Poetry, ¡Obamanos!, All Volunteer Conference and What Have You

The month of November has been one of the busiest and best yet.

About a month ago, I started a poetry workshop for the children at the albergues. I was nervous about it when I designed it; who knows many kids who would give up a sunny Sunday afternoon to write poetry? Regardless, the program has exceeded my expectations. The children are enthusiastic about it, and have created some impressive work.

I start every session with a song (in Spanish). The children listen to the song played on my computer, and read along with the lyrics I print out for them. This gets the children excited, and also shows them the different structures of poetry. Once we have listened to the song, we read a poem together. I have been using Pablo Neruda poems because they are so simple and beautiful. If anyone has any suggestions for appropriate Spanish poetry, I’m all ears.

After the poem, we get our creative juices flowing by actually creating poetry. During the first lesson, we wrote group poems, but now they are writing some on their own in writer’s notebooks that I have given them. The plan is to have them peer edit their work and continue writing. Hopefully after a few months, we will have enough polished work to publish in a book to sell as a fundraiser. Once the book is published, we will have a celebratory poetry slam.

High off a good start with the workshop, I headed into San Jose on the fourth for an election night party with other volunteers. Upon seeing my PVC friends at the bar, I was inundated with hope and anticipation. I’m sure that it comes as no surprise that one hundred percent of the PCVs and staff are Obama supporters. People were wearing custom made Obama t-shirts, and chattering about exit poll numbers all night. A group of about fifteen PCVs had made shirts that read ¡Obamanos! I found this hilarious (for those of you who do not speak Spanish, it is a creative way of writing “lets go Obama!”).

When the networks projected Obama to win, the place went wild. Some people started screaming, some people started crying. I ordered a double Patron and sat with a shit-eating grin on my face. I felt more calm and relieved than anything. I just watched the celebration around me as I sipped my tequila. American and Tico alike, everyone was thrilled.

The next day, every volunteer in country was bussed to a camp ground in Cartago for the annual “All Volunteer Conference” (AVC). Everyone was pretty de goma, but in good spirits about the previous night’s election. As we signed in and spread our sleeping bags out in our tents, tranquility fell over everyone. The air was cool and clean; we were up in the piney mountains northwest of the city. Many of us are trapped in hot, urban sites. For us, the place was paradise.

AVC was three days for all volunteers to get to know each other, and share stories, projects and ideas. During the day, we had workshops and bonding activities. At night, we had a poker tournament (in which I was quickly and soundly beat), a movie night, a Halloween party, a talent show, and a bonfire.

It was what everyone needed. In a sweater for the first time in a while, I got to know my fellow volunteers, and was reminded how interesting and unique each one is. Each PCV had a different lesson to give, a different experience to share. Although I knew most of them already, the conference allowed us to become even closer; so close that we all had a fun time at an alcohol-free costume/dance Halloween party.

The second day, the U.S. Ambassador came to meet us. So I spoke with the Ambassador…again. A few weeks ago, he invited me to have Thanksgiving dinner with his family. I thanked him for his invitation when I saw him after he addressed us.

He did a good job of charming the crowd, and had a Q&A. One PCV asked if he, as a Bush appointee, was worried that Obama would replace him. He responded that he didn’t feel too worried about it, and would respect whatever decision Obama makes. I personally hope that he stays. He seems like a genuinely good person, who would honor the Obama agenda when it arrives.

The last night of AVC, we had a big bonfire. As we all huddled around the fire and made s’mores, people played popular songs on their guitars and we all sang along. As the smoke drifted into my eyes, and I sang the ones I knew, I couldn’t help but think about how “Peace Corps” the moment was. At that moment, we could have been Peace Corps, Costa Rica, 1969.

It has been a good couple of weeks. And with Thanksgiving coming up, I can’t help but get giddy. I will be coming home to NYC next Thursday, Nov 20 until Friday Nov 28. If you will be in town, drop me a line. Happy Thanksgiving!