, for the feast of San Isidro, there was a small procession after church and the priest baptized all the pets in attendance. It was awesome! Dogs, cats, rabbits, even a lizard!
a few weeks ago my friend Jen visited me here in Costa Rica.
It was a great reunion; a great adventure.
It was great to explore a new place in my country of service with someone from home; to see Costa Rica through the eyes of a visitor rather than a fellow PCV…to see what stood out to her as interesting, quirky, delicious, new, uncomfortable, or exciting. To see how much I had adjusted; what had become normal and what still stood out from my perspective as a non-tourist; as a gringa living in Costa Rica; as a Peace Corps volunteer.
A few photos from our whirlwind trip up to Monteverde—the cloud forest.
After a long day, the children of this village took a nap in the corn husks on top of the roof where all the corn is brought to dry out. This corn will last the village the entire year for making tortillas.
“Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” Taught school kids about #MLKday and the US civil rights movement. Those are their little hands!
