The Fit

Things are finally falling into place. I have found that I am no longer constantly focusing on staying sane and avoiding homesickness; I am too busy for it now.

After a meeting with my school’s Junta de Educacíon (the Tico equivalent to the PTA), and the school’s director, I have learned that I am the new soccer coach. I can’t tell you how perfect a job this is for me. Not only do I enjoy playing and have a good grasp of the game, it has gotten me in with the students, the teachers, the administration, community members, and leaders at other schools in the area. This has happened because I have been taking both the girls and boys teams to tournaments in the area where many of the aforementioned people are in attendance. Having access to these people has not only made my job easier, but it has provided me with resources for the future. For example, I was shooting the breeze with another coach named Humburto, and he started talking about the band that he started at his school. He explained to me that he had found a direct correlation with the band members’ involvement and an increase in their grades. I congratulated him on his success and told him that I would love to start something like that at my school. There is quite the demand for and lack of extracurricular activities at my school; my director has put me in charge of improving the situation. After exchanging numbers, Humburto offered to help me out with a band or anything of the sort and I thanked him. After this interaction, I realized that my work here is going to have a domino effect: from one meeting comes a job, and from the job comes more meetings and more jobs. I’m just glad that the dominoes have started falling.

The work in the alberques has been consistently great. Last weekend, fellow volunteers Melissa and Sara (one year in), Casey and I (almost four months in) took the children on an outing. Melissa is a volunteer who lives a few miles upland and inland from me and has made a friend named Oolie who is on her town’s Junta de Proteccíon (a children’s advocacy group). Oolie owns a small hotel in the mountains of Miramar with an amazing view of the entire Nicoya Gulf, the Nicoya Peninsula, and the Central Pacific area. She was kind enough to invite the albergue kids and us up for a visit to play on the grounds, hike the mountain trails, and swim in her pool. Needless to say, we accepted, grabbed the kids, hopped on a bus and headed for the mountains.

Oolie’s place is a small clearing at the top of a mountain. The hotel consists of three small, tastefully done cabins with patios that take advantage of the view. She’s cleared two paths that slice through the lush rainforest creating tunnels of green. The two paths meet at a gazebo containing a perfectly placed hammock looking out onto the sea. We traversed these paths with the kids, stopping to pick mangoes along the way. The children clearly relished the time in nature; they don’t get out of the city much.

After a hot, sweaty hike, Oolie led the children to the pool (which, like everything else, possesses the view). Laughing and playing, she tossed the kids pool toys and taught them pool games. It was perfectly clear that Oolie really enjoyed being around kids and appreciated their fun. We four volunteers joined the fun: Casey and I threw the kids all over the place, we all played pool volleyball. Every now and then, I would stop and take a long gaze at the view. It is one of those views that grabs your insides and holds you for a second; it makes your lungs stall. Sometimes I’d find a few of my pint sized friends bobbing next to me taking it in as well. It was good for me to see, but more important for the children. They are kids who have been through a lot and seen some terrible things; such a sight is therapeutic for them. Silently watching the clouds pass over the gulf, I understood that beautiful things are not meant for only the rich to see; it was clear that Oolie agreed with me.

Oolie was born in Mexico to German parents. After living in Mexico and Germany and other Northern European countries in her youth, she moved here eleven years ago. As we sat down for a coffee break for adults only, she explained to us four volunteers that her parents bought the land and left it to her to develop while they lived in Germany. She went on to tell us how depressed and lonely she was while the house and cabins were being built; it was work with kids that rescued her. The four of us could empathize and appreciate this. After hearing her story, we toasted the day’s success, and thanked Oolie for hosting us. She then made a speech welcoming Casey and I to Peace Corps Costa Rica, offering herself and her land as a friend and resource respectively. We again thanked her, then gathered the kids together to take them back to the albergue.

***Quick Pitch***

If you plan on visiting Costa Rica, Oolie’s hotel would be a grate place to spend a day or two. It is called El Mirador in Miramar, Puntarenas. The cabins are big with two double beds, kitchen, bathroom and patio. There is no AC, but this is because it is in the mountains and cool. A cabin costs $60 a night.

I hope that all is well at home. Drop me a line if you have any news to report.

Dave