Wednesday, October 13, 2010

I imagine that the arrival for a Peace Corps volunteer in any country must be surreal. After going through customs we were whisked to a retreat for orientation where as many questions where answered as news ones were created. The goals and methodology of our respective groups and the peace corps as a whole were drilled into our heads, as they most likely will be for the rest of training and after. It is easy to find solidarity in fellow volunteers that hail from all walks of life but are united by our incomprehensible decision to take the same path. Before we could get accustomed to what will in the months to come seem to be a cushy life at the retreat, we moved in with our host families in training communities that we will call home for the next 10 weeks. True to the Peace Corps philosphy of immersion and integration, it seems to work as I have spoken more spanish in the last couple days than in a year of class in high school. I would say more about visions and technical skills but I don't feel justified having spent barely a week here. No matter how much I would like to say different I am a beginner here, to the culture, to many of technical skills, and to the language but I'm excited and motivated to learn. Ultimately it was a week of firsts. It was the first time I considered myself to be moved out of my parent's house, because college doesn't really count. The first time I had gallo pinto and many other Costan Rican foods. So far I haven't found any that I dislike or had to deal with Montezuma's revenge, that probably isn't a politically correct term. I used my new rain jacket for the first of many times. I survived my first earthquake and my first ride on Costa Rican public transportation, both without injury. Maybe with time I'll grow tired of the rice and the beans and the rain, but for now it's all new to me and I'm looking forward to tomorrow and the days after.

2 comments:

  1. thats so wicked! gallo pinto rules. nikhil, jesse, and i were at a club our last night in san jose when an earthquake happened. we didnt even know about it until the next day standing in line at the airport.

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