Fwd: Week 3

Joshuahardester.blogspot.com

Begin forwarded message:

From: Joshua <joshua.hardester@gmail.com>
Date: April 7, 2009 12:46:31 AM GMT-06:00
Subject: Week 3

Yay three weeks! Incredible!

A) I'm sorry I'm bad at taking photos. A lot of it has to do with this camera not having zoom, and my lack of critical thinking when entering into a photo opportunity.

B) I wish I could write a million individual emails to everyone right at the moment when I think of something hilarious I wish I could have told you, but this is the best we've got. It pains me too. I love your laugh.

Last week was a madhouse. It started last Saturday when I woke up extra early to catch a bus to limon. I'll describe that in another post because I gave an A+ description to Michelle the other day, and I want to plagiarize that. Myself. So wait a second.

I got back from Limon on Tuesday afternoon. It rained and I was tired so I stayed in and played shadow puppets with my host mom, 16 yr old bro and 20 yr old sis because the power went out and we only had one flashlight.

Wednesday was a long day. My weeks here, through May, go like this:
Monday: Spanish
Tuesday: Spanish
Wednesday: Program training
Thursday: Spanish
Friday: Peace Corps training

At this point, Wednesdays and Fridays feel unnecessary. Spanish is what we are all dying to master, so we don't feel like idiots with our families/friends/communities.

So Wednesday was long. And Thursday was one of those perfect perfect days when the sun is out but doesn't burn, Spanish sounds like English, and this whole thing seems like what I was meant to do. I felt like a million bucks on Thursday, but had I written this on Thursday, I wouldn't have used a cliché to describe how I felt, you know? nevermind.

Then Friday came. Fridays are terribly entertaining, and they are 8 hours of the same exact thing. Trainers get upset because no one wants to participate, and we have to remind them why we're so tired. We haven't had a day off in 3 weeks.

Friday night, I left for San Isidro, Perez Zeledon. It was a 3 hour bus ride over the Cerro Del Muerte. It was gorgeous. PZ is where all my host moms sisters live, and Saturday was one of their kids 8th birthday. We spent all day at a farm. I rode a horse, and the kids took rides in oxcarts. Then we all had cake and hit the piñata, and drank cafecitos and went home.

The oxcart has a magical legend behind it here in Cost Rica. The story goes that one day long ago, a cart traveled throughout the country without oxes pulling it. So now it is highly revered and little hand painted replicas can be found everywhere. Maybe you can see it in the photo.

Saturday night I went to a concert in PZ. There were fireworks, fire-juggling dancers, and a traditional costa rican band. I had a good time but I stayed out too late. At 11, I was still sweating.

Sunday evening, I came home with the fam. We watched the Saprissa soccer game, but Saprissa lost. This still made me want to play soccer, so today I did just that. A friend of Jon has a group of guys who play, as they say, every 15 days. Jon played last time and invited me today. They weren't sure how good I'd be, as a gringo and all, but after a few sprints down the line to cross the ball, I earned the nickname Podolski, after the German winger. We tied 6-6. Jon scored a goal. He is a natural athlete. After the game, he told me, the only thing better than them learning your name is having a nickname they'll never forget. I heard podolski's name from at least 10 guys every time I touched the ball. It was the first time I've really played since I've been here, and it was exactly what I needed. Skinned knees and everything.

This week is Semana Santa, and everyone is on vacation, but we have training until wednesday. Then, this weekend, I'm planning on relaxing at last. I'll let you know how that goes.

What have you been up to? Let me know. I hope you're well.

Joshuahardester.blogspot.com