Success Stories

When asked about how one adjusts to life as a volunteer, my predecessor plainly said: “life here just becomes normal.” No conscious coping mechanisms, no cultural battles; Peace Corps life simply becomes life. As I enter my fifteenth month here, I see exactly what Marianne meant. I’ve found it to be fantastic.

One of the challenges of Peace Corps is adjusting to the overwhelming differences between American and Tico life. I have become so busy lately that I do not even notice the differences anymore. In the beginning, the job was so difficult because one has to make his own work and projects here; the task can be daunting for someone who does not have a professional network or strong language skills to work with. Now, I have become so integrated into both my professional and residential communities that I have more work than I know what to do with. During the month of April, I worked nine to five days.

So why is this fantastic? One of the most difficult adjustments to make in the beginning is how to manage your free time. In Peace Corps, free time can often be a killer. Free time often harbors feelings of worthlessness, loneliness and homesickness. Since I have been so busy with work, I feel super productive; I feel like I am a good volunteer. With such a packed schedule, I enable myself to truly enjoy my free time. Because I’ve earned it, it is something to relish rather than dread. This balance that I have found has made me truly happy as a Peace Corps Volunteer here in Costa Rica.

My happiness has a lot to do with seeing the fruits of my labor. So often in Peace Corps, one invests his time and effort into projects that will never reveal tangible results. Hours invested in starting a computer class may be for naught when your counterpart suddenly changes his mind about the value of the class. But this has not been the case with me in April. I’ve experienced some major victories.

I experienced my most happy and proud moment of Peace Corps a few days ago when my albergue kids and I finally completed our collection of poetry created in our weekly poetry workshop. It is bright and colorful and something for the kids to be proud of. For them to see their names in print makes them feel important and purposeful. In the collection, each child’s page includes a giant color portrait and their poetry. Each photo in the collection is a product of our photo workshop. It is fun to read and the pictures are cute as hell. We are going to have an economics lesson in a few days in which we price the collection to sell at our culminating poetry slam. Regardless, please email me if you would like to purchase a copy (dhlarkin@gmail.com).

As you may have read in a previous blog, I have been working for months to get my “Chicas Super Poderosas” group off the ground. Thankfully, it got going three weeks ago and has been rolling along perfectly. The girls love the group (partly because of my fantastic jokes, partly because of the activities). Over the past three sessions, we have discussed and worked on children’s rights, communication skills, leadership skills and self-esteem. This is done via fun games (e.g. blindfolded obstacle course to work on communication), and bonding activities. The last few sessions include a field trip, a mural painting and a party, all of which I am busy planning.

I am also continuing with the old faithful: my English classes with Aula Abierta. The students have continued to impress and surprise me. When we started the school year in February, I did not expect them to remember much from the previous year’s classes. I expected to have to start all over again. Wrong! They remembered everything, and were enthusiastic about it. Every month or so, I give a Jeopardy-type evaluation to the class. Each time we start, I worry that I made the questions too difficult. However, I am consistently surprised and delighted when the students not only answer the questions correctly, but get enthusiastic about it. I can see it in their attitude that they are even prouder than I am. They are learning a new language; I know from experience, that it is quite the thrill.

Sometimes I wonder why I joined the Peace Corps. I could still be at my legal assistant job, pulling in a nice salary. I could still have my harbor view apartment with granite tabletops. However, there are poignant moments that quickly and suddenly define one’s Peace Corps experience. Such moments shock me, and quickly validate my decision. One such experience took place last week:

I passed through the doors of the adolescent girls’ albergue for a session of our poetry workshop. I asked the girls to go get their writer’s notebooks so that we could begin. Most of the girls’ books are empty, save the work we create in class. However, Paola, one of the girls I have known for the longest, pulled me aside. She asked if we could sit away from the other girls for a minute, and I told her we could. Sitting on the couch, I was overwhelmed with pride and excitement as she revealed to me page after page of poetry that she had written on her own. She caught the poetry bug and it doesn’t look like she plans to lose it anytime soon. I looked at her and told her how proud I was of her, and to keep writing. And she has.