After a very long wait at Belize airport (so long as unfortunately, the ferry times didn´t fit in very well with the flight times) I arrived in Costa Rica, rather late and rather tired.
I was met at the airport by a very friendly lady from the volunteer organisation who took a group of us to the hostel in Alajuela. I was jammy enough to get myself a single room rather than a dorm bed as it appeared that all the beds in the room were taken and most people were asleep already. I ended up with a huge double bed, own bathroom and air conditioning! To say I was happy in an understatement!
The next morning, after a brief orientation of what to do and what not to do during the project, we headed off on the public bus to our various desitnations. I´m living in the small, country town of Palmares, which is about an hour west of San Jose. It´s very peaceful and the main source of work is agriculture. The town is surrounded by green, rolling hills.
I´m luckily enough to be living with a delightful Costa Rican family. The mother, Lorena is so friendly, kind and really quite funny! Her and I have a lovely chat after dinner each night. She doesn´t speak any English, but is very patient with my Spanish!! Her cooking is delicious too! This is by far the best homestay of the three that I have done. Also in the house are Jorge, the husband and Mariela, the daughter. Mariela is supposed to be learning English, but HATES it and won´t speak it! Her friends say I should practice with her!
The first week of volunteering has been a little odd initially, but by Friday I was more familiar with the routines and what I had to do. The children are three to four and quite mischievious, especially the boys! I play, chat, sing and dance with them and it is fun, although not when they are being naughty! Syliva is the teacher in the class and she is very nice too.
There are some other volunteering in children´s centres in the area and we headed off to San Jose this weekend for a bit of culture in the capital of Costa Rica. We visited the Museum of Contemporary Art which was as wacky as they usually are and wandered around some of the many plaza´s in the city. Early afternoon the rain set in so an afternoon of relaxing at the rather nice hostel was opted for. Evening saw a visit to the cinema for a hilarious film entitled ´21 Jump Street´!
We returned to Palmares on Sunday afternoon and I can´t say that it is a city that has enthralled me really. Next weekend we have far more exciting things planned...
I was met at the airport by a very friendly lady from the volunteer organisation who took a group of us to the hostel in Alajuela. I was jammy enough to get myself a single room rather than a dorm bed as it appeared that all the beds in the room were taken and most people were asleep already. I ended up with a huge double bed, own bathroom and air conditioning! To say I was happy in an understatement!
The next morning, after a brief orientation of what to do and what not to do during the project, we headed off on the public bus to our various desitnations. I´m living in the small, country town of Palmares, which is about an hour west of San Jose. It´s very peaceful and the main source of work is agriculture. The town is surrounded by green, rolling hills.
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| The view of Palmares town as I walk down the hill to work each day. |
I´m luckily enough to be living with a delightful Costa Rican family. The mother, Lorena is so friendly, kind and really quite funny! Her and I have a lovely chat after dinner each night. She doesn´t speak any English, but is very patient with my Spanish!! Her cooking is delicious too! This is by far the best homestay of the three that I have done. Also in the house are Jorge, the husband and Mariela, the daughter. Mariela is supposed to be learning English, but HATES it and won´t speak it! Her friends say I should practice with her!
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| Lorena and I on the front porch of the house. |
There are some other volunteering in children´s centres in the area and we headed off to San Jose this weekend for a bit of culture in the capital of Costa Rica. We visited the Museum of Contemporary Art which was as wacky as they usually are and wandered around some of the many plaza´s in the city. Early afternoon the rain set in so an afternoon of relaxing at the rather nice hostel was opted for. Evening saw a visit to the cinema for a hilarious film entitled ´21 Jump Street´!
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| Passing the time with a game of chess, draughts or dominoes at the tables in the park. |
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| The pretty plaza by the central bank. |
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| Surrounded by pigeons in one of the plazas. |
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| Spices for sale at the Central Market. |
What happens if you are standing next to the spices and unfortunately sneeze!
ReplyDeleteNaughty boys - obviously they are the same the world over.