Costa Rica Alumni
Project Crica (Bishop Eustace Prepatory School) July 2004
This story, like all good stories, has a beginning and an end. It is a tale of six motley volunteers in a town called El Sur de Turrabares, somewhere way off the beaten track in Costa Rica. It is a tale of love, hate, passion, despair, and hope… and a bunch of other clichéd nouns found in paperback romance novels and poorly made soap operas. Seriously though, between the cliff diving, salsa dancing, trash talk, UNO, torrential rainstorms, crazy futbal games, and Fanta, they all managed to become better friends and actually help some people. Go figure.
This story, like all good stories, is there’s alone. Others will not know of their experience simply by reading these words on this paper. They must experience it themselves, and that’s all there is to it.
Let us begin at the beginning, from the mouths of the volunteers that are here with me:
(Andy Wolf, New Jersey)
Hola Hola! I never thought the plane ride would end. As I peered out the window, I could see what seemed to be mountains of Costa Rica. Ok… so I was dreaming, but sure enough 5 hours after take off… we were there. As I walked through the airport of San Jose, I noticed the familiarities of Papa Johns, Burger King, and thousands of American faces. To my disappointment in the lack of new culture would quickly disappear once we stepped inside Rudolpho’s van. Beautiful colored houses; multiple Imperial signs, large crocodiles, insane humidity and friendly people were among the first impressions of our group. While trying to take in all that I was experiencing… I couldn’t help but fall asleep because of how boring it was. Just kidding… One, two skip a few… We’ve been here for 2 days now. Life is hard, I mean good… Los puchillos are necessary to Costa Rican life. Today we went to El Rio, and the basic swimming and drifting was getting boring. So Tita and I decided to jump off of the rocks. We owned El Rio from that day on. Hello, hi…. The ninos aqui are very adorable. I cannot get enough of them. Unlike those little monsters that we have in estados, Costa Rican ninos are very well mannered, pero very divertida at the same time. Miguel and Sarita son, muy lazy especially Sarita. Today she rode a horse while we worked claiming that she was fetching out food…liar. Sharlene talkes a lot of trash and brags about all the hard work that she does… whatever, she’s got nothing on Roy. Andy cannot muscle the wheelbarrow, and Roy makes a lot of jokes because of it. I don’t think Alexandra can even lift the wheelbarrow maybe they should get married. I think Andy will stay for an extra week. I heard Roy say something about keeping him in his back pocket. Christina, daughter of Gilda, pronounces my name very well. I will marry her now. Gotta go eat!
--JuDonne DeShields, New Jersey
There is something about El Sur that lets you confront your fears. This is probably true in any non-touristy exotic place, but in the past few days I have faced acrophobia (fear of heights), ant-o-phobia (fear of ants), and of course, cow-o-phobia (fear of large milkable animals that are easily enraged and enjoy clocking Alvaro in the head) Yes, he’s fine, thank god!
My Spanish has improved to a muy grande extent. I am now allowed to say “Habla un poquito espanol” instead of a simple “no”. Also, I am equipped with the ability to maintain 5-10 minutes of small talk, provided the other person speaks slowly and uses vocabulary that is limited to that of a four year old. Now that I think about it though, I rarely understand Andre, and he’s tres anos… whatever!
Sophia taught me how to salsa on Tuesday. She said that I had a good sense of rythem and asked if I had done salsa before. Naturally people say this type of thing to me all of the time.
In terms of actual work, I feel like we’ve been really productive. El Puentes is all painted and rust/warp-proof now. Sweet. In addition, we’ve been teaching the kidlets in la scuela English and first aid. Christina is madd enthusiastic. The kids love her. Mass props!
-- Andy Wolf, NJ
Mario loves to say “mas”. By the end of the week, I was calling him “Mario mas” . He builds things that last. (except the basketball rim, but I am not mad about that) Everyday Henri just rips off his shirt and plops down on the chair in the front porch. He’s not worried about you or anyone else seeing his stomach. It’s all good! Pur Vida!
Jose talks like there is no tomorrow. He’s going to tell you as much info as possible… in as little time as possible. The topic is always futbol, so prepare yourself. I’m a find that boy a novia, so stayed tuned.
Carmen is the orginal. He had the poochio and his hat his hat on at all times…always ready to create a trail and give you his best smile.
I could go on about everyone that I have met for days. And either already have met for days. And I either already have or will be in the near future. El Sur just opened her doors and gave us an incredible home. For one week, we were all together. Talking to folk. Teaching. Learning. Laughing. Sharing. Oh, and did we eat. To my fellow volunteers: Thank You.
--Todd Johnson, NJ
El Sur taught me so much this week. The people of El Sur are beautiful. I made so many friends and I hope to return ASAP! The communial way of life is amazing. The people are “poor” but so rich at the same time. I lived in New Y ork for years and the US for 22 years, and I never see people happy. The people of El Sur are content with their lives. They value family, friends, and hard work. This experience in El Sur has truly changed my outlook on the world. I hope to co me back and work in El Sur, probably teach English in the school. I thank God my family and Sara y Sharlene for a truly pura vida experience. -- Mike
Tonight after dinner Mario and me went through a First World Book from A to Z. We must have reviewed over 120 words. It was amazing how much Mario knew. I picked out most of the words in English, but he took the time to teach me in Spanish. We also discussed formal V. informal, the importance of studying a language with people that speak the language and many other topics of conversation. He talked in Spanish or I talked in English but we were still understood what the other person was saying.
-- Christina Caliazzio, NJ
I am being raised in a very sheltered environment in the United States and rarely come into contact with any kind of poverty, I understand now that there are many materiel things that are completely unnecessary, as the people of El Sur are the happiest, most level-headed people I have ever met. -- Lee Gold
I enjoyed this trip immensely, it has been one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had, and I look forward to volunteering with Globe Aware again in the near future.--Melanie Jenson
We saw so many macaws and toucans!--George Madison
Our coordinator was a pleasure. She was very helpful with translating and kept us on schedule. She has developed a wonderful rapport with the community and is well respected. --Patty Sullivan