Hey!

I played with my camera yesterday. This is what you get in Costa Rica.
Bright sunsets, busses stuck in traffic, and a glass of water with
your coffee. It has its ups and downs.

Today I got my haircut, and what do you know? The lady cut it too
short. Happens all the time.

A few weeks ago, I went to a youth camp in a rainy cold part of the
country. We did things like rock climbing, archery, rollerblading, and
we got muddier than I'm normally comfortable with. The kids were super
intelligent and responsable. They came from all over the country. They
formed a network of youth helping youth on a national level, elected
regional reps, and developed an action plan for the next 6 months. It
was an impressive amount of work to get done in a weekend, but they
made it look easy.

It was a high point in this past month. I wasn't looking forward to
it, and being such a new volunteer (and having no relation to the
teens I brought) I didn't really feel qualified to go. But somehow it
all worked out well, and we all had a good time. Plus I learned a few
things from older volunteers.

Then, and kill me if I've already written about this, the day I got
back to town, I scheduled a little get together with some 6th graders
to start what I think would be a great Junior Acheivement program. 3
girls showed up. We hung out for a bit but no one spoke to me. So we
left and I felt utterly thrilled to have experienced my first PC "I
guess this isn't how to do things" moment. So quickly I arrived from
high point to low point.

Today I sort of felt that same sense of overwhelming dissatisfaction.
After asking myself, Why would 6th graders want to talk about anything
serious without doing something fun first? I decided to invite some
older kids on a hike as a sort of ice breaker. I only invited five,
but they seemed stoked. Only one girl showed up, with water bottle,
binoculars, and enthusiasm. So we went on a little hike. It was
actually pretty good. We walked through coffee fields and cow
pastures, past the old cemetary, which only has two marked graves, and
through the sites of the former rancho (grass hut meeting place) and
the future soccer field. We both agreed we need to form a youth group,
even if it's just to do fun things like hiking, because I realized the
focus doesnt always have to be on improving the community. If people
find out that their kids are doing healthy things like hiking during
their free time in stead of smoking pot, the community will have
improved.

To keep with tradition, I cut my leg on a barbed wire fence during
todays hike. I did the same thing yesterday while running with my host
dad. Barbed wire and broken branches are the chosen materiales for
fences here, and they are more designed to keep cows in rather than
keep people out. But for some reason, I imagine cows would have an
easier time getting through these death traps. I am cut up. After
various run-ins with these fences, soccer games and a general rivalry
with the thorny vines that grow up everywhere, as Didier said, I look
like I have a map on my legs. I have rivers and lakes and train
tracks. It's embarrassing to wear shorts in public. If sharks can
really smell blood, at this point I should not swim in the ocean. But
it's all really ok.

However, sometimes I worry that dogs might have that same sense of
smell. I want to write a childrens book at the end of this called
"walking towards a barking dog." it will be a story of overcoming
fears and feigning disinterest. Frigging dogs. The dogs with owners
are always the worst. Luckily, No actual attacks yet. Just threats.

I don't know. Things are going well here. I found kiwis and nectarines
at a fruit market this week. I made pancakes for my family. I hung
photos in my room, and watched soccer with Didier.

There was a party in the barrio, full of Indian corn liquour, tamales,
and dancing. The bad kids started a fight against a Nicaraguan guy,
and when the cops came, they only questioned the foreigner. Later,
someone explained that the cops would rather not deal with the bad
kids. And no one in the community wanted to point them out for fear
that their house would get robbed later on. So, bad kids rule? Once
the cops left, the party continued on with drunken karaoke (which is
taken seriously here) until the lights went out. Then everyone walked
down dark streets to their dark homes.

We'll see how next week can get any better.