La Despedida

Here we are back in San Jose, our last day here after one great month in Costa Rica! We just had a great time river rafting through exciting rapids on the Rio Pacuare. The river was high, and there were almost constant rapids throughout our hour and a half on the water. Everyone had a great time and it was a wonderful last activity.

Our last week in Tujankir was bittersweet. While our students are excited to see their friends and family, they were sad to leave their new home in Costa Rica. We finished our projects off strong, and while there are still some final touches to be added to both the community kitchen and the locker rooms, they are definitely close to being finished!

In addition, we completed the map, which is painted on a round piece of wood and will be hung up in thecommunity kitchen-- it looks beautiful. Our goodbye party was a huge success. Everyone we have met here in Tujankir (and others too!) showed up. Jake and Shiri both spoke as well as our students! It was so exciting to hear our students speak eloquently in front of so many people. The night continued with great food and dancing.

On our last day in town it poured rain as everyone hugged and said goodbyes. While there have been challenging moments over the last month (bugs, rain, heat, etc.) it was clear from our students' faces that this month has been an incredible success! We couldnt be happier with the group and will be sad to go our separate ways. We know that their time here has made a lasting impact both within the community in Tujankir and within our group.

Hasta luego!
Shiri Raphaely and Jake Schwarz

Hello from Playa Hermosa!

Last Monday, after returning from our previous weekend trip at Arenal Volcano, we jumped right back into work in Tujankir. During the work week, we began and completed a huge mural on the outside wall of our sleeping quarters. It is beautifully colorful; all of the students helped out to make it a success. By the end of the week, most of our students' independent projects were finished or winding down, as were some of the larger construction projects.

The rain fell all afternoon on Friday, so although we had received our last shipment of building supplies (concrete blocks, cement, etc.), we weren't able to finish as much work as we had hoped. Friday night we had a movie night which everyone greatly enjoyed.

We left on Saturday morning for our last weekend trip to Playa Hermosa on the Nicoyan Peninsula. It is a beautiful cove beach on the Pacific coast. Yesterday we went on a boat/snorkeling trip into Santa Rosa National Park. The sun was shining and the water was calm. Everyone came back happy, relaxed, and maybe a little sunburned. Last night we checked out Playa del Coco for a fresh seafood dinner and a beautiful red sunset.

We are now heading back to Tujankir for our last week in country. Much work is waiting for us upon our return to Tujankir later today. In addition to wrapping up our projects, we have lots of fun activities planned, and a fiesta de despedida (goodbye party) on Thursday night.

See you in a week!

-Jake, Shiri, and the whole crew

Volcan Arenal, hot springs, and s'mores

Hola from Arenal Volcano!

We are currently at the Arenal Observatory Lodge wrapping up our second weekend excursion. The lodge here is the closest people can stay to the base of the Arenal volcano, and thanks to our proximity (and great luck!) we saw quite a show last night. At around 9:30 pm bright, glowing lava began flowing down the mountain accompanied by dramatic smoke rumbling! It was an incredible experience that we were lucky to have witnessed.

After arriving at the lodge yesterday, we headed straight to Baldi hot springs where everyone enjoyed the naturally heated pools and exciting natural water slides. It was great to relax after such a long week of hard work. Today we changed speed a little bit and embarked on an intense five hour hike to a waterfall and crater lake on the trails around the observatory. Returning tired, muddy, and a little sore, we still heard exclamations of '¨hey that was actually really cool!¨'

Last week, back in our village of Tujankir, the group organized a successful bingo night where every Putney student was pared with a local. Everyone was forced to use some Spanish (or at least a lot of gesturing!) to communicate and it definitely helped break boundaries.

We celebrated July 4th on Saturday with another hike to the waterfall of Rio Celeste. We were accompanied on the hike by our local friend Don Jorge, and six Ticos (Costa Ricans) from town. When we got back, we had a traditionally American hamburger dinner followed by a bonfire and roasting s'mores.

We are continuing to have a wonderful time with this group and everyone is looking forward to the adventures that await us in the second half of this trip.

Saludos!
Shiri and Jake

Feliz dia de independencia!

Hola from Costa Rica Community Service A, officially two weeks into the program! We had a great second week in Tujankir, beginning with with a long day of work followed by a dip in our new favorite river, el Rio Celeste. The following days sped past as impressive work was completed on both the community kitchen and the locker rooms. Jorge, one of our key contacts, workman and head of the town government told us that we have done more and worked harder than previous Putney groups!

In addition, the English classes and LeAndre´s (one of our students) well attended hip hop dance class took off this week. Every day more kids show up and we are excited to see attendance increase. Every week, our students take turns teaching the English classes. On Monday, a few girls went to Don Gerardos farm to milk cows, make tortillas and plant corn. Yesterday, others worked with Dona Patricia to make tamales, participating in everything including the plucking of the chicken, making the dough and preparing the vegetables. The mural has also taken off and we hope to finish it next week. We have been busy!

Tomorrow we have planned an exciting hike to a waterfall, followed by a Fourth of July celebration. On Sunday we are off to the National Park at Volcan Arenal and are very excited. Please help us keep this a surprise. . . our students are madly guessing where we might be headed!

