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I am living in Chilamate which is a small town out in the country about an hour and a half north of San Jose. There are is a big hill behind my house where all the cows go to graze, lush green plants and beautiful flowers everywhere. I've taken the option of walking to the Center instead of riding my bike since there is a busy main road that cars, buses and large semi trucks drive very fast on. It is very dangerous so I only think I will ride my bike when I get up enough courage. I do enjoy the walk in the morning (when it is not raining) and like the peace it provides me before I start my day.
The family I live with the really pleasant. Xinia and Pedro have a 3 year old daughter Alexandra and a 22 year old son Alejandro who live in the back of the property with his wife Gabriela and son Duván. I often spend my mornings chatting with Xinia over breakfast. She has such a lovely way of telling me stories that reminds me of what a magical place Latin America is. Many of the stories she tells me reminds me of the magical realism movement in Latin American literature I studied throughout college. I immediately become entranced and always leave with a great sense of satisfaction.
My room I stay in is perfect for what I need. They have separate cabin that is not attached to the house for volunteers. It is really nice and completely enclosed, as most houses here don't have walls that connect to the roof, leaving it open for bugs to filter in and out. I have my own bathroom and really only go into the main house to eat and spend time with the family. It is a perfect set up and am really glad to have been place in the house!
On a more serious note, Costa Rica suffered a 6.2 magnitude earthquake on January 8th that destroyed the town of Cinchona and the Sarapiqui River that runs behind the Center. The river was a main source of life for the town as many people used to cool off in it on a hot day, rafting companies had their tours and most importantly animals had a main food source. When the landslide fell in, the earth completely depleted the river of oxygen killing all the fish. The locals were smart enough to act quickly and get down to the river and take fish home and eat. It was a devastating blow to the life of the people here. The river used to run clear blue and now it is brown from the landslide that fell into it. On my walk home last night with my host brother Alejandro and wife Gabriela, he said everyone talks about the river as if it were someone in the town that died and fondly looking back on the great memories they had together. Here is a picture of the current state of the river looking MUCH better than a few weeks ago:
For my first couple of weeks here, I have been spending my days preparing for my program that doesn't start officially until February 23rd. Getting the first two weeks together is all that I have accomplished as I don't need to do anymore than that at this point. I have been helping out the other volunteers with odds and ends as need be and will start teaching some private classes to a few people who want to learn English and can't make it to the scheduled classes at the Center and also will be teaching an elderly German lady Spanish. I try to get out for at least a half hour a day to accustom myself with identifying birds as part of my job entails being in charge of the Bird Club two Saturdays out of the month. The birds here are incredible and I see everything from varies types of toucans to turkey vultures. Many howler monkeys hang out in the trees around the Center making tons of noise and serving as entertainment for us. A few of us usually go nextdoor to the Selva Verde Lodge after lunch to chat and look at birds in these really great rocking chairs on the "wildlife platform" overlooking the river.
I really love it here and couldn't have asked to be in a better place.