We wish you all a happy July 4th, and we will be sure to write again shortly!

Saludos,
Shiri and Jake

Saludos!

Costa Rica Community Service A has had an eye opening, productive, and fun week in Tujankir! Upon arrival on Sunday night, the town greeted us with a fiesta de bienvenida, which was a surprise for the group. We (Shiri and Jake) had told the group that they were having a meeting with the town to discuss construction plans and to meet the town leaders. While that was partly true, a normal business meeting does not usually end with salsa dancing!

Work started bright and early at 7 am the next morning. Students worked at our two main project sites-- a community kitchen and locker rooms. Most students spent the entire first day sifting sand to use in cement mixing. Despite the monotonous work, we did not hear any complaining. Everyone was so anxious to help!

On Monday afternoon, Jorge, the town president, brought us in his truck to take a dip in the Rio Celeste. This is one of few rivers in the world whose water is illuminated a bright crystal, clear blue by volcanic minerals. Some might even call it 'celestial'!

Tuesday brought the first real additions to our concrete walls. We mixed cement by hand and added cinder blocks to both the kitchen and locker rooms. The students enjoyed seeing tangible contributions. Each afternoon, after work on projects is finished, we play games of yoga ball soccer, real soccer, wiffle ball, and socialize with Costa Rican kids around the soccer field.

I would like to pause for a minute to describe our group house. We sleep in a building right in the center of town, next to the church. We have a gate that we lock at night, and a large tent outside under which we eat, chill, and have group meetings. Our bathrooms are simple but nice-- the plumbing system is quite basic (this is typical here in Costa Rica) but our students adapting well. Tujankir is a nice place to call home!

Each night, we have a group meeting with several consistent rituals. Every meeting begins with what we call 'roses, thorns, and rosebuds', a slight variation of the game 'highs and lows'. In our version, a 'rose' is the high of the day, a 'thorn' is the low, and a 'rosebud' is a hope for the future. At first some were timid to share, but now the entire group looks forward to it. Next, one person volunteers to go on the 'hot seat' for this meeting. This person responds to 10 to 15 questions posed by the rest of the group (nothing too personal, of course). This game, in particular, has sparked many interesting conversations amongst the group. Next, we discuss the day and how everyone is feeling, including any serious issues we must tackle. Then we try to inspire a more intellectual discussion about all that we are experiencing here-- Wednesday´s meeting topic was 'Global Perspectives' and students shared new insights into their lives at home after our first week in this rural farming community.

Each night after our meeting, everyone gets ready for bed. Lights out is usually around 10:15 (so that we are well rested for our early rise the next day). The first night, upon request, we sung a short lullaby. This has become a nightly tradition with a surprisingly wide variation-- everything from Lion King medleys to banjo playing to Woody Guthrie renditions!

We are now on our first weekend excursion to the southern Nicoya Peninsula. This morning we went ziplining, a popular request among the students, although it was a surprise. We are spending the rest of the day here in a town called Montezuma and then staying at a hotel near Cabuya in bungalows on the beach.

Hasta la proxima vez,

¡Pura Vida!
Shiri and Jake

Saludos from San Jose

Hello all!

We are happy to report that we had a successful first day in San Jose, Costa Rica! With a delayed flight out of Miami, the group arrived hungry and a tad tired, but still in great spirits and excited for a pizza dinner. . . which, in typical Tico (Costa Rican) time, arrived late! This provided extra time for getting to know each other.

Yesterday, we began the day with an early 8:30 AM breakfast (and no complaints from this great group about waking up early!) We then headed over to the Parque Nacional for our big orientation meeting. We talked about general expectations, dynamics, goals, rules, cultural differences between the US and Costa Rica, and more. Jake described life in our project village, Tujankir, and the service projects that we will begin soon. In Tujankir, our main projects will be finishing a community kitchen, building locker rooms for a soccer field, teaching English classes, running a bingo night, setting up a town volleyball court, and mapping the town.

After our orientation we checked out downtown San Jose, which happened to have various events going on for the 60th anniversary of women´s suffrage in the country. Everyone made their way through the crowded and bustling streets, staying together while taking everything in. Students then explored the mercado central and returned with tales of strange pet shops and fish for sale!

After the mercado central, we had our first delicious lunch of comida tipica (a typical Costa Rican dish) which consists of rice, beans, fried plantains and a meat. In the afternoon, we took a bus tour of San Jose. The kids asked many questions, and learned about the economy, agriculture, politics, and environment of the country. We ended the day with an exciting and invigorating dance class where we all learned to dance the basics of merengue and salsa.

It has been an action packed first few days here and we are excited to see that the group is getting along well with many friendships blossomming. Tomorrow morning we leave for our village and home for the month, Tujankir-- it is about a five hour drive from San Jose. The town is planning a surprise party for tomorrow night where our students can practice their new dance moves!

That's all for now. We'll be in touch next week with an update on life in Tujankir.

Saludos!
Jake, Shiri and Costa Rica Community Service A

The group has arrived

We've received word from the leaders that the group has arrived in San Jose.